For the “Home school is ruining my life” days

Tomorrow we have family arriving, and it makes me feel like “Ahhhh, peace.” I know things will be crazy around here, as the kids will be all excited, and there will be 8 people in the house, but the thing is that I am seriously in need of reinforcements! Some days I’m all about the home schooling. “Oh, sure. I think it’s great! I love it.” Then there are days like today, where I’m more like, “Home school is ruining […]

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One Does Not Simply Take Four Boys to the Beach

One does not simply take 4 boys to the beach

When we first moved to California, I was so EXCITED!!!  I live within 10 minutes of beaches, swimming pools, hiking, an aquarium, glory, glory, glory!!! This is going to be FUN. We are going to take exciting field trips all the time, I thought. We are going to be pros at this. The boys will get to see how the beach is different every time you go. We went to the store and purchased wet suits. We had BIG plans. […]

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What did I expect this beautiful mess to look like???

BOOM!! bounce bounce bounce The school day is done, and I was answering blog comments, and I heard this loud noise. Don’t worry. All is well. I ran to check it out. I scanned the front yard. No one there, but it sounded like someone had hit our house with a basketball!  Weird! Just then, Joshua barged in the back door and proudly proclaimed, “I just kicked a soccer ball OVER the roof! I’ll go get it!” Big boys. I […]

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I did try.

The day I tried to take sleepy JD to Joshua’s basketball game…. Today is Joshua’s very first basketball game. I would love to be there right now, cheering that boy on. Go, Joshua!!! Actually, I WAS there. I just didn’t get to stay for more than 5 minutes. John David still seems to be in charge of my schedule. We can try to pretend like our baby doesn’t run our schedule, but we’re really just kidding ourselves. “Oh, I can’t […]

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We are not polar bears. Don’t struggle alone.

Being a mom these days feels sort of like trying to accomplish the impossible. Clean the house, feed the people wholesome well-rounded meals, wash the clothes, make fun and elaborate lesson plans, teach the children, exercise, and still look beautiful for your husband when he gets home. Or maybe those are just my issues… As a stay-at-home mom, one can even be tempted to think that she must do all of this for herself, by herself. “I have no job […]

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Will Nap Anywhere

There are many things my beautiful little boys do well. Yes, I am sorry. I said beautiful.  They are!! Handsome, if it makes you feel better, but my goodness, they look like sleeping angels to me. This is one of the things we do with FLARE. That’s right. We NAP. We are seriously great nappers. I remember one time, in Sunday school, our class was debating rest on Sundays. Who would debate that? Seriously. Don’t just agree to rest, embrace […]

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Of course, Mom ends up packing everybody’s suitcase.

We are packing for a nine day trip. Don’t worry. No one can rob us. While we are gone, we have a house sitter, so I feel bold enough to share this. Who do you think does the packing in a house of five males and one woman?  Call me sexist, I don’t care. The answer is Me. I will naturally be handling this. Don’t short change Alan, though. If you haven’t figured this out yet, he does MOST of […]

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Book Review: Watching Seeds Grow

Every once in a while I manage to actually read a book. It honestly doesn’t happen that often. Jumping into my first year of home schooling with a 3rd grader, a 2nd grader, a 3 year old, and a one-year-old has proved to be QUITE the time consuming challenge. Therefore, any book that claims my time must offer something of value. This book, Watching Seeds Grow, “a guide to entrepreneurship for parents and children,” by Keith Greer and Peter Greer, […]

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Help! There’s a One Year Old in the Classroom!

 The morning hour was going extremely, unusually, unbelievably well today. No one was talking over anyone. No one was saying, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” No one hit anyone. There were no crayons in the floor. No one pooped in their pants. No one was sitting on top of the table. The room was almost silent. It was like the twilight zone. I told the boys, “Isn’t it nice in here? Wow. School would be so easy if it could always be […]

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Notes on Transitioning to Leading by Influence

My favorite points from chapter 2 of this book: 1. The second chapter includes a quiz to help you evaluate where your child currently stands in the scheme of things, on a scale from off-course all the way up to healthy and right on track.  The quiz did give me some ideas for things to work on and reassurance for what we do right. You’ll have to buy the book for that. 😉  Here’s the link to amazon. You’re welcome. […]

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