Music Will Never Be the Same in Our House

Today we went on a super fun field trip to the Apple store. One of the moms in one of our homeschool groups organized a class for our kids. It was complete with Apple field trip t-shirts. The kids brought in a favorite song to mix in GarageBand. Since we have a Mac, navigating the program was really easy for B. But, somehow we hadn't played with it at home. A and C were not as impressed with the class as B and I were. A kept asking, "Where are the apples?" LOL


I think B has found his calling. ;) He was the only one brave enough to actually record his own voice singing with his song. The guys working there loved him. My cute little computer geek! :P


When we got home (after stopping at one of mommy's favorite restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen, for lunch), the boys ran to the computer to "upgrade" more songs. B was playing a song that really didn't sound like one of our kid-approved songs. When I went to look, it was Kid Rock. He said he was looking through the list and it was the only one he could find that said "kid." I explained that it was not kid music. He couldn't understand why a guy would pick a name with "kid" in it if it wasn't for kids. Good question! Like I said, I may never hear my favorite songs again. At least without extra drums, sound effects and who knows what else.

First Presentation!

I am so proud of B today. He gave his very first presentation to one of our favorite homeschool groups. We're part of our local homeschool Roots and Shoots group. Roots and Shoots is part of the Jane Goodall Institute and it's founded on the belief that young people can change the world. They focus on three areas - human community, environment and animals. Everything really is about service and how to make a difference. I really couldn't say enough good things about the organization and our specific group. We have the most amazing leadership. These moms keep challenging the kids and giving them such incredible opportunities to serve. They have started having a day for the kids to give presentations about something that means a lot to them or something they've researched having to do with the Roots and Shoots mission. This time B did a short presentation on Galloping Grace Youth Ranch.

He was a bit nervous to get up in front of everyone. There were about 25 or so parents and kids there today. He wasn't even feeling very good. He woke up congested (probably got my yucky cold.) But, he was determined to go today and share with everyone about the ranch. He talked about their mission and the horses. He passed around some photos I had made into 8x10's of the kids riding at the ranch. We're getting a chance to bring our Roots and Shoots group out to Galloping Grace next week to work, so he shared with them the kinds of projects we'll be doing next week. He did such a great job! Even A got up at the end to tell how to give the horses treats. So cute! (I don't have a picture of that because she needed some mommy help.)

This is what happens when...

mom has a terrible cold and wants to just hide under her down comforter on the couch.








52 goofy photos in photo booth. At least they weren't fighting. ;)

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Tonight we had friends over for pizza and trick-or-treating. I think there ended up being 7 families altogether. Everyone had so much fun! The only downer was that I tripped and fell right before the party while trying to hang up spider webs outside. I have quite the mangled foot. I took a picture but then thought it was too gross to post. LOL It's nothing serious, probably just really bruised, but I cried like a baby.

Here's A smiling with her jack-o-lantern. She wasn't feeling like pictures in the first one. I didn't get very many pictures of the boys. They were too busy playing with their friends and I was too busy yapping with my friends.

After we got back I told the kids they could eat some candy and I look over and little A has this huge candy bar in her mouth. It was pretty funny. We also had this strange cat follow us all through the neighborhood and come right into our house when we got back. I really don't get spooked by cats on Halloween - we have the perfect "boo kitty." But it was starting to get a little wierd how this cat was following this gang of 3 - 7 year olds around. I guess we'll have to see if it's still hanging around tomorrow. Aahh, now it's time for Mommy and Daddy to scope out the candy to see if there's anything good! j/k Thankfully our kids really do like to share with us.

Pumpkin Carving Time!

Tonight we carved up our beautiful pumpkins. The kids designed the faces (A had a little help from Daddy) and I was the one who had the honor of carving away. I think they came out great!


I did make them help pull all the guts out. :) Only one day until Halloween!!!

Halloween is Almost Here!

Here's a preview of this year's costumes. B is Indiana Jones. C is a Texas Ranger. And A is a Flower Fairy. Just before I took the picture she handed me her wings and told me she didn't feel like flying anymore today. ;) We had a Halloween party with our homeschool group today at the park. The kids had fun wearing their costumes and filling up their trick-or-treat buckets. They can't wait for Friday!!!

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

Big changes today. I donated a nice fat 12 inch braid to Locks of Love. I have needed to get my hair cut for a long time, but I just kept putting it off. I'm not sure why. I guess it just wasn't a priority. I finally made an appointment and even had enough to donate. That was pretty exciting. I really was ok getting it cut, but it's nice knowing that it can go to a good cause. Here's the result....



I LOVE IT!!!!

Great Little Holiday Book

I spent part of the afternoon today reading Hundred Dollar Holiday by Bill McKibben. I know it's early to be thinking about Christmas, but I'm a planner. I've been thinking about how I want this holiday season to look for our family. Also, I'm really trying to incorporate some homemade gifts this year which take time. I saw a post on another blog (I wish I could remember where) talking about a homemade Christmas and that blogger mentioned this book. It was a really quick read but very inspiring. He wrote the book in 1998 so it's ten years old but I think especially applicable right now with all the financial worries everyone is having. Honestly, I'm not sure how I've missed it before, but glad I came across it now. Anyway, his tagline is "The Case for a More Joyful Christmas."

First he kind of goes through an abbreviated history of Christmas from wassailing in the medievel times to the uber-consumerism of today. Talking of today he says:

"Here's the bottom line: We have so much stuff that a pile of presents is no longer exciting, no longer novel...When you have a lot of stuff, getting more is less exciting than when you have very little. That seems obvious--it's habituation."

And a little later he says:

"If there's one way in which the world has changed more than any other since 1840, one thing that's truly different in our lives, it's that we've become such devout consumers. That consumption carries with it certain blessings (our lives are long and easy by any historical standard) and certain costs (first and foremost the damage it causes to the rest of creation). But the greatest cost may be the way it's changed us, the way it has managed to confuse us about what we really want from the world. We weren't built just for this life we find ourselves leading--we were built for silence and solitude, built for connection with each other and the natural world, built for so much more than we now settle for. Chirstmas is the moment to sense that, the moment to reach for the real joys."

His proposition - give yourself a hundred dollar limit. He says that there's nothing magical about a hundred dollars. He said he first thought of it because it sounded good with "holiday." lol But the point is to limit the amount you spend. Take more time thinking of other ways to celebrate the holiday to bring you and your family peace, time with others, connection with your spirituality. There is a lot of emphasis on homemade gifts that have real meaning instead of the piles of presents that really don't mean that much. Really inspiring.

I already know that we will be spending more than a hundred dollars this year. But I thought of some ways that I want to incorporate some of the ideas from the book. I thought I would make sure everyone (in my immediate family) receives at least one homemade gift. We will drastically limit the other gifts, something we had already been talking about. I want to think of ways to honor our neighbors with homemade gifts, nothing fancy, probably just cookies. But it's a way to show them that we appreciate them. I'd like to make sure we shift our focus to celebrating our Christian faith. Last year we started a Jesse Tree but didn't keep it up. I'd really like to do that this year. I also want to find a meaningful way for us as a family to give to someone facing harder times than we are right now.

I was even inspired to jot down a little pledge for myself in my notebook. Here is what I wrote,

"I will buy nothing unwanted or that I know will be unappreciated. No more junk or hastily chosen items just to fill the quota of the right amount spent or number of gifts for someone. Handmade and consumable is better than store bought and plastic (although I'm sure there will be some of the latter.) I will be intentional about creating meaningful traditions for our family."

I know, I know, I need to get through Halloween first. But since I'm already making lists, this was a perfect time for me to read this book.

A New Friend

This is "Stripey" found and named by C. He found him on another bush in our front yard. We were feeling a bit sad because the cat-faced spider was nowhere to be found. The web was gone and hasn't been rebuilt. We had gotten in the habit of checking on her every time we came and went from the house. We were all a bit bummed about it. Then C started yelling that he found a new spider and that it reminded him of the one at the Botanic Gardens. It's not quite as big as the garden spider, but the pattern on it's legs and body is so cool. Not as cool as the tarantula that we saw at the GGYR Pumpkin Patch on Monday. We were there for a homeschool field trip complete with horse rides, face painting and of course, pumpkins. It had been caught at the horse ranch that morning. B and A both held it. C and I were happy to watch it from a distance. ;) What is up with all the spiders lately??? :)

Friendly Kitty

Normally our cat is quite the anti-social animal. He has no patience for the kids and spends most of the day in hiding. The only time he comes out is during a storm. He hates storms and looks for the closest human to sit by during the storm - no holding and cuddling, just close proximity. We had a crazy storm this afternoon complete with hail, wind, thunder and lightning. He was next to my feet for most of it. Once the storm was over, he went back to his hiding spot.

I was really surprised to see him out this evening trying to be social. He walked up to C and laid down next to him. He allowed C to pet him. I think C was pretty surprised, too. I had to get a picture since none of my friends even believe we have a cat. Also, I wanted to prove that he's not that bad. ;)


Don't they both look like they have the same slightly irritated expression? How sad that this was the exciting moment of my day. We missed the Balloon Fiesta. I was so disappointed. They ended up canceling all of today's events because of bad weather. It was probably a good thing since my 3 yo is sick and I might have been tempted to take her out this morning if the weather had been nice. B did get to play his soccer game. It was really windy but it was before the rain and lightning. The rain started coming down just as we were leaving. C's soccer game was canceled. (We were secretly relieved.) Hopefully A will be feeling a bit better tomorrow. We already had to bow out of a birthday party tomorrow. Don't want to spread germs, especially to friends. Maybe I can get some much needed housework done tomorrow. Or get started on a few books I have laying around here waiting to be read.

View From Our Backyard

This balloon got us outside this morning. We could hear it going over the house. When we went out we could see all of the balloons heading north. I love Balloon Fiesta!


It's hard to see in this photo. You probably need to click on it, but in the center is the Darth Vader balloon. The boys favorite balloon of all!

The Energizer Bunny balloon.





More balloons that we could see from the backyard.


It's hard to get a photo of the magnitude of Balloon Fiesta. It's just incredible to see all those hot air balloons in the air. If you can imagine, more balloons to the north and south too. Hopefully, if the weather holds out, we'll get to go on Saturday. It's even more impressive from the park.

Big Foot!

New shoes for all the kids today! B has been complaining about his feet hurting in his size 3 shoes. So, off we headed to the mall this afternoon to look for shoes and new jeans. We looked at a few different stores and were having a hard time finding anything we both liked. We ended up at Sears. A very nice sales clerk overheard B and I "discussing" whether or not the size 4's were ok. He was complaining that his toes were at the end of the size 4's and that he needed a 5. I, of course, good mommy that I am, didn't believe him. The lady measured his feet and sure enough, he needed size 5's. Man was I embarrassed. And what 7 year old wears a size 5 tennis shoe??? Thankfully, I was able to admit the bad mother that I am, and buy him shoes that fit. ;) I decided to save face and get new shoes for the other two as well, since they had outgrown their shoes too.

The good news in all of this (besides the fact that my kids' feet won't be deformed from being forced into too small of shoes) is that B has finally decided to tie his own laces. Yay! Again, the very nice sales clerk showed him once and he got it right away. Nevermind the pleading from mom that he learn how to tie shoe laces over the last 2 years. Oh well, he's got it now. He tied them himself in the pic above. At least the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard from Dairy Queen helped to soothe my ego. :P

I really should change the name of my blog...

to something having to do with bugs. ;) We went to the Harvest Festival at the Botanic Gardens today. On our walk back to the farm area, we decided to take a path we had never seen before. On our detour we found this spider. Pretty sure it's a garden spider. I personally don't like it as much as "Pumpkin." But, it was cool enough to take some pictures. B is supposed to be studying insects this term. I guess we're getting that in without even trying!


Another picture of it moving around. I don't think I would like to find this in my house.



And a photo of a rose that looked so beautiful after our night of rain. I have taken my camera off automatic and am trying to learn a little more about digital photography. I am still pretty intimidated by all the settings, but a few of my photos are coming out. I'm really excited about that.

We did eventually make it back to the farm area where we met some friends. We got to watch apple cider being made, make corn husk dolls and crack walnuts on an antique nut cracker. And we bought some of the yummy cider!

Dinosaur Day

After soccer games yesterday, the kids and I headed over to the Natural History Museum for Dinosaur Day. C had to wear his T-Rex shirt in honor of our adventure.

They had a chance to feel real fossils and talk to a volunteer who explained how they grind down the rock to get to them.

They made coelophysis masks. Coelophysis is New Mexico's state fossil. I should post a picture of B's finished one. It was very cool. He had to finish it at home, because his brother and sister were getting impatient with him.

And here the kids are working in a pretend dig for fossils. It was complete with hats. Fun times!

Finally a Finished Project!

I got stuck on a couple of baby gifts this past spring and pretty much gave up my knitting. But, I decided I needed to make myself get back to it. I've only been knitting for a year, but I really enjoy it when I'm not frustrated. So, I picked a really simple baby hat for a friend's gift. She's allergic to wool so I chose a cotton-soy blend. I think it came out pretty darn cute. And it reminded me that simple is sometimes just as good as complicated and sometimes even better. Now I have to get my sister's baby gift on the needles...

Brothers and Legos

My friend Cindy inspired me with her post and photo of her kids playing together. I don't do those cool digital scrapbook pages but I thought I would try to catch my kids playing together too. When I'm frustrated with the bickering, I sometimes forget that they really do like to play with each other. It seemed like a good way to remind myself of the positive experiences. I didn't catch all three together but I did see my two boys working together on their legos.

Confidence

It's amazing what a little confidence will do for someone. B made his first goals in a soccer game last weekend. The first goal was a tap into the goal. He really just happened to be at the right place at the right time. But, it was still a goal and his confidence started building. Then later in the game he was able to make a strong kick to the goal. I think he was a little shocked. I really wish I had had my camera with me because the expression on his face was priceless. He surprised himself. Then his confidence soared. He took the ball from one of the opposing team, turned it around and made another goal. It's like a switch suddenly turned on for him. He could do it!

Not to be out done, C also made three goals in his soccer game. He played great and really kept his head in the game. And again, the confidence was boosted which led to better playing, and for him, the ability to keep focused on the game. He was especially excited because Grandpa Jerry and Great-Grandad were watching his game. They made it from Colorado just in time to see him play. What a fun day!

More Bugs

I have this bad habit of leaving our back slider door wide open all the time. In fact, it's open right now. Anyway, we have lots of creepy crawly visitors because of it. Here's our latest find. A praying mantis on our kitchen chair. The kids thought it was soooo cool!

Our Amazing Day Last Friday!

We had the opportunity to go to Galloping Grace Youth Ranch on Friday. It was such a wonderful experience for the kids and I. I was so amazed at how the kids pitched in and helped scoop poop without complaining, and how much they enjoyed the horses! I was especially amazed at how quickly my middle guy took to the horses.

We have been going through a really rough spell over the last couple of months with C. I think the transition to "kindergartner" is proving a tough one for him. Even though we homeschool, a lot of things have been changing. He's in a new class at church. We've been going to a new church with some homeschool friends and he really liked the 4 year old class. So, when the time came to switch, he had a hard time. For about 3 weeks, we dealt with BIG feelings about the new class. He started asking to stay at home instead of go with us to some activities that normally weren't a problem. We have had a couple of big temper tantrums recently. I was really struggling. So much so, that I even asked the pediatrician at his well check a couple of weeks ago if we were maybe dealing with something more than personality. Thankfully, we both agreed that this was just a tough time for him - my introverted, physical, has-a-hard-time-with-verbal-communication kid.

That is why Friday was so amazing. My little guy that struggles with new people and is fearful of most new situations was one of the first ones on a horse. He has never talked about liking horses or cowboys before. We really hadn't read any books or watched any shows about riding horses. This was all new to him. An incredible volunteer, Nancy, took him under her wing and had him helping to saddle up a horse. She helped him lead the horse to the arena. She treated him with so much respect and kindness. By the end of our time there, the wonderful folks at Galloping Grace even had him riding a bit by himself. As my husband said on the phone, "Our C? Really? He rode a horse?"

C is hooked. Right away he asked if he could have a cowboy hat like Mr. Max. On the phone this weekend he told his Aunt Judy (a horse lover) that he was going to be a cowboy for Halloween and Christmas. (I didn't know you were supposed to dress up for Christmas ;) ) He said he wants a "horse-riding" birthday party. (It's not until next year.) He dug a pair of old cowboy boots out of the closet that Aunt Judy had given B a long time ago. He said that when he grows up, he wants to ride horses in a race. I have never seen him this excited about anything before.



B and A did really great too. B (since I know you'll read this ;) ) was so incredibly patient. He waited for his turn to ride without complaining. And A got right up on that horse like she'd done it before. She is so proud of how she balanced on the horse. What an amazing time! I'm so proud of all my kids!

Ewwww Spiders

We have this awesome spider web between two bushes in our front yard. The boys saw the spider out tonight and ran to get me so that I could take a picture. I hate to admit that I know nothing about spiders. I have no idea what kind of spider this is, but it sure is cool.

ETA: We found out from a very informative and friendly docent at the Butterfly Exhibit that our spider is an Orb Weaver. Sometimes it's called a cat-faced spider or a pumpkin spider. Seems especially appropriate this time of year!

Time for Soccer!

Here's how we spent our Saturday morning. Both boys are playing soccer this year. It's the first time either of them have played team sports. They did great! I guess that means I'm officially a soccer mom?!?! Not sure how I feel about that. lol It sounds so suburban, but I guess that's what I am too. lol

C's team in the pic above are an under 6 team and they are "The Green Hulks." B plays on an under 8 team called "The Red Flames." Both of their teams won today - not that that matters. ;-)

New School Year

Well, we are in the midst of gearing up for the new school year. Over the last two years, we haven't really followed a schedule very closely. We were still finishing up some reading from last year's list over the last couple of weeks. However, I'm going to really try to get through our first term of Ambleside by the beginning of December so that we can take December off. My plan is to start Monday. B will be doing AmblesideOnline's Year 2 and C will be doing Ambleside Year 0. Year O is really just a reading list so we're going to try to work through the list, with a little bit of math and phonics mixed in. I plan to keep it really light for Kindergarten. But, I did want to start to get C into a good routine. I think it will help him to know that every morning we sit down to do something "schoolish" together. If they only knew how not "schoolish" we are here. lol Of course, A really wants to do school because of her big brothers. I ordered her a Lauri Preschool Pack from Rainbow Resource. I put that in her school basket along with a new book of fairy tales and some of the Year 0 books.

I think we're almost set. I have some things to print off this weekend for their notebooks - maps, copywork, Bible story checklist. But, I think we're pretty well prepared. I'm actually getting excited. It's going to be a challenging term as far as outside activities. I'm having a hard time saying no to things that sound so fun! ;-) So far we have both boys in AYSO Soccer, A is in gymnastics, they are all doing baseball club, B is starting swim lessons, the boys are taking science classes from the children's science museum, Roots and Shoots, Opera Class...yikes! It will definitely not be a boring year!

I love my Birks!

I guess I can officially say that I've crossed over into hippie-dom. lol For my birthday, my mom got me my first pair of Birkenstocks. I don't know why I waited so long. I love them! I wear them almost every day. They are the first sandals that don't hurt my feet. Thank you Mom!!!

Butterflies

The kids and I went with friends to the local botanical gardens last Thursday to visit the Butterfly Pavilion. It was very hot but we had a lot of fun! I even got a couple of decent photos. Once it gets a bit cooler, my plan is for us to visit the gardens several times a month to work on our nature journals. I think even A could start drawing in a journal this year. This is an area I've really struggled with getting into our days and yet it's one of the things I love about the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling. I'm really going to try to be more consistent with it this school year.

No Sourdough :(

My first attempt at sourdough bread totally flopped. I was so hoping to post a pic of a beautiful loaf of bread. It was too dense and a little under-done or something. I used a recipe from a cookbook I checked out from the library. I'm really hoping it was the recipe and not me. lol Oh well, I will give it another try soon.

We have worms!!!

I'm so excited! A friend dropped by this week with worms for my vermicomposting bin. I followed these instructions to build my bin. I'm so excited that we won't be throwing away all of those food scraps anymore. At first I had it just outside our slider door on the patio, but I thought it was getting too much sun so I moved it inside under the kitchen sink. The kids think it's so cool that we have worms in the house. She also brought a sourdough starter. I have my first sourdough loaf rising as I type. I told her that she and her husband have made my week. She mentioned that they might have kefir grains too...

New Year's Resolutions

I hate New Year's Resolutions. I guess I figure if I have to wait until this one particular day to resolve to change something in my life, it really must not be that important or the likelihood of me sticking to the change is pretty slim. I mean if I put it off this long, I know I really don't want to change that area of my life. But, I'm breaking my ban on resolutions this year. We need some serious structure to our lives. I feel like my kids our desperately needing some better routines and predictability in our days. So, my New Year's resolution is to be more organized, create a routine for our day (and stick to it) and be better prepared to handle each day. I know I'll have to build in lots of flexibility and free playtime but that's ok. We just need a better flow to the day. I need to spend some time every weekend going over what I want to accomplish the following week and prepare for it. It's been two months since we moved so it's time to get it together.

Legoland

Yesterday, we surprised the kids with a trip to Legoland. It was their first time at an amusement park. We had sooooo much fun! It was the perfect place to take them. It wasn't too big (although we still didn't get to see everything.) The rides were just their speed. The boys got to ride their first rollercoaster with mom. Although, my 3 yo was a little freaked out. He keeps talking about how scary it was. Dd was completely ticked off that she was too little to ride most of the rides. lol. But, she loved the toddler play area and the 3 foot Dora the Explorer made out of legos. B made friends with everyone around him in line and told them about how much fun he was having. His enthusiasm was contagious to everyone around him - even to mom and dad. We spent way to much on souvenirs and food, but it was worth it!

We're Moving! Again!!!

AAAHHHH! I'm totally overwhelmed right now! We are moving in a couple of weeks to New Mexico. With dh's new job, we decided that we wanted to make the big move. They (thankfully) ok'd it and we'll be off shortly. We really wanted to get moved before all the holidays coming up. I can't believe we're doing another cross-country move. Well, it's not *all* the way across the country, but you know what I mean. I hate packing! I've been trying to avoid it, but I've got to get moving (no pun intended.) Instead, I'm spending way too much time on craigslist and rentclicks looking for a house. Oh, a house...with a yard...I'm so excited. We're actually going to be able to afford to live!

I'm not reading any new books right now. We're taking a break from homeschooling. We're saying goodbye to all our new friends in Southern California. And we're packing, packing, packing!

Little Star

DD woke up singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" this morning. Well, she woke up and nursed, then started singing. What a wonderful way to start the day!

"Piecemakers"

We're going through the book My ABC Bible Verses. I'm doing one verse a week to work on some gentle verse memory for my 5 yo and reinforce the ABC's for my 3 yo. So, today's verse for the letter "B" was "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." I asked my kids if they knew what a peacemaker was. C (3 yo ds) answered that he was the guy who cuts up the pizza - the "piecemaker." :-)

Big Changes

Well, I know I said I was going to work on my "Reasons for Homeschooling" lists, but life has gotten in the way these past couple of weeks. It seems like in a blink of an eye, my dh was looking, found and now started a new job. We really thought he'd be at his previous job for awhile. Everything happened so quickly. He's working from home for right now. Then there's a big possibility of a move. I'm actually ok with that part of it. It's just been stressful making decisions so quickly. I think a big part of the stress was that I felt totally helpless. I'm a proud stay-at-home homeschooling mom, but this time I felt like I had no power to make changes. It kind of felt like when you're on an airplane and you hit turbulence and you have to trust that the pilot can fly the plane because you know you can't. It feels like you are totally at the mercy of someone else. That's how I've been feeling. It was a struggle to even trust God in this. But, thankfully, God is trustworthy no matter how I'm feeling.

Good Advice

I read some advice given to another mom who was feeling overwhelmed by the idea of homeschooling. The veteran homeschooling mom said to make sure and write down two lists before doing anything else. The first is a list of why you want to homeschool and the second is a list of what you want to accomplish by homeschooling. I thought it was really great advice. She said to refer back to it on those days when you're struggling and need a reminder or if you're making a choice on curriculum etc. So, I thought I'd tackle it here over the next couple of days. We're headed off to the CHN Expo in a week, and I know I'm going to be tempted by all the cool stuff. I thought it would be helpful for me to focus on my purpose for homeschooling before going to make sure it's fresh in my mind so that I don't get too distracted by all the cool ideas and stuff.

Our Homeschool Schedule

I keep telling myself that we're going to keep this year super relaxed and low-key. I mean, it's just kindergarten and ds is already reading etc. So, if I did nothing this year, he could still go into 1st grade next year. I really want to focus on getting into a good routine and creating some good habits for the whole family. I'm reading Charlotte Mason's books on educating children and am most drawn to that method right now. (Of course that could change next week. lol) She recommends no formal schooling for 6 yo and under. I've decided to go ahead and continue with some phonics and maybe start some math. After trying to add in a ton of stuff and then paring it down again, here's what I've come up with:

Morning Checklist:
Breakfast
Bible
Prayer
Calendar/Weather
Chores
Phonics
Copywork
Math
Nature walk/journal
Outdoor time

Lunch Checklist:
Lunch
Spanish
Reading lots of good books
Science/History/Geography
Quiet time

Tea Time:
Snack
Composer/Artist/Poetry

Bedtime:
Chapter Book

After typing it out, it still looks like quite a bit. I want to keep everything really short. Copywork will be one letter, phonics will probably just be some word groups, not sure on math. We'll use reading lists to read good children's literature. The history/geography/science will be really low-key. I know we're going to watch a butterfly grow, maybe read some books about the presidents around Presidents Day and play with a globe. We're going to do the composer and artist from Ambleside Online and memorize some Mother Goose rhymes and/or Robert Louis Stevenson poems.

Babies were Born to be Breastfed

Last night I watched the 20/20 segment on breastfeeding. It didn't really take a stand on breastfeeding, but mostly asked if the new ads by the government were too offensive. They make the statement that babies who are formula-fed are at higher risk than those who are breastfed. Actually, I thought they were pretty funny - a pregnant woman riding a mechanical bull. During the ad, an announcer asks the question, if you wouldn't take these risks before having the baby, why after? And then the tagline (which I love) - Babies were born to be breastfed.

In several of the online communities I'm a member of, most moms think that these ads only make the mother feel bad. The general consensus is that it's counter-productive to do that. By the way, these are very pro-breastfeeding communities. I guess I've been thinking lately, what's the problem with making people feel bad? This will sound harsh, but what's the big deal with the mother's feelings? Aren't we concerned about the baby? I mean, moms who truly can't but want to breastfeed, already feel bad. I'm thankful there's formula for those moms. But, if they've done their research, they already know that it's not as good for their babies. I feel bad I had three c-sections. I wish my children would have had a better beginning to their lives than being cut out of me. Do I regret going that route? Absolutely. Was it the best choice with the information I had then? Absolutely. The moms who get defensive are the ones who know they could have breastfed but chose not too. The breastfeeding rates in this country are way too low. What we're doing now isn't working. I'm glad the government is taking a risk on these ads. If nothing else, we're talking about it.

Shadetree Academy

I guess I can now say that I'm officially a homeschooling mom. B keeps asking when he can say he's in Kindergarten. I finally told him that he is. I guess since I'm the teacher, principal, janitor etc., I can decide when he's in which grade. I think it's going to take me awhile to leave behind all the old "school" expectations. I mean there are so many things I just assumed about education because that was the way I was taught. I'm excited and a little bit scared! But, mostly excited to start this journey! We have a name for our home-based private school - Shadetree Academy. My husband came up with it. It's supposed to reflect our nature-inspired, relaxed-learning emphasis. I love it! I knew the minute he said it that it was a perfect fit for us. He said he just pictured us outside reading books under a shady tree. I know it won't be like that all the time or even most of the time, but I think it's a great thing for us to strive for.

daddy hugs 123 by Karen Katz

Just wanted to say that we love this book! I have heard of Karen Katz's childrens books before - Counting Kisses and others. We've never bought any of them though. We were at the library and I threw this one on our stack of books because it looked cute. It is the sweetest book! My favorite part is at the end when Daddy and Baby snuggle to sleep together. My husband's favorite thing is to snuggle with our daughter while she sleeps. He loves holding a sleeping baby (and so do I.) Needless to say, I went to the bookstore today to buy it. I had to have it for our collection. Big thumbs up for Daddy Hugs 123! Oh, and it sneaks in some counting too.

More Thoughts on Being Family-centered

So, I've still been mulling over this idea of being family-centered. I think I've come to some new realizations. One is that we don't make decisions on meeting needs based on the hierarchy of the family. In other words, we don't believe that mom and dad should get their needs met first because they are higher on the totem pole. I think this might be what bothers me so much about the marriage/parent-centered dynamic. The idea that the marriage or parents have somehow more value than the children. We want to meet needs based on the need. As the adults in the family, my husband and I understand that we may have to wait to get our needs met. We have the capability to understand waiting. In our family, the youngest is usually getting most needs met first. Why? Here's an example, my husband and I want to go have dinner to get "quality" time. In order to do that, my dd will have to sacrifice her need for nourishment from loss of breastfeeding and safety from us not being there. See, to me, her need trumps my need for an uninterrupted steak. Especially since I know this stage in her life really doesn't last that long and that my dh and I, as adults, can come up with other options to meet our need for quality time. So, I'm not saying that we don't take care of our marriage. We do. We just don't need to do it in a way that sends a message to our kids that we are more important than them.

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

Yipee! A nice long weekend. We're all excited here because Daddy is off work through Tuesday! So, what are we doing? Relaxing! We went to Sam's Club on Friday and I succumbed to the temptation of over-spending. Ughhh! We did get a pretty cool children's dictionary. B has been asking to look up all kinds of words. It seemed like a good children's one because it looked like it had more words than some of the ones we had looked at before. So far it does not have the definitions for trilogy or squishy. We also got the ps2 game "Cars." They were thrilled, but it didn't hold their attention for very long.

B is on a Toontown marathon this weekend. It's an online multiplayer game for kids by Disney. He's been playing since he was 3 yo but hasn't played much recently. He's getting back into it since he realized that he can finally read all the instructions. (Before he'd call one of us to read them to him or just guess/use clues to figure it out.) He also loves the animated fireworks on the hour every hour for the Fourth.

A is walking everywhere now. I can't believe I was so concerned. I knew she would just do it one day and that would be it. And C, he told me this morning that my toes are beautiful. :) I had just painted my nails and put on a toe ring. It was so sweet that he noticed. It made my day!