these days

i've been horrible at keeping up, it's march already!!  time is flying by.  we've had new things going on, the kids are in swim lessons, amalie has started taking ukelele, papa has a new schedule at school which allows us to eat dinner together as a family again.  i'm stripping wallpaper, planning paint colors, trying to figure out when i am going to lazure the walls in the school room.  and then the every day stuff, keeping dishes and clothing clean, making sure food is in the house, taking the kids to classes and lessons.

recently though, through the generosity of a friend, we acquired 4 sweet laying hens and a very nice coop.  we've wanted chickens for several years, but in nashville we were renting for the last year and a half we were there as part of our plan to move here.  and once we were here, we rented for over 2 years while we searched for the right house to buy.  now we finally have a home that we own and has plenty of wonderful space for having chickens, and everything just fell into place!

luckily the move to new surroundings didn't seem to spook the ladies too much, and they have been laying for us every day so far.  fresh eggs every morning.  the kids spend hours just observing the hens and talking about their interactions.  we bought them the organic feed they are accustomed to, as well as some cracked corn for a treat, and meal worms which they will eat right out of the kids hands.

for now we have some chicken wire set up around their coop temporarily, papa has some plans for what he wants to build for them permanently, and we picked a new spot where they will have more sunshine.  it's been a great excuse for school, as we haven't touched the actual school books in a few weeks.  we checked out books on backyard chickens from the library at each kid's reading level, so they can learn about their new pets.

other than that big bit of excitement, there are the milestones like losing both front teeth, as amalie just did this week.  she is so proud, she has been showing everyone.  and she looks completely adorable.

and then there's the pregnancy, 11 weeks left.  even though most times i feel so excited i can hardly wait, 11 weeks is sounding not that far off.  that's 11 more weeks of my family as i've known it for the last 4 years.  once this new little person joins us, we are forever changed, a new dynamic will emerge.  i know it will be wonderful, as it has been many times before, but it's still a feeling i get each time.  i want to be present and in the moment to enjoy my sweet family just as it is, and recognize this as a special time for all of us.

this new year

at midnight paul and i rang in the new year, just us, on the couch, enjoying the peace and quiet (aside from the occasional fireworks), reminiscing about how far we've come with (and for) our family since ringing in our first new year as brand new parents in 2002.

we are so very happy with where we are.  we live in what is, to us, the most beautiful place imaginable, this little tiny spot on the planet, which is so unique and incredible.  we have worked really hard to bring our family here, to be able to raise them here, as we felt they deserved.  since moving back here we have worked hard at finding a home to finally put down roots in, a place that will accommodate our growing family, with plenty of space both inside and out.  a home to be ours, with the intention of not moving our family anymore.  and we found it.  and we have it.  and i can't imagine wanting or needing anything more.

so this new year, i'm not making resolutions in the sense that i have in the past.  i'm not going to create challenges for myself to meet, which i inevitably end up dreading.  i have goals, which i am happy to walk towards, and they are simple, and attainable.  i'm going to continue to settle into our new home, with the many projects we have lined up, which i really look forward to working on.  and in may, i'm going to let go of those projects when it's time to welcome our new baby into the world, and put everything i have into that new little person's arrival.  i will continue to enjoy every single day i have with my family - love my children and my husband, and to enjoy this life we have worked so hard to build.  we have put years worth of resolutions into getting to this place, and now that we're here, i'm going to enjoy it.  :)

here's to the new year and all the new adventures it will bring!

no more FB for a while

i haven't been keeping up with this blog at all, but now that i am getting off of facebook, this will be where i do my updates on what's going on with family life, homeschool, etc.  it's what i should have been doing all along, as it ends up serving as sort of a scrapbook of our days, which facebook kind of fails miserably at.

so here's the latest with us...  christmas preparation, for our first christmas in our new house!  LOTS of working overtime for papa bear, making cookies, staying warm, a little bit of part-time work for me at the co-op.  Busy busy busy!  But it's still my favorite time of year.

a new home

we are in the process of buying a new home.  this picture is our new backyard, i really cannot believe it!  enormous redwoods, beautiful ferns, so much room for the kids to play like fairy folk among the trees.  we have so many plans already... chickens, tree houses, gardens, outdoor school!

the house itself isn't anything spectacular, it's a 1965 raised ranch style, but we have lots of plans for it, too.  it's kind of a blank slate actually.  the important stuff is there - 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a huge den with a fireplace we will use as a school room, a newly remodeled kitchen.  it passed inspection with flying colors.  it's in a peaceful, tucked away neighborhood.  i am very excited to make it our own.    and to put down permanent roots, finally, in the right place.

it's going to be a little hectic, school starts in a few weeks and we will be moving about 2 weeks later.  but that's just life operating on life's terms, as a friend of mine likes to say.  we'll manage.  i'm VERY excited about our new schooling space, i think this is going to be a great year.

our curriculum arrived yesterday, we are giving oak meadow another go.  i'll have a preschooler, a second grader, a fourth grader and a fifth grader.  wow.  i'll be spending the next few weeks putting together lesson plans for our first trimester so that hopefully we can just roll along despite the chaos.

... and the days go by so fast

well, i've been terrible about blogging. but there hasn't been all that much to report. in all honesty, we haven't been doing very much traditional school time at home. my husband decided to go back to school in january, which is a very happy thing, to be sure. on the home front, there's been some adjusting to his schedule, at my work there has been some adjusting with schedule, etc. i think (think) we are finally settled in to this new schedule & ready to resume home school.

here in our little town of mt. vernon, we have a public school for homeschoolers. that is, the public school system provides a school where homeschoolers can take classes from certified teachers, and get our state testing in, etc. it's called a family learning center, technically an alternative learning center i suppose. the kids can take classes there 2 days a week, on mondays and thursdays. so we do! they have wonderful, really fun classes. things like guitar, art, organic gardening, books club, nature rangers, history of china, castles & vikings, tae kwon do. a parent has to be present in the building while the kids are in class, so there is a family room where mamas and papas and the babies and toddlers hang out, with comfy couches & toys, a playground for when the weather is nice. the parents get to socialize & the little ones get to make friends.

on fridays, we attend a waldorf-inspired cooperative. amalie participates in a 3 hour class with other kids her age, and then afterwards alek & alia have 45 minutes of spanish instruction. so many sweet families that we really enjoy being around & getting to know.

so, with all of this outside of the home, i do feel a certain amount of pressure lifted off of my shoulders as far as what needs to be accomplished at home school-wise. i've pretty much abandoned the waldorf curriculum i purchased last spring, no particular reason other than that it was difficult to teach 3 kids in 3 different grades all that was required each week. it seemed to require a lot of juggling and planning. instead, we are doing some geography, latin, world history, vocabulary and such. not a lot of math is going on, but we're getting to it. science is covered at the learning center.

anyway, i have shared some of my struggles with homeschooling in past posts. i wanted to share some of the things i (we) have really come to love about it.

one thing that i definitely love is lunch time. i LOVE not having to pack 3 separate lunches, either the night before or the last minute before heading out the door. last week on a particularly gloomy & chilly day, i made a big batch of our favorite soup from one of my old faithful vegetarian cookbooks, the new farm vegetarian cookbook. we all sat around and enjoyed each other's company, & the nice warm soup that made the day seem cozy instead of dreary. how nice that my kiddos weren't sitting in a big noisy lunchroom eating cold food on that cold day. lunch in general is so much easier and healthier. not to mention more enjoyable!

another thing that i love - the questions that my children ask when they are learning something new. they ask the most amazing, intelligent questions. when they were in public school, i didn't get to see this side of their learning process very much. i don't know what kind of responses their questions got from their teachers. did their teachers really hear what they were asking? did they give the time & attention to answer in a thoughtful and/or meaningful way? then again, were my kids even asking these questions when they were in school? maybe not. when i was a kid in school, i was too shy to ask the questions that were on my mind. i was afraid that the teacher would dismiss my questions in some way, or that my classmates would think i was silly or stupid. i love the questions my kids ask, i love that those questions evolve into a thoughtful conversation, a true exchange of ideas and information.

most of all, i love being with my kids. i sometimes feel like in our society, the way we talk about parenting children is so focused on the negatives. it's about how much sleep we aren't getting, how many diapers we are changing, how exhausting certain behaviors are, how much we can't do with children around. and of course, there is some truth to that stuff, and sometimes grievances must be aired. but in my mind, all that negativity is so blown out of proportion. really? come on. i love it! i love all of it. i kinda think most parents do. right? it's really fun! we all know kids are pretty much more fun to hang out with than adults. and, it's completely temporary. our kids are with us for such a short time. in the big scheme of things, they aren't going to be with me for very long! so i love that i can make the most of the time that i do have with them.

every time i go out in public with all four of my kids, people say to me "you are amazing. i just don't know how you do it. i lose my mind with my one (or two), i can't imagine four!". if you have ever been around me when someone says this to me, you have heard my response, and it's always the same. "i love it!!" :)

a hat for uli

one of our very favorite little friends in all the world had a 5th birthday recently! uli has a very distinct sense of style & sense of self, and i wanted to make a special hat that suited her.

outside

yesterday was a tough day. today, we made what used to be the play room into our designated "school room". i'm feeling better already.

i've also had time to reflect on the difficulties i was having with the house & not feeling like we could have school in a chaotic environment. and the answer i came up with is the answer i come up with to so many perceived difficulties in my life - go outside. next time i am having a day where i feel like i'm up against the wall and nothing is going right, we are going outside. we are so lucky to live in this beautiful place, we could go to the ocean, or the forest, or the mountains, or all 3 in one day. how could that not put things in perspective? i always feel better when i go outside, it doesn't really matter what the weather is like. and i know for a fact the kids will play by the ocean in the pouring rain and be happy for it. and the educational part is a life lesson. when all else fails, go outside.