Classic Hilton's

I see lots of posts and blogs and hear from other moms about how overwhelming homeschooling is. I have had moments, sure, but my over all experience has been so good. I even posted an update recently about how smooth things are going and wondering what am I doing wrong? It's too easy! But the truth has caught up to me at last. As it turns out, I am very much an overwhelmed homeschool mom, just not about the homeschool part.  Let me 'splain. I genuinely enjoy planning, preping, teaching, and even grading. Once I dug into planning and figured out how it was going to work (thank you - Amongst Lovely Things spiral notebooks !) I just loved it. I know it will get harder and more frustrating, but whatever. Right now it's my happy place. What overwhelms me - what has always overwhelmed me - is keeping up with the rest of the house. Dishes...laundry...clutter... shopping...cooking...again...again! ARGH! While I have made huge strides in my housekeeping skills over the last ten ye

Crazy. Sometimes life is just crazy.  For example, yesterday Madi and Grayson came downstairs where I was making lunch to inform me that they had beans up their noses.  See, we have a sensory bin. It's a large, flat tub that I keep filled with things like dried beans, corn, or rice. We pull it out when we need a little extra fun and the kids can dig around and play. It's obnoxious to clean up, but otherwise a great activity. We have had it in our home for the last two years and have NEVER had an issue with it. I guess we were due.  So Grayson plugged up his nostril and blew his bean out, no problem. However, Madi, who is only three, did not quite understand the concept of "blow" being different from "suck". Even so, it almost came out, but then she sucked it back up into her nose. We called the doctor, packed up Brooklyn's school work and headed out. (I very nearly left the house with the stove on and my grilled cheese sandwich cooking, but remembe

Things are going so well on the homeschool front, I can't help but think...am I doing something wrong? Not enough? Too much? I actually spent about 45 minutes today agonizing over a spelling program that is working fine but doesn't feel as cool as this other one I was considering. Ultimately I remembered that the program she is doing is perfectly respectable and not adding any stress to our work day so let's go ahead and keep it and maybe next year go in the different direction if I still want to. But seriously...45 minutes!  Is there not enough real drama in life to keep me busy that I must over analyze the program we have just started working through? Sheesh! We have been in school for about 65 days. We started co-op and Discovery Clubs at church. Brooklyn is in ballet, and most recently started rehearsals for a Christmas show and one of the local venues. We have a good routine going and have exercised our flexibility options without everything flying off the rails. A

Whew.  That's just about all I have in me at this moment. Just a tired yet contented sigh. We are about halfway through our second full day of school. To date we have logged about 45 days. Field trips, camps, workshops, and historical readings throughout the summer mean that we are in great shape at the start of our year. Tuesday marked, not so much our first day of school, but our first day diving into our full time fall term schedule. The one where we make formal education the priority of our day, including pre-school two days a week.  We made the decision to homeschool back in March. That's when I started dreaming and planning. Over the last five months I have planned and prepared and freaked out and planned more. Then I had a reality check and planned less, raised hope, lowered expectations and then raised and lowered them again. Some necessary refurbishment of our home threw the house into chaos the last two weeks of August, and naturally it took longer than anticipate

I am excited. September 15th is coming. God has been preparing my heart and my head for this day for a long time. September 15th will be the official first day of school for the Hilton Home Academy. I've been practically homeschooling for three years now (via university model schools and cyber school), but for the first time we are official, registered with the district as homeschoolers and I am 100% in charge of how and when and why and what we will study. Whew! It takes me forever to process any given situation, which is why I didn't start homeschooling right out of the gate. But as I look back over our educational journey, I see how each administration worked for our family at that particular time and place and how they have contributed to shaping my hopes and dreams for our family.  There are a few resources that have played a significant role in my Plan-making. A Well Trained Mind  by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer - INVALUABLE! This book walks you through the classi

Every time I've had a newborn, I have chosen a song that belongs to them. There is nothing particularly special about this little ceremony, it is simply that in my heart, this song reminds me of my sweet little newborn.  For my dear firstborn I chose So This is Love  from Disney's Cinderella. This song's sweet lyrics perfectly captured how motherhood deeply changed my understanding of what love looks like. So much more than flowers and romantic gestures, love is about sacrifice, and motherhood is the very picture of pouring out your own life for the sake of another.  So this is love, hmmm, so this is love. So this is what makes life divine. I'm all aglow, hmmm, and now I know, the key to all heaven is mine. My heart has wings, hmmm, and I can fly. I'll touch every star in the sky. So this is the miracle that I've been dreaming of. Hmmm, so this is love.   My bundle of non-stop energy Grayson gets a swingy "Glee" version of Dream a Little Dream of

It has been two years since I last published something, though certainly not since I've had something to say!  My brain is simply brimming over with thoughts that I want to get out, but for the moment I want to reflect on where we are versus where we have been. My hope in the coming months is to write more regularly and to capture our homeschooling journey on these pages. Perhaps they will be a comfort to a mom in similar circumstances or an inspiration to someone who wants to homeschool but doesn't know where to start. Or maybe they will just be a personal record of who we are and what we're up to at any given point in history and someday my great grandchildren will find it and get a better sense of who they are!  We moved to Pennsylvania about 15 months ago so that Ray could work as an actor in Moses  at Sight and Sound Theaters. It was an incredible experience that has led to many wonderful changes for our family. He was blessed with a second contract to be in the re