This year was the first year that Rick attended convention with me and during lunch together one day he said nine of the sweetest words to me.

“I am so glad you are homeschooling our kids.”

Really, I about started crying. I am so thankful for his support and encouragement, but having him sit in on workshops and get a deeper insight meant so much to me.

I’m really not sure that I can put it adequately into words, but that simple sentence encouraged me beyond measure.

And made me thankful that I have the opportunity to homeschool our kids.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t planning on participating at first…but here it is almost 11pm and I’m scrambling to put a post together and share a little bit with you.

Stef at Layton Family Joy will be attending the Relevant Conference along with me in October…so I had to join in and get to know her and some of the other ladies participating too!

Today we were asked to share our plans for June and also three other homeschool blogs we love…

June…is a pretty laid back month. Mainly because we’ve wrapped up the bulk of our school year and I am in major planning mode for the upcoming year. Our homeschool convention is next week, so I’m busy making lists, rechecking stuff and then just having FUN with the kids right now….’cause Mommy has problems focusing when convention is on the line.

We’re reading ~ a LOT. I’m sharing a little more tomorrow about our reading plans for the summer, but it’s been a lot of fun lately around here in that department!

Blogs I want to share…hmmm….

I have to share my lovely ol’ roommate for the Relevant Conference. She is one of my best friends and I am so thankful she is a part of my life! Carisa blogs at 1+1+1=1 and has a wealth of knowledge to share with us all!

Cindy from Along the Way is one of my friends {in real life} and she is truly the sweetest thing! During the school year she is my ‘coffee buddy’ on Friday mornings and she does some FUN stuff with her kids ~ and shares it all on her blog!

And last {but not least} ~ Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. Over the last year I’ve gotten to know her so much better and love her to death…even though she has a snake. But you’ll just have to ask her about that.

That’s it for now…the clock is about to strike 11pm, so I’m in just under the wire. Don’t forget to visit Stef at Layton Family Joy and visit some of the other ladies that linked up sharing their favorite blogs! ;)

When Rick came home from work one day, he asked the kids what they had learned in school. The response?

“Nothing. We didn’t really do anything.” Which was met with agreement from all the kids.

In all honesty, I wanted to hide under the table, because we had done pretty close to nothing academically recordable that day. That made me feel about 2 inches tall and like I was about the worst mother, parent, teacher, etc… around.

There are days where we get so much ‘learning stuff’ done {and I am amazed on those days}. Other days can seem to drag by and it can be like pulling teeth to do ANYTHING. Sometimes it depends on the preparation I’ve put into our day…other times ~ well, who knows what exactly happens.

Yesterday I let our kids sit and play with their Leapsters. For a VERY long time. At first I felt horribly guilty for it, but then something triggered in me and I realized something about myself.

I’m the one putting undue pressure on myself. Pressure to perform a certain way. Pressure to get all the little things checked off MY list ~ we will learn ‘this’, ‘this’, and ‘this‘…which can suck all the joy and fun out of learning for both me and the kids. Pressure to PROVE that we did so much on each day, put ‘x’ amount of time in, and made a set amount of progress. Making it fit into my nice little mental boxes {and planner boxes} and making sure that our school year is following along with the plans that I made over 5 months ago.

Today I sat down and just looked at all that we’ve accomplished over the last few months and realized ~ it’s OK!! I need to relax, back off and quit worrying about some things…and just have FUN with our kids. That is truly when our learning takes off. Schedules and such do have their place at times, but one of the reasons we are homeschooling is so that we can spend time together and make learning a fun experience for everyone.

Sometimes I just need to remind myself of that!