Monday

My Monday started with crying kids that didn't want to go to school. When I dropped them off they realised they had forgotten their book bags at home. So I had to drive home and get them.

I thought a good workout would help with a bumpy morning, but the parking lot was completely full so I had to turn around and return home. I got a call from my son about a permission form so I went to my computer to email his teacher. The computer wouldn't recognize the mouse. So I went to another computer and it wouldn't pull up the website, so I called the school and left a message hoping that will work. 

 I wasn't giving up on trying to make the day go well so I dressed the kids in the best Christmas stuff I could find and loaded them back in the car.
On the car ride they got a hold of a pen and drew on themselves and their clothes. I turned around and gave up on the idea of Santa pictures.

Its only eleven o'clock maybe the day day change.

Support

It was so nice to have the kids home with me this Thanksgiving week. But sending them to school Monday I fell apart again. I feel like my life goal of being the best mom I can be has been taken from me.
I had this ideal of a stay at home mom, homeschooling, and making things with my hands.
What I didn't realize is I needed to have a support group. I didn't seek groups to help with with the huge job of raising kids.
Moms that stay home need outlets and support. If you are Homeschooling is so much more need to hear from others that are going through the challenges and faced everyday.
I'm grateful for my husband always encouraging me to seek help, but I never sustained the connection because of the work load, it is so easy to get too busy.

I think about writing often, adding a little, but I'm always stumped by what to say.
Most days are pretty much like the day before. Lots of mess and noise and complete chaos!
But when I get past the emotions of it all, I can list the positives of my job.
I gave up career, friends and body (lol) to be here every minute for my kids. Its always been so important to me that I need to be there for the kids. Watch them discover new things

You know, I have continued to struggle with sending my kids to school. I feel demoted from Vice President to mail clerk! My hubby thinks its an identity problem.
I've lost my primary job, or more truthful, gave it up. I have to continue to remind myself what reasons I send them to school and I need to focus on new goals.
.........to be cont.........kids are too noisey to think!!

Ideals

If you could picture your ideals what would they be?
How close are you to them? Or how far away from reality?

Changes

Change is never easy. Especially when it effects everything and everyone.
My health had slowly declined over the last few years. But I ignored it as long as I could, right up to the birth of my seventh child. Then I guess the body was too tired.
My 2011 year was spend in doctors and hospitals but I still tried to homeschool my older four kids . But I knew I was not doing what they needed. I was stressed and the school work was not going well.
The hardest decision was saying I cant homeschool anymore. Though it tore me apart I wanted to make the best decision for everyone.
I was depressed the first month of school, crying because I felt like such a failure.
Trusting God with this move was a huge trial. I hid it from most people, embarrassed to admit that I had to stop doing what I believed to be the right thing for my kids. It was the responses from those that believe homeschooling is the only choice, that i feared and that they would think Im a terrible mom. I know ive thought that of myself, that i should have found more strength or grace to do what i still think is the ideal place for kids, home.
Im going through blood test still, it may be that I have a mild case of Lupus, so getting better isnt in the cards, just management of the symptoms.
My lesson in this is to find the priorities. Being mom and loving my kids is far more important then where they go to get an education. So thats where my heart is now, pouring my love and support over my little ones.

New phone and blogging

Going to try blogging from a phone! I always have it with me, just hard to type ;)

PCOS

My fight with PCOS has been a long battle and it effects my family and loved ones.

I used to think I had a depression problem but its my body releasing different hormones that affect me.

I am fine one day and then the next day my mood would be depressed and unmotivated. I'll have days that I feel "normal" and then a day that I'm angry and everything is stressful and frustrating.

On my good days I try to do as much work as possible, just to captilize on the energy I have. Then on my bad days I try change something up. Take the kids to the park, or do something fun. Its not always easy to get away from the house when there is seven little people needing care and schooling, so when I can get out, I do!

The biggest culprit is food. If I dont eat a meal I can be come very frustrated and agitated. Its worse if I eat the wrong thing, sugars and some carbs can cause a topsy turvy day. Sugars can either pull me up for awhile and make me feel happy or they can make me feel aggitated, but the drop after the sugar high is worse. It almost always makes me feel angry.

Another affect of PCOS is that it can effect my appearance. Most woman are concerned about appearances. As woman we worry about our hair, skin and weight. Pcos causes my skin to have achne problems and my hair slowly thins out more, losing hair everyday.

Being Insulin Resistant I can gain weight very easily, actually my body seems to like doing that more then using energy to function. I can have times of feeling very tired and gain a lot of weight. Even eating right and exersizing doesnt help alone. I have learned I need Metformin to help my body process food. I couple that with eating the right diet for my body and doing vigorous exersize.

This new life style has helped with all my symptoms and even helped even out my mood. My husband has been very supportive of my life style change. He participates in my diet and exersize program. And he is a lot better and sticking to things then I am. He has been my motivator, trainer and coach. I am very grateful for all his efforts and perseverance.

Learning styles

Every child is born bursting with personality. It amazes me how different they are from the minute I hold them for the first time. And so it follows that children learn in different ways.

One student may need a lot of visuals and need one on one tutoring, while another student can read material alone and grasp the concepts needed to go forward in the subject.

My daughter needs a lot of time with me explaining her math and sciences, and she learns better with visuals. My son on the other hand can be given a book, notebook, pencil and a quiet place to learn to read and understand the material alone.

Sometimes finding what works best for the student takes trying different methods. There is no right way or wrong way to homeschool. Thats why I like homeschooling, it really is taylored to the student not to a group.

Date your Spouse

Remember all the work you put into your relationship at the beginning. All the calls, notes and planning time together. During the time you spend together you focused on having fun together not the list of life's responsibilities.
Every relationship takes work! We need to date our spouse, let them know you enjoy time with them. Let them know the positive things you see in them, the things you like about them. Dont assume they know! When you make your spouse number one again, the fights get fewer and easier to overcome. The ditches along the way dont destroy your happy home because your marriage is so much more then house, kids and work.

Wonderful Hubby!

My husband helped work on the layout of my blog!
And now it looks amazing

A lesson I keep having to learn is that young children need A LOT of positive reinforcement. When I tackle school as a task it lands up being very stressful. The kid moans and fights the work and I land up with a headache. This morning I looked for positive things to say even when my 6yr old was fussing about the page he needed to work on. After a few positive points about what a great job he does, and what a great reader he is, he started working and then added more spelling to his task to show me what he can do.

On a difficult road at the moment!
Doc says I need to lose weight to control my Insulin Resistence. Thankfully the doc put me on Metformin which helps my body to process food better.
Since I started this med I have lost 10 pounds :) But it is hard work. I have a low carb diet and have vigorous workouts

What does your school room look like? I picture students working quietly in an organized school room, but that does not seem to fall together for me most days. I have two students in a quiet place, but the other three I set up around the dining room table. Give them work to do and deal with all the complaints: " I dont want to do this!", " She took my pencil." "thats too much work!". When I have a morning like that I wonder if they are learning enough, but I'm grateful for tests that show they are getting it!! I have to remind myself why I homeschool. Their character and well being is far more important then a clean house and a quiet classroom :D