A Working Holiday

We’ve had a lovely spring break week, filled with simple pleasures. Even though we’ve been homeschooling for so long, I always forget how much pressure is relieved when we have some time off. We’ve still been working this week, but in quite different areas than usual. Accomplishing some very needed and neglected chores will hopefully leave us ready to pick up and complete the final few months of school with some added enthusiasm. (And Tim is looking forward to the rest of us being back in our usual routine, because unfortunately, we served as a rather large distraction from his work.)

One day last week the kids were tired of their fairly intensive writing program, so I just asked them to write about what they wanted to do on spring break. Peter was a very accurate predictor of some of what we’d do. Here’s what he wrote:

Spring Break Plans
By Peter
3/8/06

This spring break I am really excited because I hope to get chicks, shear the goats, and plant the garden. I want to get chicks on Tuesday because our new carpet is going to be installed and we will need to get out of the house. Chicks are cuddly and cute and fun to take care of. Shearing the goats is always fun. Well, that depends on who you ask, but I like it because friends come and we talk and work together. I like to plant the garden because it’s fun to plant even though you know that it means that later you will have to pull weeds. My partner is Jonathan, but he doesn’t work very much. I like spring break because it has fun activities, and even if I don’t get to do any of these things it will be nice to relax.

So, yes, we now have new carpet in our living, school, and family rooms, raised garden and herb beds that are prepped and renewed, new fruit trees, a very clean little barn, shorn angoras, and, tah dah…. brand new baby chicks, including a half dozen araucanas (Easter egg chickens)!!! (No ducks though, at least this year.)