Durango Palmers

This was mine.

 Kale's - as if you couldn't tell by the Lego sign :)

 Kate's

 Jack's

 Mark's

The highlight of our week was a homeschool field trip to the Durango Police Station. At first Jack didn't think he really needed to go.  He said he already knew what they do there - "catch bad guys and if they don't listen then they taze them"

We left early Friday morning and got in ABQ at lunch time.  We thoroughly enjoyed eating at resturaunts we don't have in Durango.  Our first stop was Chick Fil A. Yum! 

After lunch we headed to the ABQ zoo and aquarium.  I'm so glad we did. They don't really compare to the ones in Denver but they're far better than the ones we have in Durango (we call the local fish store the Durango zoo!). 

After the aquarium we wandered the zoo and loved seeing the polar bears and seals get fed. The zoo doesn't take long to see everything. It's quite compact! 

We swam part of the day Saturday then went shopping for some clothes for the kids.  And I bought my first pair of skinny jeans. I just had to throw that in for the record. It's taken me several years to succumb to this trend...here's hoping I don't look like I poured myself into them! 

Anywho, after shopping we took the kids to Cracker Barrel (not helping me at all with the trying to not look like I was poured into my pants!). I forgot how much food they give you! 

We got up and ate breakfast in the room.  I let my kids pick cereal for the trip before we left.  Lesson learned.  Sugar on top of sugar is what they picked.  Oy! 

After breakfast we went and swam for another hour before showering and heading out. We ate lunch at Red Robin - Mark's favorite - and drove home to 7 inches of snow. I'm not even exaggerating when I say that there was no snow in New Mexico and as soon as we crossed the border - bam.  Snow. Beautiful snow. 

Now to unpack and start laundry.  It was a great weekend of making memories. 

Here's Kate enjoying the recent sunshine we've had.

Monday morning Kate woke up feeling awful.  Headache, body aches, runny nose, coughing, fever... No good.  What was planned as a peaceful Monday turned into lots of running around.  I did school with the boys, made a dr appt for Kate, finished making a meal to take to a family at church, had a coaching call for the writing program I'm doing, had the internet go out for 2 hours and made calls to our provider, took Kate to the dr, switched out the modem, picked up a prescription (Kate has Influenza B - a milder, but still miserable, form of the flu), did a little shopping for meds and a working thermometer, delivered a meal, came home and crashed!  All with a wonderful headache.  I'm not complaining just stating the facts.  It was a crazy day.  Not a terrible day though.  A good reminder to take the time I do have and accomplish things one at a time.  That way when the margins of life get sucked away, I have some breathing room.

Kate has spent the last couple days holed up in her room.  Poor thing has gone through a couple boxes of tissue.  She has quite a mountain of them!
I think she kind of likes the alone time and the ability to pick what she wants to watch on TV.  She has one in her room so she's all set.  But she doesn't like being away from friends so that's been hard.  She also really hates the Tamiflu we've had to give her.  We keep encouraging her that the few seconds of a nasty taste are worth feeling better sooner.  She's been a trooper in getting it down but not without some tears.  No one likes to feel yucky but when you're especially sensitive to how you feel...it can be unbearable.  For her and the rest of us.  I had prayed when the rest of us were sick that she would stay well.  And she did.  I think God knew that if she got sick when we all were we'd have a lower amount of compassion.  With it just being her I can focus more on helping her.  It's still challenging but not nearly what I had feared earlier.  She's been working really hard on staying away and taking her meds.  She knows it'll help in the end.  She's come such a long way!!

Today we've been dealing with our dog, Mishka.  Two weeks ago we noticed his ear swelling.  Took him to the vet and we discovered he has food allergies which caused lots of itching which caused him to scratch so hard he broke a blood vessel in his ear - hence the swelling.  He had a little minor surgery to drain the blood then got to wear the cone of shame for a week.  I was hoping after the first day or two he'd realize just how big his new head was.  Nope.  He was constantly running into people, walls and doors.  We were all super excited when he got it off.  We became super diligent in watching what he ate.  The food we had been feeding him was on the allowable list but we have to monitor the people food he licks off the floor or dishes when we're loading the dishwasher.  We've been so good about watching him but he hasn't really seemed a whole lot better.


This morning Mark took him back in and it turns out he's still having an allergy attack.  Now he's on an even more strict diet but thankfully no cone of shame!

Mark and I have planned a weekend away with the kids coming up in a couple weeks.  A fun way to celebrate Kate and Kale's birthdays.  We're going to Albuquerque and staying at a hotel that has an indoor water park.  We're all looking forward to a change of scenery and the kids are super excited to swim!  We've haven't gotten away as a family and just played since this summer and we could all use some play time.  Things don't slow down a whole lot for us just because it's winter so we need to carve it out for us.  Hopefully we're learning!  I had a woman tell me the other day that we have just 18 summers with our kids.  Wow.  Talk about perspective!  It goes fast and I really don't want to miss it.

I love homeschooling.  I really do.  I've had people say to me "I could never do that."  I actually disagree with them.  When God calls us to do something, He completely equips us to do it.  No matter what parenting decision we make, we are able because He is able.  That doesn't mean this is an easy road, it just means it's a doable road.  One that I can even enjoy and excel in because God is supplying my needs.

With that being said, I feel like one of my biggest struggles as a homeschool mom (although I have several that I can highlight over time) is balance.  The balance I'm referring to is balancing my desires for school and theirs.  

One of the privileges of homeschooling is the ability to do it how we want.  I don't have to teach how other teachers teach.  Nor do I have to teach what they teach.  Similarly the kids don't have to learn how other students learn.  Meaning we don't have to sit at desks for a certain number of hours and all learn the same way.  I am able to teach each kid the best way I can, in the best way they learn.  This can mean reading upside-down, drawing while I'm reading out loud, going over spelling in the car or taking schoolwork into their rooms to work on by themselves.  There is a lot of freedom in how we do this.

Which can also be a problem, hence my issue with balance.  I want to balance them being able to learn the best way they can with what I need them to do and require them to do.  I'm still the teacher and the parent.  There are requirements that I have, needs that I have as the teacher, that aren't optional.  My kids still need to sit still at times, complete schoolwork when it's due, and learn how I can teach best in certain situations.

This can be a struggle at times.  We are all working through what it looks like to have conversations about what we need.  Ways to honor each other in this process.  If I ask them to do something and they really think they can't do it - like doing spelling in the car - then let's talk about it and come up with an alternative.  Don't just tell me no and move on.  The opposite is true as well.  And if I'm a good parent who desires to prepare them for the real world, then they'll need to do what I ask at times, even if they don't think they can do it or don't want to.  How many future bosses will be okay with them doing what they want to when they work?  Not many I would imagine.

So we navigate this narrow road, day-by-day, sometimes moment-by-moment.  We talk about what we need (which can be very difficult, especially if we don’t actually know what we need), we discuss what the Bible says about what it looks like to love and honor each other and we try to remember that love does not demand it’s own way.  A lesson for both the student and the teacher.