Wednesday

Don't ya just love a good Wednesday?  That feeling of, well I've made it to Wednesday and Friday is just around the corner.
 
The boys and I had a great day today, though the days feel very long when we can't spend a lot of it outside.  Truth be told, we're getting a little bored.  Our dear friends the Sierleja family moved just before Christmas so we don't have anyone to "playdate" with.  All the rest of our little friends attend regular school of some sort and it seems all of the local homeschoolers are older and really into their homeschooling.  I've signed the boys up for an art class on Thursdays - something to get us out.  I don't see that we'll be learning any real art skills but it's OK.  Last week they cut snowflakes out of paper.  Seriously?  Even I'm that creative.  But, it gave William a good chance to practice his scissor skills and Lewis loved the glitter pens.  We're taking our schooling very lightly, meaning it's not very structured and we're not really following a curriculum.  I did order a curriculum for Lewis to use and I do like it, but for our needs right now it's not a good fit.  We'll use it next year for 1st grade when his ability to focus matures a bit.  We work daily on math - he's very good at addition and pretty good at subtraction.  We're working on time and face clocks and we pratice with flash cards - he's almost perfect at +0, +1, and +2.  We're also working on his handwriting by practicing sight words that help him read better.  Recently I've added word-find puzzles to his day and he really likes those.  He can read, but gets a bit frustrated if the book is too long.  William doesn't want to do school, but every now and then interrupts us to make sure we know he's still in the room.  He's absorbing a lot and often has the right answer to Lewis' questions but getting him to focus is a real problem.  He's still very young yet so I'm not the slightest bit concerned.  Our biggest accomplishment in school so far is teaching the boys their home country. A few months ago I asked Lewis "what country do you live in?"  "Italy".  good.  "What is your home country?"  "South America"  not good.  That let to a bit of a geography lesson and now we're all clear on being Americans (we're practicing the Pledge of Allegiance just to make sure).  And on good days both boys can find Tennessee, Washington and Maryland on a map.  I think they're brilliant.

Today I'm really missing home.  There are many, many, many things I do not miss about the States - but quite a few I do.  Like cheeseburgers.  Do not take these beautiful, decidedly American delicacies for granted.  You simply cannot get a good burger here.  Well, I did get one very good burger in London but once in three years just isn't enough.

We'll soon begin the painful process of finding a new job for Paul.  Please pray for us,specifically that Paul will be able to find a great job where he can actually make a difference and enjoy his work - that he won't have to go to sea or war - a location where we can all be happy.  Thank you.  We'll keep you updated.  He has not yet contacted the detailer (the person in charge of jobs) as there wasn't anything on January's job list that looked good.

Off to clean the kitchen and start dinner.  Tonight is Bunco night with the ladies!