Journal

I have been mostly silent on this blog for a few month for several reasons.  I think the biggest one is that I have been more than a bit overwhelmed with life.  Even when I have time, I just can't get my thoughts together nor have I even wanted to.  Although, now I wish that I had journaled my journey.  Also, life is more busy than ever!  Mostly because of the homeschooling undertaking.

Home schooling was not a decision that I made lightly.  I know that the seed has been in my heart my whole life pretty much, just as having a large family has been.  Realizing this dream was something that took years to have the guts and just the right push to do so.

Homeschooling our whole family as opposed to just one kid like last year is a whole different ball game.  The weight is heavy, I am not going to lie.  That is a lot of ages and stages to worry and think about all the time.  Just the mental stress has just about done me in. And that is not referring to the actual homeschooling we are doing, just the crazy in my head.

For some reason, I thought since we tested the waters last year, that we would get into a great routine within the first few week and spread our wings and fly.  Um. No. There has been a lot of trial and error. We have done a lot of good. This has been an amazing journey so far.  But being a newbie is so much more of a learning curve (ha, get it?) than I thought it would be.  I think because there is so much out there for home schoolers and so many opportunities, it is hard to see clearly, even if I try to focus on the simple.  There is so much to compare to.

On the other hand, I truly love being with my kids all the time.  I love that the world is our classroom.  I love watching them learn and develop and be creative.  It is such a treat.  They are amazing little people!  I love that I am a mom who is not missing out on their development.

It gives me a deeper purpose.  It makes me want to be better.  It makes me feel passion about what I am doing.   It makes me love more.  It stretches me more.

It is good.

One thing that has been hard for me is WHY we are doing this.  There are a million reasons one may choose to home school.  I have read many lists of them and articles about them.  But mostly, they weren't totally resonating with me.  I am not really anti-public school.  I think my kids would be okay there.  We can instill values in our home and our kids can stand strong, just like Peter and I did.  I think there are good people who public school just like there are good people who choose to home school.  There are some great opportunities in public school.  But there are some really wonderful advantages to home schooling.  I can see both sides of it.

I read one woman's blog post series that finally resonated with me.  I finally felt something hit me just right.  I felt my heart saying , yes, Yes, YES the whole time I read it.  I love it when someone finds just the right words that I wasn't able to find, and inspires me.  Just about every point she made is how I feel, or hope to feel.   She is 4 years into it, so I have a ways to go.  If you want to understand why I do home school, read this.  I think there are other reasons for me, and maybe some day I will be able to write it all as well, but for now I will just say, my sentiments exactly. 

November 2014

In November, it occurred to me that since we are home schooled, we should celebrate that freedom. Plus I really needed to get away so I reserved a local cabin at a campground. I was going to just go with the kids because I thought Peter would have to work, but he was able to come so that was a bonus! A fellow homeschooling friend joined us in the cabin next door, so the kids loved having some extra playmates.

The roomy little cabin had electricity and heat so it was very comfortable even though it was rainy.  My main goal was to relax, let the kids explore and read aloud a whole book.  We read the Boxcar Children and the kids loved it!  We also did a 500 piece puzzle, played chess and at lots of treats.  I had brought some dominoes and Dallin ended up building with them a lot of the time. 

Here are the boys building a "shelter".

He always let Logan crash into the towers after he built them.

When we got home, we watched the cartoon version on Netflix. It was very close to the book so they liked it!

Dallin and Eden are taking an entrepreneur class, so he had a big idea to start a leaf raking business.  He had me take some pictures of him in action for his fliers.

He ended up getting hired right away by a neighbor.

I think anticipation is partly what makes family traditions so special.  Our annual trip to Great Wolf Lodge is a perfect example.  The kids ask about it for months and it builds and builds as they wait for the day to finally come. 

This was a great year.  The kids had a blast with their cousins.  I was so happy to not be 8 1/2 months pregnant this time too!  Every year seems to get a bit easier as our kids get old enough to not need as much supervision.  They are all pretty comfortable in the water.  We held Logan the whole time and mostly looked after Lily and Luke while the other kids rode a lot of slides and such. 

Peter's parents and Lucy came this year too, so they were super helpful with everyone too.  Here's Logan with aunt lucy. He is ready to swim!

Morning cuddles.

Eden loves painting her nails for every holiday.  This is her Thanksgiving theme.

We read the second Boxcar Children book and Tanner was really into it.  He colored away while I read.  I think he is the biggest fan of the series. This is a great character building series.  I love how the children are so kind to each other and look after on another.  I could tell that after reading these books, my kids were being nicer to each other.

Sweet Lily made herself busy too.  She kept looking at the cover while I read so she could spell it.

And Carter drew his lego sword that he built.

Logan started to think about walking.

And our amazing Lily turned 5! We had a little birthday party at Grandma's house. 

She opened some gifts.  For an activity we dipped things in chocolate, like pretzels and ritz cracker peanut butter sandwiches and such. 

For FHE Lily got to pick a restaurant so she picked Papa's Pizza.  The kids had a great time playing in the play structure.  Logan had fun loving on daddy.

Another OMSI field trip.  We sure do love that place.  This time, one of the young women from church came along to help out.  It was great!

Dallin used every last block in the place.

Slime!

Lily's favorite thing turned out to be the imaginary play chipmunk area.  She collected acorns for a long long time.

Luke joined in too. It was such a treat to just watch them.  I love watching their childhood.

My baby turned 1!  I can't believe that has happened so quick. Take note that he is the first of our babies to not really enjoy destroying his cake!  He kind a played in it for a minute, but then kept looking at us like "Please clean me up!" He didn't like how his hands were so messy so he kept wiping them on his head and belly.

He kept raising his arms hoping to be saved. So we cleaned him up.  This is certainly new for us!

He loves this little toy piano that Grandma gave him.

Sometimes I forget how hard Peter works.  He showed me this picture of a crawlspace that he was working in for a few hours.  I sure do love that guy for doing this kind of stuff to support us.

Lily played in her very first Chess Tournament! The kids all did well.

Go little girl! She didn't win any games, but she sure has a golden attitude about life that doesn't ever let anything get her down.

Our only group ribbon shot was photobombed by Spencer.

Peter and Larry took the girls to a Blazer game.  they all had so much fun together.

And they won!

Grandpa is always in on the fun too.

He is a very proud builder.