Unpacking

I empathize with what I think military kids must feel, that never really belonging, always set apart kind of feeling.  I feel for my kids, who've grown up as casualties of the wanderlust my husband and I used to feel- maybe, in the case of my hubby, still feel.  Every two years, feeling that pull to move elsewhere- better jobs, lower cost of living, interesting, new area of the country, near family, far enough away from family to breathe, to heal, etc., etc.

At least, if my kiddos were military kids, they'd be surrounded with other military kids who'd lived transitory, temporary lives, like they had- there'd be a norm even in the transitory-ness- a commonality.  Instead, we move into an area, and they are met with groups of kids, potential friends, who have close cliques of acquaintances, shared experiences, established patterns of relating to each other, inside jokes, and standing orders for playdates, sleepovers, and an open freedom of belonging in each other's homes, families, and lives.  Even though I know how uncomfortable and scary it must be for them- as I feel some of the same emotions, they muster their courage and poke at the new group or community of potential peers- some with a tentative tip-toeing, some in a falsely boisterous swagger- to see if there is room for them inside and where they might fit- as they are measured up by and are measuring up those already there.

The older my kids have gotten, and the more times they've moved and had to do the whole starting from scratch of finding community, the harder it is for them, this uncertainty of where they'll be in two years.  "Is it even worth the energy, stress, heartache of making new friends or acquaintances?" "Will these friends, unlike so many before them, actually want to know me and keep up with me and be my friend if or when I move yet again?"

My children, and I too for that matter, have few to no long-term friendships.  It's not for lack of wanting, but for lack of time. Just about the time friendships are being formed, deepened, hearts cracked open to reveal the intimacies of who we are, who they are in turn, we move.  Or, there is talk of moving.  I crave, on a very deep level, roots and long-lasting, strong friendships.  I pray for friends for myself and for my hubby and kids.

My kids can tell you how many homes they've lived in.  For 17yr old Sara, she's lived in eight houses.  15yr old Cameron has lived in 7, 14yr old Evelynn's lived in 6, 12yr old Sonia's lived in 5, 7yr old Bridget's lived in 4, and my littlest, Sean, who is 5, has lived in 3 houses.  I am weary of moving- VERY weary.  We are all weary of moving.

We've moved again.  For 5 months now, we've lived in this house.  I've told my husband that I will not move again.  I would contemplate moving a few miles, but this is my home now- this church is my parish now.  If I was an explorer, I would plant a flag and claim this land as mine.  Period.  When I introduced myself to the neighbors, MY neighbors, I explained that they would have to get used to us or sick of us, as we weren't going anywhere, that if they ever turned on the news and saw a story about a woman chained to her house, to assume it was me and that my husband had even hinted at moving.  I am not going anywhere-- heels dug in, line-in-the-sand, no, wait, line-in-concrete not moving.

I am so incredibly done with packing and unpacking and having belongings be just as temporary as many of our relationships with others because they break or are destroyed a little more with each trip up or down a stairwell or in or out of a moving truck.  So many things broken and damaged.  But, here we are, mostly unpacked working at building friendships and forming community or becoming part of communities already formed and finding our way in them-- the intricacies of how others parent their children or celebrate or even things that are accepted or taboo to talk about.  We are unpacking our hearts and trying to find where they go- where they best fit in this new home of ours.

In this home that I have claimed as permanent, I see my children who've grown up in a transitory, vagabond, gypsy-like way struggling with being not-temporary- with unpacking fully both physically and mentally.  I look at my older kids and see them standing in a crowded room- even in a group of friends looking lonely and sometimes lost.  I see their eyes, their solitary souls exposed, as they question, "For how long will I know this person?  In the end, will they mean more to me than I ever will to them?"  We've seen it happen-- my children have been hurt by it-- clinging to friendships when they are no longer thought of as deeply as closely- out of sight, out of mind, I guess.  The group keeps going when my kids are no longer there.  Some of my kids bear the wounds more than others.

It is hard for them to realize that they can open up their hurt-in-the-past hearts to new friendships and that this time, the friendships will be solid- built in the foundation of one location, one parish, one homeschool group.   

I find myself constantly reminding the kids, myself too, that "This is where we live.  These are the people you/we will know for a very long time.  You will be invited to their weddings and baby showers and in turn, they will be at your special events too."

"We live here!  Unpack.  Take your coat off, and stay awhile."

Well, That Whole 2012-2013 Journaling Thing Was a GIANT FAIL!

So, I'm guessing you read all of those 180 school days worth of "Homeschool Adventure Journal" posts that I made on here, right?  I'm so cool, that I made all but the first of the posts invisible.  I know, I know.  I impress even myself.  However, you can only read those 179 invisible posts with that bottom-of-the-cereal-box decoder ring or "invisible-writer viewer thingy" that you fought your brother or sister for back in 2nd grade.

Oh!  What's that you say?  You lost it?  Hah!  Me too. 

Well, those posts don't really exist even though the memories do.  So, stop looking for the decoder, and know that my journaling experiment of 2012-2013 was a giant fail.

In my chaotic, vagabond homeschooling journey of last year, there was no real journaling.  Take that, homeschool reviewer!  *please imagine me making horribly immature raspberries in the direction of the school board offices of the school district we lived in last year*  Please, see here for my mini-rant on having homeschool reviews done by the school district.

No, I don't need to journal to prove that I've homeschooled, but it does help to keep track of our daily learning adventures.  It's nice to have that tied-up-in-a-bow tidiness of a record that can then easily be turned into a transcript of sorts that conforms to what anyone outside of this house might need to look at to see "proof of schooling". I've never done the journaling thing before, and had hoped to start.  Maybe this year I'll have better self-discipline in making it a habit.  One can hope.   

Big news!!  We bought a house, FINALLY, and we've moved!  WOOHOO!!!  And, drumroll, please, WE'VE FINALLY UNPACKED!!!!  That last sentence is HUGE!  I honestly hadn't unpacked everything for over 6years.  It's amazing all of the cool things I'm finding in random boxes and bins.

It is really exciting to put the books on the shelves and know that they can stay there or be a path of learning all over the floor to hopscotch across into the next room, and that no one can come in and do a "house inspection".  Renting with 6 kids was so incredibly stressful!  Homeschooling in a rental with 6 kids and not knowing where we'd eventually land for good was also ridiculously stressful.  

I will not be moving again.  Nope.  Don't even think about saying that such-and-such place is an amazing place to live.  Not budging.  If you ever turn on the news and see some crazy lady chained to her house, know that it's me, and that my husband probably said something along the lines of, "Hey, we should move back to Colorado!"

No homechooling journaling was done by me last year.  *gasp*  Lots of learning was had by all, but the rebel-in-me and the conformist-in-me arm-wrestled it out, and guess who won on the whole journaling project.  The conformist-in-me is a meek and malnutritioned creature of my conscience, who I rarely let take the wheel when it comes to most things health or political or parenting or education related, so I'm not really surprised that she lost. 

We're moving on to this new school year!  I'm so excited about all of the things that the kids and I have in the works as far as opportunities and experiences and online classes and books to read and movies to watch and places to go and people to meet!  Lots of good stuff to come! 

So, perhaps, I'll journal-- and you won't even need a decoder ring to read my sporadic posts.  Perhaps, I'll even notify our new school district that we're here and homeschooling *shhhhhhhhhh*.  I will notify them.  Truly.  Stop laughing!  I really will!  I'm just enjoying being a rebel for a little while. 

The Start of a Homeschool Adventure Journal

Yesterday was Friday.
The day started out early.  I have a new book shelf, so organizing books, and the resulting, "Oh, wow, I never knew we had a book about this!" that comes with the organizing were the first orders of the day.  Everyone was involved in sorting of books and putting them on the shelves- which involved organizing of the other book shelves-- the kids detest when I get in these "Let's organize our whole house!" kind of moods.  It was a two day project.  Cameron (14) and Chris (hubby) built the shelf, which required reading directions and some engineering and carpentry skills. As you can see, it is built, and it is straight-- after having 2 smaller bookshelves break in the last year, I am a tad concerned about that second shelf from the top-- does it look like it might already be bowing?  UGH!  What do people put on bookshelves if not books!?

Sara (oldest girly) spent the day getting ready for a trip to see her friend for the week in Virginia.  She did laundry and picked which books she wanted to take with her to study from.  She chose a giant literature text book with excerpts from many major works of fiction and authors of note.  She also chose a text book on American government.  She packed, "The Hound of the Baskervilles", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle" by Washington Irving.  She will read both books easily within the first two days.  She reads anything that is put in front of her.  Sara and I also talked about many things related to being a 16.5yr old girl.  I try to talk a lot with my kids, and I try to listen to them even more.

Bridget (6) is reading more and more each day.  She read "The Turnip", by Harriet Zieffert.  I swear, I think I love every single book that this woman has authored.  Bridget was so excited that she had read the entire book ALL BY HERSELF!.  What a moment.  For whatever reason, school was out yesterday, so some of the kids in the neighborhood were outside.  Bridget spent time roller-blading and running and playing and breathing in the sunshine and creating forts with her friends in the woods.

Sean (4) and I sat outside.  I had to re-pot  a Chrysanthemum.  He helped me dig in the soil, push the soil around the roots, and firm the soil down, then he went in and got cups of water to water it in well.   "Wow, that flower is thirsty!"  We moved the urn that the chrysanthemum was now in, and hop, hop, hop.  I saw a cricket- a MONSTROUS cricket!  "SEAN, LOOK!"  The look in his eyes was amazing.  I will never get tired of seeing the look of wonder and the questions forming behind the eyes of my children.  Never.  We asked Cameron to get a jar and lid and to please catch the cricket.  Cameron came outside and was able to catch the cricket-- after much drama and screams that rivalled any pre-pubescent girl's--  The screams were from Cameron of course, not from Sean or me.  LOL  I must explain the reason for said screams- the cricket startled Cameron, when he was trying to catch it, by jumping and nearly hitting him in the face.  Is it sick that I nearly fell over in giggles?

The cricket came inside in a jar.  Cameron poked holes in the lid and we all stared at him.  "I think he is hungry," Sean said.  Yeah.  Probably.  I explained that he would need to go back outside.  The look-- the look of every child who wants to keep it but knows also that it must be set free-- settled on Sean.  "Would you like to put it somewhere special?  How about under the tree?  Or maybe, we can put him in the chrysanthemum." Hearing Sean repeat the word chrysanthemum was priceless.  He learned a new, fun to say word.  It was agreed upon-- the chrysanthemum.  Still holding him on my lap while he held the jar with the cricket, I asked him if he would like to name our new cricket friend before we set him free.  I wonder if Adam looked as astonished when God asked him to name all of the animals!? Without hesitating, he excitedly said, "Trip Trap!"  It took me a minute, but the connection was made.  His favorite book lately is "The Three Billy Goats Gruff".  The goats go over the bridge, "Trip, trap, trip, trap."  Trip Trap is enjoying his new home.

Trip Trap, evidently, likes his new home.  He has taken to making quite a racket to tell us of his appreciation for the fabulous new place.



Just so you know, we now know that crickets eat lots of different things and are omnivorous like us.  Here's the link we found and read.  Evelynn (nearly 13) took to reading all about crickets which prompted reading on our other local buggy residents the stinkbugs and then mosquitos.  Her reaction to what she learned from reading about mosquitos has shown me that she should probably NOT seek a career in the health sciences.  She found out that mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide, so now, she says, "I'm just not going to breathe when I'm outside at dusk!  I don't want any vampirous bug making me sick with these diseases!"  Evelynn kept reading the bug book that we have and stated that she was terrified of catching malaria and then, oh my, tsetse flies became another horror!  There was a new dramatic moment with every turned page!  I explained that tsetse flies don't live in this area, and that malaria is more common in tropical and hotter climes.  If she ever reads a book on infectious disease, I can see her wearing a mask and being fearful of anyone breathing on her.  LOL  She, also spent much of the beautiful afternoon outside.  She likes to skate FAST with her long blonde hair trailing in streamers, like a comet's tail, behind her.

Sonia (11) did some work in her math book.  She likes math, and likes the time that I can sit and do math problems with her.  She helped with the organization of the shelves and made her own shelf of books she wants to read.  It is FULL.  This is huge, as she is my latest and most reluctant reader.  Amazing how that all worked out in the end.  I won't say that she is a great reader.  She still struggles with it and goes slower because it is not a fluid thing for her.  There is a lot of sounding out.  However, she has the desire to read, and that goes far.  it may take her longer to finish a book, but she sticks with it, and I couldn't be more proud of her.

Sonia is also, I think, my most empathetic and caring kid.  We had an incident just as I was trying to leave to take Sara down to Virginia.  Daredevil, wanna-be-stuntman, Sean jumped off of the roof of the Suburban (over 5 ft up) onto the asphalt.  From the report, amazingly, he "stuck the landing".  No gravel or abrasion to the hands.  No falling onto his head or knees or even bum!  Unfortunately, he is limping and is favoring one foot.  No hip or leg issues-- thank-you Lord for prompting me to buy him brand new tennis shoes!!!!  We think that the shoes absorbed most of the shock which would have broken his leg(s).  Also, they have arch support, so his foot had some support.  However, it appears-- still waiting to see how he feels in a day or two-- that one of the tiny bones on the top of his foot might be broken-- It's more than likely a stress fracture based on him not crying.  There's a tiny bump but no other swelling or bruising.  Sonia was my nurse through it all and got the ice and asked him if he was okay, and if there was anything else I needed to help Sean.

We had much discussion on what we thought it might be which led to an amazing discussion of the amount of bones in the foot being so numerous and the names of them.  We learned about the difference between a sprain and a break. We talked about my old 5th metatarsal fracture that resulted in a bright orange cast.  After palpating and checking Sean's foot, we believe there might be a small fracture to the 3rd metatarsal.  The recommendation is ice and a sturdy shoe and little to no weight on it.  We're giving that a try.   Feet are amazing!

Sonia came with to take Sara down to VA.  She was my ice bag holder.  She read a lot, and the book she chose to bring with her and read upset her so much that I got a mini-book-report from all of her complaining about the main character.

Sara and I worked on her singing in the car on the ride.  I taught her a new song-- slightly bawdy, okay, MORE than slightly bawdy-- I guess I didn't know ALL of the lyrics.  LOL  However, it is a song that is great at showcase range.  She loved the little bit that I taught her, so she looked up info on it and who sang it and where it came from and further lyrics.   The song is "Big Spender" it comes from the musical, "Sweet Charity".  Wow!  Turns out Sara's seen the video of it.  Interesting story for sure!  Got us talking about the bluesy-style of music, Broadway, Bob Fosse, etc. etc.  I guess I should have known all the lyrics before I taught the bit I knew to my 16yr old daughter, but hey, ho.  LOL  Another lesson for us both and a bit of a giggle to boot.

What else did we do?-- Gosh, this whole journaling thing really does show how much we get done in a day!  WOW!
Cameron spent at least two hours playing the piano.  He is composing his own songs now.  Pretty amazing for a kid who had less than 6months of piano.  I think, he was still in a beginner book.  He doesn't read music, but he watches YouTube videos, and learns both right and left hands.  He plays really well.  I've blogged about his piano playing before.  He corresponded with some friends.  We just made the choice to leave the Irish dance school that he's been with since he was 6.  Friday was the day that it all really sunk in.  He is nervous about going to a new Irish dance school with boys who are ranked at the World and national levels.  We talked through a lot of this.  We talked about his goals.  He also spent time outside rollerblading and playing with neighbors.  He also helped in the assessing of Sean's injury.  He has been Sean's "servant" ever since- moving him from place to place so we can keep weight off of it and being his 4yr old brother's "fetch and carry boy".

There is more that we did, but I'll leave it at that.  Oh, WAIT!  We also mapped out Libya with everything that is going on.  Benghazi, Tripoli, etc.  Looked at some of the areas on the map that have become hot spots for hostility against the US.  We talked about what Sharia law is a bit too.

Pretty good for a day where no real formal schooling was done.

My Mini-Rant on Homeschool Monitors and Reviews

It's been so long since I posted.  Hello, bloggy world!

If you don't want to read my little, pissy, mini-rant about homeschool monitors or reviews for homeschooling, please scroll down to the line of asterixes.

We officially started our "school year" of 180days in mid August.  We are learning all of the time, so it is hard to say we started or finished or will start on such-and-such day, etc.  We are living, and growing, and learning all of the time.  We never really stop or finish out schooling, our learning.

It is that time of year when I have to schedule the annual meeting with the homeschool moderator/reviewer for our area.  This always makes me feel anxious-- like someone is going to say I'm not doing enough.  I don't want to get into a fight.  Really, I don't.  But, I am a rebel at heart.  I detest the idea that anyone could tell me that my kids are not learning enough or that they're not learning exactly what they need to learn based on someone's arbitrary guidelines of what is important for such and such age or grade.

The review is supposed to be an interview.  It is supposed to be about assessing what needs we have as homeschoolers-- they come across as helpful, but there is an undercurrent.  "Do you have any samples of your children's work to share?"  "Did you fill out and bring your weekly schooling schedule so that we can place it in your file?"

I can wear a smile through it all, even when I want to tell them it's none of their friggin' business.  Even when I want to tell them that they need to focus on the schools and the kids who are in the system and leave all the people who "opt out" of their form of compulsory schooling alone.  I honestly and completely do not know one single homeschool mom who is neglectful or homeschooling to be lazy or raise lazy kids.  I do know lots of homeschoolers.  I also know homeschoolers of just about every kind, who teach and guide and parent in any number of ways that are different from the way I choose to do things.  I could no more judge their schedule or children's work than they should judge mine.

Last year, what did I do??  Well, I brought my schedule in and NOT ONE SINGLE PIECE OF "SAMPLE WORK".  Yes, it was the rebel in me.  I proceeded to tell the reviewer that my kids write like crazy, have blogs that they put their creative time and thought into, Irish dance, do math on the computer and through games, were doing an "intensive" on weather patterns and natural disasters for science and plotting out where the rifts and fault lines were for learning about the Earth's seismic activity and how the eruptions of the volcanoes affect the atmosphere-- how earth quakes affect climate.  I talked about doing a huge block of science fiction, classical through current works dealing with dystopian societies and the resulting lessons about current and past governments- what works and what doesn't work and what could work in theory.  I talked about car trips and field trips and our obsession with the library.  on

I could have talked for hours, but I focused on what I knew would best appease her- coming from a public school model of thinking- Math, Language arts, Science, Social studies and geography, and a bit of history too.  I didn't overwhelm her, but she wrote and wrote while I smiled and talked with great energy about our fabulous homeschool adventure.  I didn't lie- didn't need to.  I also, did not bring any sample work in.

My kids do not go to school.  I don't want them in the schools.  This is not an elitist thing on my part, simply a choice that we have made for our family and for our kids.  My kids do not need their work filed in a file with gold stars or a lack of gold stars and approved or disapproved of.  They also do not need someone giving suggestions on how to improve what they are doing.  I do not need those things either.  I never needed someone to tell me I am parenting correctly or that I am qualified to parent (God please forbid this always!), and I see our homeschooling as an extension of that parenting.

I have never taken well to unasked for parenting advice, and the rebel in me still doesn't want someone telling me how my bright and learning and unique children need to do one single thing differently.  Period.  If I'm having trouble, or if they're having trouble, I will seek out help from sources that I trust.  They also seek out help from sources that they trust already.  They know when they need help, and they ask.  I get asked a billion or more questions a day by my children.  My children are inquisitive and constantly improving on what they are doing because they want to, because what they are doing pleases them and makes them feel proud and because these things they ask about and improve on become a springboards for even more questions, improvements, adventures, and learning.

I can't always show physical proof that they are learning, and this stresses me out a bit especially at this time of year where I am making the dreaded review appointment.  How does one show proof when there are days that we don't write a single thing on paper or decided to do a workbook page, etc?   I can see that an outside person who only has the public school model to base their observations on would not see the concrete "proof" of learning.  Even on days that would be perceived as lazy, my kids are learning and asking and doing tons of things.  They are building and cooking and organizing and learning to read sheet music and playing instruments and creating concoctions and cleaning and digging and drawing and learning how to resolve conflicts and reading and...... *phew* *taking a breath!*   How do I show proof of that??  The rebel in me says, "Why the hell should I have to!?"  However, I TRY very hard to be mild-mannered- to not let my rebel-self show her true stripes all the time.  Confrontation is not what I welcome- especially when dealing with the powers to be with the local school system.

End of mini-rant.........  for the moment

************************************
Sooooooooo, with my stress about what to do for this upcoming "review", a friend mentioned that they journal their homeschooling so that it shows how very much is being done in a given day.  She said, "Try it.  You might be surprised by how much is happening that can be categorized in a way that it works for a report even a county school board homeschool monitor can understand."  

Okay, I thought, I'll give it a try.  So, everyday or so, I will post little notes about what we're up to.  Hopefully, I can keep up with it.  I will even post a link or two when we go on rabbit-trails of learning from one thing to the next in our learning adventure in the real world and on the internet.


Please check my next post where I start journaling.  Wish me success!    :-)

Parenting and Teaching Virtue: My Goals as a Mom

Jezu Ufam Tobie (2002-Polish for ‘Jesus I trust in you’) by Stephen B. Whatley



Okay, so here's my list of most important goals in parenting my 6 kiddos. The first of these goals has always been there as have many of these. Our list is pretty much written in cement at this point with tiny bits of tweaking every now and again. I feel strongly about my vocation as a mother and Catholic homeschooler. Virtue has always been very central in our parenting even before I came back to my faith and Chris converted. I truly feel that is better to have strength of character through virtue than any material wealth (although, it'd always be nice to have both ;) )

1.) That my children learn to trust, rely on, and be generous and caring towards each other. All of their words and actions must be these 4 things: Kind, Loving, Protective, and Encouraging/Supportive. If you ask any of them what the 4 things are that that every action and word should be based in towards each other, they can all tell you this list. Do they do it all the time? No. Is it our goal? Yes.

2.) That they strive not so much for happiness, but for acting joyful in most all things. Joy is a choice and a gift we give back to God. They can begrudgingly do something or choose to turn their hearts to God and His absolute love for them in even the most dreary of tasks and sufferings. I don't want them to ever succumb to a victim's mentality, but to see everything even the bad as something that they can learn from and become holier through.

3.) That my children are naturally curious and seekers of knowledge and know how to use any knowledge with wisdom. That they go on giant rabbit trails of seeking answers and are not content with the first answer they come to, but continue to ask questions about this world we live in.

4.) That they seek a strong relationship with their faith and God. That they truly understand that their greatest goal should always be to know, love, and serve God first. What's important in their lives will fall into place if they keep this as a central focus. That they pray and read the Bible and see the saints as examples of how to serve Our Lord.

5.) That they will be wonderful spouses and friends to others. That they look constantly for ways of serving their family, friends and the outside world through Corporal Works of Mercy. That they understand that love is a verb not a noun. They can not give someone love. They can show love and be loving and be charitable which is the purest form of love. (seeking to do for another without any need of anything to come back in return)

6.) That they know that they can always rely on Mom and Dad to help them in all things in any way we can. That they feel comfortable to bring any problems or successes to us.

7.) That they do not get sucked into the world's view of what's "right". That they realize that what is popular is seldom right and what is right is seldom popular and that they are courageous enough to always seek to do what is right in the sight of God rather than in the sight of the world. That they learn to choose good and shun evil and understand how cunning the devil is

8.) That they can find creative ways of using their talents to earn money to support their families through industriousness and innovation. Nothing comes easy in the life, but it can be a bit easier to provide income by seeing the talents they have and how these talents can be used to find or create jobs.

9.) That they focus on growing in virtue by choosing a few virtues at a time to grow spiritually towards greater holiness and better relationships with family and others. That they understand that we are all hopefully, with work, in a constant state of conversion- of turning our hearts to God. That if they fall down in their faith, that they know that the surest way back is through prayer and humility. Humility, I feel, is the greatest of all the virtues.

10.)That in their memories of their life with their dad and me that we may have made bad desicions and had bad moments, but that overall, we did the best we could with what we had and what we knew and where we were. That they judge our parenting with a gentle and forgiving spirit and know that we always completely loved them and wanted always the best for them. That we humbly know that we are not the best but that we are what God chose for them and they for us. That they are even better parents to their own children than we were to them and can take the best of our parenting and use it with their own children.

May God bless and lead our family always.
Amen
Darlene

Mondays in Our House

Well, it's Monday, and I thought, hey, why not tell y'all what our Mondays are like.

We love Mondays. When most people cringe at the thought of a Monday, I get excited!

Monday is for books!
Monday is the day that I assign-- with recommendations coming from the kids many times-- the book for the week for each child.

This week??

Sara is finishing up Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and then, will be starting "Jacob I have Loved", by Katherine Paterson.
Cameron is finishing up "A Wrinkle in Time", by Madeleine L'Engle and then will be starting. "The Black Pearl", by Scott O'Dell.
Evelynn just started "Peter and the Starcatchers", by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson.
Sonia is reading "Old Mother West Wind" by Thornton Burgess, and I am reading "Little Birds and Lilies", by Mary Callahan to her.

For Bridget?
Well, today, these are the books she pulled out of the library basket to be read to her by me or various older siblings:
"One Red Apple", "Birdhouse For Rent", and "The Little Red Hen", by Harriet Ziefert- I'm on a bit of a Ziefert kick lately. LOVE her books!
"Free Fall", by David Wiesner
"Who Loves the Fall?", by Bob Raczka
"Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf" by Lois Ehlert
"Mrs. Katz and Tush", by Patricia Polacco, who also wrote one of my all-time favorite kids' books, "Thunder Cake".

Yes, they'll all get read. :)

Monday is for movies!

We're going to stay in our jammies, which is kinda normal for us on Mondays, and watch the first season of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman". It was recommended to us by a friend of Sara's, so I added it to the mammoth list of library holds, and we'll see if we can make it through Season 1 today.
I also got the movie of "Mrs. Katz and Tush" for Bridget to watch.

Monday is for music!

I promised Cameron a keyboard for his birthday in January if he can learn how to play some basic piano, so off he went that day and every day since to find videos on YouTube to learn how to play different songs on the piano. All of the kiddos are finding this a great way to learn to play piano. Viva La Vida, by Coldplay is the latest song he has mastered. No lie. It sounds amazing in my house!!!
Here is the video that he and Sara both learned with:



We love YouTube for music lessons of all kind for free. Cameron has become pretty good on the guitar learning this way too.

Sara's favorite site for learning piano is Online Pianist. She and Evelynn both love that you can slow the lesson down as much as you need to. Technology is pretty amazing! I would have LOVED to learn this way!

Monday is for math games!
We'll be playing Hot Potato with a ball today while doing times tables. We even include 5yr old Bridget. I'll say, " 5 times zero" or some such other easy problem while throwing the ball to her. When she catches it, I say, "Say zero!" or whatever the answer is, and she yells out the answer. She likes being included. We stand in a circle when we do this, and they toss it back to me as fast as they can with the answer. IF they get it wrong or don't say it quickly enough, they have to sit in the middle of the circle until someone else makes a mistake and takes their place. We have a great deal of fun doing this and it helps get those facts in there solidly.


Soooooooo, off I go to watch movies and read with the kiddos. Hope you're having a fabulous Monday!

Light at the End of the Financial Tunnel

Sooooooo.... THAT was cathartic!

Telling the story of what happened to us regarding our house, credit, family, etc. starting in May of 2007 and ending with the bankruptcy in 2008 was easier to tell than I had thought it would be. Thank-you to everyone for the wonderful out-pouring of support and similar shared stories. I know we are not alone. It is a club I never thought I'd be a part of, but there are some pretty amazingly, faith-filled people in there with us. Everyone seems to be finding their way out of it or through it stronger. God is good.

We are recovering nicely, and budgeted insanely, but all in all in a better place now than we were 4 years ago, a year ago, a month ago, even a day ago. In fact, our bankruptcy, foreclosure fun is finally starting to not cause as many issues and day by day, our credit number is creeping in the right direction.

Maybe the reason that I can so freely tell all of this now is that 2 days ago, we found out that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We've been pre-qualified for a home loan. YES! Can I just tell you how absolutely full of despair some moments and days of this last 4 years have been!? I felt we would never be able to own a home again, and even if we could, what we've been through has made me more than a little gun-shy.

The worst part of the last 4 years has been the renting with 6 kiddos. Every time a wall gets dinged or penned-up by the latest graffiti artist or a curtain rod bent or a window blind broken, I have felt near ulcer-like pains. I have felt such anxiety. I am not a good mom in a rental situation. My kids are not crazy or out of control. They are spirited like their parents, but for the most part they are normal, creative, wonderful kids.

I still remember the rental house we had before the house we built and lived in and lost. Cameron was a little guy of 6. He was trying to be like Daddy and fix things. He figured that meant hammers were good and put a hole straight into a bathroom door. I vowed in that moment to never rent again. I would have loved to have had a parenting moment that didn't include my stress about a landlord. I would have loved for that moment to have been just about the damage and the good intent gone wrong. I would have liked to have put a frame around that hole with the words, "Cameron's 6yr old attempt to fix the house". I would have left it as a constant reminder that even when we want to do our best we can foul it all up.

I've owned a home and lost a home and lived in two rental homes since that hammer in the door. Cameron is 13 now. That's a lot of moving, and I've grown weary of moving. My kids are weary of moving.

I think about how much my husband, Chris wanted that house for me and for our family. He wanted to do everything right. I had always told him that I wanted a little Cape Cod style house with just enough room for us to live in, a big kitchen for cooking, tons of books around me, and a giant garden. For him, he wanted to give me "big". 5 bedrooms on one level, an acre lot, a morning room, theater-sound-system in the family room, and my 2 person soaking tub. I do miss that tub. I loved that house, but never once did I need it. I think about the financial decisions that we have made with good intention that ended poorly. We're way more cautious and cash-based and careful now.

So, there's a light at the end of our financial tunnel. I'm more gun-shy than my husband who still so wants to do things right for his family and what he sees as "right" is a house where his wife doesn't have anxiety about potential hammers through bathroom doors. I can understand and appreciate that. I want that too. I just don't want to rush this. I want to make sure that we do things right- or as right as we can, this time.

I am praying and waiting and dreaming about it all. It is shiny and perfect in the planning and the intention. I pray that it is our final move. I'm tired of moving and feeling transitory and unable to fully unpack my life and stay. I want to know where I'll be buried and where my grandkids will come to see me. I want to plant a garden and be able to plan for the next year with what I learn from the current year. I want land more than a fancy house. I want a future and permanence and space just for us that I can call home and not have anxiety about it not being mine. I want to have friends that I can grow old with and remain goofy with while we drink alcohol and laugh loudly and share deeply at each-others' homes.

I pray and pray and pray and my list is long. But when I come to my prayers for me, they are simple. I just want a home, a permanent, lasting home.