For Fathers Day

In honor of fathers day this week end I found some recent cute pics of Tim with the kids or the kids impersonating him. I love Tim so much and he is an amazing Dad, you can tell by the way the kids want to either be with him or constantly have his attention. I really lucked out with such a great guy!

Here's Timmy trying his best to be like Daddy by playing with his PDA, which he gets a hold of whenever he can.





Even the dog loves to get Tim's attention while he tries to do homework.



The Tim's reading about Dinosaurs, lots of growling going on here. :)



She wants to ride the motorcycle SO badly but Mommy says not yet!

YAY CLEMSON! Daddies college of choice is now everyone's favorite! (This is also a proof of play picture, when we play, we play hard!!)

Homeschool

I have hesitated to write a post about homeschooling. Just as the choice to homeschool is such a personal one, so is the way you go about doing it. I don't believe there is a best way to home educate. I don't believe that what I do is better than what anyone else does, nor do I compare myself to other homeschoolers wishing I was doing what they are. Every family is so unique.

(Look Mommy it's the world! But in my world the earth part is pink!)

Unfortunately the other day sitting outside of Mae's dance class a discussion arose on the choice of whether to homeschool or not. The mother who didn't look like she wanted to be bothered by the topic anyhow made a point that has been made by many people looking for a reason not to homeschool,

"You have two options, either put your child in a bubble, teach them how to handle hardships, OR let them out to discover how to handle these hardships on their own."


I believe that the hardships presented to children in public schools today should not be ones they should have to learn to handle until they are older, and having been in homeschool they would have learned the most respectful and productive way to handle these situations.

(Concentration!!!)


Now I'm sure that for lack of interest this nice lady has not done the research I have. And does not really know that homeschooled children tend to be able to speak comfortably with children younger, older, and adults because of not being thrust into situations where bulling and taunting would give them cause for self doubt.

I could go on and on as to why we homeschool and what the benefits are, but that would bore people.

(I consider this to be a bit of busy work, she can start and stop when she wants. Fortunately she thinks being able to read her colors is fun.)

I just love to teach my children everything I can, in ways that I find work for me as well as them. I mention myself because if I get frustrated with something then they most likely will too, then I'm setting myself up for failure.
I have found that I love to draw, I loved to illustrate what I'm teaching them, so I bought a dry erase board. But I needed somewhere to put it, so created the "school room". Its where all the books, crayons, paints, play-doh, insanity is stashed.
However when I started this venture I didnt want a school room. I wanted to learn outdoors! Reading on the couch, science in the kitchen!
Surprise for me, WE STILL DO THAT! School is everywhere for us! I just needed a spot to say, "Why yes we do say pledge of allegiance every morning, looking at our flag, and right next to it is a picture of Christ!



"To be honest, I am not sure what kind of homeschooler I am. I guess I can tell you what I am not.
I am not good with adhering to one particular method, and prefer to take what I like from many schools of thought and leave the rest." ~Small Things

( Eliza also loves writing her name, such a sweetie!)

Also taking into consideration that I've only been teaching homeschool for two years, I've got a long way to go. Middle School could throw a whole new curve at me. But I must say that these last two years have been the most fun rewarding experiences I've ever had.



The things I hope for the most for my kids is that;

My children will learn to have respect for their elders, love their siblings as best friends, keep their God foremost in their minds while deciding who they want to represent their country for them.
They will learn to be in control of themselves, recognizing that when we let our emotions get away from us we open the door to let seeds of self-doubt and temptation in side of our hearts.



I love the fact that I know my children's hearts inside and out, they tell me every little thing in and about their worlds. I dont have to pry, they know through homeschool that Momma and Daddy are the teachers, comforters, and supporters all in one package.

Peanut Butter

THE PEANUT SAT ON A RAILROAD TRACK,

HIS HEART WAS ALL A-FLUTTER.
ALONG CAME THE CHOO-CHOO TRAIN,
AHHHHHHHHHH!
PEA-NUT BUTTER!

A Mommies Song

"A Whole New Woooorld, A thrilling place, lalalalalala, Now That I'm In A Whole New World With Youuuuuuu!"

Sings I, as I change a diaper of all things!!
"Boy, she's lost it", your thinking. But you don't understand. About the time Timmy was 3 months old I couldn't afford disposable diapers anymore.

Now any parent will understand, diapers are a MUST have! The butts must be covered!

I was in a state of panic, My dear sweet mother had covered MY rear at least twice by buying us diapers and I didn't want to ask again.
To those not in the know, a package of diapers right now is about 20.00, and you could use one of those a week, sometimes make it stretch a week and a half.

I had looked into cloth diapering online before Timmy was born and decided the start up cost was WAY too high, so that was out, or so I thought!

My visiting teacher just happened to come by one day while Timmy was wrapped in a dish towel. I had two diapers left and I was saving them for outings.
She sprang into action!

She had cloth diapered her last baby and wasn't planning on having any more, so along came my way a huge bag filled to the brim with diapers, inserts, and covers!
I sat down and cried and thanked God for her kindness.

Crazily enough I was a little apprehensive about Tim's support. I knew I wouldn't stick with C.D.ing unless Daddy would change them too.
But unknowingly to me Tim had a friend (another Dad) who C.D.ed and Tim was all for it, even with ideas I hadn't heard of!




Now your wondering why would anyone get so excited about what they put on there babies bottom?


Let me give you another little history now, around this same time I was discouraged because of nursing and trying to amuse three other kids at the same time.
My mother suggested I look into the La Leche League. I had NO idea what that was! So I went online to find out, Ohhhhh! A group of women who get together to talk about nursing? BOOORRRRIING!!

But curiosity had crept in, so I found out that they had meetings at MY library and I just happened to take the kids that day,....

There were two other women from my ward there!!!!! They were just as surprised to see me as I was to see them!

LLL turned out to be a class of information I just soaked up! I love learning more about nutrition, development, bonding, techniques, so many things I couldn't tell you all of it.
These women also Cloth Diapered. dum dum dum.




They opened up a whole new world to me of all these cool things I could do to make being a mommy the most enjoyable, rewarding experience there is.

My life at the time was leading towards depression, four kids at home all, day all under the age of six, a husband who was in school and at work full time, no money for essentials, struggling to keep my spirits up.

The only thing that kept me out of a slump was my testimony in the Lord, and the thing that gave me the boost I needed to be a cheerful Mommy was making valuable friendships at these classes.

Now back to the a whole new world scenario.

My eyes had been opened to a whole new world where I discovered Baby wearing, Baltic amber teething necklaces, natural birthing stories where mommies didn't get together to talk about the horror stories of their children's entrances to this life, but good happy sweet stories.

Too many times had I heard upsetting things about birth, doctors, and prenatal care. Here I only hear positive outlooks, there is a better way to do things!

I'm not saying Tim and I were total dummies with our first two kids, but we sure have a new positive outlook on how we want to do things with the next few.

And anything like cloth diapering where we can save money and help the environment, Tim is all for it!



*Just a note; I have now tried quite a few brands of diapers, and I have lots that I really prefer. Here are a few if you'd like to investigate this whole new world. :)
Motherease,
Bumgenius ,
G Diapers

Tom Sawyer, Luke Skywalker, and Timmy Stark

The three would get along fabulously. I knew I was in for some real differences of parenting when I had a baby boy. But nothing really could prepare me for this. One minute he's gutting his Daddies PDA, erasing all memory, then onto TAKING APART Mommies earrings right off her ear, then onto sister's toy, but because she cries about it he puts it right BACK TOGETHER and hands it to her! When were finished looking into all the technological devices in the house, we move onto how best to climb the bookshelves. Followed by going outside and becoming EXTREMELY dirty, because lets face it, if your gonna do something, do it thoroughly! The entire time he does these things he makes his own background noises, cars, choo-choo's, ruff-ruff's, everything. Now any naive person would say, "Well? Where were you when he was doing all this?" And any mother of more than two children would understand the insanity of cleaning up 2 1/2 mess's, while making lunch, kissing a boo-boo, tying a shoe, helping with math, answering the phone, and wiping a snotty nose all at the same time. Timmy will go full steam ahead until he drops. Then its the sweetest time of the day. He knows a bit of sign language, and he'll say what he wants and sign it at the same time. So when I hear, "Ma-Ma, Dog-Dog, Boo-Boo" I know its time to stop sit down and read his favorite Doggie Book. Which leads to the best snuggling ever. Nursing, then a nice nap. I love him so differently but not any more or less than his sisters. The Lord sent him to me at the perfect time, I love having a little boy! I know his Daddy feels the same way. So he's in danger of being a tad spoiled. So in that case were going to someday try for a little brother for him. People think I'm crazy for wanting so many kids, but when they are this much fun, I think they are the crazy ones for not wanting to join the fun!! BTW, what got me thinking all this is he's going to be one this week, crazy huh? Is it just me or did this year go by fast? ;)

Old stuff

Here's an journal entry I did a few months ago, I thought I would share it on here, just because I like to share what my life is like during the school months. Summer is a little different with going to play-dates and Story time @ the library. Since I cant come up with any thing juicy to share here's something from my Homeschool Mommy journal. :)





Yes it is a job, the pay stinks and the hours are intense, but its the most rewarding job there is!

You see I wake up at about 3:am to nurse a crying four month old and kiss a hubby who has just come home from working third shift,
after unattractively falling back asleep with baby still attached, I wake up again at 7:am to welcome babysitting children sing "Good Morning Beautiful girls" to the messy headed grumpy faced teenager wanna be’s, they actually are five and three yr old beauties who "love" to be awoken!

As Dear Hubby rushes off to his 9:am class we get started on a day full of craft paint, glue, scissors, crayons, rocks, bubbles, string, flour, eggs, goldfish crackers, and anything else mommies crazy imagination can cook up! Mommy gets much inspiration from wonderful places like Five in a Row, Jumbo Alphabet book, the Iron Rod, and other noteworthy sources.

By noon were all crafted "funned" out, and sit down either outside or in to a lesiurley lunch of pb&j or what ever mommy has created!

We then take turns doing workbooks and one on one reading while the others build cities of blocks and use stickers to decor the walls.

Playing outside is fundemental in mommies sanity control! Needless to say on rainy days Mommy has to hide in the bathroom for a few minutes.

Nap time is loved, ah , I mean accomplished by those in need of it, Mommy exempted.
After which to earn a little computer time all kiddos do their chores!
Little do they realize that the computer time they love they are just doing more school work!
Muahahahaha, evil Mommy laugh!

By this time Dear Hubby has rejoined us only to go get some much needed sleep, and babysitting kids go home.

Dinner together is a must other wise, our world will fall down!
After cleaning up and playing with Daddy for a bit we pray together, kiss Daddy goodbye for the night, and ride off to dream land, where Mommy gets foot massages and the kitchen is always clean.

Sure there are days when our little world is turned upside down but that’s what makes this job exciting.

Did I say the pay stank? Well scratch that, the four month baby boy just learned to give kisses, the three year old just learned to write her name, and the five year old just told everyone at dance class that her Mommy was the best teacher ever.

The pay is awesome.

A Good Day!

The eldest of my younger brothers is getting married one week from today in Missouri. Our whole family had fallen in love with his fiance Tia Marie when they came down for a visit last year. Even though they hadn't announced their engagement yet we could all see it forthcoming. So being that we all loved her already we were so proud/happy to hear that she had decided to be baptized! She's such a strong person and has come a long way in her life I know were all proud of her. She told my brother that she wanted to be baptized in a river, because if it was good enough for Christ it was good enough for her. So here are the shots my brother got of Tia's Baptism in the Big Piney River in Missouri. (My brother is the one with Sunglasses on and unfortunately I don't know the names of the Elders.) I also love that in one of the pictures you can catch a glimpse of her engagement ring! lol!