Counting My Blessings

Reflecting on the many, many good things that God has given me is a practice that I have neglected lately and I deeply desire to get back into the habit of counting my blessings. So tonight I am briefly starting again to list out just some of the many good gifts that He has poured out into my life. This list is not all inclusive, but simply what God has particularly brought to mind right now. I am hoping to make this just one part of an ongoing list.

>Quality time with one of my oldest friends last weekend and reflecting on how friendships change, how our needs in friendships change, and how as we've grown older our friendship has just gotten stronger. No pressure, just love.

>Amazing neighbors

>My kids. They are far from perfect, but most of the time I really like them. 😄

>Thyroid medicine. My thyroid recently got all wacky again and I was feeling bad. I'm so thankful to be feeling better!

>Dinner out with one of my favorite friends tonight. You know the one that makes you laugh and you can joke one minute and in the next share your fears and concerns for your kids? She always encourages me and often challenges me, too. Tonight's take away was that I need to be more intentional in praying for others. Time with her is always time well-spent. 

>Our electric blanket with dual controls. Pete can crank his up to 7, since he has little to no body fat, and I will put mine on low and enjoy crawling into warm sheets. 

I could go on, but I think I will stop there. I keep meaning to blog about Maggie's 3rd birthday and Will's 5th, oh and about Christmas. Maybe someday soon...

I hope you take a little time to count all the good gifts in your life. 💕

Jon's Broken Arm

Thanks to a recent post by one of my favorite friends in the real world and the blogosphere, I have been inspired to do some catch up blogging. I just looked and it has been over three months since I have blogged. I'm hoping to post a few in the next week or so, but let's just take this one step and at a time. We'll start with my oldest boy and that time when he broke his arm...

        Like most horror stories, it all began on Friday the 13th. Will had been sick all week with a fever and just laying around, very unlike him. Meanwhile, Jon and Sam had been doing some chores and took a break. Sam was sitting in the old glider that used to be in the nursery when the kids were smaller, and Jon was standing on the glider's ottoman. Jon was "surfing" and Sam was gently rocking the ottoman with his feet when they agreed that the rocking should get a little less gentle. I was sitting on the couch with Will and texting Pete about whether or not I should take him to the doctor when I hurt a wail and a thud--or maybe it was a thud and then a wail?--regardless, chaos followed. Sam ran in saying, "Mom! Jon hurt his arm really, really bad!" And then I saw it...his arm hanging in an unnatural way, leaving no question about what we would be doing next.

        After trying to call Pete and getting no answer, I sent a text saying simply, "911-Jon broke his arm." Then I called my neighbor to see if she could stay with my kids while I take Jon to the hospital. Although she was out of the state, she sent her son over immediately. In the meantime, Pete called me and headed straight home, and I took the injured and headed to campus of Children's that is closest to our house. If you ever wondered how to avoid having to wait in the waiting room at a children's hospital, just bring a child with a badly broken limb. They quickly got him a wheelchair and escorted us straight back. One of the nurses even made mention to another of "the deformed child" as we went by. In my frazzled state, that somehow struck me as humorous.

        It was quickly decided that he needed morphine and x-rays. Jon was a champ when they put in the IV. They had a whole team of "life specialist" or some such craziness ready to read him a book and walk him through why they needed to put a needle in his arm. Little did they know that my logical first born, who was in much pain, did not need much convincing. In fact, just the quick run down of the way IV's work while the nurse assembled her team of life specialist was good enough for him. They stood down and he got his drugs and the x-rays, which revealed just what was expected. Both his radius and his ulna in his right arm were broken. The next question was to operate or not. The doctor who had been helping us decided that regardless of the answer to that question, we would need to see an orthopedic specialist at the main campus.

     

          And so we took our show on the road. The orthopedic specialist at the main campus of Cincinnati Children's decided that contrary to the prior doctor's opinion, Jon would not need to be sedated at all to have his arm set. They simply gave him another dose of morphine, then the doctor gave a quick twist with a horrific crunching sound and a quick x-ray in the room to confirm that his bones were aligned properly, and then they splinted his arm and rewrapped it. At this point the doctor said we would need to keep his arm wrapped in the splint and in a sling 24/7 for a week and then return to get yet more x-rays and then he could get an actual cast. In case you missed it that means his arm, which was close to needing surgery, would be protected by a foam pad and an ace bandage. I kindly requested an actual cast since we have three kids younger than Jon who are quite active, but the doctor said this was for the best. They sent us on our way around 7pm, over 7 hours from when the break took place.

       For Jon's sake, I am going to include a few things that he likes to be sure people find out about his experience. Jon would want it noted that the only food he ate that day was his Cheerios and a mint since the break took place right before lunch. We stopped at Wendy's on the way home, however he couldn't stomach it after all the morphine on an empty stomach. At the hospital they wouldn't let him have food or water in case they ended up needing surgery. The poor kid was super hungry and thirsty for most of the day. Also, the ortho doctor did not tell him when he was going to set his arm. He was feeling around on Jon's arm asking him if certain areas hurt and then just gave his specialized twist and bam! Jon wailed and cried. It was pretty awful.

       Congratulations for making it this far! If you're still reading, I'm going to wrap up with a brief summary of his progress since the day of the incident. His follow up appointments since then have been fairly standard and thankfully all very successful. One of his bones, I believe his radius has healed completely, but the ulna has a fracture that is still healing. He wore casts that went most of the way up his arm for 7+ weeks, and is currently wearing a brace for 6 weeks. Apparently the area of his arm that he injured is an area with low blood circulation, making it heal slowly and prone to being injured again easily in the following year. As of Wednesday he will get to take the brace off unless he is doing anything active through May 13th. They said this includes running and playing outside, riding bikes, wrestling, etc. In case you forgot, he's a ten year old boy with 3 younger siblings...I might be making him wear that brace more than he realizes. The doctor said if the arm gets broken again in the next year, there is a very high chance that he would have to have surgery. But for now he is counting down the days until Wednesday and I am letting him enjoy the idea of wearing it less.
     

     

Sam is EIGHT

My sweet and sincere Sam is eight. His birthday was at the beginning of the school year, so his blog post also got lost in the shuffle. My Sam is such a people person. He loves being with people all. the. time. In fact, when his older brother wants a little alone time to read, Sam gets frustrated because he can't understand it. While Sam does finally enjoy reading, he would much rather be doing something active with someone else. This boy is highly competitive and although he is doing better, he can be a bit of a sore loser. (Something his not very competitive mama struggles to understand!) He aims to please people and hates to disappoint anyone. (Please note how many ties there are in his interview) However, he is entering the age of thinking he knows better than everyone else, so we are beginning to butt heads more than we used to. Thankfully, he is very empathetic, and when I explain to him how his tone makes others feel, he quickly looks shocked and is genuinely sorry. Sam loves spending time with his siblings, and this school year he has become a great playmate to Will and Maggie when Jon and I need to work on school. Needless to say, the younger ones love when their big brother plays with them! Sam says he doesn't know what he wants to be when he grows up, and honestly, I think that is great. I think it's safe to say he has a little time to figure that out! :)

~What is your name? Sam, or the Goose
~And how old are you? 8
~How does being 8 make you feel? Good
~What do you want to learn this year? How to keep my backpack clean (said with a laugh, but then he clarified that he is serious)
~What was the best thing about being 7? being on the swim team
~How did you celebrate your birthday? Had friends over, had pool birthday party, ate Chick-fil-A, and went to the Newport Aquarium with Dad
~What was your favorite gift that you received? Nerf gun from Noah
~What is your favorite color? green
~What is your favorite food? "ham, pizza or brownies--it's a tie! Wait, cancel that, it's Grandma's chocolate cake!"
~Who is your favorite person? "God! I have a lot of friends, so it's hard to choose, but God created me after all!"
~What grade are you in? 3rd
~What is your favorite thing to do at school? math
~What is your favorite game to play? Minecraft or Super Smash Bros
~What do you like to do with Daddy? Pillow mazes
~What do you like to do with Mommy? make cookies and brownies
~What do you like to do with Jon? play legos
~What do you like to do with Will? fight him with our plastic weapons
~What do you like to do with Maggie? "EVERYTHING she wants to do! It's true! She's so cute!"
~What’s your favorite thing to do with the whole family? go to the zoo or watch a movie
~What’s your favorite store? Target
~What’s your favorite place to eat? Chick-fil-A ties with Bob Evans
~What’s your favorite book? Life of Fred-Dogs, it's really funny!
~What’s your favorite song? Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
~What’s your favorite thing in the Bible right now? 1 Kings. I think it's interesting to learn about all the kings. One of my favorite stories is Noah and the ark.
~What do you want to be when you grow up? I have no idea...

A Decade of Jon

Jon turned 10 way back in August, but life gets busy and the blog takes the back burner. This boy has grown and matured so much over the past year or so. It has truly blessed me to see him learn to think of others more and to control his temper more. While he still has his moments--don't we all?--Jon is a great kid, and I really enjoy getting to spend my days with him. Speaking of spending our days together, it has been wonderful to see how he has grown as a student, too. He used to HATE math. While he was never terrible at it, he would grumble and complain and it was not a fun part of our day. He has finally come to accept that he will be doing math and has realized that a good attitude helps tremendously. He's also realized that he's pretty good at it, so if he puts his head down and does the work he can breeze right through and get it done somewhat quickly and move onto the next thing. Jon loves science. I would not be at all surprised if he goes on to become an engineer or some sort of scientist. But let's not get too ahead of ourselves, the kid is just turning 10. Jon has a quirky sense of humor and is learning about the right time to be silly and the right time to be quiet. He still enjoys riding his bike, playing in the tree house out back with the neighbors. being on the swim team and is just starting guitar lessons. 

He has asked a few times when we were going to do his birthday interview and I kept putting him off. But alas, the time has come. The interview has taken place. Here are his answers for all to see: 

~What is your name? Jeff, I mean Fred. (silly boy, his name is Jon)
~And how old are you? 10
~Does being 10 make you feel? not much different
~What do you want to learn this year? how to play guitar
~What was the best thing about being 9? getting the Coach's Award for swim team and church camp
~How did you celebrate your birthday? Did cool things with the neighbors, had a birthday party at the pool, and went the museum Center with Dad
~What was your favorite gift that you received? money or legos
~What is your favorite color? Red
~What is your favorite food? Ravioli
~Who is your favorite person? Sam
~What grade are you in? Fifth
~What is your favorite thing to do at school? Reading
~What is your favorite game to play? Mario Bros on the Wii
~What do you like to do with Daddy? Have him chase us around the house
~What do you like to do with Mommy? Snuggle on the couch and read or watch a movie/show
~What do you like to do with Sam? Play video games or play outside with him and the neighbors
~What do you like to do with Will? Wrestle with and chase him
~What do you like to do with Maggie? Play pretend with her and be silly with her to make her laugh
~What’s your favorite thing to do with the whole family? Family Wii night
~What’s your favorite store? Target
~What’s your favorite place to eat? Tie between Marcos and Olive Garden
~What’s your favorite book? The Great Brain
~What’s your favorite song? Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
~What’s your favorite Bible verse or story? John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
~What do you want to be when you grow up? An inventor or scientist
I love this kid!

All You Need Is Love...

Since summer and all it's fun is now officially over. (Boo!) I keep meaning to blog about my incredibly awesome and perfect homeschool plan for this year, but then I realize that I am so far from having it figured out--STILL, after 5 years of homeschooling. So instead, you are going to get a little bit of information about our curricula and "my plan" for the year, but a lot more about what I'm hoping to accomplish personally and as a mom.

This summer, I kept thinking, "I need to get things organized for our school year." And then I would sit down and do a few things and feel like I hit a wall, like I couldn't go on. I could not get into a rhythm or figure out the best way to do things. Don't misunderstand, the teacher in me ordered all of our curricula last spring. It wasn't that I didn't know what we were going to be doing, it was the how. The flow, the methods, the schedules, they just weren't coming together. And to be honest, it's still a work in progress.

This school year brings us a fifth grader (yikes!! I used to teach fifth graders, how do I have one?!?!) a third grader, a pre-Kindergartner, and an almost 3 year old. I could juggle 30 sixth graders, or 24 fifth graders, but each year that my own kids get older, I feel even less confident of my ability to juggle teaching them all well.

However, God is always faithful. Every year I have had something that has caused me to be fearful about homeschooling. Whether its been pregnancy, or a toddler giving up their morning nap, adding a commitment outside of the home, etc...I have been nervous of trying to find the new balance every single year. This year is really no different. And just like previous years, we are slowly finding our rhythms and working things out. It's still not quite as smooth as I would like, and the house is certainly not as clean as Pete would like--hee, hee! But we are making some great progress.

My Hobby Lobby find that now hangs front and center in our school room   

The biggest game changer has been my focus and attitude. The educator in me gets so caught up in the academics and routines, that sometimes I forget why we do this. It's so much more than the books we study, it the heart, the character not only of my kids, but my own heart. I kept coming back to LOVE. I need to model love to my kids. I need to help them figure out how to love each other better. I need to point them back to the best example of love--Jesus Christ. It's really all about love. Remembering that has really helped me to breath more freely.

A few other things that are making the year go smoother than I had anticipated:
~Jon is getting more independent in many areas of his work. This is huge!
~Sam continues to be one of the easiest kids I've ever taught--he is such a people pleaser, which is something that concerns me from time to time, but when it comes to school, it is a huge, I mean HUGE, blessing!
~Will is absolutely LOVING "doing school." He changes the calendar in our school room without me each day and often starts his workbook pages without me, too! It's been a lot more fun and a lot less fighting with him than I had been expecting!
~Miss Elisabeth. What or who is that? Our family's favorite babysitter/mom's helper! Elisabeth started babysitting for us once a week three years ago. Last year she started coming three times a week for just between 2-3 hours each time. She plays with Maggie and Will while I get some solid teaching time in with the older two boys. It is priceless. And thankfully, my tutoring at CC on Tuesdays pays me almost exactly what I pay her. How's that for perfect? She is going off to college next fall, so I am already beginning to mourn. She will be sorely missed.

If you made it this far, that's impressive. So what are we actually doing here?
Well, here's a quick run down for each kiddo:

Jon, Fifth Grade

Math: Saxon
Reading: literature based, novels that coincide with our history and/or science studies.
Spelling: Spelling Workout
Geography: Memoria Press Level 1
History: Classical Conversations (CC) and Veritas Press-Ancient World--Old Testament, Egypt, Greek and Roman History
Science: CC earth science and astronomy
English Grammar: Classical Conversations Essentials of English Language
Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing
and more

Sam, Third Grade

Math: Saxon
Reading: literature based, novels that coincide with our history and/or science studies.
Spelling: Spelling Workout
Geography: Memoria Press Level 1
History: CC and Veritas Press-Ancient World (see above)
Science: CC earth science and astronomy
English Grammar: Shurley English
Phonics: Explode the Code
and more


Will, Pre-K

Math: Pre-K workbook
Letters: Handwriting Without Tears, Get Ready for School
Phonics: Get Ready for the Code A
Will also attends Classical Conversations (CC) with us this year and is learning about ancient history, earth science and astronomy, and much more. He LOVES it.

Summer Fun

These crazies...they sure add some spice to my life!

Our summer was packed full of the typical summer goodness: pools, parks, picnics, summer camp, VBS, hanging out with friends, trips to the zoo and swim team. Like many, we had a summer bucket list and I'm happy to say that we completed most of it. We did not make it over to the Loveland bike trail yet, but I am hoping to do that on a lovely fall Saturday. Doesn't that sound nice? Honestly, most of the best fun was had doing the simple things that were close to home--hanging out with our neighbors, trips to our neighborhood pool, visiting with cousins and friends, etc... Here's a pictorial walk through of the highlights our summer:

It's the simple things...

We had the privilege of having my two nephews and niece stay with us for a few days in June. Nerf wars were held, Wii was played, there was swimming and playing in the treehouse. The days flew by and the kids truly loved spending time together! Such a blessing!

They loved cousin time! 

We are so thankful to be members of a pool that is less than a mile from our house. All three boys took swim lessons, and Jon and Sam were on the swim team. Will has more or less learned to swim and Maggie loves to leisurely float, which is miles from the top step where she hung out all of last summer! All of us made new friends and reconnected with old ones this summer. The pool is definitely one of the highlights of our summer!

Miss Maggie, the bathing beauty at our neighborhood pool

Many nights were spent eating pizza at the pool :)

Swim team brothers

The younger half, not quite ready to participate in the swim meets, snacked instead. ;)

So proud of Jon, who received the Coach's Award for his age group on the swim team.

We got zoo passes in the winter, and plan to use them more and more this fall. We did take one trip as a family last month. It was fun to hear the kids talk about their favorite animals and tell us why they love them.

Our four crazy animals at the zoo 

Pete and I got to sneak in a few date nights this summer. Several double dates, and one night we snuck away and went to a Reds game together. This guy is so much fun. I'm so thankful that I get to do life with him.

Reds game with my favorite guy

Other highlights of the summer were more about the company than the events, park days with friends, hanging out with friends at their houses or ours, and of course the times just hanging out with our neighbors, who have become friends, here on the cul de sac. 

Park day with friends

Fun with our favorite Markie girls!

One of our zucchini from our garden!

Silly girl at the library

We have so much fun with our neighbors! 

Snacks and a turtle with our friends, what could be better?

Maggie just adores sweet Emily

One of many trips to Target

I won't pretend there weren't moments of chaos or summer colds or strep throat, or even that everything was sun-kissed and sweet. When you get rid of the usual routines, order, and normal bedtimes, you end up with a little more arguing, a little more laziness, and in general a lack of direction and purpose...at least we did! I am glad to be reflecting on the lazy, hazy summer days because now our days have more structure and purpose and order. I could still use a maid and a cook, but I am really enjoying our school days. All that said, summer will always be my favorite season! 

Feeling Bloggy

I haven't blogged in ages for a myriad of reasons, but I am feeling the itch and have several posts ruminating. So be on the lookout for the following:

Summer Fun Wrap Up

My Firstborn Turns Ten

School Plans and Goals

and maybe one about my some personal ups and downs...maybe...

Plus, we have another birthday next week, so there will be a post entitled Sam the Great Turns Eight

A couple friends who we don't get to visit often said they were missing the updates they could find here. That was all the encouragement I needed to squeeze in some writing time-the laundry can wait, right?