Does It Pay?

It looks like this is where I will be spending a bunch of my school year. This fall it will be Mon.-Thurs. afternoons and in the spring it will be Tues.-Fri. Meleah has been asking about Horseback riding lessons. Where do I put that?

Does It Pay? (Prayer, Homeschooling, Motherhood, ________)
I was reading a book about prayer and it said something that got me thinking about how great it is to have the relationship with God than to just seek Him to meet our need list. The author said we need to be more concerned with the presence than the presents from God.  The relationship got me thinking about my relationships with my kids. I think that relates to me as a Homeschooling Mom as well. It isn't about the GREAT moments or academic achievements as much as the actually being there and seeing your children overcome areas they struggle and be victorious or turning it into a strength. Being there to see the neat relationship that is growing and changing through the good and bad moments of each year.
 
As we start this school year I am overwhelmed with some proud mommy moments and felt the need to record them in a public way, as much for myself when I start feeling like I need to see some progress  as well as to share these cool experiences with my loved ones.

This year has started and in the crazy last minute planning and scheduling we have arranged and rearranged and I am looking forward to a crazy year even after removing as much of extra chaos as possible.
Cody will be taking an Algebra I class this year. It will be his 8th grade year but it will be able to count for high school credit. All along I thought he was on the lower level in math than he could be but it turns out something clicked this year and his scores according to the school district skyrocketed. It is also a more advanced Algebra I class so that also makes me proud. He is doing more independent school which makes me crazy because I don't know what he is doing all the time but also is a great relief that allows me to focus more of my time on Travis and Meleah and their school work. He came to me this afternoon asking for a notebook, his idea is to write down quotes that he wants to remember. I restrained myself from jumping up and down and screaming and replied with, "Sure, do you know where I put the new notebooks?" Yes! He has been keeping track of all his assignments in a planner and planning things out for himself. I am very thankful to see this step into independence. The sad thing, only a little sad, is that I only have about an 1/8th of an inch before he is the same height as I am. The added benefit, he is now the lifter when it comes to heavy things. He is stronger than I am for sure.

Travis surprised me this week. I started this school year determined to raise my expectations for Travis' writing abilities. He would do anything rather than write. When I said anything, I do mean ANYTHING. I am a pretty strong-willed person however and I started out the first week with a writing assignment for him. It was an observation he was supposed to do and record measurable things. I told him to go to his favorite place with a notebook, the pond,  and make some observations about frogs and toads that had to include descriptions and measurements.  I sent him with a timer set for one hour. (Important step for Travis, he needs reminders.) After the time was up he came back in and had four different notebook pages of descriptions about bull frogs, tadpoles, toads at various stages of development and their habits and jumping abilities as well as unusual things he noticed about them.  Sniff, sniff. Another YES!

Meleah has been so reluctant to read. I have danced with her all year pushing and backing off, trying anything to encourage her.  I was discouraged because her spring Reading Assessment for First grade showed that she read at October of First Grade. I know that she was nervous and had been able to read much better but somehow seeing those things written on paper made me feel horrible. On top of it all the subject was pointed out by friends, in Sunday School, and she even complained about it herself. All summer we worked on it and this week she is just reading so well. We read her first reading assignment and she was acting tired and so I said, "Why don't we stop and take a break for a minute? Is is too hard?" She answered, "Mom, I have to work hard if I am going to read."(I promise she floored me by the comment because I have been trying to not make any big deal of it.) She even asked to read some of the verses of the Proverb we read together as a family. She has been reading along with the songbook at church. I think she just "got" reading at a later time than my boys did. As we were organizing things for school she did the first four lessons in her math book the before we even started school. She loves math. I am encouraged by her determination.

This year I decided that to cut out some of our running around and we would do a family gym class at home. We have been doing Crossfitkids.com workouts for the last 15 days, that doesn't include any Sundays. I know that has been a stress reliever for me too. I laugh at myself so much when trying to do all the things that are part of the workout. I think the kids sure enjoy "helping" mom stay active and encouraging me to do Burpees and pull ups. I enjoy being able to see that part of them too. They are fast kids.  I did beat Cody in a 50m sprint, but that is only because he wasn't paying attention. :)

My quote for the week has been:
You need at least four hugs a day for survival, eight hugs for maintenance, and twelve hugs for growth. Have you had your hug today? Dr. DeWit Williams

I know that there will be ups and downs throughout my year but for now I am SO very thankful to be my kid's mom, to be there for all these YES! moments, to be able to see them grow towards independence and to hug them everyday...at least 12 times. (Meleah tells me not to hug her 12 times because she wants to stay little but I do it anyway.)

Does it pay?  It does in relationships, in moments that I could never plan, in hugs, and the memories I will always have in my heart.