We went for a walk on an awesome trail along a creek that takes you into Denver. Aaron and the kids stopped to rest on a bench. While Jeremiah looks for rabbits to chase
I had to share, a couple of weeks ago I bought this Tory Burch bag at a garage sale for $2. I brought it home and put it on Ebay and sold it for $105. It's turned into a fun game for me. Last week I bought a pair of True Religion jeans for $1 and i have someone that wants to buy them on craigslist for $30. Aaron wants to turn it into a competition. We both start out with a certain amount and see how much we can flip it into- needless to say we've been having flipping fun :)
Aricin had his 5th birthday part at Home Depot. Apparently our Home Depot is doing a pilot program- they do pretty Killer birthday parties for kids- all for free.
And Uncle Jon flew out to be with us for the party- so fun!
Yes, this is Oliver... Wearing a Buff on his head... While playing with Nunchucks... and riding an Elephant
Spaghetti Night
Our little Ballerina
Movie Night
A and Jer
Oliver's new favorite food... The happy hour special noodles at the Yard House
Game Night... Don't Break the Ice!
Painting with q-tips on a snowy day
Teddy Bear picnic in Tally's pre school class
Talia had her first Ballet recital. It was so cute. I think the 3 year olds stole the show.
April was great. Aricin celebrated his 5th birthday, my brother flew out for a fun visit. Talia finished up this season of Ballet with an Awesome recital. Oliver finished up this season of tumbling. The kids continued with their swim lessons. I'm a little consumed with the thrill of finding a good deal at the garage sales around here. Don't get me started, it's too much fun! We are doing good. Oliver has figured out how to jump out of his crib which means nap time just got real crazy! All 3 kiddos are fighting runny noses and coughs. Maybe because the weather keeps jump from the 80's to blizzards and the 30's. I've joined a great book club with a bunch of girls and have been enjoying reading new books and then discussing them over fancy dinners. We've decided we are going to sell the house- putting it on the market June 1st. Before then we have some work to do. Aaron met with a structural engineer and it looks like it might be cheapest to rip out the addition or sun room that we built. Oh well.
It blows me away that it's been a year since we started this crazy adventure of wanting to move into our basement which led to our apartment. Going into it I knew it would be challenging but welcomed the discomfort as I longed to grow- for God to mold us and teach us a little more about letting go of our stuff and our own self reliance. A year later... After having to move twice, Aricin's 7 stitches in his arm, Talia's 9 stitches in her forehead, my heart scare, me coaching high school volleyball, me taking a job as Director of Childrens Ministries at our church, me taking a job as a local child care coordinator with Cultural Care Au Pair, Aaron working as Department chair of the bible department, Aaron acting as Executive Director of his non profit- Impact Edventures, Aaron moving forward on PhD research and writing, and the kids growing and growing all in the midst of living in a 2 bedroom apartment. Yeah- it's been crazy, it's been fun, it's been hard, but more than anything it's been GOOD. As I'd like to say I was obedient, flexible, and teachable every step of the way- I wasn't. In some ways I've learned my faith is stronger then i thought and in other ways God's reveled areas where I still need grow. And now... I feel like we're sitting on the cusp of another BIG TRANSITION. and the funny thing is... I'm not totally sure what it's going to look like. YES we are selling our house in the next month or two. But after that who knows where we will be living. We can stay here until mid september, so that gives us some wiggle room. I'm not going to coach next year to give Aaron more time to dedicate to writing his PhD which we hope to have done in the next year to year and a half. I have a meeting to pitch one of my novels next week with an Editor- I'm super excited for the opportunity but i know it's a long shot to actually get published- so we will see. And last but not least, I've decided to home school next year. I've chronicled some of my thoughts on it below...
Home Schooling thoughts...
So for some reason I have a tough time sharing with people that I'm leaning towards homeschooling. Inside I'm desperately a people pleaser and I hate sharing with people who automatically say "Wow, good for you." When they give me the look of "Your crazy!" Don't get me wrong I used to be in that camp. I used to think home schooling families were crazy and used to think people that attended house churches were crazy too. And now I attend a decent sized (few hundred people) church that started as a house church and will likely home school my kids. Maybe it's hard because how can i explain? Have you ever ran from something trying to talk yourself into something else? I signed Aricin up for the lotterys at 12 very good charter schools and you know what? He got into 4 really good schools- we're talking top academic performing schools in the state that integrate language and a long list of impressive accalaides. The school he's currently signed up to attend has cute uniforms that are plaid and remind me of Scotland. So back to the point, I feel like I love the idea of charter schools and know that if he went to one he'd learn a lot, BUT I feel this weird sense that God's yelling at me to home school and i have my hands over my ears and am ignoring him. This might sound crazy to most of you reading this i realize. It's just tough because our friends that do send their kids to public, private, charter- school i don't judge. And i kinda feel judged sometimes when i mention that i'm even considering home schooling which bums me out. I have a lot of friends that are doing a happy dance because next year their kiddo will be going off to all day kindergarten- good for them, that's not me. Another reason i have a tough time sharing is because i don't want people to think that reasons I want to home school I project and think universally everyone should because i don't. So what are my reasons? Here are a few...
1. Time- I've talked to lots of parents that say they send their kids off to school, they come home around 4, do lots of homework and maybe sports then it's dinner and bed- no great family time. I want to spend time with my kids before it's time to let them go off to college.
2. Learning at their own pace- I love that with home schooling I can teach my kids at whatever pace they learn at: slow or fast.
3. Enrichment- I love that with homeschooling I can integrate languages like Rosetta Stone for home schoolers. I'd also have time to enroll this kids in a local music academy during the day where they could learn to read notes and how to play piano and guitar. We'd also have time to do experiential learning, to get outside, and to even do sports.
4.Logic- Reflecting back on my own school experience. Visalia Unified spoon fed me all kids of information but i feel like i didn't learn how to think on my own really until college. I like the idea of introducing logic, critical thinking, and philosophy at a young age.
5. Save the Drama for your mamma- I hate drama. School drama. Bullies. Gossip. Etc. I know i can't shield my kids from outside influences forever but maybe I can spare them from some unnecessary emotional drama by home schooling.
6. Christian Worldview. I love this world and live in it but that doesn't mean I want my kids to buy into the world's perspective on how to live. Rather I'd like my kids to get a grasp of the Christian Worldview.
So now i'm exploring all the different apporoaches to Education. From Charlotte Mason's Ambelside learning process to Classical Education rooted in Latin to Great Books curriculum. It's overwhelming but that's also something that is fun for me to get to pick and choose how I want to educate my kids. Not that i know what i'm doing because I don't. Yes i have a Masters in Education but all that means is i've studied Guidance Counseling- Yahoo! I'm looking forward to collaborating with Aaron who almost has his Phd in Education- i think it will be fun to brainstorm and research together how we want to do this and like anything I want to hold this losely because who knows this might be an Epic Fail and might not work at all. I plan on this being a year by year thing. But as for now as much as I've tried to ignore God I feel like this is something he's whispering to me to do. So if you see me, if we talk. Encourage me, don't say "wow. good for you." because that will translate to you seeing me and saying "wow you have your hands full." which i also hear as "Lady your crazy." I didn't really choose this, it feels more like God is pulling me towards this and humbly trying to stumble into how will i do this well?
