August Updates

What a month it has been since I last wrote a post.

Moving update - I mentioned that we will be moving again. Even though we are only moving about 15-20 minutes away, it feels the same as when I was 27 and we made a cross-country move. Being almost 40 and pregnant has a way of adding strain to your body! We are part of a church with some amazing people who will come out on moving day and lend their help to loading, unloading, and cleaning. But still, these final days before the move are like crossing the “wall” in a marathon. I felt DONE weeks ago, but we have to keep pressing on.

Baby update -I mentioned in my last post that I am pregnant with Baby Boy Model 2018. Only 10 weeks to go! I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes two weeks ago. As a result, I have drastically changed my diet. We were hoping that diet alone would be enough to keep my blood glucose down, but nope. I started an anti-diabetic medicine last night. I will still keep to the diet recommended by my naturopath – no grains, no refined sugars, no potatoes, light on the sugary fruits. Going without my one soda a day and/or one coffee with sugar a day has been an adjustment. Some days I feel better and see a big difference in my health. Other days, I want to throw in the towel and believe that I would be better off with my Mt Dew and breads.

So far I have tried NOT to think about labor and delivery. This has been an adequate way of avoiding the fear of labor. But, after the move, I need to get serious about planning my birth experience (humanly speaking, of course).

School decisions – In my last post, I spoke of a decision to put some of our kiddos into public school. In the past month, there were changes (more re-routing) of that plan, but my three youngest children begin public school in two days. I'm an emotional wreck over it. But, I know that I cannot teach them this year.

Several people have suggested that I keep them at home and take half a year off for my health. I get that... but, the thing is, I do that about every year. And the boys education may be suffering. I did NOT say it is suffering, just that it may be. In past years we offered experiences and education to the kids that they couldn't have gotten in public school. Being able to go on “field trips” weekly rather than twice a year is great. Gathering with a co-op with a variety of ages melded together was very positive. Being able to travel to see my parents every other week was wonderful. Having a flexible schedule to work around Daddy's crazy schedule was amazing. But, still, I have to wonder if a year (or more?) in public school might add another element to their education that our home schooling cannot provide. Time will tell.

I took Joshua, my 6^th grader, to his first ever open building last night. The halls were full of tiny sixth graders learning to use lockers for the first time, finding their classes, and getting reacquainted with some old friends. Josh did great with his combination lock, and seemed confident about finding his classes on the first day. God fortified me and I did not cry during the whole experience. I kept a running prayer in my mind as we walked the halls and explored a new school. It is a scary time, but I have to trust that we are making the best decision for the kids with the information that is available to us now.

Josiah (3^rd grade) and Jeremiah (1^st grade) have their open house and meet their teachers tomorrow. It's certainly a new era for our family. But, I am trusting God to carry us through.

My oldest, Rebecca, is now in 11^th grade. She was hoping to enter public school but we were unable to reach a compromise with the school district about how to count her previous school credits. The school accepted NONE of them, insisting that they could only accept “accredited” curriculum credits. In the end, Rebecca decided to home school again. She will be working under the care of a veteran homeschool mom close to home. Rebecca will drive there several times a week to be instructed with their younger kids. She will be participating in our homeschool co-op again and she will begin the Tapestry of Grace curriculum that is offered through the co-op. (We have loved our Notgrass curriculum, I highly recommend it! But, it is easier to switch her to the same program being used by the family who is teaching her this year.)

The other two big kids, Nelson (9^th grade) and Lydia (8^th grade) are happy to continue learning at home under our roof. I will be as hands-on as I can be or need to be until the baby is born. Then, Daddy will be home on a family medical leave and he can take over. Thanks, Paul!

I can't think of anything else to report right now. As your family starts another year of school, or goes about whatever work is set before you – I pray blessings for you as I write. My heart's desire is to see Christian families THRIVE. May the joy of the Lord be your strength! God bless.

Current photos (kinda)

Joshua learning to play roller hockey

Nelson finished Brain Balance in Nov 2017

Me and Josiah - fall 2017

Artwork from homeschool co-op

Rebecca, Lydia, and Nelson at the YMCA skating rink (our home away from home)

Jeremiah; photo credit our friend Kimberly - January 2018

Nelson; photo credit - our friend Kimberly - January 2018

Rebecca earned her yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do through our homeschool co-op - May 2018

Joshua earned his yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do through the homeschool co-op - May 2018

Rebecca was a skunk in the homeschool co-op's production on The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe - May 2018

Nelson and me - in June 2018, VBS week

June 2018 - VBS week - Rebecca, Lydia, and Nelson

I want that elephant so bad! I just included this for the baby bump and the new haircut. July 2018

Josiah - July 2018

I tried to find photos of all the kids, but not everyone wants their photo taken (and shared). I am also not terribly savvy at finding my phone photos through Rebecca's laptop. This whole laptop thing is a new challenge for me. For some reason I couldn't find my photos of Paul or the whole family. That will be a chore for another day. Unless google has changed, you ought to be able to click on any photo to bring up the enlargements page.

Re-Routing

Yesterday I had an appointment at a building where I had never been, in a town in which I am somewhat unfamiliar. I had to make a leap of faith and use my google maps app on my phone. So, the night before my adventure appointment, I planned ahead. I let the phone offer the fastest route and I planned my morning trip based on the app's suggestion. Yesterday morning I jumped in the car and followed the instructions the phone gave me. But, just minutes from my destination a road was closed. The city department was doing tree trimming and closed off the whole road. I thought to myself, “isn't that just a perfect analogy for life?”

We make plans. Educated plans. We make choices that we think will be the best for ourselves and our family. We pray and seek God's wisdom and instruction and we begin our adventure. But, sometimes, even after doing our due diligence of planning, there are roadblocks in the way.

This is the metaphorical picture of where our family is right now. We were navigating with the Lord to lead us and with wisdom and knowledge to guide us. We chose the path of homeschooling when our oldest was still in diapers. At that time, we made the best decision we could with the information that we had. And, it was a good choice for our family.

(At this point, I need to insert some news that will change the navigation of this story line. I am expecting a new baby boy in October. This has not been an easy pregnancy. Not just because I am almost 40. Not just because of my “normal” physical ailments of autoimmune hypothyroidism, fibromyalgia, and chronic fatigue. But, also because ten weeks ago, I had an emergency appendectomy. Due to that difficult first trimester and appendix issues that were masked by the pregnancy/morning sickness, I lost an atypical amount of weight. Just this past week – at 25 weeks pregnant – I finally got back up to my pre-pregnancy weight.

Aside from that physical stress, there has been great emotional turmoil. I lost one of my best friends to cancer in my first trimester. Mindy was 40 years old and left behind 4 children and a grieving husband. My world was rocked by her death. I still miss her every day. Some days I think I see her and it takes my breath away. Some days I think about her and break down in tears. I am still grieving. But, that's not all. To add more duress, there has been an unexpected change in our housing situation. The landlords have decided to sell the house which we are currently renting. So, not only did I have to prep our rental home for sale with realtor photos and showings, but we had to find a new residence. I am happy to say that we have found a home to move to in August, but the process hasn't been easy. And, the emotions of pregnancy make all these issues even worse than they already would have been.)

Back to our story line. Our family was cruising along with our intention to homeschool every child through high school. It was our informed decision based on the circumstances that we were aware of at the time.

Enter the roadblock.

This pregnancy has been difficult and my health has been patchy. I am tired continually. My aches and pains that usually abate during pregnancy have not ceased. In fact, in many ways I am worse than I was 5 months ago. Baby Boy is due in October. So, I have made the heartbreaking decision that I am not currently able to continue homeschooling our 6 gems. I may keep some of them at home, but the little guys (especially the 6, 8, and 11 year olds) need more help than I expect that I will be able to give them.

Roadblocks are not always a bad thing. Yesterday, I had to pick up my phone map app and reroute my own trail (because google couldn't understand that my road was closed). So, I found a new path in the countryside and drove into town from a new direction. It was pretty. I even thought to myself, “I need to bring Paul here, maybe we could live in this area some day.” It was an unexpected trip, but it was still pretty. And, I ended up being only 10 minutes late to my appointment.

I will now tell you that my appointment was with the public school office to begin registering my three youngest for elementary and middle school. I was already emotionally frazzled just because of the nature of the appointment. Add in the stress of the road being blocked and I was kind of on edge. I am a planner. And I like to control everything my circumstances. I had intended to arrive a bit early. I had intended to go directly there. But, the best of my planning could not have foreseen the roadblock.

Lord willing, we will put three (or more) children into public school this year. It may or may not work out. We do not at all expect this transition to be easy. In many ways it will be more difficult, but if I list those reasons I will sound like Debbie Downer. I am choosing to focus on how public school can help our children and family, because I need to keep myself from coming undone.

This decision has not been easy. I don't want to be sick. I don't want to turn my kids over to the public school after sheltering them for so long (I don't deny it, my kids are indeed sheltered). I don't want to plan for the worst. But, with the information available to me now, it is time to re-route.

I am not writing this to start a debate (far from it, I really don't like arguments and confrontations). But, I am sharing my heart, because: 1) If I don't write, I will bust; and 2) Maybe my honest sharing of my struggles will bless someone. Maybe it will bless me. Maybe it will bless a random reader who stumbles upon my blog by “accident.” All I know is that my heart is bursting to write. I am compelled to share this journey, and to do so publicly.

There may be further roadblocks. Plans may change again. Any number of challenges could arise which could cause us to re-route or re-trace our path. We are doing our best to hold our children loosely while God does what He needs to do in their lives to shape them to be who He intends them to be. His purposes are even better than what we would choose for them, therefore His intended Path for them is greater than the one we map out in our limited knowledge.

May God bless us as we re-route this educational journey.