Two Week Menu

All recipes were taken from www.recipeshoebox.blogspot.com  It is my all time favorite go-to blog for our family meals.  She feeds a crowd and so do I.

Spaghetti
Chili dinner at church
Chicken enchilladas
Potato soup and homemade bread
Pizza-Halloween
Baked chicken and bean taquitos, green beans, fruit
Beef roast in crockpot-use leftover meat and gravy next week

Chicken cressant makeovers with chicken noodle soup
Creamy lemon pepper chicken and pasta, steamed broccoli
Potato kielbasa skillet
Shepherd pie with crock pot leftovers
Taco Soup-Feed missionaries
Spinach artichoke calzones
Orange chicken with rice

Homeschool Continued and children update

I think I am crazy.  We have chosen to homeschool for the second year.  There are so many conflicting reasons to and not to homeschool.  I am happy with the decision to continue for now.  I know that I will never get these years back when my kids are little and need me for everything, including to show them and teach them about the world they live in.  I am "sheltering" them from the ugliness of the world for as long as I can and get to show them the beauties that I choose to. 

Other things have fallen into place to allow this year to be more successful.  We have a bigger house.  I have places to put children and their things and separate them if needed.  I have put Holland in a preschool that we both LOVE and he is excited to go everyday.  It is only 3 hours in the morning but it has been the best thing I have done to relieve stress and let him be active.  Ezra is a great napper.  He sleeps the majority of the morning and is easy going the rest of the time.  Sure it gets crazy and loud but I see my kids playing together and know that they will look back on their time together at home and have fond memories. 

Merilee is excelling.  She is so naturally smart and motivated.  She wants to get her work done quickly and do well at it.  She says she hates math but it is becoming her best subject.  She is an awesome reader and doesn't need assistance.  She is so creative in writing and drawing.  She can look at a picture and do a very good job drawing it.  She is still the biggest help with chores and mothering the little ones.  She is social but struggles because she doesn't have many friends at church.  We are lacking in girls her age in our ward.  I love her so much and see her turning into a young lady before my eyes.  I hope I can guide her into her teen years and embed in her how necessary it is that she makes good moral decisions everyday.  I want us to be best friends which is why I want our relationship to be strong right now.

Cara is also smart but works at her own pace.  She does things slowly.  She talks slowly, reads slowly, writes slowly, and struggles to stay on task.  She CAN do it, but it requires a lot more patience from me.  I think she is this way because she is so sweet and tender that it is in her nature to be slow and meaningful in what she does.  She is still in speech therapy at our charter school.  She is also social but has a shy side.  She would rather play barbies or ponies then watch T.V.  She is a cuddly thing and craves that physical contact for affection.  She still acts like a little girl and sometimes has a hard time getting along with Merilee who is acting more grown up (even though she is still little).  However they are best friends and do everything together.

Holland has come such a long way.  He is such a sweet stinker.  I could just look at his sweet face all day.  He is full of expression and energy.  He jumps off and climbs everything.  He is an adventurer, super hero, pirate, prince charming, and puppy dog.  And sometimes he is all of those things at once!  He speaks his mind and is not shy.  He is very intelligent and observant.  He loves to help Daddy around the house and outside.  I have struggled to appreciate his qualities but he is destined to be a great man.  I can see him more clearly now and want to keep him my little boy forever.

Ezra is such a special guy.  He is laid back and easy going.  He loves to sleep and eat.  He has become quite the chunky boy.  He waddles around and makes us all laugh.  He doesn't talk yet.  He says, "Mom", and "uh oh".  He seems to do well around other children and babies.  His sisters dote on him all day long.  He loves the water in the bathtub and pool.  He is not an adventurer so when he wanders, he checks to make sure I am nearby.  He is a good traveler and shopping companion.  He also loves watching shows with lots of singing and dancing.  He loves on his stuffed animals and is not too messy.  He is a joy to have around.  His hair is long and carefree.  It is starting to get in his eyes and it will be a very sad day when I have to cut it.  It suits him....

So, with tears of love in my eyes I am so grateful to have them all home with me.  Who cares if they aren't learning the same thing or in the same way as their peers.  They will learn what they need to.

Homeschool

 

I have been meaning to post my feelings about our family's homeschool experience.  We chose to homeschool because of the radically different environment in our town's public school.  It was quite a shock to have 30+ students per class with no help for the teachers.  Children that were sent to school completely unprepared to learn or obey.  Parents on the school grounds wearing immodest and vulgar clothing and speaking in the rudest way possible.  Many could not even communicate without becoming aggressive and swearing.

 

So, Merilee started begging to be homeschooled.  She would cry as I put her to bed on Sunday night because she didn't want to go to school the next day.  She came home chanting racist songs she learned on the bus (not realizing it was racist of course), telling me about different students that got in trouble that day.  One in particular would be sent to the office but would refused to go, so she stayed outside their classroom door banging on the door and floor, throwing a fit.  She was expelled but kept coming to school and the school couldn't do much about it.  Parents are arrested for truancy but released because there is no where to keep them and no one else to take care of the kids.  I could go on and on but the point is, we needed to at least TRY something different for our kids.

 

A few families at church homeschooled and some of them used a charter school in a nearby town.  I use the word 'nearby' loosely.  Nothing here in the desert is 'nearby'.  I checked it out and it seemed pretty doable.  They had curriculum lined out and provided all the materials.  They even had fun enrichment classes offered on Fridays.  I signed them up and even got Cara started in their speech program.  I got the house as organized as I could, we set up some goals, and began.  Well.....Ezra was almost 3 months old and still very needy, Holland was 3 and still very naughty and high maintenance.  I had more on my plate than I could handle most days.

So our days were supposed to start with scriptures, prayer, pledge, and then miraculously the days work would get done. HA!!  It was a struggle to get started.  As soon as we started there was interruption from one/both boys.  Cara was 100% dependent on me for instruction and direction.  Merilee was left to figure things out on her own.  If she had a question she had to skip it and wait on me to find a minute to help her.  Our day was miserable.  Ezra only napped for 20 minutes and Holland was bouncing out of control all over the house.  The girls argued and whined at me ALL.THE.TIME.  And housework was thrown out the window.  By the time Justin got home from work, I was angry.  I was starting to hate my life and responsibilities. 

I have learned a few things about myself.  I am NOT patient.  I miss hearing the teachers praise my children for their intelligence and hard work.  I like to have them tested and evaluated to compare their progress to other children.  I like to have them at the top of the class.  Homeschool did not give me those things.  How was I supposed to know if I was keeping them up with the other kids in public school.  Was I holding them back?

At Christmastime we took a much needed break.  I reevaluated how we were doing things.  What did I think was important for them to learn?  How could I make this more pleasant for ALL of us?  How could I get Ezra and Holland on a more manageable routine?  How could I RELAX?  I needed to find those little moments of joy in my day and enjoy my journey.  (I'm emotional and teary just typing this).

SO, I had to lighten our load and give myself a break.  I cut back on the amount of work the girls did.  For reading, if it wasn't spelling or grammar, they didn't do it.  I added in some spelling work.  I let Merilee start reading all the American girl books we could get our hands on.  Cara made HUGE progress with her reading ability and pace.  I was not pulling my hair out listening to her read.  This was a tender mercy.  She grasped reading at a vital time in my sanity;)  She is catching onto math quickly and I can give her work and she can do it without me next to her all the time.  This allows me to get some housework done.  I had to just accept that some thing just weren't going to get done some days.  My house is not picked up all the time and the dishes are done once a day.  Laundry sits in baskets or folded piles.  The girls have started emptying the dishwasher and folding clothes.  They are huge helps with Ezra.  Ezra started napping more in his crib.  Holland got a TV in his room.  (don't judge). 

However, even after all the changes to make homeschool work, it still feels like more of a burden than a joy.  I have decided with agreement from the girls that they will begin public school again in the Fall on a trial period.  In the mean time, I will be researching curriculum, educating myself, and feeling out where schooling is headed in this country.  If at winter break we feel like I can take on homeschool again, I will.

 I love them so much and don't want to hate my time with them.  It was a totally different kind of parenthood with lesson plans.  I don't want them to hate learning or feel unsafe or uncomfortable because of the naughtiness going on around them.  I want them to be KIDS and use their imagination.  I want them to respect me as their mother, teacher, counselor, and fellow daughter of God.  I want them to reach their potential which is limitless and have joy in their journey.