Mental Wrestling

There is something that has been on my mind lately. I've been thinking about homeschooling my kids. Now to some this might not be a big deal, but for me this is HUGE. And the reason why is because I have always been so very much against it. I have known enough teenagers that seemed "weird" and they were home schooled. AND we are in a school district we LOVE! AND I kinda love having some time to myself. AND the list goes on and on.

BUT...

I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about what God's design for our family might be. I can't stop wondering if God would want me to leave the education of my children in the hands of almost strangers. I can't stop thinking that if I was so against it before, but now I am falling in love with the idea.....is God trying to tell me something? Is He trying to get my attention? Would I really have such a HUGE change of heart if it wasn't God's doing?

I'm not really sure about all these things. And that is why I am wrestling. I am talking to people who homeschool. I am talking to people whose kids I admire and who also go to public school. I am reading books, searching blogs, and PRAYING. This would be a huge undertaking. This would totally change our lives. But I can't help but think, at this point, that it would make it better.

I have been so intrigued by several of the statements I have read as I have researched homeschooling. Here are a few of the ones that have been the most striking to me:

"Worst-case scenario: Our children don't understand physics, calculus, of Shakespeare or speak French as we would like them to by the time they leave home. What has been lost? Nothing of eternal value-nothing that can't be picked up later. But what if we don't ardently pursue the cultivation of their relationship with the Lord, what has been sacrificed? An opportunity we as parents will never have again."

"At age eight, Gabe became fascinated with flight. I didn't say, "well, be patient there, buddy; in fifth grade your science text will cover the physics of flight." No, we capitalized on the opportunity to study something when he was motivated to learn about it."

"Now let me ask you this: Where did you learn to appropriate social behavior? School? Where did you learn to appreciate folks who dress differently, act differently, think differently? School? Where did you learn proper etiquette? The high school cafeteria? Get the point?"

(all of these quotes are from "The ultimate guide to homeschooling" by Debra Bell)

We haven't made our final decision yet, but right now we are leaning toward homeschooling next year. Please pray for us as we pray about this huge decision.

Snowmaggedon 2011

Bolivar has been hit by the BIG one! We have had 23 inches of snow fall this last week. It has been an absolute blast. And to think I was worried that we wouldn't get snow this year now that we finally live in an area that could potentially get more snow than Memphis! HA! Boy was I wrong! We have been out of school for 4 days now and we are expecting more snow this weekend. What fun!

Friends "snuck over" and buried Rayden's car in the snow. We caught them half way through....let them finish....and then played outside with them the rest of the afternoon.
See that giant lump of snow.....that's our Mazda!

So much snow! God's creation is so very majestic!
After we were sufficiently frozen we came inside and had hot chocolate. We made spaghetti and grilled cheese sandwiches and hung out with sweet friends. Yes, that's right....we fed the very same people who only hours before heaved shovel loads of snow all over our car trapping it for days.

I just had to take a picture of Heather when they were getting ready to leave that night. She just looked so stinkin cute with her jammie pants tucked into her cowboy boots with a garbage bag full of snow clothes! What fun!

Science fair

BPS had their first ever science fair this year. Both of our boys chose projects (with a little guidance from mom and dad....otherwise we would have had two baking soda/vinegar volcanoes to build). Nathan chose to create different shaped bubble wands and see what shape of bubbles they produced. He learned about what a hypothesis was and also that ALL bubbles are circular (at least the ones we made were).

Kaleb opted for a research based project. He learned all about Saturn. We checked out books from the library and searched the web to find our information. We made a chart comparing Earth and Saturn, and Kaleb wrote a short story about an astronaut and his space travels to go along with his project.
We learned a lot from doing these projects. We not only learned about science, but we also learned about creating something that you are proud of....which I think is equally as, if not more, important as the book stuff.

After completing our projects we went to Science Night at the school to find them on display. We also got to take part in lots of science activities. It was jam packed with people....but we were still able to take our turn at things. We looked through microscopes. (Aubri couldn't close one eye so she covered it with her hand....so cute....and what a problem solver!)

We examined dead frog guts and other creepy crawlies. It was pretty cool....and yucky...all mixed together.
We also got to see animal skins, see a disected cow's eye, look at Jupiter through a telescope, and learn about germs and plaque. I had never thought about it before, but most science is pretty disgusting....perfect for little boys!

my karate kids

For Christmas this year we talked to grammy and grandad about getting the boys tae kwon do lessons. First of all we were trying to limit the amount of clutter coming into our home, but also we knew that they would really love this idea. They have begged for karate lessons for quite some time now.

The boys LOVE it. I am not totally head over heels with their instructor. I feel like they don't get a whole 30 minutes of work in because their is only 1 instructor and 7 kids. But, we're going try it a couple months and see how it goes. They couldn't be more thrilled....and that is really all that matters to me at this level int he game.

Texas....here we come!

The day after Christmas we piled in the car and headed straight for Dallas, Texas. Rayden was taking an intensive 5 day master's class and we decided we would all go and enjoy the adventure. Any chance I get to see the Hayes family I take...immediately! We spent time swimming in the hotel pool, watching movies, "going Bonkers", and enjoying a day at the site of the Texas state fair. There is a really cool aquarium there that allowed for a few hours of fun.

these albino alligators were the boys favorite. The alligators would follow their hands as they waved them around.
Isn't she a little angel?
Here we are touching a baby shark...
This shark was unreal....it kept moving in the water like a dolphin at Sea World.
Oh no! This giant octopus ate my boys!

It was an almost perfect day (rayden had to be in class so it falls into an "almost" perfect category because we were lacking his presence....had he been with us it would have been the best ever!)

a homemade Christmas

Right around the beginning of December Rayden was doing research for an upcoming message when he happened upon a statistic that (I forget the specific numbers) said that Americans spend more on Christmas than it would cost to provide clean drinking water for the entire world for a year. I was blown away! And conviction began to grow in my heart. So, this year we spent a lot less on Christmas so that we could give more to those in need. And one of the ways we accomplished that was by giving practical and homemade gifts. I made each kids a pair of pajamas from fabric that I already had in my stash. I also used extra scrap fabric to create I-spy bags. We also bought a ton of wood and got to work creating Aubri's big girl bed. And not just any big girl bed....a playhouse bed. We used plans we found on www.Ana-white.com. We were so so so happy with how it turned out. I even sewed little curtains for the playhouse window and Aubri's bedroom window from fabric I had bought ages ago.

Here's the view looking in to the door:
She's got her kitchen inside along with a shelf we made and hung.
I also spent the month of December hand stitching felt food for her kitchen. It is seriously about the cutest stuff I've ever seen. I am in love with it....perhaps teetering on obsession actually. I will be continuing to make more and more I am sure.

And we had enough would left over to do some stuff in the boys room. What better for these Wii-maniacs than a mario and luigi room. I dreamed up the idea, Rayden made it come to life, and I filled it in with color. We built shelf/boxes that open up to hide all kinds of secret treasures. We also used an overhead projector to trace all the characters from the game. The boys went C.R.A.Z.Y. when they saw it.
See how they open?