School, Schweitzer and Getting Our Groove On

As many of you know, Sam and Perrin chose to enroll in On-Line-School (OLS) this year instead of going to Liberty Lake Elementary.  The reasons are many, but primarily they wanted to freedom to get their work done while also being able to do it from anywhere there's Internet.  (Ok, so I wanted the freedom to do it from anywhere and I projected that onto them. They seemingly just wanted to stay home.)

I have to tell the truth here, it's not without challenges.  We've been doing K12 for almost three weeks now and I feel like I'm a first year teacher again.  And I'm generally EXHAUSTED by the end of the day.  The kids have their work lined out pretty methodically on the computer, with workbooks and hardcover books to supplement their learning experience.  It is taking me weeks to navigate where all their lessons and materials are, making sure their doing their lessons correctly and then helping them learn how to organize themselves so that they know what their doing.  The first two weeks were crazy and I almost cried with how tired I was at the end of the day - not kidding.  Last week we had a better week as we figured out a system that allowed for me to check in with their work, correct it if needed and then reward their efforts. (Sometimes a little "dog treat" gets everyone to do the "trick" you want them to.)  It went better.  With concentrated efforts, the kids are starting school by 8:30 (Sam wakes up at 8:00, has breakfast, brushes his teeth and then gets to work by 8:30) and they're finished by 1:30.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Once we have our schooling figured out, I will add on the benefit for having them home and give them chores to do.  While they are doing their school, I am working my butt off cleaning, cooking (three meals a day...and clean up...and planning the next round), taking care of the dogs, laundry, yard work, etc.  One benefit they see by being home all day is how much work it is to run a house. 

One of my goals in the upcoming month is to get our work done a little quicker so that we can go out and see some things around town.  Go for a hike, or a bike ride (more on that later), see the world and all it has to offer.  But currently, everyone is content to finish school, have free choice time and then play with friends.  One thing at a time I suppose.

Through these first few weeks, Balin's support has been amazing.  He keeps saying that he sees such a change in our children and their behavior and attitudes since they've been doing OLS.  I've seen it too.  It's a pretty amazing transition I have to say.  Sam's character is blossoming and he shining with a light hearted spirit.  He's asked many times, "How can I help you mom?" or enjoys playing with his sister once again.  A couple of weeks ago - actually the first week of school - we went to the dentist where Sam walked away with a perfect report.  Perrin on the other hand came out with an appointment to get a filling and an orthodontist appointment.  She started crying, literally, that "why did I have to get mom's teeth?".  I couldn't help but laugh and poke fun at her just a little bit, when Sam said, "Mom.  Don't make fun of her.  That's my job and now's not the time".  Seriously.  That's Sam since being schooled at home.

I think having time and space to be and work and laugh and play is making a huge difference in my kids life.  We're not involved in sports right now.  We have a lot of play dates - and afternoons free to play in the street with the neigborhood kids.  It's a bucket filling kind of lifestyle and we are all on the road to really enjoying it.  

Another benefit we're enjoying from OLS is a bit of flexible time.  I asked Michael, Balin's dad, if he would be interested in meeting up somewhere and taking Sam on a bit of a geology field trip.  I emailed him the dates we were available and much to my delight he called me a couple of days later with the itinerary:  Fly to Spokane Tuesday.  Borrow my car and drive to Montana and explore Wednesday & Thursday.  Return Friday to Spokane and fly home Saturday morning.  Wow.  Awesome.  He sent a file for Sam's workbook for the trip, which Balin had printed off, and wrote Sam an email with some further research for Sam to do in preparation for their trip.

Michael came, took Sam and I got a call on Friday saying they'd be home for dinner.  Such a cool trip for both of them.  Meanwhile Perrin and I got the opportunity to check out some of Spokane's coffee shops as Perrin was able to work and I met with some friends who had just graduated from college.  Perrin said that she actually does better in a coffee shop as it's not quite as distracting as her room.  Go figure.

One of my friends was talking about how she loves to cook and finds it to be her creative outlet.  She has three kids.  How can you have food be your creative outlet with kids?  I asked her how she got her kids to eat her creations, many of which are vegetable heavy, and she said they did the "Adventuresome Eating Club."  Every time an "adventurous" dinner is served, you get a smiley face if you clean your plate.  All of it.  Including stuff you don't think will taste good.  After 16 smiley faces you get to go out to dinner with your mom and dad at a fancy restaurant where there's no kid menu.  As you can see they were dubious at first with zucchini noodles and spaghetti sauce, but they're warming up to it and it's changing the way I'm able to cook.  I'm liking being part of the club.
 

Schweitzer:  We bought a condo up at Schweitzer about a month ago.  It's a 3 bedroom, 3 bath condo that hadn't been touched since the day it was built in 1977.  We first walked into it at the beginning of the summer and I thought "NO WAY!  WAYYYYYY to much work to make it functional and attractive."  After looking at several options, we started down the road of buying a piece of property and building a ski house thinking we could get exactly what we wanted for a little bit more than a condo.  Well, make that a lot more than a condo.  After getting a builder, an architect, putting bids on land we were jolted awake one day and said - WHOA this is going to get way out of control, especially for a weekend place.  So Balin and I discussed our options and decided that we would go back to the "NO WAY!" condo and make an offer.  They accepted.  We started the demo.  

We had the builder just change gears from a new build to a remodel in a day and we were off and running.  We asked our friends the Wimberly's if they would be interested in exchanging labor for time at the condo and they jumped on it.  So for two weekends Balin and Kai went up to the condo and tore everything out.  Hot tub in the master bedroom - not bathroom - bedroom.  Nasty furniture.  Kitchen.  Bathrooms.  Everything.  On a whim they kept the functioning sauna, for which I think I will be forever thankful.  

Labor Day weekend up at Schweitzer was a beer festival that drew hundreds of people up from all over, especially Liberty Lake, so Gen and I packed up the kids and went up to join everybody.  It was a great weekend and the boys were able to get a lot done at the condo.  The activities were fun as it was very kid friendly and festive.  Saturday afternoon Gen and I met the boys and handed off the kids while we went to a "Junk Show" out on someone's farm. It was so much fun to see all the wonderful repurposed items people had creatively put together.  On a whim, I purchased the table pictured below, hoping it would set a great tone for the condo.  Hope I'm right and my "gut" feeling didn't lead me astray.  We'll see.

 I don't have any before pictures from the condo currently, but will definitely have some by the time of the big reveal.  We're hoping for the condo to be up and running by December 1st.  One of the things I'm most excited about with the condo is our builder.  They're actually our neighbors and lived in and remodeled the house we currently live in.  They are kind, generous, lovely people and they are so excited to work on this ski condo as they both love to ski.  A couple of weeks ago they asked if they could exchange furniture for being able to stay at the condo during the week, when I'd be up there by myself with the kids most likely.  I quickly said of course and as I've pondered what the implications of it are.  In the past I've done a lot of things just the kids and I and though it was fun, it was hard.  This winter I envision the kids and I doing schooling from the condo, with Balin coming up on Fridays and leaving Mondays. (Subject to change)  I am so thankful that the Emmels are going to be coming up mid week to ski and play as it is a great dynamic.  As I said yes to Roxy, I also put the condition upon her that she would help cook and clean.  She laughed and said she would love it.

A lesson I learned from this summer is to have company constantly means that I am constantly cooking and cleaning, which is fun and I enjoy it, but it's also quite tiring.  By having more "permanent" guests for the winter, they care bear some of the burden.  It also constrains me from inviting a ton of people up all the time as guests as "the Inn is FULL!".  We'll see how this season pans out, but the plan is next year we'll have a new garage with a studio apartment above the garage which we'll rent out to the Wimberly's.  If it works out with the Emmels to be there mid-week, we'll do that again too.  And just wait till you see what the furniture looks like....AMAZING!

 Family Night.  One other activity we've added to our calendar is weekly family nights.  I was reading a couple of books about creating an intentional home that reflects your values and one thing kept sticking out: Family Night.  It's one night a week where all other people, concerns & issues are set aside in honor of just connecting as a family.  Whatever we do during that time has to be pleasurable to all members. It starts at dinner time where we engage all members in conversation, as opposed to Balin and I monopolizing the time.  We don't answer cell phones, check work issues etc.  It's all set aside to tell ourselves and others looking in that we value each other and want to spend time together.  It's been pretty cool.  One night we went out in the boat and let the kids drive.  Yogi found out that he was a really good driver!  Another night we played games and then listened to an Adventure in Odyssey together.  So far we've stayed pretty close to home and kept it simple but it seems to be working.  The kids look forward to it every week, which is different every week due to Balin's travel schedule, but it's on the calendar through December so we're accountable to making it happen.