Little Things

I blame my Pinterest obsession with Miss Caroline. Facebook is all well and good, but Pinterest is FUN. I love getting ideas for homeschooling, meals, summer activities and, ahem, quilts. It's fun to connect with people and see what they like. It's also a little gratifying when someone repins one of your pins and you find that you're not the only one who likes mason jar chandeliers (in theory!).

I've also found some great quotes on Pinterest. This one is my current favorite:

Enjoy the little things. Because one day you will look back on your life and realize they were the big things.

So here are my little things for today:

Loved making muffins with William this morning, even if we did forget the salt. He's a good helper and he loves to bake with me. By the time we were done, I had all the boys in the kitchen with me.

The sunshine that comes in my windows. It warms up the house (saves me money!) and it's so bright and cheerful.

My stocked freezer. Silly, right, but I love that I can plan a meal with what I have rather than drag all the kids to the store to get a few things. Love it.

Chatting with my mom. We talk every couple of days. Just short little visits, but it always brightens my day. Every kid should have a mom like I do.

Cold Dr. Pepper.

Checking off six, yes, SIX, items on my to-do list for the week. I'm super excited about this one.

Downton Abbey. How I love Downton Abbey. Mary is my favorite.

Tonight is clean sheet night.

Watching Caroline chew on her blanket and sleeves and anything else that she can grab and put in her mouth.

Will colored a picture for me, just for me, and it's great. It's a space shuttle.

Love listening to James play trains. That boy loves his trains. Best investment we ever made.

Snuggle time with Henry this morning. My sweet little man got a big ol' bonk on his head last night, so I'm glad he's feeling okay today.

Have a lovely week! I've got lots to do, and will try to post pics of my finished things soon.

Snow Day!

Had lots of fun in our mountain of snow. Well, the kids had fun. I had to shovel the driveway. Not so fun. But then a neighbor came home and let us borrow their snow blower. Much nicer. Need to think about getting on of those . . .

Here's Henry, caught in a snow blower shower!

And Henry trucking along.
I'll get more pictures tomorrow of the rest of them out there.

Here's Henry and James, snuggling in one of my newly finished quilts:

And Henry, conked out with his cocoa 'stache under my other newly finished quilt.
Stay warm - that's our plan!

Choose Faith

For so many reasons I won't go into, I really needed to read this tonight:

"Because of the conflicts and challenges we face in today’s world, I wish to suggest a single choice—a choice of peace and protection and a choice that is appropriate for all. That choice is faith. Be aware that faith is not a free gift given without thought, desire, or effort. It does not come as the dew falls from heaven. The Savior said, “Come unto me” (Matthew 11:28) and “Knock, and it shall be [given] you” (Matthew 7:7). These are action verbs—come, knock. They are choices. So I say, choose faith. Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."

Richard C. Edgley

First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

Grateful Sunday

This week I'm grateful for:

• A brilliant husband, and I'm not just saying that. I caught the mother-of-all computer viruses the other night. He worked quickly and my computer is back, running and no loss of anything. See, told you he was brilliant. I'll be more careful on Pinterest in the future!
• An awesome sister-in-law, who took me to lunch and spent the afternoon fabric shopping with me while we were in Boise, when she could have been home cleaning her carpets. Rachel is awesome and I can't wait until we live closer!
• A great Primary class. My goal this year is to be the kind of Primary teacher we've always wanted for our kids. Today went so well - who knew! They've got lots of energy but we're working with it instead of against it.
• My amazing kids. They can be challenging, but when they are good, they are really really good. Laurel is super helpful, William too. James and Henry are so polite and Caroline just has the best smiles ever. And she's sleeping really well (just woke up once last night!). Life is great at the Tracy house!
  

Back to our routine this week - Aaron's back at school, homeschool is back in session tomorrow and we've got to run to WINCO and Walmart. It's going to be busy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Have a great week!

Why I Homeschool

I am constantly revising this list, but here are my current thoughts:

1. I homeschool because we have had negative experiences with public school. I realize that this is not the case for everyone. I know there are good teachers. I just think I am what is best for my children right now.
2. I homeschool because I do not like the environment of indoctrination that exists in public schools. I know some of my friends are teachers and are not necessarily a part of this. But it does exist. My kindergartner was being taught that guns are bad, gay marriage is okay, and Obama is the best thing to happen to America since peanut butter. Sorry, I disagree and don't want to have to deprogram my kids every day.
3. I homeschool because Laurel is not an early riser.
4. I homeschool because it is flexible and fun. We take breaks when we need them.
   
5. I homeschool because I don't think public schoolrooms are the best place for boys. I know William is different. I know he would be labeled as hyper, or inattentive. I'd rather deal with it myself than hand him over to someone else. We've had a hard enough time in Primary.
6. I homeschool because until someone can convince me that my children's schoolteachers are praying each day for wisdom, patience, love, understanding and guidance, I will continue to make the choice I feel is best.

Am I defensive about it? No. There seems to be a mindset in the LDS church that if something is free it must be fantastic. Public education is not all bad. I am a product of it. But I've found that a lot of what I know now, especially regarding civic matters, culture, literature, etc., I taught myself and learned through my natural curiosity. Why not just develop that now without the political environment? We are free to explore something to the furthest degree. We can study dinosaurs for weeks on end, or raptors.

Am I indoctrinating my children? No more than any other parent. Only I don't have to worry about them learning things I don't like at school. There will be a time to talk about all sorts of issues when they are older and more mature. Now is the time to teach them our family standards and values.

Happy New Year!

I like making resolutions. I like setting goals. I like organization. Isn't always a reality, but I like it.

The goals for this year:

1. Continue/improve daily devotional and scripture study.
   
2. Continue meaningful Family Home Evening.
3. Be the best Primary teacher I can. Be the teacher I want my kids to have.
4. Face time with the kids - keep the daytime laptop time to a bare minimum.
5. Write on novel (yes, I'm writing a novel - did you know?) every evening from 9-10:30. EVERY evening. No excuses!

There - five is doable. I have fitness/eating goals, but those are a work in progress. But I'm cutting out weekday treats for the kids and I - desserts on Sundays only. Now if that dessert happens to last into the week . . . well, we'll deal with it. But when they beg for treats at the grocery store, we're going to head to the produce aisle. Or they can have nuts.

Wish me luck - and persistence!