Offbeat Motherhood

Happy Love Thursday!!!

Happy Love Thursday everyone!  This is a picture that was taken by my brother-in-law two years ago on a family trip to South Carolina.  We had just finished taking pictures in a park not too far from Charleston.  The kids were all playing and Phillip and I were having a loving moment while watching them run around.  I absolutely love this picture of the two of us.  It illustrates one of those wonderful moments in our relationship that is rarely captured on film.  We've been together for 13 years, married for 11 and couldn't be happier, and this is one of those times I will forever remember because of the sudden opening and closing of the shutter.  Click on pictue to enlarge. 

Mom's Schooling & Social Interaction

Yesterday I discussed social interaction and home schooling.  Today I’d like to discuss my social interaction and school.  I have literally spent the majority of my day in front of this computer, doing research for class and doing my discussion boards for Intro to Graphic Design and Computer Applications.  I’m exhausted, and unfortunately I’m still not finished.  I’ve been working really hard the past few weeks.  I’m taking three classes and I have to tell you, I’m a little worn out (to say the least).  The good thing is that I am able to do most of my work at night after the children go to bed.  The bad thing is that I have not been getting much sleep as a result.  I am the eternal optimist and I know that things will get better, but I also know that I cannot under any circumstances let myself fall behind again. 

            Early last week I attended my Grandfathers funeral in North Carolina.  Although it was a valid circumstance for missing school, I unfortunately fell behind with every assignment that I had.  I spent all of Saturday and Sunday making every effort to have all of my work completed and turned in by the 12:00 p.m. deadline.  Luckily the school is located in Colorado, so that actually buys me two extra hours.  Mountain time for me is absolutely wonderful when I’m stuck in a jam and I need  that extra time.  As a result I have not left the house in a couple of days except to go to the market and the mailbox.  I’ve felt a bit cooped up (needless to say).  I needed to have some sort of interaction with an adult (other than my husband).  A friend of mine showed up today on a whim and I was absolutely thrilled to see her.  We sat down and talked for quite a long time before it was time for her to go home and for me to finish dinner.  I can’t explain how happy I was to indulge in adult intelligent conversation.  In the few moments that I had alone after she left I realized that social interaction was just as important for adults as for children.  I decided to make it a point to get out of the house and away from the children more often.  I could honestly see myself becoming a little unstable after home schooling for 5 days a week, carrying on with my other chores, and then doing my schoolwork and not seeing the light of day.  It is important for parents to have their own time!  Time for oneself is absolutely precious and should not be taken for granted.  I absolutely love my children and my husband, but sometimes you have to say enough is enough and just get out of the house. 

            I’m sure that there are a lot of mothers out there who feel the same way I do.  If so please do not hesitate to leave a comment.   

Home Schooling & Social Interaction

Phillip and I decided a few months ago that we were going to home school our children.  This was not a decision that we took lightly.  We looked into several home schooling programs and had many conversations (some deep into the night) about whether we were making the right decision to pull them out of the traditional classroom setting.  I was probably more worried about it than he was.  My concern was based around providing the children with an adequate amount of social interaction with their peers.  I wasn’t worried about whether I could properly educate them.  I didn’t see that as being a problem.  I want them to develop socially. The last thing that I want is a socially crippled child who can’t carry on intelligent conversation because he's been locked in the house 24-7.  It’s so important to be able to relate to people on a personal level.  I’ve seen too many children who are just ill equipped to handle certain public situations because they have not had the proper grounding socially or academically to succeed.  As adults they will need these social skills to get jobs, attend college, or to just make friends.

For the past two weeks I have been skimming over county recreational brochures, reading the papers, library bulletin boards, and school discussion boards looking for extracurricular activities for my children to participate in during the school year.  Thus far we have signed them up for Karate and I’m looking forward to signing my daughter up for another year of cheerleading.  My oldest son would like to sign up for chess club and play basketball.  My youngest does not know what he wants to do yet.  He just wants to do something.  A few days ago we received the paperwork for 4H and we decided to go for it!  We’ve already rounded up some local kids and they are excited to begin.

I (no doubt) have a busy schedule but I will place the children in activities that are fun and interesting that will give them the social interaction they need to succeed.  That being said, we also made a vow that under no circumstances would we overburden or over-schedule any of the children, specifically because we understand the consequences of doing so.     

I’m excited about the children starting school next week.  They have received all of their textbooks and computer, and I have begun setting up their curriculums.  My husband and I have split all subjects down the middle so that we won’t be overburdened.  In all of this chaos I’ve read and put together lesson plans for each child for the first two weeks of school.  I’m a realistic person, and I know that this won’t be easy since I’m home schooling three children.  But I have a excellent partner who has taken on the challenge with me. 

I’ve been told by several people that I’m going to “crash and burn” and that I’m “plum loco” for even taking on this challenge.  I wholeheartedly believe that we have made the right decision for the children academically and if we haven’t, which I doubt the children will be free to go back to public school.  Although my stress level is a little high trying to find activities to keep my children socially adept while on this new journey I know that this will be good for all of us. 

If you are home schooling or know someone who is please leave a comment.  I’d like to know what you think.  Even if you are not home schooling and just have an opinion I’d be happy to here what you have to say. 

Wonderful Love Thursday!!!

Chookooloonks is one of my new favorite blog sites.  Every Thursday Karen sponsors “Love Thursday”.  I happened upon this site about a month ago, and I’ve been reading it pretty faithfully.  I think that “Love Thursday” is a wonderful idea.  Here’s my contribution to all the love J. 

This is a picture of my son and my nephew at the Rainforest Café after a long hard day at the beach.  They had just spent a week together visiting and this was their last day of hanging out until next summer.  Ain't Love Grand!!!

Yesterday I found out that my Grandfather passed away.  After the initial shock I had a good long cry and went downstairs to tell my husband the bad news.  I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised (he was 90), and lived a full and long life.  Phillip embraced me in a nice long hug and assured me that everything was going to be okay.  I went downstairs to my office, sat at my computer stared into space and thought about all of those opportunities that I had to really sit down and talk to him and didn’t.  I wished that I knew him better.  Hind site is 20/20, and I fully acknowledge that this is what most people do after the death of a loved one.  I just couldn’t shake the fact that I truly didn’t know who he was as a person.  Sure he was my grandfather, but aside from that obvious point; who was he really?  I honestly didn’t know.  I can’t in all truthfulness say that I saw him very often.  In fact, out of all of his grandchildren I probably saw him the least. 

Despite that fact, I saw him as a constant force in my life with whom I always assumed would be around.  I know this sounds crazy (everyone dies) but I always counted on seeing him at various family gatherings and holidays.  When I lived closer to him I saw him quite often, but that was short lived.  I have memories of occasionally taking him to the market when he needed to go, and it was at that point and time that I really talked to him.  But unfortunately (in my mind) that was not enough time.  I’m just happy that I had the opportunity to see him a couple of weeks ago. 

There is no doubt in my mind that he loved all of his grandchildren.  I just wish that I spent more time getting to know who he really was.  I am happy and secure in the fact that he is safe in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.  I just want to send this message into the void, I love you Amick and you will always remain a constant presence in my heart. 

Adoration, Praise, and Thanksgiving

By Elizabeth Craven

I thank Thee, God, that I have lived

In this great world and known it’s many joys;

The song of birds, the strong, sweet scent of hay

And the cooling breezes in the secret dusk,

The flaming sunsets at the close of day,

Hills, and the lonely, heather covered moors,

Music at night, and moonlight on the sea,

The beat of waves upon the rocky shore

And wild, white spray, flung high in ecstasy:

The faithful eyes of dogs, and treasured books,

The love of kin and fellowship of friends,

And all that makes life dear and beautiful.

I thank Thee, too, that there has come to me

A little heartache and the loneliness

That comes with parting, and the word, “Goodbye,”

Dawn breaking after dreary hours of pain,

When I discovered that night’s gloom must yield

And morning light break through to me again.

Because of these and other blessings poured

Unasked upon my wondering head,

Because I know that there is yet to come

An even richer and more glorious life,

And most of all, because Thine only Son

Once sacrificed life’s loveliness for me-

I thank Thee, God, that I have lived.

Birthday Wishes

A few days ago I celebrated my 37^th birthday.  What a feat!!  The only thing I can really say is thank God.  There were times in my life when I thought that I wouldn’t make it to 37.  But despite all of the obstacles that I endured, I have made it through relatively unscathed.  I have a good life.  I have three great kids and a pretty cool husband.  I must’ve done something right in a past life.

I can’t help but wonder though, what God has planned for me over the next 30 to 40 years of my existence on this Earth.  I can’t wait!  I have so many dreams and plans that need to be fulfilled before I leave this planet.  There are so many things that I want to do I can’t even begin to list them, but I have made the decision that I’m going to do the best I can to take this good life and make it better.  Some of the things, I’d like to do before I die are as follows:  learn to swim, take yoga, learn to cookJ, go wine tasting, travel to Italy, France, Germany, Spain (basically all of Europe), hang glide, water ski, take a cruise and learn to speak at least three foreign languages fluently.  I’d like to be able to afford to take my children with me on most if not all of my adventures.  I know that this sounds like a tall order especially since the (so-called) experts say that my life is almost half over but I have to believe that this can all be accomplished before I pass on.

I’ve always been a pretty optimistic person so I wholeheartedly believe that all of my dreams are destined to become reality.  All of these wonderful life goals will be excellent material for my future memoirs. J  I guess what I’m really searching for is utopia or a life less ordinary for myself and my family.  I’d like to think that I am really striving for a life free from drama and full of those blissful moments that we all long for.  After all isn’t that what life’s about, being truly happy and creating a life that God would want us to have.   

The Mommy’s New School

It’s been several days since I have sent a blog (about 2 weeks).  Life has been beyond busy over the past few weeks.  I decided to go back to school.  It’s been about 16 years since I’ve been in school, so this all very new to me.  I must be honest I’m a little scared.  I’m taking Visual Communications (online).  It’s nice because I don’t have to worry about babysitting, or scheduling.  I’m free to do my work anytime of the day or night and still have time to spend the day with the kids.  Suffice it to say, I’m up extremely late most nights doing my reading and completing my discussion boards, but I figure that it’s a worthwhile sacrifice.  To be honest I’m exhausted most mornings when I wake up, but I recover quite quickly after a hot cup of coffee, or green tea.  I’m excited about the prospect of re-learning.  Don’t misunderstand me I believe that life is a learning experience and I’ve learned quite a bit over the past few years.  I should have a Ph.D. in Early childhood education, philosophy and (if they actually gave one out) patience.  But I believe that it’s finally time for me to accomplish one of my goals.  Finishing college has been high on the list for many years.  I have no regrets about anything that I have done in my life, but I have always wished that I could complete the education that I started over 16 years ago.  I was immature and financially challenged when I initially started college but now I have been given the opportunity to finish and I’m jumping in head first.  My husband is beyond supportive, wholeheartedly believes in my potential and is willing to make sacrifices so that I can finish school.  The kids are even excited about it.  They have embraced Mommy’s new lifestyle completely and are excited about the fact that I’m in school too.  Donovan has even asked if he could sit in on my gaming class when I take them.

            I’m not getting much sleep, some of my housework has taken a back seat but I am confident that I’ve made the right decision, and I will be a much better and more educated Mommy when this is all over.  Who knows?  Maybe I will get my PhD.