Traveling

Traveling has always been something vague to me - something I have always wanted to do but don't really know how or what it means. I think I'm figuring it out in small steps just by seeing new places in the United States. I got to drive with all my boys down to Delaware on the most beautiful roads through trees, lakes and rivers, and humungous farms filled with crops and horses. A good majority of it was spent listening to the two littlest boys whining, but the trip back wasn't so bad. Dave's parents rented a beach house for a week in Bethany. The picture above is when I caught my first fish at Bethany Beach. I was really, really happy about it. We went early in the morning and watched the sun float higher and higher over the water. I had never seen the sunrise on the beach before. It is easy on the eyes and so satisfying. It reminded me why I like mornings. The Atlantic ocean is warmer and calmer (usually) than the Pacific - although, there were LOTS of sea creatures in there! Usually you don't run into anything or even see much on the west coast beaches, but we all at different times stepped on something much bigger than the fish in this picture. That's when I decided to get out and dry off. That morning fishing trip we saw a whole lot of dolphins, and every day we went we saw rays, horseshoe crabs, and sharks (not huge, but... big enough).

I saw so many new things even though I've lived ten minutes away from the beach almost my whole life. It's experiences like that that make me feel alive. I was quite the home body by the time the boys were born and it took me a while to start going out with them. Now we've seen lots of new places, we try new things all the time (roller derby being my personal new obsession), and they're growing freaking fast. I am so grateful for being able to see new things and I can't wait till my kids can really enjoy new places and remember them. I'm pretty sure once my kids are all older Dave and I are going to drive them around the entire country making them see and do new things with us as part of their schooling. That'd be great.

I've heard people say that you should travel and do everything you want to do before you have kids, but I've done probably way more cool things than I did before getting knocked up! It may be harder to do with kids but I see it as a challenge. And I love a good challenge. I want my kids to challenge themselves and not be afraid of new things. To me, there is nothing more satisfying or relieving than facing your fears alongside the ones you love. And since my closest obvious encounter to death was on a big, scaly rock surrounded by ocean, letting my kids even go near it was a huge accomplishment.

You 

can 

do 

it

(with kids!).

- Wannabe traveler/go-getter

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.

Another Step

So I've been on a little slump from internets. A lot of things have happened, but the main thing going on is our recent decision to homeschool our kids (Mind you, I do know that there are many things to deal with before that. So we're dealing with those things as they come, AND preparing for this). It was a very scary thought - me trying to teach my kids everything I learned from k-12. 

But it's not about all the facts, it's about teaching them about the world. Your children can get facts online and in books (which we have exorbitant amounts of). What I can do is teach them how to feel and learn and do. I am no longer afraid because I am not insecure about my lack of intelligence about every single thing. You don't need to know everything your professors know about all subjects in order to teach your children. You can learn with them, read with them, speak with them, play with them, cook with them, garden with them, etc! I still don't know a lot about how I am going to do it and what every day will be like - but who does? I bought this book so I could learn more about different methods and get questions answered and confirm our decision. 

Although I already feel a confirmation from the Lord. 

I have only read one chapter, and I enjoy it. When I finish it I will let you know if I recommend the read or not.

Some other things:
1. We are officially debt free.
2. We were finally able to buy a washer and dryer. We don't have to drive to his parents' house every time we need something clean now!
3. General Conference was amazing.
4. We bought a cube shelf and dresser to complete the babies' room.
5. Dave's sisters threw an awesome baby shower for me 2 weeks ago and now we have lots of baby stuff (lots for someone who's never had children). And I can fill the dresser with cute tiny boy clothes. And I want to eat them.
6. I love Dave. He still makes me melt.
7. We are going to repaint the house and the kitchen.
8. My three best friends right now (other than Dave) are Target, Barnes and Noble, and popsicles.
9. I am basically the supervisor at work now. I work in a lab and three greenhouses and we are sampling tree roots from a nursery right now looking for cysts (in this case Nematodes) so that we can give them the okay to ship them to Canada. So far there have been cysts in almost every batch so they cannot ship them yet. Anyway, even the guys that have worked there for 15 years are going through me and asking me to identify for them.
10. The babies should be almost 2 lbs. by now. Apparently they sleep as much as a newborn baby does, but they kick and shift all day long. Maybe they just sleep like I do...
11. I have always wanted to raise chickens, and Dave and I found out we are allowed to keep chickens in our backyard and use their eggs. It would be so fun and hilarious, especially with kids. We will wait another year or two after the babies are born.