THE BROWN BOYS GO EXPLORING AND GET TO MEET THEIR NEW COUSIN!!

We have been working on some nature studies and spending some time in the woods scoping out our camp site and working on identifying plants and finding and identifying animal tracks. It has been a ton of fun! The boys are doing great at spotting different things in nature and loving climbing those hills and jumping ditches. 

My newest nephew was born August 5th and we are all OVER.THE.MOON in love with this sweet boy. The boys love him and enjoyed getting to hold and snuggle him and Aunt Lissa just can't get enough of sweet sweet Emerson. Aunt Rachel and Uncle Aaron are pretty great too and of course, Pete is loved by everyone. This newest little boy will be tagging along with these big kids before we know it. 

The boys also got a treat this weekend and got to stay with Aunt Alicia. They LOVE going there. Possibly because she spoils them rotten. They let Kenzie do silly makeup and they play with Kuno for hours. 

Pretty great week for this family. :) 

Adventures in Homeschool

I have regrettably been negligent in blogging, but here's to a new start and prayerfully being consistent. This year, 2020, has been a memorable one for everyone on the planet. Sadly, it's not because of wonderful things, but because of a global pandemic that has brought life as we knew it to a screeching halt. Schools were closed in March to aid in slowing the spread of CoVid 19. The virus is still very much present, social distancing is an everyday term, mask wearing has been politicized and no one truly knows what's happening . The schools are reopening with added precautions, but we have decided to continue the education of our children at home. This is not a decision made solely from the pandemic scare, but as an opportunity for more quality family time, more freedom with our schedule, and more freedom with curriculum choice and greater involvement in our children's education.  We have enjoyed having our boys home since the schools closed, and are looking forward to continuing. 

July 1st kicked off the new homeschool year for us as well as a very special birthday for our Isaac. He is six now and starting kindergarten. He knows most of his letters and can recognize numbers to 10 and count to 12 without trouble. In math we are working on those "teens" this month and striving for mastery in counting to 19 over the next few weeks. Our goals will be counting to and writing all numbers to 100 this year, as well as mastery of simple addition and subtraction facts. We are also working on mastery of all upper and lower case letters as well as letter sounds and blending. He will be using math lessons for a living education level 1 and we plan to dive into Sing, Spell, Read, and Write soon. We are currently working through teach your child to reach in 100 easy lessons and doing some work in foundations of phonics from MasterBooks. For handwriting, he is using "A reason for handwriting" as well as simple copy work. We plan to master writing his whole name and copying simple words by the  end of the year. 

Eli is starting 2nd grade and is excited about the idea of not having to get up early and be in "boring school" all day. He was resistant to school work at home initially, but is coming around and progressing well. In math we are using MLFLE level 2 and he's doing very well. He had not yet learned to tell time and did not know the value of money, so we started with those skills. He is doing very well and knows the value of the coins and bills very well and is excelling at telling time to the minute on an analog clock. We are still working on those 'quarter after', 'quarter til', and 'half past' terms, but he is getting it. We have also started on adding double digit numerals and "carrying" with addition and he's doing very well with that also. For reading, he is reading daily using "leveled readers" as well as listening to some classic literature. We recently finished "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" and watched the movie to compare/contrast. We will be starting "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" this week. He will also be working on reading 100 books this year and we will have a party upon completion. :) Our LA curriculum is grammar galaxy and he and Noah will be working through those together.  Eli will also be starting "A reason for handwriting" level T to work on transitioning from manuscript to cursive handwriting. In Science, we are planning to work through several unit studies and are currently working on a space unit study. We are doing these studies "family style" and I will adjust their lesson accordingly to their level of learning. We have have several nature walk studies to work through that we are very excited about! Social Studies/History will be early American history using MasterBooks as well some unit studies on American government and the American election system as this is an election year. We will also be working on map skills and beginning work on learning the 50 states.

 Noah is entering the 6th grade. As he missed the second half of 5th grade due to the pandemic and because of his dyslexia, we are starting with intensive review. He is quickly working through MLFLE level 5 and we have already reached lesson 16. He is struggling some as work with fractions is now expanding, so we are slowing our pace a bit to ensure mastery. He is also working on reading daily. He has a personal goal of improving his spelling. The public school system had not served him well in learning spelling rules and reading is still a challenge for him. The beauty of home education is that I get to control the content and method of delivery. Studies have shown for years that an Orton-Gillingham multisensory approach is most effective in teaching those with dyslexia. Why the public school system refuses to acknowledge that is beyond me, but we will start mimicking that multisensory approach now that he completing his learning at home. We are using grammar galaxy, audible books, and will be starting AAR and AAS after I receive it. My sister, Ang, is gifting this curriculum to us and we are SO GRATEFUL to her for the support. Noah will also be working through "A Reason for Handwriting" level D (which is more cursive work). Science and Social Studies will be the same as listed with Eli, but a bit more advanced as he is older and needs the challenge. 

Noah is an early bird, so we often start first with his individual lessons. I treasure that quiet one on one time with my oldest. We drink coffee, do his lessons, and chat. I pray that's as happy a memory for him as it is for me. He's growing up so fast. I regret not starting this homeschooling journey sooner as I feel I could have tailored his education more and helped him master those skills before now, but alas, here we are and we will succeed. To quote a video I watched, "failure is not an option." My new mantra. 

Abel is two and busy. Very very busy. He does make things a bit more challenging, but also so much more fun. He makes us laugh daily and keeps us on our toes. He is working on pre-preschool as he refuses to be left out. 

Our first month of homeschool is in the books and we are jumping in with both feet with this new lifestyle. We are blessed to have amazing support from dear friends who have "paved the way" for us and are continual sources of advice, support, and comfort. Here we go! 

2k17 in Review

As 2017 draws to a close I thought it a good time to review what this year has looked like for our family.

Travis continues with his second year as a hospitalist at MMCC. He never had much interest in acute care until accepting this position but has discovered he loves it and actually prefers it to family practice. He loves his work and MMCC is a wonderful place to work.  So much so,  in fact,  that I accepted a position there as well. I am now working there as an occupational therapist.  It was hard to leave my work family at NRMC, but I simply couldn't pass up this opportunity. I work 2.5 days a week so I still get to be home most of the time with my boys.  That doesn't make returning to work this week and leaving the best part of our 2017 at home any easier.

The BEST part of 2017 came in October.  We welcomed our fourth boy,  Abel,  on the 26th. He's perfect and the perfect completion to our family. I never could have imagined God blessing me with 4 boys,  but I'm so thankful he chose me to be their mama.

In July we spent a week with Angela and Willie and got to see another new blessing from this year.  My nephew Graden was born in May and he's such a handsome little charmer. My kids love going to visit them and think all vacations should be to Kentucky.

Noah entered 3rd grade and is having a good year.  Mrs. Veatch is his teacher and she's wonderful.  Eli started school this year as well entering preschool.  He's doing very well and is having a great year with Mrs. Amen.  Isaac was a little bummed at first to be left at home,  but has since come to love it.  He has control of the t.v. and watches paw patrol 'till his hearts content. He's home with me and/or daddy or with Aunt Miss when Travis and I are both at work. He soaks up that undivided attention.  Baby brother has rocked his world a little bit, but he's taking it in stride.

2017 was a blessed year and for that we are thankful.  Praising God for his blessings as we head in to the new year.

Abel is *2* Months

Sweet,  sweet Abel Isaiah. You are the perfect completion to our four boy legacy and we love you dearly.

You are growing so fast. Too fast for my mama heart. You will be big sooner than I care to admit and it is all so bittersweet. You are two months old now. Technically 2 months and 4 days as I'm behind on posting per my usual. You and your brothers are a gift from God and I'm so thankful for you all.

Through the fear of forgetting

So,  here I am.  Crossing in to the world of blogging.  Bare with me on my first attempt. How did I get here? Through the fear of forgetting.  You swear you'll never forget those sweet silly moments with your children.  And then you do.  I remember things I wish I could forget and forget things I desperately want to remember.  It's a crazy,  viscous cycle.

I am the mother of 4 boys.  Yes 4. No,  I'm not trying for a girl. No,  I don't wish one of them was a girl (why do people say stupid things like that?). My oldest is 9 already so I missed many years of good blogging material. At least he has a scrapbook of his first few months of life.  The other 3 I just have some pictures and photobooks.

Noah. He's 9. I want to remember vividly the way he prances around the house when he's happy and excited.  How amazingly talented and creative he is.  How hard he works through all his struggles and challenges to be successful. I see big things for him.  I fully expect that his learning disability will one day be his strength and give him that "out of the box" creative insight that others want but never quite achieve.  I want to always remember how loving,  caring,  and empathetic he is.  He wears his heart on his sleeve, just like his mama. He's very social and very easy going. He loves to draw.  He loves money (yes,  money lol). He's doing very well with karate and enjoys baseball and all things Lego.  The beauty of this blog is that I can journal what he's doing now and reminisce about him from years past.  Maybe  I can make this happen and turn these moments and memories in to a "forget me not" platform.  Maybe,  just maybe,  I can call it a mommy win. :)

Eli is 5. He's going to preschool and is doing great.  He really loves it,  but will tell you he doesn't. He is such a perfectionist, but also very hot headed.  Not a great combo.  He gets that from his mama.  He is such a boy.  Constantly playing ball in the house.  Always rough housing.  Fart and poop jokes galore! He's stubborn.  Oh boy,  is he stubborn! He's also sweet and funny.  He wants to be a policeman when he grows up.  It's a little scary to think about,  but I could totally see that.  He likes to help people but also likes to be in charge.  Lol

My threenager is Isaac.  Or Sir Isaac as I like to call him.  He's never wrong.  A little bossy.  Very sweet and a little sensitive.  He climbs everything and is my dare devil.  Only one er visit so far luckily.  He loves his mama  and has always been a big mama's boy, but the arrival of his baby brother has turned him into a daddy's boy a little more. He's very sweet but a little naughty too. He has the most beautiful blue eyes I've ever seen.

Baby brother,  Abel, joined us in October and completed our party of 6. He's my biggest baby and such a treasure.  He's starting to smile and coo and be more observant of his surroundings.  So far he's pretty easy going.  You have to be when you're 4/4 boys.  Ha! He likes mama the most and doesn't like to be away from me.  He hates his carseat. HATES IT. So car rides are super fun.  I return to work next week.  I love my job,  but I've never dreaded going to work so much in my life.  Pray for us as we venture in to this uncharted territory of leaving the baby while I'm at work. 

Our 4 boy legacy.  The legacy of Travis and Melissa.  The best parts of us.  Our proudest accomplishment is being their parents.  God truly blessed us.  And I never want to forget.