Homeschooling moments

Education doesn't just start in the formal school age years - it's something that is ongoing from birth. Or at least that is my philosophy. Our decision to homeschool wasn't something that came easily or without much heated discussion at times. However now that we're all on the same page - the only burden that remains is choosing which curriculum we're going to use next year. 

Until then I'm just improvising with little lessons for both of them. We've been working hard on phonics and sight words and I'm ecstatic to say that Maddie is reading simple sentences! I bought her these little books (similar to BOB books) at Toy Magic and last night we sat down and she read them both to me with very little help. I'm so proud of her!

I took these pictures a few weeks ago - Maddie was asking about the number 100 so we counted out 10 groups of 10 beans and counted by 10's and 1's all the way to 100. She also practiced writing her numbers. 

Who says homeschooling has to happen at a certain time of day or for a certain amount of time? I took these pictures one night last week. Wyatt took a late nap that day and was wired still by later in the evening. I think I was cleaning the kitchen and turned around to see that he'd dragged his chair and the little folding table into the kitchen. He was sitting there looking so cute - and then he said - "I want to do school!"

Even at 10 p.m. I was thrilled that he wanted to learn! I bought him a Do a Dot activity book called Play and Learn at Toy Magic in FWB and this was the perfect opportunity to do it without Maddie wanting to do it, too.

I haven't worked with him much honestly - but he's definitely learning from his sister! He can count to 10 and knows many of the numbers to 20, just not in the right order. We're just starting letter names and sounds and I'm going to do them phonetically instead of the straight names.

I had to make him stop after doing six letters - he would have kept going I think! It was late and I was tired! We'll work on writing letters some other time. I don't think he's ready just yet.

Seaside Farmer's Market Finds

After a tip from some friends that there was a Farmer's Market in Seaside, I loaded up the kids and Mike and drove out there Saturday to see what I might find. I mainly wanted to go because the Ocheesee Dairy sells their milk there - but seeing that our own Farmer's Market in FWB is a far cry from a real one - I've been searching for a good alternative for months. I'm always concerned about the quality of food - we typically only eat organic produce, we have our own eggs from our chickens and drink organic milk as well. Just recently I've found a source for local chicken and we'll be switching over to grass-fed, grass finished beef and pork soon as well - since I've found a source for that finally. 

Like I said - I've been disappointed in the market options closer to my house - The "farmer's" at the FWB market are ones who mostly buy and resell produce. With this situation they cannot tell me whether the farmer sprayed the veggies or ground, etc. They can only guess and they'll tell you anything they think you might want to hear!

All in all - seeing that it is March and the growing season has been incredibly short-changed by our really cold winter - it was a great little market. The kids had fun at the 4-H table where they made crafts and ate cookies. 

Things I purchased:

Tomato and Onion Fococcia $5

10-grain Artisan Bread $3.75

Cowboy cookies $5... This bag is obviously empty. They were some 

of the best chocolate chip cookies I've ever had! The neat thing about them 

was that the baker incorporated ingredients from other vendors

who were at the market (butter and eggs).

1/2 gallon pasteurized milk from the Ocheesee Creamery.

$5 for the milk, $3 deposit for the bottle.

A little pricey - yes, but man you should taste it! 

There was a farmer selling early spring produce, but my fridge was already full of produce - I'm excited to see what other produce shows up as the growing season kicks into full swing. 

The other neat find was Twin Oaks Farm - I met the owner Renee. She's a very sweet, passionate lady - raising certified organic chickens and ducks - both for meat and eggs. She's located in Bonifay. I'm excited to see her business grow!

Being that I love Seaside - the atmosphere is just so calm and relaxing - I think we'll be heading out there frequently this spring and summer. 

If you're in the local area - I hope you'll do the same!

Beach day

Every day I watch in wonder as my children 

The path to a more simple life - time to be just a mom

God's voice has never been something that I hear on a regular basis. I admit that discerning when it's a God-thing and when it's a me-thing is sometimes difficult at best. However over the past few months I've had this nagging feeling that I should go back to just being a mom.

Where does this drive come from to do all the things I do - anyways? There's a certain feeling of inadequacy that creeps in at times to tell me I'm not doing enough and I can do more. When people ask me what I do I admit to feeling inadequate when I answer that I'm just a mom. So I've filled my life with responsibilities and obligations: Lactation counseling, teaching breastfeeding classes, attending homebirths, trying to work some in the midwife's office, planning teas at church, leading LLL meetings and taking on the position of AAPL with the LLL area of FL and the English speaking Islands. This is in addition to my desire to homeschool my children, keep a garden growing, care for chickens, cats and a dog - on top of trying to cook from scratch, eat organic produce and healthy meats - all the while dreaming of living a more simple and sustainable life!

And then there are times when I sit and seriously contemplate all those things I accomplish as "just a mom." My daughter is learning how to read, my son is learning how to be a sweet little boy. My kids are learning how to garden and care for animals, they play well together. I'm teaching Maddie how to play the piano - we're learning simple French phrases and words. Sometimes I want to just sit and marvel at the wonderful little people we're raising - I should do this more often because it encourages me in my mothering.

I can't tell you how many times lately I've told them "not right now" or "just a minute" because I was too busy reading an email, talking on the phone or doing something online that just HAD to be addressed at that minute and my children were put on the back burner.

That makes me feel like a terrible person. Especially when I call my child and they tell me "just a minute" or "not right now."

So I want to start saying "yes - i have time for you" instead of constantly sending them the message that they aren't as important as whatever I'm doing at that moment.

The past few weeks have been a hard wake-up call for Mike and I on not just the state of our own marriage, but the state of several of our friends' marriages. Just in our circle there are 4 families either divorcing or quickly heading that way. Every situation is different, but still serious issues that seem to be irreconcilable. Seeing what this is doing to their families and to their children is so hard to watch and after we recently renewed our wedding vows we promised each other that this would not happen to us. Let's face it - the odds for marriage just aren't that great and it takes a lot of hard work to keep things rolling, especially when you have young kids.

Sometimes I need to remind myself that I just don't have to or need to work. I'm one of the very lucky ones who can be a stay-at-home-mom with no regrets and I should embrace that fully. I just wish that I didn't feel like I always have to be doing something else to make it count for myself. Being a mom should just be enough. After all I am contributing to the future of society in raising responsible, loving and compassionate children, right?

Of course making this decision means that I'm going to have to ultimately let some people down - mostly the people I work with in homebirth. While I love being at the births and find it incredibly empowering and healing - I find that I don't like being away from my children or husband. I miss them terribly and worry a lot while I'm away from them. Part of me feels like this is still something I've been called to do, but that maybe right now just isn't the right time. My children need ME now - not anyone else. There will be many more homebirths years down the road when my children are older and don't depend on me nearly as much as they do now. I know some people with young children who are in similar lines of work and have no problems leaving their children - but I'm just not comfortable with doing it when they are so young and impressionable. I can only find peace knowing that I'm making the best decision for myself and my family.

One other reason I've come to this realization is that Maddie will be homeschooled starting next Fall and I know I will need to focus completely on homeschooling in the beginning. It will take us a while to get into a rhythm with our schooling and I want that to be a high priority as she starts her "formal" education. We are planning several trips as well and I want the freedom and flexibility to turn these trips into educational experiences.

Michael is fully supportive of this I might add - he wants me to cut all my obligations and just focus on raising our kids and enjoying our family. He says that things that cause me so much stress aren't worth it and ultimately he's correct. He's been asking me to do this for a while and honestly it's time I honored my husband and just stayed home (well not all the time  - I do need to go to the grocery store at times!)

So my days of a more simple life are upon me. I am continuing as a LLL leader and the AAPL for Florida and ESI. I will still be the organizer for the Barbara Harper Waterbirth Training in May and then I'm free! I'm going to practice saying NO more often and just enjoy life with my two brilliant kids who want me to teach them everything about life and more. 


We're so happy that Spring is here - our garden is starting to thrive again and seeds will start poking their heads out soon. 


Travels will take us to Central Florida in May for the FL and ESI Leader's retreat for LLL. The kids and I are heading to Indiana in April for a wedding and some exploring up there during the spring. Maddie graduates from preschool in June (I just can't believe it!). 


Life is really wonderful these days. I love my kids and husband - my chickens and garden. I've found good organic produce and dry goods through the local buying club and will start getting fresh milk products in 2 weeks, too! Next on my list is to buy either a half or quarter of a cow that is grassfed/finished and to pick up the chicken (meat) from a local kid who is raising them to sell. I also think a trip to Pensacola is soon on the schedule - time to go to Ever'mans and play at some of the parks there in town, too.


Beach days are fastly approaching as well - I better get them in before it gets so hot!

daddy's leaving again...

is it bad that Maddie's first response to me telling her that daddy is leaving for a few days is this?:

"Ooooh I get to sleep in your bed!"

pneumonia

Normally healthy - our family has been hit hard with sickness the last few weeks. The kids had nasty colds a few weeks ago and Wyatt started with a wet but productive cough. He also had styes on his eyes - hence the three visits to the dr. last month because eyes aren't something that can be fixed by chiropractic care!

Last Wednesday he ended up back at the dr. because he had 2 more styes on the other eye and I just wasn't happy with them spreading from one eye to the other. Dr. Justice (love him!) prescribed some drops for his eyes and thankfully they're (slowly) getting better.

We switched to Dr. Justice last year and I really like him a lot. He's great with Wyatt and really on the ball. My only "complaint" is that he's family practice and doesn't see a lot of young pediatric patients and hence isn't in the habit of checking ears and listening to breathing each visit just because... If he was then maybe I would have been saved another $35 co-pay (man do those add up!).

So the same day that Wyatt went for his eye - he started coughing again and this time it sounded different. I don't really know how to describe it - but I just knew that something was wrong. Because I'm the watch and see kind of parent I monitored it over the next few days and by Sunday I knew it was something that needed to be discussed with the dr. I called first thing monday morning only to wait 5 hours for a return call to tell me they had no openings for him that day.

We took an appointment at 11:15 this morning instead.

It was hard getting him up and moving this morning - he kept telling me that he wanted to go back to sleep. By the time we dropped Maddie off to school (late) he was looking pretty tired. We went to Cafe Liquid and he just wasn't himself - didn't want to leave my lap and was acting quite lethargic.

We got to the dr. and I told his nurse that I really feared that Wyatt had pneumonia and I was right unfortunately.

He's on azythromyacin for 5 days and we go back next tuesday to see if he's better. I really hope my little guy gets better soon - I hate seeing him so sick!

sunshine at last

I have to start by saying that this has been the coldest, wettest winter I've experienced in my 10 years on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Generally our winters are fairly mild with a few days below freezing. This year, however we've had weeks below freezing with a small break in the temperature only to return to below freezing yet again.

From a gardeners standpoint it's been incredibly depressing and from the standpoint of a mother with rambunctious children - it's been equally depressing!

So today with the sun shining fiercely and the temperature in the upper 60s if not lower 70s my young family and I ventured outside for some much needed vitamin D therapy!

We I started out the morning by weeding and de-rooting the front garden where we I intend to plant Maddie's birthday garden. As I turned the soil, incorporating the decaying mulch and the compost I purchased recently - visions of all the veggies I will add to her flower bed spurred me on. After about 2 hours of hard work the bed is just about ready to receive flowers and bulbs and some seeds as well.

While I labored in the dirt Maddie and Wyatt laid out blankets and towels in the yard and did some sunbathing. They played a few games and slowly the amount of "stuff" that accumulated became ridiculous!

The mailman was welcomed by Apollo who tried to sound impressive, but his wagging tail gave him away. Moments later the day's mail lay strewn across the yard and at one point when we were all taking a break a small whirling dirvish appeared and contributed to the craziness.

The sun felt so good - I think I had forgotten how nice it felt to be warmed by the sun!

As the weed pile grew and the flower bed looked nicer I noticed a discombobulated looking toad who I'd no doubt roused from hibernation in the dirt. She (he?) was promptly named princess and subjected to all the niceties due to princess toads. Maddie and Wyatt carried it around until I decided it was looking dehydrated and then they proceeded to submerge the poor thing in a bowl of freezing water. She woke up and hopped out of the bowl -only to be placed back into it time and time again. I finally declared that it was time for her to go back to the garden and buried her to save her!

It's been a nice morning - other than thinking a hawk had carried off cocoa (she eventually rematerialized from under the storage building).

I'm trying to start living more simply again - and focusing more on writing and loving on my kids. All the rest can wait -my kids need me more!