Growing...Adventures

Written March 26th--Sesame seed, lentil, blueberry, kidney bean, grape, kumquat, fig, lime,
medium shrimp, lemon...I get a kick out of this.  No, I'm not creating some strange new dish, rather tracking the size of my growing and developing baby.  Yep that's right.  Baby #4 is on the way!
I am both excited (yay I get to have another baby) and scared (oh no I miscarried the last one, will this baby be alright?)  Oh no, my youngest is already 4 I'm going to have to baby proof the house allover again.  Yay, I get to breast feed again!


Continued August 9th--My goodness, what a myriad of emotions roll over and through and around us pregnant women.  Well I'm happy and relieved to be 26 weeks along as of tomorrow.  Little munchkin is bopping around with great force at times and making me smile, even if her bounce house antics keep me from falling asleep easily.
It is different this pregnancy.  For one the kids are so very aware of what is going on this time.  With my last (full term) pregnancy, my oldest was only 4 years old, so he knew a baby was coming, but didn't really have any questions about it all (other than, how was the baby going to get out of my tummy!).  This time the kids are concerned about what I eat (is it safe, too cold, too hot) and how hard they hug me (will the balloon the baby is in pop?)  My youngest (who is now 4) has all kinds of fun questions like, "Mommy when the baby comes out of your tummy, will you be able to bend normal again?"  Every question and concern they have for both me and the baby makes my mommy heart smile.

Oh and it's a girl.  Our house is definitely estrogen ridden.  My gallant son (9 years old tomorrow) informed us he "wasn't TOO disappointed" that it wasn't a boy.  Knowing my children as I do, and having seen their reactions to other infants I'm sure they will be head over heels in love with her the instant she arrives...at least until she is big enough to be into their stuff and know how to push their buttons.
As for me, I feel like I'm going to be sooo very ready for this munchkin.  We have a crib, I have diapers (yes I'm cloth diapering this time around), I have a change table, as of today I have some clothing for her to wear for the first 3 months of her life.  What I'm not sure about is how she will fit into homeschooling.  Perhaps the better way to phrase that would be how homeschooling will fit around her!  It is all an adventure and I'm looking forward to starting it with her in my arms...but am planning to enjoy the rest of this last (hopefully) pregnancy.

Lasting Impressions

I was just outside pitching baseballs to my son.  What fun to see his face light up when he hit the baseball.  Nothing says spring is coming like sunshine, blue sky, and a boy with a bat!
Memories of my own softball playing days came crowding in as I watched my sons enjoyment.  Most good, but not all of them.  One in particular stood out.
I never actually played t-ball, but I did go to a practice...once.  The coach lined me all up, put the helmet on my head, handed me a bat, and put the ball on the tee.  Then he stepped back and I took that as my sign to swing.  What I didn't see was a younger kid (mind you I was all of 6 at the time) behind me.  CRACK!! Yep, you guessed it.  My enthusiastic swing caught the poor child right in the head.  Even now, many, many years later I feel the remorse well up inside of me...and also the feeling of being blamed and punished for something that I never intended to happen.  The coach read me the riot act (as a parent I logically understand why, but as a child all I heard was "You horrible, awful kid look what you did!!") and sent me home.  I never darkened the t-ball field again.
So all you parents and coaches out there.  Be careful not to react in such a way as to send a child away from a sport to never return.

Shoeshine

So you know those moments where your heart is just overwhelmed with love for your children or your spouse? Well I had one of those today. My son Nathan has been choosing to wear his 'church' shoes on Sundays. His question before lunch today was "Dad can you teach me how to shine my shoes?" Now why this particular comment would cause that love sensation I'm not sure, but it did.

Learning

Well the school year for us officially started on September 6th.  I was nervous, let me tell you!  Me teach my own kids reading, writing, and arithmetic?! 
We started they day off just reading the Bible and then praying for each other.  Even now a week later this is the best time of the day.  The kids seem to really enjoy this part.  Then we do weather, days of the week, and our hundred day of school count up (bee #6 is on the board today).  Next we start school.  Nathan starts with penmanship and seat work and Emily and I do her language arts, reading, and poetry.  Then I introduce her new cursive letter and she does the practice sheets for that.  While she is doing that, Nathan and I take on language arts, reading, and poetry.  Then we all take a break.  After break Emily does seat work and spelling and Nathan and I do Math.  While he does Math worksheets Emily and I do Math.  Then she does Math worksheets and we are done.
On Fridays we do any tests that are needed and then right now we are doing science.  Later we will take on American History.
I've learned a lot this first week.  I've changed our schedule 3 times already :)  Also I've learned that at some point during the day I need to remove myself from their range and just be alone.
Let the Adventures continue.

The Decision is Made

Well we have made the decision to home school starting this next year.  We will be taking it one year at a time.  Several things brought us to this decision.  First, we have a hard time placing our children in public school.  Our district has been hit hard by these economic times and that has led to cut upon cut upon financial cut.  This year the number of teachers has been razed to the bare minimum and they are predicting around 40 kids per class!!!  Also, I have a hard time subjecting my children to friends that I wouldn't be comfortable letting them go to their house to play with.  Our children are not missionaries!
Our kids have been attending a private school and the curriculum they use places our kids at least one if not two grade levels ahead of public school (My 2nd grade son was learning some of the same stuff my 4th grade nephew in public school was).
Second, the gas money required to get my children to their private school was 3 times what the tuition for the school cost!!  Now David has a pretty good job, but with gas prices going up our gas was going to land at almost $800/month!!!
So we looked at our options.  Homeschooling won.  For less than one month of tuition + gas to get them to private school we could buy all the home school curriculum and outfit the 'school' room.
Now that the decision is made, I've ordered the curriculum and have started organizing the school room.  I must admit I'm part excited (always thought I'd be a good teacher) and part terrified (stay at home with my children and teach them!!)
Let the Adventure Begin!

It's a Foreign Language

You almost need a degree in Meganese to understand my daughter when she talks...at least about some things.  You have to just know what she means, or you are out of the loop.  I can understand what she's after....mostly, her father is a bit more clueless.  Some examples:
"Mom I want my tappings."
"Those are my click, clicks."
"I want to wear my rounding."
"Do you see my oncles?"
"I want to watch Sam."

The interpretations are as follows:
"Mom I want to wear my blue canvas shoes with the rubber toes."
"Those are my plastic princess dress up shoes."
"I want to wear my dress/skirt."
"Do you see my elbows?"
"I want to watch Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

Now I'm sure you could have guessed the rounding, but every single other one threw my husband for a loop.

Kids are so fun, and I love all her little sayings and will miss them as she grows up.

Who Knew?!

So who knew dishwashing was a contact sport? Apparently in our house it is. Nathan faked right and went left and I smashed into his forehead with the edge of a plate. Whoops!