From homeschooling to public school

I have had quite a few people ask me about our school year this year, so I thought I'd give a little update. 

As most of you know by now, we had 2 foster children, 7 and 9, come to live with us over the summer. Before they came, we were fully committed to homeschooling Lily, Jonah and Kate again this year. Curriculum was already bought and organized in our homeschool room and Lily  had even  started her new math book already; she was too excited to wait until the start of the school year! ( I still have it if anyone is interested in a grade 4 math curriculum....)

C and S came to us as an emergency placement. We were not expecting to have any more children come to live with us for a while, if at all, because of where we were in the process with Sam. C and S coming was completely unexpected, and even though we were very slow to say 'yes' to them, we felt God's hand in the situation and knew that they were meant to be with us for this time. 

Foster children can not be homeschooled, so saying yes to them meant that we needed to have a discussion about schooling and that we had to be open to possibly changing the plans we had for the school year. 

After being a family of 8 for a couple of weeks, we decided that it would be best to send all of the kids to public school for this year. 

I was relieved, because the thought of homeschooling the 3, and then having Sam at home when he is becoming more mobile by the day, and then having 2 in school, was really stressing me out. But I was also really really disappointed. Our school year last year was really difficult, but it was also really great and the kids LOVED being homeschooled. 

We told the kids our decision about school and Lily and Jonah both cried. A lot. Kate on the other hand, was thrilled, since she's the only one that has never been to public school before. 

We talked to the kids about it throughout the summer and little by little they were becoming more okay with the idea. 

Meanwhile, I was having doubts and was feeling really sad about sending them to school, especially about Kate since she's been home with me for so long. I was really questioning whether or not this was the best choice for us. 

We all went to 'new student night' at the school and that really sparked a lot of excitement in the kids. They saw their classrooms and their desks and cubbies. They saw their friends names and who was in their class. They toured the school and met the principal. For me, it was so strange to be back in that setting and especially to see Kate's name on the desk in her classroom. But after that night, the kids couldn't wait to start! 

This week is their 4th week in school and so far, it has been GREAT! I really didn't know what to expect, having 2 kids that were starting a brand new school (after joining our family less than 2 months before),  2 kids going back to public after being homeschooled, and 1 that had never been to public school before. 

All of the kids love their teachers (and so do I!), Kate is thrilled to be in school, C and S are making friends and Lily and Jonah are enjoying seeing their old friends again. 

Even up until the first day of school, I was still feeling really sad about not homeschooling and was praying hard that this year would be a positive year for all of them. But after that first day, I have felt so much better. The kids are all happy, they are getting a break from each other and get to be around new and old friends, Jake and I are getting lots of time with Sam which has been just awesome, and Jake and I are getting time together, which has really made a huge difference in our days, our weeks and in our marriage! We have even started going out on weekly breakfast or lunch dates with Sam and it has been wonderful. 

So, for now, I can say that this year, sending the kids back has been the right choice for us. We will see how much the kids are still loving school once the homework starts coming home, but for now, I am thankful that we are off to a great start and I feel peace about sending them off to school instead of guilt.

I don't know what we will do next year, but we will see how this year goes and we will take it year by year. I am thankful that we do live in a town with a great school system and that we have the choice to do what is best for our kids each year. 

An update and some Q&A.

Well, it's been nearly two months since my last post so I thought it was time for an update.

J turns 3 months old this week. It's crazy to me how quickly he's becoming a baby and not a tiny newborn. 

The BEST thing about J right now are his smiles and coos. Seriously, is there anything better?! I think not. 

Life has been stabilizing a bit since he is getting bigger and is on more of a schedule now, however life is still completely crazy with baby, house construction, grad school, homeschooling, and all of J's visits and appointments. It's all going fairly well, but it's been the busiest time in our lives hands down. 

I have been getting a ton of questions about everything going on, especially with J, so I thought I would answer some:

Q: So, did you guys adopt J yet? 

A: No. And if we are able to, it won't happen for a long time.Like years. He is not on the adoption track yet, as pretty much the first year of his life, his goal is to be reunified with his birth family. 

Q: So, what do you know about his birth mom?

A: We know little bits, and are learning a bit more as time goes on. But we are not really able to share any of that info publicly. 

Q: Did you name him? 

A: We did not! If you know him, you know that his name actually fits in well with the rest of our names, which is fun. But birth mom named him and gave him a pretty good one, if I do say so myself :) 

Q: Did you expect/Did you want a baby?

A: NO! We did not expect a baby at all! If you've read any of my other posts about our adoption journey, you know that we were looking at 1-3 kids from ages 0-5. Honestly, Jake and I thought we would get a sibling group of 2 with one closer to age 4-5 and one maybe age 1-2. Everyone knows that the wait list for babies is always really long, so we just assumed that we would never get a baby. But we got the call, said yes, and we are so happy to have J with us. 

Q: So when is your house going to be done?

A: Well, there is no real timetable since Jake is doing most of the work himself, with help from my awesome father-in-law. He is thinking we will be able to move up into the new bedrooms in the spring. But it really just depends on how quickly Jake works :) 

Q: How is homeschooling going?

A: Honestly, not as well as I was envisioning. It is going pretty well- the kids are enjoying it and doing well at their work, but I am not loving it as much as I thought I would. But we are still getting started and finding our way and there is still plenty of time for things to improve. 

Q: How is J sleeping at night?

A: Much better! He's up once or twice for a bottle and usually goes back to sleep easily. I'm still always tired because life right now is just so exhausting that I don't think any amount of sleep will feel like enough! 

Q: How are the kids doing with J?

A: The kids are amazing with J. They love him so so much and it has been so awesome to see them love and care for this baby. They want to hug, kiss and hold him all the time (unless he's crying....) and are quick to help out when I need it. They even change some diapers and give him a bottle! 

That's all I can think of for now. Please continue to keep us in prayer as I do not foresee things slowing down for us anytime soon. 

We are so thankful for the prayers and support from all of you!

Life these days.

We have had the babe for almost 4 weeks now. Which I find to be somewhat unbelievable, seeing that the waiting-for-a-placement part of adoption seems to take forever, but now that he's here, time is flying at the speed of light. 

Life these days is, well.... crazy. 

Honestly.

We are in the middle of major house renovations. The first floor is nearing completion, but in a few short weeks, we will have no roof and cranes will be hoisting the frame of our second floor up onto our house. 

We started homeschooling last week. The kids are loving it, especially Lily, and it is going fairly smoothly so far. But we are still working on finding our groove, our routine, our rhythm.

Sleep in this house is.....let's just say I wish there was more of it. I am hoping someday soon I will be able to get more than 3 hours at a time.

As for adjusting to life with a newborn again?

I'd say we all have adjusted very well. Surprisingly, the kids have done pretty great for suddenly having to share so much of mom and dad's time and energy. They love this little boy like he has always been a part of our family, which is really awesome to see.

We have quickly adjusted to making bottles, (sometimes one handed!), to lugging that incredibly heavy infant car seat around, to changing diapers, to doubling our dishwasher usage (thanks to said bottles...), to quickly catching spit-up and to all the other little things that you so quickly forget about when you have a newborn in the house. Except the waking up multiple times in the middle of the night. That's a little harder to get used to.

We have been soaking in the snuggles, the squishy cheeks (his are seriously delicious), the soft, fluffy hair, the teeny tiny baby hands and feet (the kids can't get over how small his toes are), the baby yawns (why is it so cute when babies yawn?), and one of my favorites, the baby stretches (he stretches just like Jonah did as a baby and I love it).

While we are enjoying this sweet newborn, we are often snapped back into reality by phone calls, emails, conversations and visits. It's easy to forget that he's not ours until we are reminded about visits with birth parents, check-ins with social workers, doctors appointments where I can give no medical history, questions from strangers about if he is breastfed and why not, and comments from a nosy old lady asking me, in a very rude and judgmental tone, if I am even old enough to have all these kids.

This is a rough process and we are just at the beginning. I am sure that hardest is yet to come.

But, it is worth it. We are giving baby J a loving home where he is safe and cared for. However long he is with us is time well spent, even when it's hard.

Please keep praying for us, as this, even though it's going pretty well, is honestly a very hard season of life. We are so thankful for all of you that are loving baby J right there with us, and for those of you that are supporting us.

life never slows down {finally an update- job, homeschooling, and adoption}.

Well, it has been months since I last posted anything on here! We have been busy living life and shoveling over 100" of snow in the past month! 

Quite a bit has been happening since I last posted:

We have made great progress on our adoption journey! We have taken all of the classes, reference checks have begun and we are in the process of completing all of the interviews for our home study. This has been such an eye opening experience so far. We know that this is, and will continue to be, quite the adventure and roller coaster ride. We have been praying for guidance and for clarity as we get closer and closer to the time when we will begin looking at and meeting some of the kids. It is incredibly exciting yet also terrifying!  We don't know what the future holds, but we are so excited to possibly bring more little munchkins into the family! 

Another big thing that happened is that in January, Jake changed jobs. He is now a full time Beverly firefighter! This has (and will be) a big step in Jake's career. He is headed off to academy on Monday for 9 weeks. I am anticipating a bumpy transition for the kids, since this will mean less time with Daddy during the week and most likely, a very tired and sore Daddy on the weekends. 

But once academy is over, Jake will be assigned to his Group and will then begin his new schedule, which will be drastically different than what we are used to. He will work 24 hours on, then have 24 hours off, and then work 24 hours on again. Then he will have 5 days off.

That will definitely be an adjustment! 

But because of his new schedule and how much time he has off, we have officially decided to homeschool all 3 kids next school year. Homeschooling Kate this year has been great and she has learned so much- the biggest thing is reading! She is now reading books all on her own and she is so proud. It has been so fun teaching her and watching her learn to read and to see it really start to click just in the past couple of weeks. 

The kids are all excited to try homeschooling next school year. We already ordered our curriculum and everyone in the house can't wait to begin! 

 Jake and I have thought and prayed long and hard over this and we feel that this is the right thing for us next year. We will see how it goes and take it year by year. But for now, we are all really excited to begin our homeschooling adventure!  

In spite of all these big changes going on all around them, the kids are doing great and are really excited about everything going on. Even the massive amounts of snow we've been getting :)

Sledding is the best. 

Update and more big changes coming our way.

This has been a long, unintended break from blogging. 

Part of me misses it. Part of me doesn't. 

We have been busy loving summer and being together. 

It has been a summer of firsts. Our first camping trip. Our first time canoeing. Jonah's first time riding a two-wheeler. Our first time seeing a moose together. And an eagle. The first wedding all three kids were in together. 

We have had an awesome summer so far. Fun camping trips, canoeing, tons of swimming, gardening, bike riding, gymnastics. Lots of fun. But since we got back from our last camping trip, things with the kids have been hard. But, despite the past two weeks being a bit rough, with kids bugging each other and fighting and tattling, every night, when the kids are fast asleep, I go in each of their rooms and look at them. I kiss them. I snuggle them. I smell them. And every single night, I feel like my heart is going to burst with love. No matter how hard the day was, or how great the day was, every night I am reminded that these kids are such a blessing. And my love for them grows every single day. 

I could not imagine my life without them and I will always fight for them. I can not understand how/why some parents do not fight for their children. I will always fight for mine. 

God forgives. He fights for us. He never gives up on us. Even though we deserve nothing, He gives us everything. He loves us and cares for us and listens to us. He is kind and gentle. 

I know I can not even come close to being the type of parent He is, but I pray that I can be more like Him everyday. 

The next 6 months are going to bring a lot of change to this house.

-One big thing that I can not share yet.

-Another thing is the possibility of our family growing. Possibly going from a family of 5 to a family of 6 maybe 7 (!!!) 

-Another thing is deciding about homeschooling. Kate will be "home schooled" for her last year of preschool this coming year (I put homeschooling in quotes because it's just preschool and we will not be using a curriculum with her but rather doing lots of play based learning this next year), and depending on the one thing I can't yet share with you, we will be deciding if we will be homeschooling all 3 beginning the following year.

- And of course, more construction on the house. 

Lots of big things happening soon. 

Please pray with us- for the kids in DCF and for clarity as we move along in the process, that God will make it clear to us the kid(s), if any, He would like to join our family. 

Also for clarity about homeschooling. We are not decided one way or the other, but are seriously discussing switching to homeschooling.

And for patience, lots of it :) 

More thoughts on homeschooling.

Never in my life did  I think I would the words "we are seriously considering homeschooling" would come out of my mouth. 

Yet here we are, seriously considering homeschooling our kids. 

The last time I wrote a post about homeschooling, some of my words were taken the wrong way, and a relationship we had has been broken. 

So, this time, I am going to be very careful with my words. 

Over the summer, we thought about homeschooling and if it would be right for our family this school year. The idea of it was slowly growing on me, but in the end, a job opportunity for me won out over homeschooling. So this year, the kids are at the elementary school right down the street from our house. 

But now that Jake has a new job, and a schedule much different than before, we are back at the homeschool question. 

First, I am going to say that we are seriously considering homeschooling because it feels like it would be best for our family, not because we want to shield our kids from the world.

One reason is scheduling. Jake's new job does not have normal hours. Homeschooling would allow him to be home with the kids a lot more, and he would be available to  help with the schooling. We would also be able to adjust our weekend to Sunday and Monday, since Jake doesn't work Mondays, but does work Saturday mornings. 

Another reason is having the ability to adjust the curriculum to each child. For example, Lily is definitely above a 1st grade reading level, and appears to be ahead in other subjects as well. We would be able to work with her and go at her pace and challenge her more than where she is now.  Or if one of the kids is taking longer in one area, we can take the time to work on it. 

One thing I love about homeschooling is that you can go at your own pace. You don't have to be in a classroom all day. You can learn so much more by experiencing what you are learning instead of only reading about it or doing worksheets on it. I love the idea of spending a lot of time outside the "classroom" (our house) and learning by experiencing, something being in school most of the day can't always give you. 

Now, let me say that Lily and Jonah are both loving school this year. They are both doing really well, love their teachers, have made new friends, and haven't really had any issues with school so far. So, this decision is not based on any negative experiences with their school- we have had no bad experiences there. 

There are other reasons why we are looking into homeschooling, too, but these are the biggest ones.

I think the biggest reason why we are making a decision yet is because we would lose my income, and we don't  know yet if we can survive without it. But the next few months should give us that answer. 

I know that I got a lot of great advice the last time I posted about homeschooling, but if you have any encouraging words or advice, I would really love to hear it. 

I never, ever thought that I would be at this point, but honestly, it is really feeling like the right thing for us. And aside from being overwhelmed with curriculum and wondering whether or not my kids and I would drive each other totally crazy, I am feeling really excited about this! I think that if we don't end up homeschooling, I will actually be pretty disappointed. The idea that I can educate my children myself is really very exciting to me.

It snowed in Maine this weekend!