Today was such an easy day!

My children have been such a blessing this week. Jason my 2nd born has been so hard at work cleaning house for me. He has really surprised me by taking so many duties..cleaning the bathrooms and working hard in the kitchen for me. It has actually freed up my time to work with the little ones. Jared is really taking off with reading. I am glad I took it slow with him. It took him longer to hear the sounds and put them together. He is so much like his older brother. Justin was sort of my homeschool guinea pig. The first year I taught him, he struggled with getting the sounds and blending them. I remember thinking I would never be able to teach him. I remember getting to the point where he knew all the sounds but could not hear them as a word no matter what I tried. I finally said..OK we will take a break. We took the whole summer off. That september when we started again, it was like NIGHT and DAY. He took off reading and never stopped. HE LOVES TO READ. He LOVED history books! I remember just buying history book after history book of different curriculums and he would sit on his bed at night and just read them cover to cover. I think he read the Abeka 3rd grade history book at least 100 times. I never formally taught him history..what was the point? Every time I went to teach him something, he would end up teaching me. What really drove the point home was when we were driving from Idaho through Utah to California and we ended up going through Salt Lake City at evening time. I remember expressing lament to Jim that I would loved to have stopped to see golden spike of the railroad..and Justin proceeded to tell us all about where it was and when it happened and what rail road crews were involved. I almost cried because he didnt learn that from me! All of my children love to read. Some love it more than others. Some took off faster than others.

Jacob, my 3rd born, he took a little longer also. He had such a time remembering his letter sounds. I remember day after day getting him to learn his letters only for him to forget half of them the next week. It just wasnt easy for him..but even he LOVES to read! So I know Jared will be there soon. I have said it before but I think I love the look on their face when they learn that first word. And the KNOW they have read. There isnt much in the world that compares to seeing that look of amazement and excitement. I think seeing that has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. I think some times, what if I had given that to someone else? Some one who may have gotten tired or bored with seeing that look. Someone who may not think my child as neat or as exciting as I do. It would have been like giving away pure gold in my mind.

I have to always keep reminding myself, when things get tough..( like algerbra) that the reasons I homeschool are not to just to give them an education, but to give them a love of learning and a love of God. I know these past couple of years it has been hard work. Somedays my house isnt clean. Some days we still have laundry piled high. But they have learned. It may not always have been a certain number of pages filled in or pages of math completed. It might have been a day of talking and sharing and discussing things. I think my favorite times with the kids are when we get on the discussion of World War 2 and it turns into one topic after another. No, I dont have it all together. I am sure we probably lack in many areas, but I see them loving to learn. Wanting to learn. As we homeschool, its easy to guide them into learning more of an intrest. Jacob loves airplanes, he loves to build them make them and draw them. He loves to read about them too. I love that I can guide his learning through things that intrest him. I look at some of my children and think, had they been in school, would I have known them as well as I do now? I mean really know them. I know things about my kids no one will ever understand. I look at my daughter Jerrica. She is quiet and a little sneaky..a little onery too..but she is also so loving and is HAPPY. I wonder sometimes if I would know her as well as I do. Her favorite color is brick red..she has loved that color since she was 3 and could say it! Although she does change her favorites now and again..she will tell you that she likes red. Of all my children she is the one I really have to notice and draw out. She is a lot like me. Although I am sure many would beg to differ, she is quiet..and many would not say that about me. But I tend to be fun on the outside and deep inside..LOL I am cracking up at that because it seems so mellow dramatic..but I could easily slip into my own little world. I love with people, I like that chatter and the fun..but I cherish time to myself. I like the quiet and the solitude. OK it may not happen very often but when it does I just love it. Its like a standing on a beach on a rainy morning. Still quiet and beautiful. Ok maybe I am a hopeless romantic here! Anyways, my day was wonderful. I had call after call today of soccer practice cancellations. It rained all day and they dont want those ever lovin' children out there getting sick. So the kids and I rented movies and snacked on pizza and popcorn.
Well I didnt mean to write a book or ramble on so. But thinking about my family makes me so thankful for them. Who would have thought that being a mother of 8 would make me so fullfilled? I know family and many friends do not understand that just as I give to them, they give to me. Yes its hard work and sometimes its tough and some days I think what in the world have I DONE! But then, there are days like these..and more and more often I might add ;) and they make it all worth it.