Catching You Up On Our Life

It has been a little while since I have written. It has been pretty busy around here. I wanted to get everyone caught up....

The No Gossip Challenge

Failed. Miserably.  My goal for last week was to not talk about anyone else - unless it was praise - period. It was also to stay away from those gossip traps called people.com and usmagazine.com which are my go-to's when I just want to tune out  my life for a moment or two (or twenty or thirty). I didn't realize just how much I talk about other people until I was paying attention to it. I don't really think that I was malicious at all (unless you count that F%^#ing bad driver that really made me mad - just kidding/well, not really), but I do talk about a lot of people a lot of the time. There is a lot going on with family members outside those that live within the walls of my own home and so I was on the phone a lot last week just checking to see how this person was or that person was. My family is full of opinionated people (me included) so we all had to voice our opinions over what was going on and then sometimes we even had to voice our opinions on other member's opinions. This is mainly where I got into trouble. Then, when I knew my gossiping challenge went down the toilet I was on my gossip websites like a fly on....well, you know what. I guess I have a lot to work on when it comes to the things that come out of my mouth. Since tomorrow is April 1 I am going to pick myself back up and attempt to try my personal no gossip challenge again.

Andy

Andy's soccer coach approached me yesterday after his practice and told me that he needs to be on a more competitive team. She told me that he is too good of a player to play in the league that he is currently in. She said that she considers herself a good coach, but that Andy needed someone even better to really guide him and teach him. She knows of a coach (one that will just be moving his son up to Andy's age bracket) that she wants Andy to play for. I was thrilled for Andy because he really does need a bigger challenge. He really improved a lot under his last two coaches and I wanted to see him have the success that Josh has found here in New Mexico. I was so disappointed in how hard it was for me to find some place competitive for Andy. Everything happens for a reason, I know, and I am so happy that Andy will most likely be joining a Rio Rapids team.

Josh

For those of you who do not already know, Josh fell off of our brick retaining wall two Sundays ago trying to retrieve a basketball from the neighbors yard and injured his right knew pretty good. He is currently in a knee brace and on crutches and will most likely remain in that state for the next 4-6 weeks (at least!). I was not happy with the first doctor that we saw and was given a recommendation for an Orthopedic doctor with a degree in Sports Medicine. This doctor happens to have been a doctor for the U.S. National Men's Soccer Team, so I knew that Josh would be in good hands. We are going tomorrow to have an MRI. There are no broken bones. But Josh either damaged a growth plate (which would require him to be fitted in a cast for a while), tore his meniscus (which would most likely need surgery to repair and would require many months of physical therapy and no soccer for 3-6+ months), or (and we are hoping that this is the case) he just overextended and bruised a ligament in his kneee and which will require 4-6 weeks of rest and recovery. He knee is still swollen as their is fluid in it. Josh is miserable because he cannot play soccer. To make matters worse we are not sure when he will be able to play. I am devastated for him as we are such a soccer family and I know how much he lives for soccer.

Sarah

Sarah is doing well. We opened the pool this past weekend which she was happy about. She is doing great in gymnastics and I am proud to see how much she can do despite her blindness.  Her only issue is that she is missing her friends Leah and Joselynn a lot. She is already planning out how much time she will be allowed to spend with them when we make our summer trip back to Ohio.

Elizabeth

Oh, Elizabeth. What can I even say about her? She is going through a phase (I hope) of throwing massive temper tantrums and of being very defiant. I just read about a book called "The Difficult Child" and I plan on picking up a copy because I am at my whits end with that girl. And she is only 8! I feel like I am failing her as a parent and this bothers me to my core. She needs something from me as a parent that I just cannot see right now and I believe that her tantrums are a way of her telling me that she desperately needs something from me that I am currently not giving her. I tried to take her out and spend some time with her  one on one to see if that would help her behavior. I was thinking that maybe she just needed some time away from the other kids (who can be very brutal with her because they get fed up with her behavior and how much time she requires from Bob and I.) We went to the craft store and picked up a craft and then went out to a bakery and had dinner and worked on our craft together. She appreciated the time, but it didn't improve her behavior in the way that I had hoped it would.  I don't want to fail her and I just know that I am right now.

Visitors

Both my brother and sister-in-law and my mother visited us this month. It was really nice to have those that we love come out and see our new life here in the wild west. I know that it is not easy to get out here and I appreciate those able to make the trip a lot. That being said having visitors is tiring both for us hosts and for those visiting. I feel the same way when we go back to Ohio. Hosting my family is a lot and being away from our home here is a lot. I wish that we weren't so far away from our friends and family back in Ohio because it would make visiting less tiring and seem less like work. I don't know...


Nutrition/ My Diet

I am having Bob print off some of the pages that I found most important from the USDA food guidelines. I thought that the document was going to be full of B.S. because it came from the government. I was surprised by how unbiased it appeared (if you read between the lines). Once I have the copies that I need I will be able to write a post about what I have found out. I haven't forgotten about writing about my findings I just haven't gotten everything together. (Tish - we most likely will not be doing anything gluten free in our house, but I have heard many of my friends go gluten free and swear by it. Never say never for us though.)

I have decided to give Veganism a try again. (Actually, I think the politically correct term now-a-days is "plant based diet".) Here is why:  1. I have a thing for animals that I just cannot ignore. I have been a vegetarian since I was a junior in high school, and (except for 1 time) I haven't had meat since. Cheese and dairy products are what I struggle with. As much as I love cheese I think that the poor dairy cow has it almost worse than all of the other food animals out there. I could go on and on about this topic, but since I know most of you are meat eaters you don't want to read about my vegan rant. So, I will cut that topic short. 2.) I lost 30+ lbs when I was a vegan. I ate better than I ever did and I felt great. I have struggled with my weight since becoming a mom and the problem is not going to go away unless I do something about it. I am just tired of being fat. Just sick and tired of it. I know that I can lose weight and feel better both physically and mentally if I practice veganism again.

Everything Else

I guess that is just about everything.

 I am growing a garden and will be (well, actually Bob will be) building some raised beds this weekend. I started all of my plants from seeds and have grown: peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, squash, zucchini, pumpkins. and basil. (My carrots did not fare so well.) I am excited to attempt to grow my own bounty here in the desert.

We have some yard work to do. A patio to fix. Weeding to be done. A fence to be painted. Some patio furniture to be purchased. We are finished working on inside stuff until the fall/winter. (For the interior we have a list that keeps on getting longer and longer. Oh, the joys of buying a home from a previous owner that did all of the work himself!)  But for the next few months our focus is going to be on the outside of our home.

Bob is doing well at work. He is putting in a lot of hours and is working harder than I have ever seen him, but he is happy. A happy husband is a happy house. A happy wife is a happy life. Good thing both he and I are pretty happy, huh?

I still cannot believe that I live in New Mexico. I am living an amazing life. I am so proud of Bob and I for taking the chance and the leap of faith that it took to move out here. Life is an adventure and as a dear friend of mine says, "Life is not a practice round." I couldn't agree with him more. I know for certain that life is the way it is meant to be for a reason. Josh asked Bob and I not too long ago what we thought our life would have been like if Sarah had not been diagnosed with NMO. If Sarah had never gotten sick we would be living in Yuma, AZ right now. Bob would have gotten the promotion he took to move to Las Cruces in Yuma a year before we took this one. (In fact he was in the interviewing process and had to stop it because Sarah was diagnosed. And we just recently found out that Bob was the man that the hiring manager was looking to bring aboard.) My boys never would have gotten to play soccer together with their middle school team if that had happened. Andy would have never had a chance to ask his girlfriend to be his special lady. Josh would have had one less year with his best friends. Elizabeth would have never gotten close to Emma. Sarah would have never formed as tight of a bond as she did with Joselynn and her family. I would not have learned to appreciate the life that I lead had I not struggled so desperately with not understanding why we weren't moving ahead in life. Why we had invested in all of the things that we were told would get us somewhere like getting advanced degrees. We are living exactly where we are meant to be living. There is something to be learned here, and when God feels that we have learned what He set out before us it is only then will we move on to the next part of our lives.

That all being said I miss our friends dearly. I think about them a lot and wonder how they are doing. I am excited to see them again this summer. I miss my sister a lot and my nephew and two nieces. That is the hard part about moving. You miss those you love dearly - I don't think that part will get any easier.

 I am happy with our new life here and I am even happier with how settled we are given the fact that we have only been here for 5 months. Life is good in Las Cruces. It really, really is.

My No Gossip Challenge

I am constantly trying to work on myself - always striving to become my best self. I have found in this constant quest of self improvement that sometimes I succeed and sometimes (well, a lot of times) I fail only to get back up and try again.

One of my biggest struggles is my mouth. Or more specifically, what words I allow to come out of my mouth. I ran across two instances in the past two days -both of which did not involve me, but pointed out how ugly and destructive gossip is - which let's be honest is my biggest issue when it comes to my mouth. (Even though I wasn't a participant in either of these two specific events I certainly have been involved in similar situations in the past where I was taking part in the gossip gang.)

I thought about sharing the details of what has me thinking about the power of gossip so much, but that would mean I would have to gossip to do so, right? So I have decided not to share the details, but will say that the talk was so ugly and were in open spaces where tons of people could witness and hear what was being said that it made me cringe both for the ones being talked about and also for the person(s) talking because it made all parties appear very unbecoming. It also was pretty destructive for those who were not there to defend themselves and had such ugly things said about them.

It got me to thinking about how many times I have participated in gossip and how hurtful that may have been. Why do I do that? What is the point? It really isn't necessary. It doesn't make me feel better in the long run - in fact - it makes me feel worse.

Just in case you need to know the definition of gossip is take a look below:

¹gossip

noun gos·sip \ˈgä-səp\

: information about the behavior and personal lives of other people

: information about the lives of famous people

: a person who often talks about the private details of other people's lives

(courtesy of: merriam-webster.com)

Taking the above definition into account for 7 days I will not:

1.) Say anything negative about another person - unless it is spoken directly to the person in question.
2.) Share anything about another person unless I have permission from that person to do so.
3.) Listen to anyone speaking ill will about anyone else.
4.) Entertain gossip websites such as people.com, usmagazine.com (or any other of my beloved websites - yes, I do love these websites.)
5.) Nor will I read any gossip magazines.


This list may seem simplistic, but I have an idea it is going to be a lot harder to implement than I  think. I also anticipate this to be a week in which I am a lot quieter than normal.

Wish me luck. I will certainly need it. I will report back my success/failure of this project next Thursday!

"But I can't."

I am the type of mother that tends to do too much for her children. I admit it. Bob will definitely agree with that statement too as he is always chiding me for just how much I do for them. And sometimes I get to the point where I have had it up to there, and I am not going to do so much for them anymore! But then I calm down and realize that as much as I do for them they do for me in return. I know that they appreciate what I do for them, and when I ask them to help me with something I don't ever hear complaints (unless it is coming from Elizabeth, but that is a whole different story).

Now, I don't know about you, but as much as I like doing things for my children I also want to make sure that they can do these things for themselves. Because someday they are all going to be out on their own and I want them to be able to fend for themselves. In doing all that I do for my children I don't do it to cripple them when they become adults. I do it so that they can look back and appreciate how much their mother (and father) did for them and in return offer their own families the same dedication and hard work that I (we) have given/shown them. On the mornings that I don't feel like making breakfast I know that I can ask my children to please make pancakes for the family. And they will do so making them from scratch - just as I do for them.

So this morning after breakfast was eaten by all of the children but Sarah she asked me to make her some breakfast. I was in the middle of doing something else and told her that this morning she was going to need to make her own breakfast. Then she said three words that made me stop dead with what I was doing.

"But I can't."

In my head I was thinking, "Oh, hell no. You did NOT just say that." Thankfully, my reply was somewhat kinder. I told Sarah that she absolutely could make herself breakfast. She whined and said that she could not because she cannot see what she was doing. My reply this time was not as sweet. I told her sternly that she absolutely can make herself breakfast. That there is absolutely no reason that she cannot do that and I better not hear those words come out of her mouth again.

Maybe that wasn't the best response. I am sure if I had a rewind button I would have responded a bit differently, but here is the thing - I don't want Sarah (or any of my children) to think that they "can't" do something. Because Sarah has shown me time and time again that anyone can do anything if they truly want to. It would be easy for Sarah (and the other kids too by picking up on her example) to just make "But I can't" her life motto. After all, isn't she just the poor blind girl? Poor Sarah...

The only unfortunate thing for Sarah (and Andy, Josh, Elizabeth) is that she (and they) was/were born into the wrong family because in this family "I can't" doesn't exist. It is heard by Bob and myself as a foreign language that we do not understand.  "I can't" gets an 'oh, no you didn't' type response or maybe an 'over my dead body' one. Those words always stop me in my tracks because my kids can do anything.  I am especially sensitive when Sarah says those words because those words are the easy way out for her. Those words would absolutely work for her time and time again because people would feel pity for her, but they  wouldn't help her to make a life they would just allow her to exist and those are two completely different concepts. I will not allow her to pity herself or take the easy way out.

Sarah doesn't get a free pass in this life anymore than the rest of us do. She knows that, but I know that she will also test her boundaries to see just how much she can get away with because she's a kid. And she will get the same response from me EVERY. DAMN. TIME.

"OH. YES. YOU. CAN."

And she did. She made herself a bagel with cream cheese and cut up some strawberries for herself. I was right beside her the whole time helping to guide her and to teach her, but not once did I reach in and do it for her. She made a mess and it took a while to do, but she did it. Because she can do anything. It may take her a bit longer or the path may not be as straight as it is for a sighted person, but she will get there none-the-less.

"But I can't."  As if.

Hidden Blessings

I had a woman who has a strong belief in God, that I have never spoken to before, approach me at a homeschooling gathering not too long ago. She told me that she had heard of Sarah's blindness and that it had given her a heavy heart. She told me that she went home upon hearing this news and prayed to God and that God told her that Sarah would be healed and that she would someday see again.

I was so taken aback by that conversation that I called my sister when I got home in near tears over the things that this woman said to me. I have heard comments such as 'I am so sorry' or 'She is such a brave girl' or things along those lines, but never have I had someone tell me that God told them that he was going to heal Sarah.

Climbing up 'A' Mountain this weekend with pure determination in her eyes. 

I have really thought about that conversation a lot. And this is what I have come away with:

1.) Situations like this are why I struggle with Christianity so much, and why I have not completely allowed myself to be immersed in the Christian faith. I don't ever want to do to someone else what this woman did to me, and I fear that if I give my heart over to God in that way that I might end up doing something like this. (Which, by the way, I truly, truly believe that this woman did not mean to hurt me. And I also believe that she was telling me this information because she felt that she needed to do so. I don't think she was being malicious at all. I just think that, in her mind, I was going to be more open to what she had to say.)

2.) Sarah is perfect the way she is. Being blind is part of her journey in this lifetime. God doesn't need to heal her for her to be perfect. If, someday, there is a cure for her disease and an ability for her to see again then that would be awesome! But if that cure never comes then that is okay too. It truly is.

Walking together down the mountain one step at a time. 

3.) This conversation with this woman was a blessing in disguise because after initially being pretty devastated by her words I have come to see just how far I have come in this journey.  I used to pray, for months, for Sarah to be able to see again. Every time she would relapse I would pray for her to get her vision back. I would make deals with God (or at least try and make them) begging him to please let her see. Let her to see the beautiful sunset, or her new cousin's face, or the words in a book.

She is truly a beauty!

 I don't pray for that anymore. I didn't realize that I had stopped praying for that until I was hit in the face and heart by this woman's words. I am not praying anymore for her to see because, in a way, she already does. She uses all of her other senses to see - she sees (by hearing) the anger in her sister's voice when she is mad. She sees the words on the braille pad (by feeling them with her fingers). She sees that the strawberries have gone bad by smelling them. She can see a stranger approaching on the sidewalk by hearing his footsteps.

More importantly than that though, is the fact that she is who she was meant to be. She is perfect in my eyes. Perfect in her Daddy's eyes. And in my humble opinion, perfect in God's eyes. He will use her and her lack of physical vision to help her to see so much more than you and I, the sighted, see. He will use her to do amazing things. Just as she is.

Sometimes a girl just needs a little help from her daddy.

I don't think I would have paused to see how far I had come in my own journey in dealing with Sarah's illness had I not been forced to evaluate what this woman had said to me. Her words, although pretty shocking upon hearing them, were actually a blessing in disguise.

I don't mourn for all that she is not anymore. I celebrate all that she is. And I wish that everyone else could do the same and to see the beauty in all she has to offer in all of her current perfectness.

Nutrition 101 - Part 2

I have been combing through different books and websites to find the information on nutrition that I am looking for. I have been jotting down the information I find faithfully and little by little my notebook is filling up. I have been trying to find one really good website that would allow me to access a wide variety of information rather than the bits and pieces I have been gathering from a ton of different sources.  I stumbled across this gem today (right here) and cannot wait to read it all. This 100+ page document has everything I have been looking for all in one spot. (I tried to send it to the local Fedex to print it, but it was going to be $77, so I am just going to have to read it online, I think).  I cannot wait to comb through this beauty.  Stay tuned as I go through this beauty and share what I have found...

Josh's First Game

Which of these is not like the others? 

I woke up this morning with a bittersweet feeling in my stomach. I knew that today was Josh's first game as a Rio Rapid and I was feeling both excited and sad. I was excited because Josh has worked so hard these last few months trying to learn as much as he could from his new coach while also learning the ins and outs of the team dynamics he had just joined. A lot of the boys on Josh's team have been playing together for as long as the boys on the team that Josh had come from in Ohio - which is to say - they have been playing together most of their lives. So when this new kid shows up - a kid who has an undeniable passion for soccer - a kid who doesn't go to practice to play or joke around, but rather is a serious kid that goes to  practice to learn. Well, let's just say it took some of the kids took a bit of time to warm up to Josh. It was also a sad morning because this was first game Josh had played in for many, many years in which Coach Boorman wasn't at the helm of the team. I loved the way Coach Boorman coached Josh. Josh loved it too. (He still does.) Josh flourished under Coach Boorman's direction. He grew as a player and as a teammate while under this wonderful man. He gave Josh the foundation that he will build upon for the rest of his soccer career. I was sad because I missed my soccer family. I love the bond that we had whether it was through friendship or just as soccer acquaintances - whatever it was - it was special. I know that I may never find what I had in Ohio with another group of parents which makes me all the more the more thankful that I got to experience it while I did.

Josh woke up this morning with butterflies in his stomach. He always gets butterflies, so this was nothing new. We had talked about how we just hoped that he would get some playing time - that starting the game was most likely out of the question, but that we would be thankful for whatever play time he got. Josh agreed with me as we talked and said that he would be surprised if he started the game, and that as long as he got on the field he would be happy.

He looked so different in his uniform. But so very handsome. This little boy that I have watched over the years has grown into a fine young man. This was never more evident than this morning when Josh walked up to me and nervously asked me how he looked in his uniform. I teared up (of course!) because I knew that playing this game was both as exciting and sad for him as it was for me. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in the tone of his ever changing deeper voice. I told him that he looked wonderful. His smile told me that he was ready. Ready for this new chapter in his life. Ready to build upon the greatness and the gifts of those who came before who helped prepare him to be the soccer player he is today.

My how he has grown...

When we got to the field I watched Josh warm up with his new team. I watched the ease in which he blended in with this new team. I watched how, despite some of their initial unsureness of him, he was one of them now. After a while as the team was getting ready to take the field he discreetly walked over to me and said, "Mom, I am starting the game." I could not believe it. This kid, the one who works his butt off at every practice, the one who lives, eats, and breathes soccer, earned a starting spot on his new team. He was so proud of himself. And I was too. I smiled at him and congratulated him quietly. It meant so much to me that his coach could see his passion for the game. Could see his hard work and skill and rewarded him with the coveted starting spot.

Team huddle right before the game.

He ended up playing left midfield (he initially thought he was going to play right striker). He played most of the game and came out for only about 15 minutes total between the first and second half. His play was amazing. Normally, I have some piece of constructive criticism for him, but not this game. This game was beautiful. He played with a grace I have not seen in him. I sat with a lump in my throat most of the game and just thought to myself, "He did it. He worked his butt off, and he did it. He is playing the game he loves with all of his heart, and he is owning it".  I could not have asked for a better game.

It was awesome too because the parents for both teams made me look quiet. (Yes, my fellow Black Tiger Soccer Family - I was the quiet one - even with all of my cheering. That should tell you how crazy these parents are - and I mean that as a compliment - as I am crazy right along with them.) People were yelling in English and Spanish. Coaches were yelling in English and Spanish. I was my in my element.

In the midst of it all I found myself thanking God for allowing me to get to experience this new soccer family. Thankful that he put me with a bunch of parents as nutty as I am about the sport. I am exactly where I need to be.

Corner Kick!

 I also found myself thanking God for the family I came from. Thank you all of my soccer parents and kids who played on the CF Fire and CF Black teams. I miss you guys terribly. It was honor to be screaming on the sidelines with you (well, most of you just allowed me to scream while you watched quietly). You will always have a special place in my heart.

To Tommy, Hiland, Matthew, Michael - thank you for being such good teammates to Josh and for making up the core of the team, as others fell away for one reason or another, you remained on the team season after season.

Setting up for a penalty kick. 

I love this picture...

 To Logan - thank you for being such a great best friend to Josh. He misses you as do I.

To Boorman - thank you for becoming like a son to me. You are a bigger gift to our family than you will ever know. My boys truly think of you as a brother.

To Coach Boorman - I will never, never, in a million, billion years ever be able to show you my gratitude. You took a 6 year old little boy with a love for soccer and helped shape him into the 12 (almost 13) year old young man he is today. He loves you and misses playing for you, but is so glad that he got a chance to be a member of your team for the 6 1/2 years. Thank you for all of the memories. Thank you for the foundation.

 After today's game I realized that everything is going to be alright. I will always cherish the past, but it is time to let go and keep my eyes on what is right before me.

Learning Braille - Lesson 1

Today we began our braille lessons. I have decided to teach Sarah to read and and write it simultaneously as it seems to be easier to do it this way. We were given a braille writer by the New Mexico School for the Blind. A braille writer is the instrument that Sarah will use to learn to write in braille.

This is a braille writer. The middle button is the space bar. The three buttons on the left of the space bar are for dots 1,2,3 (from right to left) and the three buttons on the right of the space bar are for dots 4,5,6 (this time from left to right). The farthest left and right buttons (the ones higher than the others) are to bring the typewriter back to the beginning of the line and to begin a new line. 

I have given the kids the option of whether or not they wanted to learn braille alongside Sarah. Josh was the first on board which does not surprise me in the least as he has always been front and center of Sarah's illness and wanting to know how to make Sarah's life better and easier for her. Elizabeth decided to pay attention to Sarah's lesson about 1/2 through and I am sure that will be the case for the duration of our lessons. She will pay attention to some and not to others. That is okay. Andy decided not to participate in learning braille. His response was that if he can talk to Sarah why should he learn braille? I was a bit upset by this response, but let it go because I don't want to force any of this on any of them. Andy has taken his typical stance - head in the sand - when it comes Sarah's illness. (Although, in his defense, he has done a much better job since coming back from Ohio in January in helping to assist her - especially when out in public.)

This is the curriculum that we will
be using. It was given to us by the New
Mexico School for the Blind. 

Our first lesson today was to learn about the braille cell. We learned that a braille cell is made up of 6 dots. All 26 letters (and everything else for that matter) will be some sort of combination of those 6 dots. The first 10 letters of the alphabet are comprised of a combination of the first top 4 dots. The next 10 letters are a repeat of the first 10 letters, but with the addition of  the 3 dot in the cell. (I will be able to show you better as we go along) the final letters are a repeat of the second set of 10 plus the 6th dot. (I know, you are completely lost.)

(Photo courtesy of: brailleworks.com)

The top two rows are the letter 'A'. The next row is the letter 'B'. The fallowing rows are the letter 'C'. Then the letter 'D'. The final three rows are the letter  'E'.




This is what letters a-j look like (obviously). Do you see how these first 10 letters only use the top 4 dots? (They actually only use dots numbers 1,2,5,6 if you are following the braille cell.)

Spells out 'Dad' in braille. (She repeated the word over and over again.)

So we will see where this takes us. I am guessing that it will take the better part of a year to learn braille because there are two braille "languages" - grade 1 and grade 2. Grade 1 (which is what we are learning) is the basic alphabet, numbers, punctuation. Grade 2 is a more complex system where the 6 dots form actual words and not just letters. (This done because books would be huge if each word had to be spelled out in braille letter by letter. With Grade 2 each set of dots can represent one written word, thus making it easier for books to be written in braille.)

I am excited for Sarah because I think that this will be one big step towards her eventual independence.  I am proud of her and Josh for being so open to this new way of communicating. The two kids were already talking about how they will soon have a secret language that only they will understand. I am also so thankful when the kids are excited and open to new things.

It is afternoons like this when I am so humbled by my life and grateful for it all. I am truly blessed in a way that I would have never understood before Sarah's diagnosis. I feel a gratitude so deep and pure that I can describe adequately with words. I am excited for the future. Life truly is good.

Educational Goals

It is around this time of year that I begin to think about the next school year. What do I like about what we are currently doing? What isn't working? What would I like to see the kids do/learn next school year? What would they like to learn/do next year? What do they think is going well or is not going well? As I ponder these questions I begin to receive curriculum sales flyers in the mail which make me giddy. Even as a child new school books and supplies were always a favorite part of my schooling experience. (Although these feelings quickly waned as I would have to work through the books and find that almost all of them were boring.) But the hope and suspense of each new school year was exciting.

When I homeschooled the first time years and years ago I bought a book titled: 101 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum by Cathy Duffy. I loved the book. When I decided to pull the kids out of school to begin homeschooling them last year I purchased the book again and used its resources and information to make my curriculum picks for last year. I found out a couple of months ago that Cathy actually had just released an updated version of her first book titled: 102 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum. I had to have it and purchased it immediately. I was not disappointed by the updated version at all. In the book Cathy not only highlights what she deems as the best curriculum, but also talks about the different learning styles of children, different teaching styles of adults, different homeschool styles (and there a ton!), and finally, my favorite part, a question and answer section that allows a person to work through all of the information presented in a way that one can personalize a curriculum for her/his own family.

One of the sections that particularly seemed of importance to me was the section regarding priorities in homeschooling. I relabeled the term priorities and deemed them as educational goals. After coming up with my list I presented it to Bob and he added a couple of things that he thought were of utmost importance too.

Here is our list:

We want our children to...

1.)  Learn to think for themselves.
2.)  Develop a love of learning.
3.)  Become voracious readers.
4.)  Learn how to speak and write well.
5.)  Be prepared and organized.
6.)  Know who they are and what their interests are.
7.)  Be able to function well in society.
8.) Learn time management.
9.) Develop discipline and a strong work ethic.

We feel that this list, if accomplished, will allow our children to become very successful adults (even if our version of success looks much different than mainstream society).

So now what my job is is to determine (with input from my kids and Bob) how we can best accomplish this. Is this best accomplished with book work? Is this best accomplished with volunteer work? Is this best accomplished with chores and tasks here at home? Is this best accomplished with child led learning? Is this best accomplished with distance learning?

I don't have the answers right now, but my goal is to have them soon. In the meantime we will continue on with our school year as we have been and enjoy our learning adventures as we have been.