One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. ~John Burroughs

So....the holidays kept me quite busy during the entire month of December. We had a little Christmas party & gift exchange for eleven of Malachy's old school and new homeschool buddies. It was really exciting for me to get together with their moms that I had missed so much because of homeschooling. One grandmother visiting from New York, even joined in the fun. The kids were wild with excitement, filled to the brim with pizza, soda, and sugar coated goodies and went home with a little gift and hopefully a warm memory of friendship they will keep for a long time.

The two weeks of a rainy, winter vacation was filled with running errands, visiting friends and family and doing all the necessary chores to usher in the Christmas holiday celebration and the new year.

And it's over. And I'm ever so grateful for that. The house is back to normal, all decorations are stored away in the garage. Toys are organized in their rightful locations. New clothes are hung in the closets. The chaos is over for another year. I can breathe with a calmness I haven't felt in weeks.

During the second week of vacation, we dabbled a little in school work. Just enough to review and to give the boy some much needed structure. This morning, we began with a full, Monday schedule and it went really well. I think we were both really looking forward to a sense of normalcy.

We started just a tad earlier than most days, breezed through several courses, took an hour and a half off for lunch, caught up with two more subjects right after and we were done by 1:30. Nice. I pointed out to Malachy that this was a wonderful day and if he didn't resist so often, most days could be like this.

But! I've been around the block a few times and I'm aware that tomorrow may be a completely different story. Worthy of another blog, I'm sure.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!