Loving these days...

We're getting it down, this home-schooling thing. The boys have accustomed to their schedule, don't really seem to mind pulling themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn, and are finishing their work in record time these days. Seriously, it's freaking me out a little how fast they get done now. But I think I might get used to it. Part of me is tempted to pile on more work, because obviously they could handle it, but then the other part of me tells the first part of me not to reward their diligence with an extra heavy load.  So the first part of me is listening. And I'm learning to just enjoy the fleeting moments of their childhood instead of trying to fill every moment with something 'meaningful."

These days I'm watching my kids in wonder. Where has the time gone? Maybe it's because Spencer is very quickly creeping close to eye-level with me; maybe it's because Collin talks with cute expressions and a sort of fake lilt to his voice that makes him sound like a Cool Dude; maybe it's because Claire has this confident quiet look to her these days as she tosses her hair, and in that moment I can already see the teen, and the twenties-something young woman that is slowly budding from this baby girl of mine; maybe it's because Katya is old enough to put on her own clothes, nurture a baby doll better than some mothers nurture their own children, and is often speaking in full sentences. She's no longer my baby. Whatever he reason, I'm so aware these days that my kids are growing up on me, and I'm a bit in awe of them. I love them, of course, but they older they get, the more I LIKE them.

These days I see them mostly through window panes because the weather is so beautiful. They spend hours upon hours outside in the neighborhood, playing with friends and soaking as much sunshine and fresh air as the Lord will lend our way. I hear them through the open doors and windows, the voices of my babies growing up.

If I want to find Spencer, I look to the trampoline first, then to the tree line at the neighbor's house. He's running here and there, enthusiastically tackling the next thing, and always trying to keep everyone in check. Wherever he goes, the other kids follow. Whatever he's doing is exciting - or at least it seems to be, because he's always enthusiastic about it. Spencer is becoming a young man before our eyes. He is hard-working, driven, precise and literal. And I'm more and more impressed with how he is developing into a people- and family- oriented person. Spencer is only eight, but he has his priorities in the right place. He is the one who seeks me out to give me goodnight kisses, or sit by me during family movies - just so I wont' feel left out. Such a tender heart, that is still very visible and vulnerable on the outside, but I suspect will become more hidden in the teen years to come. He has such big boyhood dreams....he is so strong and such a fighter, but  I can't help but hope that life will be kind to that tender little heart that is on his inside. As I watch him run past the window, I remind myself to savor the moments that he is still a little boy.

If I want to find where Collin is, I look out of our bay, past the houses, to the "Pond." It's really just a big ditch at the edge of the road, but has enough standing water and creepy crawlies to keep my nature-loving boy happy. Watching him with hair golden in the sunlight, wading barefoot in the mud, exploring every rock and cranny, chasing butterflies, catching snails and tiny water snakes and frogs, I think to myself that this is what boyhood is made of. Such a boy, and yet such a handle on language, with a knack for storytelling. My boy has a ready smile, and a familiarity as he grins and leans close, like we share a funny secret. He's learned the necessity of forgiving and forgetting, this second boy of mine whose sensitive little soul has been crushed by my impatience, quick temper, and tongue too many times. He's an optimist, this little man, always sure that the next big frog, the next full rabbit trap, the next good thing is just around the bend in the road. And then sometimes, like last night, he counts his blessings - food, clothes, house, mom and dad, and Jesus - and remembers that the good things are here and now, and the rest is just extra.

Claire is either easy or impossible to find. She is either on the porch steps or in the garage playing with her little friends, or is far and away at the neighbour's house in their playhouse, in their basement, or even further down the road looking for an older friend to play with. She walks down our lane, back straight, hair tossing away from her face. I watch her and smile to myself, She is fierce, this first girl-child of mine. She is a fierce fighter, has a fierce temper, loves fiercely, is fiercely loyal, and is fiercely determined. When she sets her mind on a thing, she gets it done: swimming by herself, riding a bike, and learning to read. She can spend entire days on projects like puzzles and painting. Independent and determined, she runs here and there and everywhere. She runs fast and low like a gymnast; I marvel at her sturdiness - it's a reflection of her soul. My own heart swells with pride as I watch her. But my greatest moments of pride are when I see her walking home from dinner holding the hand of her little sister. Protecting and caring for the little person and heart who loves her so greatly in return. Even now, over baby dolls, water-colors, cereal snacks, and bedtime giggles, my girls are forging a bond that will carry them through adulthood. Claire Bear is a good big sister.

If I want to find Katya, I look for the neighbor girl, Lea. She hovers over Katya, and Katya follows her everywhere. I've been in denial that she wasn't really my baby anymore, until this afternoon when she woke up from her nap, put her shoes on, and joined the rest of us at the trampoline with a smile on her face. No longer a baby, but a resourceful little toddler full of spunk, tease, and cuddles. Her biggest problem these days is trying to figure out how to carry her two favorite baby dolls and a blanket all at the same time. That, and finding time to play on Daddy's iPhone when the other kids won't take it away. "I iPhone, Mommy?" I iPhone?" "Where iPod?" Her first full sentences have come in the past few weeks - "Mommy, C'are Bear in my bed!" and "Mommy mad at you!" and "I want soy miwt." At two years and two months old, she is doing trapeze tricks that have her father and I seriously considering installing pillows under the play structure outside. While our stomachs leap into our throats, we bite our tongues and say nothing, because her sister and brothers have already done this before her - we've been trained. Bath time and jumping on the bed with her sister, swinging, painting, playing in the sandbox, writing with chalk on Mommy's walls, and stealing the cereal box for a snack rendezvous with Claire…these are the things Katya's life is made of.

At night after reading our bedtime book, the kids all go to their rooms.

I lay down between the girls for a moment. "Jesus song, Mommy. Jesus song," she says. I sing "Jesus Loves Me" and then "Jesus Loves The Little Children." Claire only likes it if I make a raspberry sound between phrases. Katya laughs because Claire is laughing. Then I kiss them both goodnight, and tell them to go to sleep. I close the door, and leave. 

Katya opens it a minute later. I put her back. 

She opens it a minute later, and I put her back again. Another kiss, another "good night." 

The boys want kisses and hugs, and after they've exhausted every excuse for staying up longer, we shut their door. They chat, laugh, and bond together in the dark long after we've gone. I call up to them to quiet down, but am secretly delighted that they enjoy each other's company, even if they should be asleep.

Katya's in our room at 2:00 am. She wants to sleep in our bed, but I tell her she can sleep on the floor. She already knows where the sleeping mats and blankets are, and shows me which one she wants. She's asleep as soon as she lays down. Claire follows within an hour, sniffling. "Katya is not in bed." She gets her mat, puts it down next to Katya's, spreads her blanket out flat, and crawls under it.

I drift off contentedly, knowing it's just a season…and it's passing all too quickly.

Back to school 2011

Last Wednesday we started back to school. Let me tell you, it was the closest I've ever come to sending my kids back into public or private school - anywhere but here! First off, I was stressed. I was enjoying the free time of my summer way too much, and the sudden invasion of my days was most unwelcome, no matter how well I had planned for it. Second was the fact that the boys felt the same way. To put it nicely, none of us was excited to start back. I tried to take the edge off the pain by buying new stickers, animal pencils with awesome erasers, new crayons, and new pencil sharpeners. But the truth is that home schooling in this family doesn't follow the all-things-new pattern that public schoolers have. My kids don't need backpacks, they don't get all-new textbooks, they don't have a new teacher, with a new set of classmates, a new homeroom, and a different desk. They get the same-old same-old. The same notebooks they were writing in last year, the same math books, the same reading books, the same dining room table with the same supplies cart stacked up with books, folders, and a small box of stickers . There just wasn't a whole lot to make it feel special. To top it off, Spencer was having his usual meltdown with all things new - and the first day was spent in misery to the point of tears over how difficult grade 3 was, even though all we had done was literally turn the page in his reading and math books and picked up where we left off. I don't even want to talk about his reaction when I introduced his new writing program. And Collin was doing his usual out-to-lunch bit, which is enough to render the most rosy-cheeked sing-song kindergarten teacher looking like a mad scientist with Albert Einstein hair by the end of the day. The icing on the cake for me was when I had been trying to get Collin to concentrate enough to just write one number on his math sheet, so he FINALLY began to write the number "7" only to stop mid-way to tell me a story. My mom got the brunt of my frustration on the phone.

Day 2 brought a blessed relief. A friend called just after we had finished our schoolwork for hte day, and invited us to spend some time at the beach for the last nice afternoon of the season. It was perfect, and just what the doctor ordered. And thank God for a friend who doesn't shy away from the big home-school family! The kids spent a few hours getting wet and dirty, catching teensy tiny catfish, playing pirates with foam swords, and generally saying good-bye to Summer in grand fashion. And I got a chat with a friend. On the way home, my self pep talk included a serious reminder that public school kids were only arriving home from school at about the same time that we came back from our beach excursion. 

Day 3 we only finished half of our schoolwork, when I called it quits mid-afternoon. I was worn out, exhausted, tired of hearing myself harp on my kids for not concentrating, tired of being frustrated with them after we had enjoyed so many weeks of quiet, contented togetherness.  The Unstoppable Force (my kids' obstinance about schoolwork) had met the Immovable Object (my stubbornness) and something had to be done. We were at an impasse. I wrote my list of home-school moms for advice and tips. They told me I was trying to do too much book work, and should take more advantage of natural learning that comes from interracting with the world. Get the kids out, do science activities, let them breed rabbits, let them hunt, build, and READ READ READ. I decided to cut the grammar/reading/writing workbooks and toss them out completely since my kids get those subjects in other places. But we were still at an impasse for the kids' work ethic.  Thus commenced Operation Motivation. Wal Mart had the solution. I marched my kids all to the kitchen section and found 2 digital timers, and my fingers tingled with such anticipation that I was almost sad the next day was Saturday and I wouldn't get to try it out until Monday. 

Day 4, Monday. We started school late, due to me being in bed too long after several interruptions to my sleep during the night. The first thing I did was pop out those timers. I put a glass of cold milk and a warm chocolate chip muffin in front of each boy, right next to their timers. Then I gave the boys a stern warning that they were going to have study time, and then break time. There was no talking during study time - only working. And then break time would give them a chance to eat their muffins, drink their milk, and talk. And when break time was over, they would go straight back to work. It was amazing. They actually did it. First we set the timer for 3 minutes, and they worked the entire three minutes with only a few reminders to concentrate rather than socialize. Then their one-minute break commenced, and they wolfed down about 1/2 of their muffins in that short amount of time. Three-one-three-one-three-one....around and around we went for an hour and a half. And we got most of their individual work done by time I was leaving for my morning walk. I was amazed that it had worked at all! Claire decided that she was missing out on a good thing, and persistently asked to "do school," so I started her back in the reading program learning her letters and sounds, and also started taking her through a preschool workbook. Nothing too serious, but enough to make her feel special and very knowledgable. :) 

Days 5 &6 were the same - the kids did well with the timers, but we were still taking too long in the mornings. Collin's work was taking over an hour for something that should really only take 1/2 hour. And the reading......OOOOOHHHH, the reading! It drove me batty. He just. won't. concentrate!!!

Spencer needed more supervision with his math because he was taking an hour and a half for one page, when he should be able to get it done in 1/2 hour! Still, the week went much smoother. We stayed on track, did all the assignments and projects we had planned, and generally things were better. Spencer had adjusted to his writing course and doesn't freak out every time he sees words without pictures anymore. We worked up to 5 minutes study time with 2 minute breaks, and the kids didn't even seem to notice. But they DID notice that they weren't doing their grammar workbooks anymore, and demanded they be reinstated. Evidently they liked those books. 

Day 7 This was the miracle day - the day that a fluke brought me the solution. Collin was still in bed when Spencer woke me up for schooltime. So I decided to flip our normal routine, and work with Spencer first instead of Collin. I also set the timer for 10 minutes with a three minute break. Spencer did his math in 1/2 hour. When Collin came down, I plopped his reading book in front of him and told him to study those words on his own until I was ready to work with him. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, and it didn't look like he was doing a darned thing. Meanwhile, Spencer flew through his other work (the only magic element being that I was sitting there with him), and by time 45 minutes had passed, he had only his writing course left to do before breakfast. It was like a miracle! Thank you, God! And Collin's reading wasn't much different. Evidently he had actually read some of those words to himself, because he was much more adept than he usually is at a first dry run of reading. We were practically done with everything by time breakfast rolled around, which only left group work to be done for the rest of the morning. Score!! Exactly what I had envisioned for our days!! 

Day 8 was yesterday. It went the same as Day 7, but with a museum trip and haircuts thrown into the mix. Finally, it seems, we have figured out how to make this home schooling thing work for us. *Grateful sigh*

Phoenix Vacation

Okay, this is a very quickly-written recap of our time in Phoenix. We had a great time, and saw all of our family and lots of friends. It was a wonderful three and a half weeks, and then we retreated back to the cool north in time for the most glorious late summer/early fall. Here is a recap of our vacation, in photos. 

Claire enjoying her window seat on the plane. 

Snacks were a god-send. Did you know that planes won't even give out glasses of water anymore? Crazy. 

 This is what Vlad does in Phoenix - works on his laptop in Barnes and Nobles at Starbucks all day long. It's his office away from his office.

The girls sporting their new outfits and backpacks for church. 

 THe boys being boys.

We went to Sedona with the whole family. Dad rented a house there, and it ended up having a great backyard with a play structure for kids and some heavy-duty-fun toys. I love this pic because it's just exactly like the girls - claire is the wild woman tearing  here and there, and katya is hanging on for dear life. 

THey had a great tub, obviously enjoyed by *most of* the family. :) 

Carissa, affectionately known as "Aunt Preessa" (a name dubbed by Katya), holding Claire. They crashed during a movie. It was so precious. You can see why the kids all love her to death.

My brother's birthday was in August, so we had a little birthday bash. 

 Bath time with all the grandkids was a blast. We're big on baths in our family. Audrey and Owen never knew what hit them!

Owen, not sure what just happened, but quite certain that he didn't really like it. 

 Audrey, on the other hand, had a blast. Claire was official water-dumper, and Audrey thought it was hysterical.

 There are so may babies in this family!

 Aunt Rachel scrubbing Katya's head. Baths were a joint effort...a union of family interests.

 beautiful audrey

 just don't try to take her out of the tub. she doesn't like it.

Aunt Preesa. 

 These two little boys, Oliver (right) and Emerson (left) were born only a few months apart, and it was their first time laying eyes on each other.

No, Oliver's not worried. His eyes are always huge like that. 

 More pics from Sedona, You'd think I'd have taken pcis of the world-famous mountains, but no. Just my kids playing. :)

 one of my favorites to date. the light was awesome in this room.

 Katya and her new favorite person in the world. Oliver. She ADORES him. "Ah-vih-vuh"

 We all adored him. I, for one, couldn't stop singing "Oliver" from the movie "Oliver Twist." The I read the lyrics and they were so awful, that I determined to make up new lyrics. But I never got aroun to it, so I resorted to humming. I just...couldn't...stop.

It was  a fun trip, and we love and miss you all. *For full photo shoots of both of my brothers' families, go see them on my photography blog (click the "My photography" link above and wiggle your way through.)

TTFN