My Blogit Entries Day 3: Homeschool Dilemma

I was all but ready to solely dedicate a blog to the life of my three year old son, however my mind is being flooded with homeschooling curriculum choices. It was not a decision that was take lightly. I mean, let's think about this, your child's education lies in your hands. It is so much easier just to throw him into a public school, and then blame the under paid and under appreciated teacher for his behavior and lack of putting forth an effort. However, in making this decision it was hard for me to bring up the homeschooling idea and concerns to my husband. We were both brought up in the public school system, and I wasn't sure what his take would be on it. It was our move from Louisville back home to Florida that my ideas for this came to light.
The school system in our county has been going down hill for years, and I just didn't know what to do about it. When I finally had the courage to bring it up to my husband his "biggest concern" was the socializing aspect. This was not a big issue for me. I was the girl who got in trouble for talking in class; I was the girl that got sent to the silent table during lunch. So, for me socializing in public school was an oxymoron if I had a say in the matter. My husband's concern in this matter did not last long when we saw our son's personality blossom. The boy could have a magical conversation with a tree, if you let him. My thought process was, "How can a mom who is highly educated send her sons to a school that is not performing the way the state would like?"
The birth of the journey into Homeschooling began with my husband's full support. We agreed that for our family and our Christian beliefs that this is what we wanted for our boys. We discussed what would happen if the boys wanted to attend school as they got older and if we would be open to that decision. For now, we think it will not play a huge role in the boys' thoughts. For one, the boys have close-aged friends that will be home taught as well. There is a nice core group in the area that are planning the same education route as we are. If the matter was brought up, we would approach it with letting the boys take one class at the high school. The state of Florida allows homeschooling students to take AP/DE courses or extracurricular classes at the school, as long as this law remains, we think that will satisfy their craving. If not, praying about the decision would be the answer.
Back to the curriculum... There is so much out there, and it can be overwhelming for beginners. The Florida Homeschooling convention will be approaching in May, and this will be my second year in attendance. My husband will be joining me this year to help with weeding out the choices. It seems that I have gotten the Writing, Math, and Critical Thinking programs selected. I have Reading, Social Studies, and Science that I have left to ponder. The reading is my biggest obstacle. I was taught to read by sight (no phonics), when the system saw that this was not the best approach they switched back to phonics. So, I am a strong advocate for PHONICS! Come May, I am hoping that with the help of the husband, my convention endeavor will be less overwhelming.
My opinion and tips for those pursuing homeschooling are: make sure your spouse gives you the support you need, weigh out the pros and cons for your individual family (not what worked best for others), be open to all the curriculum, find a support group in your area or online, and follow your child's strengths. For example, Mr. Independent (my three year old) enjoys the hands on approach along with the visual attraction of things. He would fail terribly sitting doing nothing but writing. He loves creating. He is artistic. The math program we are selecting for him has many scales, blocks, cards, etc. 
The time will come when Mr. Clinger (my three month old) will be ready for school, and only God knows how different he will be in learning. Just when I think I have it all straightened out, I'm sure he will tangle it all up for me. I am sure there will be more on this dilemma in the future because the homeschooling dilemma is a great one, but an experience I know God will bless our family with.

My Blogit Entries Day 2: Daddy's Love

It was a typical morning in our house. The husband was out the door by 8am to go to work. While I was begging my three month old to let me get just five more minutes of sleep, and hoping that his sporadic yelps wouldn't wake up his brother. It is at these moments, that I begin to feel like a teenager again pleading with my mom to give me a snooze button. Of course, the best part about this is when these two boys grow up, I will be the mom bouncing on their beds to get them to wake up. Oh, sweet justice, it will be mine... one day. Moving on... He did wake up because of the yelping, and he slowly opens my bedroom door gingerly climbing into my bed. However, unlike typical mornings where he cuddles with me, he was doing is little puppy dog noises. I turn to ask him what was wrong, and BAM, he screams!!! "I WANT MY DADDY, I MISS HIM, I WANT TO LOVE ON  HIM!" Awe, yes, the beginning to a beautiful day. I am not necessarily complaining, but simply trying to get used to a new routine since the arrival of "baby brother". He made me call his dad to plea with him to drive back home from work. United, my husband and I were explaining to our son that if daddy didn't work we wouldn't have a nice house, food, toys, comfy beds, etc. This was a failure in communicating with him, he is three, and he loves his dad and wants him home.
It was then that he said it, the saddest thing a three year old could say to a dad that is obligated to go to work to provide, "Daddy, my heart is breaking, come home!" Of course, this put daddy over the edge in sadness. It was then that I decided that daddy needed to hang up, we said our "I Love You"s and hung up. "Baby brother" on the right, the heart broken one on my left, I say to him, "why don't you cuddle and love on me?" He did it, lovingly. Then his new favorite question popped up, "How long will it take for daddy to come home?" I reply, "Like everyday, at dinner time after breakfast, lunch, and nap." "Okay, mommy" and that was the end of it.
He is playing happily with Play Doh, and waiting for me to start his school. Was this morning hectic, yes! Did I want to climb into a whole for just a few minutes of tranquil silence, yes! Would I change my son's reaction to missing his daddy, NO! I love knowing that my son loves his daddy. It has really given me the affirmation that everyday when daddy walks in through the door and we make a HUGE deal of him returning home has paid off. I love it. I love seeing that my son loves his dad, and that the presence of his dad makes him feel whole.  I love that he is comforted by me until the hero of the day returns to his secret headquarters.
You cannot replace a daddy's love. I am grateful for knowing that my husband will be home at the end of the day. It makes me appreciate the soldiers who are away from their families to protect mine. I appreciate the Doctors, that are on-call in the wee hours of the night to heal my family. I am appreciative to anyone who is not home with their family that crosses paths with mine. Most of all... I am grateful to a God that allows my husband to come home to his family everyday.
Now, as we go about our day, we patiently await for our "main man" to come home, and when that time comes, we will be making a HUGE deal at his presence like always. There is really is nothing like a daddy's love, just ask my sons.

My Blogit Entries Day 1

Welcome to the thoughts of a wife, mother, student, and teacher. It will not take a reader long to realize that having these four titles can become a bit complex, however that is what life should be about complexity. If we lived with no complexity it would be quite a flat world and existence. As a first entry into this blog, I must make it known that within these past three sentences I have gotten up twice to nurture my three month old encouraging him to take his afternoon nap, and taking my soon-to-be four year old to his room for his nap. What started out as quick little blog has turned into a chore that has lasted over an hour. So here is an introduction to this new blogger:
There are few things that I think get misinterpreted in life (especially mine) by society:

Marriage is not only 50/50: It would be fun to say that my husband and I share the load equally, but I'm not going to lie, we don't . If we did then I would have to keep a score board up in the house, however that is not how we like to live. We both make mistakes, and needing to bring up old mishaps doesn't make a marriage stronger. However, it is learning sometimes that I will have to give more and take less, yet acknowledging that there are times that my husband has to give more and take less. It's been a busy day with a cranking teething three month old and a three year old trying to test his boundaries, which means one thing nothing has gotten done in the house. My husband is busy with clients all day long, he skipped lunch, and has a half hour drive to get home. Who's to say he worked harder or that I worked harder. No it's all about: Compromising... Communication... Patience... Understanding... Forgiveness... these are all elements to making a marriage work. Here goes year seven of marriage.

Parenting young children: it's all fun raising a kid, but most of the time I have to recollect that I am not raising kids but men. That's right, I'm one of those people, my husband and I talk to our children knowing that they are more intelligent than we can comprehend. My three year old already knows the concept of death (through the loss of a hamster and learning about Jesus' sacrificial decision to save us), and he can pretty much tell you his male reproductive system. With that being said, he thinks that Santa left him presents under the tree, that somehow the Green Goblin can become a good guy, and maybe just maybe he can learn to fly like Superman. Even with the concept of raising men, my sons can still have fun becoming one.
Online school is easier than ground schooling: In this area, I have become the "Jack of all traits". I started my college education with Dual Enrollment courses in High school, however we can begin the actual career of "going to college" in 2003. I started as a degree major in Christian Counseling at Boyce College (SBTS), switched to the University of Louisville as an Education major, however finally settleing back home in the Sunshine State just to go to school (online) in Arizona's Grand Canyon University majoring in English Literature. Did you get all that? The easiest thing about going to school online is not having to figure out what to wear. It a challenging, diverse, and humbling experience going to school online. You have to be a self teach, you cannot rely on the professor to teach you everything, you have be able to read large amounts of homework, and you better be a fanastic writer, or you will not make it. With that being said, education for adults has gotten more acessible and more enjoyable, especially for the mothers and wives of the world.
Children that are home taught are non-social: Whomever came up with this idea is insane or they are just ignorant to the ways of the world. If my memory serves me correctly one must interact with people in ever aspect of life: the grocery store or market, the library, neighbors, church, you name it... life is based on socializing. If you were to meet my son,  you wouldn't be able to tell he was home taught just by his social skills. The kid can talk your ear off. Parents that home school their children know the importance of this situation, however we also have to remember that socialization is also part of a personal characteristic. Your child will either be talkative and out going, or your child may simply be shy and laid back. It is with this simple reminder that just because you home school or your child goes to public school they can be have either personality, type A or B.
These are just little snippets of what my life is about, and I hope to see you (my readers) soon. As the journey of this complex momma continues.
What's to come, what will you have to look forward to: the beginning of the first born's education, the milestones of three month old, the graduation of the mom behind this blog, and the ups and downs of understanding this relationship that has been in the works for over two years. Stay tuned the fun has just begun!

It's been a year!

Yes, it has been a year since I have blogged on here. We have quite a bit going on. Luk has a brother! We are a family of four, and are incredibly excited. Logan is 4 months old.

Luk will be four years old, come this May. He is truly a wonderful big brother. 

I started a different blog a few days ago that will chronicle my homeschooling endeavor with the boys. I also have a developed photography website, if you want to see some of my pictures @ www.aislynnholt.com.

I have to be honest I have been blogging somewhere else, and I will post some of those thoughts because they have been read by people that pay to be on the site. I will do this sometime this evening.

I will be graduating with my English Literature in May. I am currently finishing my last two research papers, and then my final class, Poetry.

Stay tuned...

Luk's Perspective: Don't eat that Tree, Mommy.

Can any one guess which story I was telling Luk? I was talking to him about the story of Adam and Eve the other night. His mind and understanding of things are quite humorous. During the day, we were out having a nice outing when I here Luk say, "Mom, look at that tree, don't eat that tree, Mom."

I had a good laugh, I told him that was right that God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the Tree. I love to see his perspective, and for right now it is not about the apple or fruit, but the tree. It made me realize that as a Christian it is not about the actual fruit, but allowing ourselves to be tempted by the appearance of the tree.

I think as Christians looking at the tree should be enough warning, but the fruit is the next step to bringing us closer to sin. It made sense to me this morning, hopefully it does to you, too.

Another story...

God has definitely been working in my life. On Wednesday night, we did a study on the tests of Job and his reaction to his new life. One of the youth in particular said, "This is scary." She's right it is really scary to think that God would allow Satan to test us in these ways, but like I reassured her, God knows your heart this just goes to show that he wouldn't put you throught something you couldn't handle. It is hard to imagine everything Job happening to us, but one thing is for sure God allowed it to happen so that we can build to be better Christians and to lead by example.

The Whirlwind of Life

Life has been a fast and whirling rollercoaster with Luk. If you want a great conversation, he is here to talk to you. He has so much to say, and he wants to know everything you are doing. After a great trip to Richmond, VA, we took Luk to Disney World the weekend of my birthday (September), it is quite amazing how great that gift was for me. He is so great. Mickey and Minnie are his favorite characters, but he was not shy to show the Princesses and Mickey's pals some love in the process. He made his daddy proud with the Princess greetings. Luk also had his first real haircut. We cut his beautiful curls off (which seem to be coming), and he loves the short do. For Halloween he had a blast dressing up as Buzz Lightyear. As you can see the in picture below of his identity crisis, he has quite an imagination.

Reson and I have been really blessed to find a wonderful new church family near our home, and we able to help be youth leaders. It has been a really blessing to help teach these great kids about the Lord. For Christmas, we had the children and youth apart of our county's Christmas Parade. We also had a wonderful planning a Christmas Progressive Dinner and bonfire for the celebration. The kids did a white elephant gift exchange and made s'mores. We had a blast. It is really amazing how God has used us in this youth group, and how much they continue to teach us. They don't realize what a blessing they are to us.

Most recently, I had the great pleasure of photographing a wedding in Miami. It was friend of ours, and we had a blast. Luk enjoyed the trip down south, and the wedding celebration.

Now, we are in the process of getting our yearly schedule done for the youth activities that we have planned in the future. Our great friend, Janessa, has really been a wonderful leader for the youth. It has been a blessing to work with her. Hopefully in our blogging, you will see more of our fun trips with the youth. As you can see we have been quite busy. Along with helping with the youth, Reson, Janessa, and I also help with some praise and worship music. It has been great experience seeing God work in our church. I am still attending school online with only 3 semesters left. Hopefully, I will be posting pictures of our trip to Arizona.

Until our next post...

Attack of the Princesses, look at those lipstick stains, lol.

An Identity Crisis... SpideyBuzz


Church Fall Festival

Christmas Parade Float 2008


Luk's First Hair Cut

Youth Christmas Party 2008

Bonfire, Reson looks thrilled. Of course, Janessa was avoiding the picture with one hand.

Us at the Bonfire

Christmas Eve Family Party 2008

Luk at the wedding with Blain and Aleck (some of the youth)

Janess and I with Blain and Aleck

Us with the Bride and Groom

A lot has happened!

WOW, the last time I blogged was in December, and many things have happened since that time. It is pretty crazy how time flies, and you just go on forgetting about blogs like this. Luk is now 2!!! I am 47lbs lighter, and Reson is busy being a great provider! My grandmother passed away right before Easter, and that was a difficult time, but she is with the Lord. She is not suffering anymore, and that is really the blessing! We adopted a basset hound, his name is Bruce. He joined our other dog Jinxie.

Luk is now counting and talking so much. He is really busy being a 2 year old. It is a good thing I got my booty into gear, or I would not have been able to keep up with him. We also had the pleasure of visiting our dear friends Craig, Danielle, and Abigail. We cannot wait to see them again.
So, I'm going to share some pictures that I have from all this change. Enjoy!

Our visit with the Shuffs

Weight Loss Journey

Easter
Ou new member Sir Bruce!
Family Photo at the Lake!


Happy Birthday Luk and Gregory!

Fun sitting where I shouldn't be!
Hehehehe!
I'm just like Dad!
Birthday Cake, Yum!