2nd Grade Halfway Mark!

We've reached the halfway mark for second grade and this girl is doing great! She continues to amaze me with all that she's learning and the things that she really digs into. Every day isn't perfect and there are plenty of moments when I think we're crazy for doing this, but then she gives impromptu lessons on displacement using applesauce as her tool at the dinner table with her cousins, or she gets excited to help plan our next trip and associates travel with things she's learned about the destination, and I know we're doing the right thing. She is a wild and free spirit, my feral child. She would not be content to try and shrink herself to fit into the tiny box that they'd try to put her in and so I will fight like hell to make this work as long as we can and as long as we're all thriving.

What other classroom encourages handstand lessons?

We had park day with the homeschool group a couple of weeks ago and the weather was just gorgeous! 

Cartwheels in the grass

Mom got in on the playing action!

We're always on the lookout for ways to incorporate some physical fitness classes into her routine. With the heat and sand storms and lack of green space here in Bahrain, letting her just run wild outside isn't a viable option. Last semester she did athletics at one of the private schools, but this semester she's a member of the UFC Gym and taking a variety of classes! 

Her first class was boxing!

Mixed Martial Arts! We're super excited to be introducing her to martial arts...odds are she's going to be cute and tiny her whole life and people are going to think they can overpower her or take advantage of her. We want her to be able to defend herself and know that she has the power to kick ass and take names! 

She's taking more STEAM classes and loving coding!

And we enrolled her in a new art class with a new teacher and are really happy with the switch! Her other art teacher from last year was super nice and we really liked her, but this new one is doing a great job working on techniques and has a lot in store for the kids!

We are also learning the power of following directions... my poor, literal child.

Stella was down last week with some tummy troubles and an abdomen full of gas and all the pains associated with that. So we had an easy week of resting, fluids, Miralax, and a new fun math puzzle book that she was happy to tear into while she jammed out to music on the floor nest she made. 

She asked to do some yoga the other day... I hope this becomes a regular thing for her! I try not to push it because the second I do, she decides to hate it. 

One of the lesser known benefits of homeschooling is the ability to dress however you want and learn in your jammies.... or, like today, a cape.

Her Pop Art, Andy Warhol inspired art from todays lesson! I think the cape really helped her creativity here...haha!


And another word about clothing in our house... I used to try and steer her in the direction of...not matching, but at least coordinating her clothing. You know, teaching her about complimentary colors and pattern mixing and all that fun stuff. I gave up after feeling like a broken record and then she finally told us a few months ago that the reason she picks out crazy outfits is because she likes to tell stories with her clothes. And with that little admission we've encouraged her and let her run with it and I have to say, it is one of my absolute favorite things she does! It's become part of our daily routine for her to tell her outfit story after she gets dressed and now I'm dreading the day she finally decides to coordinate (and crossing my fingers that day never happens!).

This is a story about foxes that have space inside of them and can teleport there any time they want to! 

This semester of second grade will see us with lots more math and reading, more Ancient history (including a trip to Egypt-hopefully), learning about dinosaurs, art class, martial arts, STEAM classes, and *fingers crossed* horse back riding if I ever hear back from the instructor! 

The Joy of the great PCS Purge

I’m sure by now everyone has seen or at  least heard of the Marie Kondo method of organizing and cleaning out your house and the finding joy in it.

We’re lucky. For a lot of reasons, but specific to this conversation, we’reucky in that we move every 2-3 years and we have a weight limit that we have to stick to or pay out of pocket for every move. We do what we call a PCS Purge before every move (and sometimes after as we're unpacking boxes and finding space for things in a new home). Christopher and I both have the itch right now to purge and get rid of stuff so we're slowly going through every room in the house and doing a big purge. I'm sure we'll do it again closer to the move, but for now, this early spring cleaning has us feeling good!

We tackled the kitchen first! We've been slowly working to reduce our waste and incorporate more reusable stuff and more glassware that will last longer. Our current kitchen is on the small side. Its good, usable space, but it lacks a pantry and decent storage. So we finally just decided to get some open shelving for our "pantry". It's only been a week or so, but its already helped a ton to know what I have on hand and what I need to replenish. 

Tackling the kitchen also meant going through my tea cabinet... yes, I have a whole cabinet dedicated to tea. Its a slight obsession. But, it could be worse, right?

Before...

All laid out for inspection... there were 62 different types of tea somehow squished into that cabinet. 

We also have a honey problem... (and there has been one more added since I took this photo)

I did a taste test of the ones I couldn't remember if I liked enough to keep or not

And then I did a taste test of this incredible old tea Christopher bought me on his first deployment from Hong Kong back in 2008. In case you were wondering, tea doesn't go bad, but it definitely loses flavor. I don't know why I never opened these little tins and drank the tea. I guess I was saving them for some strange reason. A valuable lesson was learned though... drink and eat your gifts when you receive them... don't wait for an arbitrary "special" occaision or you'll end up forgetting all about them and they'll go to waste!

After! I managed to get rid of 17 different teas! I'm super proud of myself!

In doing this we were able to get some appliances off the counters and it opened up the space SO much! It looks so clean and inviting. 

Next we tackled Stella's dresser. We went to Ikea and got some storage things and found some drawer inserts. I folded and organized everything and so far *knock on wood* she's kept it neat and it is so much easier to manage! 

We also finally got this new dresser assembled. We've had it for months and its sat in our floor gathering dust in its boxes. And when I say we got it assembled... I mean we hired the guys from Ikea to come and put this thing together in its 2000 pieces (#bahrainlife). And they did. In less than an hour. It was worth every penny...er, fil that we paid. (I'm also just realizing that our dresser matches Stella's orange chest of drawers...I guess we like orange?)

We got drawer organizers for our clothes as well and everything is put away and organized! 

We finally have an organized space with some extra storage and space for art to be displayed! 

There's definitely more to come but so far I'm thrilled and feeling good about getting rid of some stuff and getting organized. It's funny... Christopher and I both were absolute disasters when we were younger. We've never been dirty, but we were definitely messy! Our rooms were hazard zones and I distinctly remember having a pile of random stuff hip height in my closet, rendering it useless. And a dedicated tiny pathway cleared in Christophers childhood bedroom to get around the mountains of random stuff he had strewn everywhere! But now we thrive a lot more in clean spaces that are put together and tidy. We both start to get twitchy when things are messy and I never thought I'd see that day!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!!! 

We weren’t sure what we were going to do to ring in 2019 and st the last minute Ashley and I decided to do a low key, in comfy clothes, snack-filled sort of celebration. 

We did learn that Stella is kind of a badass at battle-style video games. She beat everyone with her skills... and by skills I mean a mad dash to press every button simultaneously while she’s as close to the screen as she can get. But hey, it worked! 

The highlight of the night were the confetti cannons! 

Is there such a thing as confetti angels? Because Stella was into it...haha!

My favorite picture of the night... that gold, shiny confetti tooth! 

So I am not a big believer in setting resolutions. To me its asking for failure. So we set intentions for the coming year. We write down words or phrases of things that are important to us, that we need to work on, want to learn or do, and I hang it up in our office/school room so we can see it daily as a reminder for our current year. Its been a really fun thing that we all look forward to doing together on New Years Day (along with greens and black eyed peas!) and I hope to keep the tradition up for many years to come. Its neat to see what stays on and what changes as the years go by as well!

So that's it. 2018 is over and we're officially in a new year. Life is so weird. When you're younger and waiting to be a grown up it feels like time is at a standstill and the months last for years but when you get older, time just flies! We've been in Bahrain for a year and a half now and it simultaneously feels like we just got here and that we've been here forever.

2018 was such a year... we packed so much into twelve short months... so much travel, good food, new friends, old friends, heart break, sorrow, joy, excitement, surprise... I feel like it was a year of every possible emotion. I am so looking forward to what 2019 has in store for us!

Happy New Year everyone!