New School Year, New Chapter

I've always liked the start of a new school year...it seems a better time for resolutions and second chances than January.  I think because no matter how the last year ended, there were new teachers and fresh grade books that didn't care about your past, just your future.  There is no score being kept from last year - no scale reminding you of all the cookies you ate over Christmas.  Even though I'm no longer in school, I'm still learning, and want to try to recapture that feeling of "only what's ahead counts."

Today was almost like our usual homeschool Monday - catching up on what still needs to be completed, and then working on the rest of the week's plans.  This Monday, we added in all of the back-to-school planning.  By tonight, my living room looks like a curriculum company vomited on the floor.  Celia doesn't go back until after Labor Day, but the boys are starting their new year today.  Taking inventory this September, I realized that instead of five kids, I have four big kids and a grown-up.  No more little kids, and  the contents and decor of the house are beginning to reflect that. We're passing board books down to younger cousins, and filling shelves with more young adult titles.  Outgrown Power Wheels are making way for a real car for Luke.  Even the walls are different -- instead of the soothing baby blue I chose for his bedroom,  Damien's bedroom is a bright, loud orange that reflects his favorite color and personality.  Everything seems to be changing.

I've been struggling with what I'm going to blog about this year.  When I started writing, it was to share what Jude was doing as a new homeschooler.  Five years later, not only is he no longer a preschooler, but Damien has started first grade.  There's still plenty of "What we did" to be shared, but let's face it -- how we spent the day finding the subject and verb of a sentence isn't scintillating reading.  I have a list of ideas, but bear with me as I find my feet again.  I got spoiled last year with Luke helping me and sharing some of the work, but now that he's graduated, I don't have a steady stream of recipes and American History posts.  I'm really trying not to get caught up in "Is that idea going to go viral on Pinterest?" or "Can I share it with a blog party and it make sense?"  I did before, and while my blog was growing,  I was just hanging on.   We're at a new chapter in our life, and I hope that I can share what that looks like.  I think it's time to take what I learned in the past and use it going forward,  making this year more about us and what we've done, and less about what I think people want to learn to do or make.

Here's to a new year and learning to embrace the adventures it brings!

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