October is Pregnancy, Infant Loss, and SIDS awareness month

This awareness is very near and dear to my heart. I have lost a child, and several nieces and nephews over the years due to pregnancy loss. I have friends who have also gone through this very tragic experience. A pregnancy loss will change your life. I have never spoken to a woman who wouldn't argue that fact. There is a feeling like something is missing. The heartache that a momma feels for her lost child is not something that can be fixed easily. It is not easily mended. It is not easily comforted. The heartache that a momma feels for the loss of a child can only be soothed by the overwhelming comfort that comes from or Heavenly Father. Knowing that God is in control and He is sovereign is the only way to get through such a difficult time. If a woman is able to get through the loss of a baby and still have a strong faith in the Lord, that speaks volumes about her relationship with Christ. I was not one of those women when we experienced our loss.

I thought back then that I had a relationship with the Lord, however my faith was not solid. I was living a lie. I remember being bitter when people would comment that I didn't need a baby anyway. I would have to hide my tears when friends would ask how the pregnancy is going and I would then once again have to explain the loss all over again. I was hurt, mad, angry, upset, and broken.

I have always wanted a "May" baby. It is such a beautiful month and the perfect time to bring a baby into the world! September 12th 2003 I found out I was expecting our second child. I did what any woman does when she finds out she is expecting...I started calculating my due date...MAY! My due date was MAY! May 13th! We quickly told friends and family members who were not so thrilled since we already had a 10 month old baby boy. We got the usual "Do you know what is causing that?" "You are going to have your hands FULL" comments. I was thrilled. Every life is a precious gift from the Lord, and every life is a BLESSING. The Lord created that beautiful
child!

A few short weeks later the Lord took him/ her away. October 15th sticks out in my mind just as clear as it was yesterday. I had experienced some cramping and other warning signs. My husband quickly took me to the emergency room. I laid on that bed and waited as the doctor did the ultrasound. I looked and saw the empty picture on the screen. "How far along were you?" I was asked. "Eight weeks." "At eight weeks we would be able to see a sac on the ultrasound, and we can't find anything." My hopes, thrills, excitement, and joy was gone. I'd never have that beautiful May birthday party.

Looking back on it all now I know that God has a purpose and that He always has a plan. That doesn't mean I don't still remember and mourn. When people ask us how many children we have I want to say 6. I remember that child everyday. Perhaps that's not normal, but I don't care (I've always been a bit weird). When picking out a mother's ring I always want to include the May birthstone, however I have been told that "people don't do that". So instead I remember that child in my heart. I have a angel willow tree that stands next to our "family" of willow tree figurines. The angel represents our child that we never brought home from the hospital in our arms. October is Pregnancy, Infant Loss, and SIDS awareness month. However the loss awareness is in my heart often.

Our (tiny) Schoolroom

I have read so many blogs where the moms show off their super creative and super large school rooms. I do not have the luxury of having an entire open room to devote to our studies. However I am very thankful that we are no longer in the kitchen! I'm sure my husband would agree. So let me give you a tour of our school room. It is located in our basement. One half of the room is a living room, and the other half is our classroom and then our laundry room. The shool area used to be a bar/ entertaining area from the previous owner of our home.
So here it is: This is the view from our family room.



Here is our book corner.

Eventually I would love to put a bean bag here and maybe some more pillows, but for now, they enjoy looking through our library books that usually coordinate with our unit study.

This is A7's spot.


This is where H4 sits.


Here is B5's seat.


This is the shelf that holds all of my totschool items. As well as many cute preschool activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler It looks like a mess, but everything is in containers and labeled!


This is the computer corner


This book shelf holds mostly my stuff. The top shelf has guides/ master copies of things and our Math blocks. 2nd shelf has our 2010/2011 schoolbooks (excluding their daily books that are at their seats) 3rd row has various workbooks/ reading programs that we don't use everyday, just sometimes as supplemental work. 4th shelf has our chapter books and readers, as well as our children's encyclopedia's and dictionaries. The 5th shelf which you can't see has picture books on it.


Underneath the bar that the kiddos sit at, is a mumbled jumbled hodge podge of stuff. I store our art supplies/ puzzles/ binders/ curriculum I have picked up over the years, but not had a chance to use yet/ coloring stuff/ laminator/paper/ and our playdoh.



This is our daily schedule. Floor to ceiling. 30 minute increments for all 6 of us.


This last photo is of our Calendar poster. We go over several activities on this each day.


That's it. That's our schoolroom. It's where I spend half of my day! It's small, and super messy at times, but I get to create some remarkable memories with my sweet blessings in this room. So many moms are missing out on the joy of teaching their children at home. The sweet sense of accomplishment when you finally figure out your child's learning style. The tears of joy when they master that math problem that you just spent half an hour working on. The squeals of excitement from my 4 year old when she gets to start school for the day. Then there is the overwhelming sadness that comes over me when I stop at think, that one day they will all be gone. Those are the moments that remind me to soak it all up while I can. They grow up in the blink of an eye!

Wordless Wednesday

Week 15 is Underway!

It's MONDAY! Did anyone else have a super challenging day? Between toilet training B2 and M2, keeping B5's new attitude and bay, and working diligently on teaching A7 a new math lesson, today has been EXHAUSTING! I can not think of anything else I would rather be doing though. Week 15 started out well. We are ALMOST HALFWAY through our school year. A7 is flying through his math book, and 2nd grade is going MUCH easier than 1st grade! He is also being a great Big Brother and teaching B2 and M2 all kinds of useful activities - like how to play with Nuts N Bolts! B5 has had quite the attitude lately, so we are working more on heart issues this week. However she did enjoy writing out some spelling words in a pan of sand today. Not to mention she gave me a pleasant surprise when she flowed right through her reading lessons without many stumbles at all. The heart issues, still need lots of work though! H4 is my most eager student. She is loving Kindergarten! (except the writing activities)Just as soon as she finished her work, she was practically begging for more stuff to do! (I wonder how long this will last?) This week she is focusing on the letter J. Today we made "J-Jaguars" and "j-jelly fish". She loved doing this activity! Fun alphabet crafts can be found here. M2 and B2 had a pretty leisure day in tot school. Basically some color sorting/ pinching/gripping/ and a prep for preschool video. All in all we had a great day. Of course we had our normal daily bumbs - girls fighting, babies stripping, Aaron negotiating for some playtime outside, instead of school work, typical every day things! I'm blessed beyond measure to be given the opportunity to stay home with my children. They are my ministry right now, and I take this job very seriously. My heart leaps for joy each day as we go through this adventure!

Our new Tot Tool

There is a awesome blog that features lots of super cool tot tools, AKA Tools For Tots . The moms that created these super cool ideas have been blessed with creativity that I just do NOT possess. However I feel like my brain goes in a thousand different directions when I walk into a Dollar Store trying to come up with a new tool to use on the kiddos. I was in Target last week and in their "Dollar Spot" they had fall decorations. I found a packet of 60 mini pumpkin erasers. I had NO clue what I would do with them but figured I could come up with something. Then the same evening I was at the Dollar Tree, and came across a 7 day pill holder. My brain started churning and I came up with a great idea! I combined a pill holder, pumpkin erasers, and my label maker and created our own tot tool! I made 10 labels - #'s 1-10. Then H4 opens the pill holder labeled "1" and puts in, one pumpkin, then closes it. Next she will open pill holder "2" and put in two pumpkins, and continue to do so until they are all done. Then she dumps them out, and does it all over again. She loved it! She had a new math tool that also helped her with her motor skills!

1st week of co-op Fall 2010!

Well the first day of our homeschool co-op finally arrived! The kids have been so anxious and excited for it to begin! Our year-round homeschool has been in session since May, so they were MORE than ready for some social interaction with friends. I welcome the new busier schedule with open arms. Who doesn't need more of a challenge in their week to get the school work done? I'm teaching In My Heart, 3 grade levels of explode the code, 3 grade levels of math, 3 grade levels of handwriting, 2 levels in history and science, 2 spelling programs, oh and the twins are beginning tot school, as well as beginning to use the potty! So, in the midst of all of that, we get to crunch our 5 days of work into 4. However we love love love our co-op family and I REALLY do welcome it with open arms. This year A7 has moved up to the 2nd grade level, B4 is still participating in K-1st grade classes, and I opted to let H4 do another year in pre-K. I think she can handle most of the K activities, however for the Teacher's sake, it's a big different in a 4year old Kindergartner, and a 7year old 1st grader. I am playing a new role in the co-op this year in that I am TEACHING! For those that have done this forever it might not seem like a big deal, but children that aren't mine, terrify me. However I know God has a plan, and I can get through this! The problem is that I am the world's worst procrastinator! For instance, right now it's after 4PM on a Sunday, and I'm just now preparing our lessons for the school day that starts tomorrow at 8AM, which means I'm usually preparing our co-op lessons, at 10PM on Wednesdays, and co-op starts around 9 on Thursdays. But as I said, God has a plan, and I know that He is MORE than able to see it through!

Now onto the classes that the kiddos are taking:
A7: Apples, Legos, Cooking, and Invetions
B5: Apples, Magic School Bus, Kinder-Art, Math Fun
H4: Pre-K
B2: Toddler Activities
M2: Toddler Activities
MY schedule: Toddlers; Teaching; Teacher's Aid; then Toddlers again!

Our Thursdays will be hectic, crazy, and a bit rushed. However it's a must for us! We gotta get them socialized as much as possible right?!? ;)

Our day at a glance Week 13 Day 2

B6 working hard on Math

B6 using dot markers to write her spelling words

Now she's writing spelling words with stamps

A7 working on math, that smile is a nice change of pace!

A7 and B2 working on some nuts and bolts. This is a tot tool that we use with the twins.

H4 working diligently on her math

H4 working with B2 and M2 on searching for stuff with their magnifying glasses. This was also a Tot Tool

B2 and M2 having fun with the magnifying glasses

Our Bible lesson was about Joshua and the wall of Jericho. So we made our "trumpets" and built a "wall" and marched around it blowing our trumpets

They we gave a big shout, and the walls fell down

We had a great day yesterday! The kids were so well behaved, the schedule was only a little behind, and we got it all done! We are looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us the remainder of the week, as we continue to seek Him in all that we do, work, SCHOOL, and play!

What's in those Avacados?

A7 is learning about seeds this week in science We have been cutting open all kinds of wonderful things to discover what kind of seeds are inside. With yesterday being Labor Day we had a family get-to-gether that we needed to bring some kind of dish to. My husband really loves Guacamole! So in a fun/tasty/ learning experience we had home-ec (cooking) and science (seeds)!

Adventures in Homeschooling Week 12

Sorry these are late! I should have posted this Friday!