*big sigh*
as the new year approaches and i look back on this past year all i can do is sigh. i have loved every moment. but, nevertheless i am contemplating really significant changes for the times to come.
in september i began homeschooling my two older sons...and i have had the baby around us as well. a lot of people have asked me how i do it with all three of them and it isn't an easily answered question...i just do it. it takes some creativity and some self direction from the kids, but it works. and each one gets attention and love and has their needs met. not that it is always peaches and cream...
but, when i took on the endeavor of home schooling these sons of mine, things were a bit different. J was going to teach them to cook on saturday mornings so that i could have one morning a week to myself...he was going to be in charge of science...and yet it is now january and that has never even once happened. work is extremely busy for him, which is a blessing in itself...and it is where his priority lies. he is striving for success in his field. he works 90+ hours a week. i try to be supportive of his desire, but consequently i have not had a moment without children at my hem. literally. not. one. moment.
i am feeling burnt out. and i am feeling lost, my Self and my needs are getting lost in the mix. i hardly ever even have a chance to shower.
and on top of that i am disheartened by the curriculum we purchased to use for our schooling. it is rigid, archaic and its chosen literature is the first i have ever heard my children call "boring." wth all the great literature out there for children it is so sad to see the lame stuff they've picked. in essence, the curriculum sucks...and we follow the motions of it with less than half a heart. i feel like i am doing my children an educational disservice using this boring non-progressive curriculum. i want more for them...which is why i chose to homeschool them in the first place. i have added my own pieces to our education, like herbology and japanese, but it isn't like i know all about child development and what they should be optimally learning when. i don't feel confident enough to create my own curriculum, nor do i think my husband would support that...homeschooling has turned into a lonely experience and i can see it will just get more so as the winter progresses...
and for other personal reasons, too...i feel saddled by certain aspects of this endeavor...saddled in a way that makes me feel like i have no control or freedom and i do not like it. i have three children on me all the time and i sometimes need to be able to just pick up and do something (and i'm not talking about fun things, but necessary thing)...a luxury i don't have right now.
*big sigh*
so i am strongly contemplating sending my boys back to public school...and trying to look at it in a positive light not as a failure...i am not a monk. i am not wholly selfless...and that is part of my sparkle. i, as a person, add to my family's light and beauty by being me..and i must take care of myself to be the best me for them...for us all.
big thoughts...big thoughts...
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
a micro organic elderberry business venture!
so...the boys and i have made an organic elderberry tincture...well, we're one week away from its completion. it is a two week process.
we are so excited about it and found that many other people are as well! elderberry is in the media spotlight for flu immunity boosting properties...so the kids have decided to open a little business to raise some money for homeschooling supplies. (note:we're not claiming it's miracle drug, or anything of the sort. :) but we've been taking elderberry syrup and we all feel great.)
they are selling their organic elderberry tincture for $8 an ounce. packaged in a dropper jar, it's made with organic elderberries and vegetable glycerin and spring water. and will be shipped for $4.50 priority mail anywhere in the continental USA. our first batch will be ready on tuesday the 20th of october and the second will be ready 28th of october. so far, all but two ounces from next week's batch are reserved, but there is plenty available to be shipped on the 28th.
anyone interested can leave a comment below and we can exchange info...f.y.i. i do have a paypal account or you can mail the kids a check...
we are so excited about it and found that many other people are as well! elderberry is in the media spotlight for flu immunity boosting properties...so the kids have decided to open a little business to raise some money for homeschooling supplies. (note:we're not claiming it's miracle drug, or anything of the sort. :) but we've been taking elderberry syrup and we all feel great.)
they are selling their organic elderberry tincture for $8 an ounce. packaged in a dropper jar, it's made with organic elderberries and vegetable glycerin and spring water. and will be shipped for $4.50 priority mail anywhere in the continental USA. our first batch will be ready on tuesday the 20th of october and the second will be ready 28th of october. so far, all but two ounces from next week's batch are reserved, but there is plenty available to be shipped on the 28th.
anyone interested can leave a comment below and we can exchange info...f.y.i. i do have a paypal account or you can mail the kids a check...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
a cacophony of joyful noises...
Boo got his alto sax in the mail today...the day before lessons begin at the public school. i was so nervous...i thought it wouldn't get here in time. i thought i wouldn't be able to find one we could afford...but it all happened harmoniously and joyfully. luckily it WAS on the day before lessons begin. i don't think this excited boy could wait longer than 24 hours to start his learning!
i have never seen him so excited. he was abubble...kept saying..."i feel so good, mommy!" "i am just so excited!!!" it was so wonderful to witness. i knew he would love it. i imagine the band director handing him the diagram of how to play the notes...and i tell you he will learn them all in a matter of one day. he learned to read music in one half hour lesson...he will learn to play that sax in one evening alone with it and the information. i am so excited to watch it go down.
sigh.
i love my kids and their eagerness to learn and create. Boo played that sax as best as he could muster today and Bones played a bit of the songs he and Boo have been working out on the piano while Baby D wailed like a dying seal trying to mimic Boos' sax playing. Rontu (the dog) and i sat trying not to wince. it was horrifically beautiful and i am so excited for my children to know the gift of music.
i do have the endurance to last through their learning years. hell...i was teaching myself violin when i was J's neighbor...talk about aural pain. and he still fell in love with me. :) i owe it to me kids to meditate through this time period. :)
yay! music!!
i have never seen him so excited. he was abubble...kept saying..."i feel so good, mommy!" "i am just so excited!!!" it was so wonderful to witness. i knew he would love it. i imagine the band director handing him the diagram of how to play the notes...and i tell you he will learn them all in a matter of one day. he learned to read music in one half hour lesson...he will learn to play that sax in one evening alone with it and the information. i am so excited to watch it go down.
sigh.
i love my kids and their eagerness to learn and create. Boo played that sax as best as he could muster today and Bones played a bit of the songs he and Boo have been working out on the piano while Baby D wailed like a dying seal trying to mimic Boos' sax playing. Rontu (the dog) and i sat trying not to wince. it was horrifically beautiful and i am so excited for my children to know the gift of music.
i do have the endurance to last through their learning years. hell...i was teaching myself violin when i was J's neighbor...talk about aural pain. and he still fell in love with me. :) i owe it to me kids to meditate through this time period. :)
yay! music!!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Honest Pretzels
for the past couple of weeks we've had a daily guest, my niece, M. it's been a lot of fun having her everyday when her mom shoves off to work. an added element of zip and zest.
she is here today and forgot her bathing suit! egad... :) so i am trying to plan something fun for us to do to pass the time. we went bike riding yesterday...so today i thought perhaps we'd bake something yummy and eat it out in our little teahouse in the backyard. have a boy-friendly teaparty. lately i have been feeling like i need to instill some more chivalry in my sons anyway. they have been kind of anti-girl. and that is just not okay. :)
so i plan on searching through one of my favorite kid friendly cookbooks Honest Pretzels...and cooking away with three kids. but first i need to do the dishes from last nights' supper (i stayed up late being an artist and posting new work online and sacrificed a clean kitchen to do it, but i didn't even get it all up yet!!!...no rest for the motivated. you can check out the fruits of my labor at www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com or in person at PICNIC the craft fair i am gearing up for in September.).
Honest Pretzels...here we come!!!!!
she is here today and forgot her bathing suit! egad... :) so i am trying to plan something fun for us to do to pass the time. we went bike riding yesterday...so today i thought perhaps we'd bake something yummy and eat it out in our little teahouse in the backyard. have a boy-friendly teaparty. lately i have been feeling like i need to instill some more chivalry in my sons anyway. they have been kind of anti-girl. and that is just not okay. :)
so i plan on searching through one of my favorite kid friendly cookbooks Honest Pretzels...and cooking away with three kids. but first i need to do the dishes from last nights' supper (i stayed up late being an artist and posting new work online and sacrificed a clean kitchen to do it, but i didn't even get it all up yet!!!...no rest for the motivated. you can check out the fruits of my labor at www.tangiblesbysf.etsy.com or in person at PICNIC the craft fair i am gearing up for in September.).
Honest Pretzels...here we come!!!!!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
we chose our path...and have begun whacking the weeds on it down!!!
so...we have made our decision to go ahead with our homeschooling plan. it is done. we have settled it in our hearts.
the final thread hanging to the normalcy of school as most people know it was cut when Big J. and i, in a discussion about life, basically came to the conclusion that life is short, and that there is nothing more important to us than our children. we want to spend as much healthy time and energy with them as possible and give them all we can. our two chosen occupations allow us to do this, so why not take advantage of that and live the way we want to??? neither he nor i have ever taken the worn down path in life. living by our guts, our instincts, works for our family...and i believe teaching our children that they don't have to be like everyone else, that they don't need to squish themselves into some box, is going to benefit them and help them keep their unique sparkle in the long run.
so we have begun the configuring of our school room...refinished an old desk and painted the top with chalkboard paint for endless figuring out of stuff. we still need to find one more desk to do this to!!!
we bought all of the basic school supplies we'll need, like pencils, chalk, pens, paper, notebooks, rulers, etc...the acquisition of these materials was way too much fun. we felt like supply addicts. Little J, who generally shies away from writing has already filled pages in one of the journals we bought him. :) handwriting can be fun when it isn't work. his teachers at school found getting him to write to be like trying to get a pig to fly...
the kids are almost finished completing the placement tests for the Calvert School...once that is done and the kids' grade levels and math levels are determined we will order their curriculums. i think we have found our japanese program which is the language we have chosen to learn as a family. we are all so excited about this and hope to travel to japan when baby D is a little older. it makes sense as a perfect excursion and foreign language choice since we have family that speaks mostly japanese...and we have family and friends we can visit in japan.
on the arts fronts we have designed our program which will combine all of the arts into a giant project for the first half of the year. the program is basically a puppet show production that will involve the design and creation of puppets, a set, a play with musical accompaniment and then the actual performance. we are hoping to get other folks involved in this because we imagine it to be way better way bigger. :)
we got our piano tuned. still trying to figure out if we will continue on with our regular piano lessons or venture out into something new. R is showing a strong interest in the guitar and he will attend music class at the public school. we have sent the old saxophone in to get restored for Little J to take sax and band at the middle school, too.
i found a really cool robotics workshop at the local library for each of the boys in november. they screamed with joy when i told them about it. R has mentioned that when he grows up he wants to design robots, specifically for the purpose of helping moms. :) i'll help foster that dream!
we have two september adventures planned...both the blue hill fair (which is the fair charlotte's web was written about...big sis K will actually be singing there this year!) and MOFGA's common ground country fair. hoping to camp out for each! nothing like overnight field trips!
and lastly we have outlined our physical extracurriculars. Little J chose archery and R chose flag football to start the year. they will both play their beloved soccer as well. they both will take karate as a constant throughout the year and we are joining the YMCA as a family so we can all swim together (and so i can undeniably have a chance to shake my groove thing as well).
so we sit in the middle of august, poised and ready for this coming challenging adventure! so thrilled for all that lies ahead.
the final thread hanging to the normalcy of school as most people know it was cut when Big J. and i, in a discussion about life, basically came to the conclusion that life is short, and that there is nothing more important to us than our children. we want to spend as much healthy time and energy with them as possible and give them all we can. our two chosen occupations allow us to do this, so why not take advantage of that and live the way we want to??? neither he nor i have ever taken the worn down path in life. living by our guts, our instincts, works for our family...and i believe teaching our children that they don't have to be like everyone else, that they don't need to squish themselves into some box, is going to benefit them and help them keep their unique sparkle in the long run.
so we have begun the configuring of our school room...refinished an old desk and painted the top with chalkboard paint for endless figuring out of stuff. we still need to find one more desk to do this to!!!
we bought all of the basic school supplies we'll need, like pencils, chalk, pens, paper, notebooks, rulers, etc...the acquisition of these materials was way too much fun. we felt like supply addicts. Little J, who generally shies away from writing has already filled pages in one of the journals we bought him. :) handwriting can be fun when it isn't work. his teachers at school found getting him to write to be like trying to get a pig to fly...
the kids are almost finished completing the placement tests for the Calvert School...once that is done and the kids' grade levels and math levels are determined we will order their curriculums. i think we have found our japanese program which is the language we have chosen to learn as a family. we are all so excited about this and hope to travel to japan when baby D is a little older. it makes sense as a perfect excursion and foreign language choice since we have family that speaks mostly japanese...and we have family and friends we can visit in japan.
on the arts fronts we have designed our program which will combine all of the arts into a giant project for the first half of the year. the program is basically a puppet show production that will involve the design and creation of puppets, a set, a play with musical accompaniment and then the actual performance. we are hoping to get other folks involved in this because we imagine it to be way better way bigger. :)
we got our piano tuned. still trying to figure out if we will continue on with our regular piano lessons or venture out into something new. R is showing a strong interest in the guitar and he will attend music class at the public school. we have sent the old saxophone in to get restored for Little J to take sax and band at the middle school, too.
i found a really cool robotics workshop at the local library for each of the boys in november. they screamed with joy when i told them about it. R has mentioned that when he grows up he wants to design robots, specifically for the purpose of helping moms. :) i'll help foster that dream!
we have two september adventures planned...both the blue hill fair (which is the fair charlotte's web was written about...big sis K will actually be singing there this year!) and MOFGA's common ground country fair. hoping to camp out for each! nothing like overnight field trips!
and lastly we have outlined our physical extracurriculars. Little J chose archery and R chose flag football to start the year. they will both play their beloved soccer as well. they both will take karate as a constant throughout the year and we are joining the YMCA as a family so we can all swim together (and so i can undeniably have a chance to shake my groove thing as well).
so we sit in the middle of august, poised and ready for this coming challenging adventure! so thrilled for all that lies ahead.
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