Step Out On Stage

One of our Summer highlights was a theatre production at Camp Grammie & Papa.

Each year I am indulged with a week alone as my folks take the children for an awesome week of camp.

(This year I lost my week alone indulgence to serve as the camp nurse instead -

more on that in a later post!)

On the last day of camp, which happened to be my birthday, we were treated to a wonderful theatre production, 3 productions actually!

Earlier in the week a pile of props were left in the gazebo and the children had the freedom to play dress-up and create their own original plays.
Tickets were sold and we were told, "you must use real money," smart kids!



Concessions were sold as well, again, we had to use "real money"!!

 The stage was set...

The crowd was ready...

And it was showtime!

First up was an original production of Marty Benson

The show was actually really good!  I mean, we've sat through our share of "plays" by the children and after 20 minutes we are shouting, "ok, land the plane!  Bring it on home!" as the plays go on and on and on!  But this one was really thought out and had a nice conclusion!

As they took their bows and everyone applauded wildly!

******

This morning at breakfast, I told the kiddos that exactly one week from today - next Wednesday - they'd be at their first day of school.

At these words, one of my little ones lost her appetite.

She came and found me in the kitchen to tell me that she was a little bit scared to go to school.

I brushed it aside and said, "oh, you'll be fine, it will be great."  

But that didn't settle her.

We sat down and had a more in depth chat and I realized that she truly is scared to go to school.

"what if my tummy hurts?  what if I cry?  what if I don't like it?"

I gently encouraged her to simply try, take the first step, and then we'd see if she liked it.

Often times, waiting in the wings behind the curtain is much scarier than stepping out on stage!
Our imaginations go to the worst case scenario, we speculate, "what if" begins and we can talk ourselves out of an incredible opportunity.
But there are moments in life when you just need to step out on stage.

Those moments that cause your stomach to twist in knots,

moments when your mouth goes dry,

moments when your eyes dart for the nearest bathroom!

In that moment, we are faced with a decision - escape, or step out on stage!
More often than not, stepping out on stage leads to a brilliant, original performance of who you uniquely are and concludes with wild applause.
Step out!
The world needs the unique gift that is you.

One more week until the curtain goes up!

Watching From the Shore

10 days until school starts!

We started our Summer with a little trip up north to visit our Grandparents.
We had a wonderful time hiking in caverns, learning how to make Granny's fried chicken, playing with their dog, and swimming in rivers!

 From the day we arrived, it was hot.
Down south our temps were still mild, so we assumed it would still be cool up north, be we were wrong.  It was like Summer slapped us in the face.

Except the day we went to the river.

All the kids had been talking about was wanting to swim in the river like Daddy did when he was a kid.  There are awesome rocks to climb on and the water is calm... an ocean swimming kid's dream!
We saved the river for last and wouldn't you know we woke up to pouring rain!
The temps dropped about 30 degrees and the rain didn't stop.
There was a little break in the afternoon, so we headed to the river and the children didn't mind the chilly water, they went right in.

I stood on the shore and watched.

I was warm, content and happy to click away at their joy and freedom to explore on their own.
They were so proud of themselves and I could tell they were empowered to venture out into the water, no parents trailing behind them, and indulge their little hearts with adventure.

Truthfully, I didn't really want to go into the water, it was still cloudy and drizzly outside, the water was freezing, and my spot on the shore was just right.

Their swim back from the rocks got a little rough.  The chill of the water was really getting to them and at one point we wondered if we were going to have to go in after the little guy!
But they made it, and didn't stop talking about their swim in the river all the way home.

 We're embarking on a new adventure this year - school!
We decided not to homeschool this year and the children will go back to school in 10 short days.
I feel much like I did standing on the shore of the river.  I'm content to watch them venture out on their own and explore.  I'll be standing by to snap many pictures and cheer them on, only a few strides away in case they need me to step in and help them when the waters get too cold.

They're excited to to swim in new waters and be empowered by the independence.
I'm happy to watch from the shore this time......
especially if me and my girls are rockin' the messy bun!

A Day in Space

This homeschooling adventure continues to surprise me with fun and goodtimes!

Who would have thought?

A few months back my girlfriend hosted my littles for A Medieval Day,

so now it was my turn to host A Day in Space!

I'm so thankful for Pintrist and all the creative folks that share their ideas - they make me look good!

 

I built a really fun star gazing fort with black table cloths and twinkle lights!

The kids looked at space books with flashlights (it was really dark in there) and then presented us with some facts on stars.

 

We made some constellation viewers

 

And created our own constellations out of marshmallows and pretzels

 

Then onto the moon!

I've always been so in awe of the moon, probably because my mom is.

She still will call me and say, "you have to go outside and look at the moon tonight!"

 

We paused for a little dance party -

checkout this song to C Lo Green's "Forget You"

It's awesome!

 

Then we painted our own moon phase chart

 

 

 

And a break for a little Rocket Fuel!

 

Some Meteorites for dessert

 

And probably their favorite - making moon craters!

 

We dropped different size balls, at different heights, into a pan filled with flour

to see how the craters of the moon were formed.

 

 

 

We ended with some Oreo moon phases!



A good, educational, time was had by all!!

Bread

I've long had the desire to learn the art of making bread.

I've been pinning bread recipes on Pintrist for quite some time and have

 been a little intimidated to try any.

But with our new homeschooling adventure, I thought baking bread would make a great math and science lesson, so we gave it a try.



I was so surprised how easy it was and how beautifully the loaves came out!

Not to mention how they tasted!!!

There is nothing like fresh bread right out of the oven -

covered in melted butter!

I'm sure this will not be our last math / science lesson in the kitchen!



It's So Not Me

Some of you have asked about our decision to homeschool.

I kinda walk on thin ice talking about this!  But here we go.

 

People home school for all different reasons.

I can honestly say that homeschooling is something that I never thought would be part of my story.

"It's so not me!"

I grew up in public school and had a great experience.

Our public school is in our neighborhood and for the past 2 years we only walked 2 blocks to get there!  It was awesome!

Many assume that we had a terrible experience at school and that is why we're homeschooling.

Not true.

Some think that because we're Christians and struggle with things the schools are teaching our children is why we're homeschooling.

Not true.

I had a dear friend once tell me, "when your nest starts to get uncomfortable, it's time to fly."

 

That came at a time in my life when I started to struggle with aspects of my job, some relationships in my life were getting messy, and my spirit was restless.  It was those uncomfortable situations that forced me to look at options for change that I would have never considered otherwise.

For our family, life became increasingly uncomfortable over the past 2 years for many reasons, in many areas, and our nest was getting rather uncomfortable.

It forced us to look at other options for our family that we would have never considered otherwise -  homeschooling was one of them.

One, highly unlikely, almost impossible option!

Time and again as I thought of homeschooling,

 I'd say, "It's so not me.  I could never homeschool my children."

 

I'd daydream about doing fun crafts, baking bread, wearing long flowing dresses and bonnets (just kidding!) and then the daydream would turn into a nightmare where little girls were rolling their eyes at me, arguing, and not listening to a thing I say! 

AHHH, "I could never homeschool.  It's so not me."

Then it came.

God's voice.  

Through several friends, situations, and ultimately a moment in the shower - God spoke to our family about making an unpopular decision and going against the norm.

I was in the shower one morning, having that same daydream about the possibility of homeschooling that goes totally awry and the girls start hitting me and pulling my hair and eating me alive!  And the words flew out of the mouth once again, "I could never homeschool.  It's so not me."

But for the first time, I finished that statement -

"Homeschooling is so not me.... but it's so much more of who I want to be."

And I started to cry and just knew that God was making our nest uncomfortable so we'd fly.

And we decided to jump out of the nest and take a leap of faith and follow God on a new adventure for our family.

 

I have to be honest, this decision has little to nothing to do with our children's education.

It's about God calling us to step out of what is comfortable for us and trust Him as we walk down a road that we'd never thought we'd take, do something that I've always thought was "so not me," and live in reckless abandon to God and His call on our life.

I feel confident that God is preparing us for an even bigger decision that we will face in the future.

Not sure what that is, but I'm sure it's going to require more trust and faith than homeschooling.

This decision is simply preparing us for what is to come.

So that's our story in a nutshell.

We're homeschooling because God has called our family to do it.

This year.

For now.

 

*Of course the story has numerous examples of the specifics of what exactly made our nest uncomfortable!  Some of you have been bored with those stories - sorry!

But the wise words of Shari Gaffney beautifully shortened this story:

 

"As you live into the decision you've made, resist feeling like you need to defend or justify it. You and Roger are great parents and you have freedom to home school simply because you want to. It doesn't have to be in response to a negative experience or impatient teacher. I used to feel I had to explain our parenting decisions (probably because I was the oldest in the family and first to have kids) but I no longer do. Some decisions are based upon intuition or a hunch or even a little invasion of their privacy for the greater good. These are things that might not make sense to someone else.

 

With all you've recently went through, I bet you simply want to savor and enjoy little moments you've missed. I think that in and of itself is a great reason to proceed.

 

I know impact does not always match intention, but I do hope this might help you feel freedom in being the parent you feel God (not others) is calling you to be :)"

 

Oh how I love Shari Gaffney and her wisdom and her ability to speak the truth in love!

 

It's been a long time since I've had so much peace about a decision I've made.  I know that peace only comes from walking in obedience, whether it makes sense to others or not.

 

Have an amazing weekend!!