All the Little Grubbs

Katie is 8

Katie December 20, 2013 Leave a comment

I am so far behind in blogging but wanted to catch up on some memories that I know I will regret not recording.

On October 21, 2013 my only little girl turned 8 years old. We had a nice party for her at home, we invited family and she was blessed with many great gifts. A little girl’s presents are so different than little boy ones. Art supplies, jewelry, clothes, shoes and a new bedspread…all made her feel so joyful and loved.

She is growing so fast. I know people always say that but she is physically tall and thin and her hair is getting longer. She had her ears pierced last year and we had a terrible time getting them to heal until we realized she needed to wear solid gold or they would just keep getting infected. I teased her about being high maintenance, in fact, I’ve always really said that about her but the reality is she often complains less than the boys. She is first to take initiative with chores and other areas where she sees something needs to be done.

I am trying to treasure this time. She still has her “bunny” that has been with her since she was 6 weeks old. She bites her nails and cries easily if her feelings are hurt. She loves her brothers and her Daddy and I so much and she will cuddle with us anytime she can. She is a diligent worker. She is starting to want to call family and her best friend on the phone. She likes putting on her “smell good” lotion and making sure her clothes match. She’s growing up…but she will still roll down a grassy hill and play good guys and bad guys outside, getting dirtier than anyone else.

She is so precious to me and I am thankful to God for every day that I have with her.

way off base

homeschooling October 3, 2013 Comments: 3

I felt hopeful when I saw the blog post “How Common Core is Slowly Changing My Child” shared on Facebook. It was shared by a teacher which I thought was even more exciting.

But then I read it and when I came to this sentence I realized that the writer doesn’t even know what the real issue is.

The writer of the blog mrsmomblog states “No, those teachers need to instill a love of school so when children get to our middle and high schools they are not burnt out.”

I recently started leading a Homeschool 101 group with our local homeschooling co-op. While our support group has always offered a round table about this, it was usually just once or twice a year and it seemed to me that not just new homeschooling families were needing support but so were the ones that have been doing it for 5 or even 10 years.

So when our support group’s co-op classes started back up, my friend and I started a Homeschool 101 “class” that would meet each week while the elementary age classes were meeting. I hoped it would be a place where people could come and ask questions like these:

“My daughter is just 4 but she already knows how to read, what can I do for Kindergarten curriculum?”

“I have a 2nd grader who loves airplanes but won’t focus on Math for two minutes, what does everyone else do in that situation?”

“How do you get all the laundry done and teach at the same time?”

You know…practical questions…

What has come up just as often are heart-wrenching discussions about suffering children.

“My daughter was lost, she didn’t understand why she was so different, a year after pulling her out of public school we are still working to unravel the harmful effects.”

“I have no support outside this room, my family doesn’t get why I want to homeschool.”

“I hate that it took so many years for me to get up the courage to start to homeschool.”

“My son is being bullied but I just don’t know if I can pull him out of school right now.”

What the writer said in her post about getting teachers “to instill a love of school” is way off base.

Peter Gray, the author of Free to Learn writes “Children are pawns in a competitive game in which the adults around them are trying to squeeze the highest possible scores out of them on standardized tests.” (p. 9)

Who can “love” an institution who does not see or care about them as the individual people they are?

No child wants to be used as a pawn. No human wants to be.

family day at the airbase 2013

daddy, Foster, Jonah, Katie, military, Parker, Theodore September 17, 2013 Leave a comment

dove huntin’ 2013

daddy, Foster, hunting, Jonah, Katie, Parker, Theodore September 17, 2013 Leave a comment

That little guy didn’t go…but hopefully next year!

12 years ago

history, marriage, memories, military September 11, 2013 Leave a comment

It’s the 12th anniversary of 9/11.

I remember reading in my history books about World War 1 and World War 2 and the Civil War and thinking, as a child, that those “stories” were unbelievable. I’ve always had a hard time realizing that there were actual people, families who were alive then and dealing with all that comes with war.

I never would have thought that I would be changed by war or a national tragedy. But, the anniversary of September 11th is weaved into our story.

Chris and I had been dating for 9 months. I knew we were supposed to get married and I was 4 years older than him so I was impatient. I was waiting on the ring, the proposal, the planning (like a majority of 20 something year old females tend to).

The morning of the attacks Chris called me with a frantic tone in his voice. “I’m leaving right now,” he said. I was watching the news and had seen what happened but it was less than an hour before and I was thinking, “Why is the military flipping out over a plane crashing into a building?”

Chris was headed out to another airbase to offer support. He said “Will you marry me?” with urgency. I’ve never been one to panic easily so I just said “Oh no…you aren’t getting off that easy. I want a REAL proposal, with A RING.”

I like to think that when Pearl Harbor was bombed that there was at least one other clueless female out there thinking and saying the same things I did that day. I should have said “YES! Of course! Now go save the day!”

Even though it did feel like it by the end of that day and the end of that week, it wasn’t the end of the world. It was a hard time for America, the beginning of another military and societal struggle.

Except for the 9 months before the attack, Chris and I and our family have been affected by the events of that day. From rushed marriage proposals, to months apart due to military deployments, we feel the effects of 9/11.

So, without realizing it we have become one of those “real” families woven into the fabric of our nation’s history.

I am so thankful that we haven’t had to sacrifice more. That we are all still alive and together.

The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.
But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever,
the purposes of his heart through all generations.

Psalm 33: 10-11

first day of school 2013-2014

daddy, Foster, homeschooling, Jonah, Katie, Parker, Theodore August 28, 2013 Comments: 2

Jonah Amos (1 year 23 months old)

Parker Elijah (4 years old)

Theodore Reece (6 years old)

Katie Belle (7 years 10 months old)

Foster Owen (9 years 6 months old)

Christopher Brent (33 years old, but still 4 years younger than me.)

theodore turns 6

Theodore August 28, 2013 Leave a comment

a moment captured

Foster, Jonah, Katie, memories, motherhood, Parker, Theodore August 8, 2013 Leave a comment

It’s not often that I catch a picture of all of my babies smiling these big, genuine smiles. I am not a photographer. The lighting is always wrong and their are weird blurry spots where there should be a child. The background is full of unflattering things no one wants to see, like dirty dishes, filled to the brim trashcans or toys randomly thrown about the yard.

I have a couple of friends who take pictures of my kids because we run in the same circles and I look at their pictures and think “that is the most beautiful child in the world” (not that I’m biased). You’ve seen some of them, I post them on here and tag them on Facebook.

I always do feel a little proud that somehow my husband and I managed to give birth to these little beauties. Well, I feel proud briefly until I have to break up a screaming fist fight before someone ends up bloody. Then, I realize that pictures only tell so much.

I want to frame the pictures from the professionals. They are classy and elegant.

This picture, the one where all of my children have piled into a cardboard box, is the one I want to memorize.

The one I want to stare at and have the image burned into my brain.

I want to be able to smell the smell of summer and dirt. I want to hear the sound of giggling and laughing and jostling one another. I want to see the sight of Foster’s sense of humor, Katie’s desire to please, Theodore’s sweet spirit, Parker’s adoring look at Daddy and Jonah doing his best to imitate his big brother.

Only my pictures, the ones I took, the moments I felt compelled to pick up my camera and “capture” are the ones that can give me all of that. Imperfect as they may be.

in-between

humor, motherhood, struggles July 27, 2013 1 Comment

Doesn’t it feel good to purge the stuff in your life? I’ve always gotten a thrill out of cleaning out and getting boxes and bags of stuff ready to donate.

Yesterday Chris and I spent a couple of hours going through our closet. He needed to get rid of things that didn’t fit anymore (because he’s lost so much weight) and things that he had been wearing for the past 10 years.

I needed to get rid of the things that didn’t fit anymore (not because I’ve lost weight) and things I wore mostly when I was nursing a baby or were given to me and just aren’t my style.

This part of the process wasn’t very painful. It was a little depressing realizing I couldn’t keep a skirt or two because I couldn’t get them zipped up around my muffin top but all in all not such a bad experience.

It was the shopping later in the day that was horrid.

I have realized that I am in some strange “in-between” stage of life.

I went to the Juniors section, loving all the cute tops and dresses there. I picked up a dress. I got a large, after all, I’m no junior and knew I should be realistic.

Then I traveled around the endless path of women’s fashion and came to a skirt I really liked. It was in the Women’s section so I got a medium, I found a dress and picked up a large.

At this point, I was getting a little stressed. I could tell I was headed down a bad road because everything I saw seemed like it was something an old lady would wear.

I couldn’t exactly go back to the Junior’s section and try to pull off $90 skinny jeans that had been pre-ripped, faded and torn, either.

I finally had enough to warrant the dreaded trip to the dressing room.

My sweet husband had been following me the whole time, holding a sports bra and nightgown and handful of undies. He finally got a cart so he could troll behind me with my purse and list.

From time to time he had to dodge over-perfumed, white haired women who were on a mission to make the most of this one-day sale.

I went into the dressing room, promising Chris I would show him my selections once I got them on, knowing the poor man didn’t realize what he was asking.

I put on the junior dress, size large and was immediately sickened by the sight of a middle aged mom of 5 trying to look like she was 17. Yikes, it was ugly.

But I kept my word and slinked to the hall of the dressing room where Chris was standing right outside the door. I’m not sure what he said, my self deprecating thoughts drowning it all out.

I returned to the dressing room and had a brief moment of panic as I realized I might not be able to get this stupid dress off without ripping off the sleeves.

This continued with the women’s large which was too big and the dress that showed my 5 kids in 7 years belly.

I was in tears as I came out of the dressing room. I took the hug and encouragement offered by Chris. I tried not to lash out at him and just said “I need to get out of this place.”

And we did, we left the evil world of women’s clothing where a 37 year old gets stuck in the in-between of not young enough, not old enough, not thin enough and not fashionable enough.

We left and went back into our world, where my husband thinks I’m beautiful and my kids adore my squishiness and God reminds me that I am His no matter what I’m wearing.