I've been such a faithful blogger for the past year.... wow - I can't believe it's been that long since I started keeping this online journal for our family. I'm so grateful to my husband for suggesting the idea to me and encouraging/helping me along the way. It certainly has been a productive, tiring, joyful, and meaningful year for our family.
We just finished celebrating my son's sixth birthday with a small celebration. He had such a great time - and as my husband and I were relaxing on the couch with a glass of wine (we deserve it!) I remarked that now I feel like I can really move forward with the holidays. Once my little guy's birthday celebration is completed I can mentally move to Christmas. This year, I'm so happy we have decided to SLOW DOWN, lessen our commitments, and truly enjoy the gift of Jesus Christ.
Some good news from today: Our good friends who have recently adopted their second little boy from China asked us to be his Godparents! What an honor this is, and I am so excited to watch this little one grow in his faith throughout his life. We have been inspired by our friends Bruce and Karen, and this brings everything full circle for me.... God is so very good!
My parents (who have been married 52 years) are also making a large move next week. They have sold their home and are moving into a continuing care community. They are both in good health, but my father is 80 and they wanted to have less worries for themselves (and their children) as they age. I am so happy they have sold their home and all is proceeding according to the plan, but I know this will be a difficult transition for them to make. It's hard for me, too - but I'm happy that they have spent their lives saving and preparing for their retirement, and can now truly enjoy life with minimal worries. We've also had some other family worries which I can't go into on my blog - but they have caused me a lot of worry over the past several months.
On the homeschool front: Over the next few weeks we will continue to do math and of course read, read, read. Other than that we are going to take a break. I would like to catch my breath before January gets here (we will be starting more combining of subjects and a couple new curriculums). The new year holds a few big commitments for me, personally -
- I will be taking on another piano student, bringing my total to 7.... we will be preparing for a competition in March and a recital in May.
- I will be teaching a class for our homeschool co-op - a music class for Kindergarten and First Graders - I'm SO excited about this!
- I want to really focus on a CLASSICAL education for my children - after starting mostly eclectic, I've now found that I really do lean towards the classical end of the spectrum.
I may post occasionally over the next few weeks, but I'd really like to give my brain a rest from posting, schooling, and just the online world in general. I love reading blogs, writing my own blog, and getting so many wonderful ideas, but now it's time for me to devote my extra energy to creating a peaceful, calm Christmas for my family and hopefully finding ways for us to bless those around us. I want to take stock of life at the end of 2010 and see how I can improve in 2011!
