Ten Months

My little flip-calendar I'm making with ink pens and blank flashcards.

So David and Harrison are 10 months old. They're moving around a lot and the fact that they're getting older still doesn't make me want to have another child. (In case you didn't get the memo-post-fake-memo: I'm not pregnant). But still, I often sit and wonder how many kids I'll have. I wanted five. I've heard many times that having 5 kids is easier than having 2 or 3 - which I can see being true as you constantly have help from the older kids and ultimately have less work to do in that sense. It's tempting to just have the two because I love my little boyfriends so much I can't imagine loving more than 3 boys at once (3 including my husband). I guess I could have a girl, but I wouldn't want more than one. Don't you love how I'm trying to pick and choose my fate?

Sigh... It's hard giving all your love and energy to two people all day every day with the exception of maybe 2 hours. It's amazing, though, that I get the opportunity to completely take care of two other humans who are just learning about this world, and to see how fast the human brain develops in early years. I am the person to fill these boys' beautiful and curious brains - and that is a little freaky. Many times in a day I question my ability to rear these children, let alone homeschool them. It's terrifying! But at the end of the day (most days) I know I can help these humans understand and appreciate the earth and the infinite things you can learn on it more than being in one classroom (or six) all day with some teachers and students their age who's majority won't really care about my kids. So I'm glad we have decided to do this.  Click HERE if you are interested in hearing the perspective of a male who was unschooled. Click HERE if you are interested in hearing the perspective of a woman who, with her husband, decided to take her young children out of school and homeschool them. She also guides you through the stages of learning - The Socratic Method of homeschooling which is based on the Trivium, a method of teaching children according to the phases of a child's cognitive development (concrete, analytical, and then abstract thinking). I plan on using the Trivium as a guideline for helping my kids learn.

But like I said, it's all freaky. Not good freaky, bad freaky. And my vague plan is to not have another babe until we know we are really settled in a place/home and the boys are at least 3 years old. 

Going back to the children I already have...

Taken at the duck pond.

Sometime I torture them with weird picture taking.

Looking at the bees at Ashcombes, a place where we like to get our indoor/outdoor plants (and get ice cream).

Afterbath.

Deciding to explore instead of go to bed.

Harrison still has no teeth but he is showing signs of teething recently. i.e. A fever of 102 degrees... very sad. David is getting his third and fourth - one is on top! They are starting to get into everything that you can get into without walking or jumping (although they ALWAYS want me to walk with them - they are now learning how to walk with me just holding their hand as I carry the other baby), so my chores and hobbies are a little behind what I'd like. The weather is warmer though, so as long as it's not raining we're usually outside doing something which is really the thing that completes my day. What is living if you're inside all day? And the answer to that is: WINTERTIME IN THE NORTH EAST. Alright, let's not think about it. Pretend it's not real. So that's basically our life. Eating, sleeping, trying to find new places and interesting things to see and do, trying to just finish a meal or a movie, or the laundry or a shower, or on some great days a project, and on all days just trying to be happy people.