Sorry about the cliffhanger ......

I didn't mean to leave y'all hanging like that. Thank you for the private emails to check up on me. I wasn't very clear. I'm doing fine!! REALLY!

Last week I was ready to throw out my entire curriculum in pursuit of a noble idea of just reading books all day. That's what I meant by being on the ledge. And so when we left to the park and I was "in a funk" I meant that I needed to read some more and figure out what to do.

This past weekend was busy with the girl's Suzuki Piano Workshop which was all day Saturday and Sunday. So I knew I wouldn't have time to blog then either.

This week we started on our new adventure.

No, I didn't ditch MODG. We're married you know. I think we just hit a rough spot in our relationship. We're negotiating and trying to smooth things out. This is what I've decided to do:

Isabelle just needs to spend more time reading. Problem is, after doing MODG work, she is just pooped!! And she just wants to run out and play. The last thing she wants to do is sit down and read for "pleasure." Soooooooo .......... she is now starting off her day with SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) immediately after breakfast. She's well fed and well rested and its working. After her 40 minutes of reading, I then read to her for about an hour. Although today it was more like 1 hr. and 40 mins. We're reading Heidi and that is my ABSOLUTELY FAVORITE BOOK IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!!!! I've read it at least a dozen times. Along with Heidi Grows Up and Heidi's Children. See why I would just love to stop everything else and just read?!?

But, she's gotta do math, Latin, geography, poetry, catechism, history, science AND piano.

And I just couldn't figure out which one to drop off. So, I'm giving myself permission to try to do it all but knowing that some weeks we'll get behind in one subject or another. But whatever happens, I will make sure she reads and is read to every day. Its that whole concept of putting your BIG rocks in the glass/cup first. And working your way down to the sand.

Somehow, the big rock of READING wasn't fitting into our days after all the other stuff was done.

So, I had to change. And its been tough. Because now I don't get to mark off all those boxes everyday. Yes, I'm probably OCD.

But just today Isabelle said, "Mom, I like this new schedule. I wish we could just read all the time. And I'm really enjoying my books because I'm not tired. And after reading I am tired and I'm ready to move onto math and my other subjects."

BINGO!!!!!!


So, that was what my hiatus was about. I'm still being pulled to the idea of just reading books for school. But I really see the value in everything else we do.

So, I'm still working on it. And busy reading and talking poor Craig's head off. And he's just looking at me with this look that says, "Get to the point and just tell me how much this is going to cost me."

He's so sweet and supportive but just doesn't like being bored with the details. LOL!!

And I'm ALL ABOUT DETAILS!! LOL!

*********************************
Also, I've been thinking about my blog and wishing it had a theme or main purpose.

What do I have to offer the blogging community besides pics of my family and random thoughts? Well, it occurred to me this weekend that I hardly ever talk about something that is a very big part of our lives .... PIANO.

And so, I've decided to start sharing more about our journey into learning the art of making music through piano playing. And it will focus on the Suzuki method and why it is such a wonderful way for children to learn. But that probably won't be for a while since Isabelle has a swim meet this weekend. And her birthday will be the following weekend.