"Just save the Relationship"

Latest trial in life, one of my little ones is painfully shy, very painfully.  He especially cannot handle large groups of people where he feels that he is expected to preform... like primary, library story time, preschool groups, etc... We have been trying to get him to go to primary without us going too or a meltdown for 2 yrs now.  Before moving ~ 10 months ago things finally settled down and he was comfortable enough with his teachers and fellow classmates to go without any worries.  Then we moved.  And we tried to keep the same routine... needless to say it didn't work.  So we tried the pop-pychology method of leave him, he'll cry and fight for a few minutes and then be fine.  It didn't work either.  I mean he stayed in class usually (with his wonderful teacher holding him) but after months of doing this we weren't getting far, in fact it was causing a lot of residual problems with his trust in us.  I mean what do you think a child would start to think after multiple times of being truly nervous and scared of a situation and doing all you could to let your parents know that you were not comfortable and they say, "sorry too bad, see ya, this is good for you" (we didn't say that... but that is likely what he was feeling).  It didn't do much for his trust and relationship with us.  So we had a parental time-out and looked at our "play" for this situation and realized what we were doing wasn't working and was actually augmenting the problem.  So we tried a new "play" (I'll have to explain this more later - kinda like a football team/coaches come up with plays for their team).  And started back at square one with one of us sitting with him through sharing time of primary, once they headed to the smaller class room he really did fine on a more personal level, so we would bow out and head to our class.  And it has been working!  Then we started working our way out of sharing time a little earlier each week, once we knew he was comfortable enough to not feel nervous when we were gone.  We are down to 5-10 mins now!

My big concern is how things are going to work when we head to Kindergarten next year.  This is part of the reason I decided to take care of preschool myself (which I'll be honest - hasn't been as structured or frequent as I'd planned, and I obviously haven't kept up with blogging what we do).   We are in a babysitting co-op (which is great!) and one of the girls we had over the other day was in the pre-schooling co-op, which we had decided not to join in on in the fall.  But watching him interact with her and with the way things are going now with primary, I'm beginning to think he may be ready for a new change... and started thinking about preschool co-op.    The catch is that I'd need to be able to stay with him for the first 5-10 mins (at least) every preschool day.   And the other one is that once again, I just don't like the idea of leaving his education at this age to someone else... ugh I'm caught.  What I'd love is a preschool co-op where a few mom's worked together to provide preschool for their children and had a schedule etc, but didn't drop off their kids... all stayed together and worked together.  A Mother & Me Preschool!

Anyway what I was really getting at with this post is... everyone tells me to let him cry, just leave him and he'll be fine.  And I tried that, but it does not work for him, and no I don't think that we are coddling him.  I've even had people say I should talk to a psychologist about it... but I don't think he needs that.  I was really flustered about everything, wondering what was the best thing to do... and it came to me all of a sudden, "Just save the relationship" I had read this years ago in Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley.  Yes he may get around to accepting the fact that that is how school goes, but he would be resistant and it would deteriorate his relationship with us (as we already learned), and he would likely learn to hate school.  So despite what anyone thinks of me, him, all of us... I am going to work on saving the relationship.  Because in the end, it won't matter whether he was the perfect school child walking into class, it doesn't matter if people think something of us because we have to work harder to help him be comfortable in new situations, it Does matter how he feels and what he thinks of us as his mom and dad and our love for him.  So now when I'm not sure what to do, if our relationship hangs in the balance I will "Just save the relationship" because if we are close to him, we can be a much greater influence for good in his life.

Mother - Teach the Baby to Sleep - An Afterthought...

Just wanted to say... that that was what worked for me that night, that child, that place in time.  It won't always work, there are no quick fix, one size for everyone solution that will do the "trick".  You have to take into consideration your child, his/her age and temperament, your self, your family, your situation.  If my thoughts helped, great, if not, don't worry about it, find what works for you and your little one!

Educational Philosophy

Can I just say "Wow!"  It is amazing the things you can learn and even do in college and 10 years later have no memory of...  so I was looking through some more papers and notes from my college "Intro to Teaching Young Children" class.  And I found a paper I wrote called an Educational Philosophy Paper, it's purpose was for the creation of a preschool and to let prospective parents know what my Educational Philosophy for my preschool was.  It is a good paper - if I do say so myself ;-)  I am SOOO glad that I found this notebook, and even more glad that I tend to be a bit of a pack rat on certain things!  So here goes...

Chelsea's Educational Philosophy Paper

Dear Parents and children,

      Hello and welcome to my preschool.  Before we begin discussing other matters, I would like for you to know my feelings and beliefs on just what education is and how children should be taught.  I have five main areas that i will discuss my opinion on.

1.    There are many conflicting beliefs on what the main purposes of education are of should be.  I believe that education should fulfill many purposes.  Some of these purposes are; to gain the wisdom needed to use their knowledge appropriately, to learn how to solve real life problems; to attain the skills that are necessary to be able to live a well balanced life; to become aware of what is happening around them, then form their own opinion on the different matters, and be able to act on that opinion; and to prepare children to take charge of their own education and how far and what they will study.

2.    Every child has different needs that have to be attended to in order for him or her to grow and learn to their greatest potential.  I feel that a few of the special needs for growth are;   that each child needs to feel secure where they are and have the freedom to explore; they need to find incentive for what they learn; there needs to be activities that help develop the child's social, emotional, and physical areas; and the caregiver has to be able to attend to every child's needs.

3.  Children will learn better when they are taught in certain ways, a few of these are; being actively involved in their education; when the priority is on the child not the preschool as a whole; when each child's differences are compensated for; by interacting and playing; and when the teacher is in charge and  able to use discipline when needed.

4.  A good learning environment is especially important to the child's education, some good features are; having a place prepared to teach in, mentally and physically; that it is a place where children can learn on their own; materials need to be easily assessable; a good mood needs to be set by the teacher; and it must be a safe location and environment.

5.    Last, but not least, a teacher must have certain qualities and behaviors, some of the most important are; to be well educated; to be a guide, not an obstacle; to demonstrate and teach caring characteristics; truly believing that ALL children can learn; always being open to new ways of thinking; they need to be good and communicating; and they must consistently be striving to improve themselves, their teaching skills, and become an ideal teacher.  

   I hope that you have found my policies and philosophies to be in accordance with your feelings on these matters that I have discussed.  The following pages will take each of these five areas into more detail and there are quotes to support my opinions, these quotes come from two college textbooks and are reliable.  If you have any questions or comments please consult me.

     Thank you for taking the time to read through this and consider my preschool.

                                                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                                                             Chelsea

~ The rest to follow soon.  ~

"A child's work is a child's play"

Oh to be young again!  I was reading a great article called In the Sandbox at You Can Teach.  The following really struck me, it hit home, I did not go to preschool as a child, and I don't feel that I was at any disadvantage, I do remember running and playing outside through the summers and winters.  Exploring, learning, helping cook, gather eggs, feed baby calves, mother reading stories to us, especially her singing us a song or two after tucking us in at night.  I want to teach my children the same ways.  Obviously there are days that their energy levels exceed my own (and in truth my patience too...) but I am going to strive to remember the following as we go along.

"To teach children when they are young is much more about playing and discovering and much less about crayons and glue and workbooks. If we provide activities that will help children move, discover, play, create, sing, and work, they will be learning through experience more than we can teach them in any other way. "A child's work is a child's play" is an absolute truth. It is how they learn about their environment, their abilities, and their place in the world.

      If the kids get tired after 1 or 2 activities, we will read, or sing, or go play in the sandbox. No pushing, no forcing, and it should be fun for them or the whole point is missed. So much of preschooling or educating our children seems to involve training them to learn by force, sitting down at a table filling out worksheets or practicing flash cards. How much more effective we can be if we will find the things they enjoy and help them learn and discover the treasure of it all.

      Even if it's in the sandbox."    ~ You Can Teach.com

How true it is, the last few days I was lamenting because I had slacked off on the reading 15 mins goal... and it has been an incredible struggle of late to get the boys to settle down and quiet down long enough to get in even the title of the book, little lone much more.  Then I was reading today in Teaching Children Joy by Linda & Richard Eyre about "how children love it when they find that their parents have imaginations!"  There was more, and I decided to put it too the test.  The boys ran into my room moments later chasing after each other and screaming (their favorite game!) and I turned out the lights and told them to run out to the living room because I had a surprise for them.  I through on a big fuzzy brown robe and came stomping out saying I was the big reading bear and if they wanted to join me to jump up on the couch.  They thought it was hilarious (the fact that my voice sounds like a bear right now due to a bad sinus infection I'm sure helped add to the fun!).  And before they knew it I had read my voice hoarse!   Hooray!  It was such fun.  And then we played a tickle game, they had to clean up one toy and then I'd tickle them or catch them and eat them up.  Then they'd run off to find another toy to clean up and come scampering back to be "caught" again... it is funny how making things funny or fun can make ALL the difference in the world in getting children to help or read or play nice or take a bath or get dressed for bed, etc...  And it is more funny sad how dad-gum hard it can be as an adult to do it that way instead of rolling our eyes (which no doubt is where teenagers learn it, is in their toddlerhood ;-) and getting frustrated and forcing the issue one way or another.  So another goal:  Work on making child's work = child's play, and learn to make mommy's work more in line with mommy's play too!

What comprises True Joy?

"Peace, serenity, trust, security, happiness ...

 these wonderful emotions are what comprise true joy... and they cannot exist in a heart that is not absolutely faithful."..."If an individual is not experiencing these sweet emotions, then I don't see how it is possible for him to be experiencing joy."  "And of course the opposite is also true, when such emotions are lacking, then joy is out the window and the individual feels only misery."  Girl at the crossing. ~ Blaine M Yorgason

As Mother's and Father's what more can we hope for for our children?  "men are, that they might have joy" 2 Ne 2:25.  And yet that joy sometimes seems swallowed up in the busyness of life and sometimes men seek after the wrong things that do not bring true joy.  How to get it back again?  Well it seems that a successful business has to "brand" itself with ~3 motto words and then work with those words always in the forefront of all they do.   It seems wise that a successful family would "brand" themselves with special words that make up who they are and all that they want to be.  I think I'm going to make up a nice design with these words to hang up and be able to see everyday, so that I can keep them in the forefront of all I do as a mother to brand these emotions into our everyday lives, so that we might have joy.

Mother - teach the baby to sleep

The past few nights have been long.  I'm sure I'm not the only one who have had nights when a little one has a tough time staying asleep!  Andrew (9 months) was waking up every 2 hours and only going back to sleep through rocking and nursing, then repeating that multiple times.  Any mother (and father) knows that wears you down after a bit and you start wondering what to do.  I sometimes wish I knew the things I know now with my first baby, and I am sure I'll think that again as the years pass by.

So I sat wondering what to do and how to help all of us get a better nights sleep, I pondered over the many different "solutions".  Everything from cry it out, to give up and let him out for a little bit and then try again, to continuing to be waken every other hour.  None really seemed such a great idea.  I have sworn off the cry it out solution forever if I can help it.  We tried that with Michael & Matthew and not only did it break my heart to pieces, it taught Alex - then 2 - that it was okay for them to cry... not a good thing.  And I'm sure it wasn't the most emotionally healthy thing for them.  I hope that it isn't a scar they carry for life.  The continued rocking to sleep thing isn't the best either, that is what I did with Alex and there comes a point where it just doesn't work anymore and that is a hard transition.  Plus I really need my sleep to keep up with life.  And we've always had the rule (that breaks now and then) that once it is bedtime we don't come out of our rooms til morning... and we start that with our babies.   There go all those options...  so as I sat rocking him at 12:30 the second night in a row I was pondering and my thoughts came back to "Mother, teach the children"... hmmm how does that apply here.  And I decided that I needed to teach Andrew how to go back to sleep if he stirs or wakes during the night, teach him to "fish" so to speak instead of giving him a fish.  I remember reading some things in a book called "The Lull-A-Baby Sleep Plan" a very good book in my opinion, and decided to try some.  So at 2:30am when Andrew woke again, I went in and calmed him down by giving him a hug, but without picking him up out of the crib.  Then when he had settled down a bit, I sat next to the crib and put my arms through the bars.  Over the next hour I worked at soothing him and keeping him from standing up on the side of the crib, laying him down at times (though he'd sit right back up), and just working on helping him stay calm but not playing.  I kept patting the mattress with my hand, next to him as he sat there, trying to encourage him to lay down himself.  He laid down a couple of times then would sit up then I'd pat the mattress and he'd lay down again and finally he stayed down and started breathing heavily.  And after about an hour it all worked.   Success!  Or so I hoped.  I hardly had laid down in my bed when he started crying again.  Obviously he wasn't completely asleep yet.  So I went back and did the same things over again, this time it only took about 15 mins.  And this time he slept through the night!!   This was the second time I tried this, I did it a few weeks ago too, I need to be more consistent with it, but usually Andrew does sleep through the night.

So why is this so important?  Well, one - though it did take longer initially than feeding and rocking him to sleep, I didn't have to be getting up every other hour again through the night!  And hopefully it won't take too many of these mommy teach me to sleep sessions, til he can help himself back to sleep and know that night is for sleeping. Two - He went to sleep!  And he didn't have to cry until he zonked out from sheer exhaustion (which really doesn't teach him anything very fast... and we'd end up having the same situation night after night for a long while.)  Three - I don't feel like I'm deserting him when he is crying for me and I'm not coming, we both feel validated and loved and respected.  My heart is NOT getting ripped out of me as it would if I was laying in bed listening to my baby crying.  We all feel better and happier in the end.  And I feel like I'm following the Savior's example of having Christ like love and charity as the guiding factor in my life as a mother.  As I said to my husband, "This is what Mom's are for" and what being a mom is all about.

Hope you can find what works for you and your baby!  And here's hoping that we can keep finding what works for us, as any mother knows the minute you think you figure something out that works... the child grows and changes and so you are able to grow and change again too!

AFTERTHOUGHT:  Just wanted to say... that that was what worked for me that night, that child, that place in time.  It won't always work, there are no quick fix, one size for everyone solution that will do the "trick".  You have to take into consideration your child, his/her age and temperament, your self, your family, your situation.  If my thoughts helped, great, if not, don't worry about it, find what works for you and your little one!

Developing Self-Esteem

So... it has been a little while, but what do I expect?  Between 4 little ones under the age of almost 5, working as my husbands book-keeper, marketer, blog, and seo person, and trying to be a good house wife, I find myself a little short on time now and then ;-).  On top of that we've been going through quite a round of illnesses of late, here's hoping we are done with those!

Back to self-esteem.  In college I studied Family Science and one class I took was Parenting.  It was the greatest class!  How do I remember that since this was back in 2001?  Well, I found all my notes from it and WOW!!!  I am SO excited to be going back through them, I wish I was more like a computer and could keep all the data that I learn closer at hand in my mind, but then computers hard drives seem to crash at about 5 yrs (or sooner) so I guess I'm glad I don't hold all that data!  Anyway I wanted to share some of my notes, because I think they are Great.  The first round is focused more on Moms, which seems natural for if we don't develop a healthy self-esteem, how can we teach our children to?  So here goes, Enjoy!

Developing Self-Esteem

Basically everyone compares them-self to someone else, the bad thing is that we usually take one of our weak points & compare it to someone else's strengths.  This tears us down & robs us of our self-confidence.  Comparisons really don't count, unless we are comparing how we are not to how we used to be as a personal check.

"Our only valid... competition is with our old selves, not with each other." - Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Learn to Love You!

We cannot open our hearts & love other people until we understand how important it is to love ourselves.  Not in the stuck-up, prideful sense but in a comfortable acceptance of who you are and what you can become.

Make Goals to Improve, learn to control yourself, and change what you can.

"to be successful... we must learn to control our lives, our habits, attitudes, and desires."

• Goal & Decision making - now that you have an idea of what needs changed you need to get to work.  You need to make decisions of what needs some change & how to bring it about.  Then make some realistic goals.
• Be in Control - work from the inside-out
• Some ways to gain control are...

1. ATTITUDE COUNTS! - What does your attitude say about you?  Do you let little things bring you down?  Or are you usually jumping in with a happy, positive outlook?  When you find yourself whining or grouchy, turn it around.  Your countenance reflects the feelings you carry within.  SMILE!! A lot!  "A smile is a light in the window of a face which shows that the heart is home."
2. Be Positive - Challenge - One day, vow to think only positive thoughts about you and everyone else.  Chase criticisms away like the plague.  Don't complain about one things for 24 hours.  See how it feels.  "A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows."
3. Share Your Emotions - Better friendships come from opening up.  Holding in those feelings that are best expressed can deny some extra blessings of closer friends.  Strength comes from sharing.
4. Laugh
5. Have Fun!
6. Let go of unnecessary guilt - don't feel guilty for something that is not your fault, no matter what it is.
7. Learn to Work Hard and Enjoy It!
8. Stop and Smell the Roses
9. Serve Others -  as we take time to serve, we will find more time, it will work for our good, it helps lift our spirits, makes us better people, and increases happiness. 
10. Be sensitive to other people & respect their feelings.
11. Give Compliments
12. Increase your circle of friends - reach out to those around you.
13. Get out of your comfort zone - meet new people.
14. Be Humble - life will feel less complicated if you let the Lord guide your path, you will be happier.  Don't be big-headed.  Roll with the punches easier.  Can find all the confidence you'll ever need.
15. Keep the Commandments -  in this there is safety in this there is peace.  Love the world and people = happier.
16. Stick to your standards - nothing is worth compromising your morals or cheapening your behavior.
17. Remember your Divine Nature - you Are a Child of God!  You can rise about worldliness and realize how important you are.   "The greatest gift I could give to you, is if you could see yourself the way I do."
18. You are of Infinite Worth.
19. Be Grateful - Have you ever seen a happy person who was not thankful? 1 Thes 5:18 "in everything give thanks."  "A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness." ~ Elder James E. Faust
20. Count your many blessing
21. Make a list of things you do well - ex. good listener, patience, calming influence, peace maker, keep your word, etc...
22. Gain a Strong & Healthy Relationship with your Father in Heaven -  through prayer, scripture study, repentance, and living the commandments.  "Developing spirituality and attuning ourselves to the highest influences of godliness is not an easy matter.  It takes time and frequently involves a struggle.  It will not happen by chance, but is accomplished only through deliberate effort by calling upon God and keep His commandments." ~ Pres. Howard W. Hunter

• Practice makes perfect - maybe not perfect in this life, but if we keep trying to do our best, in the next.  These goals and others won't just happen all of a sudden.  You'll make mistakes but keep trying and it will happen.
• Focus on your Truest Friend - who do you think that is?  He stands by you through everything and loves you always.  He is our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We will all go through times of despair and heartache but if we trust Him everything will be okay.  He knows what is best for us and will give you what you need.  Just put your Trust in Him.  "When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.  Our love of the Lord will govern the claims of our affection, the demands of our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities." ~ Pres. Ezra Taft Benson

Don't EVER Give Up!

Have you ever felt like that frog who's head is already in the pelican's mouth, but still holding on for dear life?  Well what ever you do, don't let go or it is over.  Don't give excuses.  Be responsible!  If you have tried & failed, try taking a smaller step and then another.  Don't try jumping the Grand Canyon.

"Do Not give up Hope.  And do not give up trying.  But do give up being obsessed with it.  The chances are that if you forget about it and become anxiously engaged in other activities, the prospects will brighten immeasurably."  ~ Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley

• Don't become discouraged - get rid of the bad feelings, replace with encouragement.  "It was meant to be that life would be a challenge.  To suffer some anxiety, some depression, some disappointment, even some failure is normal.  Teach our members that if they have a good, miserable day once in a while, or several in a row, to stand steady and face them.  Things will straighten out.  There is a great purpose in our struggle in life."  ~ Elder Boyd K. Packer
• Did you think to Pray?  - Prayer will get you closer to your goals and help you appreciate them more than anything else.  Not just a run of the mill prayer but a real prayer, communication between us and our Father.  Open your heart and let it all out, ask questions and wait for answers. Really Pray, don't just say your prayers.
• Just Do It!  - You must do the work to feel good about yourself, you have got to figure things out and do better, and be better.  Learning to love yourself is not necessarily easy but it is essential to finding joy.  If you don't like yourself, you're missing out.  Try reframing your opinion and improve yourself daily.  Most important Accept those things about you that you can't change

Ether 12:27 - "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

I will admit that I needed this!  A lot to think about and I feel encouraged to keep striving to do my best.  I hope that if anyone is out there reading this, that it helps you too.

More to come on helping Children develop a healthy Self-esteem....

Index ~ A is for...

One of my favorite things about our Preschool is that I can integrate Spiritual and other area's of interest into my teaching. 

Spiritual A's:

Aaron - prophet in the Bible & Book of Mormon

Able

Abish

Abinadi

Abraham

Accountability

Act

Adam - "A is for Adam" Walk Beside Me printables

Agency - LDS.org

Alma

Ammon

Anchor

Angels

Apostle - LDS.org

Ark
Articles of Faith - LDS.org

Atonement - LDS.org   The Friend

Music

One of the boys favorite things to do during the day is to listen to, dance, or act out songs.   I am enjoying using my new iTunes to import my music and a bonus (that I'm sure works with all digital music players) is that I can have it arrange all my songs into alphabetical order.  So for our "A, a" week we are listening to songs like "Alice the Camel", "Alphabet Song",  "Ants Go Marching", "Apples and Bananas", and "Animal Fun".   Enjoy!

                

        

Worksheets

I found some awesome worksheet books with a CD that prints off all sorts of fun worksheets for little ones to practice their abc's and handwriting.  I was lucky enough to find it at a yard sale, the dear lady selling it was a little chagrined that she sold it to someone who was not a "teacher" in the traditional sense, but I do think that it will be well used in this home.  Anyway it is what you will see in photos of what we are doing.  It is called "Handwriting Worksheets 4 Teachers", if you decide to get a copy make certain that it has the CD included, as that is where all the worksheet are, the book is just an instruction guide for the teacher.

I'm certain that there are lots of websites out there that have worksheet pages that will work just as well for free, I'll post them as I find them.  If you know of some feel free to let me know!

"A" is for...

We are starting our preschool. We will be doing 1 letter every 2 weeks and 1 number every week for our preschool (for now...once we really get in gear we'll bump it up to 1 letter a week). This week we'll start with the letter "A, a". Here are the ideas and posts that I am finding to use for our A week. Enjoy!

WEEK GOAL: Create a school Calendar.

August - the perfect month to start with the letter A.

"A" Week ideas from You Can Teach

"A" Week ideas from Everything Preschool

Aug 3 is Air Traffic Controllers Day & Airplane Crop Duster Day & American Family Day - Learn about America & airplanes.

American Flag Coloring Page

United States of America Coloring Page

Andy the Ag-Plane Skit & coloring pieces - scroll down through a lot of pages, nearly to the end.

A is for Airplane — Pretend to be an airplane. Spread your arms way out at your sides and "fly" around the room. Don't forget to add sound effects too! The Active Alphabet @ UP

Animal Puppet Stick - Print off an "A" animal color page (pick any animal that your child would like), color it, cut it out and glue it to a craft stick. 

Pre-School

What to do????  There are SOO many choices out there!  Hundreds of preschools to choose from, commercial ones, friends that run one, co-op groups - of all sorts and varieties from Joy School to Brite Music to a good Pre-school book from a local store.  I've been looking at the options for over a year, last year we were able to try a joy school group for 1 month after one of the mothers moved out of the area.  I was really excited for it, it is a great program, but it just didn't fit us.  I'm glad my 4 1/2 yr old isn't starting Kindergarten this year, as his B-day is after cut off dates, so that gave me another year to decide what to do for pre-school.  After MUCH deliberation, thought, prayer, researching, and visiting great pre-schools and co-op opportunities... we have decided to do our children's pre-school at home.

Why?  A multitude of reasons but what they all boil down to is it is what we feel is best for our children.

How?  - Well, good thing I had the inspiration to start this blog!  Now I have a place to put down all my ideas, thoughts, and the things that I find along the way to do.  So the how will likely work itself out line upon line, day upon day.  I'll do my best; learn, search, teach, discover, and enjoy, and then trust the rest.

When? - One day at a time, finding and creating the teaching moments.

First Week

I think that to start I'm going to make one goal a week and work towards that goal. It seems to me that without good daily habits in place to allow for the openings of time in which to teach, it would be difficult to slow down from the daily race of getting things done to focus on teaching the children. And unfortunately I have lots of good habits to re-introduce into our daily lives. It seems that with the busyness that came into our lives with having four babies in four years, along with the times that I was restricted in activity through pregnancies, bed-rest, and nursing babies, we fell into the bad habits of crisis living or in other words survival living. Just doing the things that were most important to survival and missing out on a lot of the normal things that bring stability and spontaneity and joy into life. Don't get me wrong we find the greatest joy and love together and in our children, but we seemed to live day-to-day "putting out the biggest fire first". Things are settling down (at least it seems that way) or maybe I'm just finally realizing everything that needs to be put in it's place so that we can have a stable day-to-day life and be emotionally, physically, and mentally in the right places to teach, help, and show greater love to these wonderful little boys each day of their lives.

Goal #1: Reading time - 15 mins a day (It usually ends up being more, but it helps if I say 15 mins.) After each Goal post - I will come back and amend the post each day and report how things have gone. Since I didn't write this post until Thursday... I'll go back and re-cap on the week to date.

Monday - We went to story time at the library today. Then picked out a slew of new books to bring home, most from the early readers section so that I can start working with Alex on reading. After naps we read a handful of them.

Tuesday - Well it is actually Thursday and I'm not really remembering what we did on Tuesday. I know that I went to a Town meeting, and when I came home Daddy had made the boys an awesome couch fort! They had been reading in there with him, so that will be today's reading.

Wednesday - We sat down to read to the boys. At first they wanted to go outside, or watch a movie, or color. But I sat down and started reading and they joined in. We read from McGuffey's Eclectic Primer, Alex read some words all by himself. Michael and Matthew were thrilled to find "my name" (or be able to identify the first letter of their names) in the book. Then we read 2 articles out of The Friend. And some fun poems from a library book.

Thursday - Well today was a long day, we did a lot. Spent the morning trying to get ready for the park... almost didn't make it. Stayed at the Park until nap time. Got naps, up and back at the normals of diaper changes, dinner, and then headed out to the store. Stopped at Daddy's office to see him (he's working late tonight). And got home and ready for bed... and it's 9pm. So we read one quick story and tucked into bed... 15 mins of reading didn't happen today. Good thing other days are usually more!

Friday - Today (and yesterday) I'm just in one of those moods. I don't know why, maybe it's because our house is a disaster and I don't even know where to start and just feel so overwhelmed. Most likely... and I have all these "projects" that I wish I could be working on, but feel like I can't because I haven't gotten my 'work' done first. Hmm... the joys of responsibility. Maybe it'll get me going again if I write it out... the morning was really pretty good. I got up a little before 6am (Thank you to my dear husband's help), quickly got ready for the day, fed Andrew, and was out the door by 6:45am, on my way to Grandpa's (alone!) to pick raspberries. I wasn't 3 mins away and I got pulled over! I thought I was out of the 25 mph zone... but obviously not! It must be my lucky day, he didn't cite me (and I've been told the police in our new town will usually cite if your going 5 over... I was doing 10.) Got to Grandpa's and an hour later (Thank You to Grandpa's help!) had a huge bowl and part of a smaller bowl full. Home by 8:30am so Daddy could head to work. Washed and put up half the raspberries, went out back with the boys and attacked our overgrown garden again... note to self, next year PLANT when you rotatille, once the weeds come back in it's 10 times harder and longer! Planted some carrots. Came in got lunch, made some sourdough english muffins from scratch! They are SO good! Reading time with the boys, we read 4-5 library books. Put boys down, and now... I just want to vegg... but oh, my house is ridiculously cluttered. I am wishing I was the 'Genie' or had one in a lamp somewhere!

Beginnings

I am someone who likes to be busy, I love having things to do and projects to accomplish, and apparently I'm not the only one who knows this! We have been blessed with 4 beautiful little boys in 4 yrs. As of today they are a 4 1/2yr old, two - 2 1/2 yr olds, and 7 months old. My life is full of; joy, tears, smiles, laughs, sillies, questions, noise, energy (though at times not enough in me as around me!), and most important love! I wouldn't have it any other way!! Though I must admit that at times I miss some of the things that I used to do, and keep wishing that I could accomplish some of the projects that are making the "back-burner" full! I think that Heavenly Father knew that I'd try to make my life full one way or another, and that this was the best way.

Along those lines lately I've been searching to 'find' something 'more' to do. And as I pondered and thought and looked and prayed I finally found my answer, right in front of me. My purpose in life is not to do all the things that I dream up in my head (I'm quite a dreamer/entrepreneur in my mind... I just don't have the time in real life to do all the things I think and dream about.) It IS however to be a Wife, Mother, and a Teacher to the dear Children who I have been so very blessed to be the Mother of! I read a great quote the other day about how we measure our success, and it caused me to think about what I measure my success by. And what success means to me. It is my children! Who they are and become reflects upon what we teach them. The thought that I keep coming back to is to work and strive to "Teach The Children" that I love so.

I have always thought it helpful to have a person or place to account to on progress of a pursuit, as this is one which I want to do my very best on, I decided it would be wise to create a place to put the things I learn, resources I find, and the things we do along this wonderful journey of "Teaching the Children".  It is for my own personal reference more than anything, but if you have found your way here and want to read along your welcome to join us.  I hope that maybe something we find or do will help you on your own journey to "Teach The Children".