Post a cute baby picture! 
Friday, December 27, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Just Because
My coffee the other morning. Isn't it pretty? And that's all I have for ya . A coffee picture. Because we're still the house of sick .
I text my husband (who is sleeping in the guest room) in the middle of the night when I can hear him up coughing, check on various kids, rub essential oil on lots of feet, pray, and try to sleep myself.
Jones Family-0
Mean ole Flu-4.
Maybe admitting defeat will make it go away.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The Little Engine Who Could
Is that even the title of that book? It's close enough and I'm so extremely tired and overwhelmed that I'm not going to take 3 seconds and look to see if I'm right. Regardless, I'm imagining myself as that little blue engine. The one that helped bring good food and toys to the children on the "other" side of the mountain. I have to play the part because I really feel like the old tired engine who could barely chug off to the roundhouse. Oofta!
The flu has come to knock us down! At least some of us, and I'm so thankful that I'm not in the "us" part. (I should interject that after Felicity's hospitalization last year with the flu she and I both got a flu shot. I'm not normally a big believer in flu shots, but I'm becoming one) My older two and the man of the house are all down for the count. Worst possible time for my hubby since this is the last week before finals and he has a lot of students who are counting on him and colleagues who are counting on him. But no, he's not going anywhere. The poor man is so pathetic that I can barely even tease him about how pathetic grown men are when they are sick. Barely.
So, I wake up every morning, after not sleeping well myself since I have a 2 1/2 year-old in bed with me (since her room-sharing sister coughs all night long) plus the chubby, lovely baby (who I'm hoping is getting her immunity from me). Every morning I put a smile on my face because I can. Every day I'm reminded at how helpful those two oldest of mine have become and how much my husband does for us. I'm reminded very clearly because now it's up to me, and I'm not even doing everything, just *almost* everything.
I didn't really come here to complain though. Advent has proven to be a perfect time for me to serve this family God has given me. I haven't had time to waste time, I've been actively serving the sick. Other than brief thoughts of "oh, this is going to be awful if I get it" I really haven't had time to think of myself. I haven't been able to get wrapped up in the craziness that often overtakes this time of preparation. It's kind of been nice. Oh, and most importantly, and maybe the most selfish of them all: I haven't had to step foot outside of my house for over a week and a half (other than to go to Mass). Our high today was -3. That's right, it did not once today even get to 0! I'm very grateful that I have to stay home and care for my family. Brrrr, that's cold.
The flu has come to knock us down! At least some of us, and I'm so thankful that I'm not in the "us" part. (I should interject that after Felicity's hospitalization last year with the flu she and I both got a flu shot. I'm not normally a big believer in flu shots, but I'm becoming one) My older two and the man of the house are all down for the count. Worst possible time for my hubby since this is the last week before finals and he has a lot of students who are counting on him and colleagues who are counting on him. But no, he's not going anywhere. The poor man is so pathetic that I can barely even tease him about how pathetic grown men are when they are sick. Barely.
So, I wake up every morning, after not sleeping well myself since I have a 2 1/2 year-old in bed with me (since her room-sharing sister coughs all night long) plus the chubby, lovely baby (who I'm hoping is getting her immunity from me). Every morning I put a smile on my face because I can. Every day I'm reminded at how helpful those two oldest of mine have become and how much my husband does for us. I'm reminded very clearly because now it's up to me, and I'm not even doing everything, just *almost* everything.
I didn't really come here to complain though. Advent has proven to be a perfect time for me to serve this family God has given me. I haven't had time to waste time, I've been actively serving the sick. Other than brief thoughts of "oh, this is going to be awful if I get it" I really haven't had time to think of myself. I haven't been able to get wrapped up in the craziness that often overtakes this time of preparation. It's kind of been nice. Oh, and most importantly, and maybe the most selfish of them all: I haven't had to step foot outside of my house for over a week and a half (other than to go to Mass). Our high today was -3. That's right, it did not once today even get to 0! I'm very grateful that I have to stay home and care for my family. Brrrr, that's cold.
 |
| A simple St.Nicholas Day |
 |
| Ornament painting |
Friday, December 6, 2013
About Homeschooling-Part 3
I've been trying to figure out what the best approach to this next post should be. What our homeschool looks like? OR What I want our homeschool to be? Tough decision here. The good, bad, and the ugly verses "the goal".
Currently our homeschool is nothing to write home about. Perhaps it's nothing to write about at all....hmmmm. This fall has found us with a new baby, an unexpected trip abroad, an emotional event at work, extra committee work, a couple of gigs, a big trip for the kids, some sick kids, and a busy concert season. In other words, this fall we've been living what I like to call "life". Life has brought our formal schooling down to the bare bones.
We get up, get chores done, have prayer time, do Math, Spelling, (maybe) Science, (sometimes) US Geography and it's lunchtime. After lunch we do our "after meal chores", I read the nappers a story or two, and the non-nappers have some down time while I read, exercise, check some blogs, or nap (or any combination thereof). After nap time/quiet time, depending on the day, the kids head outside (when it's physically possible to do so without freezing to death within the first 30 seconds) and, as long as they don't do anything to annoy me, I let them play until we either have to head to town for karate or it get's dark or both.
So there you have it. Not too impressive I know. But somehow they are learning (surprise, surprise). I classify myself as one who leans towards the "classical" approach to education. When I have my "A-game" on our homeschool is very classical. We read good stuff, we memorize, dictate, narrate, etc... However, these busy seasons have helped me see the value in a different approach entirely. I don't want my children to look back on their childhood and say, "but we never got to play". They play, and they learn while they play, and I don't direct every move and they are learning anyway. I've become much more of an "unschooler" (I almost hate to use the term) than I ever dreamed I would be. I have witnessed times when I give a specific assignment and the children complete the assignment and it's fine. Then, they turn around, tweak the assignment and it's better. It's almost always better.
It took me a long time to be able to be comfortable in my "this-is-how-we-do-it" skin. I would feel threatened when I read or saw another mom's approach to homeschooling. I still enjoy talking to others about what approach they take and why. There's almost always something I can learn and it's not entirely bad to change an approach because it's working for someone else. It does become dangerous (and expensive) if you're constantly second-guessing what method you want to subscribe to. In fact the method I'm currently loving would not have worked even 2 years ago in our family. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can adapt and you can forge ahead.
I don't know what our homeschool will look like in the future. I do know that, despite the struggles, I am very content to have these young people at home with me, learning with me, living with me. We don't separate "school" and "life". We are not the perfect home or the perfect school. I don't pretend to have all the answers (okay, sometimes I do), and I don't consider myself the homeschool mother of the year (really, this time I'm serious). But, I'm in a good spot. I'm happy with how our home is running and I pray that I can continue to see the needs of my children and adapt accordingly.
Currently our homeschool is nothing to write home about. Perhaps it's nothing to write about at all....hmmmm. This fall has found us with a new baby, an unexpected trip abroad, an emotional event at work, extra committee work, a couple of gigs, a big trip for the kids, some sick kids, and a busy concert season. In other words, this fall we've been living what I like to call "life". Life has brought our formal schooling down to the bare bones.
We get up, get chores done, have prayer time, do Math, Spelling, (maybe) Science, (sometimes) US Geography and it's lunchtime. After lunch we do our "after meal chores", I read the nappers a story or two, and the non-nappers have some down time while I read, exercise, check some blogs, or nap (or any combination thereof). After nap time/quiet time, depending on the day, the kids head outside (when it's physically possible to do so without freezing to death within the first 30 seconds) and, as long as they don't do anything to annoy me, I let them play until we either have to head to town for karate or it get's dark or both.
So there you have it. Not too impressive I know. But somehow they are learning (surprise, surprise). I classify myself as one who leans towards the "classical" approach to education. When I have my "A-game" on our homeschool is very classical. We read good stuff, we memorize, dictate, narrate, etc... However, these busy seasons have helped me see the value in a different approach entirely. I don't want my children to look back on their childhood and say, "but we never got to play". They play, and they learn while they play, and I don't direct every move and they are learning anyway. I've become much more of an "unschooler" (I almost hate to use the term) than I ever dreamed I would be. I have witnessed times when I give a specific assignment and the children complete the assignment and it's fine. Then, they turn around, tweak the assignment and it's better. It's almost always better.
It took me a long time to be able to be comfortable in my "this-is-how-we-do-it" skin. I would feel threatened when I read or saw another mom's approach to homeschooling. I still enjoy talking to others about what approach they take and why. There's almost always something I can learn and it's not entirely bad to change an approach because it's working for someone else. It does become dangerous (and expensive) if you're constantly second-guessing what method you want to subscribe to. In fact the method I'm currently loving would not have worked even 2 years ago in our family. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can adapt and you can forge ahead.
I don't know what our homeschool will look like in the future. I do know that, despite the struggles, I am very content to have these young people at home with me, learning with me, living with me. We don't separate "school" and "life". We are not the perfect home or the perfect school. I don't pretend to have all the answers (okay, sometimes I do), and I don't consider myself the homeschool mother of the year (really, this time I'm serious). But, I'm in a good spot. I'm happy with how our home is running and I pray that I can continue to see the needs of my children and adapt accordingly.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Advent Beginnings
This is the scene seconds after taking our collection of Advent and Christmas books out of the box they stay in most of the year.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)