Monday musing

I now have a 10 year old, can that be possible? It is,  and with children comes a great responsibility for raising moral, responsible adults. With all the outside influences and things so readily available to our children it is becoming increasingly more difficult. A recent incident with my oldest has us wondering the best way to do this. It was not anything terrible just not something I had expected to address with him quite yet. I want my children to have good moral character and learn to make good choices. They won't learn this without making mistakes. I know I can't shelter them and even though they are not in school they are still  around other children and will be confronted with choices. They will have to learn who are good friends and who is going to be trouble .Our job is to teach them right from wrong. I wish we lived back in the days of little house in the prairie. They still have bullies, and issues, but in comparison thing were much easier. Drugs, violence and sex were not plaster around every corner, TV, radio and magazines. I don't even like listening to the radio because the songs, commercials and DJ's are not appropriate for children. There are commercials  for Viagra, plastic surgery, STD's and all kinds of other things that my children don't need to see or here.  As parents my DH and I will be reevaluating a lot of things to allow for our children to grow into what and who God wants them to be.

Time away

This week my DH had to go to Myrtle Beach, SC to take CEU classes for his Irrigation License. Now that we are homeschooling we decided to take advantage of the time and take the whole family. We arrived Tuesday to beautiful weather, the kids couldn't wait to go and run around on the beach.

DH had classes each day so the kids and I picked things to do during the day and met up with Daddy during lunch. The second day was beautiful, warm although a little breezy. We got up and headed to the beach to play in the sand. The boys brought trucks and dug in the sand while Pixie and I looked for shells. She was very determined to try to catch a seagull, it was pretty cute watching her run after them. Sand was not her friend, and I remembered how hard it was for little ones at the beach. When she had had enough I had to coax the boys back to the room. They could have played out there all day. That night we had a crazy wind/rain storm move in and I woke up at 12 with wind similar to what it sounds like during a hurricane. We were on the 15th floor and it was insane! I really thought the building was going to blow down. Thankfully we all woke up safe and sound the next morning but the winds were still crazy. The kids wanted to go back to the beach but I was sure Pixie or Wyatt would be blown far away. I had a back up plan if weather was bad to go to Ripley's Aquarium so the kids and I headed that way after lunch. Since it is off season there was hardly anyone there. We spent a few hours exploring and had a fantastic time.

 

Wyatt learning about fossils

Kids loved seeing all the fish

Owen getting to touch a sting ray



It was so windy, but this was the best of the group shots!

Field Trip

It's been awhile since I have update here. Let's see here is a short run down of what's been going on here: Wyatt had his 5th Birthday
          We baked cookies and had a blast with our Elf: Henry
          We celebrated Christmas
          Wyatt ended up in the hospital for 4 day!(diagnosed with Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever) 
                 he is doing good, thankfully although it still feels like it was a dream)
          We celebrated Christmas again with my in-laws

Now we are back into a regular routine, and struggling with a little cold with all three kids. Owen and I have been struggling again after the break with school. I am still unsure if it's a behavioral issue or something else.  Everything I ask him to do is a struggle, even when I know he knows the info. My DH and I are trying to find ways to discipline him as I do not want to fight and argue all day to complete his assignments. I have spoken to other Homeschoolers and they all sympathize and have said their first years were very similar. Although a bit of me is relieved to hear this it doesn't make it any less frustrating for me. I feel terrible when my DH asks how school went I end up telling him how hard he is to work with and how bad it really is. I really want to love it, but something is not working and I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what to do.

After a difficult week last week I decided for a change of scenery and we went on a field trip to Fort Fisher Aquarium. I have awesome memories of going to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD., although it makes my standard for them rather high now. The first time I went to Ft. Fisher I couldn't believe that was it. Where were the penguins, the rain forest, the huge sharks? Once I realized my expectations were way to high I started to appreciate how nice our local aquarium was. We have been a few times, and I decided this would be a perfect field trip. My MIL had planned on coming with us and when I found out schools were out we invited our neighbor Kaitlyn to come along as well. Of course the night before Pixie woke up with a high fever and wasn't able to come. Thankfully my DH was able to stay home with her so I could take the others.

We spent the next few hours exploring, listening and learning. It was not too crowded and all three children enjoyed exploring. They have two great touch tanks, one with sting rays, horseshoe crabs and various sea urchins and another that had young (harmless sharks). The older two enjoyed this while Wyatt only wanted to touch the water. I was happy to hear Owen ask lots of good questions.

 

 

      

Christmas bucket list

There are so many fun Christmas activities I want to do so I came up with a Christmas Bucket list for this year. I know we will probably not get to do all the things I want but at least now I have something to keep me on task. Which is not easy as my mind goes 100 miles and hour and in every direction possible. So here it is:

Christmas 2012 Bucket List

1. Lego Advent- the boys love legos and look forward to building a new piece each day. They take turns each day.

2. Truth in the Tinsel


I am excited about this and looking forward to doing this with the kids. Owen and I went out last night to pick up the some supplies for the crafts and I hope to get them all organized by Friday. I plan on posting more on this once I get it all set up.

3. Why do we call it Christmas

I hope this explains to the kids the real reason behind Christmas.

4. Bass Pro Shops to visit Santa- We have been doing this for a few years, visiting the Myrtle Beach, SC store. They have Santa, crafts, and games to play, the kids enjoy it. We have learned to go during the week and earlier in the season to keep it pleasant for everyone involved.

5. Make a Gingerbread house.- we love doing this, It makes a fun project that everyone can help on.

6. Christmas cookies- We have lots of favorites, and like to try new recipes too!

7. Mikes Farm hayride to look at the Christmas lights.

8. Arlie Gardens holiday lights- we have never been but they are suppose to have a beautiful display along with trains up and I think the kids would love it.

9. Read a new Christmas story everynight. I collected all of our Christmas books then went to the library to check out some new ones to add to our night time stories.

10. Take time to enjoy quality time with our family.

I may think of some others to add to our bucket list, but I hope this will help me at least remember what I was trying to do this year.

So Thankful

Thanksgiving is in a few days, I love the Holidays! Even though we have no family near I go all out for the festivities. I enjoy cooking a complete Turkey dinner with all the fixings for my DH and kids. Now that Owen is getting older he likes to help me in the kitchen which is fun. This week we are only doing school for Monday and Tuesday then taking a much deserved break till next Monday. We are currently 76 days into our school year! Things have been going so well I am almost afraid to say it out loud! We just completed our second spelling book and also our MUS Beta (math). Much of what we have been doing is to make sure I am filling in the gaps the public school had left. Owen is getting more confident and less frustrated with things and this makes me so happy. Wyatt enjoys working on his worksheets, tracing, cutting and playing. We still have our challenging moments but we are able to work through them much quicker now and move on. I am so thankful for this opportunity to have my children close. I am enjoying seeing all three interact together and know that the bonds they are creating will be a great joy to them as they grow.

We celebrated Pixie's 2nd Birthday earlier this month, we had friends over and ate ladybug cupcakes and red velvet cake. It goes by so quickly, seems like just yesterday she was dependant on me for everything. Now she puts up her hand and runs by saying "I'll get it", or joins in on the crazy wrestling the boys get into from time to time. I watch her and Wyatt playing together and how she picks up things he does, the good and the bad.  Every morning she as I get her out of bed she says "go see brothers". They adore her and she adores them, and it is beautiful!  As life gets crazier I try to enjoy these moments and worry less about the other things. Drama is always developing somewhere, stress can easily creep into our lives, worries can come at any moment. However I have adopted the mentality if we are all OK, all will be fine. Life is short, time is limited and in the end family is the only important thing.

The important things

Someone recently told me they don't know how I do everything I do. We run a Landscaping business with 15 + employees, have 3 kids, two who we are now homeschooling. We also have 2 dogs, 1 cat, 30 + chickens, 2 guineas, a household to run, people to feed plus everything else you throw into the mix. I laughed and told them I don't think I do it very well. Truth be told, my house is rarely clean, I have a list of a million things that will have to wait another day or 20. The good thing is I am learning to be okay with this by focusing on the important things. Our kids of course come first, then things just get done in order of importance. Yes, I trip over toys everywhere but I have 3 children home 24/7. Yes, my kitchen table is multifunctional it serves as a place to eat, our school desk, and my office. I am far from perfect but I also know that the last thing I am going to regret is spending time with my family.

Owen reading to Pixie

 

My curly headed fred, he is such a joy!

 

Pixie

 

The past month we have been working hard. We have put the vocabulary curriculum on hold for the time being and trying to gently work on writing with Owen. His math is getting better, he still struggles on things but he is gaining confidence using the tools we provide for him. He finished the first level of spelling and we are 1/4 of the way thru the second one. This week is our last week of Brazil, and our 11th week of school! I am still working on connecting with other homeschoolers in the area. Once we find a group that actually meets I think it will be helpful. I was hoping to not have to go into Wilmington but it looks like they have groups that are pretty active.

We are getting ready for the festivities to being. Once Halloween comes, we have Pixie's 2nd birthday, Thanksgiving, Wyatt's 5th birthday, Christmas then New Years! Whew! It seems to go by in a flash too, but these are the important moments.

Weekend thoughts

My handsome boy! Pict. taken last week.

This week has been better than last, we have breezed through our work with little resistance. The difference? Well not the reason I would like, but Owen had a slight injury Sunday preventing him from writing. The boys were helping DH clean the truck out and he slipped getting off the back. Thankfully he did not hit his head, but his elbow did get a cut on his dominant hand. He is pretty much healed up, but nursing it and for this week I am just going with it. We have done everything orally and he has been very easy to work with. The more I work with him the more I wonder if we are not dealing with a learning disability with him. I am unsure if the issues with writing, math and reversing letters sometimes, maybe dyslexia or something along those lines. I am actively trying to research and am also meeting a group of homeschool Mom's Tuesday to talk with them about our struggles. It seems there is a name to everything you could have and it's very overwhelming.

All the kids have caught a cold, Wyatt and Pixie having the worst of it. We had to miss Church today and hope everyone is better by next week because Wyatt was so disappointed to not go. He is at such a fun age, he asks so many great questions while I am reading the bible stories to him. We started Before Five in a Row this week and read Jesse Bear what will you wear. I love this curriculum for the little ones. They have great ideas and activities to do with them and Wyatt loves having his own time.

After a difficult weekend with Owen I was happy that I received my order from I choose Virtues. I have been trying to decide if it was necessary and the further into homeschooling Owen the more I know it's necessary. I remember talking with other parents who have been homeschooled and homeschool their children at the convention. The consistent theme was discipleship and I didn't know what that meant. Now as we have been going to church and I have been reading the bible I understand what my goal is. I just need to find the right way to get there. Somewhere along the line I have stopped being the authority. Now in order to have things work we need to fix this. I got a really good book at the library:


So far it has been very informative and I feel like I have some idea of how we are going to proceed. I have to keep in mind that it is going to take time, and we need to work on one thing at a time. Using the We choose virtues program teaches one of twelve total virtues at a pace of one a week. I think the little ones will enjoy the catchy phrases and the characters. We will see how Owen responds to it. I am also tying in this book as a read aloud throughout the week.



We are also going to implement family responsibilites charts for the boys. We have them all pitch in on things routinely, but I know I am bad for not being consistant. I am hoping this way when they are both accountable for it there will be a difference. I don't know that I agree with allowances for family responsibilities, but I do want them to learn the value of money and hard work. I think we may try to have a list of jobs that they can do to earn money. Some ideas we have are washing vehicles, cleaning the chicken coops, mowing grass, picking up trash, etc. I need to make sure I find some that Wyatt can do also.

Once again it is Sunday and my school plan is all worked out and I am hopeful that we are on the right path with this. I just keep reminding myself of the bigger picture and praying for guidance on this.