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.
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| A simple St.Nicholas Day |
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| 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.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
About Homeschooling-Part 2
So We Began
When we lived in West Texas we were near a cousin of mine. He and his wife homeschooled their children and I found much encouragement and advice (the good kind) from them. I was introduced to an idea of raising life-long learners. I saw first hand what a homeschool setting could look like. I was warned against doing "school at home" as opposed to "homeschooling". Of course I didn't follow all of dear Amy's advice. For instance, the second Aidan showed an interest in learning, I plopped him at the table and started "teaching" him stuff. It didn't take me long (although maybe longer than it should have) to figure out that all the reading, the talking, the playing we were doing, and the life we were living was the learning he needed.
I read every book on homeschooling I could find, and immersed myself in the culture of homeschooling as much as I could. I loved what I heard about homeschooled children being able to connect with people of all ages, be ahead academically, be close to their families, etc... I had an ideal image of what homeschooling was. Even though it was a bit idealistic, my vision of homeschooling helped to direct what we wanted for our family.
Below you will find a list of my pros and cons of homeschooling. I've tried to stick with the actual pros/cons that I've noticed in our experience not the supposed pros/cons of homeschooling.
CONS
* This takes time, and a lot of time. Right now, most of my time is focussed on creating a learning environment for the kids and helping them along the way. The house still needs to be cleaned, the laundry done, and every one still has to eat (tried to experiment with that last one, nope...still need to eat). I'm personally not one who needs a lot of "me" time as a mom. This is good because at the end of the day, there's not a lot of time left for anything.
* We are together all the time. All...of...the....time.
* It can get pricey, especially if you spend the first handful of years flitting about from one set of materials to another, to another, to another, to another. You get the picture.
* It can be easy to let the flexibility of homeschooling get out of control. When you have a late night and no one wants to get up in the morning, it's very tempting to let every one get up when they want to and not demand work to get done. Also, it's easy to let life's interruptions become excuses to not "do school".
* It's hard to not get emotional involved when teaching. There have been times that I get very frustrated at a child's inability to "get" something and then I get upset. Not cool.
PROS
* I know my children's learning styles and can accommodate accordingly
*We are together all the time. We've worked to raise our children to be people we enjoy being around (and hopefully others enjoy them as well). Sure, we get sick of each other at times, but we truly love being together.
*Homeschooling is much, much cheaper than sending a child to a private school.
*Having the flexibility to say "no school" when I need to is wonderful. New baby? Trip? Illness? Sometimes we just need a break. I've discovered that most of their learning (surprise, surprise) has come from an unexpected event. My kids have learned that life and learning are not two separate events.
*My kids are great friends. Do not mistake this for "my children always get along". I love the relationships that have developed between all the siblings. They get to be around one another in a way that they wouldn't if the oldest group was in school all day and the younger crew left at home.
*My kids are not influenced by pop culture. No, they are not social misfits either. I want children who can see something for what it is and be able to form their opinion without being influenced by what "every one else is doing". I realize that my kids are young yet and this will probably change somewhat. However, so far I'm impressed at how my children can be individuals and yet still relate to people of all kinds.
*My kids truly can communicate/relate to people of all ages. I love that!
*I get to pick what my children learn, and I know them better than any one else, so I also get to decide how they will learn it.
*Our faith is central to our schooling.
*If we are in the middle of an excellent read-aloud (which we often are) and the kids want to hear "just one more chapter, please!" we can continue to read. We've spent countless hours sharing good books with one another and if nothing else gets done that day, I still count it as a school day done well.
*When Brett is home, we can be together as a family. We schedule our school year around the university calendar so we can optimize our time together.
I'm sure I'll think of more pros (and cons) to our specific homeschooling experience. We have days where I want to flag the big yellow bus down and tell the driver she forgot a couple of kids, but most days I cherish the time I get to be with these little (and not so little anymore) ones.
(Next up...what our homeschool looks like)
When we lived in West Texas we were near a cousin of mine. He and his wife homeschooled their children and I found much encouragement and advice (the good kind) from them. I was introduced to an idea of raising life-long learners. I saw first hand what a homeschool setting could look like. I was warned against doing "school at home" as opposed to "homeschooling". Of course I didn't follow all of dear Amy's advice. For instance, the second Aidan showed an interest in learning, I plopped him at the table and started "teaching" him stuff. It didn't take me long (although maybe longer than it should have) to figure out that all the reading, the talking, the playing we were doing, and the life we were living was the learning he needed.
I read every book on homeschooling I could find, and immersed myself in the culture of homeschooling as much as I could. I loved what I heard about homeschooled children being able to connect with people of all ages, be ahead academically, be close to their families, etc... I had an ideal image of what homeschooling was. Even though it was a bit idealistic, my vision of homeschooling helped to direct what we wanted for our family.
Below you will find a list of my pros and cons of homeschooling. I've tried to stick with the actual pros/cons that I've noticed in our experience not the supposed pros/cons of homeschooling.
CONS
* This takes time, and a lot of time. Right now, most of my time is focussed on creating a learning environment for the kids and helping them along the way. The house still needs to be cleaned, the laundry done, and every one still has to eat (tried to experiment with that last one, nope...still need to eat). I'm personally not one who needs a lot of "me" time as a mom. This is good because at the end of the day, there's not a lot of time left for anything.
* We are together all the time. All...of...the....time.
* It can get pricey, especially if you spend the first handful of years flitting about from one set of materials to another, to another, to another, to another. You get the picture.
* It can be easy to let the flexibility of homeschooling get out of control. When you have a late night and no one wants to get up in the morning, it's very tempting to let every one get up when they want to and not demand work to get done. Also, it's easy to let life's interruptions become excuses to not "do school".
* It's hard to not get emotional involved when teaching. There have been times that I get very frustrated at a child's inability to "get" something and then I get upset. Not cool.
PROS
* I know my children's learning styles and can accommodate accordingly
*We are together all the time. We've worked to raise our children to be people we enjoy being around (and hopefully others enjoy them as well). Sure, we get sick of each other at times, but we truly love being together.
*Homeschooling is much, much cheaper than sending a child to a private school.
*Having the flexibility to say "no school" when I need to is wonderful. New baby? Trip? Illness? Sometimes we just need a break. I've discovered that most of their learning (surprise, surprise) has come from an unexpected event. My kids have learned that life and learning are not two separate events.
*My kids are great friends. Do not mistake this for "my children always get along". I love the relationships that have developed between all the siblings. They get to be around one another in a way that they wouldn't if the oldest group was in school all day and the younger crew left at home.
*My kids are not influenced by pop culture. No, they are not social misfits either. I want children who can see something for what it is and be able to form their opinion without being influenced by what "every one else is doing". I realize that my kids are young yet and this will probably change somewhat. However, so far I'm impressed at how my children can be individuals and yet still relate to people of all kinds.
*My kids truly can communicate/relate to people of all ages. I love that!
*I get to pick what my children learn, and I know them better than any one else, so I also get to decide how they will learn it.
*Our faith is central to our schooling.
*If we are in the middle of an excellent read-aloud (which we often are) and the kids want to hear "just one more chapter, please!" we can continue to read. We've spent countless hours sharing good books with one another and if nothing else gets done that day, I still count it as a school day done well.
*When Brett is home, we can be together as a family. We schedule our school year around the university calendar so we can optimize our time together.
I'm sure I'll think of more pros (and cons) to our specific homeschooling experience. We have days where I want to flag the big yellow bus down and tell the driver she forgot a couple of kids, but most days I cherish the time I get to be with these little (and not so little anymore) ones.
(Next up...what our homeschool looks like)
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
About Homeschooling
I was recently asked by a few people about our decision to homeschool. Instead of responding individually to each one I thought I would just write a post in case someone else might be curious about this crazy thing we do.
I always feel the need to add some disclaimers:
a) We choose to homeschool our kids, but that doesn't mean that I think I'm better than those you don't homeschool. I might think my kids are better behaved, but that's a topic for another post completely.
b) I'm not afraid of the "real world". We are a family who is very much a part of the world, although we choose to keep a lot of the garbage out of our home.
c) I love homeschooling, except when I don't.
d) I know there are great teachers and great schools. I still think that homeschooling my children is the best option for our family.
Okay, on with the point of this post.
Why We Began Homeschooling
Before we had children Brett brought up this notion of homeschooling. I thought he was crazy and dismissed the topic. The homeschooled children I had been exposed to when I was in school were socially awkward or really behind the rest of us academically or way ahead of us academically. They weren't easy to be around and were just strange. Sorry if that sounds awful, but that was my perspective as a kid. I didn't want "that type" of kid. No way. Case closed.
Brett's main professor and mentor in college homeschooled his children. He liked what he saw and he thought that looked like a good plan for his (future) family.
I don't really know when I changed my mind. It was somewhere between being pregnant and taking "education" classes in college. I wasn't impressed with how my classes seemed to contradict one another. One class was telling us that tests were overrated and should never be given. That students should not be motivated by grades. Yet, other classes were focussing on the latest tests that students were required to take and how to help them score well.
After I graduated college I became an official stay-at-home mom. Our oldest child was 18 months and baby #2 was on her way. I loved being at home and interacting with these two little souls all day long.
Our Catholic faith (which wasn't always "our" faith, but became "ours" shortly after Aidan was born) is important to us. I desire to have our faith so much a part of our family life that our kids can't see even a seam to where our lives and our faith connect. I love that we start our school day with a prayer and the daily readings. Homeschooling allows me to weave our faith into our learning each and every day.
(to be continued....)
I always feel the need to add some disclaimers:
a) We choose to homeschool our kids, but that doesn't mean that I think I'm better than those you don't homeschool. I might think my kids are better behaved, but that's a topic for another post completely.
b) I'm not afraid of the "real world". We are a family who is very much a part of the world, although we choose to keep a lot of the garbage out of our home.
c) I love homeschooling, except when I don't.
d) I know there are great teachers and great schools. I still think that homeschooling my children is the best option for our family.
Okay, on with the point of this post.
Why We Began Homeschooling
Before we had children Brett brought up this notion of homeschooling. I thought he was crazy and dismissed the topic. The homeschooled children I had been exposed to when I was in school were socially awkward or really behind the rest of us academically or way ahead of us academically. They weren't easy to be around and were just strange. Sorry if that sounds awful, but that was my perspective as a kid. I didn't want "that type" of kid. No way. Case closed.
Brett's main professor and mentor in college homeschooled his children. He liked what he saw and he thought that looked like a good plan for his (future) family.
I don't really know when I changed my mind. It was somewhere between being pregnant and taking "education" classes in college. I wasn't impressed with how my classes seemed to contradict one another. One class was telling us that tests were overrated and should never be given. That students should not be motivated by grades. Yet, other classes were focussing on the latest tests that students were required to take and how to help them score well.
After I graduated college I became an official stay-at-home mom. Our oldest child was 18 months and baby #2 was on her way. I loved being at home and interacting with these two little souls all day long.
Our Catholic faith (which wasn't always "our" faith, but became "ours" shortly after Aidan was born) is important to us. I desire to have our faith so much a part of our family life that our kids can't see even a seam to where our lives and our faith connect. I love that we start our school day with a prayer and the daily readings. Homeschooling allows me to weave our faith into our learning each and every day.
(to be continued....)
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