Offbeat Motherhood

Yeah...It's Love Thursday Again!!

Thought I would post this picture of my best friend Jenora and her daughters Jamie and Sierra.  I took this picture about a month ago after a long trip to Atlantic City.  I don’t have a great deal to say about this photo.  I think the love that they share speaks for itself.  Love is the all encompassing glue that holds us together.   Happy Love Thursday everyone!!! Click on photo to enlarge.

Our New Love!

A little over a month ago my husband and I decided to enroll the children in karate class.  We talked about doing it for many years but because of our extremely busy schedules and our inability to find a suitable karate instructor who would take all three children, our hopes and dreams were sadly crushed.  We had essentially given up the search and resided to the fact that this would not happen for our children until we moved or something drastic happened. 

When we made the decision to home school we decided to once again begin our search.  Fortunately we didn’t have to search very far, we found a wonderful instructor in a young black belt who was teaching classes in our gym.  We went to the gym to observe one of his classes and talked to him for over an hour about his experience and what we wanted for our children in terms of their lessons.  He listened to us talk about our many concerns and answered all of our questions.  We have talked to other instructors who have talked down to us, or never let us get a word in edgewise because they were too busy boasting about all or their accomplishments.    We told him that our boys were beyond enthusiastic but our daughter was not (to say the least). 

My husband had taken karate for several years and knew exactly what he was looking for in an instructor, so when they started talking I immediately knew that there was a connection between Phillip and the instructor.  He told us that he would take all three of the children and give them private instruction before placing them in the class with more experienced students and that we were more than welcome to sit in on all of their lessons if we chose to do so.  He told us that belt tests were approximately once every three months depending on how well the children did and that he didn’t put any real pressure on the kids to get their first belt.  My husband and I generally consider ourselves to have a good judge of character, so when we finished talking to him we were immediately sold.  We signed the children up the very next day.  I couldn’t wait until they got started. 

I was a little worried about Samsara because she emphatically stated that she was “just not interested”.  But I knew that if she gave it a solid go that she would enjoy herself.  I observed the first class and was immediately impressed with how quickly they caught on (even Samsara).  The little girl who told me that she was not interested in taking Karate had a smile on her face the whole class.  When the class ended I asked the kids what they thought about their first lesson.  Talking over one another they all excitedly told me that it was great, and they wanted to know when the next class was scheduled.  Even Samsara (who was the hardest sell) had to admit that she loved it!  When they got home they told Phillip about what a wonderful time they had and almost as quickly as they ran in began to show him what they learned with their new Sensei.

All in all I truly believe that these lessons will benefit all of them (myself included).  They’ve been practicing daily and have already been placed in the class with the other students.  With each passing lesson they learn a new Chinese word or saying.  I caught Jules walking around the house counting from 1 to 10 in Chinese, and they are all learning about how beneficial the art of meditation is.  We’ve all been meditating as a result.

I really can’t say enough about our decision to sign them up for Karate.  I can only say that they are all extremely happy about their new lessons.  After all isn’t it our job as parents to help them find their bliss.  I think so. 

     

A Spectacular Day in the World of the Home Schooling Mom

The kids and I had pretty good day today.  We had a lot to do today in terms of their schoolwork but despite that fact we were all relatively content.  I didn’t go to bed until 2:30 this morning so I was actually amazed that I was as alert as I was.  I stayed up late finishing a project for my Computer applications, and Success Strategies classes.  I completely waited until the last minute to finish these projects so I’m thrilled that they are now out of my hair.  Above and beyond all of my scholastic insanity, I got up early this morning, planned out my lessons for the day, fed my little darlings, pushed them into the shower and dragged them downstairs for school. 

            Donovan had to take a test on reading comprehension and math, Samsara had an opinion based paper to write on the Legend of Mulan and Jules had a gaggle of math, science, social studies and reading.  All in all we were in for a spectacularly busy day.  We started the day with our morning prayer, our journal entries, and we were off and running.  I placed Donovan at one computer so that he could take his 4^th grade assessment test, placed Samsara at the other computer so that she could complete her 3^rd grade technology lesson and Jules and I got started on his math assignments (identifying the value of numbers). 

            Everything was going smoothly today.  The children worked hard on all of their assignments and asked questions when needed.  We had lunch, physical education/recess and returned to complete our last assignment for the day; the U.S. Constitution.  We read our text books, talked about the rules for the government, the three branches of government, the role of the president, the purpose of the U.S. constitution and (last but not least) the meaning of a democratic society.  I was surprised that Donovan and Samsara knew so little about our government.  It just baffled me because I just assumed that this was something that they studied in their Social Studies classes in their traditional school.  Despite that fact I plodded on, asking them questions about the meaning of freedom, equality, happiness and the symbolism associated with the American Flag, the Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty.  After their lesson they were all able to engage me in rather interesting conversations about everything that we discussed.  I was beaming!  When it was all said and done they could even tell me what the three main branches of government were (smile!!).  They were so thrilled about what they learned that we decided that we were going to make our own classroom constitution in the morning.  My children were all genuinely excited about learning and wanted to dig deeper and learn more about our government.  I couldn’t have been more pleased.

            It’s these wonderful moments that I long for as a mother, happy inquisitive children with a love of learning.  I don’t think that I had the same drive when I was a child, so I’m extremely pleased to see that they are thirsting for more knowledge with each passing day.   I truly believe that home schooling is a wonderful thing.  The kids get the one on one attention that they need that they don’t get in a brick and mortar school. I as their parent have the unique opportunity to work with them on a daily basis and take an active role in their academic and spiritual life.  They know that they can come to my husband and me about everything and by and large the bond that we share is immeasurable.  I honestly can’t ask for a better life or a better opportunity to share this gift of learning with my children.  Let’s face it, they are not only learning from me I am also learning more than they could possibly realize from them.          

One Mothers review on Corrine Bailey Rae

I usually don’t buy a lot of music, but a few days ago I came across a CD which I absolutely love.  Not being one to really talk about my musical likes and dislikes I really have to LOVE a CD to buy or blog about it to anyone.  Corrine Bailey Rae is an absolutely fabulous artist.  Her music is (for lack of a better description) unabashedly full of that easy going soul that I love so much.  It’s quirky and she tells a story, which is something that you don’t get from many artists these days.  I can sit and listen to her all day.  Her music is organic.  There’s no real sampling or loud drums and no pounding beat, just the sublime soulful sound of her raspy voice permeating the airwaves.  I can only say that it has been a long time since an artist has affected me on such a deep or intellectual level.  Her lyrics are smart and truly possess that classical bluesy soul that I love so much.  I highly recommend it.

I'm Blogging Again!!! Finally!!

          I haven’t posted in forever (16 days to be exact).  I could give a million reasons as to why I haven’t posted.  But why bother.  Between my school, the kids school, my husband, the many household chores and the running around that I do carting the kids around from karate, dance and basketball my schedule is INSANE!!!!  It’s a wonder I haven’t dropped dead.  By the time I wind down at night blogging is the last thing that I am thinking about.  But I made promise to myself that I would start blogging again at least a couple of times a week.  I need to!  Somehow life is a little better when I do.  I can get everything off of my chest that has been bothering me, or just talk about the wonderful things the kids are doing for the day.  There are so many things that have taken place over the last couple of weeks that they are almost too numerous to mention.  But I’m going to try summarize everything in the next couple of posts. J  Today I’m going to talk a little about my adventures in home schooling.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have started to home school the children.  WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!  Just kidding.  Life is good.  We’re actually doing quite well.  I had my qualms in the beginning but any reservations that I initially had were now gone.  We have a pretty good thing going.  I have learned quite a bit about my children over the past couple of weeks.  I have learned about their learning styles, their weaknesses and their strengths (things that I would not have known as much about if I was not home schooling).  Don’t misunderstand I know my children like the back of my hand, but since I did not spend any real time with them in their classrooms there was a great number of things about them academically that I didn’t know (that I am quickly learning now). 

Samsara, I’m finding out is a wonderful student but needs a great deal of help with her spelling.  Donovan who is also a wonderful student needs to learn how to focus on one subject at a time.  Last but not least, Jules who is also very bright I’m discovering is the class clown.  He takes nothing seriously and is always ready with a good joke, at the most inappropriate times of the lesson.  Sometimes his humor isn’t so bad, we need a good joke every once in a while. 

Despite all of the madness, the kids are thriving and actually enjoying home schooling.  I try to keep things interesting throughout the day supplementing lesson plans with trips to the library, and with educational videos and games to enhance the regular curriculum.  They like the freedom that we have in terms of being able to go on field trips and being able to take walks in the woods when we need to go outside for Science or physical education.  Their social needs are met with basketball, dance and karate lessons and they can go see friends on the weekends.  I was worried about them going nuts about being cooped up in the house.  But I’m finding that we go out more now in the interest of learning more than they did at school.  They have more individual time on the computer and when they need extra help on a particular subject they are able to spend as much time as they need on it without interruption.  Even with all of these activities we are able to finish their work for the day. 

The day is a little shorter than traditional school because frankly you do not have to factor in the commute.  I will say that we do stick to a schedule.  We all wake up at 8:00 am, eat, shower and dress by 9:00 am.  We say our morning prayer and get to work. 

Many people have told me that I’m nuts and that I will have no free time and that I’m going to completely lose my mind.  So far, so good I’m still sane.  I usually take my free time at night after they go to sleep (to do my homework and relax) and on the weekends when I go get my hair and nails done.  I also grab free time when I go to the gym.  I get in shape and go home with extra added energy to do what I have to do.  I can’t lie, I have a wonderful support system.   I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without my husbands support.  This is not an easy venture and anyone who tell you otherwise is lying.  Home schooling three children can be a daunting task at times.  But in my case the positive out ways the negative by a long shot.  My children are very bright, and this experience will benefit our family greatly in the long run. 

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.