Busier Than a Bee

Busy bee - that's me!

I find that I thrive with challenge. I love a good challenge - I feel like it keeps me on my toes.  Very few things in life have really felt like a challenge. Most things I've done have been fun, but not as difficult as I would have imagined or challenged me much.

There are a couple exceptions to that rule....

1) Parenting.
Parenting is, by far, the hardest thing I've ever done..the most challenging, but also the most rewarding of course. I know that sounds like a total cliche, but it's so true!  If anything makes me doubt myself, my abilities, and want to try harder and harder - it's parenting. Parenting five boys, parenting a bunch of kids, and parenting difficult children are daily (no, hourly) challenges.

2) Working + College + Training + Homeschooling + Parenting
My newest challenge I have taken on may be my second most difficult challenge I've ever attempted!  If you thought going back to school as a mom of several kids was hard, think again. I'm feeling lately a bit like a juggler who keeps tossing on more and more balls. However, instead of feeling overwhelmed - I feel recharged, rejuvenated, and excited. As I said, I have discovered that challenge doesn't stress me out but rather peps me up.  OF course, I'm not going to put on a mask and pretend like things are all hunky dory...  There ARE times of stress. There are times of overwhelming feelings. There are times of doubt and "am I doing this right"?  However, those times are overshadowed by the good feelings, the happy moments, and the excitement of a good challenge.

So here's been my life, in a nutshell, the past month.
My husband and I decided that it was time for him to stay at home with the kids, while I worked. I wasn't quite done with my schooling, however, but I figured I could work while finishing school.
Then I made some changes in my education plan and added a second major, and a minor. This keeps my graduation ceremony date the same, but extends my classes out another quarter. No big deal, right?

And THEN I got the job. I was super ecstatic to hear of this job and actually be offered it! It would be a challenge, but as I said, I love challenges. I would be taking on a brand new preschool/kindergarten class within a Montessori school. I have a passion for education and I've loved teaching my own kids (homeschooling off and on the past few years). I also have tons of experience with 3-6 year old children of course. I also had familiarity with the Montessori method and my values and educational beliefs aligned perfectly with it.  Further, I was willing to go through training to become certified as a Montessori guide.

So now, where I'm at is that I have two quarters left of school (a school year, will be done June of next year) still full time (online). I am training to be certified as a Montessori teacher at the same time (online also), and I'm working in a new classroom. My free time is spent with my family, doing classes, training, and lesson planning or record keeping for my class. Whew! I love it! I just wish there were more then 24 hours in a day...(or that I could operate on less sleep).

I do look forward to when my classes and training are done, however. Being able to just focus on working and my family will be amazing! :)

SO..if you were wondering where I've been - that's we're I've been!

Fundraiser Time!

Hello!

UPDATE: Fundraiser closed, but I've opened a Go Fund  Me account to keep track of our goal and to make it easier for out of town friends and family to donate.

Here is the link for that!!



-----------------

I am not one to do fundraisers, like ever, so this is new to me. However, my son Owen desperately wants to go on a school trip to Washington DC! He's very excited!  As an effort to raise money, his grandmother kindly donated one of her own handmade pieces of artwork as a raffle item.  (Pictured below)
This is a 14" tall and 6" wide piece of glass and mirror with a giant iron/metal lizard on it it. :) Owen picked this out especially for his fundraiser.

Please help Owen get to Washington DC next year. He is attending through the World Strides program. We have a trip ID and confirmation if anyone would like to see proof of the trip. There may be an option to donate directly to the trip account on World Strides as well, but I will have to look into how to do that.

 I'm putting the price per raffle ticket at $5 - buy one or as many as you'd like.  I have several methods for donation: we can do Paypal, check, or cash. Paypal will accept major debit/credit cards. If using Paypal, you can send money to our address: snipsnsnails5@yahoo.com
When you donate via Paypal, make sure to choose "send money to friends or family" OR "GIFT" -otherwise it will tax me. :(

I'm not sure how well I could ship this - it is fairly heavy. However I'm sure it could be done! I would have to charge a little for shipping, but if win and you aren't local then we can figure out the best way to get it to you!

Lastly, I'm running this raffle for four weeks for maximum visibility. :)  Please share share share and consider donating! I will be putting each person's name on a raffle ticket every time they donate. At the end of the four weeks I will video tape Owen drawing a name out of the bucket to be sure it's all fair and legit.

Drawing date will be July 8th by 10am Pacific time.

Thank you so much!!

You can't force something that just doesn't fit...

Education is not one-size-fits-all.Everyone learns in different ways, and that is a scientifically proven fact. So why is our public schools - in general - rigid in how they teach children? Some children may excel and flourish in that type of setting. I have a couple children who do very well with the teaching and learning methods at public school.

Then I have those who don't...

I have a child who's learning style is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole...it just doesn't fit.

I'm tired of trying to pound him into fitting the public school mold. It doesn't work for him. The only thing it's doing is destroying his confidence and self-esteem. How fun is learning if everyday is just more stress and pressure to sit completely quiet and still or else risk constant discipline and being labeled a difficult student/child?  What does that do to someone's self-worth?

I knew it was finally time to readdress things when my son continually called home from school at least once a week with various complaints of  headaches and stomach aches. He admitted later that he was never sick, but that he can just concentrate better at home. Not to mention that the stress of having to always focus on sitting still gives him anxiety (thus the stomachaches and headaches..)

Why keep pushing things? Who or what is it helping?

Thankfully we live in a time when there are so many other educational options. There is traditional homeschooling, unschooling, online/cyber schooling, eclectic homeschooling, classical homeschooling, and so on and so on.   My current plan is to enroll him in an online school for the remainder of this school year. His academic progress and goals will be supervised by a certified teacher as well as his curriculum and testing. We can then evaluate where we are at the end of the school year and what works best for him beyond that.

The bottom line is that I'm responsible for my child's education - every parent is.  I can't worry about what others might say or think, but only what is best for my child. And right now...he's drowning. I can't sit back and watch him struggle anymore...

Check back next week for more updates and holiday fun! I'm in my last week of school myself for this year, so I hope to pick back up with the blog again over break. :)

Summer fun picture overload!

Its been awhile since I updated! We've been busy this summer so far.  Its been a fun summer!

So here is my update, in pictures....

First we had the end of school year picnic for the boys' homeschool "school". Here is Gabe pretending to sleep on the playground.

There was a watermelon eating contest too. Here is Owen with his best bud.

Alex got to set off his rocket he made during rocket class as well.

3...2...1....

Lift off!

But I actually missed Alex's launch so here is another kid's rocket launch. Pretty cool!

Next we went camping! Fun times!

Gabe giving grandma a flower. :)

Gabe standing on the same rock his grandma got a picture of his daddy doing at two also.

The roaring creek!

Not Alex's catch, but he was still proud of it!

No more pictures please!!

A pan full of creek fish and blue gill.

The big fish daddy caught with two little creek fish.

Gabe LOVED the spicy Dorrito chips with Tapatio! Crazy kid. lol

As we were leaving, I caught this great photo of a momma deer and her baby.

Next we had some fun in Cashmere at their annual ping pong ball drop. You catch these ping pong balls from the sky and win prizes. fun fun!

Billy Jr. waiting for the helicopter with his basket on his head!

Nana's idea to catch more ping pong balls!

Here they come!

And more!

Finally we spent a fun afternoon playing in the water this week.