Family Update for Mid-April 2014

After noticing that I have been posting way too many recipes lately on our blog, I thought it was time to make a non-food post! We eat a lot. Every day, actually. Delicious food, too. And I like to share the yummy recipes that I find. But, we are more than just food.

Homeschool Planning

I have been spending a lot of time getting ready for homeschool in the Fall. My daughter will be studying a kindergarten curriculum and I am trying to plan things so that my toddler son can be included in the lessons, and for the subjects that Sugar Plum needs my one-on-one attention I need to find something to keep him entertained (without using the TV, of course). It’s actually quite challenging. He’s more at a learning-through-play age right now while she’s ready for more actual instruction mingled with learning play (there’s only so much fun that can be put into practicing handwriting or learning to read, but I am trying).

There is so much that I want my children to learn and I just don’t have enough time in the day to teach it to them. That and having school for 12+ hours a day would not be fun for them! Planning an age appropriate curriculum that will keep the kids entertained and interested is hard work! I had thought about purchasing a full curriculum, but I am not satisfied with any of them at the moment and they are far too overpriced. But I did settle on a math curriculum. This is the only curriculum that I am not going to plan all by myself, because it’s such a crucial subject that I don’t want to leave anything important out. Now I just need to budget my money to be able to afford the curriculum each year (my husband and I set up budgets for just about everything, so yes, I also have a homeschool budget to go by). I can see how homeschooling can be very expensive, but I’m going to try to be as frugal as possible.

I have come across some great resources online to help me teach them both and some blogs with advice for mom’s like me that still need to teach but also need to take care of younger children. I feel ready. The only thing I am clueless about is the temperament of baby #3, who will not be born until mid-July, just 2 weeks before the start of school! There’s a lot that we’ll have to play by ear and take one day at a time.

Getting Ready for Baby #3

Something else we‘ve been up to is getting ready for baby. I still have another 13 weeks to go but I already want to start unpacking and washing the baby boy clothes. My daughter has completely accepted that she will have another baby brother. She has fallen in love and likes to give the baby (my tummy) hugs often. Bear finally understands that there is a baby in my tummy. If I am holding him and he starts kicking and throwing a tantrum, I tell him to be careful not to kick mommy’s tummy because the baby could get hurt. When I say this, he starts crying. Really, really sad crying. Like he thinks he already hurt the baby and he feels so sorry. Then it makes me so sad because he’s feeling sad. I assure him that the baby is fine and we sit down on the couch and he gives my tummy lots of love. I am so lucky to have two tender-hearted children. They have their moments, but they really are just amazingly sweet most of the time. How did I ever get so lucky?

Other than homeschool planning and daily life, we don’t have much going on. I suppose it’s time to end this update and get back to work!

Jenny