It has been a bit of a busy time for us.  Always when the school year starts, there is always that sense of new busyness.  It happens whether you are in public, private, or homeschool.  I am sure it is in different ways, but the new year does bring busy times.  Part of it this year is that one of our kids changed clubs and is now running.  He went from a ode night a week club to two nights a week and some weekends.  It is only one day, but that one day shifts the schedule a lot.  Part of it is changing curriculum and just trying to find our rhythm with it.  Some of it is just new year activities that come with a country that starts all things new in April.  Part of it is that the change in season prompts more activities which means more time.  Some of it just simply has some out of the ordinary events that are temporary and you want to enjoy the time while it happens; for example, the cherry blossoms blooming or out of town guests.  Then there are the usual things that go on and just keep going on to contend with as well, but this are usually pretty familiar and comfortable.

Just to throw a curve ball into the mix, when we have late nights or when we happen to be extra busy, something about that throws my youngest for a loop.  Where it affects her the most is in her sleep schedule.  Like in she decides sleep is for the birds.  When she gets in these moods, she has trouble going to sleep and when she does, she sleeps very fitfully.  If all things were equal and we could put her to bed at the exact same time everyday at her usual early time, she would be mostly fine.  Odd schedules makes for odd sleeps. 

All this is so say that running about all day and the midnight runs to comfort a panicked child have left me feeling a little bedraggled.

This week promises to be just as busy and just as fun as well.  The boys are I have some weekend plans.  Maya and Corey will sit the weekend plans out.  There are some things that Corey will stay behind to attend to, and Maya will benefit from a more regular schedule.

Now it is time for me to rest.  Perhaps I will yet get to what we did last weekend and what we will do next weekend.  Or maybe I will just remain mysterious.  Little one is in bed at normal time, but still fighting sleep.  Here's to hoping that she will sleep peacefully tonight.

This week went by so quickly. 

A full school week has passed as well.  Kids are doing well.  Assignments are all in the grade book and the grade book is up to date.

Getting ready for a full and busy weekend.

Looking forward to another great but busy week ahead of us.

Not much to say really, but I will try to update more fully after the weekend.

We have finished our third day of school, and things are still going quite nicely.  We actually have, gasp, free time in the afternoon.  The boys are playing a board game called Rome with their dad right now.  Maya is "picking up" all her things.  I have been placing things out for her to do while I teach the boys.  She does do them, but before I can get back to her she is done and on to the next thing which generally involves pulling out all her toys all over the house.  I am trying to get her to clean up after herself, but she is having a rough time getting it.  Such an independent girl does make for a bit of a stubborn girl at times.  I know she wants to learn more and be more challenged, but I really think right now she needs to work on listening and obeying as well as just enjoying the work of play.  She does listen in to some of the lessons I teach the boys, so I am sure she is gleaning more than I think she is.

This morning, in our third day at learning the hymn "This is My Father's World" the boys and I had some really great discussions.  We learned about the man who wrote the songs and are working on learning the lyrics to the song. First the first time ever, the boys are really starting to find meaning, perhaps even feelings, in a song.  My boys haven't been the boldest at singing, but perhaps that can change.  I am just thankful about the discussions the song sparked today.  It goes to show that kids do think about what adults say.

Other than school today, I just worked on a few things from last night and today to get ready to go visit a friend's house tonight. We are taking over some fresh baked bread and scones to add to the other things that people are bringing.  I think it will be a good time to hang out with friends.

I decided to start the new school year today.  The kids have been out for two and a half weeks, and I felt like they were getting a little bored.  Starting today means we can sort of ease our way into the new year as year.  This is helpful because we are starting an entirely new curriculum this year.  The new curriculum is very similar to the one I have used the last two years.  I really liked the last two years in the old curriculum, but it was a real challenge to get through two students' worth without falling behind.  After having done a bit of research, I learned that I could get a very similar curriculum that was cheaper and also allowed me to do a significant amount of work with the boys together rather than two teach them two separate things, I can now just teach one lesson.  Out of necessity, also, I needed to change the math around because the books we had been using do not go beyond 6th grade.  Here again, I needed to do quite a bit of research and finally decided on a new curriculum that I felt was good and that my 7th grader would find something redeemable in the math curriculum.  After having used it today, it looks like we found a good fit for him.  I also had a peg board and pegs all ready to go for Maya, but she thought it was more fun to clutter the living room floor with all her toys and change her outfit a dozen times or so this morning.  She did want to look at a map with me and color a picture later on this afternoon.  Tomo wanted to teach her about Vikings and Leif Ericsson too, and she listened as well as an three year old would.  I like that Tomo was trying to teach the info he learned this morning.  You learn by teaching.

The whole day went pretty well.  There were a few kinks that I will need to work out, but I anticipated that to be true.   I have the chance to work out those things tomorrow since we are not having school tomorrow.  I know, why start today?  Kids were bored and needed to see what wrinkles needed ironed out.  I think I successfully staved off boredom and found the wrinkles.  I have to say after teaching the new curriculum today I felt so much calmer and not as tired as I did all last year.  The kids were calmer as well, and they expressed that they thought their respectful grade levels would go well for them this year.  Let's hope that is true for the rest of the year.  As a whole, I am very pleased how the day went.

This afternoon, the new policeman in charge of our area stopped by our house.  Actually, he was stopping by everyone's houses.  Since this is the season of all things new, he had been placed at our local police box this year.  It is pretty standard, in this area, that the local policeman stops in at each house and makes sure he has all the occupants of the house listed in his book.  He checks the old information and collects new information.  Since he is new this year, he also introduced himself to us. It is always a little unnerving when the police show up at your door, and I always have to remind myself that this is what they do.  I know that should there be any sort of emergency it is good that he knows who lives in the house.

I was able to take a walk today to the local park.  I hadn't walk to the park for several months due to cold and or snow, so it was nice to get over there and stretch my legs a bit.  Today was a nice spring day, and the trees are finally getting their buds.  I am looking forward to the trees blooming.  My friends further south have already enjoyed the peak seasons for cherry blossom viewing, and we are still waiting here in Niigata for our trees to open up. 

In other new news, Skyler has joined a track club.  He is as excited as I have ever seen him about anything.  Two practices down and he is still smiling and happy to be a part of the new club.  He was not able to register for the April track meet, but it looks like he will be able to run the May meet.  He can choose between the 100M or the 1500M.  He has been asking, almost insisting, that he wants to run the 1500M.  Tonight I filled out the form for him to run that race in May.  I am really happy to hear the excitement in his voice, and I cannot wait to cheer on my guy at his first track meet!