We got over the flu and decided to fill our calendar with everything we've been missing out on- homeschool group, library time, playing outside, and all the things. And so I'm certain we'll be sick again soon.
January seemed to drag on, but now we are somehow almost to Valentine's Day. I had a moment the other day where I actually started to panic at the fact that I can't stop time, or even slow it down. A little picture of Ewan popped up from the summer and his face has changed so much in such a few short months. It made me sad to think my babies are going to keep on growing whether I like it or not. So I'm trying to be more intentional about being in the present moment. I gave up social media for the month of January and it was amazing how much time I got back in my day. And how many more quality interactions I had with my children. And how decreased my anxiety was. So I'm going to continue to limit my screen time because I like the way I feel when I do. Because of the added time, I read two whole books (not an easy feat for a tired, busy mom) and Isla and I read two and a half chapter books together. We also spent more time doing school, baking, playing, and all the things that grow our brains :)
We are still taking a pretty slow approach to formal education since Isla is not even 4.5 yet. But that girl begs me for school every day. In fact we use it as a motivation to do things like get dressed for the day. She just loves it. She requested to learn about her body, so we've been doing a really fun unit on that.
Our school days consist of morning basket time, unit learning, math, literature, art, music, and nature or STEM. We start with a devotional and biblical science reading. Then we spend time memorizing a verse of the week and basic catechisms. From there, we jump into our unit learning. So far in 2023 we've done snow/winter, arctic animals, and now the body. After that we open up our curriculum which always has a little math (like put the numbers in order or match the quanity to the number), a little language arts (alphabet and early reading activities), an artist and musician of the month with varying activities, and some STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and nature study sprinkled in (like build a wooden block structure or practice using a compass). This is our formal time and Isla EATS IT UP! Oh, and also lots and lots and lots of reading! We are always reading.
I've said this before, but we view all of life as learning. One of the unique parts of homeschooling is that my children get to live life and it all kind of "counts" as school, if you will. So playing outside in the snow is filled with a thousand lessons that I wouldn't be able to teach if we sat at a table and learned about snow. Baking a cake is filled with lessons on quantity, measurements, addition, fractions, etc. Playing with friends is learning how to communicate, advocate, delegate, and work together. An education does not equal learning. Learning happens throughout life, not always in a structured setting. So doing things like spending time outside, playing with friends, and cooking as a family are just as important (if not more so), in our eyes.
Our sweet little homeschool group has really started to pick up momentum. I am so excited about the prospect of our group. It's such a great group of mamas and kiddos that I kind of hobbled together out of a need for like-minded mama friends. We are still working out the kinks, but the idea is each week will have some kind of homeschool co-op meetup. Playdates, field trips, special events, and mama-taught lessons are the goals for each month.
In January we had a special craft day at Amma's facility (Michael's grandma). When someone questions how my children "will be socialized" while being homeschooled, I'll tell them about this day. Isla carried on a conversation with a resident of the facility and crafted with her the entire hour. The other kids were good about interacting with the residents as well. I would argue a homeschooler learns to socialize better than most public schooled kids because of experiences like this, but I digress :)
It was a fun morning and we loved spending time with each other and the residents!
For "teacher week", as we call it, one of the mamas who is a part-time dental hygienist gave us a lesson on the importance of keeping our teeth clean in celebration of dental awareness month! Her daugher even read us a story! The kids got to "floss" and make fun teeth out of apples. It was such a fun day. I snagged a picture of our group and we are even missing a couple families in this one!
Of course our homeschool co-op playdate this month was at the nature preserve where we got very muddy and wet, but I sure am glad to have friends willing to go with us even in January.
Other fun things this month included time with both sets of grandparents and our cousin :)
We also explored a new-to-us coffee shop which inspired us to go to coffee shops more often. One day we took our big pile of books with us to the coffeehound and read while we sipped our frothy milk :)
The kids would probably say the highlight of their January was visiting the children's museum, which is not somewhere I enjoy going because we ALWAYS get sick there. We managed to walk out healthy and the kids are begging to go back!
The kids would probably tell you the worst part of their January was my belated birthday dinner. After having the flu, we finally made it out to one of my favorite restaurants for my birthday. I thought hibachi woul be exciting, but turns out the fire was so "HUUUUUGE" (according to Ewan) that both kids were terrified. Shrieking, running, hiding, and crying ensued. And almost a whole month later, they STILL talk about the traumatizing experience.
We had two other big things that happened this month. Ewan finally (unwillingly) gave up his pacifier. It has been awful for him and he's so sad. He is getting way less sleep now too, but it was time. His teeth needed the paci to leave. He left his paci in the mailbox for the mailman to take (*wink wink*) and he left a truck pillow in it's place. That was exciting until naptime came and the paci really wasn't there. Poor buddy.
The other big thing was Eleanor had an echocardiogram and it was determined she has an innocent heart murmur. Nothing concerning at this point! She did amazing.
That about sums up the first month and a half of 2023. Here are all the moments from in between:
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