“Life is like an ice cream, enjoy it before it melts.”

Consider yourself warned: this is a longer than usual “life lately” post since it’s been months since the last one. Sorry-not-sorry. 😉

family life

Our annual season of visitors begins soon and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone. Next week two of our longtime friends will be vacationing here with extended family, and not long after that Brandon and Diane and the boys will have their beach vacation here too. I already know I’m going to be a sap seeing how much the boys have grown since last time!

Lindsey and her family moved back to Georgia a few months ago. We miss them, and sure miss those grandbabies, but they needed to do what they felt best for their family.

Kathryn started working at a local pizza place and has been extra busy lately, as everything here picks up “in season” since we’re a beach town. While we do maintain a small town feel, we have a population explosion every summer!

If you’ve followed here for long, you know I’ve struggled in bonding with our youngest daughter Scout (now almost 12 years old), due to our vastly different personalities and her attachment issues. I’m no stranger to parenting teens and while it CAN BE great, I’ve told friends I wasn’t sure she and I would both make it through her teen years. But in the past few months, it has started feeling better. I can’t pinpoint exactly when or why, and we certainly do deal with tweeny emotions and sass and eye-rolling (Hers or mine? I’ll never tell) — but something has shifted and it’s giving me hope. This may become a post of it’s own, and I still need to share our experience with therapy.

Meanwhile, Jem is trying to learn stunts on his bicycle (his wheelies are awesome), asking us for a bike ramp so he can learn back-flips (that’s a hard no), obsessing about remote control cars/boats/helicopters, and talking too much about bodily functions (let’s not go there). So basically, he’s being a boy.

fitness stuff

I’m enjoying running now that spring is here and I ran a 10K a few weeks ago. But right now running is just for fun and my main focus is completing my StrongFirst Bodyweight certification. I attended the weekend course in February and passed the coaching portion of my exam, and I have ’til late August to complete the physical part of the certification: a one-arm push-up. Y’all — that’s hard! But I’m persistent and do things now that Younger Me never could so I’ll get there. I’d really love to do it by 46th my birthday in June. See proof that old dogs CAN learn new tricks.

homeschooling

Next month I’ll graduate Kathryn and I’m got extremely mixed feelings on that. I’ve homeschooled her since kindergarten and I’ve loved it, despite the challenges.

Quite frankly I’m very much ready for a new chapter of life as former homeschool mom. I’ve known a number of homeschooling friends who at some point decided to send their kids to school, and once upon a time I didn’t understand that decision. But now I do: I’ve been doing this 13 years and, well — life changes, every kid is different, and it is what it is.

Scout has been attending private school for several years and that’s been great for her. Next year she’ll begin middle school (!) at the local public school. We’re still discussing plans for Jem but as of this moment, I plan to homeschool him one more year to get him through 5th grade, then enroll him in public middle school the following year.

what we’ve been reading: our faves

This is always so hard to update when it’s been a while since my last recommended reading post! I kept my recommendations here to just 5 but I’ve been picking a bunch of good ones lately. I share my current reads on instagram (often in the stories) so feel free to follow there, too.

My picks:

• Strange the Dreamer – by Laini Taylor. I didn’t expect to care so much about blue people in an alternate/future world, but I loved this. And didn’t realize there was a sequel so I’m warning you this will leave you hanging!
• The Hate U Give – by Angie Thomas. Not exactly light and fluffy reading. Considered a middle grades book, I think, but it does contain violence and language so that depends on the kid but we grownups definitely need to read and discuss this one.
• A Gentleman in Moscow – by Amor Towles. So good! They’re making a movie out of it and if done well I think it’ll make a great one.
• People of the Book – by Geraldine Brooks. I’ve enjoyed every novel I’ve read by this author and can’t imagine the amount of research needed to make such a variety of subjects so interesting.
• The Road Back to You – by Ian Morgan Cron. So many folks have talked about the enneagram so I decided it was time to figure out what the heck it’s all about. This book is a far more engaging read than others I struggled through.

I’ll share some of the kids’ picks next time!

on the blog {in case you missed ’em}

• one year ago: Choosing my yeses
• two years ago: Apologia Physical Science for High School
• four years ago: Homeschooling is Awesome, except when it’s not.
• five years ago: How to be friends with an Introvert

Jamie

Wife, mom, J-ma. Introvert who enjoys good books, sunshine, and authentic conversation. Often seen with a steaming mug of tea in hand – unless it’s lost yet again in the microwave. Read more »