The Great Balancing Act and Outsourcing

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As I walked through my bedroom to get Huggles ready for bed, I sighed.  Here is our dirty little secret... some of you won't be surprised...  The piles of clean clothes are getting larger each day.  The one thing that I have learned the hard way with homeschooling, is that I do not have time to keep up with everything.  There is a choice to be made daily, and with our many obligations, some things have to take a back seat.

I have a hard time fathoming the soccer mom who drives 2-6 kids (or more) to different activities each day, all while checking homework (or teaching daily lessons in homeschool), keeping up with the cleaning, laundry, and fixing breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Maybe those mothers have a maid or a house keeper.  All I know is that staying organized is the key to everything.  I'm still learning that lesson.

I have recently added on a new thing as well.  College for me.  It had been weighing on my mind, and Hoss and I made the decision that it was the right time for me to start back up.

So now, I am finding the balance... balancing the many hats that I have to wear in one day.  In all honesty, I can't think of a better way to keep myself progressing than to keep busy, doing great things.

So, I pray that my family (Hoss and the kids) bear with me as I find my balance in this circus!  The girls will definitely be taking on more chores... laundry, dishes, bathroom cleaning, vacuuming, dusting, and even cooking.  These are the life lessons that will help them become wonderful mothers anyway, I do know that!

New Mexico sunsets are the best!

Today we had an extended P.E. day.  We haven't done a whole lot of P.E., but I'm working on coming up with some health lessons for them, and getting out more than we have.  Its easy to stay in the house the whole day getting all the things done we need to.  Anyway, today we tried a new park.  It was so much fun!  There are large trees there, perfect for climbing, large open spaces, with a few different sets of play equipment.  My favorite part of the park was the obstacle course section.  There were bars, and twisty seats, and steps with springs under them that keep you working to stay on them.  I can imagine us burning a lot of energy there!  It was a fun day... a much needed outdoor day.




One of my brothers asked me if he and possibly the rest of my siblings could help teach certain lessons via video chat, skype, or google hangout.  I think it is an amazing idea!  Do any of you have a talent in any areas of the 3 R's (reading, writing, arithmetic?... maybe even science)?  It would be fun to test it out!


We have finished our lessons on The Creation.  However, there are more topics to cover in the hugeness of the subject.  We are beginning the Plan of Salvation, then we will cover the solar system more in depth.  We have already learned a lot of fun things with it, but I know there are more.  We are going to be making a sun dial, and it would be fun to learn how to make a barometer.  If you have any suggestions, or would like to help us in our studies, then please, let me know!  I know the kids would LOVE to see/hear from you!  I'll post more lesson ideas that any of you might like to teach as we move on in our curriculum.

Sincerely,

Evelyn Curtis

Morning prayer