Ch-ch-changes...

Doesn't it seem like everyday there are new changes in life?

Ones we can't seem to stop and some we don't really want?

I'm pretty sure that it was yesterday that I was a teenager, and then a newlywed, and then a young mom. Yet, today when I woke up, I realized, like I do each morning, that I've aged a few years and life has changed drastically from what it used to be and what I thought it would be.

Not necessarily bad or good, just different. But changes are part of life and so far I have not found a way around it. Though, I keep trying.

In this last year we have learned some new things, had some set backs, and made some adjustments. But we have kept going and are learning to adapt when needed and to just take one day at a time.

I do think that God is enjoying his daily laugh when I sit down and plan out our day, our week, our month, or when I have an idea of what the next step in our life will be.

I like to plan and would love to have a day or two go exactly as planned but I have yet to experience things going according to my plan! So as we (mainly myself) are learning to accept and work with some changes, I am trying to see His plan and to trust that He will get us though each day.

Talking about changes, are there any other parents that are in denial about how much and how quickly their babies are growing and changing?  I know I am!

What were three sweet little babies (just yesterday) are now big kids and a teenager! Why-oh-why do they grow so fast? Though I will admit that I am enjoying this stage. No more diaper bags, car seats, strollers, and thankfully no more diapers! I miss the baby stage, but we are having fun and I am loving the "big" kids and teenager I see growing and changing daily.

I never imagined that I could enjoy older kids and a teenager as much as I enjoyed my babies. But I do and I am loving this new part of our life. It is quite the adventure.

And so the adventure continues...changes and all.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone...a day late.

In the past I have participated in a daily thankful post. Since I didn't find the time this year, I would like to simply list what I'm thankful for.
In no particular order;

1) God
2) family
3) friends
3) a home
4) food for my family
5) freedom
6) a husband that loves us deeply and cares for us
7) three happy and mostly healthy children (even though they're a bit goofy)
8) the freedom and ability to homeschool my three
9) our loving and sweet cats (2)
10) our new little puppy (4 months)
11) the chance to train our puppy and hopefully register him as a service dog for my son
12) living close enough to most of our family that we can see them all often
13) parents that taught me well and raised to stand for what I believe in, and love me always
14) friends that believe in me and stand by me through everything
15) children that love God and wish to live life to please Him and love others
16) the chance to run a wonderful homeschool group and meet so many great families
17) support from family and friends in our choice to homeschool
18) time with loved ones before they passed away
19) beautiful memories of those we've lost
20) medical advances that have helped and continue to help those that would have otherwise been gone long ago
21) living in such a beautiful place and being within a short drive to spend time in the mountains
22) being able to go camping each summer, where my children are completely free to run and play as they wish
23) having special moments and holding each of my kids knowing how many others are missing theirs
24) pj and movie marathon days
25) snow
26) waking up to see the sunrise out our bedroom window each morning
27) warm fuzzy socks (they are necessary)
28) books, books, and more books
29) being able to spend time on things I enjoy
30) the technology that makes it possible to share this list with you

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Five Thoughts...

Five Thoughts for Today:

 Today I see:

I see a house that is need of some serious cleaning out, and cleaning up. I see toys scattered everywhere, book shelves filled with books of all kinds, furniture that is not new but comfy, a kitchen with enough food for our family, and a growing pile of laundry that needs washing.  I see more things than any one family could ever need, and I am thankful that even though the “stuff” is driving me crazy, my family really needs for nothing.

 

Today I feel:

Tired, overwhelmed, and worn out.  Life has thrown us a few curve balls recently but I am learning to accept (emotionally) what I cannot control and embrace the reality that has been for years, but now has a name to it.  

 

Today I can:

Make the best with what I have and enjoy all those precious little moments that are often smack in the middle of chaos.   

 

Today I am:

Going to do something healthy! I am serious need of habit changes. I desperately need to get my rear in gear and exercise daily and eat right. So today, I am going to watch what I eat, and make sure that it’s for my benefit not just a craving.  

 

Today I am thankful for:

The freedom to express myself as I wish and to have and practice the moral and religious beliefs that are important to me. With so much of this world in chaos, I am thankful that I am in a free country and thankful for so many that have fought for our freedom and rights to live as we wish.

 

 

Pictures for today:

I am sharing for no other reason than I can.
I imagined this being a mama bird and squalling after a long day of caring for and feeding
the baby birds and cleaning up after their mess in the nest.
Yep, this is a mam bird venting her frustration.

 

-Amber-

Dusting off..

Cough, cough, hack, hack…sneeze!

 

      Excuse me while I dust off my poor neglected blog. A few layers of dust have gathered while I was away doing all that a wife and homeschooling mama does. You know, things like enjoying long relaxing baths, watching programs of my choice while eating Bon Bons, relaxed grocery shopping and –-Yeah right! More like running to and from multiple doctor and other appointments, crazed last minute grocery shopping trips…with the kids, house chores that never end, keeping track of the wild and busy boys while trying to also keep up with a growing teenage daughter, researching and planning for another year of homeschool and, the list could go on and on but we’ll just leave it at I was busy.  

While our lives were tumbling in and out of oblivion, I lost my motivation to write here as I love to do.  I miss writing more than a few sentences or two like you do on Facebook, and I miss visiting all my blog land friends, which I have tried to keep up with occasionally when I had a few spare moments, and I miss sharing our lives and my thoughts, even if I am the only reader.

This last year has been a whirlwind of day-to-day and at times moment-to-moment. But we are still managing, somehow, to get up and get things going each day and get at least some of what needs done, done. This last year has also brought us many changes that we are adjusting to and a few new challenges we are learning to deal with.

In just a few short weeks we will be beginning another year, our 10^th year, of homeschooling. I am excited and nervous as my oldest will begin her 9^th grade year, which here is officially… (Insert drum roll here) HIGH SCHOOL! Yes, I am a bit shocked we are here already and not quite sure what to think. Thankfully, we do have a basic plan laid out and will be working on final details soon, which I hope means that I will have the first few months figured out, or at least mostly figured out very soon. Then, we will just see where this road takes us, and hopefully, it will stay on the path I have planned, but if life or God decided different (which is pretty much a given) then we will adjust and as the GPS device says, “Re-routing new course.” Either way, we will figure it out.

Along with a high schooler in our homeschool this year, we will have a 6^th grader and a 2^nd grader, if you count grades. We don’t do work per grade as much as we work according to specific needs and levels of each of the kids, so I am often having to think when someone asks what grade the kids are in. Which I’m sure makes for another questioning look directed at us weird homeschoolers. That’s okay, by now those looks and other comments don’t bother me anymore.

Well, it looks like my spare time is up and it’s time to run more errands and wrangle these kiddos. I hope to be back soon and get back into writing daily.

Today’s quote for you:

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

-Hellen Keller-

 

-Amber-

Sharing our homeschool journey...

A few years ago I decided to be much more open about our homeschool journey. I posted more about our homeschooling on my blog, I shared many of our adventures and things we have done on my Facebook page, and I talked openly with all that asked or commented on our choice to homeschool.

I did so after spending the first years of our homeschool journey worrying daily about what others thought and trying desperately to live up to the standards of others. I tried to make our homeschool something others would expect of a "good" homeschool family. But along the way I realized I was spending too much of my time trying to appease others and accomplish what I thought was expected instead of focusing on my kids, their needs, and what truly worked best for them.

By opening up our homeschool journey to others I found that not only did I have more confidence in what I was doing and the choice we made to homeschool, but more people, family and friends, began to join in on the fun and help us along the way.

Of course there are still many that do not share our view on education and homeschooling, and that's ok, but I have felt that opening the door to what we do and who we are has given those we know a better idea of what homeschooling is, or least what it is for our family.

I have really enjoyed sharing our homeschool journey, as I really do love and believe in what we are doing. I have greatly appreciated when family and friends have offered their support, advice, encouragement, and supplies or field trip ideas. I like to think that being more open about our homeschooling and what we do, has given those we know another view on homeschooling, and helped give positive thoughts and feelings when they think about homeschoolers.

Everything I share about our homeschooling, I do so because I like to share and of course as a mom, I love to show off my kids and what they do. It is never meant to shove our choice in anyone's face or compare our journey to another's. Everyone and each family needs to decide what is best for them and their needs, their wants, and situation. Our way is just that, Our Way!

Creative learners...

It might be better said that we explore, experience, and enjoy life and the opportunities with the freedom to follow our interests and creative ideas, than to say we are unschooling. As we still parent our children and require them to do chores, follow rules, and be respectful, with consequences when these are not done. I still instruct my children to take showers, clean their rooms, to use their manners, and to respect their elders. I also ask them to read and write a each day.  Many unschoolers do not ask their children to do these things, they trust the children or teens will do what’s needed when necessary.  I’m sure many that in many families that works wonderfully, but I am not quite there just yet, and I honestly do not know if I’ll ever be able to completely let go in that way.

  The term unschooling has a variety of thoughts and assumptions tied to it, though I believe most do not understand what it is truly meant to be. In most circumstances unschooling can be a wonderful way of life, and a very natural way to raise children. 

 

 I am just beginning to understand what it means to be truly unschooling. At the moment we would not likely be considered “real unschoolers” in most circles, and that’s quite alright with me. This is where homeschooling can be anything you make it, whether it has an official name or not. I guess for us a better term for what we are doing, which is still very much “unschooling” in my mind, might be, “Creative learners.”

I am so used to trying to fit everything into a nice neat little box, though with my kids and our crazy life I should know better, that I sometimes forget that life doesn’t have to be divided into boxes and be neat and tidy. One also does not need a proper title to what they are doing, how they are learning, or who they are. It is quite enough to just be you and to live the life you have, however you see fit. No set rules or checklists required.

 

Our first official day in our unschooling journey...

 I'm not sure if it would be considered and official start to unschooling as unschooling is not set by rules or boxes you can check, but if so, we have officially started unschooling. I am excited and nervous at the same time as I am tossing us into uncharted territory, without a map, checklist or rules.  Yet, I am looking forward to going and doing on a whim, to explore as the inspiration hits, and to do what I believe will truly work best for us. I have checked out multiple books, looked through many web sites and blogs, all on unschooling, and still feel as though I'm jumping ship and joining "those" people...and I'm completely thrilled about it.

I do not have everything figured out just yet, or know quite where this journey will take us or if it will even last the next six months. But at the moment we are all excited and ready to jump in feet first with everything we have.

The kids made me laugh yesterday morning as they wandered around for a time, asking what they should do, as they are used to having set assignments or a list of things to be done for school each day. They did enjoy having more time to relax and wake up in the morning before they began their morning responsibilities. After breakfast and more asking of what they should do and my reply of "What would you like to do?" they each decided on a project and jumped in.

Lady Bug decided to spend time working on corrections to a story that she and her youngest brother have been writing together, then she decided to start a new story of her own. She has always enjoyed writing and I love that given the opportunity to pick what to do, she chose to write. She even ended up so involved in her writing that I had to work to pull her away so she could eat lunch before we had to go pick up her little brother from his enrichment program on time. In the end, I think she spent a few hours working between the two stories.

Wild Thing, my middle son, decided he wanted to work on making his corn-cob pipes. While reading, "Frosty the Snowman" to the kids this Christmas, he decided he wanted to make corn-cob pipes just like Frosty had. So he took it upon himself to research how to make them and watched a few videos and read different articles often enough that he now has the instructions on how to make a corn-cob pipe memorized. He enjoyed picking ears of corn for us to eat and then cleaning them off and setting them in the window to dry. Then yesterday, he finished cleaning them off and cut them into smaller pieces and drilled the necessary holes. Now he only has to find, buy, and add the bamboo sticks to the pipes. In case you're wondering, cutting dried corn-cobs is much harder than you'd think, or at least harder than I thought it would be.

He is making one for his grandfather who does smoke a tobacco pipe, but as he doesn't want anyone to smoke Wild Thing said he is only making these pipes for decoration. He is very concerned about the health of other's, and often tries to find ways to encourage people to make healthy choices.

 He has always enjoyed hands-on activities, and is quite creative when it comes to finding projects to do. As soon as he gets an idea in his head, it's nearly impossible for him to change direction until he has had a chance to try, or build whatever it is that he is wanting to do. This is where letting go of the traditional "schoolish" thoughts are going to give him an open door to learning. 

After lunch, the kids both decided to work on some crafts they had going. Wild Thing worked on painting a wooden model of a pirate ship, or Black Pearl if you ask him, and Lady Bug made some cute picture frames out of popsicle sticks. Of course after all these projects were done, there was corn dust and paint everywhere, but there was also peace in the house and we all enjoyed the day. For that, I am very thankful.

While on the drive to pick up Little Man  the kids and I talked about our day and what they thought. We discussed what they thought unschooling was, what they would like to do or add into our unschooling journey, how they both felt they learned best, and what benefits unschooling may have long term. I was glad to have their ideas and thoughts on what they were interested in doing and how they may go about learning what it is they wish to learn. I also was pleased to hear how they thought unschooling may be a good fit for our family.

Every day and through every conversation, I feel more and more confident that this (unschooling) really is the best thing for us all right now. I watch my kids and see the spark in their eyes, and hear the excitement in their voices when they have the freedom and opportunity to follow what they are interested in, and it gives me the courage and faith that this will work out, somehow.

I have decided that to help me to be able to truly let go of the old thoughts on what homeschooling should be and the worries of what others may think, I am taking this month to focus on us all having fun and exploring what's around us. Lots of field trips, crafts and fun activities, reading just for fun, and making time to just enjoy each day and being in each other's company, that's the plan.

At the end of each day, as I have done since September, I journal about our day and add photos when possible, showing just how much the kids have done, learned, and experienced. After looking back through the journal so far, I see that the most memorable and educational moments are those in which we were away from the text books and "schoolish" things and involved in exploring and trying new things, reading for fun, and being creative.
I'm look forward to reading our journal at a later date and reading about the adventures we've had this year.