1st Day Back to {home}School, Among Other Things

We did it! We finally got unpacked enough and got our new learning room organized enough to start back to school! Frankly, I was starting to get worried...ha

Today went very well though. So far I am extremely pleased with our new curriculum choices for math and language arts. Now, if I could just actually get some lesson planning done... And get the finishing touches done in the learning room, so I can blog it!

In other news, it has been a bit of a traumatic week...pet-wise.

Last weekend a sweet friend (who had asked my permission beforehand) brought the kiddos their very own little fish tank with two goldfish. Well, on Sunday we noticed that The Princess' fish was pretty lethargic...dead, actually. She was sad, but she handled it fairly well. And we went to the store that evening and let her pick out a new goldfish.

Well, today during our school time~the fish tank is in our learning room~we noticed Mr. B's fish was acting funny.

And then he was dead.

It was a bit of a rough time. My son is a drama king and my daughter is the drama queen...they both melted down. Of course, I felt terrible, but what can you do? We'd already had the talk about how goldfish have short lives. "Just work on your handwriting page, kids. Ignore the fish floating on his side...." Oh my. We had to just stop for a short while, say a prayer, flush the fish and make a promise to go fish shopping right after school before things could go on.

Sandwiched between the fish funerals, the kiddos found a baby blue jay in our backyard. It was a fledgling, fully feathered. I think it may have fallen out of its nest, but there were no protective parents trying to peck our heads, so I'm not sure what happened to it. When my kids went to look at it and talk to it, it started following them around like a little puppy. It was pretty cute and they, of course, were enchanted by it. Gave it a name and everything:) My kids are big animal lovers, if you can't tell.

Well, the next morning they ran out to see if the baby bird was still there (I was a *meanie* and wouldn't let them bring the bird in the night before, of course). And it was dead.

So then there was a bird funeral.

Needless to say, I hope there are no more pet funerals this week. It's been a bit much for the kids, bless their hearts, and a bit much for me, too, because I like to protect them from hurt.

Here's looking forward to a drama-free day tomorrow!

This post is linked to:

The Making of an Egyptian Death Mask

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my blessed life

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