Christmas

Oh.  My Goodness. 
It's Christmas. 
Already. 

I'm saying that with the same kind of incredulity used when saying, "I live in Oklahoma."
Let it just sink in. 
Dang. 

We started homeschooling the oldest two kids right before Thanksgiving. 
It has been, and continues to be, an adjustment. 

I'm learning to let some things go and to hold tight to others. 
I learninng that my work is never done. 
I'm learning more about ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia than I never wanted to know. 
I'm learning that homeschooling is wonderful.
And that it freaking sucks, too. 

We've had to hit the re-set button so many times in the past six months. 
The transition has been difficult.  It would be so much worse if we did not have our routines, our Church and each other. 
So that's something. 
Right? 

We took a day off from regular school to take an adventure on Monday. 
Our lovely next door neighbor in Maryland loves The Pioneer Woman.  To the point where, when we told her we were moving out here, her first reply was, "Oh!  You can go to Pawhuska!  Lucky!"
I saw that that Ree Drummond was doing a book signing at The Mercantile and thought that Katie might like a new cookbook autographed by her favorite author. 
Off we went. 
The drive there was about two hours.  One hour directly north and the next directly east. 
The variation in the landscapes were striking. 
After starting out in dense fog, rolling hills and trees;

 we progressed to more traditional prairie scattered with trees, windmills and oil jacks. 

Then we hit Ponca City.  Oil Refineries.  Imagine how New Jersey smells and mix that with manure. 
How fortunate the speed limit was 70. 
Continuing on, it was Prairie. 
Prairie as in driving for 30 miles without seeing a tree or a house. 
Gorgeous. 

We were able to get to Pawhuska and shop at The Mercantile for a bit. 
Pawhuska is really the first small town we've seen in our adventures that is thriving.  The Pioneer Woman has done so much to revitalize her community - we will be heading back to explore Osage Nation.