Reflections...

A year in review, my reflections on my first year teaching my children at home.

How I agonized over the decision.

And, here I sit 10 months later.

They've grown.

I've grown.

But, best of all...

We've grown.

Together

Day in and day out, sunrise to sunset, moment by moment,

Grace upon grace.

Laundry often left undone, baseboards filthy, counters and tables a mess, a rare break for my sanity, my work never completed, my to do lists gathering dust. . .

But, my heart is full.

The nagging of loss is gone and in its place is the fullness of chaos, loud laughter, and uninterrupted activity 24/7!!!

And, when I tucked Joshua in last night, I thanked him for the great privilege of teaching him this year.  I told him how I loved being with him all day everyday, and I thanked him for the sweet memories of this year.

He thanked me for making him cookies. :-)

I told him he was very welcome.  Then, he smiled and told me he loved being homeschooled.

My heart beamed. :-)

This year was not always pretty, and I'd certainly never call it easy.  If I had to use one word to describe this year, it would be "rich."

It's been a year filled with...

visits from Pop and Nana (these become automatic holidays :-)
little boy laughter shaking the walls, rattling the roof
afternoons spent riding bikes, swimming, playing sports, exploring the woods ~ being free to be little boys
evenings and weekends without agenda ~ except soaking up time with Daddy
picnic lunches on pretty days
dinner table conversations about the Cold War, Sitting Bull, Apollo 11, or whatever else we are studying
fresh baked goodies with lots of helpers in the kitchen
enjoying good literature
brothers bonding
having "school" outside and breathing the fresh country air
big brothers reading to and teaching little brothers
the big learning to bend low and serve the small (still very much in process :-)
seeing the beauty in the simple
discovering the love for learning that God put in all of us (mom included!! :-)
waking up, pouring coffee, and listening to Daddy do devotions with his sons
slowing down a bit and savoring sweet time with my boys while they are still young

This year we've had more time, more moments, more memories. . .

Flower Dissection

A special thanks to Mrs. Lee at our church who so sweetly donated flowers for the boys to cut up and literally destroy! I love hands on learning! We all get to have a little fun.

The end was result was too very proud little men!

Happy Days!

Wintery Day!

The last two days the clouds have been so thick and so white that I really thought they looked as though they could produce snow! Oh, glorious thought!!! We get very little snow where we live, and this upsets me greatly because I really, really love the white powdery stuff!!! But, even though I know very well that snow will not fall with temps in the 40's, the clouds let me dream for a minute or two. . . It has been so wintery looking outside lately, and that has made my home seem all the more warm!!!

The pool storage house not looking so poolish. . .

This morning was pure bliss! Little boys immersed in their studies, littler boys playing, Rain resting, laundry washing, dishwasher humming, James Taylor singing Christmas carols, and warm coffee in my cup!! I felt so cozy and content that I made the boys an extra special 10:00 snack ~ brownies with snow sprinkled on top!!!

I wanted to take a second to answer a couple questions. I apologize that it has taken me this long! Kimberly asked me what we let our boys say when they are disappointed. And, I really don't know the answer to that!! I'll have to pay attention! I know that I say, "Oh, my goodness!!!" all the time or " Oh, my!!!" So, I imagine they repeat those two a good bit!! And, maybe they say, "Oh, man!" But, that is all I can think of?? And, Tyna asked about my sweet Rain!! Rain had a huge, as you could see by the size of his scar, lipoma (fatty tumor) under a muscle flap by his front left leg. The vet feared it would impede his ability to walk if we waited and continued to let it grow, so out it came!!! And, he is being well taken care of here! Lots of little boys wanting to give him lots of doggie treats!!!

JCT put Lije down for his nap today. He read to him and tucked him in, but Lije wanted his mama to sing!!!! It was so sweet to watch!!!!

Oh, and if you noticed that JCT is still wearing PJ's at naptime, it is because the boys declared today PJ day!!! So, they have worn their PJ's all day!! Harmless silliness!! :-)

I have been letting Lije nap in my bed because, well, just because. . . Anyway, aren't kids so adorably sweet when they are asleep!! Like angels!!!

Still sucking his fingers and twisting his hair in his sleep!!! Love that little guy!!!

While he slept the big boys and I finished up their schoolwork, and then they headed out to play on the back porch. After 30 or so minutes, they came in with freezing cold fingers which they, of course, place upon my neck and back like their good father taught them to do. I offered their cold hands a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows ~ the first this season! You would have thought I'd offered them the moon! Oh, the excitement!!!!

Yummo!!!

And, I have to put this last picture in because I know that I won't get to look upon such sweetness forever. . .

One day he will spell out, "I love Janie" or "Becky" or Sarah Rachel" or some other sweet young thing's name. I realize my time as Queen Mama is limited!! But, I am soaking it up while I can!!!!!!!

My house is such a mess, but my heart is so, so, so content!!!!!!! :-)

A Day Off. . .

We took today off :-) ~ our first day off since we began school in August ~ except for weekends, of course!

I wasn't planning to take today off. It wasn't in the plan. I made lesson plans for Monday and Tuesday of this week. But, yesterday the boys hit me up for it. "The public schools are out all week! Can we be out, too, please???" So, I told them I'd consider it and let them know in the morning. Last night I sat in bed staring at my lesson plan debating how important each item on my list was. And, then, I decided that, yes, we would, in fact, take the whole week off!!!! When they asked me at breakfast this morning what I had decided, I told them my decision and watched as Joshua gave JCT a thumbs up and JCT gave one back to his big brother. Then, they ate happily, making plans for their day!

And, oh, my, am I enjoying myself!! We took it easy this morning. The boys didn't dress until nearly 10:00 which is unheard of in this early rising home of ours. I sipped my coffee and watched them play. I did four loads of laundry and am now sitting peacefully at my computer.

The boys are outside playing ~ all except Erik Daniel who is still napping. I can see my little men out the window playing and jumping on the trampoline with the woods of fall as a backdrop. And, my heart is so full. I love the simplicity of having young children. They are not coming and going, in and out, busy, busy. We are home most of the time, together. And, we love it here. Home is a good place. Home is a big yard with lots of room for little boys to run. Home is a safe place to learn and grow. Home is warm cookies ~ fresh from the oven. Home is brothers, built in playmates, to play with all day and to giggle in bed with at night. Home is a mom who loves her little men so much her heart overflows on a regular basis. Home is a strong, wise Daddy who knows how to laugh and play with the best of them. Home is a place where we are encouraged, challenged, loved, held close, and whispered loving words regularly.

It has been a peaceful, rich day. The only "school" we did today was curl up on the couch and read!!! I am so glad they talked me into taking these days off. I may have to take my sweet friend's advice and schedule one or two of these into every month!!! They are good for my soul!!

The Everyday. . .

My stairsteps. . .

This time of year is heavenly to me. Thanksgiving is still to come, and Christmas is right around the corner! The cold weather is cozy and peaceful and calms my anxious heart. And, for some reason, maybe it is because I was so completely in over my head last week, this week is so peaceful and easy. Each day it seems that I actually have time to do all of the important things. Last week I couldn't even get the clean washed wet clothes into the dryer to dry!!! It was pure chaos, and I am so grateful for the reprieve this week is.

I don't know if anyone out there wonders what it is like in our house, but I thought I'd put a few pics that I have taken over the last two weeks ~ a glimpse into our everyday. I have had some serious ups and downs with homeschooling this year. But, I have come to a place of peace. . . finally. At first I tried a little too hard. I pushed a little too hard. I stressed a little too much. We haven't taken a single day off since school started. Even when the public schools were off, we kept right on studying. They handled it well, but it wore me out and made me miserable. So, we have slowed our pace slightly. I am learning to relax and trust God where I am inadequate. I have bumped down some of the extras and bumped up the things we enjoy like reading together. I think I will really enjoy homeschooling during the fall/winter months. Cuddling up with books, singing carols, making cookies and crafts, and sipping hot cider and hot chocolate with a few of my favorite people. Oh, and a big thanks to my sweet homeschool friends, you know who you are, that encouraged me to slow down and make these days rich. My children thank you!!!! :-)

So, without further ado, some pics from everyday life here in our little corner of the world. . .

One day my sweet little men decided it would be superhero day. So, they dressed up and remained dressed for the day. I had to refer to them as Superman, etc. They had fun with it. They said it was Superhero School.

I like to use my older kids to help teach the younger. I think I was stuffing lunch into my face while Joshua quizzed JCT on his phonograms. . . I mean while Superman quizzed Wolverine. . .

This picture was taken one rainy day. We did school on the back porch with intermittent breaks for little boys to play in the rain. . .

This makes my heart get that warm fuzzy feeling. . .

We took our reading tee pee outside one day last week for lunch. . .
Joshua and I have found that math is much more bearable when done with chips and salsa. . .

And this, also, warms my heart ~ Elijah and Rain. Elijah loves Rain. He really, really loves Rain. He sits and pets him. He looks for him first thing in the morning and tells him that he missed him during the night. And, you know what? I think old Rain kinda likes my Lije, too. Mr. Lije is pretty hard to resist!!!!

And, last but not least, we turned on the fireplace for the first time today!!! I put the little boys down for naps and flipped the switch. I left the big boys downstairs with books to read, Alli Rogers Christmas music playing, and a fire in the fireplace. Now that is my kind of reading environment!!!! I came downstairs, little ones tucked in bed, made a pot of coffee, and snuggled in next to JCT on the couch! It is easy to be thankful this time of year!!!

The Pumpkin Patch ~ 2010

Last Wednesday we met a some friends from our co-op at the pumpkin patch, and it was so much fun!! First, the boys spent some time jumping in the bouncy thingys. Erik Daniel loved jumping, and Elijah loved the sliding!!

Then, it was off to meet the animals. Here are some cute kiddos enjoying the trailer ride to the big red barn full of farm animals!

And, here is sweet Mama Meagan with Mobley. I tend to drool over Mobley because he is beyond cute. He still has a wrinkly back, and there is not a thing in the world cuter than a baby with a wrinkly back ~ not one single thing. Meagan is such a gentle and sweet mama. A few Fridays ago I mentioned to her that Erik had to go to an away game that night. And, I knew I liked her when she responded this way, "Ahhhh. . . Put the kids to bed at 8:00 and put on a pot of coffee!!!!"

Erik Daniel was in animal heaven!!! He loved the animals. He pet them, fed them, and squealed uncontrollably at them!!!! He is my animal loving boy.

The kids took turns milking the "cow."

Then, they ran through a hay maze which I renamed an allergic person's worst nightmare!!!!

Then, we were off to the pumpkin patch. . .

Many of the pumpkins were still on the vine.

The boys picked out their pumpkins and headed back to the trailer.

My boys love Miles. . .

The boys were worn out when we left! They had a blast ~ playing, laughing, and running!! Miles told me that he was going to go home and "dissect" his pumpkin!!! :-) He's a cutie!

I just love fall, pumpkins, and farms! And, the boys love having "their" pumpkins. I let Erik Daniel run free this year, and he did great. He had so much fun running around the pumpkin patch picking out his very own pumpkin. This was the first year that he has gotten to be one of the big boys, and he really enjoyed himself! It was a good day.

Losing. It./ Craziness/Making PB and Soap!!

Yes, those are underwear behind the boys in this picture. Not sure who they belong to or why they are not on, but they are there nonetheless. . .

I may just start doing one weekly post with a crazy amount of unrelated and unorganized information. I just do not have time to post anymore!!! When will there be less to do??? When??

Never.

That's when.

It hit me when I was nursing Erik Daniel one time. I think he was 4 months or so at the time. And, I was thinking about how one day Erik and I would be alone, and life would once again be calm and organized. Then, it hit me.

About the time Erik Daniel leaves for college, Joshua could be getting married. And, that means grandkiddos are just around the corner. And, multiply granddolls by four kids (now five).

And, basically. . .

I'll be busy for the rest of my life.

Isn't it great???

Okay, so anyway, this week, oh, this week. . . It was a serious of roller coaster like ups and downs. This baby has me acting like an emotional basketcase. I've always been close to being an emotional basketcase, but this pregnancy has totally pushed me over the edge. I'm not nauseated anymore. No, now I am just plain crazy. Take for example this conversation. . . Joshua and I were discussing WWII because it came up for some random unschool-related reason. Of course, he wanted to know who won and how. So, I was honest. I told him that we did, and I added that we won by dropping bombs on the Japanese. Immediately images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki flooded my mind. His response was, "Cool!!" To which I quickly snapped, "No, it was not cool. It was awful!!!" Then, the tears came like a flood. "Mom, are you crying??" he asked. "Yes, I'm crying!!!" Then, he asked, "Why are you crying?" And, all I could say, and I blubbered it over and over like a complete lunatic, "I'm crying because it was an awful war, an awful, awful, terrible war. It was horrible, just horrible." I saw images of the Holocaust in my mind. WWII was an awful thing, but normally I wouldn't cry about it. I'm nearly convinced that I am losing it, ever so slowly, ever so surely. . . I. am. losing. it.

And, in other news, Rain puked one morning this week. He puked all over the kitchen floor just as I was getting to a good part in our read aloud. Then a couple hours later I was doing math with Joshua when Erik Daniel waltzed into the schoolroom naked. I thought to myself, "Self, when you finish this last point, go put a diaper on your youngest son." And, as soon as I said this to myself, Eriky turned to waltz back into the kitchen, and his naked bottom was covered in brown. So, I said to myself, "Self, you can go over this last point in a minute. You must first catch brown-bottomed child." So, I chased his cute little brown buns into the other room, assessed the damages, found the dirty diaper with my dog's nose in it, carried said child at great distance from my body to nearest changing station, cleaned his backside, and diapered him.

And, this, friends, this is my life.

Every. day.

It isn't pretty, but it is fun!!!

They make me laugh so hard! Take for instance, one day this week we were reviewing our composer for this month. I had the computer open to play various versions of Brahm's Lullaby that the boys' art/music teacher recommended. I turned the music on, and then I went to warm up a late lunch of leftover lasagna for myself. A few minutes later I turned around to see this. . .

Totally faking sleep! I laughed out loud!! They are such characters!

And, let's see what else happened this week? Oh, yes, I walked out of the school room to find that Erik Daniel decided it was about time I clean out my basket of magazines!! I couldn't even walk to my bedroom! They were everywhere!!! And, guess what? I scooted them to the side and left them there for 2 days! Erik said something about them being kind of in the way, and I said, "I'll get to them Thursday. Can't do it today, sorry!" I know my limitations!

Now the real news of the week is that we made soap and peanut butter. Both were tons of fun and much easier than I anticipated. Here are the pics. . .

And, for lunch we had. . .

We were a soapmaking factory this week!! So fun!!!

I don't have a picture of our finished soap!!! It was part of the boys' science project for Excelsior, and I won't get them back until next week. (They are studying Botany, and the soaps were made with various herbs. It is sciencey, I promise! Well, sort of, anyway!! :-) I'll try to remember to take pictures next week!

And, that pretty much sums up the week. Oh, except for the pumpkin patch, but I'll post that separately when I have more time!!! And, I forgot, I went to the doctor today and heard my little one's heartbeat on the doppler!!! Thank You, Jesus, for a strong heartbeat!!! :-) I'm off!!!

I Get So Emotional, Baby!!!

I'm claiming the pregnancy thing. It is a fine excuse if ever there was one!

Today I was reading to my boys over lunch. I was reading about the Alamo. My boys absolutely LOVE history. I had no idea that they would love it so much, but they totally get into it!! I guess it is because history is full of wars and battles and men of courage and honor. They eat it up!! It is a good thing that history was, hands down, one of my absolute favorite subjects!!

I digress, I was reading to them about the Alamo and the War with Mexico. And, I just started bawling. I couldn't read through my tears. (My boys are used to this. I cry over many of the books we read. In fact, Joshua can do a good impression of me saying, "This makes me cry!!!")

Sorry, sidetracked again! So, I made it through the actual battle of Alamo which is just so amazing in and of itself. The courage of those men floors me! But, it was the next paragraph about Samuel Houston leading less than 800 men into battle against 1300 Mexicans.

"Men, there is the enemy," said brave General Houston. "Do you wish to fight?"

"We do," they all shouted.

"Charge on them, then, for liberty or death! Remember the Alamo!"

"Remember the Alamo!" they cried, as they rushed onward with the courage of lions.

With tears streaming down my face, I continued on in my reading. The boys hung on every word. Good stuff!! In case you have forgotten, let me remind you. . .

Depending on the history book (they give varying amounts, but all similar) there were 175-200 Americans attacked at the Alamo (including Davy Crockett and James Bowie). They were attacked by a group of over 6,000 Mexicans. They fought for 13 days!!!!! In the end, every American died. Talk about courage. Okay, enough history for now! Can't promise I won't bring it up again, though! I'm loving it!!!

Okay, where was I?? Yes, I'm an emotional train wreck!! So, I was completing a music appreciation assignment with the boys. They are studying Brahms, and we were to listen to various versions of his lullaby on the computer. One had a slideshow of baby pictures, and I started bawling. Joshua looked over at me, "Mom, why are you crying?" I said between teary gasps, "It (sob, sob) makes me want a (sob, sob) baby!!!" He put his arm around me reassuringly and said, "But, mom you are going to have a baby." I'm a mess, I tell you, a mess!!!

Caterpillars and Butterflies

Why do caterpillars and butterflies make me feel all melancholy inside?? Maybe it is because it makes me realize that it will not be long until my cute little fuzzy caterpillars will blossom into beautiful butterflies and fly away. It is what I want for them, but it makes my heart a little sad to think about it. Thankfully, they won't be ready to fly for quite some time, so I get to enjoy them a good bit more before I have to release them to this big beautiful world!

Joshua has to memorize poetry for his grammar class on Fridays. A few weeks ago the poem that the class memorized was about caterpillars spinning and dying to live again as butterflies. His grammar teacher brought each student in Joshua's class a mason jar with vented lid holding 3 caterpillars! She also brought each student a bag full of the specific leaves our caterpillars would need to eat over the next week or so.

We fed them. We watched them get really, really fat. We watched them as they lay dormant in their cocoons. And, then we watched each emerge as a beautiful butterfly. We checked a butterfly identification book out at our library, and the boys had fun paging through it to correctly identify our butterflies. Then, we set them free!

Here is a picture of our first butterfly. . .

So, pretty!
The butterflies kind of wigged JCT out. This is about as close as he would get to them...

But, Joshua loved them...

This is our second butterfly. . .

Joshua set it free, and it flew right to Elijah! It startled him at first, but then he enjoyed it!!

I got one more quick picture of this butterfly before it flew over the house never to be seen again!!

Erik set the last butterfly free with the boys, and it took off so fast that I didn't even get a picture!!

This was such a fun thing to do! It wasn't our first time to do it, but, I can honestly say, it never gets old! The whole process is amazing! And, almost everytime, I feel quite certain we've done something wrong, and the caterpillar has died in his cocoon. But, amazingly, life comes from what appears to be death, and God's beautiful, creative heart is displayed for all to see! I love it!

Field Trip to Mud Island

We packed up the car and headed to Memphis this past Tuesday morning for our first official field trip. . .

My sweet sister went with me to help me with the little boys! The big boys are studying the Mississippi River in geography at Excelsior, so several families from our group met in Memphis for a fun little field trip! We had such a good time ~ especially because Aunt Kristin came along!!! The boys cheered when they found out she was coming!! Aunt Kristin has a ton of experience with kiddos (8 of her own), so they always enjoy being with her!! I enjoyed the adult company on the 45 minute drive from her home to downtown Memphis and back, and I appreciated the fact that she knows her way around a part of Memphis that is completely unfamiliar territory to me! She was a big help!

The Mud Island Museum was great ~ so much better than I expected. They even had an Elvis room, and you know that made my oldset son happy! But, by far the best part of Mud Island is the 5 block long replica of the Mississippi River. It was so fun!! Kristin stayed with Erik Daniel, and I watched James Christofer and Elijah. Joshua went ahead of us with some friends and his geography teacher, Mrs. Laura. We walked the entire river from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. Beginning the journey. . .

Guess who had the most fun. . .

You guessed it. . .

Eriky!

In the picture below the boys are walking in a replica of New Orlean's Lake Ponchatrain. They were all four holding hands, and it was so cute. Only lasted a second, but it was so cute!!

They got quite wet. I thought about lining them up from most obedient (dry) to least obedient (soaked), but I decided that the completely soaked ones who by the end decided to swim in their clothes, much to their mother's chagrin, would not have appreciated the picture. So, I refrained. If I had taken the picture this little man would have been third in line of obedience! :-)

Checking out a map. . .

Here is a picture looking down on a portion of the replica river!
We had so much! The weather was so nice, the kids behaved well, and I had an extra set of very experienced hands! A good day! We will go back again, no question!