New Year . . . New Changes . . .

Hello all! We had a wonderful, inspiring, and rewarding holiday & Christmas. I hope you did too. We spent A LOT of time working in our basement. The "Head Contractor" had a break from his 9 to 5 job for two weeks, so we took advantage of that time and dug in. We got carpet on the 20th of December, so the rest of the time was spent on the finish work; trim, touch-up paint, doors, lights, etc.

Everyone did an amazing job of helping, including the kids. They were helpful when needed and gone playing with one another when needed. The result is amazing! The walls are painted a lovely, warm yellow that helps make the room feel inviting and cheerful. ** The Head Contractor was not particularly happy about the color choice. His last comment was, " I like it the more we cover it up." He is so wonderful to let me have it the color I want. Don't you think? ** We quickly went to work getting the space ready to use as our family room, learning space, and play area.


It really is nice to have a space for learning. All of our books came out of boxes and little hiding places around the house and now cohesively reside in one place. We can leave all our learning materials out and easy to access.

Some of the walls are still bare, but I have some wonderful pictures from American history that I am going to frame and hang. I can't tell you what a big relief it is to have this done and how much our family has been enjoying the space. I never thought we would spend so much time in the basement.

I have also spent some time this last month evaluating how well our learning has been going. There are some things that we are changing and/or improving. I have been busy looking at all the children have been doing and their goals and making plans.

One of the biggest downfalls to learning, I believe, is getting in a rut. I want their minds to be excited about what they are learning and I want them to love doing it, so it is nice to revamp things from time to time.