He comes through the door from school as I’m sitting at the table taking photos of flowers sent to me since my surgery.
He cracks some smart joke and prowls around the kitchen looking for food.
“What’s for dinner, Mom?”
“Aunt Lyn’s making chili.” I answer.
“What kind of chili?”
“When?”
“Where is she?”
Always prepared to stick his face in front of my camera, in he pops…….he’s my stinker!
This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken four years ago at the beach in NC.
There isn’t anything about the composition that makes it perfect. It’s just the afternoon sunlight, the shadows, my child and the fact that this photo says so much about who he is.
He’s a loner at times but can hang with the best of them. He’s content digging in the sand all by himself while life goes on around him. He’s smart. He’s creative. He’s easy, for the most part. He’s our second-born.
I could stare at the photo for hours remembering, like yesterday, our sweet time that year at the beach.
We go every year but as I look back I love the times when the kids were younger, content to play in the sand and look for pirate ships out at sea. It goes by in the blink of an eye, it really does.
Yes, diapers and drool were difficult, but also sweet in it’s innocence and simplicity. We had three in diapers when our third was born. Life seemed difficult and hard but also simple as I think back. Now, at age 12 there are more complications in life as he becomes a teenagers and faces more of our world, out from underneath the protective skirts of mama.
I long to go back to those diaper days with the knowledge I have now and soak up just one day of babydom.
I love you sweet boy! You will forever be little in my heart!
They grew up together. She was pregnant with her when we moved to SC. He was one.
She’s been like a second child to us. We are blessed to count her parents as some of our very best friends.
We homeschooled together. We took field trips. We played in the cul-de-sac. She can hang with the boys better than some boys! She is friend to all three of mine!
Now, she and my second born are both so grown up. On our last trip to SC we again played but this time they are bigger….growing up….no longer little guys!
Now he carries her into the pool. ON HIS SHOULDER!
There is something so comforting to know we have these friends, although far away, that know us. They know the good, the bad and the ugly. And they love us. We love them. They pray for us and us for them.
Their friendship feels like warm fuzzy socks on a cold winter day.
And what could be better than that?
My blog has been quiet the last two weeks. In that time we’ve gotten three children who’ve been homeschooled for five years or more off to school and the other child, who did go to school last year, enrolled and started at a separate school. Life for me, as I have known it, has changed. A few of my BFFs from VFA (very far away) have texted or emailed to ask, “Did they start school yet? You haven’t blogged about it.”
So here is the blog saying, “Yes, the kids have started school.”
It’s a huge adjustment year for us all. Each one of the six of us are being remolded, shaped, squeezed and loved upon by our Father. I have to say that although God has prepared me for these changes, taking upon the role of mom, prayer warrior and guide is hard. No longer are my children fully dependent upon me for all they do in a day. I sit in the afternoon and try to figure out their homework right alongside of them. I’m back in school, no longer the teacher, but the student.
I drop them off curbside and instead of four getting out five hop out. The extra traveler is my heart. It marches into the school right behind my kids. Then for 6 hours without them I’m on my knees. Not always physically there, but in my heart and in my soul I’m there. I’m raw. I’m happy. It’s not that it doesn’t feel right, it’s just hard. I scramble to try my best to cook, clean, rest, iron, be happy, patient and loving. Somedays I’m that mom. Somedays I’m not.
Yesterday I snapped at my husband. I spoke angrily to my oldest. I picked them up from school with a few goodies I never buy for them to let them know I missed them yesterday. I was glad to see them and wanted to give them an extra treat. Then one of them says the grape juice tastes like medicine. And I slightly begin to unravel. Do I get an “A” for effort, at least?
How long did it take me to learn to live life with a grateful heart, with an attitude of thankfulness, realizing I have to CHOOSE gratitude? I think I was in my 30’s. I actually feel my brain stop, switch gears and tell my heart to be thankful….to concentrate on all around me that is good and to let the little things slide. I wish and pray for this in my kids of 13,12,10 and 8.
“Thanks for cleaning my room or making my lunch or getting up 15 minutes early to make breakfast or putting a note in my lunchbox.” This fantasy world I sometimes long for isn’t necessarily realistic. I was a selfish stinker as a kid.
Sometimes, tho, the little things feel like big things. A tired mom maketh an overwhelmed mom. A mom who has homeschooled doesn’t understand why they (school) can’t get done in 7 hours what I can do in 4 hours. And why send home homework? Who invented homework? You (the school) has them for so many hours. Can’t they be mine after 3pm? Can’t families enjoy one another for a few hours between dinner, football practice, baths, packing lunches and getting to bed early enough to do it all over again at 6:30am the next morning? Where do they learn balance in all that?
Frustrated, yes.
Having to live with it anyway, yes.
Glad they are at school, yes.
Trusting in God’s plan for our family this year is what gets me through each day. Today is rest for me. I sit on my bed covered in a blanket and preparing for a nap. My good friend, Scooper, told me yesterday that one or two days of work equal just as many of rest for her right now. She so eloquently writes:
God uses a day gone awry and a life run amuck to show me that plans, the little ones and the big ones, are to be held loosely. Control is an illusion. Middle School brings anxiety. Life defies expectation. Beauty blooms out of brokenness.
God has been so faithful to encourage me and my children through this transition.
One of these days I’ll sip coffee on the back porch with my husband and the illusion of control will be there, if only for a moment. We’ll look at one another and smile. We’ve walked through yet another patch of raising kids His way and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Scooper is right.
It’s ALL GRACE.
Every single bit of every single day is nothing more than abundantly lavished grace on thirsty children in need of The Father’s love. Whether we realize it or not.
God brings many interesting people into our lives. One such person, loved dearly by my entire family, is Ms. Kathy.
Ms. Kathy was a teacher for many years and has her M.ED. in Education and tutoring. Presently, she tutors children in reading, and tests homeschooled students to determine whether their performance is in compliance with state standards.
When Ms. Kathy tested my daughter, Danielle could not even finish the test for the grade level below her grade! When we explained to Ms. Kathy that we had just enrolled Danielle at LearningRx for one-on-one brain training, she suggested we finish Danielle’s brain training first, then bring her back for state testing.
Over the coming months, our progress with LearningRx piqued Kathy’s interest as she listened to me talk about the results I saw in my children. Since Kathy comes in contact with many children in the course of her tutoring, she was curious whether LearningRx would be a good resource for other families as well. Kathy decided to take the LearningRx brain skills assessment so she would understand the process a child goes through when walking through the doors of LearningRx. When Kathy got the results of her assessment, she discovered that she had amazingly high scores in Short-Term Memory, Logic and Reasoning, Visual Processing, Auditory Processing and Word Attack. She was deficient, however, in Processing Speed and Long-Term Memory.
Kathy, 63, looked in amazement at her scores. They pinpointed recent frustrating struggles in her life. Kathy hated that she would walk into a room and forget what she had gone there for. She hated her increasing need to write things down or she would complete forget them.
Kathy decided to try LearningRx’s Max Online program. Instead of training at the center she would train online at home. After faithfully spending an hour a day with the LearningRx intensive online program, life took an unexpected turn, and Kathy left the country to spend several months with her daughter overseas. Once she returned to the U.S. and settled back into a routine, Kathy decided to take a second cognitive assessment to see exactly how much LearningRx was improving her memory.
I crossed paths with her in the parking lot at LearningRx just a few weeks ago as she was going in to take her assessment. She was nervous, and hoped her assessment would show proof of the improvements she felt she was experiencing in real life. I talked with her a few days later to learn that her assessment scores were amazing! Ms. Kathy had increased her Processing Speed by 40 percentile points and her Long-Term Memory by 25 percentile points! She was so excited! I knew all along Kathy would do great. She is a determined and purposed woman with a real zest for life.
I asked her what real life results she was seeing at home. She said that the biggest thing that she has noticed is that she can find things now. She had been spending way too much time hunting for things throughout the day. Now she remembers right away where she’s left things. She is also taking a couple of college courses for recertification and is finding that she has to reread things a lot less and can work through the curriculum in a much more linear fashion. She also sees a big difference in how quickly she processes information while she is driving. She foresees a flood of her friends who are sixtysomething flocking to LearningRx once they hear of her experience.
Kathy is my first friend who is over 60 and a graduate of a LearningRx brain training program. I am so excited to have played even a small role in her new relationship with LearningRx. Since she has discovered what LearningRx can do, she refers many of her tutoring students to LearningRx, too. LearningRx brain training is proving to be a blessing not only to me and my family, but now Ms. Kathy, her friends, and the struggling students she works with now and in the future, too!
(Read the beginning of our family’s LearningRx story here! Our daughter just tested and her scores were amazing!! I can’t wait to tell you about each our three children’s progress!!)
To read more LearningRx reviews and stories from other parents visit: http://www.learningrx-reviews.com/
I’m entering a new season of life.
All four of the kids start school in 2 weeks. We’ve homeschooled since K5 and had some of them in school for one reason or another, but for the majority of our lives we’ve homeschooled.
But this year God had something different in mind. So I’ve been busy buying school clothing, as they are in private school. I ordered all the shirts today and know we must go try on pants and shorts. I’m excited about the good God has planned for my family. I’m looking forward to a little downtime. I want to take a photography course. I want to have lunch with my husband. I want to spend some time training my brain at LearningRx. After putting three kids through the program I am ready to be smarter too!! I promised the results post weeks ago, and it’s coming. It has just taken longer to put together.
So all you moms out there who are ‘my kids go to school’ veterans do have any advice to offer? I’m going to have four coming home with homework, football practices and a husband who has to travel at times for his job.
Tips? Survival tools? Cool hang outs when your kids are at school? I’m ready for you to dish!!!
…..life feels harder.
…..decisions feel overwhelming.
…..my temper is short.
…..I don’t like to be argued with.
…..I wish I had a cook.
…..I prefer peace over commotion.
…..I press into The Father more than ever.
…..I want to cry more often.
…..I have to make me take care of me.
…..I wish both me and my husband weren’t tired at the same time.
I recall a very wise person teaching me the acronym HALT. If I am Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired do not make decisions; big decisions anyway.
So today I will rest. In Him. Physically and Emotionally. Be Blessed today.
For the first time in, well FOREVER, I’m considering backpacks for four kids. Not just the drag your stuff to homeschool co-op backpacks but real-life SCHOOL backpacks. Is it crazy that this intimidates me? Yea, it’s my analytical, perfectionist side wanting to pick the perfect backpack to last all year. Or maybe it’s my cheap-o side wanting a deal.
There, I said it, it sounds even more ridiculous on paper or the web or the computer…..WHATEVER!
I’ve looked at the $60 LandsEnd and LLBean backpacks. I’ve looked at the cheap-o backpacks but still I don’t know what to buy. I guess I”m looking for somewhere in between. I do have four to buy. I think Baby Girl may have hers already but not sure how long Hannah will be accepted in a private Christian school. So, I’m shopping for the boys.
Anyone have a direction to point me in, calming words for a mom who can’t make a choice about backpacks, a good therapist to recommend?
🙂
Ok, I’m making myself chuckle!!
Still, backpack help would be great!!!
Maybe he knows….
I remember as a child that summers lasted forever. As an adult it’s quite a different story. This summer has whizzed by like a rocket ship bound for other planets!!
Sometimes I’d love to grab hold of time and make it stand still for just a day, like those stop motion camera shots you see on TV.
I’d like to sit and exam my life. Step outside of it and stand there with God and say, “What do I need to change?” “Where am I wasting time?” “What needs my attention?”
Are you happy with your life? Do the days whiz by in a blur? Some days I feel like the day controls me instead of me controlling my day.
I say to my soul, “Peace. Be still.”
And I wish my brain and body would follow. To bask in the stillness of who God is…..to soak up His love and mercies, to KNOW that He alone is God, to cast all my cares upon Him who loves me so, to leave all that I am in His hands to shape and to mold.”
Share with me. What do you do to stop the pace of life. Where is your peaceful place? How do you find rest in the midst of life.
I’m looking for some answers here!
As a homeschool mom and blogger I often wonder why my blogs are not eloquent and thought-provoking. As I sit typing there are three extra kids in my house. That makes 7. One son is feeding a neighbor, two are on the trampoline and a few are upstairs on the XBox. The girls are running around screaming as they play some imaginary game.
Since beginning the process of editing the pictures you are about to see I’ve stopped, vacuumed the kitchen and den, made lunch for myself (only), came back to the computer, looked for a Bible, put a load of laundry in the wash, remembered I was supposed to be working on photos……
Came back to the computer.
Got up again to “lay down the law!”
Tried to remember what I was going to blog about.
Got up again to send them all to the pool.
Asked one son to flip the laundry. Asked another if he wanted to go to the Apple Store because his iPod touch dropped in the driveway yesterday and I ran over it. YIKES.
Remembered I needed to go to the grocery store.
Then sat back down to blog. Now baby girl is in here complained about her brother choking her and “He could have made her die!!!”
And I wonder why my thoughts are scattered and my brain feels like that commercial of the egg frying.
So before I must get up once again here is my scattered but posted post. (Does that even make sense??)
Fun In The Sun
Our Fourth of July was spent in SC as stated in my previous post.
We had a blast seeing friends from our home of 10 years. Several families joined us for the Fourth. One made a Corn Hole game and we ate ribs, hamburger, hotdogs, shrimp and steak. It was a feast, I tell ya!! Makes me hungry even thinking about it.
While we missed many of our friends because they were on vacation too we enjoyed the ones who stayed behind! Thanks guys!!
Here’s a few pictures from our trip.
Two men who should not be allowed in the same county!
Maybe this tells you a little of the story of why!
The host of our Fourth of July event. I don’t care what anyone says, he’s a good ole man!!
Fighting in the pool.
Let’s get the girl!
Brotherly love! Our friends from KY whose son’s wedding we attended on Sunday.
These two have been great friends since they were wee ones. Now he throws her in the pool and loves to carry her on his shoulder. Wonder what the future holds here?
The end of a spectacular evening! The men wooed the women with some awesome fireworks!
Ok, how many sentences is that in a row? Guess I better stop while I am ahead. There is thunder coming from the upstairs and too many boys in the house. CALGON!
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