Happy New Year!

What? It's 20 days into the new year? Hmmmm.

I finally figured out my problem with the ol' blog. I used to take every photo with my fancy schmancy camera, then boom! I'd upload them to my computer and I'm done. New blog post within minutes. Now, I take pretty much every single picture on my phone, and the only way I know to get those photos to my computer is to pull them up on my phone, email them to my computer, save, pull up that download and edit, then pull it into my blog. New blog post coming in: TBD. Could be days. There's an easier way, isn't there? I just don't know about it, and it's hindering me. It's the whole reason this blog is pretty much deserted.

Is anyone there?

But I'm going to try. I'm trying to summon my writing skills back and find interesting things to talk about and pull it together. So far, I know, this post isn't a good example of all that, but bear with me.

Or not. I really can't promise that it's going to get any better.

So I realized this week that I am an official HOMEBODY. Okay, I guess I didn't just realize that, I've always known it, but this week confirmed it. I don't really know what that says about me. I don't even know if I was born that way or became that way later in life, or if I should consider it a good thing or a bad thing. I also know that I am married to a non-homebody. There's probably another word for it, but obviously if I don't know how to get pictures from my camera to my computer in a more efficient manner, I don't know how to use a dictionary either.

Anyway, here's how I know this.

On Monday, we had Classical Conversations, which is an all day affair. And I know because I homeschool sometimes I can say all day and that means ten to noon, but this is for real all day, like 9 AM to 3 PM. That's a long day! So we are gone practically all day on Mondays, and by the time we get home I'm kinda mentally exhausted, which is a fancy way of saying there's no laundry or meal prep happening and I just need to stare off into the distance without anyone saying "MOM!" or really having any needs at all. (Avery is obsessed with Fancy Nancy so if that phrase sounds familiar, yes, I have been reading them approximately 53 times a day.)

And I'm not complaining. We really do love our CC community. I know I've said this approximately 53 times as well, but it is such a good fit with our learning style. I wish I would have discovered it sooner, because I would have loved to expose Ansley to it from a much younger age. But anyway, here is Christian's class playing a review game. Unfortunately there is a lot of sickness going around here, so three kids were missing from his class this day.

Then since we practically get home at dinner time, by the time we eat dinner, it's time for me and Ans to head off to her gymnastics class. So I watch her for an hour, which I do enjoy, but I'm still away from home, and that's tough on this homebody.

That brings us to this morning, Tuesday. Now this morning wasn't part of our normal routine, but we happened to have dentist appointments for all three kiddos at 10 am. So we got up, got a bit of school done, and then rushed out again. I was unsure of how Avery would do at this appointment, considering last time, at 3.5, she clamped her mouth shut and flat out refused to cooperate.

But this time she was pretty much a rock star. She even looks like one, doesn't she? And she was so proud because they went on and on about how great she did. So I needn't have worried. We had three cavity-free kids, and Ansley got an orthodontist referral for her to get braces. (She has four more teeth to lose before braces.)

We came home, had lunch and a bit more school, and then headed out again to our new art class that I signed Ansley and Christian up for. This is their second week, and they are loving it. They are both my art loving kids, but most days we just don't get to it. We do some painting and projects, and they have art time at CC, but they were both very excited to get a specific art class where they can learn more and improve on their skills.

It's fun to finally be at the stage where I can take all my kids and do stuff like this. There isn't a class for Avery, but she keeps herself busy with the iPad or little ponies, and she's fine. She is very excited about an art class for her that is once a month (Ansley and Christian are also doing that one) but we haven't had our first class yet.

Then we get home from that, and on Tuesday evenings, Christian has basketball practice. That doesn't really apply to this story, though, because John always takes him. But my point of all this is to say that this evening as I was putting my pj's on at 6 pm because I had nowhere to go and I am a girl of comfort, I thought how much I am looking forward to tomorrow when we don't have anywhere to go! I like days that aren't rushed, where we can leisurely get school done, linger over breakfast, make muffins, play games, and chat and laugh together. I miss all that when we are rushing to just get to the next thing. So maybe that doesn't make me so much a homebody (although I know about myself that I do love being at home, in my cozy pj's with a candle lit and cookies baking) as it makes me a person who doesn't like the rushing that always having something going on creates.

Like I said, the dentist appointment isn't typical, and that definitely contributed to our busy feeling day. Perhaps I should avoid any extra appointments on Tuesdays. Either way, you can bet tomorrow I'll be enjoying my second glass of tea by mid-morning, calling out memory work review questions, and watching Avery play princesses on the living room floor. And it will be the perfect kind of day for me.

What about you? Are you a homebody or a non-homebody? (Someone please tell me the word for it.) How do you find balance in your days? Do you feel like you are always rushing to the next thing?

Comments

[Suzy]

I'm very much so a homebody. I LOVE days on end at home! Right now if there are no other interruptions Thursday is the only day away from home. We do Awanas on Wed and lead a college bible study on thurs evenings. So I guess we do leave for those, but we are together so that feels different. I love the day to day of doing things at home or the farm.

[Amber]

Megan - hello from a fellow homebody. I used to give Scott a hard time for being such a homebody when we first got married...but 12 years in, I am converted and happy to be so!! My kiddos are homebodies, too, so it works for all of us. :)

Anywho...pictures. Can you plug your phone directly into your computer with a USB cord? I can...iPhone and Mac user here, too...and it's super easy!!

[Amber]

Me again :) Here's a link for a USB cable for the iPhone 6:
http://www.amazon.com/Certified-Poweradd-Lightning-Charge-iPhone/dp/B00LO6N6TQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1422044626&sr=8-2&keywords=apple+usb+cable+for+iphone

[Brandi]

I am absolutely a homebody. My kids aren't as much (and of course, neither is my husband), which is hard. But I definitely am. I can relate to looking forward to waking up to a full day at home. I truly cannot imagine what it would be like to have to get my kids to school at 7:30 five days a week.

I'm not sure about your blog site, but I know my blog site has an app, so I can easily post pics straight from my phone to my blog. It's a piece of cake.

And there's a really fun art class at Smart Toys and Books for preschoolers every Friday. It's $5, and they do a story and an art project. I always took my boys and it was SO fun. I guess my girl is finally old enough to do it, now that she's two.

Keep on blogging!