Top 5 reasons why I homeschool

Since my oldest son plays baseball for our city, I often get asked by the other parents what school he goes to. If you homeschool, you have likely been asked the same question, and have been in this scenario before- 

Other mom- "does your child go to (insert local school name) also?" 

Me- "no, we homeschool" 

Other mom- "...oh...."

You know what I'm talking about, that very mild but condescending, what is she thinking, how will she ever teach her kids all they need to know... "oh".  So let me just put it out there for all of you that may be questioning those that are homeschooling or maybe even those that are considering it. Homeschooling may not be for everyone, and I certainly will not be criticizing you if you don't do it, every family's needs are different and every situation is different. I have a lot of friends that homeschool , and a lot that don't. If you were to ask me my opinion about doing it or not, I would tell you, if you don't ask me that's fine too. I don't intend on losing friends over it, and you shouldn't either. Stand firm in your decision, know who you are as a christian and do what you know is best for your family. Be the parent that YOU need to be for YOUR family. Homeschooling is right for us for right now so that is what we are going to do. It's hard and it's stressful and very overwhelming at times, but (IMO) the rewards and benefits far out weigh all of that.  Here is a list of reasons (in no specific order) why we do it:

 1) IT SAVES OUR VALUABLE TIME. We have friends that go to our local public school that are in the same grade as my oldest son. They told me that after being in school for 8 hours a day, he comes home with HOURS worth of homework! This is kindergarten! and what has he been doing all day to have that much to do when he gets home?! We can get all of our work done in an hour to an hour and half ( keep in mind it is K5, so it's nothing difficult yet). We have the whole rest of the day to do whatever we want. We can spend it as a family, and get to truly know our kids. 

2) I CAN CATER MY TEACHING TO EXACTLY WHAT MY KIDS NEED AND WANT TO KNOW.  I can teach them each the way they need to be taught and the way that they learn best. There is no way that you can teach 30 students the exact same way, and all of them understand what is going on. At home, if my son has a problem understanding something, I can spend as much time on that one specific thing as he needs me to. I can also change the curriculum mid year if he is not understanding that one. I can teach my kids things that actual matter and things that they will actually learn in life. Plus, if they have a bigger interest in one particular subject over another, I spend more time teaching that subject in depth, where as public school will just move on, and not help cultivate his passion for it. We can experience things first hand by actually going places and researching things more, growing things, doing things. There are no caps on their learning, the sky is the limit! 

3) WE CAN TRAVEL AND HAVE MORE FUN. There are no certain times or days or breaks that we have to follow. Don't get me wrong, we do keep a schedule, but we have the opportunity to be flexible with it. If we want to travel, we can take our school with us. If we want to go to the park, we can do school when we get back. We can have play dates and shopping trips and run errands and do lots of other things, all while still getting our school done for that day. While we are on the subject of socialization, I will just briefly say, I know a lot of people think negatively about homeschooling because they think that the kids are just at home in a bubble with their parents. Well that is definitely not true! My kids have plenty of friends and get plenty of socialization. The thing is, now I get to be the one that picks their friends. They aren't learning negative things from those at school that don't have the same values we do. Call me over protective if you want, I don't care. Because in the end, I will be the one that stands in front of the Lord when he asks me what I did with the 3 little blessings he gave me. It's my job to protect my children and my job to teach them right from wrong.  My job to turn them into the best adult and spouse that they can be. 

4) I FEEL LIKE THEY ARE SAFER AT HOME. Again,call me over protective if you like, but I watch the news. I see the horrible things that happen to child when they are not under their parents supervision. I hear about things that go on at schools- shootings, rape, drugs, abductions...these are just not things that I can deal with. I want to protect my kids as long as possible, and keep them innocent as long as possible. The world has turned to a hard dark and corrupt place, and I want to keep my kids from experiencing that for as long as I can. 

5) I LIKE MY KIDS. (today anyway, tomorrow could be different lol) I want to spend time with them, I love seeing them grow and learn, I love being together with them. I don't want to send my kids to school for 8 hours, come home and do 3 hours of homework, then send them off to bed, only to do it again the next day. My time is valuable to me, and my time with my kids is even more precious. I know there will come a day where it won't be cool to hang out with their mom, and I want to know that when that day does come, I didn't waste the time I did have with them. Again, I understand that homeschooling is not even a possibility for everyone, and that makes me appreciate it so much more. I am so grateful that I get to stay home with my kids and teach them and watch them turn into the young men that the Lord has called them to be. For us, for right now, it works. I love it and can't wait to see what's in store next for our family. 

Battle of the Mamas

These are just a few of the things I have encountered while being a mom to my 6, 3 and 5 month old kids. Somethings are my personal belief, and somethings I said because, well, everyone else was just thinking it :) 

As if becoming a mother isn't challenging enough with all the new things and sleepless nights, but little did you know, you also just signed up for war. And let me tell you, it's getting old. There is this silent (sometimes not) judgmental war that goes on among moms. Whether you breast feed or formula feed, cloth diaper or use disposables, whether you have stretch marks and loose skin or you don't, adopt or have your own, whether you have 1 child or 6, vaccinate or don't, have a schedule or fly by the seat of your pants, spank or don't spank, lost all the baby weight or still have it years later, use all organic food or take out, stay home or work full time, home school or public school, schedule a c-section or go with no drugs, all natural things or man made...so many decisions we have to make! Not only do we have that pressure, but then there is the pressure we feel from others too, the judgement. What will people think? What will they say if they find out? You know the one, she comes to play group with her homemade baby food, and is sure that everyone knows it. Or the one that openly breastfeeds her 2 year old child while talking about always getting at least 20 oz. every time she pumps. Or maybe the one that boasts about being skinnier now than when she was a teenager? It can come from a family member or a friend and I am so sick of this back and forth arguing that goes on. I'm not saying don't be passionate about things, I'm saying don't be judgmental of those that are not. Truth is, YOU SHOULDN'T CARE WHAT SOMEONE ELSE DOES! (as long as the child is not in danger) I personally struggle with the fact that I wasn't able to breastfeed all my kids like I wanted. I don't need to hear that "breast is best" I know it is, but the fact is, I couldn't do it. You don't need to make me feel guilty about it, I can do that on my own. You don't need to tell me that I did it wrong or that I wasn't committed enough, it just didn't work for me, unlike it did for you. Everyone struggles with issues and things they wish they could have done differently. We as moms need to be very careful about the things we say to other moms, and we also need to have full confidence in the decisions we make for our kids. If you are going to do something, do your research and be sure you know why you want to do it and don't back down because someone is questioning your decision. You have obviously made the best possible personal decision for your family. Different people do different things for different reasons, who am I to judge you? If you feel like you NEED to say something to another mom, first of all, be sure she wants your opinion and do it in a loving and caring, non judging manner. Be grateful for your mothers instinct and trust your decision, because it is YOURS. There are so many different people in the world, it would be an incredibly boring place if we all did the same thing. The truth is, just because something might be easy or come naturally to you, does not mean the same for someone else. And just because you don't understand why, does not give you the right to judge it. We need to be supportive to one another and not look down on those that may be different than us. Now having said that, I will say again, do your research, don't jump on the wagon just because everyone else is, and don't give people something to talk about. Know why you want to do certain things, and know why you don't. That is your call, just be educated. I feel like I am constantly doing research for different things concerning my family. There is always some kind of battle going on between someone who hates a certain thing and says it's the worst, and someone who loves it and is forever changed by the exact same thing. Each family is different, and each mom is different, we need and require different things for our specific situations. You need to surround yourselves with positive and uplifting people and throat punch rid yourselves of the bad ones :) Love yourself and have confidence, you are beautiful you are perfect, and you are the exact mother the Lord wants for your child! "She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future." Proverbs 31:25 

 Refuse to sign up for this "war", and stand up for what you believe in, support your friends and ask questions, you might just learn something :)

Pirate Party!!!

Better late than never, right? Eli's birthday was in August, and I am just now getting around to posting his party. I mean, I did have a baby a few weeks after this party, so I guess I'm entitled to be late :)

Anyways, I thought a pirate themed party would be fun, my boys have this Melissa and Doug pirate costume that they love to play in, so that's where I got the idea from.
My plan was to have the party outside, and it was supposed to be a water party (we have a water slide), but rain changed that, so I had to have it inside my house. So that changed things a bit, but it was still fun and the kids did get to run in the wet grass for a little bit :) I like to be creative and crafty, so I love making things myself, and it also saves you money if you can do that too.

 The pirate ship came from Oriental Trading, as did the cupcake stand. We added the twine around the edges though, to make it more "piratey"

 Fruit pirate ship turned out cute. I just used small wooden dowels, and then I cut out the number, letters and "sails" with my Cricut machine. Plates and other small things came from Oriental trading, Target, Party City and Hobby Lobby.

 These glass jars I made from pasta sauce jars. We took the labels off and got all the stickiness off with goo gone. Then we went to Lowes and got some cheap plastic knobs, attached them to the lid (drilled a hole through and screwed it together) and spray painted it with a glossy black. We had "pirates gold', (rolos, reeses pb cups and hershey bars) "cannon balls" (whoppers) and "treasure" (ring pops)

This inflatable chest also came from Oriental Trading, it is meant to be a cooler, but I thought it would be fun to let the kids dig for treasure in it. Huge success :) We put sand and all kinds of little jewelry from the dollar tree in it. I also put some gold pirate coins and fake diamonds in there. The parrot on the ground is inflatable and I found that at the dollar tree also. That turned out to be my son's favorite thing about the party, he carried it around for days afterwards :)

                   This guy was fun, he was about 6 feet tall and made a good photo op :) Also from O.T.

I found these swords, shields and eye patches at Target, we gave them away as favors and the kids loved playing with them during the party.

 I made these food tent cards myself. I took card stock, folded and scored it, then I stained them with coffee, let them dry and then burned the corners with a candle. SO CUTE! I made the X with my Cricut machine and used a Sharpie to make the dotted lines. This card went in front of the ice bowl :)

                                        I'm pretty sure he liked the cupcakes! ( all 3 of them)

The cupcake liners came from Hobby Lobby. I made the toppers myself, again with my Cricut machine. They turned out really cute too. Time consuming, but cute :)

I hand made a Happy Birthday banner also, not sure why we don't have a picture of that, but it was done using my Cricut machine as well. Then I hole punched the letters and strung them through twine and hung it above the door. Some of you reading this may think I'm crazy to go all out for a 3 year olds party, but I just can't help it! I love to decorate and I love to be crafty. I also love to entertain, it just makes me happy :)

Morals

This is my blog, so I am giving my own personal opinion and conviction.

I personally love Victoria's Secret under garments, I have nothing against the products they have, I do however, have a problem with the nationally televised "fashion show" they put on. Let's be real, I mean people definitely don't watch it to see the latest fashions and the newest underwear (cause who cares). People watch it to see the nearly naked, beautifully skinny and 'perfect' women wearing nothing but underwear! Most all of the women have on these costumes or lingerie that you would never wear anyways. How am I supposed to keep my son pure, if this type of thing is shown on our LOCAL channels, during a time he could be watching??? How am I supposed to teach him to keep his mind and heart clean, when this is televised without the blink of an eye? This is the type thing that is ok to us? Or how about the Kmart commercial with the men in their boxers jingling their "bells"?????? Oh. My.Word. Being a parent is challenging enough, but it's this kind of stuff that is making our jobs that much harder.  I feel like I should just move my family to a secluded island with a bubble! Cause it is not getting any better! Where are all the good people, the people with morals and standards? What happened to them? We have GOT to be those people for our boys sake, for the future husbands and leaders we are raising. What kind of man do you want your daughter to marry?  BE that man, be that example. We need to only watch things that are worthy of our attention. We need to teach our kids, that the enemy will use anything and everything he can get his hands on, to tear us down. He will find your weaknesses and use them against you. Be strong, make good choices, because they don't only affect you. Not only is the VS fashion show inappropriate for men, but it is equally as hard for women. We sit there and watch and think, " why don't I look like that when I don't have clothes on?" or "why can't I be that skinny, or tall, or tan, or pretty." Why, why, why, why????  Comparison is the thief of joy- Theodore Roosevelt That is so true, when you look at other people and their lives or their bodies, you start to compare them, and feel bad about yours. You start to be ungrateful for what you do have or about the way God chose to make you (because he did choose it). You look at other peoples "highlight" reels, and compare it to your "bloopers". You are beautiful, you are perfect and created in His image. You are exactly where He wants you in life, and you are fulfilling His purpose for your life. Don't let any airbrushed or computer generated thing, tell you differently. Don't let Hollywood and the media decide what goes and what doesn't. Stand up for yourself, your beliefs and our young and impressionable kids.

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. Proverbs 4:23

The blessed life.

Well now that I have had a chance to settle into my new role of full time stay at home mom, I've had some realizations happen. Everyone has good days and bad, no matter what your title is, each day is different. I have days where I don't think I want to be a stay at home mom any more. Then I also have days where I LOVE being here and homemaking and teaching my children. I just never really know how each day is going to turn out. No matter what though, I do realize that I live an extremely blessed life, I'm talking EXTREMELY blessed...like you may think I'm royalty I have so much favor :) The thing is, so do you. You might just have to choose to see it. I'm not being overly boastful, I'm simply acknowledging the things that the Lord has given me. I don't want Him to take things away from me because He thinks I'm not grateful for the things I DO have.  I don't have everything I want, no, but I do have more than some. You see, I'm not talking about a lavish life, I'm talking about a real life. A life where my husband works way more than any one person should ever have to, so we don't get to see him very often-BUT I'm grateful he has a job, and we are not living paycheck to paycheck. We have 3 beautiful, healthy, energetic boys that I get to clean up after love on everyday. Again, is each day awesome? No. I choose to see the positive in each situation, and  I promise it is there. I have the opportunity to school my kids at home, and despite the challenges, blood, sweat, tears, time outs and tantrums (and that's just from me), it's totally worth it :) Cause if anyone is going to teach my kid how to prepare himself for the real world, it's going to be me (that might be a whole new blog post though).
 But all in all, I wouldn't trade my blessed life, good days or bad, with anyone else, for anything! The hubs and I have been married for 7 years now, and we have definitely seen 'better and worse' but we're still here! How? Because I choose to focus on the good, in him and in everything else too. For that we have been blessed. We made a commitment to God and to each other, and he is my forever...no matter how many times he leaves his underwear on the bathroom floor :)
We also belong to an awesome church where we have met the most amazing people, and I cannot imagine having to go through life with out them. You truly do become who you surround yourself with. I encourage everyone to find positive people that lift you up and don't tear you down. "People learn from each other, just as iron sharpens iron." Proverbs 27:17  Not only do we just go to church, but we are involved, we have relationships, and we serve there. We are being blessed, because we are blessing others. It comes full circle, you will definitely reap what you sow. So be generous, be a giver, be loving and selfless. In every aspect of your life, your work, home anywhere you go, make that your life's motto. You will be blessed for it.

The dreaded Santa question

I originally wanted to title this post, "The day my 5 year old became a man." Because that's how I feel :(

It started out like a normal dinner. We were eating pizza and talking, and everything was fine. As I was cleaning up the plates and cups from the kids table, it happened. I heard the question that I was not anticipating for at least another 5 years. I wasn't even preparing a speech for it yet, and I at least assumed my husband would be there addressing this with me. But no, there I stood, alone in the kitchen when all of a sudden, out of NO where I hear, "is Santa real?" come out of my 5 year old's mouth. WHAT???!!!!!! I could not believe my ears!!!!!!!!! I looked up at him, and calmly said, "what?" wanting to see how serious he was about that question. He looked at me with serious eyes, and repeated his question. Me, with a slight smirk on my face, racing through my brain to figure out the right answer for him. It wasn't coming, I was drawing a complete blank, and I was now trying to think of someone I could call to help me figure this out. Meanwhile, my sweet and innocent, first born child, is staring at me, waiting on an answer. I panicked....totally unprepared for this! I asked him why he was asking this all of a sudden, he said  he just needed to know if all of it was real or not. Now a battle was taking place in my brain, of course I wanted to tell him the truth, especially since he just flat out asked me. On the other hand, I wanted him to still believe, because I think it is a major part of a kids childhood, and I didn't want that to be ruined for him, let alone all of his friends that he could possibly ruin it for! I finally decided what to do.....I told him the truth.....there was no Santa. I reminded him the real reason we celebrate Christmas, is to remember the birth of Jesus. We give each other presents to celebrate his birthday. But that wasn't enough for my-smarter than he should be-5 year old. He kept on asking, "but who is Santa?" Since I was making this up as I went, I was struggling for answers, and then it dawned on me, St Nicholas WAS a real person, and he is what Santa is modeled after. So I explained that to my son, and started to see it sinking in now. I also said that mom's and dad's give the presents also. Then he wanted to know who made all the toys, so naturally, I said Target :) To which he replied, "but if he goes during the day, people will know he's Santa!" :) He was asking all the right questions, "how does he carry that big bag of toys," and "who eats the cookies," and so forth. He was asking all these grown up questions that I had no idea were in his tiny brain! My sweet and loving baby, was now practically a grown up! I mean what's next, "the talk"???!!!!! Goodness! At the beginning of this conversation, I new it was something that was going to be memorable, so I got my phone and recorded the whole thing :) (to which I won't bore you with the 7 minute video)  Looking back at it, I just don't know how to feel, it's such a cute video, but sad at the same time. I just can't believe he knows the truth already...at least we won't have to deal with that stupid elf on the shelf this year :) Long story short, I again told him the real reason we celebrate anything in December, is to celebrate our Saviors birth. The true reason for the season, is a little baby born all those years ago, who would eventually change the world. So this coming Christmas season will be a little different for us, but I am so glad I get to share truth with my boy, I'm so glad that now, he can focus on what really matters and what life is all about.

Vera Bradley fail

So, Vera Bradley sent me a coupon in the mail for my birthday. It was a good coupon too, 40% off any item. I love Vera, but a coupon makes it even sweeter! I also love a good deal, and I try to get the best deal wherever I go. So, I'm shopping the the VB website, I notice that for that day,(it seems they have different online sales every day) if you buy one sale item, you get another sale item at 50% off, PLUS I can use my 40% off coupon on top of that! So I'm super pumped, I start looking through all the sale items, they have some pretty good choices. I have this weird obsession with luggage/bags, I LOVE them, I don't travel near as often as I wish I did, but every time we go some where, I always *think* I need to buy more luggage...so most of the time I do :) But in my defense, I always look for good deals and buy things on sale or with a coupon. ANYWAYS, so I'm looking at all the luggage on the Vera website, I finally pick out what kind of bag I want, now to pick (only) one of the fabulous prints they have. Now I start to look for the other item I can get half off. Of course all my luggage has to match (totally weird about that also), but with sale patterns, they don't always have every pattern in every style. SO, I find a couple bags and a make up bag that all match with the pattern I like, I have it in my "cart". NOTE: While I am shopping, I am continually adding and subtracting things from my "cart", by doing this, it is giving me all the discounts I will get, and I can find the best deal this way. I can't even tell you how long (too long) I spent looking at this site and every possible scenario of things. I FINALLY make a decision on what I want, I go to my "cart", I notice that all of a sudden it is not giving me the BOGO 50% deal, and that is messing with my total price, and my birthday coupon. I'm like, what in the world is going on?? I try several other scenarios and bags, to see if it was only on certain priced items, and nothing is changing. After thinking about what the problem could be, I realize that is is 11:20 my time (central time)....the VB website is obviously NOT on central time, and wherever they are it must be after midnight, meaning that the deal had EXPIRED!!!!!!!! Oh my word!!!! I had spent all that time deciding and pricing...all for nothing! All I could do was laugh really, just my luck :)   I guess I didn't need that duffle bag anyways....who am I kidding, I wonder what deal they have going on today.... :)