Kicking off the school year!

This was our 1st full week of homeschooling and it was GREAT!

I loved it and feel my kids and I are getting better bonding time. We have so many things going on for the kids here in the near future. We have girl scouts,  boy scouts,  4H, and possibly cheer and dance.  Whoa am I going to be tired running around nonstop.

We will be doing some major downsizing over the next several months. We will be moving into the camper and RV on the farm while we build our house. It sure will be interesting on rainy days, but there will be plenty of room to run and things to do.

I really do love our curriculum this year, but I'm thinking we need to have an online program next year with the space restrictions we will be facing, so affordable suggestions are welcome.

We also will be getting rid of a lot of our winter clothes. It does not get very cold back home. 2 hoodies and a couple long sleeve shirts is all we will really need for the winter, but the rest of the year is extra hot.

Any who, this weeks high lights for the kids were making popsicle stick houses and rock monsters!  The kids loved it. We also took dirt samples mixed it with water and talked about parts of soil.

My oldest son's 6th birthday was yesterday and the kids had a blast. We had a water balloon fight and made homemade pizza together.  It was delicious!  Friday evening Logan went to a swim party and met his new "den" for tiger scouts.  Then we took him to have ice cream just mommy, daddy, and him. He is growing up so fast it is hard to believe. It is hard to believe he was that tiny little baby with birth defects that the doctor tried so hard to convince me to abort. I am so glad I don't believe in abortion and that my oldest baby is here today and what a blessing he is! Also, defect free now minus a minor speech impediment.

Getting things done

We should be connected to the internet today finally. I'm excited about it. We will be back on track with school and have tv again via Netflix and hulu. I use a lot of online resources for homeschooling as well.

I am about half way through setting up my school room again as well. I'm greatly hoping to finish it today during naptime. We did some school while we were traveling, but Monday kicks off full swing school days.  We have girl scouts on Tuesday and a field trip to the fire station on Wednesday. MOPS kicks off the 1st Wednesday in September and will have a homeschooling room this year due to popular demand. We will also be celebrating Logan's 6th birthday the last weekend of this month.

We will be moving into our camper trailer and an RV we are buying from a friend of ours while we build our house at the farm. It will be an interesting adventure but we are excited to start a new chapter. Since we won't have the room for a lot we will be selling off a good amount of our belongings and the rest will go to storage. It's bunker down time around here, but we will enjoy our time left here as well.

In September we are planning a trip to Dollywood and the Nashville zoo in October, I would like to go camping the beginning of November and have a tea party for Kayley's birthday mid November.  December will be fun. We have Michael Wayne's birthday and Christmas. Michael Wayne wants to go fishing but that would be awfully cold, but I think we could swing a "fishing" themed party. Sara wants a princess dance party. Then we have a nice long stretch til Tonka's birthday.

The temperature is starting to cool down here. I am excited for fall to be here. Brisk mornings, the fire pit, coffee on the porch, changing colors, and chili. Fall is by far my favorite season. It is chilly but not to cold to enjoy the outdoors.

I hope you enjoy this beautiful day.

Laugh it off!

"Mommy are you ok, you're crying"
"Yes Sara I'm fine, just frustrated and nothing is going in my favor"
"You've got us and I love you to the moon and back"

I've got some amazing children.
I can't pretend things are always wonderful and smooth sailing.  I stray away from the things I know are truth and doubt the blessings I've been given out of my own foul mood and insecurities. At the end not a single thing that got under my skin mattered even slightly.

A super wonderful friend of mine who came into a ready made family (adjusted smoothly and extra happy I might add) was telling me this evening about her daughter clogging the toilet up twice in less then a month. She's an amazing woman who very rarely complains about ANYTHING, so the fact that she mentioned it at all was very significant. I laughed it off and said welcome to mommihood. I could have said something more encouraging after I thought about it.

Just a couple weeks I had one of those moments where I look back now and go geez I was a jerk and seriously what was I even mad about? I had woken up on the wrong side of the bed extra early, my two year old was also irritable, my 3 year old refused to go to the potty like a big girl, everyone coped an attitude, the pretty well trained puppy peed in his crate, the baby peed down my side after I had just changed, I burned breakfast and was running late for my errands. Of course my cell phone would not stop going off and I felt compelled to respond to my electronic leash. If I could of laughed it off it would have improved the day for everyone, besides I didn't really want to wear that shirt anyway and no one even noticed Thomas wiped peanut butter in my hair. None of it mattered and we lost a day together that will never come back. 

Letting go...

     Sometimes it just seems like it's so much easier to just keep my mouth shut and let everyone blow smoke in the air. It really gets me how times have changed in a blink of an eye. 7 years ago I would have flipped out several times in the last week.
     I'm 25 years old, I've been on my own for a decade, I take care of my own children,  my own house,  and our religious and academic education.  Why do I need people telling what and how to conduct my life and children?  I will not have people telling me how things will be handled in my house.  It is between my husband and I, not every busy body in the world that wants to put their two cents in.
     I also don't like people playing favorites or saying they wish myself or my children were like someone else. You get what you see. I wouldn't ever want to be someone else or ask my children to change who they are to conform to someone else's mold. I want my children to look in the mirror and like who they see looking back at them. Hopefully one day I get there, I'm definitely on the right path though.
    I would have blown my top and acted very dramatic a few short years ago by the ignorant selfish things that have been said the last week on our "vacation" but the fight isn't worth it and we are going to take the higher road by not stooping. I won't be walked over but no use in fighting with someone set in their mind. You can only control your own life and how your story goes.
     We are at the farm now finally on our travels.  The closer this gets the more uncertain I am. At this point praying is all I can do. Tomorrow we are off to the cow palace and auction house that hopefully puts me in a good mood.