Hitting the Books Again

I haven't had much computer time recently because we got our express shipment a week ago!  These are the "must have" items we packed in anticipation of needing things to conduct life until our household goods arrive in Italy.

We did not, however, anticipate being in temporary lodging quite this long!  So, we've added 613 pounds of extra stuff into this little apartment.  Some of the stuff is useful: homeschool supplies, our coffee pot, nice pots and pans, a complete set of silverware, handy kitchen gadgets, etc.  Some of the stuff is superfluous: towels and bedding, which are already provided for us by the Navy Lodge.  And some of the stuff is just plain annoying: a boatload of stuffed animals (really?!); Bible bee trophies (what in the world?! How did THOSE get put in the EXPRESS shipment?!); Legos that never get picked up and apparently multiply when we aren't looking, creeping over every available flat surface suitable for setting up scenarios of death and destruction.

So, obviously we've been very busy creating space where there is none available, not to mention doing school full-time in between stepping over the 1,836 extra little objects that weren't here a week and a half ago.  Life seemed so much simpler then...the only whines to be heard were cries of "I'm bored!"  Now we have children bickering over extra toys and yowling over lost pieces.

But on the plus side, we have more activities to make our days go a bit faster and help me feel that we are actually accomplishing something in the way of our children's education so their brains aren't totally turning to mush.  Also, our Rosetta Stone Italian program arrived, so we've added that to our school days along with our regular Sonlight schedule.  I must say, it is actually wonderful that we are picking up in the middle of a core!  I don't feel a bit guilty that we didn't finish American History before Ted's deployment ended!  We're starting up with World War I, and so far the kids are pretty fascinated.  We are also finishing up a missionary biography that we got from the author himself in the airport the day we flew to Italy!  He grew up in a family of 10 kids and has served his whole life as a missionary to the Yanomamo people in South America.  The kids all have really enjoyed the account--and the book served as our social studies and Bible activities in the days waiting for the rest of our school supplies to arrive.

So, it's good to know that school can, in fact, be done in a small setting.  Regardless, Move-In Day can't come quickly enough around here!  If only we had an actual date so we could count down!