{This and That}

I'm back! We just finished up what was for us, a fairly crazy few months, with a newborn, a new school year, and end-of-summer activities. But I think I can finally say I am coming out of the babymoon fog and getting my bearings again. I'm hoping to be back in this space a little more often.

Baby Damien is two and a half months old! I know, right?

I can't even stand how cute my baby boys are together.

My other kids have been a big help.  Baby-holding rotations make our school days go a little more smoothly than they might otherwise with a fussy baby in the home.  It has been a challenge for me, as all newborn days are, but we are slowly settling into a routine.

I am grateful to have all these little people underfoot -- it is loud and busy and hard, but also very joy-filled.

But wow, it is hard to imagine that I have NINE children and my oldest is eleven.  ELEVEN!  It's still a bit surreal, even to me, that our family has grown in this way.

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I've got some announcements for you:

:: Later this week I am heading to Seattle for CM West :: Conference at Puget Sound.  I can't wait! (If you will be there, let me know in the comments.)  I am flying solo -- my first time flying in ten years -- and although in some ways it would be more fun with a friend along, I'm also reeeeally looking forward to the quiet.  I'm hoping to do some reading and some Term 2 brainstorming on the flights there and back.

:: During my blog break, I wrote a post on exams for the Charlotte Mason Institute.  CM-style assessment fascinates me and I was happy to share about them in yet another format, in addition to the webinar, the podcast, and the many blog posts here. Ha! ;) Really, though. I hope you find it helpful!

:: An update about the Conference in Old San Juan: the deadline for early bird registration has passed, but you can still sign up if you're so inclined.  We're about half sold out already, so it's a good time to jump in before we formally launch general registration in October.

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Have you been following along at CharlotteMasonIRL?  For the next two weeks, we have invited nine guest contributors each to take over the account for a day and share A Day in the Life of their homeschool.  I'm excited to see what these mamas share because they are some of my favorite ladies on IG!

And speaking of A Day in the Life, my good friend Virginia Lee (who I'm finally going to meet in person this week!!!) wrote up a day in the life of her home at Afterthoughts. Virginia Lee is one of the most down-to-earth and intentional Charlotte Mason-educating women that I know, but unfortunately she doesn't blog...so I'm thrilled Brandy has offered her space and invited Virginia Lee to share there.  You can also follow her on Instagram, and especially if you're using AmblesideOnline like we are, I highly recommend you do!

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I haven't been getting much done around the house lately thanks to my babymoon, but I did have my husband hang these big spreads of sheet metal to create a huge magnetic art wall by our front door!  Before we had a tape and sticky putty thing going, and though I love displaying my kids' work, it didn't get changed out that often because it was a hassle to peel everything off and tape it back up.  I have had this vision in my head ever since we moved into the house, so I'm happy to have it up!  Now the Big Kids can arrange their art how they want.

This was the easiest project. These are galvanized metal sheets, and each cost under $10 at Home Depot. We were able to nail it straight to the wall -- they are light and thin, so there was no need for anchors or studs.  They aren't the prettiest, but I don't mind the minimalist look at all.  And besides, I'm planning that they'll always be pretty much entirely covered with art!  :)  But I have seen people paint these before installing, which is a neat option.

PSA: I'm sure you're aware, but magnets like the ones I'm using may be dangerous for littles.  I bought a pack of 100 on Amazon for $10, and they're inch-wide disks. So not as hazardous as some of the teeny ones available, but still a concern if your board is in arm's reach of littles.  (Ours is not.) You can always swap out for large or oddly shaped magnets to make them less of a concern.  Also, sheet metal can be sharp around the edges.  The particular ones we got are not, but I have seen people frame out sheets like these with wood trim, which looks lovely and protects small hands.

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I've switched my pre-reading time to Friday evenings instead of Saturday mornings for now to accommodate baby.  He goes out pretty regularly before 9pm in the evenings, so I usually have a couple hours I can spend reading in quiet on Friday nights.  I am LOVING our Year 6 books!  I did a few swaps and switches, but I am thrilled with so many of the book selections. I hope to write a bit about how we're living out the Year 6 schedule soon.

(By the way, I have a whole write-up of My Weekly Planning + Pre-Reading Session from last year, and the recent Schole Sisters episode on this topic was excellent.  Highly recommend if you are looking for ideas and encouragement to take on this task!)

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I have plenty more to share, but that's all for now!  In the meantime, you can picture me like this: baby in wrap, walking laps in my house while I read aloud.  (Seriously. I am killing it with my FitBit despite not really exercising much at all yet.  Who knew newborns could get you so many steps?! :))



I'm hoping to be back later this week with a peek into one of my new additions for this school year: my Reading Journal.