Disconnected from the world...

..... is how I feel without the internet! It's a sad, sorry state to be in. :) I am currently spending my Sunday morning in Stuart's office while he does some work in his prep room and the kids all play. I am loving catching up on everyone's news - I've missed you all SO much!!

Our internet should be back on sometime this week, hopefully. We've had some major troubles with service providers - I won't go into details, but it's been very frustrating. Blogging is such a release for me; it's my favourite way of recording and reflecting what's on my heart and what's happening in my family life. I have been doing lots of journalling in the absence of blogging, which has been nice too - but still, I've missed blogging!

I thought while I'm here I'd do a bit of a dot-point update post... I can't upload photos, and don't have much time, so this will be brief! I'll do a proper catch-up post once our net is back up.
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* The past fortnight has been a happy one in our home. Lots going on but happy!

* Stuart is back to work with a whole new bunch of little Prep children. He's had a busy couple of weeks, is enjoying work and throwing himself back into it with his usual gusto. :) I've missed him; the holidays were really really nice and it's been an adjustment having him physically and mentally absent for most of the week. He's a great teacher though. :) And we are making a point of keeping Friday nights aside for cups of tea and a chat and sometimes a movie. We're also keeping our weekends fairly free which is allowing for lots of family time.

* We have finished our first 2 weeks of homeschooling, and so far so good! I am slowly working out the best way to shape our day to maximise learning times, playtimes, rest times etc. and still get the house work done I want to achieve! We're getting there.

* Saraya is an enthusiastic learner. I have chosen our curriculum based on things I knew would appeal to her, and it does. Which is great. She has said that weekends are now boring because we don't do any school work. :) She's also pulled her work out independently on the weekends, just for fun. This makes me very very happy, and I'm thrilled with how hard she is applying herself during her lessons. Hoping her enthusiasm will continue throughout the year!

* The challenges I thought I might have with Will during our lesson times have been there - but some days better than others. I'm learning what works and what doesn't, when to do certain things and when not to bother! He is learning too that I'm not always available to him. I'm making deliberate times in the day for play with him, and with Elijah too. Trying to meet all their varying needs is my biggest goal at the moment - a big one, I know, and one I won't meet all the time. But it's a goal. And we're working together to get there!

* So far we are studying literacy- copywork, handwriting, grammer/spelling, oral dictation, story-writing etc., world history, nature study, music theory and beginning piano (Elijah too), and reading lots and lots and lots. The children have an hour of independent reading and quiet play on their beds while William naps each day (I read too during this time!). Saraya is really enjoying Beattrix Potter at the moment. We watched Miss Potter together last week - this is a great film! We are re-reading Little Men as our chapter book; Saraya is enjoying it more than ELijah, but he's getting more into it as we go. This is a GREAT book!! Our math curriculum should arrive this week.

* For my own reading I finished Sense and Sensibility recently and while I was in the zone of the classic old english style, I decided to read The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It's been such an intriguing story!! Wish I wasn't so tired at rest time/ night time - I might get more read then. :) I tend to fall asleep after a few pages.

* We've had more hot days, and more rain in between them. The rain is wonderful. The hot days, not so much. :)

* Things are growing in the garden. The fruit trees I planted in January seem to all be doing well, and the vegetable patch has seedlings popping up everywhere! Just walking through our little orchard makes me very very happy.

* Dance classes start up again this week. This also makes me happy. :) I'm out of shape and in desperate need of some regular exercise again. Plus the creative side of dance is something I look forward to. Saraya and ELijah are both going to be doing Contemporary dance (this is a technical, lyrical style) on Tuesday afternoons, and Tap dancing on Thursday afternoons. SO excited to see Elijah start his dance career!! I know I'm biased, but that boy is just born to dance, wait and see. :) Stuart and I are going to do Contemporary together again, on a Thursday evening. Which makes Thursday our big dance day. :) I also do markets (and fortnightly the kids and I will do the markets and book library) on a Thursday morning - quite a big day! But a fun one. Mondays and Fridays are completely at-home days - Stu takes the car, so we can't go anywhere!! To be honest, these are probably our favourite days.

* Our singing group Vivace Voices is getting together next week too, to work out goals for the year / when we will rehearse each week etc. Looking forward to getting together with those guys again too.

* Stu and I are both making some creative plans towards our Eisteddfod performances this year as well. We've chosen most of our songs and are actually already excited for August to arrive! I was telling the children the other day how I started singing in eisteddfods when I was 7 years old, which prompted Saraya to say that she would like to do the eisteddfod this year too. This is another thing to work towards and look forward to. Time to pull out all my boxes of sheet music....

* I've been enjoying some old-fashioned letter writing this past week. Watching movies such as Miss Potter, set in the era I so wish I was born in, tends to affect my behaviour. :) Journal-writing late at night by candlelight, wearing my long white nightie, seated at my antique writing desk, cup of tea by my paper.... yes, this is a real picture of my evenings last week. :) *Sigh*. I have a new friend in my life, a kindred spirit, a dear soul whose heart has captured mine - and she too loves all these sweet simplicities. :) So, we've been corresponding by letter even though we only live 20 minutes apart. :) It's been really nice. Of course, when you write these letters you simply must end them with "Yours affectionately"...... :D

* All in all, I'm exhausted and buzzing and very very content right now. :) The tiredness which comes upon me each night is a happy sort of tiredness, knowing I'm sitting where God wants me to be. I'm leading the little hearts He has given me, I'm tending the home and garden He has given me, I feel the overwhelming grace and forgiveness and love He has for me, each and every day. I so desire for all I do to bring glory to Him. I yearn to spread Jesus' love to all I meet. He is so good to me, and can hardly breathe some days for the joy which overwhelms me. Through all the daily struggles and challenges, for the times I want to hide in the bathroom out of desperation for 5 minutes peace (!), He is beside me and I am so aware of Him. I am grateful.

Well dear friends, I miss you and pray for you often, and cannot wait to be officially BACK!! Thank you for all your sweet thoughts and messages. :)

Much love,
Saminda xoxoxo