Our family photo shoot!!

Another year of thanks

Ah yes, the first day of school.  As kids are excitedly packing and repacking their backpacks and supplies and getting ready for school, my kids will be sleeping.  Well most of them.  They are completely oblivious to the first day of school.  While kids are watching for the bus to bump on down the road, my kids will be cuddled up on the couch watching The Lorax.  (Ricky will still be sleeping)  While kids are loading onto the bus and traveling down the streets and then lining up for school, my kids will be eating breakfast and chatting.  (Ricky will probably still be sleeping)  As amazing as homeschooling is, I don't think any bad thoughts about school.  Sure I do believe for us that homeschooling is the better option.  That doesn't mean I think school is evil.  Not everyone is cut out for homeschooling.  Some mornings this year will arrive that I see that bus roll up and I will want to truck all of my crazy kids out there and plunk them on a seat and wave excitedly goodbye and do a the happy dance in an empty house BUT most days I treasure.  I love our lazy days of interaction with one another.  I love our many conversations we have throughout the day.  I love Ricky sleeping in, creative games and plays they create and piles of books.  I love Amelie and Ricky crocheting together and talking and I love being able to stay home and love them, mold them and teach them.
I just love who my children are and who they are becoming.  I thank God all the time that we came upon this journey that is wild and so full of yummy love.  Tomorrow we stay in our PJ's all day and maybe have some fun with math.  The next day we go to the zoo with a bunch of other homeschooling families and just live.  Really, can life get much better?

Food

Seriously, what's the big deal?
Why is it so important for our children to finish everything on their plate?  It makes no sense to me.
Yesterday my daughter didn't want to finish her watermelon.  I told her that we would put it aside and if she wanted more it would be there.  I heard a comment that I let my children off the hook to easily.  What?  That's silly.  If I am eating and I begin to not enjoy what I am eating, I will give it over to someone else.  I don't not feel the need to finish.  Why do parents feel the need to control their children so much?  Will they grow up to not finish what is on their plate?  GASP!  Will they starve to death?  Please.  They need to finish what they start?  Why?  Because we as adults always do?  I have never made my children finish their food.  When they are done, they are done.  Not a big deal.  There are many more important things to worry about than if my daughter eats a few more bites of her watermelon.  Really, our children will not turn out to be non eating, filthy, non polite monsters if we don't control every little moment of their lives.  People amaze me.

They're getting older...no more veggies kids!!! :)

I am feeling very blessed.  Look at these amazing children!  The first few pictures are of a pond at our park.  Well it is really a field that flooded but whatever.  Thousands and thousands of toads were mating about a month ago and our kids found them.  To the excitement of the toads I am sure ;)  the kids had a blast.  Yes we came home with muddy clothes and slimy hands but oh what a wonderful time we had!  Amelie wanted a picture of herself kissing a toad and then make it seem like the toad turned into Cohen.  Then we have Ricky with a toad, Reagan holding out a toad to show us, Hadley being cute in a swing and Callum being a soccer star.  I haven't worked on pictures of Hadley and Callum in the pond so I put other pictures in.
When I look at my children and who they are becoming, I am so grateful for our decision to homeschool.  More and more I am noticing their differences and the benefits.  They are just really great kids.  I am their mom and moms say this, I know.  Thank God I listened to my heart and went against the naysayers and we raised our children the way they were meant to be raised.
Oh and YAY, I know how to upload pictures on this computer now.

Still here...

Hello all,
We are just figuring out how to put pictures onto our computer.  Yes, this is our life.  Things take a long time.  The important things get done.
The kids are in soccer again.  I can't wait to post pictures of it.  They are all doing so well and enjoying themselves.  Callum is the new soccer guy in the family.  He takes it quite seriously.  He is now sleeping through the night and staying dry.  People say that we will miss the diaper stage but I don't believe we will.  It has been 9.5 yrs in diapers for us and 8 yrs with 2 in diapers.  We are ready.  Hadley Jude is the last little peanut.
You worry and worry and worry that they won't potty train, that they won't sleep through the night, that they will be ruined by your frustrations.  You worry about what they eat and how they behave.  Will they read and know their letters?  How is their socialization?  I am not worried about how they socialize but I am more worried about how they will be perceived by other kids in a town that is schooled.  Lets face it, we are watched.  Kids in school do have a different way of being.  It isn't bad, just different.  They learn pretty quickly what is ok and what is not in the socialization circle of life.  It is not ok for another kid to come up and tell them what they are saying is wrong.  I taught Amelie this this month.  When kids are using inappropriate language they don't need to be told.  Yes I am happy that my child is not following suit but I also don't want her targeted.   I have taught her to just walk away and play with someone else.  I would much rather navigate through this than the alternative.  So I worry about that.  I have to remind myself that they all talk, walk, use the toilet, sleep through the night, lose the soother, are healthy and happy.  It all happens and they are great.  I need to focus on being grateful more than worry.  I have been telling myself this for 9 years.  Hopefully I will listen soon.

Let them be who they are

So the kids have started soccer.  It is always exciting in the beginning.  They get up early to put on their socks, shin pads, shirts and shoes.  Very early.  This has been much anticipated all year long.  Soon the june bugs will make their appearance and half of my children will be sitting in the grass playing with them.  The sun will get hotter and we will be steaming, sitting, anticipating when soccer will be finished.  I love to see my children grow.  Which brings me to my next post...growing and punishment.
When your children are in a sport, do you allow them to quit?  At what point would you allow this and why?  We have always given our children the option on quitting.  Gasp.  If they dislike a sport, they stop.  If they don't want to be dropped off somewhere, don't.  Ricky is a good example of this.  She played soccer when she was 4.  She didn't like it.  She has watched her siblings play for 4 years and has finally decided she wants to play.  She gets all dressed up and is excited to play.  Right in the beginning of the game she got hurt.  That was it.  She sat on my lap and cried about not wanting to play anymore.  Now a lot of parents would get upset and send them back out.  But to what cost?  Sure your child will play.  Big deal.  I had a talk with her about why she didn't want to play.  She said she thought she would like it now but doesn't.  It isn't only because she got hurt.  It is because she is shy.  She would prefer one on one interaction and we have always known that about her.  I am still proud of her for stepping outside of her comfort zone.  Guess what.  For years she has not wanted to go somewhere without Ron or I.  We always stay or she just comes with us.  Today she said she wanted to go to Sunday School and be down there on her own.  She did it!  She didn't need us.  Our little Ricky is growing up.  Sniffle.  Was it that hard to follow what she needed?  Was I worried about her being 20 and never letting us out of her sight?  No.  They grow up.  Way too fast actually.  So if your child is not feeling the independent thing...don't push it.  They will get there on their own time.  Let me tell you something about Ricky.  She is the sweetest, most giving child I know.  She has a huge heart and is always putting others before her.  She is observant and enjoys doing things on her own.  She is artistic in the way she dresses as well as her art.  She is shy and she is ours.  I love her exactly the way she is.  If I would have shoved her out onto the field or dropped her off without her consent, she wouldn't be who she is.  Now that is a sad thought.

Why worry?

My 3yo son wants to stay with mom or dad always.

My 3yo son still sometimes wears diapers and loves his soo soo. (Only allowed at bed)

My 7yo daughter still does not like to be away from mom or dad.

Do you know what I am getting at?

Do we as parents allow our children to have security blankets or do we demand that they grow up and have independence? This really is well thought out by most parents.

We have the parents that say they would never allow their child to sleep in their bed because they would want to all the time.

We have the parents who stop nursing at 6 months because they don't want their child to become too dependent on them.

Then we have those parents who allow their children to come into their own when they are meant to.

I have never left my child somewhere where they are uncomfortable with it. Not once. I just don't believe in it. Did you know that that was our deciding factor in homeschooling? I was told by the secretary to pry Amelie (at the age of 3) off of my leg, turn around and walk away. Obviously she didn't know who she was talking to. If she expects her own mother to treat her like that, what is stopping from them to treat her like that?

When did it become "them or us?"

We can still be there for our children AND be there for ourselves.

I have had various children sleep in our bed at different times. Guess what? Ron and I still had time on our own. Our children are evidence of that. I can guarantee that they will not be 15 and still crawling into our bed. One day this won't happen. Bitter sweet.

I used to worry when my older children still had a soo soo and they were considered too old. Will they ever give it up? I shouldn't have given so much time to worry. Yes, they do give it up and it is forgotten. I don't even remember Cohen or Reagan with a soother and it wasn't all that long ago. I have learned to let it go and let him have it at night. Again, I am pretty sure he won't still use it at 15.

He still has diapers about 60 percent of the time. Meh. Cohen used to hide in the curtains to poop in his diaper and he was almost 4. Did it hurt him? Nope. I hardly remember him in diapers and he has just turned 6. Why did I ever worry that he needed diapers at almost 4. For the record, he wasn't 15 when he got in underwear. Callum is still out for debate. I am not worried.

Why do we fret and worry and judge when in the grand scheme of things...it doesn't matter? Let them be. Let them be ready for what lies ahead. I wish I could go back and know that things like potty training, what they eat, using soo soo's, talking late, bathing every day...didn't matter! At each age their will be new hurtles to jump and we will do it just fine. On our own time.