My Journey into Homeschooling

In my journey to what some call is "true homeschooling" I am trying to figure out how to incorporate different subjects with events on the calendar.  Next week we'll be learning the story of St. Patrick, doing some artwork, learning Geography, etc.  Well, some of this stuff may come easy to people but for me I like to follow.  I like things set out for me so I don't make mistakes.  I do want to learn how to make my own lesson plans and so I really gave it a try today.  However, I have no problem at all using boxed lessons for Language Arts and Math.  I love it a lot actually and the kids are loving it too.  The whole point of my kids "homeschooling" is to school at home with me.  That's what matters in my eyes.

I found a video about Michelangelo Buonarroti that is kid friendly and easy to follow for History.  When I was reading about him I got to thinking about the sculpture of David he made and how I could take that into an Art lesson and also a Bible lesson.  With that I could introduce our Character Quality of the week which is:

Boldness vs. Fearfulness

Confidence that what I have to say or do is true and right and just in the sight of
God.

Acts 4:29

“And now, Lord, listen to what they are saying. They are trying to make us afraid! Lord, we are your servants. Help us to speak your Word without fear.”

a non-naked photo of
the sculpture

I put together this bible lesson plan about David and Goliath and history about Michelangelo and printed it out.  Then I had them draw a picture of the story as I read about David and Goliath.  We had so much fun and learned sooo much.  

I feel like homeschooling is a journey and I'm one lucky lady to be able to embark on it with my kids.  It's exciting learning about forgotten things that was crammed way back when.  How much do we retain of that stuff when we are little?  I love learning it now even more! The great thing about it is I feel like I can cross out the garbage I don't want and filter what is presented to my kids.  Man, I got bullied big time taking my science teacher on about evolution when I was in 8th grade.  People threw papers at me, boo'd me loudly, and tried to trip me going up the aisle.  Was so worth it though.

Click on picture to enlarge

The other day I went to buy some supplies for art because my kids would do all this wonderful artwork and I really had no where to put it.  I moved some unnecessary furniture in the kitchen (whatever) and put up an art display instead above the computers:

I got a piece of heavy duty string, some construction paper, and some of those clips you hang up laundry with (small ones).  I just clip their newest artwork up on it.  The kids were so happy and so was I because it shows we care.  What kid doesn't want their artwork displayed?

www.Danspulpit.com

I'm sure there are plenty of people who could pick on me and tell me I should do it this way or that way but this is our journey.  This is how we can learn and take steps forward.  I may not do everything right but I'm certainly gonna give my 100% to make sure these kids are successful.  I want us to enjoy it more than anything and we truly are.  I'll never regret the day I left K12 at the bus stop and said "I quit".  I guess you could call me a K12 quitter and I don't mind.  It squashed all joy of learning out of both the kids and I and we hated waking up every day to it.  This way we feel free and learning is actually fun again.

How Blogging Has Blessed Our Family

Ivy 6 years ago at 8 months old

Isn't it funny how when you start a blog you find different blogs to follow but there are just some that you stick with no matter what?  My 6 year blogiversary is coming up next month and I follow some of the same bloggers from 2006.  It's been fun seeing their kids grow up and hear all the neat stories, encourage each other through trials.   Some people ask me how I could have so much to write about each day.  I don't know!  It's so much easier for me to write than talk on a phone.  I'm just not a phone person.  Give me a journal or the computer and I can write away.  Anyway, here is a link to my first month of blogging.  Boy, my posts were short!  Haha.  I wasn't sure how much to share at first and you can tell.  You have to scroll to the bottom and then go up to see them in order.  It's kinda fun to see how much has changed since 6 years ago.  I only had 4 kids and we lived in an apartment while our house was getting built.  Chaz was going through a diagnosis and it was a really hard time for us.  Blogging has helped me learn through others and has definitely helped in making certain decisions such as homeschooling and family size.  Believe it or not, I wasn't gonna have more kids than 4 but because of visiting blogs, getting more encouragement from other Christian bloggers, and seeing that it is possible to have a large family, that's how it became less scary for me.  I didn't have any encouragement at all from anyone else in my life so blogging has been a huge blessing for us.

We hook up the computer to a screen
to watch history or science videos
on BrainPOP.  It's fun for them and
not super boring.

My days are so much harder since homeschooling four kids.  It's long, hard work, rewarding, crazy, exhausting, and wonderful all at the same time.  First off, I have my kids with me every day so that's the best!  So many moms ask me why I'd want to have my kids home with me every day.  Um, that's why I had them you silly person!  :)  I would never keep having kids unless I truly enjoyed being around them.  Technically I don't "homeschool" I "school at home" which is fine by me.  It's not a status I'm going for it's just that I want to be with my kids.  I use boxed curriculum's but only ones that allow us to be flexible.  Ones where I can mix and match according to what we prefer.  I prefer boxed curriculum's because I'm still learning so much myself and I love learning right along with them.  I never did fifth grade in school. I jumped right from fourth to sixth so now that my son is in fifth grade, I'm learning some stuff myself that is long forgotten or was skipped over.  It's truly exciting for me.  My kids don't get why I'm so excited when we search and find answers together.  Learning can be so fun.

Ivy painting

The kids have been asking if we can finally break out the paints and have some fun with them.  I kind have been putting it off because I was worried about getting paint on things that shouldn't be painted.  Then I remembered that it's washable, thank goodness, so it shouldn't be a problem. I just happened to have a new plastic covering that I've never opened so they had fun on the patio painting away.  It WAS a huuuuuuge mess to clean up and it took us a long time but they were happy and seeing their smiles and painted pictures made it all worth it.  Usually I take them places where they do this kinds of stuff rather than here.  I'm glad we did it though.  :D

Ryan and Ashley

Living the Life of a Traditional Wife

My dog feels like he should be
included on these food adventures

I was so happy to put Friday behind me that I was even happy to go to bed.  I just drug my tired bones to bed, flopped down, and passed out within 5 minutes.  I woke up remembering that today was free breakfast and coffee at IKEA day.  Free breakfast?  For my whole family?  We are so there.  I met my dad and and we all sat together to eat.  At least they did.  I got up constantly to either take kids potty, get drinks for everyone.  Oh, you need ketchup?  I'll be right back.  Or need napkins.  Someone needed butter and more french toast.  Hmph.  And people wonder how I keep my weight off.    I get it done with quick or I'm taking one bite in between getting up.  As frustrating as that can be sometimes, I had an elder gentlemen approach me at a buffet one time while I was getting the little ones their food.  He said he was watching and loved to see a mom serving her family.  He said it's so rare these days.  Really?  I guess that's true but I've really known no different.

My mom always made dinner for us and she truly served us.  I had no idea how hard she worked because she was always taking care of the house, sewing, or doing projects while we were gone at school.  I just assumed the house kept clean on it's own.  Duh.  My mom was a homemaker and my dad worked.  My mom found ways to make side money at home while my dad mainly supported us financially.  For me, there are no blurred lines.  I tend to see household duties in black and white.  I feel like I'm extremely traditional but I love it and it makes it to where there are no hard feelings.  We each know our roles in the house and that's that.  Basically, my husband makes a living for us, takes care of the vehicles, yard work, and takes out the trash.  I take care of the home and all the kids in it.  :) 

I've never expected my husband to get up in the middle of the night to feed my baby.  I've just always felt so blessed that he would lovingly provide for us.  I could never imagine depriving him of rest before being gone all day.  I've never expected him to change a diaper while I'm home.  If he does, you bet he gets a big hug and kiss from me.  I see those extra acts of kindness as just blessings but never expected.  Life is so simple and wonderful this way because I never feel like the lines are blurred and because of it, there is no hard feelings festering inside.

I've never once in 13 years asked Charles to wash the dishes, the clothes, or mop the floors.  He never pressures me to go get a job and I've never heard him ask me once in 13 years.  Often, even several times a week, we express our gratefulness to each other.  Basically, he provides the home and I take care of it.  You can't get any simpler than that!  So many times I've seen couples fight over who does what in the house and I can see why there is resentment.  It's so hard when the lines are blurred and even if couples want that line blurred, it's good to write down what is expected of each other.  Every family is different in how they happily operate and I know my way is considered extreme to some but that's okay.  We are all different.  Thank goodness God gives a free will and we are all not robots.  I do love this life and I know we had discussed this before we even married.  The funny thing is we hardly discussed kids but somehow we ended up with seven.  :)  We figured we'd have two more more but if you told me I would have seven I would've probably fainted.  LOL.

Some call me ULTRA traditional but I just feel ULTRA blessed.  ;)

Reupholstering Chairs to be Kid Friendly

See stained chair?

I've hated the looks of my chairs for soooo long.  I've had them about 4 1/2 years.  Whatever you do, don't buy furniture from MOR, they don't have good quality.  Well, we paid a lot of money for them so it's here to stay for a bit longer.  When I first bought the chairs the seat covers were an almost white micro fiber.  Right away I knew I needed to cover them with a clear plastic to keep them looking that pretty.  My husband said it was okay because the store people said they are easy to clean.  Yeahhhh, if you have NO KIDS maybe.  So of course right away it started getting really stained and becoming a huge embarrassment.

The piles and piles of fabric

Yesterday I went to SAS to pick out some new material for the chairs. I had an idea of the type of fabric I wanted.  Basically, anything I can take a wet cloth to and wipe down fast.  This store is cheaper but extremely unorganized.  They basically just throw everything in these huge piles and you just have to hope you find what you need.  Nothing is in order at all so I wandered around for a long time.  Just when I was about to give up I found the perfect material.  Black vinyl for $4.99 a yard.  Sounded good to me and I was crunched for time!

So then I went home and took apart all the chairs.  The kids couldn't figure out why in the world I'd want to take the cushions off. I jokingly told them it's because we didn't need them.  They just got quiet for a minute and then said, "But mommmm.....!"  I went to Home Depot and asked guy for help in finding the right staples for the staple gun.  We talked a bit and then he wouldn't leave after I got what I wanted.  I told him I needed to call my mom and he kept standing there.  So then I just stared at him waiting for him to leave.  I said, "Thank youuuuu" in hopes he'd get the hint I'm done. So he said, "Do you want to talk to your mom in private or something?"  I told him, "Okay thanks, but I got the idea of what I need."  He kept standing around and flirting and I was getting frustrated.  Okay dude.  He was soooo flirty it was getting on my nerves.  Then when I was leaving he followed me to talk to me some more.  Ugh.  Was happy to get out of there.

I headed to my moms house (which was also a great excuse to visit) and asked if she could help me.  My mom is an expert on this stuff because she'd done it so many times.   After looking at pictures online and chatting we got down to business. She made a pattern for me and I started cutting.

While I was cutting my mom was doing the stapling of the fabric onto the chairs.  It's amazing my dad could sleep through all that.  I kept yawning the whole time while working and mentioning how late it felt.  I looked up at the clock and it was only 8pm.  What the heck?  What a wimp I've become!  Haha.

Finally, I got home and put the chairs together.  The newly reupholstered chairs look amazing!  Now, all I have to do is wipe down the chairs with a wet cloth after a meal.  No more scrubbing and scrubbing.  The stains would never come out.  Don't believe people when they say white microfiber cloth is safe from kids.  Ha!

Boys Come in All Different Types

I need to recover my dining chairs since they're pretty abused and dirty looking no matter how many times you scrub them.  It's an almost white microfiber cover on the seats.  When we first bought the dining set I told Charles I needed to put a clear plastic over them, then staple gun underneath to protect the color.  He said no way, it's already easy to clean.  Those chairs are a pain in the butt.  He admits now he should've let me cover them.  

Well, while getting ready to head to the fabric store, Ryan was the only one up so I took him along.  He had never been to one before.  He absolutely loved the store and could imagine all the possibilities.  He picked out some blue faux fur fabric and asked me if I'd make him a pillow with it.  First off, the lady didn't even cut the material straight and I didn't notice till be got home.  There are no returns allowed.  While looking at it and measuring, I was thinking it'd be a pain to keep that pillow clean.  So I asked Ryan if he's rather me just make a pillow case out of it so he can just pull the pillow out real easy.  He loved the idea.  :)

You know, boys can be such boys!!  It's so cute.  I didn't realize that when Caleb laid down for his nap that he was cuddling a motorcycle and put a toy car right next to him on the other pillow.  So cute!  

Boys can be so different in their personalities. You can have the BOYS where they would get bored in fabric stores and silly girl stuff and then you have the boys that are the gentler type, likes to cook, go on errands. and even visit a fabric store.  I love my boys all around.  :)