march forth and pancakes

This is the time of year when I start to feel the pressure as I look at the kids' schooling. I now can see the end and count the weeks without needing a calendar. And every year I reach a point where I kick it into high gear, having survived February (hardest homeschool month by far), and march forth (yes, it is March fourth, and I didn't even plan that;-)) to complete and conquer each of their grade-level curriculum.

As it is with homeschool, in some respects, it never ends. There always exists an element of constant learning. We do what resembles a year-round model, but we vary the content and schedule. That is not to say that I don't drop things (on purpose), because I do. A dictator doesn't do anyone in my home any good. But some curriculum needs to be finished and I need to be faithful, so we stare resolutely at the finish line and persevere.

To keep myself from becoming that driven, non-conducive to a happy home dictator, I break it up. This usually involves food. The temperature read 15 degrees this morning, inches of powdered snow covered our city, but we bundled up and we went for pancakes, amazing gourmet pancakes. I sipped coffee, we savored each bite and we chatted.

chocolate chip, candy apple, and sweet potato pancakes...so good!

I heard about D's book he just finished, Hatchet. He compared it to other books he read and how it was similar and different. I love that he adds books to my reading stack, it's great. Being a more introspective kid, he then turned his attention to his sisters' conversations and antics.

We talked about “How to Train Your Dragon 2” and as Belle talked about Hiccup, I asked if she wanted to marry Hiccup. Her face was hilarious and priceless. We decided that it would be a good fit for her adventure-loving spirit and he seems to be a man of character, so it was good with me.

Of course, then the conversation naturally switched to whom Cece would like the marry if she married an animated character. She chose Kristoff from Frozen, a man of courage, loyalty, character, and humor. Another good choice, I love Kristoff too. Cece then added how horrible it would have been to marry Prince Hans. The girls then teased each other about their choices, it was a teenager preview of sorts.

The day is thrown off, but in a good way. Plenty of days available for a more intense academia, but today the best choice was pancakes.