great start to the year

I spent last weekend gathering books, cleaning the schoolroom and preparing the schedule so we could start back to school on Monday. It went very well, and there was only light grumbling from the second grade class. The 6th and 4th graders surprised me by not complaining a bit and even confessing to enjoying being "back at it". The strange odor in the schoolroom was investigated by the Principal...turned out to be more than dusty coils in the ancient wall heater. A field mouse had crawled in there for warmth and in Caleb's words, he was"Cool! turned to charcoal!" . Just a reminder to myself-I can paint it sunny yellow, put up a white lace curtain and surround it all with bookshelves but our school is still held in a barn. (but I wouldn't have it any other way-just glad it isn't all over the dining room table anymore!)
Josiah celebrated 8 years since the day he first asked Jesus to be his Savior on Tuesday (and I still owe him a "birthday" cake but Sam's spiritual birthday is next month so we might combine them!?)
Wednesday John taught school and I escaped to spend a full day with my dear sister Tara. We went shopping, had lunch out and even went to see a movie. We were looking for a light hearted chick flick and P/S. I Love You had previews that looked both cute and funny. False advertising, because the movie was too depressing for anyone to see on purpose. I was sniffling loud enough to embarrass Tara and wiping my eyes into my plaid scarf for 2 hours. But otherwise we had a marvelous time!
Thursday we learned about animal structure at Science Co-op and went to the local Library to research our monthly project. The boys are going to spend a few weeks focusing on one area of interest and then presenting something to the family on the topic of their choice. Caleb chose Pompeii and volcanoes and is planning a Lego Diorama. Josiah is going to do a book report on Jim Irwin, the astronaut. Sam has so many interests that he had a lot of trouble deciding but finally chose. He'll do a lapbook on jaguars and how they are different from the other big cats. We'll be sure and post their projects when completed!
Friday we did our Meals on Wheels route. The boys were tickled with all the comments on a local newspaper article on volunteerism that came out, featuring us. (I'll post that article here in a little while) We spent the afternoon building biomes and learning more science with other homeschooled friends.
today? Well today I was up and walking 5 miles in the cold rain with some warmhearted friends. Came home and took a quick nap while John and the boys played the Wii, then we were out for lunch with Uncle Deacon and Tommy. Tonight John and I are going on a date and the boys are quite thrilled with that. They love the babysitter and can't wait for corndogs and and card games with her! So it's been a full, wonderful week.