What to say about our home/family. Well, we are a haphazard kind of crew. The table doubles as a paper stacking area, which is fine, because we almost always eat in the living room, if we even eat at the same time. The kids have desks in the school room, but prefer to do school in their rooms. I have lots of undone projects that I could do, but usually put aside to clean, or organize or sit at the computer. I sometimes put on music and sometimes we work to the hum of the a/c or heating system. We snack when we're hungry, take breaks to chit chat now and again, and as every mother does, I have to give lots of reminders to do daily chores and try to instill some basic good habits,( of which, I myself, do not even practice consistently). I looooved the times when I could buy lots of manipulatives, and educational games for my kids and I to use, but these days, both kids are older and prefer to be left to their studies uninterrupted by mom's 'great ideas'. I do get a lot of great ideas and try each one to see which will fit our family and which will fizzle out. Sometimes I feel guilty for trying out so many new things and then letting most of them go. Is that teaching inconsistency or simple not being afraid to try things that might work and might not?Hmm We also are a very tech. oriented family, ( which is not my preference, but is again how our family works). Dad and kids all love video games and movies. Mom tries to stay out of most of that or be cautious at what all I allow myself to get into. I would rather everyone be reading and writing and discussing, but, going with the flow, while sticking some occasional reading/writing assignments in here and there, is a way I can not totally lose out on my vision without causing turmoil and disharmony. I do love movies, although I hate all the garbage they contain and so I try to put questionable movies into the Clear Play so that I can use filters. The computer,( mostly fb), is huge for our family. I have one child though, who's been writing a series of books for yrs., and for that, I am o.k. with all the time spent in front of 'The Screen'. As for field trips and outings, these, as with the edu-games and such, are also mostly a thing of the past. And, once again, there's limited interest,( or should I say, unlimited DISinterest). haha Sometimes I simply say that we are going to do something, like it or not. And, in this area, I am extremely glad for photos that remind us..those things really weren't all that bad. :) My kids are better than me in some areas though, like spending money. They continually remind me of all the stuff I don't need, which is great, because that's an ongoing journey for me this past while. I don't want to stock up on unnecessary things, but, the temptations are always there. And, my kids are also better at thinking skills than I am. I am very poor in the observation/common sense dept.'s; And so, with homeschooling, and some great logic basis studies, these guys are better prepared to think for themselves than I ever was at their ages. It's almost a shame, but, I also know that I am succeeding at preparing them for the barrages of false arguments that this world has. Our family also has been able to challenge even the Church in this area. We find many people live in a box of do's and don'ts without even knowing why. We have been able to challenge those mind frames to some degrees by deciding on doing things that are against the grain,( not out of rebellion or spite), and having sound reasoning for the questions/accusations that we are faced with. So, in conclusion,( phht, that sounds a bit too formal), our family is not really the traditional, the house is clean 'cause mom's home all day, everyone eats around the table together, intensely involved in intellectual activities,( I wish), follow all the predetermined mind sets of our Christian culture, push to the top kind of family. But, I know that God is always working on us and that our family is the way it is, for a reason unbeknowns to me,( obviously) and I think we have our strengths and weaknesses, just like every other fam. on this planet. :)