Friday, October 10, 2008

~my Libra boys~

Dad-e-o and Sweetie Boy...my Libra guys...celebrating the gift of their lives!!

mmm....cake!!



a HORSE!!!! "Mine howse!!??" Sweetie Boys new favorite thing


a saddle and everything!



~cousins~

~L is for Learning~

Finding moments to write proves more challenging then I anticipated!! Not that I really expect to have oodles of time to write daily or anything...just maybe a few more moments then I have found so far. I suppose I need to make spilling more of a priority. After all, isn't that the beauty of a blog?? To have a place on which to spill the overflowing happenings of a life such as this??

but TIME.....where does it go??!!

I've gotta say, trying to do reporting on 3 kids is a heck of a lot more work then doing reporting for 1!! I have Honey registered with a program that requires really minimal reporting. Basically just the technical "she did pages this and that from this book, went on a field trip, did an art project...done" I LOVE it...so easy. It takes me all of 10 minutes to do her weekly report and I get the SAME amount of money as I get for Beena and Mr. Bop!! Their program requires a weekly hours log (min. 25 hour of learning) plus and O4L (observing for learning) which is basically a lil' essay on what they learned, how the felt about it....challenges and triumphs. All in all a much more soulful way of going about things, which is why I signed up with this program in the first place. I love that my children aren't measured and compared, that they appreciated for the multifaceted people that they are, BUT...it takes me an hour to do each of them, which may not seem like much but I've got to say trying to pull an extra 2 hours out of every week when I swear there aren't enough hours to begin with is challenging to say the least.

So why, you might ask, do I stay with the program that asks so much of me?? Well, Mr. Bop is kind of on a test run with them this year. They have a great special ed program and he is registered as a special need guy, which means I have access to a whole shwack of extra funding and lots of support. I'm not sure if I'm really going to need all this extra funding and support yet...thus the test run. But I can say that having someone to bounce off of and seek reassurance and resources from is a VERY good thing...especially someone who respects our rather unconventional way of doing things.

As far as Beena goes, she has been with her LC (learning consultant) for 4 years. Over time we have developed a rather close relationship. Having a female mentor for Beena who has been a part of her life for so long is really important to me, especially as she gets older and begins to do more of her own O4L-ing. Her LC is someone that she can turn to as she goes through the challenges of shifting into women hood.

For these reasons I continue to make the sacrifice of my time and head space. We'll see where I'm at by the end of the year...you never know, maybe it will just take a bit of time for me to get into the rhythm of it all.

Its no wonder I have a hard time finding a moment to write when I am finding it challenging fulfilling my mama/teacher reporting duties!!

On the flip side the actual homeschooling aspect of life...the part that actually matters...is going wonderfully. (oh if only I had loads of $$ and didn't need the resource funding so much!!) I am in love with our new curriculum!! (Sonlight) and am finding the flow of working with all 3 children to really work for us. I guess its just the natural flow of our life. I am facilitating their learning needs just as I do from birth...providing them with what they need to reach that next developmental place. I love the affirmation that comes through the twinkle in the eye of a child who is empowered and fulfilled. There is no greater joy a mother can experience then to see her children truly happy...loving life and learning because that's what we humans do...learn.


~Sweetie Boy learning to propel himself on the hammock swing~

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

~Sweet lil' Honey~

5 minutes for mom is hosting a fab contest that I am so totally entering....mostly because we are supposed to post a pic of our lil' ones sleeping and I had the perfect pic in mind.....and hey, the prospect of winning a beautiful bedroom suite (we would opt for the Summer Breeze set in Vannila cream, a match-everything-color for our little lady who loves to dress things up!) for Honey is an added bonus!!

So here's the pic...Honey just couldn't make it to her bed....to sweet!!