The Life of Homeschooling

Well there’s a post I never thought I’d be writing. I tell everyone that homeschooling was never part of my life plan, so I thought. I loved the idea of it in theory but it was one of those “oh good for them, I could never do that” type of things. Until I really had no choice. Thus ensued one of the craziest, challenging, and rewarding experiences of my life that my family will always remember…

Aug 5 2020

Well here you have it folks, my homeschool or more formally known as the dining room. It’s a work in progress as this impromptu idea finally takes hold. Rearranging the entire house to accommodate the desk workspace in the back room was a fun time. As well as digging up anything I could repurpose for this absolutely insane adventure. I have many reasons for making the agonizing decision to do this, it is NOT the path I ever wanted and I’d be lying to say I wasn’t angry at what I feel forced to do here. However, I’m hoping this “mustard seed” blooms larger than life and I’m crossing my fingers to keep a shred of my sanity in tact over the next 10 months. I feel an immense amount of pressure to do this right for the sake of my children’s futures and my perfectionism allows no room for grace for myself. 4 kids. 4 grades. I think I can. I know I can. #operationhomeschoolisback#hangingonfordearlife#dinnerpartieswillhavetowait

The best way to tell the story is to start at the end because it sums up the entirety of this experience and most notably that we survived. The long and short of it is that we decided to pull our kids out of the public school system after the epic disaster that is “remote learning” and homeschool them for the school year of 2020-2021. Our intention was to take it one day at a time with the goal of them returning to the public school system after the chaos of Covid19 had died down. I will detail our year in various posts but the takeaway is the finish line. For anyone considering this, here’s a peek into the last day of our year.

May 27, 2021

It is nearly impossible to put the last year into words. We logged 185 days of school diving into 11 units in a mere 10 months among a myriad of chaos, travel, medical pursuits, job juggling, you name it. And we made it to the finish line. 

I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to say that. I wanted to throw in the towel at LEAST one million times, ask my kids and “the Principal” (also known as my husband), it was so HARD. It was one of the most challenging endeavors of my lifetime because I put a lot of pressure on myself to make sure they got everything out of this time that they possibly could’ve. I would never forgive myself for letting them down if we didn’t succeed and this weighed on my heart every.single.day. 

Was I doing a good job?

Were they actually learning?

Was I screaming too much? (there was so much screaming not gonna lie)

Was I making it fun enough?

Were they going to hate this year?

Or me when we were done?

Or each other because we were on top of one another for an entire year with no break?

Day in and day out was a rollercoaster of feeling on top of the world and feeling like I was failing everyone all at the same time. 

Days would go from excited and optimistic, loving the idea that we were doing super fun stuff and they would light up and actually rattle off facts they learned (they DID listen!) to a complete cluster where I would throw down my book and walk out of the room and tell them to teach themselves. 

The struggle was real. Visceral. 

But every time we all reached the end of our respective ropes we regrouped and came back together and moved to the next activity and topic and found the fun again. It was the longest experiment in perseverance I’ve ever seen. We all had to dig deep to get to the finish line and I am SO proud. Proud of my kids for swallowing this journey with me when none of us knew what we were doing. We fumbled along, sacrificed together, hugged out many tears, and laughed amongst the chaos. 

We learned so much! All of us! I can’t believe the things I learned and I know they did too. HL told me he learned more this year than he has in all of school and D proudly held up all 11 of his workbooks admiring the crazy amount of hard work it represented. 

Boy did we put in WORK! 

I will have a hard time letting this year go. On one hand I actually consider the idea of continuing on because I know it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and something I will remember forever 🙏❤️ On the other hand I know it might kill us all if we try 😄

These 10 months of precious time with my kids that I would never have had are everything to me. It’s time that is irreplaceable and for that I am eternally grateful. The universe has a crazy way of teaching us. I wouldn’t trade this year for anything. I hope my kids feel the same and look back on our time fondly. 

It was one helluva ride. 

To my Principal thank you for talking me off the ledge eleventy billion times. For bringing me flowers and constantly encouraging me and all of us. We never wrote this one into the life plan. Your support was everything even if I never told you that. Thanks for not letting me quit. 

To my kids, may this be a year you never forget. For the right reasons. You are all incredible, resilient, and the world is lucky to have you! Thank you for your unending patience with me. 

To myself, I am proud of YOU! Girl you did it. You’ve always been able to do hard things. Check this one off the list of accomplishments that change your life. You are a good mom. To the one and only ringleader of the Homeschool Circus, job well done ❤️

#homesweethomeschoolcircus#thatsawrap#longestschoolyearever

Design Trends 2021

Have I mentioned my design obsession? Oh yes, yes I have. As such I’m perpetually decorating or re-decorating or helping others decorate or re-decorate. Here are my insights into the big trends we will start seeing the next couple of years.


For the past 5-6 years we’ve seen a major boom in the industrial farmhouse vibe. Thanks to shows like Fixer Upper that gave this rustic yet modern style a name and a face the world hopped on the bandwagon hard. It’s cozy and inviting but new and fresh, it’s casual enough for every day families to embrace with the potential to elevate for those with a more traditional and crisp design style. While the farmhouse vibe isn’t going anywhere anytime soon I think we will start to see that married to some other more progressive yet vintage design ideas. Is that a thing? Progressive/vintage? Well that’s what I’m calling it.



Watch for the mid-mod trend to start exploding, I’m seeing it more and more. It’s like the new age hipster vibe meets class and elegance. The midcentury-modern era was post world war II and is a very unique style seen through the 50’s and 60’s. There is no mistaking mid-mod architecture, housing, and design elements. It was a precursor to the minimalist vibe, lots of sleek lines, cool and edgy, no frill or fluff.

Even restaurants are joining this resurgence of a 20th century version of mid century modern design.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

  • spindle-y legs, the ones that look sleek but destroy your hardwood floor
  • metal accents inlaid in furniture
  • modern lines in lighting and accent pieces- think swanky hotel lobby furniture
  • warm wood tones- rich tones rather than gray and milky tones
  • gold, brass, rose gold- vintage metallics are going no where, I’m loving it


COLOR TRENDS

Classic neutrals will remain solid bases but we will continue to see bold colors for things like cabinetry, tile, accents, etc. I’m still loving the navy idea, it is a great color that works as a neutral. Look for this in kitchen cabinetry and built ins. Emerald green is another one I see making a comeback in tile and accents.

My biggest prediction for color is the resurgence of jewel tones.
Deep mustard yellows, teals, peacock, emerald green, blush pinks and mauves.

Textures- velvet is making a comeback.

Warm wood tones are coming back as opposed to the muted grays and milky wood tones.

Plants are absolutely finding their way back, fiddle leafs and snake plants give structure and greenery and convey the indoor/outdoor theme common in mid mod design.

WALL PAPER!
This is another that is not going anywhere any time soon. Wall paper and 3D wall coverings are going to hit harder.


Home office space at a premium. With everyone migrating to work at home conditions from stay at home orders businesses have seen how productive their workforce can be without additional overhead. As more folks continue to work from home I suspect home office space priority will start to jump, I see this as the new version of a common home renovation project. Typically owners focus on kitchens and bathrooms, I see a boom in the office remodel space. Along the same lines I predict a boom in outdoor living renovation and expansion as people spend more time at home.

The Ultimate Baby Registry Guide

Alright… for anyone requesting a comprehensive handbook of baby gear ideas and recommendations I give you my take on baby gear essentials and registry items complete with pictures and mom insight for each. It’s LONG (forewarning) and starts with the ‘essentials’ and ends with the ‘extras’. Happy barcode scanning!

As anyone will tell you, every baby is different so I wouldn’t quite call this the BIBLE of baby gear but it’s definitely a good starting point for any new mommies or mommies to be out there. Continue reading “The Ultimate Baby Registry Guide”

They Don’t Call it Labor for Nothing

We headed into the hospital at 7:00 pm to start the induction. First we were settled into our room which I must say was like a luxury hotel suite, it was HUGE! Talk about plush, there was a pull out sofa for dad to sleep on, zero gravity recliners for other visitors, a flat screen tv with games, educational videos and movies on demand, the free room service menu including things like jumbo sea scallops, lamb top sirloin, and pork medallions, I mean even the bathroom was plush complete with hair dryer, and decorative curtain valance for the tub! After taking pictures of all of the “amenities” we got ready for a night of interventions. I was checked and the games began with me at a fingertip dilated and 60% effaced. I was given Prostin, similar to Cervidil, every 4 hours to help ripen the cervix and then we waited until the morning to see what the game plan would be. Continue reading “They Don’t Call it Labor for Nothing”

CPNE Adventure Begins- Labs and PCS 1

My CPNE was in Madison Wisconsin at Meriter Hospital this past weekend (3-1-2013). Some general info, nice hospital and the staff I dealt with were very friendly. Had patients on 3 different floors, general med/surg, a cardiac floor, and an ortho floor. Couldn’t find any particular “specialty” for the hospital so I expected any type of general patient. Pediatric unit is brand new and located by the ER, I get the impression that they want any type of ‘student’ as far away from their new unit as possible. Continue reading “CPNE Adventure Begins- Labs and PCS 1”

CPNE Workshops

Why did I chose a workshop unaffiliated with Excelsior?

I will be discussing my various contentions with Excelsior College in another post but to summarize I do not think the school has nor wants to work to have a good infrastructure for their nursing students. There are so many issues with the way the program is run and it culminates at the CPNE where you are expected to perform to perfection yet their own staff make the experience 100% subjective. You get 10 answers from 10 advisors and the only one who pays the price for ambiguity is the student. That’s not right. On a variety of levels. Especially when your entire degree is riding on this.

When I was finally ready to apply to the CPNE I started to feel completely overwhelmed with HOW I was going to study for something that was so subjective despite the expectation to perform precisely. Continue reading “CPNE Workshops”