The Summer Kick-off Holiday is Here

Unbelievable that Memorial Day is here -again! I remember a year ago rather clearly, and I just can't believe that time has lapsed by so quickly. We planted roses, lavender and blue salvia at the cemetery for mom last year. The three of us (Anita, Gerda and I), are going together to pretty up the plants on Monday. Almost 2 years since Mom went to heaven, and in time's strange way, it seems like both a long time ago and as if it were just yesterday.

Our first school year is over, and I guess it's good to reflect on what we've accomplished in the past nine months. It took the first half of the school year to get in the mindset of making time for school in some part of the day. This usually turned out to be the afternoon during Katie's nap. I can still remember making a loose lesson plan for Amy in my head while nursing Katie to sleep! Tuesday morning ballet classes, Friday afternoon homeschool group and library trips helped put some regular structure into the week. By January, I understood that I needed to create morning routines to optimize our learning time, as well as to generally help the flow of the day. Moving class time to the morning with Katie swirling around us made us a little crazy at first, but eventually two things happened: I found things that kept her entertained (like the Lauri toys) and she kept moving on through the crazy 15-18month stage.