Month: January 2011

Joys of Homeschooling (this week at least!)

 

This week I was reminded of many of reasons I love to homeschool. 

I love watching Kory, who is in 1st grade, learn.

I love learning with him.

I love watching Cade, who is 2 1/2, learn with his brother.

I love that Kory is getting better at reading and chooses to read on his own.  One day he was supposed to be cleaning his room. Instead I heard, “Mommy, can I read a story to my brother?”  I couldn’t refuse.  As I worked in a different room, I could hear the boys laughing together over the story Hot Dog.

I love how Cade enjoys being with us for school. “I do school too, mommy.”  He will curl up with us while Kory is reading one of his books to me.  He will run up to the table and say, “Mommy, I do science too.”  Whether it is math, science, language arts, history, Cade is usually close by with worksheets of his own to work on. 

Now other times he is a typical 2 1/2 year old who would rather be goofy and disrupt his brother from school.  There are many times we have to take breaks because of a strong case of giggles brought on by Cade.

working together to find mass measurements

I love how I am learning about Greek mythology.  Over the past two weeks, I  have learned what “The Midas Touch” means and how a golden apple played a part in the Trojan War.  Why didn’t I ever learn this in school?

learning Greek myths together

 

And I enjoyed watching my boys play together and with others on a fun little outing we had this week. 

playing together at a bounce place

 

What a great homeschooling week we have had.  Hopefully next week will be just as great!

Sacrifices…

 

My house is a disaster.  Unfolded clothes are all over a couch.  My table is scattered with coloring sheets, notebooks, books, and who knows what else.  My boys’ rooms are cluttered with toys all over the floor.  My fridge is running low on groceries.  My office desk has papers all over. I’m so far behind on pulling paperwork together that I normally have done at this point of the year.

But you know what?

I’ve been consistent in my running workouts!  I’ve kept on track with the 6-week running program I picked. I’ve stayed within the interval lengths. I’ve pushed myself to run a bit faster.

I’ve been consistent to spend 2 hours at the gym on Tuesdays, which includes  a 40 minute swim and an hour of cycling class.

I’ve been consistent to eat healthy, which means taking time to cut up fruits and veggies. It also means not giving in to cravings of sweets and carb-filled snacks.  It also means a lot of gum chewing 🙂

And to do that, I’ve had to make sacrifices. 

Do I wish all my clothes were folded? Yep. Do I wish all my dirty dishes were washed? Yep.  Do I wish that I had time to scrub my floor?  Nope – I still hate that chore. 🙂

But they are all sacrifices. I often turn my back on all the “clutter” of things calling for my attention, walk out the door with my boys and head to the gym. 

Does it stress me out a bit when I get home after being at the gym to see it all as a reminder?  Yep.  Does it drive me crazy on our long gym days where we get home almost 2 1/2 hours after we leave home? Yep.

But they are all sacrifices – and thankfully sacrifices that my husband doesn’t mind and is willing to help me with when he can.

And yes… I’m starting to see little progress with those sacrifices… a few extra swim laps without too much effort, a little longer distance on the treadmill, a few pounds lighter. 

The sacrifices are starting to pay off! But now I must go work on folding clothes, sorting paperwork, and cleaning a table because I already got my workout in for the day!!! 🙂

What are you sacrificing to meet your goal?

Welcoming 2011 with One Simple Goal

 

Here it is 2011. I can hardly believe it. 

As I look back on 2010, I am reminded of three major accomplishments I made this past year.

– I re-focused my freelance work.

– I swam in a tri.

                                 

– I finished a 5K with my boys. Literally with my boys as I pushed them in a double jogging stroller up a HUGE hill to cross the finish line!  While my race time was not the greatest, I enjoyed every minute of sharing that 5K with my boys!

It sure took a lot strength to accomplish these three things this past year.  Strength to know when it was time to say “no”.  Strength to focus on training. Strength to ignore the many piles of dishes, laundry, emails and phone calls pleading and screaming for my attention. Strength to just focus on the things that mattered to me – the same things that made me a better – happier – calmer person this past year.

Now I look ahead to 2011.  I have one simple goal for the year: to continue to be healthier in all aspects of my life – physically, spiritually, financially. 

How am I going to accomplish that goal?  I’m still working on that and will probably rework it many times this year. 

I already have a full tri in my sight for the end of the summer. Of course I’m hoping for another 5K – without a double stroller this year!  I’m hoping to work on watching those dollars and cents a bit better and pay more with cash.  I’m hoping to be a bit more consistent in my personal devotions. 

Talk about multi-tasking!! It may take a lot of that this year to accomplish these things while I also maintain my full life of family, homeschooling and writing. 

And it will take a lot of strength. Strength to know when to say “no”. Strength to ignore the piles of dishes, laundry, toys and everything else that finds itself out of its place.  Strength to ignore phone calls, texts and emails.  Strength to focus on the things that make me a better me!

And with that, I’m off to get on the treadmill… I have a tri to get ready for! 🙂

What’s your one goal for 2011 and how will you get there?