Trying to create here and there

This was actually a really simple bag it took about an hour with three persistent helpers.



It is a little ballet bag for Cordelia's dance gear, she had a short intro class this summer but starts her regular ballet classes today and she is very excited to start in style!

Dork

This is what my husband does to entertain the kids while I work on lesson plans.


He is a silly silly man, but I really love him ALOT!

I would like you better if you didn't stay here.

I believe this depicts Is-a-belle's feelings as of late. While she likes her and finds her fascinating, she would rather her not live here. At least that is all I have to explain the endless cycle of bad behavior.

As for the homeschooling we are still in planning mood I have spent hours deep in lesson planning and reading upcoming lessons only 14 days to go. But on a fun note I am going to start reading The Indian in the Cupboard aloud tomorrow. I also found an AWESOME art book for co-op, and a sweet bomber jacket for Trent on Ebay for $3.00.

Not-Back-To-School Celebration

Today thanks to my mother my house got a serious face lift, well really all it got was cleaned but apparently that was all it really needed go figure. After experiencing the angry crazy mops of back to school shoppers I decided to celebrate tonight. The kids are having a not-back-to-school movie night because we are not going back to school till the end of the month like everyone around town, like all the people in Office Max I waited in line with for 45 minutes (including the lady Is-a-Belle kicked, sorry~!)or all the crazy drivers running around getting their last minute school supplies. Tomorrow when everyone else goes back to school my kids will still be sleeping and I thought we should celebrate this break from the status quo with popcorn and a movie from red box that I didn't have to wait in line for.

For the love of google

Today has spent searching for preschool curriculum's. As evidenced by this picture Is-a-Belle took of me.


I wasn't going to use a curriculum with Is-a-Belle but she is causing more and more trouble and I think she needs a more little structure and to be included a little more with the older kids. She has recently reverted to acting like a baby, wants diapers (pull-ups we use for bedtime), eating baby food and sucking on a toy bottle and if it doesn't get her attention she causes trouble, pees on the floor, climbs on the counter to find cookies, colors on the wall, herself, my lesson plans. And suddenly a spanking is funny. Well if you will excuse me I am going to go listen to my "The New Strong-Willed Child" tape and cry.

Lofty Dreams

I realize that once we get into the thick of schooling it will become just as time consuming as the daily shuffle of to and from school and work. But really I hope this can stay a fixture, hot breakfast. Now don't get me wrong hot breakfast can encompass a mere box of muffin mix or oatmeal but its hot and you have to take the time to make it and eat it and it slows your day down just a little. And that is what I want around this house. Yummy smells to help the kids as the day wakes them up. Instead of placing a bowl of cold cereal in front of a half asleep monster who was dragged out of bed.

There has to be some valuable lessons in this

School Room in Progress

My school room/dining room in upheaval as try to get things in order.

I would like the desk to be the "teacher" desk and also a place I can have them sit if I need them to focus on something while I work with the other, right now it is a bit of a crash pad.
I have a dresser which you can't see that I am trying to organize for school and art supplies as well as my Girl Scout stuff. I am also brainstorming a system for the kids to file there class work so I don't end up with piles of papers. I really feel like I am moving in slow motion and it makes me sad because organizing is really my thing, or at least it used to be.
I somewhat have school books sorted into magazine boxes but I am worried this is going to be to cumbersome for us after a while.
But knowing me I will reorganize at least one more time before school starts.

Our pupils

Our pupils: Ages: 8, 5, 3 & 5 months

Because we can

I really love this part about homeschooling continuing to revel in summer even during the week after everyone else goes back to school. Our plan keep digging in the sand & riding waves until it isn't hot here anymore (so what about December 25).

Not Back-to-School Blog Hop: School Room Week

I thought I would join in this blog hop and show off our school room/hopefully most days it will become a dining room again so we can eat in there instead on the couch. I wanted to escape the classroom feel with desks and what not and thought it would feel great to gather around the table and just do our thing however it may unfold. We do have a little desk for Izzy to sit at when she wants to "do school" to try to get her excited and less likely to be destructive (I realize how fruitless this effort likely is but I needed to put the desk somewhere). So this is what we have so far I imagine by next year we will have grown out of it and will take over the playroom but for now I wanted that division.

To be changed

I am longing for this experience to change me. It already has and is everyday and I haven't really even started yet. I am not the type of mom that was really made for this homeschooling thing. I am self conscious and feel I struggle to articulate the spoken word let alone in a way to teach another person. I have bought lots of teacher guides and curriculum's but I am still struggling to organize my thoughts and my lesson plans for the weeks ahead. I feel myself being pushed past my insecurities and it is frighting and uneasy at times like I am blindfolded and someone pulling me through a series of obstacles. Frightened and wanting to hold back I continue forward with my only comfort being that the One holding my hand can see.

I know there is an amazing and beautiful story to be told in all this. I know that God has plans that reach far beyond my tiny dream of educating my children. I feel my heart moving towards something so huge and I long to shepard my children towards whatever it is that He has in store for us. I feel His continuous guidance and have found myself seeking solace in His presence like I never have before. The spirit is moving and changing me and sometimes I feel almost giddy at what is happening.

Everyday things are more and more beautiful and precious and life changing. Days on the beach watching the kids play have been wrapped up in praises and prayer so thankful to bask in the beauty of His creation the big ocean and the tiny feet that ran across its waves. I spent the weekend just me and the baby shirking house work for irresistible slobbery baby kisses. Waking up with sun just to engage the big beautiful baby eyes staring at me. And tonight all though they made me crazy and made me yell and threw temper tantrums I sit here tonight soaking up the quiet listening to the sounds of my sweet babies sleeping under one roof after a long weekend away from me. I am so grateful for these moments and praying I won't soon forget them. I have spent the last few months deep in the trenches of baby/ stress induced depression, but I finally feel like I have come out of the darkness and though I am physically struggling out of the fatigue and pain, mentally, emotionally and spiritually I am recovering with great strides. Sweet babies, family fun no matter the struggle it requires and answered prayers of peace and comfort can do that.