So why has Gollum taken up residence here?

I've enjoyed working through the Lord of the Rings both as a read aloud and as a Omnibus book this year. My sensitive kids who at 9-13 weren't sure when we started that this series was a safe read ...but as "What hasss he gotss in his pocketssees" took over we've been fine..now thanks to Dad's read aloud voices,... we have "niccee fissshheesss, niceee Hobbitssess" ,  now the only pause in how to finish the Two Towers is to see what Gollum gems will bet us past the spider...umm no so easy when some family members still do roof patrols in their room each night trying to rid the world the house of all daddy longlegs...

A Long Journey

Its been a long journey to find out how to work this home-school thing. Lots of false starts, lots of work, lots of things I wish I had known at the start. But this year slowly order seems to be growing.

Its not that we have it perfect, its not that I have the right planning system, because I now only seem to use a spreadsheet, and largely wing it.

Its not that we've cracked the secret of homeschooling three kids by lunchtime, and have done lots of cool stuff after-wards. We do get rewarded with dessert if we make it through the days school though.

Nor is it that we have found the perfect most amazing curriculum out, but now I can see how what we have been led to use fits together and its been good, yes in its own way fun and rewarding, but it has been a long road to see how all the pieces that used to seem so competitive for our time interweave.

Slowly I'm starting to drop the pressure and work towards a simple " We will do the work today that God wills." I'm not good at it, but I can see that its a lot better than trying to plan and make that planning happen. Especially for someone with a track record for being way to stressed out about it all.

Haiku fun

Teaching my youngest Haiku last term, this is my example, courtesy of a persistent cat.

Zeke's, gray, snakelike tail

Lying across my blank page

Begs my attention.