Diapers, Mozart and Autumn

Imagine four children quietly sitting at the table, doing their 3 R's. Mozart is playing gently in the background; "Overture to Marriage of Figaro"..... The children smile as they do their work; absorbed in the books assigned to them by their mother. Can you picture it? Sigh... so can I but it is not usually (okay, EVER) like this. One of the reasons I have been able to overcome the hard days of homeschooling is because other mothers have shared with me honestly what their bad days were like (such as finding out "quiet" little ones were missing, bathrooms flooded...discovered when water comes dripping into the living room, or kids who can't remember what "th" sounds like even though you have demonstrated it 1000...many, times) It seems to me that as my kids ripen a bit, we are able to accomplish slightly more than we were 2 years ago, but even so, it sure doesn't always look like "school", whatever that is supposed to look like. Not like the school I went to anyway. There have been many triumphs, but school is also regularly interrupted by: dirty diapers (no, we're not there YET with Cam--hoping soon), neighbor kids ringing the doorbell (In NC they have "track-out"; something new to me. Different schools have different schedules which means there is always someone who has a few weeks off.), and wrestling matches, screaming (by Cam, that is- another thing to work on), speech therapy, and taking care of hungry tummies. I'd be lying if I said every day was great fun, but there have been accomplishments. I am so excited that Cameron is learning letter sounds. He knows almost all the single-letter sounds! We are not working on the letter names right now, just the sounds. Isn't that great? I am sure he will learn to read, and that is a very encouraging thought!

We are still adjusting to culture here, made much easier by the fact that we are making friends. We still miss Malaysia a lot; to the point where it is painful to think of all we lost by moving away. Some days I try not to think of my friends because it just hurts too much....I suppose it will be a while before that feeling eases. I still enter the car on the passenger side when I am supposed to be driving (I inconspicuously put my purse on the passenger seat and walk around the car), I still miss curry with a passion (am working on some recipes), still think I am in a different time zone than my parents (I'm not), and still occasionally wake up and think "now where am I?" On the other hand, life here has been very hospitable, very kind to us. We even had the opportunity last week to go to the Atlantic Ocean at Ocean Isle with friends. What a wonderful 2 days that was! We are enjoying our first autumn in many years, the first for Cameron and Jaden. I am looking forward to seeing what they think of colorful trees.