School

Life has been so busy lately. I know I say this a lot. I know I use it as an excuse a lot. But it is true! ;-) It sometimes amazes me how busy we are. It can get plain nutty around here at times. That is the life of a large family, I suppose. And the older the kids get, the busier they seem to be (which makes mom and dad busier too). But it's all good. I like life being so full. We aren't ever bored.

So, most people know this, but maybe not everyone is aware of this "news". All of our kids will be attending public school next year. Yep, it's true. It has been a difficult decision for me. I love homeschooling. I enjoy being with my kids all day long and teaching them. I delight in watching their academic progress and knowing I had a hand in it all. But, as much as I hate to admit this, I cannot keep up. Homeschooling eight kids, who are at such varying levels, is too much for me. I feel like we never get it all done (because we don't). I spend too much of my time in teacher-mode and sometimes that means I am frustrated with my children. I do not like that feeling. I just want to be their mom. I want to enjoy them and not get upset because they aren't doing their schoolwork, or are doing a very poor job of it. There is so much more to this decision than what I just mentioned. I have spent much time thinking it over and praying about it, and I think we're doing the right thing for now. I might decide to homeschool them the next year. It's not a forever thing, or at least it doesn't have to be a permanent decision. Beth & Sahara will be in our local high school and at this point 5 out of our 6 youngest have made it into a charter school. Esther is still on their waiting list, so we don't know what will happen there. She will attend our local elementary school until she makes it into the charter school. It's exciting and scary. I have been gathering paperwork and immunization records to get them all registered. I can safely say that I am sick to death of filling out paperwork at this point. ;-) The interesting thing is that our kids going to the charter school will have to wear uniforms!

More soon ...