God's Blessings--A Homeschool Update

I have been extremely overwhelmed by all the blessings God has poured down on my family since pulling DS out of school 4 1/2 weeks ago. Every time I stop to think about how much our family has already changed in just a month, it makes my heart so happy.

In one month, my DS has gone from a very beginner reader to reading on a 2nd grade level (according to the lexile measure of books). The first week of HSing, DS wrote a story on his own that had terrible penmanship and all his words excluded vowels. Last week he wrote another story and his penmanship was nearly perfect, and all the words were spelled right without my help. He went from barely tolerating his sisters to loving being with them and when he prays during our prayer time before bed, he always thanks God for a wonderful day, that we all got to be home together, and he has stopped asking about things at school.

Before we started HSing DS, I would lament to my DH how in doing schoolwork with my DD, it would ask questions like, "what do you do to show you love God?" or "how are you becoming more like Christ?" and how we really weren't doing anything beyond going to church and praying over meals. We wanted our kids to know and love Jesus, but we weren't actually DOING anything to help them know and love Him. Well, now we are every day. We pray before school and we pray before bed and read a short devotional. Even my 2 year old begs for her turn to say a prayer.

We are reading through the history of the Bible in school. We are memorizing scripture. And my kids are starting to apply that scripture to their actions. When they argue or complain, the other kid will spout off with "Do everything without arguing or complaining..." and it shuts the complainer right up. I hear my DD singing or saying verses as she is playing all the time.

I FINALLY feel like we are being proactive in our house rather than reactive and that my kids are actually learning what it means to love Jesus and to follow Him.

When My Kids Get Their Feelings Hurt

I am a bit down today because of a few things that happened and are hurting my "mommy heart." Natalie had preschool today and she told me that her 2 best friends (who are boys) did not want her to sit by them today at snack. Then I asked if that's why she sat by the girls today for lunch and she said no, that she sat by herself (she was the only kid on her side of the table while the other girls were across from her). That none of her friends wanted to sit by her today. I'm not sure what to do about that--she's so outgoing and active that she is naturally drawn to the boys, but the boys are starting to not want to play with a girl. While the girls are quiet and just want to play make-believe, so Natalie doesn't really fit in with that either.

The other thing that happened is we had to pick Frank's friend up from school today so we went in a few minutes early so Frank could say hi to his old classmates. When we went into Frank's class, he went immediately to his old cubby and noticed that his name was gone and a new name was up there. It was pretty obvious that upset him. I didn't know how to handle it, so I just ignored it and tried to take his mind off it. I told him that this was the last time we were going to go inside on the days we pick his friend up. It is a real hindrance to his adjusting to being homeschooled. We had to go in 2 weeks ago to drop off his library book and I could see his brain shifting from being content to not being content. Being reminded of the school is not helping at all.

I hate it when my kids get hurt and I don't know how to fix it. The mommy bear in me wants to jump in and save the day and demand the kids sit with Natalie or demand the teacher not remove Frank's name from his old cubby like he never existed in her classroom. I want to shelter them and protect them from ever getting their feelings hurt, but I know that I can't. Even as an adult, my feelings get hurt often. It is just a fact of life that I need to prepare my kids for. Learning to deal with disappointment is a necessary life skill I need to teach my kids.

But it doesn't hurt to dole out a few extra hugs and kisses to help make it all better:)

Losing Weight Hurts

Today is day 2 of the great "Biggest Loser-Family Style" competition. I have done really well today. DH had the day off so we took the kids to a museum and walked around for 1 1/2 hours, then I took Frank and ran errands for 2 hours, came home and went for a 1/2 hour walk with the family, then I spent 1 1/2 hours vacuuming up the leaves in my landscaping rocks (and let me just say that I am seriously considering sending some hate mail to the previous owners of our house who thought putting rocks in the landscaping was a good idea. NOT SO!!!!)

I have carefully watched my diet and have limited my Halloween candy consumption to only 2 mini candy bars (a minor victory). This morning I weighed in 1 pound lighter than yesterday, so I was happy the scale is going in the other direction than normal.

There's just one teeny tiny little problem. MY BODY HURTS LIKE MAD!!! I had to resort to pain killers just so I could get off the couch. Ouch! Ya, I know I was out of shape to begin with, but having every single muscle in my body screaming at me is just plain mean:( I am glad that my body is hurting because it means I'm actually getting a workout, but it sure would be nice if we all came equipped with a "instant muscle" button that we could push whenever we felt like being buff rather than having to go through the work and pain of actually getting in shape.

Despite the pain and hard work of losing weight, I am not giving up this time. I am going to kick some family butt and win this competition and be the Biggest Loser.

Losing Weight--Biggest Loser Family Style

Over the weekend I took the kids to my Grandma's house while my DH was out of town for work. During the course of the weekend we both lamented that we wanted to lose weight. We have a specific event in mind that we want to lose weight for, but I won't expand on that until it is official. Anyway, I jokingly said that we should do a Biggest Loser type competition with our family since we all want to lose weight never dreaming everyone would jump on it with excitement. So today is the official start day of our "Biggest Loser-Family Style" competition.

I hit the pavement running today. Frank rode his bike for moral support and I jogged. Or plodded. Possibly just walked really fast. But I did it. Only one loop around the neighborhood but I jogged the whole time despite feeling every muscle in my body screaming at me to stop. By the end of it, I felt like I was going to die, but I did it and didn't give up. Tomorrow I will maybe run just a tiny bit further and do that every day until I'm running a respectable distance. Like an entire mile:) And I also discovered that the asthma I thought I'd outgrown is still with me. I just haven't worked out in so long that I didn't notice I had it. But I am now coughing a ton and probably need to pull out Frank's inhaler to get my lungs back in order. Rather shocking to know I am that out of shape, which just proves this is a needed step in my life.
I also went shopping and put back almost everything that was unhealthy and stocked up on extra fruits and veggies along with soy and sun nuts for snacking. And my token box of tofu which I always buy when I am starting a diet for some reason:) But I'm going to stirfry it up tonight so it won't just sit there for months until it's spoiled like I normally do.
So far half my family (6 people) are in on the diet competition. I'm expecting almost everyone to join in. After Frank was born and I lost all the weight, the thing that really got me to be serious about it was that my coworkers at the time did a Biggest Loser competition with cash prize and we were all competing against eachother (with support to eachother as well) and having that extra motivation really works for me. I think maybe I am just competitive:)

I am hopeful that this time it's going to work and that I am going to see success in my weightloss journey.

Homeschooling on the Go

I took the kids to my inlaws' lake house this week while my DH was on a work trip. I had planned to not do much by way of formal school since it wasn't practical to haul all those school books along. But seeing as how we were in the middle of a unit study on water, I just couldn't resist using the lake right out the back door and the various rivers all around us to help explain the concept of the water cycle. Of course, the rain we got also helped explain the water cycle:)

I took the kids to see Lake Michigan on a rainy day to observe the crashing waves on the pier (we stayed in the car for safety reasons). We had learned about the erosion power of water so the crashing waves definitely provided a great example of the power of water to erode things. We noted the entrance of a river emptying into Lake Michigan and the area that would sort of be a delta (the piers pretty much keep the sand from collecting). I put a pot of water on the stove to boil to demonstrate water vapor. The kids had a lot of fun putting their hands in the steam to make their hands wet.

We also went to visit a local fish hatchery to observe the fish. We were fortunate to arrive just as they started the automatic fish feeder so the kids had a blast watching the fish jump to get their lunch. We then had the unique privilege of seeing a baby turtle on the sidewalk--his shell was still very soft. We'd learned about turtles a few weeks ago so this was a real treat. Even momma had never seen a baby turtle without a hard shell.

The final lesson of the trip was a lesson on the power of a wind storm when the driving wind knocked out the power to the entire county. We ended up cutting our trip a day short because without a working furnace, water, toilets, or a way to cook food, it was just best to go home.

I bought the kids notebooks and glue sticks to start a "Field Trip Journal" with cut up brochures of the places we visit interspersed with pictures they draw of the things they observed. Natalie drew her own rendition of a rainbow trout while Frank drew a map of the hatchery (the kid is officially obsessed with maps). It will be fun to look back at the end of the year at all the places we have visited and seen.

We're in the Right Place

Today I had to take the kids up to Frank's old school to drop off his library book and pick up his medicine from the office. As we were walking out, Frank's class was coming out of the building to go on a "fall foliage" walk. Frank ran right up to them to say hi and the kids were excited to see him. I thought that going back to the school would make me question our decision to pull him out of school. Instead, it solidified in me that we had made the right decision. No lingering regrets assailed me, only the knowledge that the decision felt right and that school isn't the best place for Frank.

Later that day we went to McDonalds with our playgroup and the moms were asking me how HSing was going. It's the first time I've been asked that so far, and yes, it has only been 1 1/2 weeks so far, but my answer was immediate. "Home schooling is going great! I love it. The kids are enjoying it. I find it to be much easier than taking Frank to school every day."

I think that these little confirmations are important because I was wavering a LOT as the time drew near to pull Frank out. I doubted our decision almost every other minute. But I don't doubt that anymore. I can already see Frank changing for the better, I can see him being challenged to learn. In just a week, I can already see his reading level significantly improve. He can read things today that he couldn't read a week ago. I know he would have eventually learned to read in school, but why make him wait until the teacher got around to teaching him when he so obviously is ready now. Why make him learn how to count to 10 with the rest of his class when he is capable of adding and subtracting 3 place numbers and can already do simple multiplication and division?

But most of all, I know that our decision was right because my kids remind me every morning after breakfast and every evening before bed that I need to pull out the Bible and our Bible study book because it is time to pray. Even little Allison begs for her turn to say her prayer. And the kids are memorizing scripture (and me along with them) and applying it to their daily lives. These are things they would never get in school that in the long run, will mean so much more than anything else they will learn in their lives. I am so thankful that God changed first my heart and than my DH's heart to embrace homeschooling for our family.

I Want To Be Just Like You, Mommy

Today I have been a bit under the weather and so pretty much parked myself on the couch with a book all day. At one point, Natalie collected her pillow, 3 blankies, 4 stuffed animals and her princess costume and brought them all into the living room, set up her little bed area, put on her princess outfit and got under the blankets and then told me, "I want to be just like you, Mommy. I am practicing so I will be like you when I am all grown up."

She then proceeded to tell me at least 5 times over the course of the day that she is practicing to be like me, that she is watching me to see what I do so she can do the same things. I asked if there was anything specific that I do that she wants to do and she said, "You read us books, you give us hugs, and you love us. I am going to practice those things."

On the one hand, having my 4 year old daughter tell me this was incredibly sweet and memorable. On the other, it also filled me with a bit of dread because it really is true that my babies are watching me, learning from me what it means to be a wife, a mother, a Christian. And they are learning from both my successes and my failings.

It also means that with making the decision to homeschool them, they are around me all day long learning even more than they would if they were in school. Which is a good thing. But it also is a humbling thing and could be a fear-inducing thing. And as a Christian, it is also something that brings me to my knees on a regular basis. I want to be a good example for my kids and I can't do that on my own. There are habits of mine that I struggle with that I would not find pleasing in my kids. I get tired and can sometimes get short with them. Without regularly being in the Word and regularly asking God to help me, to change me, to form me into the woman He has created me to be, I would be scared spitless at the prospect of Natalie wanting to be just like me.

Yet, I know that with Christ, I can be a good example for her to emulate and that this is no cause for fear but a reminder for me to stay faithful to my daily prayer times. And to be the example Christ wants me to be.

Day 3 and Already Learning

Today was day 3 of Frank being home. In my brain I had a definite image of how things were going to go in our house once I had all the kids home. I made up a schedule that our day would follow. It's a really pretty schedule with sticky notes for each half hour block. But reality is almost never like what we imagined.

So far I have yet to stay home all day with the kids. Monday we did our work quickly so we could goto the zoo and enjoy the sunshine. (We've had a really horribly cold fall, so sunny and warm is a huge treat) Tuesday we had to go grocery shopping, then I squeezed in some school work before running off to playgroup. Today we finished our work and I decided we would finally make that trip to Toys R Us on the other side of town that I've been putting off for almost 2 months (Frank got a gift card for his birthday and has asked to go spend it almost every day, but TRU is about 20 minutes away, so we rarely get over there). Tomorrow isn't looking very promising either. I have school books on hold at the library that will only be on hold until Friday.

In 3 short days I have learned a few things:

1. Frank is a know-it-all and it is impossible to do school work with both of my kids without him butting in and giving Natalie the answers. So he is officially banned from the room when I am trying to teach Natalie to read. If I even spell the word for her and Frank over hears it in the other room, he will shout out the word.

2. Natalie is not ready for 1st grade level work. I have been including her in Frank's read-alouds for history and literature and she just cannot sit still and pay attention. I am definitely learning that she is not an oral learner. Which is good to know for future curriculum purchases. If the book doesn't have pictures, forget it.

3. When I assign my kids their own day to help me in the kitchen, it suddenly makes kitchen duty desirable to the point that they fight over who gets to help me make the meal, who gets to do the dishes and who gets to sweep the floor. Kinda strange, but helpful.

4. My kids are a lot more excited about waking up every morning because they want to see what we're going to do today. Not being predictable has its upsides.

5. The trick to getting Allison to sit still during Bible/Prayer time is to give her a picture Bible of her own to look through while I read the "grown up" Bible to them. And to also have her sit right next to me with my arm around her. She is now very adamant that she wants her own turn to say a prayer as well. A week ago she wouldn't sit still to have Bible/Prayer time. She would scream, cry, whine, or yell rather than sit and participate.

Overall, it may not be what I was envisioning, but the kids are learning and so am I.

First Day of Homeschooling

Today marks the first day of officially being a full time homeschooling mom. Frank's last day of school was this past Friday. I woke up at 6:30 just as planned, and when I was done getting ready, I left my room and discovered both Frank and Natalie up and ready for the day--it was only 6:50 and their alarms were not scheduled to go off until 7:00. Frank came running up to me telling me he'd woken up at 6:13 and got up and did all his morning chores in 17 minutes and that he was ready to help me make breakfast. I guess he was a little excited at the prospect of homeschooling.

Frank helped me make pancakes and coffee. He set the table. And he was very proud to tell Daddy that he helped make breakfast. Natalie got all ready and did her morning chores without complaint (which is not her usual). I think maybe she was excited about Frank not going to school anymore, also.

After breakfast, Natalie cleaned up the kitchen without complaining (again, not usual for her). Then we started our morning with a short prayer time and launched into school. I told the kids that our goal was to finish as fast as we could so we would have time to enjoy our beautiful fall day by going to the zoo. We were all done by 9:25, so we loaded up in the car and drove to the zoo.

The zoo was deserted, but we had fun anyway. We learned about the continents this morning, so I asked the kids to look at the information boards and tell me which continent each of the animals are from. Then I read the information boards on each animal so we could learn a little about them. We even had time to play on the playground when we were done and we had races on the slides.

Over all, I would say Day 1 of homeschooling was a smashing success! I can't promise every day will be as fun as today, but I think it will go well for us.

Mommy-Daughter Outing

Natalie is my little princess. She likes tiaras, princess dresses, sparkly shoes, and jewelry. She also begs to get her hair cut almost every week. FINALLY the day arrived for us to get our hair cut this morning. It was our first mother-daughter salon visit. I usually take her to the cheapo places, but I thought this would be more fun for her.

When we arrived, she informed me that I was going first. She was awed by the hair washing sink. She wanted to help pump the chair up to the right height. She commented on all the hair on the floor and asked the beautician, Sandy, why she was making such a big mess. She checked out all the nail polish at the manicure station. She pretended to get her hair dried under the dryer. She danced in circles. She asked Sandy if she had any little girls at home (Sandy was definitely over 50).

Then it was Natalie's turn for a hair cut. We asked her how short she wanted it and she kept repeating that she wanted it to be as short as her head. Still not sure what that meant, but I had Sandy cut it to her chin and Natalie seemed alright with that. Natalie had a great time getting her hair washed for the first time in a sink. She kept laughing saying it was silly. She spent the entire time of her hair cut making faces in the mirror she was facing. We had a hard time getting her to put her head down because she wanted to look at herself in the mirror. She laughed when Sandy pulled out the hair dryer (I've only used one on her once about 2 years ago).

And then Natalie proclaimed us both beautiful and told Sandy that we would be back next week for another hair cut.

The joys of a mommy-daughter outing definitely made it worth the extra $5 it cost to take her to a more upscale salon with me.

About Me

I am a wife of 7 1/2 years. I am a mother to 3 kids--Frank who is 6, Natalie who is 4, and Allison who is 2. I am a full time mom and soon to be full time homeschooling mom (starting October 26 after we pull Frank from school--we're letting him finish out the soccer season). I have been sold out to Jesus my entire life. I am active in my service at my church. I am also an elected official for my town. I do a little bit of everything and it all adds up to one great life.