Mommy conversations

It was a beautiful day outside today! I was blessed to take my kids to a birthday party for a sweet, sweet little boy. How fun! The little one was celebrating his 5th in Star Wars fashion; a jedi came to play games with the kids!

While watching my two be trained in the jedi ways, I was able to have an adult conversation with another mom there. I was struck by the statement made by the mom that when you have kids your world ceases to be about you. As a parent your world is centered around your kid(s). It's so true! My core thought has changed dramatically since having my kids. My first go-to thought is how will the kids be affected by this, or will this be good for the kids, or will the kids enjoy this, etc. Before I had kids, I had no clue how consuming they would be. However, the rewards from this are well worth it! I can truly say I get the better end of the deal with the love they give me. There are days when I feel guilty about needing a break, or wishing I could just have an hour to myself. Then I stop to refocus and remember that kids are just temporary. We, as parents, are getting them ready to go out into the world one day and live for themselves. After my job is done I will have plenty of evenings to sit on my deck and sip coffee while reading a book and enjoying the birds. Until then? I am so happy to be needed so completely by K and O. I am blessed that they love and need me like this. 

On another note church was such a blessing today. The pastor has the kids take turns bringing in a bag with a toy in it. Then he takes the toy out during children's moment and on the spot teaches a lesson about God's love for them using that toy. Today's toy? A Sleeping Beauty doll. Today's lesson? Our hearts can be a bit like Sleeping Beauty. Our hearts can be asleep to a lot of things and they are just waiting for true love to wake them up. The true love? God's love. WOW! I am so guilty of hardening my heart at times. Today I was reminded that God's love is so true and it's a perfect gift. Thank you God for sending that doll to church today. :-)

My "students" and their activities

I was on a message board the other day and the topic of extra-curricular activities got brought up again. The questions usually gets asked several times a year: "How many activities are too many?" or "How many activities do your kids participate in?"

I truly find this question to be one that is best answered by your own child. Does you child like being on the go? Does he/she thrive on social activities? Etc. I don't think any other child can be a barometer for your own child.

Now... My two? Umm... Each morning I get the same questions "Mom. Where are we going today? What are we going to do?"

My K and O are truly involved with tons of activities.

• K has: drama, voice lessons, homeschool ministry (5 classes), dance, church activities, and more
• O has: drama, gymnastics, karate, homeschool ministry (4 classes), church activities and more as well

Some days my poor husband's head spins at what the kids are or are not doing. K has an extra drama workshop this weekend that culminates in an audition. I just informed him of this audition. His comment "My head is spinning with all of this." O is about to start auditioning for plays as well this summer. My poor, poor hubby. I promise we have it all straight and will keep you informed.

Spinning head of my husband aside, this crazy schedule fits my children. It's also another reason I believe homeschooling is a good choice for us. Homeschooling allows us to be done with school by early afternoon and have time for many extra activities. These activities also help answer any questions people may ask about socialization. :-)

I love that my kids have the time to explore many areas of interest. They are finding they love the stage. They are also discovering love of sports, and music. As my kids grow, they will also have more opportunities to serve in their community. 

I love homeschooling. My children are experiencing life as they grow up. They are finding who they are and what they love. My favorite part? I get to watch every minute of it! 

First day overview

Our School Room!

This is our school room. We were very lucky to find a tri level townhouse that gave us the extra room for a school room. Even as we walked into the house for the first time several years ago we knew this room would be perfect. If you notice we have desks. However, we usually end up on the floor for reading. I put the final touches on everything the night before. The kids love this room. It never stays this neat though. I'm hoping that will change this year! LOL.

Kiddos opening Kinder Cones

We did Kinder Cones again this year. This is a German tradition (the funny thing is I'm not German in any way! LOL). In Germany the kids get cones on the first day of school. These cones are filled with fun school supplies and other items. I raided the dollar section at Target for cute pencils, notepads, stickers and other little items. After doing them once I think these will be a mainstay in our school adventures.

We started ECC and Kindy on Monday. Both of the kids love their curriculums. I'm trying to incorporate O into ECC as much as possible. On Monday both kids filled out their "passport applications". I did purchase an extra passport and sticker book for O so he could take part in this activity.

Overall it's going well. Today was our day at the local homeschool ministry. We have classes (I say we because I teach there) from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm. Then K has one more class from 2:00-3:00. After that it's off to gymnastics with O. It will work though. While K was in her 2:00 class I got some good one on one time for kindy work with O. Then while O was flipping all over the place I got some good one on one with K.

One thing of note is that K has noticed her workload is higher for this year. She's doing almost all 3rd Grade work and it is taking more time. K has said this is OK because she likes everything she's doing. I just don't want her to burn out. I'm hoping the positive attitude remains. She is such a precious child.

Well, I'll end it here. I mostly rambled tonight. Hopefully I'll have a post with some merit by the end of the week. Haha!

On your mark! Get set........ WAIT?????

Wow! This week has flown by. My church does a consignment sale each fall and spring for kids clothes and other items. I serve on the team that heads this effort. From Wednesday to Saturday night I worked 50 hours at the church. It was too funny. I told my husband I worked a 50 hour week and we spent money for me to do it. Haha. I got a lot of good clothes for the kiddos for way less than what I'd pay at the store though. It was also amazing to witness all the volunteers working to make the sale a success. We had over 370 sellers and over 40,000 items. WOW!!

So that leads me to tomorrow morning. I so don't feel ready. The planning is done, the materials are mostly laid out and the kids are ready.

Mommy's not ready!

I can't figure out where this feeling is coming from. I love homeschooling, but that nagging fear is here again. It happens to me every year around this time. Did I pick the right curriculum? Are the kids doing the levels they need to be doing? Will they learn what they need to learn?

Sigh.

The only thing I can think to do is pray for peace. Tonight I will also pray over my school room and over each child's desk. Petitions will go up for learning to occur, for good listening ears to be had, for patience when the kids are wacky (I am so not a patient person) and for God's love to be seen by my children. I will also pray for my friends who are homeschooling; that we all may know we are not alone in this journey and it's OK to be a little afraid now and then!

I will post about our first day tomorrow.

Good night!