Homeschooling

I never thought in a million years that I would be a homeschooling mama. Iʻve researched homeschooling for many years but the time was always wrong to give it a try. When I did finally decide to do it, because there is no good time,...I gave it my all.  The day I broke the news to my children that I was going to homeschool them, they swore they werenʻt going to ever talk to me again. I wish I documented the look on their faces...but, being the good sports they always are...they were willing to put their future in their motherʻs hands.
We are going into our fifth year of homeschooling. Since this is somewhat a public post and not my personal journal, I guess Iʻm supposed to write about how "rewarding" and "phenomenal" itʻs been. Truth be told, it has been that and more! I've grown so close to my children as I've come to know their needs and their concerns about life on individual levels. We've had our hair pulling days (yes, our own and each other's, you'd figure we'd be bald by now) but from 8-2, Monday through Fridays, there's no other place I'd rather be. The most rewarding feeling for me is that they feel the same...well, most of the time anyway and I'll gladly settle for that.
I'm so grateful to have made the decision to homeschool. Regardless of what anyone has to say, it's been one of the biggest blessings we've experienced as a family. I encourage those with a desire to give it a try, of your desire is true, I know you'll love it.

Sew Therapeutic

Two years ago, one of my besties introduced me to the world of sewing. Being that I didnʻt learn to cook till I was married, of course, I couldnʻt sew either. Iʻve done simple stitching here and there but never a serious sewing project with a beginning, middle and end. I started off sewing blankets and cute little hooded towels. Shortly after, I sewed blankets with more details and layers. Itʻs been a fun and very therapeutic learning process. Because of the lack of time and childcare, I am unable to attend sewing lessons. So what do I do? I go on Google and I find online lessons to teach myself a thing or two. I must say that I am pretty comfortable now with my sewing, and maybe a little bold even since Iʻve given some as gifts. I always add a little side note of precaution to the recipient to never wash the items for the seams might just untangle and theyʻll end up with a piece of fabric which then I am no longer responsible for. Thanks to sew many inspirational acquaintances of mine, Iʻve learned to sew more than just blankets and hooded towels now. Iʻve started sewing blouses and skirts too. Hereʻs a recent project my daughter and I worked on together.

Originally, this was supposed to be her blouse but after completion, she decided to give it to me. Sew nice of her:)

As you can see, I was very content with the results. I even wore it to church that following Sunday to show it off. Sew very vain!

This is me cutting the pattern for my daughterʻs skirt. We didnʻt have a pattern so it was rather challenging.

I love my rotary cutter and cutting mat. It is the foundation to all of my projects...they are sew helpful!

Her sew fed up look..thereʻs no picture to the finished skirt yet...mainly cuz itʻs sew unfinished.

This is a baby blanket we sewed for our little friend Blazeʻs first birthday. I hope he will sew love it.

My sewing partner and I started this project at 10 pm...that wasnʻt sew smart because we ended up pulling an all nighter.

The completed blanket looked sew fluffly and warm. We were sew very excited to give it to him.

I really enjoy sewing and am looking forward to many projects my daughter and I can do together. Itʻs therapeutic not because it relaxes us but because it challenges us to an amazing end result that fills both of us with a sense of accomplishment and self satisfaction.

Halloween

Halloween is so fun. Costumes, candies, parties, trunk or treats, trick or treating...so much to do in so little time. If you are LDS , your ward probably has a trunk or treating event. We love going to them because thereʻs always good people, food, fun and the best part of it all, safe candies that I donʻt have to put under a lamp to inspect for hours. Remember, five kids xʻs five bag of candies equals to, "I give up already, they should be fine" after the third bag...which means that kid #4 & 5 are eating the "just have faith" candies. Well, this Halloween was no different. Our ward scheduled it one week before Halloween. The boys wanted to do a theme of "Ghostbusters" and the girl wanted to be Supergirl, which leaves the baby in a super cute hand me down Spiderman costume. We had a blast as usual. Good people, good food, good fun, safe candies.
Supergirl, one of the guys from Ghostbusters and a super cute hand me down Spiderman.
This boy loves donuts so we figured heʻd love this donut eating contest but, "NO DAD!" was the actual words screamed before he fled from the contest scene. Look closely and you can actually see his face scrunching up ready to cry. Go figure!


Spiderman also decided not to go trunk or treating that evening. He posed like he went but he refused to go.


Another Halloween...another year....I remember Halloween being just as fun when we were younger. I hope these memories will be embedded in their hearts always. I hope theyʻll be fun parents too as they go to all these different festivities with their keikis.

My Birthday Girl

This morning started off with Dad surprising her with balloons, a beautiful single red crimson rose and donuts. Canʻt find that picture right now in my photos but Iʻll post it when I do. She was absolutely thrilled and was looking forward to the rest of her day. We even picked up a treat from Wendyʻs. The menu for the day wasnʻt going to be a healthy one...today was definitely a day off from the norm:)

The birthday girl wanted a guitar for her birthday. Unfortunately, when the FED EX guy delivered it to the door, she was right there to see it. I couldnʻt even lie that it wasnʻt a guitar. Can you see why?

It doesnʻt matter how old you are, opening presents is always so exciting.


All smiles...she strummed those strings all day long!

Halfway through the day, she found out that her Dad wasnʻt going to be home to celebrate her birthday with her because of his work. She was devastated...so...we took the celebration to his work site and had a party there...well, kind of a party. It didnʻt matter, what mattered is that she was with her Daddy and that was all it took to make her happy.

Loving her pumpkin roll birthday cake!

It was a special day for our baby girl. Sheʻs come a long way and continues to thrive to do her best. We love her more than words can ever express. She got what she wanted but to her, the most important thing was that her Daddy was there to spend her birthday with her. As her Daddy always said, "Happy Birthday Sweetheart!"