Wonders never cease

Elyse is such a joy. She wins awards around here all the time for her unbridled enthusiasm. Because she was much slower to have words, it has been amazing to see her express her thoughts more and more this summer and fall. She is a very self assured young thing and on September 26th she decided she was done wearing diapers. Completely done. She hasn't worn one since and has had amazingly few accidents. I can hardly believe it myself, but I am overjoyed to only have one in diapers now! Yeah Elyse! Inspired by her cousin Gabriel, we had a no more diapers party (the kids insisted on party hats) and even sang a little ditty that went like this: (to the tune of head, shoulders, knees and toes) No more diapers for Elyse, for Elyse, no more diapers for Elyse, for Elyse. We're so proud of you for wearing undies! No more diapers for Elyse, for Elyse! Because you have to have a song when you have cake, right?

Day by Day

I promise not all my blog posts will be about homeschooling, but it does seem to be at the forefront a lot. I think that is because it is both amazingly wonderful and impossibly challenging. The reality is that managing the personal needs of four small children and the academic needs of the older two feels overwhelming most days. In that, I love having them all together and there have been countless precious moments and amazing learning that has taken place. I feel grateful to have a much better idea of what my kids know and ought to be learning than I ever did before. I feel more connected to them and really haven't found my daily tasks to be much more challenging to get to than before. I am torn. Inevitably my 'teaching time' takes away from some time I could be with Elyse and Isabel in a more intentional way and in many ways (in part because of my very high expectations), I feel inadequate to juggle so many roles. I have found that many homeschool moms are more comfortable than I am with having things fairly unstructured. Henry, especially, operates much better with structure and routine. Stay tuned...

Weeks 3 and 4

Well, sooner than I would have expected, illness has set in. We have all gotten a cold virus (some of us worse than others). We weren't so sick that I thought we could take a 'sick day' and not do any school but I did end up modifying things a bit as we went. It was nice to be able to have plenty of time for rest after our school days were done. I am enjoying all we are learning about ocean animals. The kids chose the topic and I am weaving it into several subjects for the first six weeks. At the end (in about 2 more weeks) we are taking a field trip to the aquarium and (if the weather is ok) to some tide pools. I do believe that homeschooling has both made my strengths and my shortcomings as a person and parent more apparent to me. I am humbled in seeing my shortcomings more clearly and can only pray that I can work to improve them each day.

Week Two

While not without it's ups and downs, Week Two was much smoother than Week One. We have a proverb from around the world to start us thinking each day and my favorite this week was from China: A kind word keeps one warm for three winters. Henry, as I would expect, loves to test me--just to see what I'm made of--and so some days are more challenging than others (during the tough times we jokingly refer to it as The Sanders School of Torture--this often breaks the spell of grumpiness and makes us all smile). I find that writing is the thing they resist most probably because they are still having to think out forming letters instead of just thoughts. Our co-op experience was awesome this week in stark contrast to the first week and all the kids were excited to go and thoroughly enjoyed it. Overall I am ending the week feeling much more optimistic!

Homeschooling Week One

Well some of the biggest news around our house this summer is that I've decided to homeschool Henry and Ava this year. I am still sort of shocked. I clearly remember scoffing at the idea of homeschooling with colleagues at the high school where I worked before becoming a mom. The logistics are a bit harrowing and I don't think I am a naturally gifted teacher (part of why I chose to be a counselor). That said, we have embarked on this journey this year. It is a place that I have grown into and I believe that for now, this is what God has for our family.


Here's a general outline of our week:

Monday:
Church (something I love about the Catholic Church is that you can go to church every day)
French (which is taught by my friend Sara who was a HS french teacher)
Prayer
Proverb and Journal
Music
Language Arts
Math
Handwriting
History (Carl is teaching History of Ancient Israel/Old Testament)

Tuesday:
Prayer
Proverb and Journal
Language Arts
Math
Handwriting
Religion (Eucharist and Reconciliation)
History

Wednesday:
Prayer
Proverb and Journal
Geography
Science
Art
History

Thursday:
Prayer
Proverb and Journal
Music
Language Arts
Math
History

Friday:
Co-op--we have joined a co-op with about 70 other homeschool students and their parents. It meets from 8:45-3:30.
History
Science
Art
Student Speeches
Geography
Elective

In addition to our schedule Ava is taking ballet and jazz and Henry is playing soccer and participating in Boy Scouts.


Reflection on Week One: We started school on September 6th and Day 1 was a little too crazy for my liking. I did all of my teaching in the morning while Elyse and Isabel were awake which didn't work too well. Plus I was stressed (I had been anticipating this day all summer) and the kids were still trying to figure out just what this would entail. Day 2 was Wednesday and was infinitely better. Our Wednesdays are a nice break from 'core subjects'. Above is a picture of the kids painting. We are going through an art book entitled Discovering Great Artists. It chronologically takes famous artists throughout history and has projects that allow the kids to create art in a style similar to the artist. It's a little art history and art together. This week we made our own egg tempera paint and then painted a picture. So far, it's so fun! Thursday was better as I did most of my teaching while the little girls napped (plus I have help on Wednesdays and Thursdays). Friday was almost enough to do me in. It was 95 degrees in a building without air conditioning. Henry was stressed and didn't want to stay (though he did fine once he separated from me) and Isabel was miserable unless she was strapped to me. I'm hoping this improves drastically in the coming weeks!

One Year

One year old....and just about one year since I've posted a blog. I'd say that's a pretty clear indication that, at least in my opinion, having 4 kids IS more work than having 3. I am still struggling with the concept that after 3 you can just continue to add children to your family and it feels more like a ripple than a wave. To me it seems just as big as adding numbers 2 and 3.

That said, we just adore Isabel. She is so full of personality and vitality that she is a joy and a light in our family. Somehow she is both incredibly busy and opinionated but also very content and centered.

She is very chatty and her first word was 'Mama' (the only one, by the way--everyone else said 'Dada' first so at least I got 1!). As she grows she is increasingly social and will ask to be held by many by gesturing with her hand. At Mass she crawls around and greets the other families that sit near us in the back (where it's ok to crawl around). She took her first steps on Carl's birthday (August 29) but still primarily crawls.

It is an understatement to say that she is adored by her brother and sisters. They love to make her laugh and smother her (sometimes too much) with hugs and kisses! We are blessed by her presence and I am excited to see how she blossoms into herself this year. I adore years 1 to 2!

If anyone is even bothering to read this post, thank you for your patience in being updated about our family. I hope to do some more posts in the recent future (although I think my last post a year ago says that too! :)

Here she is reveling in the festivities of her first birthday (she had two parties this year because between our families there are 5 birthdays at the end of August/beginning of September). She handled her vegan cupcake (due to allergies to dairy and eggs) like a little lady (until she was all done and shredded the rest). Happy Birthday sweet Isabel!