{This and That}

Happy Monday! I thought I would pop on during this chilly morning with a long-overdue update...

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First up: a few retreat announcements!

For Catholic SoCal mamas, I will be the speaker at a retreat for Catholic homeschool mothers at Mission San Diego on Saturday, December 1st. After breakfast and Mass together, I'll be giving two talks: "The Infinite in the Finite": Small Steps Towards Beauty in the Homeschool and End-of-Term Reflection: The Mother's Key to Hope and Growth. There will also be a Q+A luncheon specifically on the Mason method. I hope if you are in the San Diego area, you will consider joining us for a beautiful morning! More information and registration details here.

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Next up: our annual CM West retreat here in Northern California is now open for registration and we are about half full at this point!

We try to make each year's schedule and focus a bit unique while still replicating our favorite parts about past events. I am so excited about our plans for this year -- click over to read our vision and see the tentative schedule. Amber and Jessica and I are preparing and can't wait to see it all come together. There are just a few short months until we meet together again at beautiful San Juan Retreat. (I am just praying the weather is as fantastic as it was last year. :))

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And for my East Coast friends:

Amy and I will be the speakers for the Motherwell retreat in Charlottesville, Virginia this coming April!

They are offering a registration discount if you sign up before November 16th, so head over and check out the website for more information. Featuring a charming urban setting (used book shops, eateries) in a historical locale (Monticello is five minutes away!), this retreat will be a combination of workshops by Amy and me and hands-on activities geared toward mothers living well. The team putting this together is creative and dedicated, and I'm so glad I get to attend and to share there.

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Speaking of me and Amy :) ... have you been following along at CM Coast to Coast? We have new chats up on chores, weekly meetings, morning routines, and pre-reading. This week's video was on managing littles in the homeschool. (We talked about that @charlottemasonirl this week also. :))
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We celebrated the last of our birthdays for the year this week: Justin is three!

He was a challenging infant but has been SUCH a delightful toddler. I know everyone talks about "threenagers" and "the terrible threes," and I get it...but I actually LOVE age three and am so glad to have a 3yo in the house again! This boy in particular is such a sweetie. And even though he is a bit of a mischief maker, he is also enthusiastic about the little things, a great sharer, and a mama's boy. <3

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We moved on to Term 2 this week. Last week was exams, and we decided not to take a break between terms since we have Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up quickly and we're hoping to finish the year in late April or early May.

Thankfully, my husband took all the kids out for most of the day a couple Saturdays ago, so I was able to do my term reflections and get everything around the house prepped for Term 2. So I began last Monday feeling surprisingly prepared, which I didn't expect to be able to do. It made a big difference to going into our first week of the term feeling rested.

Term 1 went so much more smoothly than last year. The main difference is that Damien is now napping regularly, which he wasn't doing for all of last year. Even though I added a student and a three students moved up a Form, this year has so far been easier to manage. Still a bit wild, but easier to manage. ;)

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During exam week, we also had our Fall Shakespeare Festival! I was worried that scheduling it for November might mean rain, but it was actually sunny and in the 80s! We had fifteen performances, from all ages. So much fun.

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My merry band of Halloween saints -- plus an adorable baby. ;)

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It has been a busier fall than I expected! There are lots of things I have had to say no to, and now and then I feel like I may have gotten in a little over my head (ha!), but generally speaking it has been an enriching and productive season. We are going into Term 2 with hope and peace, and I am looking forward to the slow-down that the Christmas season will bring.

Now if only I could add back in consistent exercise... Something's always gotta go!