Today’s Losing Adriane post…

is being postponed until tomorrow because of the following excuses:

I forgot to weigh in this morning and

I dare not do it now since at this moment

I am drowning my sorrows in a glass of soda and a brownie.

(Did I mention that I’m an emotional over eater?)

And I’m hoping that while at the kids’ running club and I am walking the track while pushing a stroller with a toddler & a preschooler will:

(a) lift my spirits and

(b) burn off the calories of this soda and brownie.

(Wow!  Was that a run-on sentence or what?)

Seriously, I know I am supposed to post on Mondays but it is just “one of those days” and I’m not feeling it, you know?

I will be here tomorrow {hopefully} in a better mood and with my post.

And for today, I am repeating these words of truth to myself:

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

 

Changing things up a bit

~Making some clarifications this morning.  I write blog posts late at night after a day of being busy with children and sometimes I’m tired and just don’t say things the way I wanted to.  I was awoken early this morning with some realizations that I did not say things in a very clear way.  And since I’ve not had much caffeine this morning…yet, there is the possibility that I still won’t say it very well but I’ll give it a try anyway!~

My four-year-old loves school.  Everyday, she asks me to do school and gets disappointed if I tell her that it is not a school day.  Today, she was asking me if we were going to do more school than we had all ready done for the day.  I then heard my six-year-old daughter tell her that she really didn’t have to like school and that one day she wouldn’t like it at all.

This broke my heart.

Now I know that some people just don’t like school.  I can’t understand it though because I loved learning.  I still love learning.  LOVE it!  :)  And my biggest goal for my children is not to teach them every fact and piece of knowledge but to give them the tools to be life-long learners.  I would love for them to hunger for that learning…to search out new knowledge to help shape and better them throughout their lives.

But my daughter does not like it.  She is burned out and has developed a dislike for learning.  A six-year-old should not be burned out on school.  They should be soaking it up and hungry for more. 

I started to reflect on her school year.  It has been a tough one.  We’ve had issues with completing work and it has been a struggle for her and me.  I realize that she has been given workbook upon workbook upon worksheet to complete.  Now here’s where it gets funny…  I do not like workbooks and worksheets.  I have not used them much over these past homeschool years (until this year) and I did not use them much in my public school classroom.  I love projects, writing assignments, field trips, and art.  Those things inspire me and so many other children to learn.  I did those things with my first and second graders over the eight years that I taught in public schools.  And they loved it.  They wanted to learn and they hungered for it.  Yet here is my precious, intelligent, creative daughter and I’ve given her workbooks.  She hates it and I feel like I’ve failed her. 

With only a few weeks of school left, it is really easy for me to say, “I’ll just hang on for the next few weeks and then I’ll change it up next year to meet her learning style.  I’ll do projects and writing assignments.  I won’t order many workbooks and we’ll do hands-on lessons…” But I decided that it can’t wait.  The time is now.  Tonight, I’m putting away all of the workbooks but math.  We are going to read, write, create, and learn.  And I’m hoping that over these next few weeks of school, that her passion for learning the unknown will be sparked and rekindled.  I’m praying that she will see the importance of what we are doing and  that we’re not just doing it to check off another box.  I hope to hear her  encourage her little sister to be a learner. 

That’s my prayer for my oldest daughter and for our little homeschool.

 

Early morning (or late night) ramblings

I really don’t know what to title this post or even if I will post it.  It will be ramblings that possibly have no point!  I hope not.  But I feel a need to write my thoughts right now.  The thing is that I really don’t want to (write it, that is).  However, I feel that I need to.  (I really, really don’t know why either.)

I have friends who tell me that I’m not transparent and open enough.  I will give them that.  I tend to guard my words, my thoughts, my opinions.  I don’t like to be hurt from laying it all out there.  Been there, done that.  But sometimes I don’t even feel like myself because I don’t say what I want to say.  So tonight I’m going to lay it out there and be real…

You may have noticed a strange silence around here lately.  On Sunday, I posted pictures with few words and then there has been silence.  Oh, I’ve read.  I’ve read my favorite blogs and I’ve read Facebook but I’ve said very little. 

And why? 

Because sometimes silence and stillness are needed. 

There is definitely a lot of noise around me.

Noise from my five children.

Noise from the TV.

Noise from the internet.

Noise from people.

Noise from the thoughts swirling in my head.

Noise from the neighbor’s tree being cut down.

Noise, noise, noise!  (Do I sound like The Grinch?  ;0)

And sometimes that noise really gets to me.

I woke up on Monday and I was:  tired, overwhelmed, frustrated, hurt, ill-tempered, insecure, angry….

I could go on and on and on.

And I knew that I needed to spend some time with God.  I have a tendency to turn to people when I feel like I mentioned above.  I’ll talk to my husband (which I did), my parents (ditto), or my friends.  These people love me and they will try to help me with what is going on in my life.  But the only One who can truly help me is God.  So why do I always go to Him last?

So I’ve been spending time with Him.  Here’s what He has shown me:

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28

Cease striving and know that I am God… Psalm 46: 10a

Casting all of your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.  I Peter 5:14

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22 

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.  Philippians 4:8

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From where shall my help come?  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.  Psalm 121: 1 –2

So why I am I sharing this?  I really don’t know.  I just felt like I needed to do it.  I know it’s been quiet but I’m not on a blog break.  I’m just being still & quiet and listening right now.  And hopefully I’ll be back with pictures of the kids tomorrow! 

 

Do you have words from The Bible that comfort you or guide you when the noise of life threatens to drown you? 

The season of stress

Remember how I said that I was not going to let myself get stressed out this Christmas season?  (Unfortunately, it’s in print, right here.)

Yeah, well, it seems I said that word that always plagues me – the word “never”.  I always say that I will never say never because that is always exactly what happens.  (Hitting head on wall because I can not learn these lessons the easy way. :0)

So, I am stressed.  Super duper stressed.  And when I’m stressed I get snippy.  And when I’m snippy, my kids start to quarrel with each other.  It has been said time and time again, that momma is the heart of the home.  It is very, very true.  My children feed off of my attitudes and <gulp> model my characteristics & behavior.  (good and bad…)

So it might be a little silent around here while I step back from the internet & various activities and try to refocus myself on the reason for this season.  I want their memories of Christmas to be of love, fun, and Jesus – not of chaos, overscheduled activities, and a stressed out mommy.  Who knows, I may miraculously get it all together and be back tomorrow?  But more than likely, I won’t… I’m never one to say things that may not come to fruition.  ;0)

Wishing you a season of quiet &  peacefulness…be back soon!