Happy Birthday, Buddy!

Yesterday we celebrated Jon's birthday. Jon is much more subdued about his birthday celebrations. I trumpet my birthday for months ahead of time, declare 2-days of celebrations, and am probably a bit of a pill when putting in my order for a perfect birthday. He, on the other hand, is content to let it sneak up on everyone, and carry on the day as usual. His birthday did sneak up on me, but we did celebrate with a cook out and ToDieFor brownie sundaes. He even put off mowing our ridiculously long grass for another day.

Happy Birthday, Buddy! You may or may not read this, but I'm declaring to the whole internet (or just the 6 or so people who read this) that your girls love you. I hope you had a good 31st birthday! (No, 31 doesn't sound old to me, but neither does 75 these days!)

In a momentary lapse of judgment, I did not snap any photos of the day. A photo of Jon posing during a recent backpacking trip will have to do.

A Little R&R

I was unsure how vacationing with two children, one husband, and two parents would go. I'm sure they were all concerned about vacationing with an emotional and sleep-deprived Mari as well. Things went exceptionally well. I could not have asked for more relaxation, more fun, more quality time--more anything. It was TERRIFIC, as Eleanor would say.


Instead of gushing too much, I'll share a few shots for the memory books blog. It's worth noting we saw several instances of dangerous marine life during our stay. The stingrays were out and about on their annual mating tour. We saw dozens of them early in the morning and late in the evening. But, on the third day they vanished. I'm not sure where they went, but I wish them well. On the day the stingrays disappeared, we saw not just one, but TWO sharks. Yes, I'm positive they were sharks. The second shark cleared the water, and everyone on the beach made a big spectacle of following him down the coast. They weren't big sharks, but yikes! A few jellyfish also made an appearance, but they seem less noteworthy after the stingrays and sharks.

I'm already planning and anticipating our return to the beach next year!

Look closely. Can you spots the stingrays? 

Eleanor was too excited to hold still for mom to snap a pic.

Our little sand queen. What a trooper!

Our castle by the sea.

Another turning point...

....a fork stuck in the road  
Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go 
So make the best of this test and don't ask why  
It's not a question but a lesson learned in time
 
It's something unpredictable but in the end is right 
I hope you had the time of your life

Good Riddance by Green Day 

I love Green Day. This song always makes me nostalgic, and nostalgia seemed to be the theme of my weekend as I prepared for and celebrated my 10-year reunion with classmates. The Bolivar High School class of 2003 reunited for a fun evening of visiting and laughter. The atmosphere was casual and the wine flowed. I had a GREAT time, and I hope everyone else did, too.

 

I know I'm fortunate to have fond high school memories. Not everyone does, and for that, I'm sorry. It's easy to look back and see that we weren't as grown up as we thought we were. It's also easy to see that so many of moved on and grown up. I enjoyed visiting with people I didn't know well in high school. I really hope it's not another 10 years before I see these people again.

 

No, we didn't meet in high school, but I couldn't leave him at home!

If I had my scanner handy, I'd share a very similar picture that was taken ten years ago. We have all changed a lot in ten years, but we're still good friends. I love these ladies with all my heart. (Emily, me, Kendra, Lindsey)

 

 I didn't go to high school with Katie, either, BUT she married someone I went to high school and she was at my wedding (which makes it really easy to know how long we've been friends). She helped arranged this great event, and I think she's pretty neat, too.

 

Classmates + significant others

 

A little perspective

I'm a little behind in the blogging department--story of my life. Although I'm nearly two weeks late on mentioning anything at all, I didn't want to let my first Mother's Day as a mom of two go unmentioned.

This year was the first year Eleanor could really participate in Mother's Day. She signed cards for her grandmas and she was adamant that she and Jon make me breakfast in bed.  She told me she loved me a dozen times. It was all very sweet.

I get the perspective of writing this days after the devastating Oklahoma tornadoes. I got to hug my children on Mother's Day, and those Mom's did, too. But some of them won't get to next year, and that breaks my heart. After having kids, I feel like I'm part of the Moms Club. Moms have a connection with other mothers everywhere. We all say we can't imagine the pain those mothers are going through, but we can imagine it, and that's what makes it so real. So vivid. So devastating. Maybe I can't feel the entirety of their pain (because I don't want to pretend I know what they're going through), but I can imagine losing my girls. I try not to imagine it, though.

I know we all hugged our families a little closer this week after such a tragedy.

Today, I am heartbroken for the mothers without their babies, for the babies without their mothers, and for the families who lost loved ones.

To homeschool or not to homeschool

To homeschool or not to homeschool has been a topic of conversation in our home since Eleanor was born in 2008. The inclination to homeschool has been on my heart even before that, but I figured the notion would be fleeting. I planned to work full-time, and neither Jon nor I were homeschooled. But, the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, as the saying goes. The more I have seriously considered and lived with the idea of homeschooling, the more comfortable I am with our decision and the more I know it is the right decision for us.

Eleanor has always been a little crazy about her books and how they are organized. And OH! that pacifier. There was never a child who loved a pacifier more than Eleanor.

We have met some resistance from friends and family, but I think it's important to follow in the direction that we feel is best for our family. We've also had a lot of support from some, and that has been truly appreciated.

Why are we homeschooling, you might ask? We have several reasons, but those reasons do not include general dissatisfaction with public schools. My degree is in secondary education, and by all accounts, I should be teaching science. Jon and I also had very memorable public educations and harbor no ill-will toward it. Some of my best memories were made in school. I value school teachers. I value school as an institution. I happily support the public school system by paying my property taxes with a giving heart. We are not homeschooling because we are afraid. Given the current climate of school shootings and school violence, I think student safety is in the back of everyone's mind, but I refuse to make a choice to homeschool based on fear.

Instead, we are homeschooling because I want to personalize Eleanor's (and her siblings') education. I want to learn with her and help her develop her strengths and her interests. I also want to spend my days with my kids. I enjoy my kids as people (so far), and don't want the best of their days spent away from me. I am also drawn to the flexibility. I get to plan and dictate our days. We can take Fridays off, learn through the summer, visit a park or museum--whatever works best for us. And, I guess that's the bottom line. It's about what works best for us. I like that. If, at any point, it stops working for us, we will re-evaluate. It's that easy.

Her fuzzy head makes me a bit weepy. I loved her hair, and her intensity for anything new and exciting. She was a challenging toddler.

The biggest argument against homeschooling I hear is "what about socialization?" What about it? Those who ask that question really must not think much of our parenting, or know much about our schedule.  Teaching Eleanor social graces and making sure she has proper outlets to develop relationships with peers is always at the forefront of our parenting decisions. The beauty of homeschooling is I have a little more control over with whom and WHERE she socializes at this young and tender age. Even before school has started, Eleanor is involved. It's just her personality. She plays with kids her own age, she is involved in age-appropriate activities, and she is social. If you're comparing her or us to some idea of a stereotyped homeschooled child, I ask you to re-examine your stereotype and become more informed about homeschooling. If you still can't see that it really will be OK, that's fine. We can agree to disagree.

If you think homeschooling will make my kids weird, I ask you to consider that they might have been weird before we decided to homeschool :) I mean, most of my readers have met me. I'm a little weird. Jon is a little weird. It is only fitting that our children would be a bit weird regardless of where they go to school.

So, this is the why. More on the how I plan to implement homeschooling for our family to follow. 

My sweet, sweet girl.

Fill-you-in #14

On this last and beautiful day of April, I've carved out a piece of time type up a blog post. Blogging has been a rarity lately because I was working furiously to finish up a marketing project, and then last week, when things should have slowed down, pneumonia hit Eleanor hard. In between caring for my sweet, sick girl, and trying to keep my other sweet girl healthy, it just didn't happen.

This week is another busy one, but it's full of fun. We have three soccer games this week to make up for last week's never-ending rain storm, three "lessons" for Eleanor, two book clubs, a hair cut and dinner with a friend, and a partridge in a pear tree a full hummingbird feeder. Yesterday, we had a few "firsts". I went to the SHEM (homeschool) convention in Springfield last weekend, we visited a homeschooling group for the first time, and Eleanor had her first piano lesson. Both went well, and I might write more on homeschooling later.

I've read lots of good books lately, and have a reviews coming for Beautiful Ruins and The Bell Jar. I've been notified by the library that The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Fault in Our Stars are waiting for me. When it rains, it pours! And, I'm starting to notice that the library's wait list NEVER takes as long as anticipated.

We wrapped up Game of Thrones Season 2, and oohhh was it good. I'm all geared up to read book #4 as soon as I can work it in. Rarely does a tv series or movie meet my expectations after I've read the book, but GoT does an excellent job. I don't even tell Jon he needs to read the book instead of watch the show :) I've been wanting to pick back up with Mad Men, too. I'm only on season 2.

Here's to a good week, friends! We're off to enjoy the weather before it gets COLD!

Fill-You-In #13

I might as well start calling these posts "Insta-XX". I stopped hauling around the real camera, and have been snapping my entire life with Instagram. It's just so convenient and filters make everything prettier.

Wehad a great week. We weathered the cold and rain at the beginning of the week with tumbling and soccer practice. The end of the week gave way to visits with grandmas (on both sides), a coffee date with a good friend for me, an early morning soccer game followed by a monster-breakfast at Smith's Restaurant, and a joint birthday party for two brothers (Calvin and Nolan). I slowed things down today to nap, play outside, work a little marketing magic, read, run, and get ice cream cones at "old McDonald's". The quiet spring rain seems like fitting way to end the day. A BIG thumbs down to the impending rain and (relative) cold. The week in pictures (from Instagram):

You might have noticed that Eleanor has been flashing us some very awkward smiles and poses. Getting her to look right at the camera is a tall order. I have no patience for it, and the awkwardness is reminiscent of her phase.

Books: I finished Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Watership Down this week.. Both books were great! Watership is easily one of my favorite books. It was sooo good. If you haven't read it, go read it. It's an adventure that just happens to be an adventure of bunnies, but it's so much more than a book about bunnies. I may never look at rabbits the same, though. Reviews coming soon. I just started Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walters.

No TV, no crafts. Just work.

Memorable moments: Eve stuffing her feet in her mouth melts my heart. She's still trying sooo hard to crawl.

Watching Eleanor struggle to climb a tree with her twiggy arms (pun intended) in a dress cracked me and the neighbors up. On a less heart warming note, I nearly blinded Eleanor today. She was peacefully watching TV and the mood struck to rough her up a bit (I think I get this mood from my father). I intended to throw a small toy at her to get her to howl. Throw I did. The toy landed right under her left eye. It left a little scratch and caused instantaneous bawling. Mom of the year award right here! If you see Eleanor this week, ask her what happened to her eye. I'm sure she'll make me look great ;) I am very thankful that her wound is just a scratch and not a lost eye. I nearly bawled along with her. New commandment: Mom shalt not throw toys. I've always had terrible aim. Thank God children are forgiving.

Peace be with you!
Mari