Nesting

I have to admit that it feels REALLY GOOD to know that I will probably live in this house for the next year! It's bringing out the nesting instincts...it's still going slowly, of course, because we are slow transitioners (is that a word?) and with four kids, life is just harder to keep up with! But in the last few days, I've been thinking about where I would like to place furniture and I did a little work in each room.

For the master bedroom, I took some of those wooden fruit crates and some leftover floor tiles and created some bedside tables. I had a cabinet in there, but it was too high for the bed and I also needed a t.v. cabinet, so that got moved to the living room. Not that the t.v. even gets any channels, but at least it's not on the floor any more! :) I also found a mirror hanging behind the door in the boys' room, so I put that over the head of our bed and now the room looks a little more decent.

The house here is not exactly spacious, but it's adequate. I'm chafing a little at having to put the 'office' in the living room because it doesn't look that great...but on the other hand, it's nice not to have it in the bedroom, either! At this point, I've got the boys sharing a room (that's been a challenge) and Gracia and Jkaile are sharing a room. That gets a little awkward sometimes if Gracia has friends over to play, but it has been working okay for the most part. There really isn't room to have the Jkaile in our room with us, there just isn't room!

Anyway, so lots of organizing still to do here in the house, but it will be done in time. The other big thing is that school is starting tomorrow for Micah and Gracia! This will be a huge transition for our whole family since we've homeschooled up until now. Micah had an academic placement test last week and tested average for his grade level according to U.S. standards. I am satisfied with those results, although Micah will have to work to catch up to the accelerated curriculum that the mission school uses (A Beka). I think his bigger problem will be paying attention and adjusting to a classroom environment, though. And I'm probably going through what every parent faces as their children head off to school...a certain amount of anxiety over sending them off into the 'unknown' knowing that they will have to face and overcome obstacles on their own.

I don't think I will miss the homeschooling, though, I think I need a break! I do enjoy it, but with all of our recent moves and changes, it was getting hard for me to handle. I am looking forward to having time at home with Jojo and Jkaile and also to having a more structured schedule. For the moment, I am not planning to have any committments outside the home to allow myself time to catch my breath after these last few years...that sounds like a wonderful plan for me!