we SURVIVED

well i almost gave up on this whole boggy thing.... i just don't have the time to put into like i would like so i will post when i can.....
*******DISCLAIMER..... The following is MY OPINION and MY PERSONAL BELIEFS... homeschooling is NOT for everyone... i choose to home school and do not judge anyone sends their kids to public school......=)
we did it!! we finished our first year of homeschooling...........i definitely learned a lot.... and i hope EBAN did too... we finished our kindergarten curriculum about 3 months before regular school is out for the summer. it felt weird... so we are doing more. there is no reason to just quit now. so we are working on a reading program and doing math workbooks. if i were to grade myself as a teacher i would give my self a C... Eban is starting to read and i am amazed that i taught him that..... the main thing that i have learned this year is that i need to cut myself a break.... i put WAY too much on myself. i am doing the best i can and I KNOW that I am doing what i know GOD has called me to do. another thing i learned is that each child is different.... no everyone likes to read... i didn't.... i remember CRYING and WHINING with my mom while writing spelling words 10x's.. i HATED school... and hated to read.. i think mostly because i couldn't do it very well.

i think EBAN maybe be more like me than i originally thought.... it has been a fight just about everyday to do school with him. it would be easy to just send him to the public school that is ONE BLOCK from my house. but i KNOW that the struggles now will be worth it in the end....my goal in all this homeschooling craziness is to raise my boys into MEN who LOVE GOD with all their hearts. i want them to know what is RIGHT & WRONG and not to be influenced by the craziness of this world...... kids are learning about EVERYTHING way too early now a days... the "experts" say you need to start talking to you kids about the "S" word at EIGHT YEARS OLD................WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is not right!!!!!
so YES i am going to shelter and protect my children for as long as possible.............so call me crazy or whatever

a few other things i have learned just in the last few months.....................

~ you don't HAVE to be friends with EVERYONE... you NEED to GUARD your children's friendships..... AND it is OK to say NO...and sometimes people don't "get it" and you just have to be RUDE when NICE doesn't work...... i started to write more but we will just leave it at that.... and if you think this is about you it is NOT so don't worry... it is a neighbor issue..........................................................
~ kids learn at different rates... it is ok if you 8 yr old is just learning to read....
~ just because someone has made stupid decisions with their life it is not my job to judge their stupid decisions and call them idiots.... =/
*** i am sorry
this is all random... and i think it may be hormones talking but just keeping it real

~~ it is ok that my house is a mess... i am not going to KILL myself trying to keep it clean and "together" when i have THREE tornadoes following me through the house.....right now other things are more important... it is not worth keeping my house spotless and not pay any attention to my kids... they grow up way too fast... people keep telling me i will one day miss these days.... and i see friends who children are all grown and i try to hold on to these precious(crazy) times

~~~ showering..... for a mom with three kids, sometimes i don't get a shower...yes i am that gross....(those of you who don't have kids and have no idea why i wouldn't get a shower--crazy things happen when mom is in the shower--to name a few-the two year old JUMPS on his baby brother while in the packNplay..like on a trampoline..... baby SMEARS the contents of his diaper ALL over himself and all over the crib----- brothers decide to go OUT SIDE and play......you just never know what may happen) i know i need to plan my day a little better to where i can bathe..... but sometimes other things are more important...

elias is ONE

this year as FLOWN by...

babyWearing

i have never heard the term "babywearing" until i was about to have Elias.... i had on of those baby in the front back pack things with eban. some one gave me one from a garage sale that was still in the box and in a hundred pieces.. i never was comfortable in it and don't think i ever had it on the right way..... if found another one similar that was one piece that i got a a thrift store for 75cents that was OK.... i used it during our 1st and LAST flying w/ babies trip to ATL.... i need to blog about that sometime, but i don't think i have fully recovered. (it has been THREE years)
well before i had elias i was blog hopping over @ my friend jenny's site and found Adventures in babyWearing
i LOVE her you will too go check her out. i think we would be BFF's in real life... ok i am not a stalker....
but anyway... i researched different types of carriers and i found the Ring Sling the easiest for me. it took me a few tries to get the sewing down. some of the directions online are confusing. i have made about a dozen for friends as gifts and have about another dozen people that have asked me to make them one.... if i had the energy i would sell some on etsy
i had an older lady at church tell me that she loved the idea of the sling and that it was more loving than when the babies are left in the car seat carriers..... hey and the babies don't get that flat head thing from sitting in the seat all the time.
i wear it at church-- the grocery-- around the house... he LOVES to sleep in it....i haven't figured out how to nurse-on-the-go with it.... i am not that coordinated.... the only draw back is he is getting heavier. he is over 20lbs... i will be sad when he is too big for it. there are
i ALMOST want another baby so i can wear it again...

a boys view

breakfast...

eban loves to steal the camera & take pictures.. here are a few
there are many i would LOvE to share but pretty sure NO ONE else would want to see them... such as potty pictures and pictures of me in pj's after a long night... or pictures of me nursing...
i won't mention the pictures i found on the nintendo DSi...... we could go to jail for those. (they have been since deleted and we told the boys if we find any more of THOSE kinds of pics we would have to call the police.... =/

baby brother

we obviously have not learned how to tie our shoes yet....

thumbs up!!

weirder things have happened

so i was going through the laundry today and i found this.... 1/2 a bra..... last night i did about 3 loads and left the room and found the boys were swimming in ALL the laundry... clean & dirty all mixed up.. i am still trying to sort it. when i asked the boys what happened NO ONE knows?????
i am still looking for the other 1/2....

happy birthday eban!!!

so i started this post about a week after eban's birthday and figured i owed it to him to finish it... sorry eban.

six years ago i became a mommy for the first time.. it seems like ages ago. but in a way it seems just like yesterday. eban has turned out to be a great help to me.. he is a great big brother, even though him and benji have a love/hate relationship... he is really good with the baby.most of it is a blur and after having the third my brain is pretty much gone...when i was about to finish college all i could thing about is getting married and being a mommy... so thank you eban for making that happen... I LOVE YOU

eban & benji

mommy & eban

eban & my BFF andrea

i didn't think i could get any bigger... that is what a 9lb. baby looks like

those are some silly looking pumpkins

so last spring(i think before i had the baby) i had this grand idea i was going to try a garden... i had some seed packets left over from last year. i THOUGHT they were pumpkins. WRONG.. i am not sure what happened or what i planted but i ended up with about 10 cucumbers... i think i might of eaten 2 they kind of tasted funny. i live about a block from a HUGE steel mill so that probably adds a funky taste.. i didn't really try very hard in growing them. ...like watering them ?? that could of helped. they may look big but they are about the size of a large pickle
i think i will do some research for next year and plant them when your suppose to instead of when i get around to it. =) i think it will be a good home school project. i have started collecting seeds to plant so we will see......