The 4x4 Meme

Got tagged by Sarah.
The hard part was the first--coming up with four new things in the past four years.

1. Homeschooling. Only 18 months ago, there was no way. Now I can't imagine living, and raising my kids, any other way.

2. Becoming a stay-at-home mom. We realized that daycare for two, even by family, was beyond our pay grade especially given the aggravation and the intangible costs to our family. So I took my 12 weeks' maternity leave for The Boy, went back and took up space for the last 7 days of the school year (my sub had already given exams and marked report cards), and was done. I've missed it for about 6 hours in the past 4 years.

3. The Modesty Movement. Wearing skirts four or more times a week, given laundry, weather, and activity considerations. It's affected my girls to wear more skirts too, even without me saying anything.
I think it's affected The Boy as well. Twice he's had "scary dreams," and not wanted to tell me. "They're too scary for you, Mama. I'll tell Daddy when he gets home."

4. Raising more kids than I have hands. My OB, who has four boys, said the big jump is from one to two, not two to three. It really was. Now, we've got three and another coming; why not have eight? I'm already outnumbered!
This, of course, will be dramatically affected by #2 below.


Four things I hope to do:
1. See some (roughly half) of my children make their First Communion. It's a big deal, you know?

2. Find our way to a bigger house. The housing market around here isn't exactly motivating us to put ours on the market. The kids are.

3. Since we're dreaming, I'd like to get back to French. I miss it. Reading, listening, studying it. I used to have a pretty good Parisian accent but haven't been back there in 14 years. No, I'm not longing for stamps on my passport; just the time, energy, and money to maybe take (graduate level?) classes again. Or at least pick up a novel or history book once in a while.

4. Read all of the books on Kolbe's middle school literature list. That should put me in good shape for Madeleine; she'll be at least in fifth grade by then!

Tag: Dear husband, Brownie Mama, and Heather again (since she had so much fun the last time).