Now 2015 really kicks into gear. Keith has basically been off work for the past two weeks. He’s worked, I think, four days. It’s been a crazy schedule! So tonight he returns to work, complete with a new “bid” (every six months the guys choose where they want to go every night; they are awarded runs based on seniority). Tonight’s weather is supposed to take a nasty turn, but thankfully he has bid to go south instead of north.

We are slowly easing our way back into normalcy. I’ve planned this week’s school week, which includes, among other things, thank you notes for Christmas gifts, learning our phone numbers, putting toys away into the proper new places, introducing the new “chore chart”**, shooting toy soldiers with nerf darts, and bowling with plastic cups.

I have really enjoyed The Homegrown Preschooler, which is our “curriculum” for homeschooling this year. It’s low-key, play-based, and even though I feel like I did absolutely nothing in November and December, when I pulled out the checklists, it turned out I had “accidentally” taught him things! Plus it’s modeled after the Classical Method, which I have fallen in love with, and plan to use for the foreseeable future in our homeschooling efforts. Trust me when I say I will blog more about this in the future 🙂

But so far this morning we’ve done laundry, planned our grocery trip, played legos, eaten breakfast, sang along to some CDs, and watched and played Transformers: Rescue Bots. It’s been nice! I figure since tomorrow there is supposed to be 3-5″ of snow on the ground and sub-zero windchill, today can be a little more loose in our schedule.

I love the holidays, but both Little Man and I thrive on a routine. Not a schedule so much, but a routine. And that is one of my goals for 2015: to develop much more of an intentional routine to our days. We have gotten away from that in the past few months, and I hope to restore routine to our lives. Everything seems to flow more smoothly when we have that!

**I have been involved this year in a Bible study called “Entrusted with a Child’s Heart.” I cannot begin to tell you (but I will try, later) how incredible this study is, on multiple levels. The author suggests a chore chart method that we are going to implement next week, as Little Man turns FIVE on Sunday. (I don’t want to talk about it. SOB CRY SOB). **