One Step at a Time

Once again, I have failed to blog this week until this very moment.  It is not because of a lack of interest, but because my "free time", such as it is, has been taken up with other projects, including writing.  I was blessed with the opportunity to write for a new homeschooling magazine, Learning Tangent and here is the cover of the latest e-issue (they are working their way toward print):

See that article at the top?  Toss the Textbook! An Eclectic Approach to History is mine :-)  I really enjoyed writing this, and will be writing for their Winter edition as well, which will be right up my alley as it is about Family and Faith, but from a very respectful...not proselytizing tone.  For those who don't know the homeschooling world very well, it is largely Christian, and secular, non-Christians, or more progressive Christians can find it difficult to connect with others.  I am hoping I can craft an article that is interesting, and yet perhaps addresses this specific issue.

I also was asked to write a review for a new homeschooling handbook written by one of our favorite curriculum developers, Steven David Horwich at Connect the Thoughts.  Here is a link to my review, at the bottom of the page, for anyone who is slightly interested:  The Homeschooler's Handbook .

In addition to these little writing projects, we have been hard at work...and learning some hard lessons...as we continue to develop our newest family "member".  I have mentioned previously that there is something going on behind the scenes, and this week it became apparent that already it has grown larger than we ever anticipated when we first kicked the idea around.  We are working on a homeschooling web site with special needs as the focus, and this week we had to abandon one platform and look at moving to another as we needed something with more capacity and features than we initially thought.  This meant hundreds of hours of work had to be ditched, and I was feeling quite depressed about it, enough to feel like walking away from the idea all together.  It was inspiring to me, upon sharing what was going on with the kids, to have all three of my Data Input staff (Angela, Olesya, and Matthew) look at me and say, "There is NO WAY we are going to quit!  When do we start over?"

I was "schooled" by my own kids in Resilience 101, and Stick-to-it-iveness 201.

With the help of our adopted auntie, who is a Web Diva and incredibly talented, we are going to begin anew.  Reminding myself that tackling something new means taking it one step at a time is important.  I learned a lot, and realized we wouldn't be at Iteration 2.0 of our project if we hadn't learned so much from Iteration 1.0, so it is worth it...still a little disheartening, but we'll get there.  If everything works out, it is going to be phenomenal, and hopefully a huge help to other families out there like ours.  That is what is keeping me going, because I know how hard it can be, I know the frustration and how lonely moms of learning disabled kids can feel, and I don't want anyone to have to feel that way.  Our kids are all quite excited, for this is really going to be a family thing and each can participate in one way or another.  Already they are learning a lot about using images online, spread sheets, marketing, etc.  Kenny already is proving to be quite creative in thinking of social media, despite never using it before himself...he just gets it.  We will see where all of this leads us, but it is occupying an enormous amount of time at the moment and is where my focus is.  In time, we will reveal our New Baby.  

Tomorrow we are taking a little camping vacation, or first "real trip" with the trailer.  We are heading out to the Grand Canyon and Southern Colorado to explore, take photos, and slow down a bit as a family together.  We have driven through this area, but never spent much time there, so we are all looking forward to it, and I should have lots of photos to post!  This is a test run for what we hope will be several more longer trips in the trailer to explore America.  We'll see how it goes, and if we are comfortable with that many people in that close of proximity to one another for that long :-)  Hahaha!  Saying a little prayer for us would be a wonderful thing.

Now we are off to participate in the Montrose CROP Walk, which is sponsored by Church World Service to raise awareness about food and water insecurity locally, and throughout the world.  It is a small event here in town, which we hope will grow over time.  Dominick is working at a BBQ and Street Dance at Sharing Ministries, the local food bank we volunteer at,  as they strive to raise funds for a new facility.  I guess it is Service Weekend for the LaJoy's before we head off into the sunset tomorrow!