Back to routine (but not school)

There are lots of 'back-to-school' photos floating around Facebook at the moment, and of course we have no such pictures to share.

I'm excited to get back to a routine, though - since July, we've been in summer mode (Vienna for six weeks, then Norway) and it was awesome again, but I've definitely arrived at a point where settling back in my own house, doing largely the same things week-to-week, sounds very very attractive!

So, as I look ahead into the just-starting 'school year': what are our plans?

Well, we kicked things off with the annual Home Edders camp: a rather wet one this time, but the kids weren't deterred - one night they even created a mud slide and came back absolutely soaking, mud covered, and glowing with joy! And everyone deepened old friendships and found new ones too. A few pictures...

Marshmallow 'stache!

Lots of dogs at camp this year

Marshmallow toasting

In the camper

But, now we're back home, it's all systems go for the year ahead. Among our regular activities, we'll have....

The home ed co-operative we've been part of for a few years now
N(9) continues with guitar, D(8) begins learning the piano
N continues playing football
D continues with St John's Badgers
And new this year, they'll attend a home ed 'setting' (not a school, but a focused weekly group of home educated children) - it's such a blessing that there are so many home ed children in our city, so there's a corresponding wealth of activities on offer!

I'll be working at university this year, supporting a PhD student, two days a week. One of those days the kids will spend with the grandparents, and the second day is when they'll be at the setting. How they like that remains to be seen, and if we need to change things around I'm sure we'll find a way; my philosophy is always to offer many different experiences, encouraging them to stick with it for a reasonable enough time to see if they grow to like it... but if they don't, we will adjust. That's what we did with Karate, which D sadly never warmed to despite months of trying.

This year I will also focus more again on living liturgically, marking seasons and special days, walking in the rhythm of the Church. We have a new priest at our parish, and look forward to seeing what he brings; one thing I'm very excited about is the possibility of having an 'All Saints Party' at the end of October, where all the kids will dress up as their favourite Saint!

So as the days draw in, nights grow longer, we've put proper duvets on the beds again, and life returns to a rhythmic routine - that is where lives are shaped, in the everyday. And I'm here for it.

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