Homeschooling journey

Some of you have asked how homeschooling is going so I wanted to give you a quick update.

It's going great! I am shocked at how well it is going! I remember being pregnant with Josiah (first baby) and laying in bed at night wondering how I will breast feed, how I will keep him from choking on food, how I will be able to know why he is crying and so on. The more I thought about all of it, the more nervous and anxious I became about the unknown. Despite all the fear of being a first time Mom, I rolled with the punches. I learn to roll with the punches of an emergency surgery at two weeks old for Pyloric Stenosis, acid reflux, colic and so on. The surgery was enough to send me over the edge but thankfully, I found peace. Thank goodness I did not know all the things those first few weeks would bring! The point is, I rolled with it and became a Mommy. A pretty good Mommy. :)

I'm really, really bad about setting goals like reading three books a day to the kids or playing a game or saying to myself, "No TV for a week." With homeschooling, I was afraid the same would happen. But, I have been disciplined beyond what I ever thought I could be. I have proven myself wrong in every way. I have actually proven others wrong too. So, HA!

Since Josiah is not an official kindergartner, we are not having school every single day but we are doing an activity or lesson daily. I actually sit down and work with him three days a week and Jeremy has been doing some math stuff with him on the weekends. Fridays have become our fun day and we celebrate all the hard work we have done all week. Josiah is learning, Ava Beth is learning too and it's working out great while Ezekiel naps! He still does two naps a day and I know I will be sad when he drops the morning one. :( But he still takes two so I am not mourning the loss yet!

Next year will be a little more set in stone but I am excited about the freedom our family will have. I am so thankful that God has given me this opportunity and glad I will get to spend my days with all three kids all day long. Of course I will need breaks and Mommy time but this is what I want for my life and for their life too. It's hard to believe I once had family living close by and had a babysitter whenever I wanted. I don't get breaks very often and I think God moving us away from family was His way of preparing me for this. I am so glad God is in control of my life and knows what it best for me even when I don't.

A family member of mine emailed asking if I was crazy when I blogged about being bored when my kids were gone. The fist two nights are always great but after that, I'm ready to have them back! They are my life and I would not have it any other way. I'm a wimp. I miss them like crazy when they are gone!

So yes, homeschooling is going great! I am constantly bouncing ideas off my friend Amy who home schools and she has been a great source and friend to have during this new stage of our family's life. She is teaching me so much and I have a list of things I have written down that we are supposed to discuss over coffee next week. God totally sent her my way!!!

Those of you that have checked in on me, thank you! It is going great! I'm telling you this is the best thing ever for my parenting and my relationship with my children. I am finding so much joy in this and it's teaching me so much about my character and how I am going to help build the character in my children.

I did not finish college, I don't think I am very smart and I am sure most of you have seen some major grammatical errors in my writing and fear how my kids will turn out after getting an education from me! And that was probably a run on sentence I just typed! But I do know I can begin a sentence with the word and. I remember that much! Obviously I will be learning a lot too! So all of you school teachers out there, be easy on me!

Now if I can convince Heidi to join me, I will be soooooooooooooooooooo happy! Josiah would have his best friend to go on field trips with and I would have mine! Oh and Ava Beth would have her best friend and Ezekiel would have his! (I'm trying to pull the heart strings of Heidi, who is considering the option.)