easy peasy

Today was the first day of home schooling Julian and Bella, and we made it. We are alive, breathing, loving and manifesting. We didn't explode, we didn't fight or destroy each other as some had probably envisioned. In fact it was awsome.

We started the morning like any other school day, all the kids rise around 7am, I managed to relax until 7:30. Usually it is a stressful, yelling mix of commands to motivate the kids and ourselves downstairs to eat, dress, pack lunches and get to school before the 8am bell and gates close. But today, we took our time to play upstairs. I think I picked up a little, kids colored and wrestled on the floor. Of course Lotus had found something to eat, she always does.

We merrily floated downstairs, singing and relaxed to eat breakfast. Mark's out of town, so feeding the four can be a little like feeding zoo time. Bagels, apples and oj. Kids ate, played and got dressed. No yelling, no fighting, just floating.

Left the house around 8:30am and headed to the beach, pulled right up, parked and walked down the wooden bridge to the bright sunny sky. Breezy, warm but not hot, silky sand and a relaxed feeling of life is good. We brought along bags to collect shells for our art project this week. Bodhi tried to chase birds while Lotus danced on sandcastles. I helped Bella find shells and Julian the pro-sheller independently collected his own. A few people walked the beach in the morning, no other kids in sight. Julian even commented that it felt weird to be out and thought poeple might be looking at him and wondering why he wasn't at school. OOOaahhh! School skipper.

When it felt right (about 20 minutes later) we packed back into the car and drove Lotus to school. That's right the two year old still goes. Not ready for her full time yet!!!!! Dropped her off, Julian and Bella clung closely at their old preschool. Meanwhile Bodhi was found flying down the slide head first. I promise I'm a good mother. Lotus was happy so home we went. Maida was their cleaning, thank you god, I put Bodhi to sleep and had the kids start their chores. Suprisingly they went straight to it, no complaints, no questions, no whining. Julian had the delightful job of scooping out the kitty poop. (Punishment for not listening yesterday) Bella got the ideal job of cleaning the alter and preparing it for offering. Julian also took out the recycling and cleaned the tv from all it's little handprints. Great job Julian. Bella cleaned the giant glass sliders downstairs. Another great job!

Then it was school time, they were eagerly interested to know what they had to do. I asked them to write a letter about what was the best thing about Christmas and to draw a picture. They both wrote quite a bit and did basic drawings. Obviously art was not the importance in school. I told them not to worry about spelling or punctuation, the story was most important. I organized the home school supplies while they did their work. Next they started writing in their journals, but Bodhi woke up and we all went out to get the car cleaned (soooooooo bad) and have lunch. It was nice, a little rushed, but longer than the 25 minutes the school gave them. We had to get back to pick up Lotus at 1:30pm. I noticed on the car ride home that Bodhi and Julian were playing and Bodhi was enjoying it. It seemed that maybe because they had more time together Julian could just hand with Bodhi, instead of always being in his face and trying to tackle him. We felt more like a family. It felt good. Happy heart.

Picked up Lotus and came home, both babies took a nap and Julian and Bella finished writing in their journals and read books for about an hour. Everytime Julian asked me how to spell something I would write it down on an index card and give it to him. This way we have spelling words to practice. He didn't like the idea of this and turned to the dictionary to try and find words for himself.....did I not do a great job today. Thank you Tenya, I feel proud.

That was about it, we all went for a walk later, talked about Jesus (only because Bella's asking why it's bad to say "Oh Jesus" when she is frustrated) and tomorrow will learn about the story of Jesus. Oh yeah, before bed, instead of playing the ususal video game or watching tv, they played tinker toys and created imaginary objects. Good day.