And that was all I got to write yesterday. Now I'm sitting in my chair at 5:30 in the evening nursing Elizabeth and wanting to update this blog post. As I read what I wrote yesterday, I'm amazed at what a day can bring. Yesterday, things went so well. Jackson was amazingly patient with his sister. He was very enthusiastic about letters and writing. Allison was her usual happy self. She didn't create too much destruction and went almost the entire day without wetting her pants. I was patient with my children. Dinner was ready early, and we had family prayer time. Hooray! I remember thinking last night," Why can't everyday be like this? Because we probably wouldn't depend on God if life was that easy."
Well, today was a totally different. It would take both hands to count the number of times that Allison said, "Don't talk to me!" Jackson wasn't enthusiastic about doing anything but leaving the house to go play with friends, which we did do. While we were at his friends house, he got into several pushing and shoving fights with one of the boys who was there. As I looked around the home of this wonderful mother and surveyed the things she's been doing with her children, I began to wonder," Who am I kidding? There is no way I can homeschool my kids. There is so much to do. How will I possibly cover all of the important areas of education? I can't do it. I won't be any good. I can't see how I can be an art teacher, music teacher, reading/language teacher, science teacher, math teacher and history teacher while I fulfill all of my other responsibilities. I know other moms do it, but they must be extremely amazing people." I felt so discouraged, fearful, inadequate and overwhelmed. I tried reminding myself that this mom has been doing this for three years and doesn't have a newborn to care for, but it didn't make me feel much better.
I really want to homeschool my children. I love them so much. I find so much joy in teaching them and I want to be with them as they learn new things. I want to give them a wonderful education and do things with them that I wouldn't be able to do if they were in school everyday. But I just don't know that I can do it. Let me correct myself. I know that I can't do it. The Lord will have to be my Helper...and I know He will if this is the path He's chosen for me. So that's where I sit right now. Lord, give me full assurance in my heart that this is what you want for me and my family. I'm taking the first steps to organize my home and my daily routine as we SLOWLY begin this homeschooling journey, and I'm hopeful that He will either fling the door wide open or slam it shut. Assurance. That is what I need to get me through each day. I can get through a lot if I just know that I'm doing what He wants me to do.
Well, the real purpose of this post was to document a little of what's been going on this new year. I still have to blog about Jackson's 5th birthday (which was in November!), Christmas, our journey with Lizzie's hearing loss, and the joy of mothering my adventurous toddler. I hope those posts will come soon. Until then, here's a glimpse of what we've been up to lately.
Snow! There's been quite a few snow dumps this year and we are still loving it...
...even Jason who works very hard to keep our steep driveway free of snow and ice.
Allison is our adventurous, sweet-hearted spirit. At times, she makes me want to pull my hair out...
...until I remember that we're the ones who chose to put the sand table in the house for our toddler who is constantly curious about life.
But most of the time, she keeps us dying laughing. Like yesterday when I found her in the coat closet hiding behind the vacuum cleaners. She saw me coming around the corner and quickly shut the door. Hmmm. Does she not realize that her actions said, "Don't come in here. I'm doing something I'm not supposed to be doing." When I opened the door, she had a bunch of markers in her hands. I asked her, "Where do we keep markers? We don't bring markers in the closet. They stay at your little table. What are you doing with them?" Her reply, "I'm eating them." Lovely! Then later on, I heard giggles as I walked through the kitchen. I looked over at her and she was completely naked. When she saw that I saw her, she laughed and ran away. That was when I realized what she'd been doing. I quickly grabbed my camera as she sprinted circuits around the house:
She comes up with the greatest outfits.
And listening to her read books to herself is an absolute joy.
Jackson is showing us how little boys quickly grow into big boys. Most of the time, he enjoys helping us around the house - emptying trashcans, cleaning the tables, throwing dirty laundry downstairs, shoveling snow, etc. He takes great care of both of his sisters but he has also introduced us to the very challenging subject of sibling rivalry. Wow! Mom and Dad, I am so sorry! Sibling rivalry is not fun. He loves Transformers and super heroes. Lately, he likes wearing his Batman footies unzipped with the feet out so the footies flow behind him like a cape.
We're working on letters and writing. Unless I missed it, I have never seen him show an interest in letters. Since he'll be in Kindergarten next year and things in our lives are finally settling down, I figured I better give him a lot of opportunities to spark an interest. So far, he's really liking writing and tracing. He wasn't holding the pencil properly, so I showed him the correct writer's grasp. He did not want to hold it how I was showing him and insisted upon doing it his own way. I was very patient with him and a few minutes later, he asked me how to hold his marker correctly. Now, he does it automatically. My patience paid off!
Sweet little Lizzie is doing extremely well.
She found her thumb...
...and it's so funny to watch her try and get it.
She's talking and giggling. When she gets in a giggly mood, we all stop what we're doing to watch, listen and interact with her. It's so fun! When the early intervention therapist came to our home on the day Elizabeth turned 3 months, she was 4 months+ in every area of development, including verbal and auditory skills. We know the verbal and auditory areas will slow as she gets a little older, but it was great to see that she isn't experiencing delays in other areas. If I didn't know that she couldn't hear, I don't think I would realize it yet. Developmentally, she is just like my other babies, except that shushing and singing don't calm her and she doesn't startle to loud noises.
Last weekend, Lizzie and I had a special treat. One of my dearest and most loved friends in the world was in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival. Natalie and I have known each other since sixth grade, were roommates our freshman year at UT, and she is the one who played a huge roll in my salvation. I haven't seen her in five years, so it was a very exciting day for me. We had several hours together to catch up and I realized that I love her more now than ever.
Natalie's middle name is Elizabeth. She is the reason why I loved that name so much and chose it for my daughter.
As we were leaving, she captured this precious picture of my sweet sleeping beauty.
Well, today was a totally different. It would take both hands to count the number of times that Allison said, "Don't talk to me!" Jackson wasn't enthusiastic about doing anything but leaving the house to go play with friends, which we did do. While we were at his friends house, he got into several pushing and shoving fights with one of the boys who was there. As I looked around the home of this wonderful mother and surveyed the things she's been doing with her children, I began to wonder," Who am I kidding? There is no way I can homeschool my kids. There is so much to do. How will I possibly cover all of the important areas of education? I can't do it. I won't be any good. I can't see how I can be an art teacher, music teacher, reading/language teacher, science teacher, math teacher and history teacher while I fulfill all of my other responsibilities. I know other moms do it, but they must be extremely amazing people." I felt so discouraged, fearful, inadequate and overwhelmed. I tried reminding myself that this mom has been doing this for three years and doesn't have a newborn to care for, but it didn't make me feel much better.
I really want to homeschool my children. I love them so much. I find so much joy in teaching them and I want to be with them as they learn new things. I want to give them a wonderful education and do things with them that I wouldn't be able to do if they were in school everyday. But I just don't know that I can do it. Let me correct myself. I know that I can't do it. The Lord will have to be my Helper...and I know He will if this is the path He's chosen for me. So that's where I sit right now. Lord, give me full assurance in my heart that this is what you want for me and my family. I'm taking the first steps to organize my home and my daily routine as we SLOWLY begin this homeschooling journey, and I'm hopeful that He will either fling the door wide open or slam it shut. Assurance. That is what I need to get me through each day. I can get through a lot if I just know that I'm doing what He wants me to do.
Well, the real purpose of this post was to document a little of what's been going on this new year. I still have to blog about Jackson's 5th birthday (which was in November!), Christmas, our journey with Lizzie's hearing loss, and the joy of mothering my adventurous toddler. I hope those posts will come soon. Until then, here's a glimpse of what we've been up to lately.
Snow! There's been quite a few snow dumps this year and we are still loving it...
Last weekend, Lizzie and I had a special treat. One of my dearest and most loved friends in the world was in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival. Natalie and I have known each other since sixth grade, were roommates our freshman year at UT, and she is the one who played a huge roll in my salvation. I haven't seen her in five years, so it was a very exciting day for me. We had several hours together to catch up and I realized that I love her more now than ever.
I hear Allison crying for me, so I'm hitting post before I add another draft to my list of posts.
2 comments:
Loved this post..started to write you a comment but it got real long...so, emailed you instead. : )
None of us could homeschool in and of ourselves! What a gift to allow the Lord to do it through us. You have 3 amazing gifts and every moment you spend instructing them is eternally significant!
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