random thoughts

I have just loved being Emily's mom these last few weeks. Everything she does is charming and cute and sympathy-inducing. The girl loves to dance and dancing makes her laugh. She's addicted to ice cream. She drags our giant box of goldfish crackers with her wherever she goes. She refuses to wear any shoes but her squeaky shoes. She waves goodbye to strangers. She kneels down and folds her arms when it's time for family prayer each night and then puts her finger to her mouth and says, "Shsss" very seriously. After the prayer she says "Ugs" and gives us all hugs. Levi always gets at least two. She yells "AH-NAH!" when she can't find her sister. She thinks everything Levi says or does is HILARIOUS. She loves to read books, especially ones about "gogs" (dogs). She calls a spoon a "poos" and a cup a "puc." She likes stars. She has no fear on the playground. She still loves her blanket.

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Friday night I dreamed I was running a 15 mile race at the LCCC course with an obstacle portion on a playground (of course). Running was so easy. I was winning until I decided to take a break for pancakes. Who wouldn't?
The next morning the weather was *perfect.* I had to run. I couldn't not run. It took me two miles to warm up, but eventually, I started listening to my breathing and letting my legs' momentum carry me and I could feel I was on the verge of flow and the endorphins were pumping. I'm still not in good enough shape to have the kind of easy, energizing run I dream about, but I haven't even come anywhere close to that for about four years. To really sense it in my future was exhilarating.
When we were house hunting and saw the trees and trails of The Woodlands, I knew that living here would facilitate the kind of active life that's important to us. It has and I'm so happy we moved here. It was a great decision.

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Levi is super smart and his brain is constantly working on something, and it's usually doesn't have anything to do with getting ready for whatever event is coming next in his life. I've tried lots of different ways to make mornings smoother, but I still really yell at him about once a month and get frustrated with him a couple times a week. I hate that our mornings start with tension and I'm good about apologizing and explicitly asking the kids to help me get our good feelings back by doing jokes or poems or tongue twisters in the car. But I also know that Levi's teacher is frustrated with him daily because he has a hard time focusing on his work. He's already reading chapter books and they have to do daily handwriting worksheets where they practice one letter of the alphabet each day, so I understand why he's bored.
I'm really thinking about homeschooling him in the mornings and sending him in for lunch, recess, specials, and centers in the second half of the day. That would give us some flexibility in his morning routine and we could do more school work at his level.
I'm nervous about this. I'd never thought I'd home school and I'm scared to give up some freedom. I'm worried I'll be more annoyed with him being home. I'd love some advice. Please advise me.

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I love Sam. We celebrated our 10th Valentine's Day as a couple today. We still really love each other and like each other and learn new things about each other and there's not much more you could ask for in a marriage.