Back 2 School

On your mark, get set, GO!
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So here we go again, the new school year has just begun. With freshly sharpened pencils, new markers and notebooks, we made today our official "first day of school". We wound up not doing as much school as I'd planned on throughout the summer because we were so busy with camps, various activities and spending lots of time swimming and playing at our neighbors so I was eager to get back to it.

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My plan is to start a new routine of waking myself up bright and early in the morning to get things done before the craziness begins. I am thinking how nice it would be to get my reading time in, take a shower and do all the other misc. household work that needs to be done all before the kiddos wake up. I didn't follow through with my plan this morning.

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The kids didn't wake up until 8:30 even though they went to bed at 8:30 last night. I'm sure our busy weekend filled with a monster truck show and a sleepover that involved staying up until after midnight was the culprit. And honestly I stayed up until after midnight last night myself preparing last minute things for school so I was more than happy to have them sleep in so I could too. So much for my "plan". Oh well, tomorrow's a new day.

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When everyone finally woke up we had some sweet snuggle time in bed then started our morning by praying for our school day. We read our daily devotions, had breakfast, did our chores and headed to the school room. I was expecting some resistance since this was our first full day back at doing school but they didn't give me a hard time at all and actually really did awesome! My expectations weren't too high but we managed to cover phonics, reading, spelling, cursive, math and art. I was very happy with what we got done especially considering the amount of time that got taken away from school to focus on Fletch.

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He took full advantage of his freedom when I was busy with Colton and Gracie.

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All I can say is by lunchtime I had a major mess to clean up. I need to get creative with how I can better occupy him while we're doing our book work. I know it'll get easier when he can sit down and focus on a puzzle, an art project or other misc. time consuming things but for now, he'll color for a minute, throw the puzzle pieces everywhere, dump out all the flashcards, then he's off to make another mess somewhere. If I'm not focusing on him then he's all about making a mess. I know it's just a stage that will pass, but boy can it be frustrating!

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Overall, all things considered, today went better than I had expected and if it's any indication of what's to come, this is going to be a great school year!

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Take a look at my wonderful, fun, loving, creative, smart and very loved students:

Colton- age 7, second grade

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Gracie- age 5, kindergarten

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Fletcher- age 1.9, preschooler in training

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Now that Fletch has mastered the color blue, we started on orange today along with learning about circles.

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{orange juice ABC's}

is for...

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{being creative with pattern blocks}

We took full advantage of tropical storm Faye by taking a break from school to play in the rain. We felt the rain drops fall on our faces, the rain puddles splash through our toes and the taste of rain on our tongues.

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This moment reminded me of how much freedom we have.

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Then it was art time. Colton's favorite time of the day! We first did name art with colored markers then we learned some new watercolor techniques. It was fun to make a graded wash and see what happens to our work when we change the amount of water we use. Then we all painted suns to brighten up the gloomy day.

If I haven't said it enough already, I am so very blessed to be in my shoes. I don't know if it means I'm a very selfish person or what but I wouldn't trade this job with anyone for anything. Sure it doesn't pay much, but I could never trade this gift just to have a few nicer material things. The thought of another teacher being blessed enough to spend their day teaching my kids is enough to make me want to wail! Sure it's not easy, but the pay off is worth everything! I love being the one who gets to spend each day with my own children teaching them their morals, values, character and of course reading, writing and arithmetic and so much more! Helping them learn each day and finally seeing them "get it" is the best! They say teaching is one the most rewarding jobs, but when you're teaching your own children, that feeling has got to be tripled. I wish I could bottle it up to share with you all. It's the greatest!

News Article

This is a good article about homeschooling that was in the local newspaper. Click HERE to check it out.

Just Like Me

I continue to be fascinated by the blog Bring the Rain. I LOVE her view of becoming a homeschooling mom. You can read it here. I could totally relate to how she was feeling. When I began homeschooling (two years ago) I wondered if I could fit in with the whole image of a homeschool mom. Or what I thought homeschooling moms must be like anyway. I thought well, they must be perfect. I'm sure their children must be so proper and polite. They must really be professional and know exactly what they're doing. I bet they never mess up like I know I will. Should I start dressing differently? Will my children be smart enough to "fit in" with their children? Does this mean I should stop going out with my husband to have a drink on occasion? If I am "caught" by another homeschool mom would I be shunned from the group?

Yes, I know that all of this sounds extremely silly but I truly had these thoughts. Well, I learned a big lesson with this. Not to ever make judgments with something unfamiliar. I wasted time and energy in worrying about these things and I now know that this was wrong and I have grown from it. God certainly doesn't design us to fit a certain image. He didn't create us to fit into a cookie cutter mold. As long as I know this and have confidence in who I am, then I will be pleasing to Him.

All it took was spending one day with these women and children to know that I belong. I quickly realized that not only do I really like these people I'm surrounded by, but I have so much in common with them. I was surprised how completely normal they are. They are cute. They are hip. They are creative. They are spunky. They have kids who may not act like they are from the Little House on the Prairie. They are real people. Just like me. Just like my kids. They make their mistakes and they grow from them. Just like me. Overall, they are just very fun people to be with. Yes, there are some who are more... hmm... proper I guess you could say. In a good way. But I have never felt judged by them. Ever. In fact I have built some really neat friendships with them and hope that throughout the years, I will continue to learn from them like I have in the past. When I am surrounded by these amazing homeschooling mamas, I know that I belong. I feel loved and I know that my kids and I are deeply cared for. I know that I am not alone in this. We are a team. Here for one another. Although I'm the youngest of the group (so far anyway) and usually don't have much advice to offer, they sweetly fill me with their ideas and wisdom. They are women who have been so blessed with the gift of God's precious children. Just like me. They don't take this job lightly. Just like me. They choose to give their children what they feel is best for them. Just like me. So they homeschool. Just like me.

I am so grateful that I trusted in God to walk a path that was so unknown to me. Because of this trust, he has been so faithful to me. Just like I know He always is.

My Littlest Pooper

Okay, I know this is some what of a gross subject to blog about, but I am just too darn excited! Little Fletch has been using the potty now for a few months but just not consistently. If I remember to take him 'to go' at least every 15-20 minutes, then he'll usually go, but otherwise I'd have some cleaning up to do. And if he was in his diaper, he would just go without thinking twice about it. WELL... just in the past few days, he has been saying "poop" and wanting me to bring him to the potty to do his dootie... I mean duty. Yea, we tried the whole cute 'poo-poo' thing but Fletch just says 'poop'. He's a keep it simple, get to the point kind of guy. So he now asks to go poop! Then this morning, things got even better. I walked toward the kids bedrooms to see who sitting on the potty by himself? Fletch had taken his diaper off and climbed onto the potty to go 'poop' all by himself! All he said was "Mommy.... bum-bum" (meaning Mom come wipe my bum). That's right, my job is a glorious one. But hey, after changing his diapers now for nearly two years, I would gladly wipe his bum any day! I am so proud to say that it is now almost 3:30 and he has been in his underwear since he woke up this morning (except for nap time) and has had NO accidents at all! Now that I know he can do it, it's up to me to be completely consistent with it. I'm thinking this is the time that I should focus on it before we dive back into the school routine again. With luck, he will be celebrating his second birthday wearing underwear just like his big sister did! I get excited thinking of all the money we'll save by not buying diapers anymore! WOO HOO! Life is good!


{fletcher wearing his big boy underwear}
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Gracie's 5th birthday

Get ready for a major picture overload! Today, August 1st, our Gracie girl turned five years old. We celebrated by having a tea party at the barn with her closest friends. My eyes were overfilled with cuteness! Well, you'll see for yourself. These girls were just as adorable as they could possibly be! I had so much fun putting this party together and I think I was living out my childhood dream. It truly was the perfect party for my beautiful little girl. Enjoy these pictures...

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{aunt katie made gracie this beautiful horse cake}

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{the girls coming downstairs after they had changed into their special party outfits}

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{the birthday girl!}
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{our craft project... homemade rag dolls}

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This next photo is quite possibly the cutest picture I have ever taken. I am showing several versions of it (color, sepia and black & white) because I love them all.

{friends forever...}

{gracie, megan, lauren, summer, julia & ava}
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{pee-uuu a barn is a stinky place!}

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{time to groom shadow}

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I LOVE this next one...


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{Everyone got to ride... even fletch. It was no surprise that he didn't want to get off either! "I ride, I ride"}

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{me and my beautiful nieces}
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{Sage and I... some of you will remember her as a baby that I used to care for during the day. She's all grown up now and just as sweet and beautiful as she could possibly be. She helped out with Fletcher today while her sister Summer (who's one of gracie's best friends) enjoyed the party. To think that the cute little baby that I used to care for is now caring for my baby is enough to make me feel really old!}

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{I love this picture of sweet kaya}

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{we then went swimming to cool off but that's not to say we're not cool already!}

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{All the girlies left the party with their tutus and shirts, their cute little dollies that they made and also the pretty green pillows that grandma made for the girls' chairs at the tea party. This was just way too much fun!!!}

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{Gracie with her favorite gift... Kit Kittredge}

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Well, my sweet little girl is now five. I have been practicing saying that in my mind today "I have a 7, 5 and 1 (soon to be 2) year old." Everyone says it like a broken record, but yes, they are growing up so extremely fast. I look forward to many, many more birthdays to come with my little treasures.

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We love you Gracie!

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