School's Out for Summer!

Well, sort of . . . I have all these grand plans for fun units based on the kids' current interests, but in the interest of keeping my sanity, I've shelved those plans for July. Not to throw myself a pity party or anything, but here's a glimpse at what I've done in the past two weeks:

• Moved to a new home
• Performed at a hafla for our bellydance studio
• Thrown a spa day / tea party for Ava's 4th birthday
• Made my professional bellydance debut with four days notice to put a set together for the new Greek restaurant in town
• Celebrated my dad's birthday (we celebrate it every year with the kids even though it's been 10 years since he passed away)
• Planned a full day of activities for Ava's actual birthday
• Been in a car accident (everyone is okay!)
• Attended Ava's first ballet recital
• Celebrated Father's Day

Plus, of course, all our regular activities like play practice, swim team, hockey, dance and martial arts (for the kids) and work (for me!)

I'm exhausted, irritable and not a whole lot of fun right now. As much as I try to take it easy on myself, I'm also frustrated at feeling so unproductive. Other than my kitchen, no room in the house is unpacked yet and the only time I seem to have to do it is after I finish working around 1AM. Oops . . . so much for not turning this into a pity party.

So what's my point here? Not much other than the fact that school is pretty far from my mind right now. We haven't even gotten to do my new 4th of July / Independence Day lapbook because the classroom has been packed up for over a month! I'm determined to see light at the end of the tunnel soon . . . I'm giving myself until the end of the month to be a basket case and am determined to pull myself back together in July.

Noah is obsessed with cars these days, and Ava wants to learn about the ocean, so I'm going to use the summer to test drive a more relaxed, child-led approach to learning. This was the reoccurring message for me at the homeschool convention, which I do promise to share with you . . . just as soon as I'm unpacked enough to think straight.

In the meantime, I'll appreciate that homeschooling offers me the flexibility to check out for a month and know that we had a fantastic first year that officially ended with a fun day at Disney to visit the Hall of Presidents. I love the picture that goes along with this post . . . looking back, we have an almost identical one from our first day of school (American Adventure at EPCOT).