Homeschool

We began our third homeschool year in our kitchen and living room. This was not as planned.  I am a planner...and I like for things to go as planned, well at least during the school year. I got the crazy idea decided to give our upstairs school room a new look this year. I wanted to move out of our tiny space with no windows into our very large play room.  I tend to turn small projects into large ones. (Sorry, honey) The large play room doesn't have windows either, but it is a much larger room than we were using and we needed more space. So, we painted walls, ripped up carpet, laid laminate flooring, painted a chalkboard on the wall, and painted pretty much every piece of furniture. OK, so we didn't do all that. My husband, the wonderful handyman that he is, took on this huge project without complaint. I pretty much painted the furniture...and what I learned from that was that I don't want to do it again anytime soon.
It took a couple of months to complete this remodel and we really do enjoy being in this space. Of course some days we linger in the living room or at the kitchen table for school, but for the most part we utilize the new space every day.

The walls used to be butter yellow. The carpet was a light brownish color. Now it is all calm and relaxing, bright and airy.

All of our books and supplies are (for the most part) neatly stored on the bookshelves. The wall map is a favorite. I sometimes find the girls just staring at the map looking for new places.

The chalkboard is my favorite addition.  It sort of makes me feel like a "real" teacher ;-)

Through all the sanding, painting, and scrubbing I realized that it really isn't so much about the room we are learning in.  It is about the quality of our day. It is about putting God first in all we do. It is about serving Him and glorifying Him in this journey He called us to. When there are days that I just want to wave the school bus down, I have to remember the rough road He traveled on.  I have to remember that every day isn't going to be perfect and that if we just praise Him always, all will be OK. 
I want to enjoy my girls..to enjoy teaching them..to enjoy learning with them. It isn't about staying on "schedule" at all times...but focusing on quality time and slowing down to really see what our blessings are and being grateful for them.