Homeschooling Has Begun!

For a few years now, we have considered homeschooling Taylor.  I always said, "I'd LOVE to homeschool him, but I could NEVER handle
teaching both kids!".  Ryan would say,
"If we are homeschooling one, we are homeschooling both".

In terror, I'd shrink away from the idea in fear of losing my sanity.

Well.... In June, we decided that it's time to go for it!

Yes...  for BOTH Taylor AND Lexi!!!  May God have mercy on us all.

Taylor wanted to begin schooling immediately; however, we had many summer vacations planned,
so the fun was going to have to wait until August.  

When our curriculum arrived, Taylor began ecstatically exclaiming

"Our school is here!!!  Our school is here!!!!!!!" as the delivery lady wheeled 4 boxes of materials to our door.

We anxiously began opening boxes, which quickly turned into this:

 Shortly after we opened the boxes, the school room began to look like this:

And This...

And this...

And....

   Did you notice those GIGANTIC blue binders?!  

These are the lesson plans... 

One for each child...  THEY ARE 4 INCHES THICK!!!  Oh my!  And what about that orb that I captured on film????  I don't see it in any other pictures!  I sure hope that it's a happy, "I'm here to guide you" kind of spirit; not an angry "I'm here to destroy you" kind of spirit!  Sooooo  weird!!!  I am going to choose to believe that this is a good spirit sent through prayer and petition with the boxes to bring us peace, and to guide us in this new venture.  

"Thank you" to the one who sent it!

Moving on to simpler phenomena,

like Lexi's favorite thing to do.....  

The Pledge of Allegiance!

Calendar time is so much fun!!!
We count the days that have passed in the month, memorize the "Days in a Month Rhyme", and sing the "Months of the Year" song as well as the "Days of the Week" song.  Lexi is beginning to be able to say which day was "yesterday" and which day "tomorrow" will be.  We are working on which month was "last month" and which will be "next".
She really loves this time of day!

The curriculum that we chose is called Sonlight.  It is a Christian, literature-based curriculum.  So far, I am enjoying using it and am so appreciative for the completed lesson plans! I am still incorporating activities that I think are important to the printed lessons plans, but they provide such a solid foundation for me to go off of.  I am so grateful!!!

The first couple of weeks of this adventure were hard...
REALLY, REALLY HARD!!!
It oddly felt like I had a newborn in the house.  Undoubtedly a blessing, yet so challenging and time-consuming.  Just like with a new baby, the days become easier as we become more familiar with this new addition to our home, and as the new routine meshes into each of our individual lives. 
As for now, I am so grateful for the time I am able to spend with my children.
I never realized how much I was missing out on!!!  This time is precious, and I fully accept the responsibility of devoting every hour of my day to their education and development of being well-rounded children.  Lord help me!!!