learning dangerously

So here I find myself, again, neglecting my little corner of my blog world for almost a year.  Wow.  Time.  Slow the heck down.  Its been a good year.  A lot of trips to Disney--as we have enjoyed our "year of Mickey".  Lots of growing up for the kiddos.  We now have a 9 year old, a 6 1/2 year old and a 16 month old...Mom and Dad have continued growing up, as well.  Thank God.

This past Spring we decided to be a bit more purposeful with the time that we've been blessed with.  We hear it all the time---I say it all the time.  Time moves way too fast!  Life just keeps going...through the good and the bad and the fun and the hard and all of it.  It just goes...All of a sudden I looked at RK and thought, "Holy Crap!  She is about to be 9 years old! In theory, we are half way to her moving out. (not that she will ever leave her Mama...she must live with me forever)."

We were too busy.  Too much of everything clogged our days.  I felt like all I ever did was shift the crew from one place to the next, feed them along the way, and switch out laundry when the machine beeped at me.  Was this life?  Apparently.  Sorry.  Not good enough.  Something needed to change.

A year ago...OK even 6 months before...if you had told me that I would be sitting at my computer at 8:30 on a weekday morning waiting for my kiddos to wake up so we could start school...at home...I would have told you were crazy.  There is no way that I have enough patience or education or patience or organization or patience to be with my kids 24/7 much less TEACH them.  But here we are.  My boy just came out of his room to get breakfast.  In his underwear.  He probably won't get dressed til school is done and we are heading out for Karate this afternoon.  :)

Life has changed.  Thank God.  Team Davis has taken the leap.  We pulled our kids out of the traditional Brick and Mortar public school and enrolled them in GA Cyber Academy.  Its an online public school.  We have a fab curriculum and super supportive and helpful teachers and we are one our way. 

We enrolled them in GCA last Spring.  We spent the Summer under construction adding a Family Room/School Room onto our house.  We've made changes.  Our days look way different.  We've slowed down.  We are starting week 4 here at the Davis Education Institute and we are all surviving---no, not surviving.  THRIVING.

Yes, there are super hard days.  No, my kids are not totally sold on the this whole idea yet.  It all ebbs and flows.  But I do know this.  I know my kids more than I did 6 months ago.  I get to be part of my boy learning to read.  I get to see that.  I know exactly what my girl is struggling with and what makes her excited about learning.  I get the good along with the not so great.  And I'm OK with that.  THAT is life.  I'm learning to deal with stress.  I'm learning that my kids are seeing how I deal with stress and THAT is how THEY will deal with stress.  And I'm not OK with that...but its all good because I know that I have been called to do this.  By God.  He told me that its time to slow the heck down to stop.  To learn.  To teach.  To be...and he is going to help us.  No.  He is doing it.  Because I can't handle it all---but he can.  And I'm thankful.

We are called to this journey right now.  We've committed to a year.  A year of  "Learning Dangerously".  A year of freedom.  A year of paying attention to our blessings.  A year of growing.  All of us.  I know God is teaching me and changing me even more through this time.  Growth and change are usually not easy---but things that are worth it are usually hard right? 

So here there you go...Here are our First Day of School pictures...Yes, RK was sporting her jammies. :)  I also love that we took these pictures almost 2 weeks after we started at 10:30 in the morning when we needed a bike riding break...