Proof

Joshua handed me a merit card from school this morning.  It says "Excellent result in your 1/2 yearly HSIE exam".  Small token perhaps but to me it's proof that I finally made the right moves for the kids and it's finally paying off.  We got them out of Sydney where Emily was on a slippery slope to disaster and moved back to Junee only to find that the once good schools had deteriorated under the regime of two inept and to be blunt, idot, principals.  Em continued to make the wrong choices, Josh got terribly bullied and not only did the schools not help us, they actually contributed to the problems.  In desperation, and with no clue or preparation I took them out of school and attempted to homeschool them for four months.  Four months of sheer terror for me, with a knot in my stomach most days wondering what awful damage I was doing to my childrens' educations.  I have to say here though, that many families make homeschooling work wonderfully for them, my blogging friend Karisma is a fine example of this.  For me, however, it wasn't right and my gut told me it wasn't right for the kids either.  Knowing that the principal at the high school here is still the same as when Kate was a student we made the decision to move back up to Cootamundra last October, and while the problems with Emily continued and it was a struggle to get them back into formal schooling mode, I persevered and stood my ground and provided them with security, consistency and stability and it's really paid off.  Both children are now going off happily to school EVERY day without argument, both are making friends, Josh is doing really well academically, Emily has embraced sport, has found her passion in art, and has not had a "meltdown" for months.  I have committed to staying here for at least the next five years until Josh has finished high school, no more moving around and changing schools.  After that, depending on where they go to uni, we will consider our options.  I want my children in our lives, after losing my older kids, and Kate taking off across the country with seemingly no plans to come back I just know that I want to stay close to these two. 
All this creativity with Em and her mentor has inspired me to get back into writing my book.  It's the story of my life, for my kids only, but I believe it's important given the circumstances of our lives, especially with the older three who were never told about their family history on either side.  The work my sisters have done researching family history over the years has given me some interesting facts to work with.  I was surprised yesterday how long ago I started writing, November 2008 and how much I had written.  It's just some facts that I need to organise and flesh out with stories a bit.  I'm excited about it, and while it may take a while I'm determined to get it finished.  I'm also thinking of getting out my scrapbooking stuff again.  I am making good progress with Emily's rug and I have been adding to Josh's because it wasn't big enough.  I have always needed to have a creative outlet, ever since I can remember.  This is why I blog, why I love to cook.  But I lack discipline and that is something that is a work in progress and I'm doing alright with it.  I also know I need to keep busy during Phill's long absences. 
I did a lasagne last night with pork and veal mince and added ground cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg and it gave it a really different taste. 
Back to my book.