2023

Year 5 of homeschool is well underway as we wrap up another calendar year! I am grateful that everyone is healthy and doing well. 

2023 was pretty crazy for us. The biggest thing was moving out and selling the house we had lived in for 14 years. Our neighbors on each side also moved. It was absolutely the right decision for us, and thanks to our amazing realtor, the sale itself went pretty smoothly. However, the way things all went down was pretty sudden and unpleasant. Thankfully we have some good activities and community to keep things feeling normal even when everything felt topsy-turvy. We rented an apartment to stay in until we find another house, but to be honest, everyone is pretty happy here and we aren't in a rush. We aren't too far from our old neighborhood, so other than not being able to walk into the park or cemetery anymore, we are a quick drive from most of our activities. We can see the river from from every window and the local library branch has amazing staff and programming. 

We went on a really nice trip to the Paw Paw festival in Ohio this fall. All my kids can officially swim and the pool is much more fun now. The kids are on the team at the climbing gym, Laurel participated in her first horse show this year, Marko started piano lessons and had his first recital (playing Jingle Bells) and Max recently celebrated his birthday with his first big friend party at a trampoline park. M finally got his third piece of pie from the Baker Ultra - they run the 150 mile trail in 50 mile sections each year and for many reasons, he had missed the third section multiple times. I am deeply immersed in the unpaid and not-very-prestigious work of a middle aged mother/daughter/sister/friend who homeschools. I give rides and babysit, refill Little Free Libraries, make snacks, explain algebra and sing nursery rhymes, read, collect poetry, and listen. After navigating a series of crises over the past few years, I'm grateful for the low-stakes flow of daily life now. I imagine I will get bored of this soon, but for now, working in my kitchen while watching the river flow is pretty amazing.