September

September has been filled with finishing up remodeling a couple of bedrooms, helping my mom and sister move, getting our lives back in order after having students all summer, and establishing new routines for the coming year. We are trying to co-ordinate everyone's shedule - Zach and Court continue to work and go to school; Paige, Taylor and Ashley are mostly at home but attend various outside classes: choir, PE and Science. Paige and I go to the gym M-F mornings together. Ron and I try to have a regular date night each week so we can remember each other's names.

We are using a new school curriculum this year: Tapestry of Grace- which we are thoroughly enjoying. We are studying the Middle Ages right now and next semester we'll study the Renaissance and Reformation. We're currently making some dresses for a Medieval Banquet that we will have in November. On Fridays a few of Paige's friends come to our house for a sewing class, where I'm teaching them to make the costumes. So for now, we are steeped in stories of King Arthur, knights and crusades, castles and cathedrals, monks and monestaries, feudal lords and peasants. We're learning calligraphy and hearaldry and hoping to go to the LA Renaissance Fair next Spring.

Besides school, we are starting a new church calendar year. So we begin a new schedule of meeting monthly with our pastors and our small group leaders (which is three separate groups) - for training and support. We have a larger group this year - which is great! More people to love and care for!

Ron is preparing to teach the biblical Financial Study that we went through this past summer. It's a 10 week class that starts tonight. There are also plans for Parenting classes and Marriage Classes in the Spring.

I'm directing the Homeschool Academy this year - so I work on Wednesday afternoons in the office. During that time I can also work on "Pastor's Wife" stuff which includes Women's Ministry.

The girls are getting more independent with their school work - so after I write out the week's lesson plans, they know exactly what to do each day and can do much of it on their own. They can go with me to the office and do their math and spelling and other things that don't require my direct attention. We try to make Fridays a fun day with the activities and sewing and calligraphy.