A new start in 2017

I've decided to start posting on this blog again. It was originally my family blog. Then I decided to combine my family and work blogs. Well, now I'm uncomfortable with mixing work and family life. So this blog will serve its purpose once again as a place to write about family life.

As we go into 2017, I'm slowly ramping back up into school again. My kids are ages 9, 7, 5, 3, and 1. My oldest needs more pushing academically. Until now we've done a lot of reading aloud, kinesthetic learning stuff. We need to start a little more structure--writing, spelling, more history, science, music, and art. Heck, I could do a whole month on just music, I think. Or just art.

My homeschooling mojo got wrecked in October when we had to move suddenly (the full sordid tale is here). Then we had the chaos of the holidays. Now it's January, and I feel like I'm finally catching my breath.

January is always a time to find your center--to figure out your resolutions for the year, your goals, and your word for the year. My word for this year is Renewal. Renewal in our school, renewal in my marriage, renewal in my heart. Over the last summer, I would pace around our apartment complex and feel so stagnant. I had just had our fifth, and I was deep in baby-care. When you have four other littles, and a baby, you tend to do the same things over and over. Get up, feed people, do school, feed people, manage computer time, feed people, bed.

Now here it is, a new year, a new apartment, a new city. It's certainly been glorious to step outside every day and see the mountains surrounding Tuscon. I love their crags, their moody colors, their hint of adventure waiting on the horizon.

It's interesting, being at this season of my life. I'm a lot more laid back than I was in my 20s (by necessity, I think--I have to pick my battles!). I value time with my husband like pure gold. He and I are rebuilding our marriage brick by brick--it had fallen into disrepair after so many pregnancies and babies. But I think it's better now than it ever has been, precisely because we value it so highly.

So there you have it--my random ramblings. I think this blog will be a good outlet for them.