A Day in the Life of us

It was a beautiful sunny day here on The Rock. The sun was shining and the snow was melting.

We are still trying to find our groove, so to speak, since moving here. Our days in Ontario were very well laid out and planned. Things haven't been quite so defined here.

Here is what our homeschooling day looked liked today (although not typical)

Around 7:00 Larry and I got up (phone was ringing so somebody had to get it). The ringing phone wakes the rest of the house up and slowly they come to life.

By 7:15 Larry is eating his breakfast, I'm enjoying my coffee and catching up on my homeschooling sites on the internet. Jake emerges from his room and immediately comes to have his morning cuddle with me. This is one of my favourite times of the day.

By 7:45 they have all made their way to the kitchen and are selecting or preparing their breakfast. Larry joins me in the living room and we enjoy a cup of coffee together while discussing our plans for the day.

Around 8:30, Larry heads for the shower, Brittney is washing the breakfast dishes, Jake has gone downstairs to practice some of his skate boarding moves, Tyler is helping Brittney in the kitchen by sweeping the floor and wiping the table and I'm getting prepared for our day.

Once those tasks have been done, they get their books and start on their studies, Tyler and Brittney in their room, Jake with me in the living room. Larry leaves for work. Jake has started working on poetry. A homeschooling friend in Ontario and I have decided (well we came up with the idea and her daughter "C" and Jake have decided it's a good thing). They have decided to write a poem (Jake is hoping it will sell and they will each make millions of dollars ;0)...hmmmm.....we'll see) Jake made up a line, we email that to "C", they read it and "C" makes up a line. My friend then emails it back and Jake makes up the next line. Back and forth it goes. Jake loves doing this and wanders around here all day eagerly anticipating what "C" will come up with.

By about 9:03 Jake is done the bookwork part of his day. He goes on to practice his piano and then make a birthday card for a party he's going to later today. When that is done, he gets ready to head off to the library.

I head to the shower while the other two finish up their work. Jake returns from the library and we get ready to go out for the afternoon. We drive Jake to his birthday party and Tyler, Brittney and I go out for lunch before doing some shopping. This is a rare day for us, usually town days are reserved for Saturdays, but because we were in town already to drop Jake off, we thought we'd break from usual routine. That's one of the things we like about homeschooling --- the flexibility it allows us.

Brittney had brought some of her math to do, on the way but after discovering her calculator battery was dead, she had to put her math away. She wasn't impressed about that as she really wanted to finish her school work before the weekend got here. She is very disciplined and sometimes I think too hard on herself.

At the appointed time, we picked Jake up and after a brief pit stop at home to wash cake off a very excited boy, change his clothes (because there was cake all smushed into those too), we made a sandwich for Dad and headed out again. We met Larry and headed back into town for our weekly grocery shop. Of course an outing with Jake wouldn't be complete without Jake doing something. Tonight was no exception. He shoved his wallet down between the two panes of glass in the freezer. After going to the bakery and obtaining a long cake knife, we were able to get it out.

Upon our return home, we put groceries away. Brittney finished her math and then phoned her friend in Ontario. Jake again practiced his skate boarding moves, played a video game and then called his friend. Tyler had stayed home --- he needs his alone time and had some emails and research for his cartooning to do.

By 10:00 Brittney and Jake were getting ready for bed. Jake is having more trouble than usual shutting down --- tomorrow we are celebrating his 10th birthday and to say he's excited --- is an understatement.

Brittney is thinking a radio DJ may be a career worth considering. We'd hoped to check into visitng the local radio station but didn't get to that today.

All in all a good day.