Trying New Things: Homeschool Group

We have been searching for a group of people to hang out with who are also homeschooling so we can pick their brains, spend time with them, learn with them, and just start building a community of kids who won't somewhat disappear when they turn five because they're going to public school.  I've been hesitant to commit to anything right now with the pregnancy and all the changes to come, and most co-ops don't accomodate Wren's or Sammy's ages right now, though they will more soon.  Happily, I found a homeschool group on-line that I couldn't resist trying out, and we had our first playdate/homeschool activity with them today.

AWESOME!  It was two and a half hours of happy kids running, mommies chatting, and kids painting. Wren and Sammy played with bugs, water, mud, and a ton of friends they didn't want to leave. They consumed mass quantities of fruit. It was a win, and it reminded me it's okay to transition into new things even as we are waiting to transition into more new things.  Life with four kids will be transition on top of transition times about a thousand.  Though I am tired at times, I think continuing to try to add small things as we can handle them is probably better than waiting for the twins to get here.  I'm pretty sure nothing is giong to calm down upon their arrival!

Overall result:  Wonderful!

And I don't have pictures because I didn't bring my camera because of the mass quantities of fruit/peppers/hummus/salami/almonds/water I was lugging.  And my kids ate all of it.  Yeah, they are out of control, and still no one has hit 35 pounds.  Go figure. 

My 11th Little Thing

Week 11:  Prepare for sunk cost

This is going to sound like less of a goal and more like a fail to most people, but I am preparing to very likely drop out of grad school and lose a substantial amount of credit hours in the process.  For a degree I want. For a degree I will more than likely go back and finish in the future.  After having taken quite a few classes in pursuit of this degree in the last five years.  And I am at complete peace with it.  I just need to get the grad school dropout process rolling.

A little backstory: I started my Masters of Library Science degree when I was pregnant with Wren in 2008, back in the days when I thought I would always work full-time. I just thought that’s the way it was. The world seems to be full of two income households, and I had no illusions about trading in full-time work for full-time mommyhood because it just didn’t seem doable. I also had no illusions about staying in a classroom for 30 years with hormonal, moody eighth graders, so I started my MLS in hopes of becoming a full-time school librarian.

Shortly after diving into my degree, the Lord started whispering “less” in my ear. I didn’t know what this meant then, but I had a feeling it meant we didn’t need as much as we thought, that we could live on less, that life in general would be better if less was our motto.  And that’s apparently what it meant, because by being provided the means to have less debt, accumulating less things, and going less places, I quit my full-time job after Sammy’s birth. 

At the same time, God started working on our hearts about homeschooling. That is obviously something I need to be home most of the time to do, and we have felt right about homeschooling since the idea was placed in our brains. I also have a part-time job that works perfectly with homeschooling, and it's, interestingly, at a library. 

My life is so different than it was when I started school in 2008, and that is more than okay with me.  I couldn't have predicted the path it would take when I made the decision to start my degree, but I'm more than happy with where the Lord has led us.


The question became do I finish my degree so I can apply for a librarian position (I am currently a LSR which does not require a Masters), most of which are full-time that I would hopefully not need nor desire for another 18 or so years, or do I enjoy the years of my kids being small without trying to marathon through a few more classes of grad school by my graduation cut-off date?

I contacted the school to see if I could receive an extension since I can’t see myself knocking out the required classes by my cut off next year. They said apply for extension, but try to keep taking classes because it probably wouldn’t happen.

For me, this is honestly an easy answer: I’m enjoying my kids. I’m somewhat goal oriented, and I like to finish things. However, I’m not naïve enough to think raising a preschooler, a toddler, and twins is going to be something I can just sort of half way do when I'm not writing grad school papers.  If I try to smash these classes in right after the girls are born, which is when I'll have to due to the time limit on my degree, I will be a crying wreck of leaking breast milk who ends up screaming, “Why am I doing this now? I don’t even need to do this right now!”

Dennis explained it even better when I said my only hesitation was the money and effort already spent.

Dennis: Those are sunk cost.

Me: I don’t speak whatever you are speaking.

Dennis: It’s an accounting term. It means you don’t base future decisions on decisions from the past if that would cause you to decide something that is not beneficial for the future. Write it off. Sunk cost. You know what feels better for the future already it sounds like.

I love that accounting nerd.

Anyway, this week I want to officially file for my extension. If the answer is no, sunk cost.  I may not receive my MLS anytime soon, but I'll have whatever degree you earn from keeping other people alive, somewhat clothed, and constantly fed.  I'm okay with that.

Trying New Things: The Nosefrida

Piper, who has introduced me to many great products through the years, recommended the Nosefrida.  I had my doubts since, unlike a regular booger sucker, I have to actually involve my lungs in pulling snot out of my child’s nose. She still raved about the amazing results, and Dennis thought the concept was the coolest thing ever. We bought one at Buy Buy Baby.

God Bless Sammy.  He ended up being the experiment child on this one too.  See garlic if you want to know what I subjected him to the week before.  But with cutting molars apparently comes a load of snot, so he received the inaugural try of the Nosefrida.

Since Dennis thought this was an amazing invention, I was more than willing to give him the first shot at it. It’s not just that I’m unselfish; here’s what separates Sammy’s snot from my mouth.  Dennis explained that the snot was not supposed to be able to get through the filter, and I explained that the Titanic was not supposed to be able to sink.  Because of my astounding logic skills, he got to break the Nosefrida in.

What came out of Sammy’s nose was mind blowing. It was extremely effective. Here’s my pros and cons list.


Pros:

• You can see the snot coming out of the nose
• It’s much easier to clean than a regular booger sucker, and you don’t have to worry about mold you can’t see growing inside.
•  It doesn’t go all the way up a child’s nose, but it still grabs boogies hiding way up by their brains. Sammy likes it more than the original booger sucker because of this.
• If you are charming like D, you can convince your child to participate by holding the bottom part up to his nose and then everyone can scream, “Look at those boogers!” and clap. I can’t pull this off. I don’t look at the boogers or I puke.
• The design of the Nosefrida doesn’t allow you to inhale to the point you feel like you might dislodge your child’s eye ball; even if you try, only so much suction goes through.

Con:

• you can see the snot coming out of the nose

Overall result:  If you absolutely must pull snot from your kid's nose, this is the way to go!

Easter Weekend

We had a great weekend celebrating the Lord and spending time with family.  It was so great that I didn't have time to upload pics or blog.  We read the crucifixion part of the Easter story on Friday afternoon after making crosses out of twigs and rope.  The kids seemed to remember it and were so happy about Jesus being alive again that they were able to get through the crucifixion story okay because they already had their eyes on the future.

We read about the Resurrection on Sunday and spent Easter hanging out with family.  It was a wonderful weekend, a very full holiday.

Crosses we made to look at during the story of the crucifixion

All the kids

Okay, technically all the kids

Hope your Easter was blessed.

Palm Sunday

Celebrating the arrival of Jesus

 

Materials

NIV Study Bible or any translation of the Bible you prefer, Matthew 21: 1-11
Easter Bible for Me
 

 

Leaves from outside
Blankets
A stick horse(mule)
A Daddy willing to play Jesus

 

We started our Palm Sunday study tonight with the kids.  After reading about Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem, we decided to let the kids help reenact this part of the story.  They were insanely excited, and the enthusiasm was evident as they played the crowd welcoming the King of Kings.  

Yes, that is the mule/stick horse and Dennis

Wren waving "palm leaves" or whatever leaves were in the tree from our back yard.

 

I am amazed how much Wren remembers from last year and how Sammy was screaming “Hosanna” at the top of his lungs.  I hope they look forward to this every year and that the meaning deepens for them each time they hear the story.  I have to say they already seem to understand how exciting Jesus’ entrance was from their reaction to Dennis as Jesus.  They swarmed him and wouldn’t let him take off the beard.  They were overjoyed, overwhelmed, and couldn’t get enough.  They approached D as if they truly thought he was Jesus, as little children who understand His glory in a way I often forget.

Easter Plans

Distanced from the commercialism of Christmas, at least a little ways from the heart of cold/flu/sick season, Easter has become my new favorite holiday. There are other reasons as well, and I am going to explore those this week.

Usually during Holy Week I dodge the internet to focus on other things, but this year I want to document for the kids the traditions we’ve started for this time of year, and I’m using the blog to do that.

I did not always have a love affair with Easter. It always struck me as a difficult holiday due to the Crucifixion. I understood why it happened and was necessary, but I found it hard to see through the suffering and somehow celebrate. I was one of those people who, even though I knew the Resurrection was coming, could not make it past my mourning over Good Friday to enjoy it.

Even as the words of my Russian Lit teacher, “you must go through the fire to be stronger on the other side” (and that’s the gist of Russian lit for those of you who missed the class. Lots of suffering, some redemption, fire abounding) rang through my ears I still never became a fan of fire growth. Or burning growth. Or growth that involved pain. My personal philosophy on suffering was dodge it.

I still don’t pray to suffer, though I pray to hurt for those who do. I have advanced to a place where I pray that when I do suffer, because it’s always coming in this life, that I will find a way to glorify God in it. My philosophy on suffering has changed from dodge it to learn from it when you have to go through it. Have something positive come out of it for Christ. This change in view and some time in the fire myself have helped me appreciate Easter for what it is and where it puts me spiritually every year.

The world questions what it means to be a Christian; many Christians even debate among themselves what identifies us, what should identify us. There are many who have never been interested in the faith because of those they’ve met who are associated with it (maybe me); there are many who have been associated with it who have walked away. There are some who are convinced it is absolutely 100% related to politics but disagree how Jesus would vote. There are so many distractions, and that’s why I love Easter; Easter is who God is, what He did out of love for us, and what we’re supposed to do because of that. It goes back to basics, and the Gospel is very forward and pretty basic in message when it’s allowed to be. It’s Jesus in simplest, most beautiful terms.

We’ll start Palm Sunday and move forward from there reading through the story of Christ, participating in Holy Week traditions that are meaningful for us, and just seeing where the week leads. It’s a heavy week; it’s a week to remember God’s promises; it’s usually full of joy and weeping at our house, and that’s okay.

My 10th Little Thing

Recap:  Most of what I needed for writing was collected in a folder in my email.  I have found three places to submit, and now I just have to do it.  Feel free to check in with me and make me accountable on this one!

Week 10:  Use a map

Let me just start by saying the map song on Dora the Explorer is the most uninspired, annoying tune on the planet.  “I’m a map, I’m a map, I’m a map, I’m a map, I’m a map.”  Really?  Someone got paid for that.  Low standards, that’s all I’m saying. (The really sad part of this is that sometimes when I’m loading the dishwasher I find myself singing the map song. Pregnancy brain has reduced me to this!)

Anyway, thanks to Dora and map’s uncreative, persistent song, my kids know what a map is. We’re actually going to start using one.

I’m not trying to create geography geniuses; we are going to use a map to pray, and this is just as much for mom as it is for the kids.

After I read Radical,  I logged on to the Radical project site here.  I’m following the Bible reading, we were already working on Bible study with the kids, but I have failed with a capital F on praying for the world.  Know why?  Because I am selfish and I have never been hungry, freezing, worried about experiencing sex trafficking, lived in a world where I never heard the word Jesus, had someone shoot at me on my way to church, etc.  I live comfy, cushy, every day, and I have become a spiritual slug.  I knew it had gotten bad when I couldn’t bring myself to just read a webpage about a country and pray for them every day.  Seriously, it’s not like I'm grabbing a shovel and digging a well.  I couldn’t take time out of my cushy life or time spent praying for myself to pray for other people.  Slug.  Sad, disgusting slug.

But I’m covered in grace, so I don’t have to wallow in my ugliness. With God’s help, I’m going to make some changes in myself and try to help the kids understand the importance and the privilege of praying for others. We’re going to reboot the praying for the world part of the project, and we’ll use the map to mark places we’re praying for as we learn about them.   Visuals help hold me accountable, and the kids might actually learn the names of locations of other countries, as well as what the people in those countries face.  Now, to find a map.  I will not be seeking Dora's help on this as she annoys me to no end.