Stuck

Lately, I feel Stuck.

With a capital 'S'.

I can blame the April snow, or the hectic nighttime schedule, Tony and I high-fiving each other as he comes home from work, and I go to work.  I can blame lack of sleep, a busy weekend; I don't need to list all of my excuses or I will just live in the 'Stuck' even longer.  (though our newspaper landing in snow dusted dog poop is a good excuse)

I have to get out of the rut.  It's that time of year where everyone is going somewhere but you.   Everyone is saving children in Nepal or curing world hunger but you.  You feel stagnant.  See?  I am projecting it on you!

Okay, thinking positive.  Easter is this Sunday, and that is a new beginning.  It's supposed to hit a balmy 50 degrees some time this week. 

I think I need to feel the Stuck for one more cup of coffee this morning, and then 

get over it.  

TMS!

TOO MUCH STUFF!!

Every Spring I do this.  I look around and scream inside my head, "Where did all of this stuff come from?"  

This same stuff that I defended to my husband all winter long now makes me feel claustrophobic.

Sadly, I did not set up this lovely still life; it is found art, just like this.

I wrestle with myself.  Part of me just wants to load up everything that is not useful and run it over to Goodwill RIGHT NOW.  But the rational part of me knows that we will have a rummage sale again this summer, and our stuff is another person's treasure.  Yada yada yada... 

I do have kiddos that can help, theoretically, with a rummage this summer.  There are so many lessons for them, and me, to learn from a rummage sale.  We sell cookies and lemonade, Dominic is especially good at hawking his wares which he usually gives away in the end because he is such a sweetheart.  That whole process is worth something right?

I can guarantee that these lovelies will not be for sale.  Henry, on the other hand...nah, we will keep him too.   For today, we will just part the Red Sea of stuff in our house.  It's a rainy day and we have a date with the symphony.

{this moment}

{this moment} - Inspired by SouleMama- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

The first time I am sharing, I am already cheating., but these photos need an explanation. 

No Dominic

No Sophia



The kiddos are sleeping over at a friend's house.  I am usually with my peeps 24-7 (when not working or running, or running to work, or working on my running) so this is a rare occurrence.  So much of how I define myself revolves around who I am with my children.  I say that without self-judgement.  It is what it is right now.  I like 'em, and I love 'em. 

They are supposed to make their beds every morning though.  Hmmmm....

A moment from our lives...

Loving the Struggle



     I teach adults at a technical college.  I also teach two future adults.  I remind myself of that fact every day, the fact that I am working with future adults.  What abilities do I want my children to posess?   Do they need to know Organic Chemistry?  I think I would rather have them know the struggle of learning Organic Chemistry, Physics, poetry, or our current dilemma, handwriting.

     Sometimes, I have to remind myself that the struggles that my children and I are sharing together are more important than the actual outcomes. 

     Today, my eight year old son had an absolute meltdown about subtraction.  He yelled at me, saying that I would not help him because I would not write the numbers down for him in nice, neat rows.  He got mad because I wouldn't enable him.  That is what I have to remember.  I told him directly that I am helping him by letting him do things for himself. I hope that some time very soon he will believe me. 

     I don't think we let our children (safely) struggle enough.  I see the results of enabling with the adults with whom I work as well.  They start doing math, or writing, whatever, and they throw their hands up and say, "This is hard!" Yup.  That's why it's worthwhile.

     I remember my dad answering my 'When am I ever going to use this!?!' question in regards to Geometry with a "You probably won't, but it's more important that you see how you work when something is difficult.  What do you do when you meet a challenge?" I bought it back then, and I still do. 

     I had the pleasure of teaching high school for six years.  When I see those "kids" now, it's the ones that I challenged, and they might have bucked me, that say 'thank you' now.  The adults are thankful for how I helped them as teens.

     I want to do that for my own children.  I want them to struggle, not give up, and know how good it feels to succeed.  I want them to do this so many times, that it is a normal experience for them.  I want them to love a challenge, not to shy away from one. 

     A good teacher leads by example.  I need to follow these lessons as well.  I need to role model a challenge, a struggle, and I need to persevere.  One way that I am doing this, for both myself and my family, is by running a half-marathon in May.  Yesterday, I ran nine miles, the longest I have ever run in my life!  I need to grow as a person, just as I hope my children will always want to do.  I want us to love the struggle, and know how good it feels to cross the finish line, until the next race. 





Withdrawal-Not Really

Every Lenten season, I give up Facebook.  I really thought that I would have a tough time doing it this year, I mean, somedays, Facebook is my connection to grown-ups and the outside world.  Then, this happened:

 

My beautiful state of Wisconsin is divided into two.  I don't want to talk about it.   I am all talked out actually, and that is why it was no problem for me to quit FB.  

No one really has 750 friends that they want to talk to every day.  I would rather talk to these guys:

I found myself checking FB too often anyway, one of the perils of being a homeschooling mom.  The computer is always there, and so, my attention always wasn't.  So, I'm out, and fully tuned back in.  Or, as my kids are saying, my FB account is:

 

So, if you want to see "what I am thinking/doing", pick up a phone and give us a call.  We might answer, we might not...hopefully the music will be too loud or we will be outside, so we will call you back. 
 

Peace and love,

Jessica

The Earth Goes Around the Sun



Dominic turned 8 years old yesterday.  He, along with some friends, lined up at the table to build Lego Star Wars ships. 
I looked at the group and realized the kids were 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 years old, and playing together beautifully I might add.
When we first started thinking about home schooling, I asked myself and others the dreaded "S" question, you know, "socialization"?  Now I just laugh because we have to remember the other "s's", like "squeezing" in "school"!

That brings me to my second point for today.  We are trying out the Oak Meadow curriculum.  We haven't really used a curriculum before, I have just put things together, but I am feeling a greater need for a routine and an underlying structure.  Today's science experiment had us moving a ball around a light bulb to simulate the rotation of the earth for days and years.  My guys took that and ran.  We looked up lunar and solar eclipses, phases of the moon, and when Sophia dropped "Earth", earthquakes.    It amazes me how they so inately want to learn. 

After Dominic's 8th rotation around the sun,

sometimes I feel I just need to set them up and get out of their way. :)





Epiphany

Happy Epiphany!  Funny, I had an Epiphany of my own just now.  I used to postpone writing a post until I thought about it, put it all together, took the time to fine tune it, etc.  In other words, I barely posted anything because I didn't make the time to put that process into action.

So, just as I didn't make any resolutions this year, I think things are great the way they are and if I want to do something, I will do it when it arises, I am just going to write when I want to write.  Whether it's short, thoughtful, or just an idea, writing will happen because it truly gives me joy.  So on that note, ironically, on to Epiphany... :)

I got a wonderful book from a friend called All Year Round by Ann Druitt, Christine Clinton, and Marije Rowling, about the seasons and traditions of the year.

Traditions follow nature, so when our outide world becomes colder and more barren, our inside world becomes more colorful and festive.

Today, January 6th, is Epiphany.  Epiphany is also known as the Three Kings Day, or Twelfth Night.  Basically, the 12 days of Christmas end on January 5th, and Epiphany is the day when Christians celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ into human form.  If you want to read more about it, go to this link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany_(holiday)

Today, we are going to make the traditional Epiphany cake.  There are many different recipies, but the basic ideas that remain constant are two fold: a crown on top, and a surprise within.

The cake has something hidden in it, whether it's an almond, a bean, or a figurine, whoever finds this treat while eating the cake gets to be "King" for a day, and of course, gets to wear the crown.  (I think we will wash it off first :)

We are going to use an almond.  The figurine idea scares me a bit, dental costs...you know.

If you want to make the traditional French puff pastry idea, here is a recipe:

http://www.education.com/activity/article/bake-easy-epiphany-king-cake/

the recipe in our book is heavier with cherries, nuts and honey, but hey, if you are reading this you have the internet and you can find whatever you want.  It is also totally okay to just make a cake mix out of a box; the main idea is to hide something to find your "King". 

So happy Epiphany, and I'll let you know who is our monarch next time!

J