It's That Time of Year!

Spring is here and with it means....

• Warmer temperatures
• A growing garden
• More time outside
• Homeschool planning!!

I have to admit.... I actually like planning for homeschool better than I like teaching!

So, these last 2 years have been nice as my teenagers have transitioned to a time where they do their schoolwork completely on their own.  I answer questions and I grade tests and papers.

I LOVE it!

Life is going to change next year!  We will be homeschooling our youngest, who has been in public school his entire life.

We couldn't homeschool him until our adoption was final and since that didn't happen until late March and school is out in June, we decided to leave him in public school for the rest of this school year.

W has some learning issues, so that is bringing a perspective into our homeschool that I've never dealt with before.  My teens were very easy to plan for and they could do a lot of work on their own or with minimal intervention on my part, even in elementary school.

It's going to be quite the learning experience on my part.

We've realized during W's spring break that he has a difficult time even playing on his own!  He wants someone to play with him all the time... He doesn't even respond well to ideas of what he can play with.  Seeing all of that developing last week, even our summer break is going to be "interesting".

I already know we'll be playing lots of games, doing a lot of reading, and having short blocks of instructional time.

I also know that this will be labor intensive on my part....  I'm going to be exhausted!

So, why would I choose to tire myself out, have little to no "me" time in order to homeschool a child with some learning issues?  Because I've seen what public school has done for him.  And I'm not impressed.

Now before you think I'm going to bash all public schools, teachers and parent who send their kids to public school, think again!  All I'm saying is that for THIS child and THIS situation, homeschooling is the way to go.  

I hope to address some character issues, increase our family bonding, improve his academic learning by teaching him according to his learning style and ability, and teach him important life skills.

We learned already this past year that for him, getting home at 4pm and trying to address all of the above issues is impossible.  So, while I enjoyed the quiet day time of this past year, I'm giving it all up to homeschool a child that is so very different from my teenagers.

Even planning is harder.  It's overwhelming.  Internet searches aren't even very helpful.

So, I've got a school schedule of 5-7 weeks of school and 1 week off... we can use that week off to regroup, if necessary, sleep late, take a field trip, do nothing....

I've got a basic schedule of things I want to do with W, but I'm sure that will change as I look toward the details of his day.

You may think I've got plenty of time to get this planning done, but I really don't.  With the chance of me having foot surgery still there, I need to get things done earlier than normal in case I lose weeks of prep time.  My teens are going on a mission trip in June and I'll also need to get them ready for that.  

I like to have all my prep and purchases done by the end of June and this year, it may even have to be done by the end of May.  So, time is ticking and I'm not ready yet!

  

 

It's Been Awhile.....

I was doing so well at blogging once a week...

But then came the fall....

I've had several stretches of 2 weeks in between blog posts....

Not that it's a bad thing or anything, we have just had so much going on that I haven't had time to sit and blog and/or my brain hasn't had enough energy to even THINK about what to write!

I started a "book review" of one I just finished, but seriously my brain said STOP!  So, I'll finish that when things calm down just a little bit.

We are right in the middle of the "beginning of the end" week.  We had our youngest's birthday, my husband is 50 hours into a 135 hour stretch of work, we have our last soccer practices and tournament of the season, and the kids are trying to stay current in their homeschool work.  We have seen my husband very little, but are still sane.  He is absolutely exhausted, but he'll make it through.  

We are looking forward to having some time together next week when soccer is over and my husband's bizarrely crazy work schedule is a memory.  We won't have nearly as much time as we think, as the schedule is already filling up, but at least we will be able to have dinners together with the FIVE of us!  That is something that we enjoy doing but hasn't happened much at all in the month of October.

And the "funny" thing is that once Thanksgiving comes, our busy time is just about over!  I actually don't mind the "busyness" of Thanksgiving, Christmas and what follows for us: 2 kids' birthdays and then my husband's.  Once we get through the fall, we are good to go!  



 

 

First Week of School, Take 1!

Last week my older kids started their homeschool year.

It was quite the blur of a week.

Not only did we have something going on every day- soccer practice, soccer game, orthodontist appointment, doctor appointment, team meeting for foster care/adoption, hair appointment.... But my husband also was on night shift for half of the week!

I also did about an hour of school with our youngest, who will start public school later this month.

I am sitting here and typing and literally not remembering much of last week except that I feel like I didn't see my husband more than an hour total Weds-Fri.

Since my older kids are both in high school, they are very good at getting their work done independently.  

My oldest, who is in 11th grade, is finishing up his Algebra 2 as well as studying Chemistry, and is looking forward to Russian History next semester.

My 9th grader is finishing up Algebra 1 and starting Geometry, as well as studying Physical Science.

Both kids are also taking US History, Russian, Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace (for high schoolers) and will be writing research papers.

It should be an interesting year, that's for sure!

And so today we start another week where we have something(s) going on every afternoon- doctor appointments, soccer practice, soccer games, etc... This will be our life for the next 2 months so I better get used to it!

While it's busy, it's nothing new.  In 2 weeks when our youngest starts public school, that's when things will get CRAZY!  I don't know how we'll get homework done AND have any kind of time where he'll be able to see his dad for any length of time.  It won't happen on Saturdays as my husband works practically all of them from now until the end of November.  We'll definitely have to be deliberate and creative.  It's only for a season and we'll get through!

 

Stack of Books

I've got a stack of books that I'd love to read this summer.  I think perhaps I've set myself up to fail because I can't remember the last time I read 8-10 books in 3 months.... So maybe I'll extend that timeframe out a little into the new school year and get some reading done while I wait on soccer games to start.....

So here's my really eclectic list of books I'm planning on finishing in the next 4-6 months.....

• The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ by Kelly Minter.  I am reading this over the summer and meeting with 3 friends at the park each week while we go over what we've read, answer the questions in the back of the book, and challenge each other to live out what we've learned.
• The Excellent Wife by Martha Pearce.  I'm reading this with another friend.  We meet every other week to talk about what we've read and to talk about the struggles we might be having that week and apply what God says about wives to our marriages.
• The Truth About Islam by Anees Zaka & Diane Coleman.  The kids and I are going to be studying world religions this year, so I want to read up on Islam and contrast it with Christianity so hopefully this book will be helpful in that way.  
• World Religions & Cults 101 by Bruce Bickel & Stan Jantz.  This will also be a big help in our study of world religions this coming year.  I strongly believe that Christians need to know about other religions so that we can share our faith in a more effective way.
• Authentic Spiritual Mentoring by Larry Kreider.  I am a third of the way through this book and it's been good so far.  My goal is to finish the entire book this summer and possibly even review the beginning part...
• The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Romance by Heidi St. John.... This one is pretty self explanatory.....
• Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman.  This book has been recommended by a few of my friends.  The back of the book says that it will "challenge you to consider what it really means to call yourself a Christian."
• Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches by Russell D. Moore. I have a feeling I'll blog more about that book while I'm reading it.
• The Ambition by Lee Strobel.  I had to throw a "just for fun" book in there somewhere!
• The Big WHAT NOW Book of Learning Styles by Carol Barnier.  At some point we will be homeschooling "the boy".  Until that day comes, I want to learn all I can on how he can best learn and I think this book will be a BIG help in that area.

I'll post an update when summer is ending so we all can see how many books I actually read and what I thought of them!

 

Homeschool Conference

Our family went to our state's Homeschool conference last week.

Usually, just my husband and I go.  We use it as a nice weekend to get away, regroup from the previous school year, spend time with another couple we are friends with, be encouraged by the speakers and have fun buying new curriculum for the coming school year!

We didn't go last year but when we saw the list of speakers for this year, we knew we needed to go back.  And we decided to bring our teens with us!

So, this year was the start of a few years of going to the conference as a family.  We spent our time differently, but we were still encouraged and we still had fun!

So, what did I learn at the Homeschool conference?

• "Your marriage represents the front lines of defense in your home, mom. The enemy knows that if he can take out your marriage, he's got a better shot at your kids.  Guard your marriage as though your kid's lives depended on it. In many ways, they do." (Heidi St John in a session called "The Busy Mom's Guide to Romance")
• If you can't get away with your husband for 24 hours (preferably more) without children, your marriage is in trouble!  At some point you'll be an empty nester and you have to know your spouse! (Voddie Baucham)
• If you are "too tired" to be intimate with your husband, you have a priority problem, not an energy problem.  Rearrange your priorities to have time and energy for your husband!  (Voddie Baucham)
• Carol Barnier is hilarious!
• John Stonestreet made too many though provoking points to boil it down to one or two for me to post.  And, he's a nice guy!  (Both me and my husband were able to meet him and chat for a few minutes)
• All those visits with my dad to his office in NYC growing up paid off in navigating the crowds and getting to where I needed to go.  I call it "catching the subway" which just means I'm on a mission and I'll walk fast and pass people to get there! 

 

A Homeschool Post

I looked at the banner under my blog name recently and noticed how it said this is a blog about life, homeschool and adoption.


I think I've blogged quite a few times about adoption as well as about our life in general.  But I haven't done a single post on Homeschool.  Well, I've mentioned homeschooling in maybe 2 posts, but I've never dedicated an entire post to homeschooling.


Why?  I'm not sure.  It can sometimes be a touchy subject and part of me just doesn't want to offend someone.  


I don't think homeschooling is for everyone.  And honestly, I don't care if a family homeschools or not.  I'm only responsible for my decisions and the decision to homeschool has worked very well for our family.


That doesn't mean every day we homeschool is a good day.  There are quite a few days when I wonder what in the world we are doing.  But most days, I am thankful that we made the decision to homeschool.


As a result of homeschooling, our family is closer.  Because of my husband's weird work schedule, if my kids were in a public, private or charter school there would be days on end where they wouldn't get to see their dad.  By the time they would get home from school, he'd be getting ready for work.   So, it works for us due to the flexibility in scheduling.


As a result of homeschooling, my kids are close friends.  I'm not at all saying that this isn't possible unless you homeschool, as my kids have always been close.  But now they are both teens and they are still good friends because they spent a lot of time together and really know and enjoy each other.


As a result of homeschooling, we as parents really enjoy our teens.  I've posted before that my kids are "weird" but that I like they are different from what we call the "normal" teen.  We laugh together, we frustrate each other and we learn together.  We do enjoy our time apart, but we also enjoy our time together.

Homeschooling works for our family.  It doesn't work for everyone and that's just fine by me.

This coming month is our state's annual Homeschool Conference.  I'm looking forward to creating my color coded schedule of who is going to what session as well as my list of books to buy.  I'm looking forward to spending time with other friends that I know are going.  I'm looking forward to finishing another year and planning for the upcoming one.

So, while I may not blog regularly about homeschooling, it is a huge part of our life.  While it's not easy, for us it's been worth it!

 

10 Days Passed....

I just realized it's been 10 days since I posted on this blog.....

Apparently my last post, titled "Overwhelmed" was fairly accurate.  Not once during those 10 days did I think of this blog.  I didn't wonder what I should write about and I certainly didn't make time on my calendar to write any posts......

We did get some things done in that 10 days, though.  We (meaning my husband) painted our son's room and then the kids switched rooms.  Now, the boys will have the larger room with the bunk beds and our daughter will have the smaller room and the loft bed.  (It's still strange to say "the boyS" since we haven't yet added that second boy to our family....but soon enough we will!)

I also finished the book I was reading on the Workbox System and am looking forward to incorporating that system with the new addition to our family.  I think it's going to be very helpful for all of us.... There are still lots of details to be worked out as far as finding out the things that work well with him for school, but thankfully we have the entire summer to figure that all out and I've got some wonderful friends in my Homeschool group who are ready to help me out in any way they can.

My husband and I spent 7 (yes, seven) hours running errands together one afternoon last week.  While that DOES count in my mind as a "date", I am still checking (and double checking) the calendar for a dinner date night before he goes on a mission trip with our son later this month.

I've spent time with friends this month too.  We had a young couple over for dinner last week and enjoyed getting to know them better.  The kids and I also spent time with a new friend and her young children over the weekend, enjoying our beautiful weather at a local park.

There are only 2 Sunday evening classes left in the Proverbs 31 class I'm taking with a friend at church.  Having studied this passage a few times before, I am continually surprised at how I think I know enough and yet I am learning more new things this time than the last time.  I'm thankful for our teacher and her in depth, yet practical way of teaching and how she gently challenges us in our roles as wife.

My biggest "issue" to deal with is technically not that big of a deal, yet still something I haven't quite mastered.  You'll probably roll your eyes when you see that I consider this a problem..... But we've reached the point in my husband's rotating shifts where his days off fall during the week.  That means when the kids are doing school, he's off.  When we're off on the weekends, he's working.  I know that's a fairly easy problem to have and I do understand that.  The problem we run into is that both kids are in high school level work and we just can't take off during the week and then make up the work on the weekends.  Sometimes we have the need to do that, but it doesn't work every time.  

So, over this past year that my husband has been back on rotating shifts, we've struggled through figuring out how to manage his part of the shift.  For the most part, we've fallen into a rhythm that is working, as long as I constantly remember to keep my big mouth shut!  I realized three times last week (all three times I realized too late!) that just because I can say something to my husband does not mean I should!  There's a time, a place, and a tone and I failed at all three of those, all three times!

So, just as it is hard for husbands to be gone traveling all week, or on a crazy work schedule, it is just as hard for him to be home for 4 days during the week.  Maybe one day I'll figure that out better.....although God is showing me ways I can improve.

** There should be a big blog post coming early next week with more adoption update information!

Goals for 2012

I know this is the time of year that people make New Year's Resolutions and then proceed to break every resolution by the end of January.  

I'm not one for the traditional New Year's Resolutions, but I do like to make goals for the upcoming year.  I know it's basically the same thing, but I seem to have a better chance at succeeding at my goals than with my Resolutions.

So, I've broken my goals down into 5 main categories.  If I have many more than that, there's no chance that I will get any of them done because it's too overwhelming and it's too much change.  I've seen that in my life in the past, so I'm not going to go there again.

1.  Read through the Bible in a Year: The kids and I have been reading through the Bible as part of their school studies, but I want to also do this in a year on my own.  I have a Bible that breaks it down by the day, incorporating the Old Testament, a Psalm, a Proverb and the New Testament into each day.

2.  Read more: I am currently reading "Parenting the Hurt Child" and it is excellent.  Next on the list is "Raising Adopted Children" as well as "Radical Together" by David Platt.  I want to read some good books on adoption, parenting and books by good Christian authors such as David Platt and Francis Chan.

3.  Exercise: This is usually on everyone's Resolution list and it's on my goals list for yet another year.  With my husband's change in work schedule in 2011, it's been hard to find a routine for walking or jogging together.  It's my goal in 2012 to exercise in some form at least 3 times a week.  This could be playing soccer or basketball with the kids, taking a walk with my husband, or doing an exercise video.  The point is to get moving and be healthy.

4.  Marriage and Family:  These are broad areas, but I'm breaking down my goals in this way.....  

• Continue with monthly Date Nights
• Re-evaluate and recommit in our Homeschooling- what's working, what's not, make any changes, but keep going!
• Family Game Nights each week
• Deliberate time with the kids, especially after we add to the family
• Spend more time outdoors as a family- soccer, basketball, hiking, walks, etc.  This will also help with my exercise goal!
• Listen to good books on audio CD

5.  Ministry: This also needs to be broken down into smaller areas....

• Mentoring- I'm in two mentoring relationships.  I need to be certain to spend an adequate amount of time with each woman, as well as the 3 of us together.
• LEOW Ministry- This is in the infancy stage, but myself and another department wife are looking into forming a group (through Facebook or email) where we can provide support and encouragement for the wives in our husbands' department.  Looking back, I needed something like this when my husband was first starting out and I was dealing with the crazy schedule, long hours and job stress.  
• Family Mission Trip- Our church is taking one this summer and we'd love to go.  We'll see what God has in store for us in this area.

And so I'm reminded that even though these are my plans and goals for this year, I have to be flexible enough to follow where God leads our family.  

Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans."

Proverbs 19:21 "Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." 

Mom's Night

Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."

Once a month, the women in the Homeschool I am a part of meet at one of our homes for a "Mom's Night".  We are a small group of approximately 9 families, so it is easy to get to know all of the moms.  This monthly time together is very special, as we use it to encourage each other in our homeschooling journey, as well as have fun and eat some good food!

Tonight is my turn to host Mom's Night at my house.  Rich is working and the kids will watch a movie in their rooms while the moms hang out in the living room and kitchen.  I'll make a dessert and have some coffee and hot cider available.  I've asked another mom to facilitate a fun game she has recently learned.  Usually, we'll have a topic to discuss or have an activity to do.  

This is where I'm stumped this month.  With all we've had going on these past few weeks, I haven't had the time to sit and think of what we should talk about.  I know that may sound funny to some, who know that there will not be a lack of conversation with a room full of women!  But because this is not just a time "away from our families" but a productive time, we like to have a topic to discuss to keep our conversation positive and on target.

In the past we've talked about curriculum options, Christmas traditions or a review of how the Homeschool Conference was.  We have a Christmas party with an ornament exchange and an end of year dinner out.  We have several creative moms in our group so I know we will have a few months where we will do some kind of craft.

I think maybe tonight we will talk about how we can encourage our husbands in their role as the leader of our home, as fathers to our children, and as our partner in life.  Knowing all of these moms for several years, I know they each have unique ways of encouraging their husbands, as well as ways they struggle in that area.  As the above verse from Proverbs tells us, the women in our group are there to "sharpen" each other so that we can do a better job as wives, mothers and home educators.

I am thankful for each of the women in the group that God has brought into my life and has used to encourage me and who prays for me often.  I'm looking forward to spending more time with them this evening!