Deep Breath

I really do need to get back to posting more frequently, because this is going to be another post in which I attempt to cover all major themes of the week and do justice to none of them. But I'll give it a go anyway. 

I am happy to report that as of today we have secured a place to live at our new station. I did not expect to wrap up the process so quickly, but I am ever so relieved that we have. We will be renting a slightly older but lovingly updated home belonging to fellow Coasties. The town we are moving too seems to be an interesting one - a depressed economy, aside from the large Coast Guard presence. A mix of very nice and very awful homes. The kind of place where you'd really like to see a house before committing to it, but alas, we are here and it is there, so we've taken this one on faith... and lots of pictures... and questions and emails and a friend who did a drive-by photo shoot. It'll be fine for two years. Look forward to sharing more details, and of course sharing the house itself when we move in! 

But for now I am going to try to put the whole subject on the back burner. This last month of waiting for orders, getting orders, and instantly diving into the house-hunting and move-planning process has literally given me hives. Today after putting paperwork in the mail and transferring money William and I walked to the park on a gloriously sunny but rather cold morning, and as I pushed Caroline in the stroller I had that "weight off my shoulders" feeling, and felt as though I was taking my first deep breaths in weeks. I do NOT want to be that stressed and preoccupied for the next three months, so I am going to make an exercise of living in the moment, and focusing on the here and now, not there there and then. 

Speaking of three months... Caroline turned three months on Tuesday. 

She looks like Amy (Don) these days and is such a good girl. She's very patient (third babies have to be, right?) and quick to smile, and generally doing all the things she is supposed to do. I'm just crazy about her, and treasure any little bit of time I get to focus on just her. Amy and William are pretty crazy about her, too (as is Daddy, of course). But soon we're going to have to have a talk about Legos (see bottom right corner of the above picture). The way this girl is moving, she'll be getting into everyone's itty-bitty toys in no time. 

Three months - three months ago we were in our first days with this little girl. Three months from now we will be in our final days in this house. Time is a funny thing, and I can't quite tell you whether either of those seems far away or around the corner. All the more reason to just enjoy right now.  

Oh, and one other little thing I wanted to mention, but hope to address is a more dedicated post. We will be homeschoolers next year and I am SO excited. As you readers know I have been on the fence about homeschooling for awhile now, but this upcoming move made the decision easy for us. We're going to take school on a year-by-year basis, and will likely return to public school in another location, but where we're going, homeschooling is the clear choice. Amy is thrilled with the idea, and frankly I better get my ducks in a row so she's not completely running the show. I've ordered a few A Beka workbooks (shown in first picture - Amy wanted to get started) to guide us through some math, spelling, and handwriting (in cursive!), and otherwise I plan go with a rough unit-study format. Amy is such a good reader that I don't even really need to teach that. We'll make sure the basics are getting covered in a fairly traditional fashion, and otherwise follow our interests. I will also be looking forward to the chance to add extracurriculars into our weeks - swimming, I hope (a pool is just a few blocks away), piano, and maybe horseback riding??  In the very least, we'll have the time to travel around and explore our new area a bit, and I am very excited about that. 

Now then. The computer and I have spent WAY too much time together this week, so I shall say goodnight and good weekend, and with any luck have something crafty or otherwise relaxing to talk about next week.