Homeschooling: Week Three

Addy started art classes on Monday, she is a natural. She did a good job following directions and sharing. She is excited to go back, and I’m excited to watch her grow. 
When it comes to actual book work, she is a wiz kid! She loves math, and writing. Nathanael is never far away, and Addy has started to pretend she is the teacher and Nate is the student. It has been really sweet. Nathanael participates in the crafts, sight word practice and the Alphabet songs. 

Today Addy flew threw her work as soon as she woke up so we went with my mom to Spicers Orchard. This to me is one of the best parts of homeschooling, the freedom to get work done early and go on adventures. The kids had a great time playing, feeding goats, and picking out a donut (a must when at Spicers!) 

Glitter! The sight of that word usually brings great joy, or great terror. I personally go back and forth a lot. Celebrations, decorations, and small accents bring me tons of joy, my kids painting last night, well not so much. Addy loves arts and crafts, so I pick of blank canvases regularly and let her go to town. Yesterday seemed like every other craft time, until Nate decided he was going to join in on the fun. No problem I went to my art box grabbed an extra brush, and went to start some cleaning in the other room. Thats when it happened, Nate is a very curious boy, like most, and decided to explore a little more in my art box and brought out three containers of glitter. He proceeded to paint and pour glitter until the canvas, table, floor, Addy, and himself were all covered. I had one of those hidden mommy freak outs, where you want to look really happy because the kids are really proud, but you're internally screaming, because of the giant mess. 

Both kids are so proud of their artwork and are begging me to hang it somewhere. I'm still trying to figure out where I could put it so it doesn't get glitter everywhere. 

The clean up followed me into today, my dust pan, broom and vacuum are covered. I've decided the glitter that made its way into the carpet, is just a part of our lives forever. It's festive right? 

Any tips on how to get glitter out of carpets, couches, or kids? Drop them in the comments below, I'd love to hear!

Thanks for reading!

Emily

Happy Monday everyone! 
As normal the weekend flew by, and if you're anything like me you had grand visions of doing all those last minute summer activities only to be surprised by sudden onset of fall weather! As a born and raised Michigan girl you would think I would know by now how quickly the weather can change (like mid 90's on Wednesday and low 50's Sunday), so alas we stayed inside snuggling and watching movies. 

I want to give you a quick overview of my goal on this Blog, in hopes that you join me and my family on this crazy journey. My husband Micah and I have been married 6 years and have two beautiful children, Addyson and Nathanael. We bought our first house almost 2 years ago now and are slowing realizing how much work that really involves. Our daughter is 4 and is starting her first year of preschool, we looked into a lot of options and homeschooling was the best fit for us right now. Addy is so excited to learn and it is really fun for me to be able to watch her progress and have that relationship with her. As a home-schooled kid myself, I recognize the benefits as well as some of the daily struggles and stresses, like listening to the same phonics song hundreds of times a week! Nathanael is quickly approaching three, and to be honest he is the main reason I am doing this. When he was about six months old he was diagnosed with a genetic condition called NF1, there is a lot too it and tons I'm still learning. We have a lot of extra doctors appointments, and he has had two major surgeries and one not so major so far, MRI's, Ultra-sounds, and eye exams. Like any parent there are plenty of things that come up  that could cause worry and fear, then adding in any sort of extra care a child need and its just that much more. My biggest priority is to make sure my children have a full, beautiful life, and that they aren't hindered by the fear of the unknown. The best way to lead is by example, so thats what I'm trying to do. 

I will be sharing some of our day to day victories, tips I've found for dealing with struggles and set backs, as well as fun things we do, places we go, yummy food we eat (I mean this is a Blog right). Hopefully we can grow together, I believe with a strong support system, even when things get tough life can be a breeze. 

Thanks for reading!

Emily