A Fresh Start

For nearly two years, I have been pondering a new name for our family blog. For years now it's been Me and those Gross Boys, a play on our last name and the fact that it was me and my three boys and my favorite guy. Then we found out we were going to have a girl, and while thrilled at the thought, I could barely function through her pregnancy, so although many people pointed out that I should change the name, it really wasn't a priority. The 17 months since Maggie's birth have been a whirlwind of newborn-ness, moving into a new house, struggling with a thyroid problem, plus the usual taking care of the family, homeschooling two boys while taking care of two little ones. Every now and then, I would get a suggestion or think for a second or two about renaming the blog, but until a few weeks ago nothing really stood out to me.

One morning, as we were doing our normal thing (i.e. Will playing trains, Maggie getting into everything, me trying to teach and keep the peace) I searched for an answer to a question that Jon asked. He seemed surprised that I didn't have an answer at the ready, so I told him, "Sometimes I'm just learning as we grow, I mean as we go, too." I misspoke, but it struck a chord with me. Learning as we grow, growing as we learn. That's something that I hope we're doing around here. Our family is a part of Classical Conversations, a homeschool group that meets weekly.  One of the goals as we homeschool is that our kids would grow to have a love of learning. Deuteronomy speaks of teaching our children about God and His Word, when you sit in your house, when you walk along the way, when you lie down, and when rise up, pretty much all of the time. It is our desire that they would learn to love learning about God's Word, but also about the world that He has created. That they wouldn't just learn a lot of stuff for a test, but that as they have a new interest, they would know how to dive in a learn more about it. That throughout our days, whether we are sitting doing math lessons from a textbook or walking through the store, or playing outside, they would constantly learn and grow. I hope that there is always learning and growing, and growing and learning. So, while you can still find my old recipes, and maybe an occasional new one here, I will be posting about our family and how we are learning and growing right here. Usually this is a lighthearted place of reflection and story-telling, silly pictures and fun tales of little ones, but occasionally I get a little more introspective. Other times, it just a place for me to record things I don't want to forget--stats or curriculum choices. Feel free to tune in or out as you please! And know that your comments are more than welcome! :)