Fave.

Last night someone asked me what my favorite part about homeschooling was so far. I typically hate questions like this because I like time to really think about my answer but I was able to come up with an answer pretty quickly. Honestly there are a lot of things that I'm enjoying about homeschooling right now- more things than I imagined that i'd actually enjoy. When considering homeschooling, I probably focused more on the things that I thought I would dislike or struggle with than considering the things that I would enjoy. This probably gives you a window into my natural, very human way of thinking.  So anyway, my pretty quick but honest response was watching the relationship develop between my boys. Before homeschooling they did spend time playing together and got along ok but they were definitely reaching the point where a lot of their differences in personality and play were being highlighted. I think that we may quickly assume that kids are different, that siblings will fight and that this is normal. But after just 8 weeks or so of spending time sitting together, learning, reading many of the same things I have witnessed their relationship blossom from the big brother, little brother relationship to that of friends. It has been so heart warming to wake up on a Saturday morning and find them sitting down stairs wrapped in blankets in pjs just chatting and giggling together. To watch them play and imagine outside for hours at a time. To see things change from more of a comparative/competitive mindset to a together is more fun. Don't get me wrong, they are still very different, they still argue and get on each other's nerves but they have definitely developed a new respect for each other and I find this to be invaluable. The relationship between siblings, between brothers is something that cannot be replaced with any other relationship. And even if there were no other things that I was enjoying or that we were gaining, seeing their relationship strengthened with time spent together is enough for me.



 

Changes.

A couple of things have changed since the last time I actually blogged on here. I won't bother with reasons or excuses why i've been MIA… But one of our more recent changes here in our family had a couple of people mentioning that I should blog and share about our experience through this. At the very least it'll provide a place where I can jot down some memories or things I may otherwise forget! Here it goes.

So we did it. After thinking about it and praying on it for quite some time we decided to go ahead and pull the boys from public school and start homeschooling. This wasn't an easy decision for us, particularly for me. Once I had really confirmed the desire to do it, it was difficult for me to move past the fear and anxiety and the weight of it. If you know me at all you know that I struggle with imagining all of the worst case scenarios. I think that I also had a lot of the concerns that most people would have: what if I hate it? what if they hate it? can I really be around my kids all day long? I mean, am I even qualified to do this?! If I'm completely honest probably one of my biggest worries in our decision to do this was how I would explain it to people. What would I say to people when they asked what teachers the boys got for the new year? What if someone was really rude? What if I didn't have the right answer when someone asked me why or how? Here's the thing though- making the decision, actually say "Yes, I want to do this" was the hardest part! Once I said yes, much of the anxiety dissipated. Yes, I still had anxiety, yes I absolutely still worried, but it was different. And now here we are- three weeks in and we are doing it. We are doing it! Every day has been a little bit different, we've experienced quite a plethora of emotions in these three short weeks and I may have already questioned my sanity once (seriously, just once!), I  know there will be bumps, I know that this is one of the hardest things I will ever do, I know there will be days where we love it, others where we don't but isn't that just a part of life anyway? So this morning as many of my friends and loved ones posted the first day of school pictures, I sat on the couch with my babies and we did our history reading. I thanked God that he gave me the courage to say yes and that I have the opportunity to do this right now. Because all I have is right now and today I want to try my best to live with few regrets.

the cape.

on vacation this week. loving life with our family. the boys are having a blast and mommy has gotten some time to relax. life is good :) feeling blessed.

this weekend.

Went to NYC this weekend. Had a great time with my family. The best part was getting to see my grandpa again. So thankful for that opportunity.

again.

Yes, we have been hit with the sick thing, again. This time it's Carter with high fevers, no sleeping, lots of crying and whining and no meds because it's viral. Perhaps I can get back into some sort of blogging rhythm when we are no longer sick, sigh- whine whine.
In the meantime here are my boys.

the girls.

Jocelyn and Gabriella.

Braden and Gabi.

the other day.

Carter was insisting on watching tv with his neck all weird like this..

but I did get a cute shot of his face like this :)

Incredibles.

For the last three days Braden has asked to watch the movie The Incredibles. When we allow them, they hop up on the couch and sit next to each other just like this. Love it, love them.

Snow day.

We woke up to this.

[expecting around 12 inches by the time its all done]

So it was a good day to organize, do laundry, play games with the boys..

And of course, build snow forts.

[courtesy of rob and braden- mommy and cartie were happily napping]

Christmas.

We had a fabulous Christmas! Hope that yours was wonderful too!

4.

I can hardly believe that four years have gone by since my Braden was born! It's so true when people tell you to enjoy every moment. He's gone through some interesting stages this past year, many quite difficult to deal with, but he is truly a great little guy. He has brought so much joy into our lives.

Thursday, yes he's one of those "lucky" Christmas babies, we had some lunch and cake to celebrate for him. He was so excited and it made watching him open his gifts great. We are blessed!

Braden at ten months.

Gingerbread 2010

This Thanksgiving we did not get a chance to build our gingerbread house like we did last year. And after the disaster that occurred with our house last year, I definitely wanted another chance at it. 

We finally got around to building it this year, although we were missing the Shako's. Braden was super insistent about getting it done so we went ahead without them. This year we actually followed the directions and did it in three separate steps. It turned out pretty good (although I can't take much credit for it). Rob went at it and if you know Rob then you know he wanted it done a certain way :)

Here's a couple of pics of how it turned out!

Christmas Cookies.

Thursday morning we headed to the Shako's to bake Christmas cookies. This has become quite the tradition with Grandma Arlene. We get everything set up, the kids eat alot of cookie dough, maybe cut out a couple of cookies and then run off. Us adults end up cutting the rest and the kiddos aren't usually back until it's time to decorate :)

We had a lot of fun and even braved the cold, cold weather to play outside for a couple of minutes!

Boxed Christmas cards maybe?

Well, perhaps I should preface this by saying that I'm not sure what I was thinking. Why I thought that the morning after I had slept four hours (because Carter was up for three hours in the middle of the night), both boys were sick, and I was feeling edgy to begin with- was the right time to try and take pictures of the boys for Christmas cards is beyond me! Our short time ended with tears, broken ornaments, relentless bribes, a frazzled mom, oh and with not.one.single.usuable.photo.not ONE.

Carter is at a very difficult stage to have sit and cooperate for a photo and i'm honestly feeling uninspired. At this particular point i'm thinking that a box of Christmas cards from Target will do the trick. I can buy them, message them, and mail them in a matter of days. The problem is that I know that I will deeply regret not taking the Christmas pictures. Not just for purposes of a more personal card but for the memory. So hopefully I can pull myself and my creative juices together and snap a picture or two of these boys of mine. Because I guess in the end it'll be all about the memory.

Here's one or two for some giggles.

This pretty much sums up Braden.

And yes, Carter had just gotten done crying- had just broken an ornament and just thrown a fit because he wanted this hat.

More,Baby love.

Carter and Gabriella. Love them.

Carter's 1st haircut.

My baby boy has these unruly, dirty blonde, absolutely cute curls. They have gotten quite unruly and a little crazy. I had been going back and forth about whether or not to cut them for quite some time. Tonight my hubby finally conceded and decided to cut them! I'm so sad, he looks like such a big boy. A little bit of baby left him tonight- now he's a little more polished, a little more grown ;)

Here are the before and after pictures.

Love him <3