Animoto.com

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One More It Is!!!

It's funny that my last posting was last April and I joked about having 4 kids.  So much has happened since then!  Erik had his sabbatical (wonderful!) we stopped homeschooling and both Hope and Malia are now going to Madera Elementary in El Cerrito (fantastic!) we got a new puppy (such fun!) and we're expecting another baby in this upcoming April (YIKES!).

I'm 19 weeks pregnant.  One week away from 1/2 baked.  Still unable to wrap my head around the idea that another little life is coming into our home.  So happily living in denial!  I wonder what this upcoming transition will be like.

On a different note, we added a new addition to our family 2 1/2 weeks ago.  Kona, the super sweet labradoodle.  We LOVE her!!!  She's amazing and smart and sweet and beautiful and has been a great addition to our family.  Maybe even good practice for the baby that is yet to come.

What's One More?

Today the family and I traveled south to meet my nephew for the first time. We have waited an entire month to meet jackson. It has been hard to be patient! The kids were super excited to meet their baby cousin. Hope even whipped up a blanket after breakfast to take to Sweet Baby. It didn't matter that he slept and grunted the entire time we were with him. We didn't need to see his tricks of smiles and coos. We just wanted to know him. To snuggle him and hold him and smell him! He is perfectly wonderful. All three kids loved holding and holding him. Made me think that four would really be just about perfect :)

Really not a good soccer mom

Today Hope, my 2nd grader, had her second soccer game of the Spring Season. My husband is the coach. He actually knows about soccer. I do not. However, I am competitive. Usually, during the game I distract myself with my other children and their friends to keep my competitive edge in check. Today I tried to watch some of the game. I noticed that Hope did a lot of standing.

I want to be a supportive mom. I yell "great job!" and "way to go!" a lot. I also say things like, "Run Hope!" maybe too often. I can be loud. My yelling is not always helpful. Hope does a lot of standing. She enjoys watching soccer. Watching soccer while playing is not really what you should do. You should play soccer while playing soccer, I think.

At half time, I thought that I should pass on my insight to my child. I said, "Hey Hope, run after the ball. It seems like you're watching the game a little when you should be running." She started crying. She didn't want to play any more. I felt terrible.

My husband is the coach for a reason!

Home school...charter school...cottage school...public school

Trained as a teacher, I have always known that the education of our children is serious business. I had no idea how consuming it would be. Today I observed a "cottage school". That is, a parent co-op of sorts that has other homeschooling moms teaching classes like Mandarin and Latin to 6-year-old students. Amazing but I'm not sure if that's necessary. I so badly want my children to love learning and know how to think. I just don't know the very best way to do that yet...what to do!

We have had an exciting year homeschooling. We began the "grand experiment" at our house in September. It has been fun and challenging and rewarding. Mostly, it has brought to surface my many, many control issues. It has been humbling. I think it has been good. I don't know if it is the best.

Wisdom...needed!