Today while I had all the boys busy with handwriting I could tell Miss K wanted to be involved too. I gave her an old workbook and a pencil and boy did she feel like an official homeschooler. It’s so funny how her whole demeanor changed when she felt she was doing what her big brothers were. 
Friends
During my mother/son Washington DC trip with Joey we had the pleasure of spending some time with friends that are in the military and lived near us about 4 years ago. I just LOVE military mothers! They pull into town and before they have even unpacked their things they are involved in EVERYTHING and have met half the c
ity. They waste no time getting to know people and building close relationships. The kind of relationships that last forever not the surface level ‘So what do you do?’ type. Well, that’s what happened with these friends. They have moved away and have kept in touch. We do not talk regularly but when we talk we pick up right where we left off. We are real/ transparent with one another. No one is trying to impress the other. We encourage and pray together. I LOVE IT! It was sweet to see the two boys do the very same thing. They picked up right where they left off. I am so thankful for this example of friendship and for their willingness to open their home up to us while we were there. Such a treat!
While they sleep
Today is one of those ordinary days. We had our co-op followed by a busy afternoon of appointments and sports. We are one van down today but the Lord worked out the details of the day and we made it to everything without a problem. We had a nice dinner out of In-and-Out Burger (which is rare for a family our size) followed by an hour or so of me reading to the kids before bed. While I sat on the floor of my children’s bedroom (that’s right–all 4 are in one room–we LOVE IT and so do they) leaned against the wall reading I can see out of my peripheral vision my husband laying on the floor cuddled up with our 2 year old. I see her sliding up to his nose and kissing him and backing up to do it again and again. When I stopped after a chapter of reading it was my 2 year old that asked for more. It was sweet. I’m not sure if she wanted me to read more or snuggle more with Dad. I am going with BOTH! Once the time was up we were met with some resistance to go to bed but nothing major. The boys talked softly amongst themselves for about 15 minutes and then we cut them off to ensure a full nights rest. My husband and I enjoyed a leisure evening (which is rare) of watching TV and popcorn. He headed off to bed promptly at 10 while I continued to finish the show I was watching. Afterwards I turn off the TV and am struck with the blessed reality that I am a MOM and I have FOUR children and they are peacefully sleeping under our care by the grace of God. It’s overwhelming to fathom. I think I have my head down and eye on the busy day to day activities that so often I forget about how blessed I am and what precious gifts I have laying in the other room (I count my husband in those gifts obviously). I feel so unworthy of such an honor and grateful for the opportunity. These are the special thoughts/moments that I want to capture on this journey of motherhood.
MY FIRST ENTRY…WHAT AM I DOING?
After some thinking I have decided it might be fun to keep track of this journey I’m on as a homeschool mommy. I realized that I have already forgotten so much from when my oldest, who is now 9, was an infant. I remember it was hard adjusting to motherhood. I had my own business and was busy meeting with people all of the time, spent many days out to lunch getting to know people from the wedding industry and socializing with friends. It was tough to be home with very little interaction with adults and limited ability to talk on the phone, always felt dirty, tired, and alone. I remember that. But there was a lot of wonderful moments and firsts too! It’s hard for me to remember things like: when I go to my parents house I am so thankful they had a [fill in the blank], what my emotions were like at each stage (cause boy was I a whirlwind), what things were like the FIRST time, and what my favorite moments were. So I am hoping that I can keep track of the little details here. It’s mostly just for me. It could be for me when I am older and my kids are having children. I would like to look back on what I have written on this blog and be a sympathetic, helpful, compassionate mother-in-law. It would be nice as a mother to know how to best support my adult children simply by remembering what that stage of life was like. I am hoping these words will jog my memory when the time comes. I plan to post photos and just write. If you want to come along side me…maybe share your encouraging words and support along the way…WELCOME!!! For those that may follow…this is NOT a parenting advice blog and in no way am I trying to teach people. In fact, maybe I can learn some helpful tips from you.
Mama Moos Academy…why?
Our homeschool name is not officially Mama Moos Academy. In fact we belong to a public homeschool charter school so we haven’t had the pleasure of naming our school thus far.
When we are out and about people will ask the children “Where do you go to school”? and they will look at me with head tilted to the side like a confused puppy as if to say ‘what are we suppose to say’? One time I said “Mama Moos Academy” to be cute and then explained to the person that we school at home and Moos is our last name. My kiddos must have thought it was cute because they say it whenever someone asks us. I can see why they like it…it has a bit of a ring to it wouldn’t you say?
When I decided to start writing this blog I needed a title for it and Mama Moos Academy was the first thing that popped into my head so I went with it. Haha!
Bonding through the glass
At our church the playground is next to the 2 year olds classroom. The window overlooks the playground. Every time I am teaching and we go out to the playground I see little 2 year olds glued to the window hoping they will see their big brother or sister outside. Isaac loves to go up to the window and give high fives to Kathryn. Look at her face! She is loving it.
They are so in love
Isaac and Kathryn are two peas in a pod. Kathryn calls Isaac “my boy”. He will do the cutest things to make her smile. Today he helped her put bows in her hair and joined in the fun by putting them all over his head. Here’s a few special pics of this moment.
Of course afterwards I got a little jealous of all the fun and asked if they wouldn’t mind doing my hair as well! They immediately said “YES!” Here’s my do…
Major life lesson here
So on our last day of my fantasy vacation with my oldest son we get a flat tire. We were on our way to Washington DC on the freeway early in the morning (because we wanted to get to the Washington monument by 8am to get tickets). On the second day of our trip we tried to get tickets and found out the monument was closed because of a broken elevator. I was bummed and assumed that we wouldn’t get to go. Well, I realized that on our last day if we got up early and picked up tickets (and got an early slot) we might get to go after all. I was hopeful and thought what a fun way to end our trip. Cruising on the freeway I noticed the low tire pressure warning light but didn’t consider it an emergency. Well the tire went flat and I quickly pulled over. I went from…THIS STINKS!…then WOW how awesome that a highway service man just drove up and is changing my tire for free (in like 5 minutes without me calling anyone)…. then worry about how much the rental car place would charge me….to let’s go to the monument and forget about this whole flat tire fiasco–we can deal with it later…. to…hey, we have plenty of time to call several places about tires… drove to two places get a new tire… made it to the rental place early….got the tire paid for by the rental place afterall….and lastly to the airport early! I ended the day with an overwhelming feeling of gratefulness for all the ways the Lord was teaching me and provided for me.
My take away is 1. Pay attention to the warning lights. 2. God can use all things for my good and His glory!
Make a list & reduce idle time
In an attempt to reduce frustration (tantrums) and enjoy our day overall more I have been trying new things. A couple things that are working well… #1. A check list for school work (seen on the white board in the back). # 2. Reducing the amount of idle time between tasks. We are seeing a HUGE difference. The check list really helps keep the kids on task and to give them a clear idea of what they have done (which seems to encourage them) and what they have left to do before free play time. I know this is not rocket science…but I am just now using it with the kids (keep in mind they haven’t been reading long, Silas is still learning). When I speak of idle time I am referring to the time between school tasks. We still have a short snack break (like 15 min) and a lunch break (about 30 min). I will try to keep posting what I am finding to help our day run smoother so on days that maybe aren’t going so well I can refer to my “helps” tags on this blog. This is in NO WAY advice on how to homeschool but rather a log of my journey of homeschooling and mothering and I want to keep track of what I find to be helpful to our days. If you have little things you do that help your day I would love to read about them in the comment section. I’m always up for suggestions.
PS–I love that Silas and Isaac are sitting the same way doing their work with bow ties (they decided to wear them all on their own). Cuties!
The benefits of going to Disneyland every week
We have annual passes to Disneyland this year because a very generous family gave them to us as a gift! So we decided to go every week. One day a week (usually Wednesday) we take a break from schooling, emails, phone calls, appointments, and sports to be together at what is known as the happiest place on earth. It’s been such a blessing to me. Here’s a few of the benefits I have come to appreciate.
- For a homeschool mom, who is their teacher 40 hours a week, it is nice to spend some time playing. I work weekends and there is sports and other activities that seem to fill up our afternoons. This has been wonderful for us to have a mid week break from school where we can just enjoy each other.
- Break from technology–I am referring mostly to me. When I am at Disneyland I just want to be with the children. At home I find myself in between subjects, during snack break checking FB and emails…it’s nice to just be with the kids. I will still take a picture here and there and post them online but that’s just it…I do not linger.
- Siblings are bonding riding together and sharing favorites and simply having to stick together and watch out for one another so we don’t leave someone behind.
- We listen to classic literature for 2 hours on the way there in the car.
- On the way home my oldest son likes to talk to me and I have found this to be the BIGGEST BLESSING! Uninterrupted time for him to tell me anything he wants while the other kids sleep.
- Practice in social settings using our manners (holding gates/doors, letting smaller children go first, not fussing, riding rides that might be too young but having fun, waiting while certain people go on rollercoasters).
- Practice self control. With all the yummy smelling foods at Disneyland we would break the bank if we did not exercise some self control. We bring all of our food to keep the cost of going regularly affordable.
I will say that much of this you could do without buying Disneyland Annual passes. We would love to get a lifetime membership but its not in the budget. We plan to continue field trips to far away fun places within driving distance weekly when our passes expire.
I will post my favorite Disneyland memories in another post. I just wanted to remember here why I love going regularly!
mama moos academy 