Back to School!

Back to school! The joy and dread of every mother of school aged children. If your kids GO to school it means long shopping lists, PTA hit ups, stacks of forms to fill out, orientations, uniforms and pickup lines. If your kids STAY for home school it means new curriculum, lots of planning, lots of organizing, and pumping yourself up to be a teacher again. But whether your kids go or stay for school, back to school means back to the reality of *gasps* a SCHEDULE!  

All of the above applied to our family this year. ALL of it! We are home schooling the four older kids and our little squirt, Rabina, is going to Pre-K! We really went back and forth as to what to do this year. A lot of me just wanted to put all the kids in school so that I could have a nice break, but after much prayer and discussion I just did not have a peace about that. So, we decided putting Rabina in school and homeschooling the others was the best decision.

Last year was our first year home schooling. It went fairly well until the girls came home. When they came home, we did zero school for about 6 weeks and then tried to ease into some type of schooling. The schooling part itself was really hard and so overwhelming just because I had to learn what the girls knew and what they didn't. Also, Asher was under a lot of stress with the transition, so he was having a very hard time in school. Then, when you add a very needy and mischievous three-year-old to the mix, home school becomes darn near impossible!  There were days where I just cried over how horrible things were going in the educational department. It was a pretty rotten first year of home schooling but I tried to give myself lots of grace about it. It was only one year, and the world didn't end just because it didn't go so well. 

Despite how badly things went last year, I still really loved home schooling (at least the good days) and I wanted to continue it again this year because I felt like it was the best choice for the kids. I really wanted to put the girls in grades that fit their actual age and not their paper age (long story), but that requires a lot of catching up. I thought we could cover more ground with them if we home schooled. However, I knew if I was going to try again this year, I would have to figure something out for Rabina. We needed to be toddler-free so we could seriously focus on schooling! I applied for her to go to our public Pre-K program, but we weren't sure if she would get in since it's a lottery system. I had planned to put her in a mother's morning out program if she didn't get in, but we were hoping we wouldn't have to go to (or pay for) Plan-B. Well, she got into public Pre-K! Thank God! 

While I was excited, I was kind of nervous about Rabina going to school. School started on Aug 10, and she turned four on the second day of school! She is probably the youngest kid in her class physically, but she is certainly the youngest kid in her class developmentally. In a perfect reality I would not have sent her off to school being so young and immature, but I really needed her to go this year. Regardless, It was so hard for me to imagine her walking into that school building and getting to where she was supposed to go, much less going through a lunch line or walking in any line for that matter. It all seemed so above her capabilities. I met her teacher at "verification day" and explained that Rabina was adopted and asked the teacher to try to always point approval toward us. Like saying "Mom and Dad are going to love that picture!" and stuff like that. I didn't want to be the psycho, overbearing mom, so that's basically all I said about the subject. There was so much I wanted to say to her and warn her about, but I figured I should just let things play out. She would learn soon enough. This was such new territory for all of us though, so I was really anxious about it. Rabina seemed excited and a little scared, too.

Lance takes Rabina to school every morning and I pick her up. She wakes up at 6:30am, is dropped off for breakfast at 7:15am, and I pick her up at 2:30pm. It's a very long day for her! 

On the first day, Lance walked her in and gave me text and picture updates. He walked her in the whole first week and, after that, just started dropping her off at the door. What she does or where she goes once she crosses that threshold we have no idea.

Every student at R's school gets free breakfast and lunch! No complaints here!

She got on the floor and pitched a fit the very first day! Good times!

That book bag is as big as she is!

She found herself a friend.

When I pick her up in the afternoon she is all smiles and waves to me when she sees me in the pick up line! She is soooooooo tired though! 

This was actually the second day of school. 

It's been two weeks and she loves school. I think overall she's been doing well, but I got a sort of humorous update from the teacher this past week. It's humorous only because this is what we deal with everyday and now somebody other than us gets to... um... enjoy it. She told me that Rabina has a hard time being obedient and sitting down in circle time with the rest of the class. She says she would much rather play with all the awesome toys. Say what? My child being disobedient? No never! *maniacal laughter* On Friday, her teacher told me she went and sat behind the teacher's desk. The teacher thought it was harmless and maybe she would just sit there and listen. *maniacal laughter* Well, she drew all over her computer screen with a black permanent marker. She also told me that at lunch that day, Rabina, along with a couple of other kids, decided to get up from the lunch table and go running through the lunch line again for the fun of it. The head of the cafeteria and the principal had to intervene. Bless that poor teacher! Bless her! I had better start planning the most supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Christmas and Teacher appreciation gifts!

I do feel like having that break from her during the day has been good for me... for us. I have a lot more patience for her and feel much more affectionate toward her. In the afternoon when she comes home I play with her (just the two of us) and sometimes we take a nap together because she is so tired. I guess that's my only complaint... she's very tired and therefore pretty grumpy. I am hoping as she gets used to the routine that will get better. I'm grumpy when I'm tired, too. 

Having Rabina in school has definitely made a huge difference for our home schooling! We started school the same day she did. This year is going MUCH better than last year. All the kids are doing really well as a whole. We have a few issues we are working on, but I have been really happy with the way things have been going. Day one was a huge shock to the system for everyone. Lots of tears that day but we overcame and pressed on! Asher is doing really well this year, and I am so proud of how far he has come!

Khushboo redoing an entire sheet of addition after having "counted wrong"

Brayden is in 3rd grade this year. I decided Khushboo and Kashila would do well at the 2nd grade level and Asher is in 1st grade. Home schooling 4 kids on 3 different levels is not a walk in the park (unless it's nature walk day and then it might actually be a walk in the park). It's not like I can set everyone down with their school work and go do my own thing. No, it requires my complete involvement. I'm ok with that, but it's definitely time consuming. We start school at 8:30am every day and some days we just barely finish before we have to leave to get Rabina at 2:15pm. On shorter days we finish around 12:00.

We are doing the first year of the My Father's World cycle. The cycle is a four year curriculum and it starts off with Exploring Countries and Cultures. It's challenging and I like that. My best friend Andrea is home schooling her three kids for the first time, and they are doing the same curriculum with us. We have a "synergy" (hate that word) group on Fridays and will do different events and field trips together! I love having her as a partner of sorts. I'm excited to really dig into things and can't wait to start exploring the different cultures around the world! 

Our first synergy group with Andrea's kids. Rabina got to join after school.

Our world cake. haha!

Tomorrow starts our third week of school. Let's do this thang! 

Here are a few pics from Rabina's 4th birthday. She is such a hoot and we are thankful for her! 

Also, Asher lost his first tooth! My baby boy is growing up!

Until next time! -K

We've Survived... So Far!

Yesterday was the end of our first week of homeschooling! We survived!

Overall it was a really good week. We are learning about each other as much as we are learning other stuff. I got a few meltdowns from Asher but I kind of expected that. I got a bit of attitude from Brayden on one day but I really expected that (actually I expected a lot more than I got). I lost my temper on Thursday but I expected that, too. I didn't expect to enjoy homeschooling as much as I do right now. 

So far I'm loving it. There are definitely some things I will be changing up in the near future, especially for Asher (Asher is all about having fun. He just can't sit and do "work" right now), but overall it's been good. 

I'm super excited about next week, because things actually get going. This week was pretty light and we had several days which only had a few subjects to complete. Next week we start reading our "American Pioneers and Patriots" book and we also start doing the Bible devotions included in our curriculum. 

So far, I think my biggest issue with homeschooling is my own OCD. I'm kind of a perfectionist about things (except my house... no perfection there). For example, we went to the park yesterday for a nature walk. We will do this throughout the year. Each child is supposed to find something interesting in nature and then draw it. Once we get home we will write down some interesting information about the plant/animal/land feature and they will paint their drawing with water color paints. We will put these into a notebook and at the end of the year we should have a nice collection of interesting things!

In my head this sounded awesome! I mean I envisioned a leisurely walk in the woods and lovely little paintings with educational info blurbs we would treasure forever. We even had a fellow homeschooling friend join us! Perfect, right? It didn't go that way so much...

Crossing the bridge!

First off, it was like the hottest day ever. Pretty much as soon as we got out of the van I was sweating. Yuck! Our friends got there and we began to walk into the woods (mainly to get out of the sun). As soon as we got into the shade, we told the kids to start looking around for something interesting to draw. 

Weary travelers!

I'm convinced Brayden had his mind made up before we ever got to the park. He was going to draw a squirrel and that was the end of it. I pointed out flowers and bugs and fish and birds and shells and all sorts of stuff but the only thing he wanted to draw was a squirrel. 

Asher didn't want to commit to anything but finally settled on a rock. Yes, a rock. I think he dug it up out of the mud so we had to spend 10 minutes getting all the mud off of the rock and his hands. At this point was really excited about the fact I had just paid to have my van washed and cleaned out.

I gave up trying to direct them to more interesting and less common things, and I gave all the kids paper and pencils to draw their items. Brayden was done in less than 2 minutes. He's a very good drawer but this was not his best. I wanted his best, but how can I say "This drawing looks a lot more like a prehistoric creature than the cute little squirrel in the drawing in my head... please redo it." I kept my OCD thoughts to myself. 

Brayden's squirrel. The sun actually felt that close!

Asher started his and I decided to coach him through. His rock was jagged, oddly shaped, with black flecks, and yet, even though I was sitting there "helping" he drew a circle. Ta Da! Rock done! Then he colored it in with pencil and I said "Asher, you aren't supposed to color it in with pencil because you're going to paint it when we get home." He got upset and I happily assured him it was perfectly ok because we had more paper and he could draw his rock again! He had another chance to draw the rock the way it was drawn in my head... he drew another circle. When I pointed out the rock was not a perfect circle, he simply drew a little bump on the side of circle. I'm just thankful he didn't draw the bump in the middle of the circle... 

Asher's rock. :-/

Just to satisfy my OCD, I found a pinecone and drew it for myself. At least 1/3 of our nature walk folder will be how I want it to be.

My well drawn pinecone. Thank you, I agree... it is lovely.

Well, I guess I should go catch up on house work now. Maybe one day my OCD will spill over into that aspect of my life. I may post a quick update on our adoption this afternoon or tomorrow. 

Asher says "Namaste!" 

Until next time! -K

Another New Adventure Has Begun

 As if adopting three children at once wasn't enough of an adventure, we made the decision toward the end of the last school year to homeschool our kids this year. Yes, all five of them once all five of them are here. I've picked up on the raised eyebrows and "good lucks" when I've told people we are homeschooling.... I know... we're crazy. But I thought that was already settled with the whole adopting three kids at once thing. 

Honestly as the summer wore on, I was really nervous about homeschooling. I just didn't know how it was all going to pan out. What if we hated it from day one? What if I couldn't stay focused and keep to the schedule? What if the kids had horrible attitudes? I mean the possibilities were endless really. 

We made this decision fully believing it was the best decision for our family. It may not be what we choose to do in years to come, but this year, it just seemed really important to have all of our children at home getting as much of our love and attention as possible. It didn't feel right to send the boys off to school (which they hated) and keep the girls home. It also didn't feel right to shove the girls off to school after such a huge transition. Homeschooling might be crazy and stressful and hard as rip, but it felt right for us for now.

Today, crazy or not, we had our first day of home education. I diffused some essential oils and didn't even wear a bra, so I guess we are officially hippie-fied. ;-)

After day one, I believe we have absolutely made the right decision. I recognize it was JUST day one, and I recognize it was JUST two of the five kids, but after fleshing it out it still felt right. Did it go flawlessly? Nope. Did I want to thump a kid on the forehead? Yep. Am I excited about getting up tomorrow to spend half the day teaching my two dudes? You better believe it! 

So here's what we are doing this year...

Our main curriculum is My Father's World Adventures In U.S. History. This is a Christian based thematic curriculum that focuses on key figures in U.S. history and on learning all the 50 states. I love it because I can teach one thing and then tweak assignments for each child based on their current education level. I also love it because all the work is done for me – which is just about the only reason we are homeschooling! I don't have to put it all together from scratch!

I'm supplementing the main curriculum with Spelling Power, Language Lessons and Singapore Math. I'm also using some Horizon's worksheets for Asher but I'm about to ditch those because they aren't floating my boat. 

We start our day at 8:00 and on most days we should finish shortly after lunchtime. Fridays are also a short day. 

Brayden did awesome! I was really worried he may have a bad attitude, but he was great! He said he loved it and was asking to do more schooling! I may add some extra challenges for him as we go on! 

Here's a picture he drew. I'm kinda tripping out about mini Obama as well as Abe and Washington's cozy relationship.

Asher did fair. He did better than I expected. My biggest concern after our first day is finding appropriate activities to help him learn easier. I really want to get him reading small words by the end of this school year. He just would MUCH rather play than learn, and he shuts down quickly if he messes up on something. He requires a LOT of praise and encouragement. He's hard to figure out. 

Mom did pretty well I suppose. I was able to stay focused and we finished on time. God gave me a lot joy and patience this morning. I think taking a break from FB/computer really helped me to prepare. I'm basically not touching the computer until the afternoon. I was actually on it way more than I should have been this evening while I tried to figure out some adoption stuff.

I'll give an update later this week and let you guys know how things are going. Hopefully I'll also have an adoption update regarding court!

Until next time! -K

Of Hand Hewn Wood

I am alone in a small, dimly lit room with stone walls. I sit with my back against the only door. One locked door. One huge, heavy, depressingly locked door. There are no windows... no glimpses of what lies beyond this room. I only see this place.

Slowly, I twist my body and press my shoulder and face against the smooth, solid door. The massive planks are perfectly hand hewn wood and held together with... well, I don’t know what holds them together, but I know what they hold in. Me. 

I long to run my fingers along the door... understand it... figure it out, but my hands are wrapped across my torso and held there by thick canvas sleeves and leather straps. I know I need this jacket, but I hate it! I pull and tug for a moment. Useless. 

Taking a deep breath, I press my face harder against the door. While I can’t see anything or hear anything, I can feel it. I know deep down that there is something there on the other side. Something good. Something perfect. Yet, I can’t imagine it.

As I lean my back against the door once again, I gaze around the room at the hard, cold stones that hold me in this place. All over the walls there hang parchments of paper. They all say different things. They change constantly. Everyday.

So many of the parchments say lovely things. It is as though they sing to my soul. They make me feel alive in this place. Yet, there are some that bring restlessness. They even seem to be written in my very own handwriting. Sadly, I am often drawn to these. 

I roll onto my knees and stagger as I stand to my feet. One of these parchments has caught my eye. One of those. It’s about 3 inches above my head and it reads, “Flip me over for a chance to move on.” I can’t reach it. I struggle and fight, because... because... 

I stare at the cruel words. I have no idea why I fight. I know it does me no good. It only makes me feel helpless. How can I not try, though? I know there is something beautiful on the other side of that door. I want to move on from this place... this hard place.

My eyes shift to another parchment that reads, “Fear not, for I am with you.” My soul says, "Yes." I relax.  Another one reads, “Wait for Me, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for Me!” My soul says, "Yes." I wait and I am encouraged. Peace. But then...

Taking a few needy steps to my left, I read another short set of words. “Find the loose stone.” Shallow hope and deep anxiety fill my heart. It’s here! Can I find it? I search intently. I prod at stones with my elbows until my bones and my heart are bruised. Useless.

Now, the tears come like they always do. Why did I let go of the peace? I sink onto the stone floor. My arms and chest fold onto my knees. Sobs wrench my frame. Breaths are harsh and staggered. This is where I end and He begins... again. 

One..... two, three.......... four. I count the tears as they drip off my nose and splat against the cool, grey stone. Light from the bulb above reflects off the small puddle they created, and it reminds me of something... the sun. Yes, the Son... I need His light. I need Him more.

I jerk my head up as I hear the door open. “Hi, Mommy! I got a smiley face today!” “Hey, Mom! Are we going anywhere other than home?” “Hey boys! How was your day? Bray, we are going home and You guys need to do your homework, because we have karate in a couple of hours.” I follow the car ahead of me and pull out of the school parking lot toward our house.

They have no clue. They don’t see the wooden door, the stone walls, the canvas sleeves and leather straps, or the parchments. No one really does. Well, just the one Carpenter who made that perfect, massive door. He knows. He sees.

Update via Pictures

The boys and I took a trip to the aquarium. I thought Brayden had
been before, but apparently not. They really liked the dolphin show
and I really did NOT like the crowd.

Random fish picture. His face reflects how I felt about the 1 zillion people.

Brayden in the bubble window. :) 

Big ol' fat jelly fish. I was quite satisfied that they were behind glass!

Brayden started the First Grade at Reese Rd on Wednesday Aug 7!

Sweet Brayden... of course he picked the black play dough on the first day of school so the teacher could judge me for sending my child to school with nasty dirty finger nails... Figures.

We went to Atlanta to get our biometric fingerprinting done at the Department of Homeland Security. It was hard to find considering this was the only sign marking what the building was. We weren't allowed to bring our camera/phone in so this is our only picture. Now just waiting for approval. 

Asher started Pre-school at Wynnton Methodist the following
Monday. Look at this cool kid!

Pure attitude right here, buddy!

On Tuesday (Asher's second day) we got a call from our county's school
district saying that they had a spot open up for Asher at Brayden's school.
So Tuesday was Asher's last day at Wynnton Methodist and Wednesday
was his first day at Reese Rd. 

Now big bro and little bro are together and most importantly on the same schedule! Woo Hoo!

Sunday August 11th we decided to celebrate our little R turning 2
since this is the birthdate they have given her. I picked up a little cake at
Walmart. They spelled her name wrong, but I
figured it wasn't worth a fuss considering she's on the other side of the
planet. Guess this was the first of MANY name misspellings for our girls.

This is what happens when you let a waitress take your picture with an iPhone. Oh well, hopefully next year we will get a better picture with Rabina in person! Everyone looked at us like we were crazy (I guess they aren't far off on their judgements). I think the waitress finally figured it out on her own... she never asked but did comment how beautiful she was. You're dang right she's beautiful!
As are her sisters.

Asher was having some focus issues at school (it could be the other 21
students in the classroom) so we started giving him a Spark every morning
before school. No more frowns from his teacher. :)

Asher started karate at Wons Martial Arts. It's hilarious to watch!

I got my hair did. It's getting long... yes this is long. I was helping test
light for some head shots and ended up with my own. Deal!

There's your update via pictures. :)

Until next time! -K

N-O-V-E-M-B-E-R

I guess I took a bit of a break from blogging. Sorry. :) I wish I was better at posting more frequently, but sometimes it just ain’t happenin. 

I hope you guys had a great October, and hopefully none of your children went into a sugar coma! That month went by crazy fast, right? It will be Christmas before we can blink an eye. 

I thought I would be ubber cheesy today and do an acronym for November. So this is a random thoughts post since I am just going to make stuff up to fit the acronym. That’s what people do right? 

N - November (I think using the acronym word in the acronym is a no-no but deal with it!) is Adoption Awareness Month. 

We don’t have much of an update on our own adoption other than we are getting closer to starting our home study. I’m really praying we can start earlier than January. 

I never had the pleasure or pain of “trying” to have a baby. Both of my boys were sweet surprises. However, the last few days I have felt what I imagine may be similar to the pain of a woman with a barren womb. I want so badly to have my girls... to love them and care for them. I see other adoptive moms who have faces to match with the love they feel in their hearts, and I feel very barren. I would never have dreamed that I would have this longing for two children who have no blood relation to me and who live on the other side of the world. I know that this process will take a long time and in God’s perfect timing I will have those faces, but oh it’s so hard for this impatient momma to wait... and we've only just begun. 

So, in the mean time I read a ton of articles/blogs and watch a ton of YouTube videos about adoption, [country in Asia], adoption stories, interracial families, etc. 

Here is one I found this morning. I cried. So sweet!

O - Obama... no, totally kidding. I’m not going there. However, I read an old puritan quote by John Newton that came in my Grace Gems email. 

“The whole system of my politics is summed up in this one verse, ‘The Lord reigns! Let the nations tremble!’ Psalm 99:1”

Amen!

V - Veggies are my BEST FRIENDS for the next 10 days. I started an AdvoCare herbal cleanse today, because over the last month I have been a sugar whore and have said yes to any sweet that crossed my path... and I liked it way too much. Soooo nothing like a good cleanse to trim that waistline and feel cleaner. Wish me luck! 

Oh and “V” is for Vegas, too! I am heading to Vegas this month with a few friends to photograph a huge travel agent convention. This is my first trip to Vegas, so I’m excited. I’m not a big gambler, so no body needs to worry that I am going to gamble away all of our adoption funds. :) But how stinkin cool would it be if I played a slot one time and won $50,000! I would be the crazy girl screaming, “Oh, PRAISE JESUS!”

E - Eggheads... that’s who we have driving on the roads in Columbus, GA! During rush hour yesterday, we about died on the interstate because the people in front of us decided it made perfect sense to slam on breaks in the middle lane because people in the right lane were exiting. I'm going to move on before I sin...

M - Moving again! It seems as if we are playing musical houses! Yes, we found out that we CAN stay in the house we own, but after talking it over, we agreed that we probably needed to move back to the house that Lance’s dad owns and sell ours. It would give us double the space and double the bathrooms (we only have one here). I REALLY do not want to move, but we think it’s the best option right now. We are praying that our house will sell quickly this time around. 

B - Beards are manly and sexy... unless they are gross. I love Lance’s beard. It’s “No Shave November” and so all these normally clean-shaven men are attempting to grow beards. There is no attempting for Lance... his is good to go. I did ask him to trim it down a while back. We had been watching "Eureka" (awesome show by the way) and the character Nathan had a closely trimmed beard. I liked it... on him... not on Lance. So, he grew it back out. Much better. 

E - Every preschool class must go to the Pumpkin Patch. Asher’s class was no exception. He is so cute and sweet. I love my boys!

R - Reading is for people who have lots of free time... I am not one of those people, but I wish I were so I could finish some books. I’ve been reading the “Game of Thrones” books thanks to our friend Brandon. The first one was great and I’m enjoying the second one, but I just cannot find the time to read that dang book! I’m about halfway through. 

I also started reading a parenting book by John Rosemond called “Family of Value". I've only gotten through the first chapter, but so far I agree with it. Don’t ask me what it was about... I don’t recall now... I just know I agreed. 

Then of course I really want to read my Bible more... I need the Lord to give me discipline regarding this. I’ve been doing a Bible study on the book of James with a group of ladies at our church and that has been great... when I get to go. This was a verse that stood out to me big time in James:

Can anyone else say, “Ouch!”?

Well, y’all. This is where I have to say goodbye and go clean my house. I’ve got a sink full of dishes and about 150 crushed CoCo Puffs on the kitchen floor. I’ll stop the description there.

Until next time! - K