Sidge earned his purple belt last night in karate. He is now three belts away from black! His older cousin, Gabe, really looks out for him and is sort of mentoring him on this journey. He is pictured above in the back corner. his teacher, Ben, is in the front right corner. John went to watch Sidge test last night. Ben told JB he really has the potential to go far with this if he wants due to his strength and his size.
We don't do many "sports" in our family in the traditional sense. I've really tried to let my kids interests' lead what we do. The girls LOVE ballet. And while not a traditional sport, I can tell you that I have learned how difficult is by guiding my girls through it. Truly I think it may be more difficult than many traditional ball sports. But I'm not trying to get into a debate.
Sidge continues to move forward with karate. Breaking his arm last year set him back quite a bit, but I think he's returned to his previous interest in it now. Isaac quit karate and is not doing any athletics anymore. I think getting his black belt will be a major accomplishment and also help him in his future job endeavors with the TWRA. (More on that in a second.)
Both boys are now sophomores, and it is exciting to see what their futures may hold. Sidge is planning on doing something next year called "middle college." This is where he will get his associates degree while in high school. It requires a lot of diligence as you are basically a full-time college student in high school, but he graduates with two years of college completed. He then plans to go to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville as a commuter student (it's about an hour from us) to get his biology degree. From there, he hopes to enter the TWRA.Once you have your degree in Biology, it is a 5.5 month program and you are essentially a wildlife officer.
Isaac is going to lighten up on his school load and really dive into music and theatre during his last two years. He only needs about 7 more classes to graduate once he finishes this school years. He will do those and take a few of them at Walter State so that they apply to his college degree program. He is currently hoping to attend Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia which is about four hours from us in the fall. But, he has to get the money together for that as we are not paying for college. So we will see how that goes! He is currently mentoring with five different musician/theatre people in preparation for what he wants to do with his future.
"You can find magic wherever you look. Sit back and relax, all you need it a book." Dr. Seuss
I'll
never forget the moment my Sidge, about seven years old, made me know I
was doing an okay job at this parent thing. He was reading Suzanne Collins' series The Underland Chronicles. (You may recognize her name because she wrote Hunger Games. He looked up from his book and said, "I finally get why you wanted us to learn to read Mommy. This is so much fun." A few weeks later he finished book five and actually started crying. John talked him through the fact that he was letting go of some friends. "I just wish she could have written more than five books," he said. It was the start of his love of reading. Oh and a sidenote: Isaac didn't like this series.
Both of my boys devoured this series by Kathryn Lasky: Guardians of Ga'Hoole. I'm actually not even sure how many total books are in this series. Fifteen or sixteen I think. John said to warn everyone that the first book started slowly, and he had his doubts, but suddenly they TOOK OFF, and both boys read them with great eagerness.
I'll be honest. Years ago, I tried to get into this series and just couldn't do it. But John absolutely LOVED them, and shared them with the boys. They have both eaten them up. Some they liked more than others, and John slowed them down so that they were reading the scarier books when they were older as he says they get scarier as they go on. Either way, both boys give this one a huge thumbs up.
This is a Sidge favorite. Isaac hasn't gotten into them. It was recommended to me by my friend Aliceson Bales who has a son a little older than my boys. Hank the Cowdogis written by John E. Erickson. These are very fun, light reads that boys and girls would enjoy -- especially if they like animals or farming. They have a bit of the "Amelia Bedilia" spoof where Hank doesn't know the names for certain things. (He calls a car window a neck-cutter-offer or something like that.) There are well over 70 of these books, and we get them at our local library. Very fun and just light reads. Sidge often reads them inbetween some deeper series. Isaac hasn't tried these yet.
A favorite of the Dad and both boys is the Ranger's Apprenticeseries by John Flanagan. The boys have actually had fights over this one because they both need the same book at the same time and someone is going too slowly. They love them. (A little mild bad language in this book like hell and damn.) Isaac recommends it for 11 and up.
John reads these to the kids, but then Sidge especially has gone on to read them himself. Thornton Burgess' animal adventures are pure fun for kids of all ages! Isaac says "I'm not really into animals" so he didn't like it as much.
Other books that the boys have loved having read to them include:
Hobbit
Lord of the Rings
Narnia
Treasure Island
Around the World in 80 days
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Calvin and Hobbes (not a book but the boys LOVE them!)
I'd love you to add your own opinions! Add a comment!
So there is so much to being a mom that no one tells you.
Let's say you have two boys who share clothes.
And just for example's sake, let's say you tell one son, "Don't wear those shorts to homeschool co-op today. They are a mess."
And then that boy does as he is told and takes the shorts off but doesn't put them in the dirty clothes. He throws them somewhere in his room.
Second boy comes along. He sees a pair of shorts. He puts them on. But it's a bit cold. So he puts on a pair of sweatpants over them.
Then he gets to co-op, and he takes your PE class. He gets hot. He takes off his sweatpants only for you to discover, dude you are wearing the shorts I told your brother not to wear!
(Okay, maybe I actually didn't notice until like 3 hours later. Let's keep it real here.)
When you ask to take a picture of them, he realizes you are going to tell people about this so you promise to leave his face out and not name him, but you laugh and say, "I told you guys not to wear those shorts."
And he says, "You never told me not to wear them."
Isaac got a black eye this past Sunday. During PE we realized that Mr. Carter also had a black eye so we took a picture of them together. (Mr. Carter just graduated from the co-op. He is going to the local college, is the mascot for Tusculum College, will be starring in Tarzan next month, and is also teaching one of our three homeschool PE classes.)
So, onto the black eye. I decided, during our TF Homeschooling today to take a video of Sidge (black shirt), Isaac (red shirt), and their cousin Gabe discussing how Isaac actually got his black eye. What is most funny about the whole thing is the line Isaac closes the video with. This is so Isaac for you. He has such a subtle, dry, and witty humor. I think a big part of it is that he thinks more than he talks.
My sister-in-law, Adrienne, has really been getting into photography, and I think she has an eye! Love these two pictures she has taken of our growing boys. I can't believe these little Irish twins are 8 and 9!
From 2001-2003, we lived in a town called Franklin, Kentucky. I was a high school English and Newspaper there and was the head volleyball coach and an assistant basketball coach. JB coached soccer, ran his graphic design business, and was going to back to school to get his undergraduate degree pre-med. My cousin, Josh, was trying to get into Christian music and decided that living 45 minutes from Nashville was a good option. So he and his wife Sarah joined us in Franklin for two years. They actually, at the very last minute, moved into a duplex right across the street from us.
Those were two of my very favorite years. It was the four of us, and we spent nearly every day together. They were our best friends, and we all got along SO well. It was wonderful. We ate meals together, watched sporting events and mindless TV, ran a 10K, and just hung out easily!
In 2003, we moved to Minnesota for medical school. I'll never forget how ECSTATIC Josh and Sarah were when they found out JB got into one of the best medical schools in the world: Mayo Clinic. I'm sure deep down they were very sad, but they celebrated with us at this incredible accomplishment, and Sarah and I jumped around the living room. A few weeks later we jumped around again when we found out they were expecting. Sarah was pregnant with their first son when our big moving truck pulled away from our neighborhood in Franklin. (He's 12 now!)
They ended up moving to the Chicago area for a few years before returning to middle Tennessee where Josh is now a pastor at a wonderful church. We have stayed close, and today, hard to believe, but there are EIGHT children between us -- two boys and two girls each.
Josh and Sarah started having children when our infertility woes first began so they have two boys in middle school! That's how old my kids would be if I started having kids when I wanted them.
Anyways, just a few fun moments from our time there. The picture up above isn't great, but it is of my boys playing video games with Jordan who is in the fifth grade. We don't have video games at our house. Mainly because so much of our schoolwork is done on the computer/iPad and we just decided to avoid them. But whenever they go over to someone's house that has them they get a bit one-track-minded about the whole thing.
And then the video below is of the kids playing Bean Boozled. Isaac is obsessed with this jelly bean game. You spin a spinner and then have to eat a colored jelly bean. It is either a wonderful flavor: peach? or a terrible flavor: vomit? Who would want to participate in this? Isaac can't find people to play with him easily. He can sometimes talk Abigail and Hannah and Grampa into it. So he was pumped that their three oldest children willingly jumped in and did a whole box with him. He buys these boxes with his own money. It is so fun for him.
I have attended a LOT of kids birthday parties -- both before and after I had kids.
However, one thing is for certain, once I had children, those birthday parties became ... well ... work.
Here's the reason. First I had two baby boys nearly at the same time. You can't take two babies to a party and expect to chill out.
And then I had Abigail who was SO shy that in order for her to participate I had to participate with her. Until she turned five, Abigail required me to be present with her every single second.
But in the last year, Abigail has come out of her shell. She is so incredibly different now. And so about two weeks ago, I was able to attend our friend Hazel's third birthday and sit and WATCH the party. I even checked Facebook a few times during the party. I was actually sort of just RELAXING!
Here are a few snaps from the event:
Isaac was still in his cast, but that didn't stop him from playing. The party was at a local gymnastics place where you could play on the equipment and then have cake and food afterwards!
My once little shy girl playing WITHOUT ME!
And of course Hannah has never really needed me. She ran off on her own in just a few seconds.
This is Kristin. She attends our homeschool co-op and our girls go to ballet together. She is becoming a very good friend to me, and is just a beautiful Christian gal.
My four kids! All just playing WITHOUT ME!
Look at this little gal just playing!!
Brothers!
The party crew. The birthday girl is sitting next to the little boy in striped pajamas on the front row. (It was a "pajama party."
Following the book Raising a Modern Day Knightfor our boys, we made a big deal when our Isaac and Sidge turned 7 years/7 month/7weeks/7 days old. We decided that this was the day that they became a "young man" and we had a special celebration to celebrate this. Part of the idea behind this was to encourage our boys to make more mature decisions and take responsibility.
This past month, Isaac took over full responsibility of the egg collection in our house. And Sidge wanted to take over responsibility of the dogs. This means going out right away in the morning and moving them from their sleeping area to the porch. Letting them run and play and feeding and watering them.
Imagine the look on my face when I stumbled out of my room just after 7am this morning (JB was on nights) and found this note:
Hi Mom. I went out to do the puppyes.
I was so proud. That he did it on his own. That he wrote a note. My heart is so excited to watch my boys grow into young men. And so sad to grieve the little boys that they are leaving behind.
After so many years of waiting to have a baby, finding out I was pregnant with Elijah "Sidge", was without a doubt, the greatest surprise and shock of our lives. My parents immediately sort of dedicated the song How Great is our God to Elijah. Because of that, any time that song is sung, I tear up, remembering our years of barrenness and the fact that I now have TWO "Irish twins" as a result of it.
So imagine my surprise today when I came into the room to find the boys playing How Great is our God .... together. Just a mom moment I don't think I will ever forget. I was crying the whole time I was recording.
I've spoken out a lot about kids and youth sports on my Blog in the past.I feel very strongly that athletics are being pushed on our kiddos too young and with too much pressure. I didn't start playing a sport until I was 9, and it wasn't basketball or volleyball which became "my" sports. It was softball.
We have been very slow in getting our kids involved. I did a little tennis with the boys in the Azores, and they weren't into it. We really wanted them to make the decision that something looked interesting and fun. Abigail chose ballet and really pushed to do it so we let her start. Hannah is going to take a class this fall too as she really likes it and it is offered right before Abigail's class each week.
But the boys haven't really expressed any interest. I've told them that in the next few years we'd want them to try something just for the experience and exercise, but there was no rush.
This last week, while I was watching Wimbledon, Isaac got into it bit and was learning how to keep score. After the tournament was over, he asked if he could try tennis again. I did a little asking around and found a place only twenty minutes from me! (This is UNHEARD of for me. If I drive anywhere it is 30 minutes without question!) It is a beautiful facility with a super nice coach at an affordable price. They were offering a four week camp (two lessons a week) that the boys could try.
To my surprise, Sidge wanted to do it too. I explained that if I paid, he had to do all eight classes. He agreed. On the way there, Isaac said, "At least we know the lessons will be in English this time and we will understand the coach." Good point.
To my great surprise, both boys had a blast. I really think finding the right coach who is fun but organized and good at "herding cats" is important. This guy was fantastic. I am making a real point to just sit back, relax, and enjoy watching or even read my book a bit. I really don't care how good they do as long as they listen and have fun. I'm not commenting at all!
I have to admit though, I am a tad excited. I never played tennis but have LOVED watching it. It would be fun if my boys got into it.
I have started a collection of articles for my daughters. And here is where I will keep my collection for my boys. And for the men I hope that they will one day become.
Last fall, the boys started taking piano lessons. It was a series of coincidences that led us to first buy a piano and then find a teacher.
I saw an add on my new homeschool Facebook board that a church was selling a piano. (It ended up being the church we would decide to attend. But that really has nothing to do with the story.) The piano was only $200 so we decided to buy it. We had always wanted piano to be a part of our homeschool curriculum, and here was an inexpensive piano.
Score!
At the time my father-in-law picked up the piano, an older, spunky lady happened to be there. She was doing some sort of piano-something at the church, but she didn't attend that church. She told Dad which of the two pianos were best and also gave him her number since she was a piano teacher.
A few months later we moved to our farm, and I called Ms. Lesley, and she agreed to come to our house to do lessons for the boys and for ME! Learning to play the piano has always been on my bucket list. That and learning a new language. I learned Turkish (mostly) and when Abigail was born, JB gave me piano lessons as my present. It was actually JB that told me, when calling Ms. Lesley, "Tell her you want lessons too."
That seemed like a terrible idea. I have four little kids, we are living on a farm, and I am homeschooling my children. I don't have time for piano. But you know, as a mom, you don't often do things for yourself, so why not go for it! So I did.
But I really wanted the lessons at our house. I knew I didn't have it in me to drive to town with all the kids and manage Hannah and Abigail while the three of us tried to do a lesson every week. So when Ms. Lesley said she was willing to drive to us once a week, I was sold!
We started lessons in the fall. Ms. Lesley comes out every Wednesday morning and the three of us do a 30-minute lesson each. Sometimes Grama K. or JB are here to watch Hannah. Other times I prop her in my room with Daniel Tiger, but I usually manage to get all kids occupied for 30 minutes so I can do my lesson.
Ms. Lesley is actually a voice teacher first and a piano teacher second, so this recital was a mixture of singing and piano. The boys were both very nervous. As usual, Sidge talked about how nervous he was constantly, and Isaac didn't say anything, but when you asked him he would say, "I feel very nervous too."
Ms. Lesley was so cool. She said this was very laid back, and if they couldn't get up and do it, it was no big deal. She also said JB could certainly sit up on stage by them, which Sidge wanted desperately. JB did a good job explaining to them that nerves were normal and not necessarily bad and that everyone who went up there was nervous. In addition, Joni was with us, and she is a piano player and she said that feels a little bit of nerves before she gets up to play every single time.
(Oh, and by the way, adult students aren't included in the recital. Thank goodness!)
First issue, before the recital, was the fact that the day before the recital, Ms. Lesley informed me the boys needed to wear pants for the recital. Not jeans. Not shorts. Ugh. I scoured my closets and our "grow into" box and couldn't find anything. Well, I did find a few pairs of pants that were hysterically large or terribly worn.
We decided to hit Target while we were in the next big town over for a kids' museum the day of the recital. I hate buying things I know won't be used to their maximum potential, but $15 each didn't seem too outrageous.
Here is a picture of the boys before going inside for their recital. We didn't even get the pants in the picture:
And here is a picture inside, pants included. They look pretty sharp I think. Okay, so yes, they are wearing tennis shoes with their khakis. I am not a crazy person who was going to buy shoes for one wear!
And a family picture of the four of us. Grampa and Grama K. offered to stay home with the girls. (They had heard the recital songs more times than they could count and with a 6:30 start time, we all knew this was for the best.)
And then, it was time for them to perform. Sidge was up #2. And Isaac was up #3. I love that Sidge is now officially "Sidge" everywhere -- even on the very official recital program:
First up, Sidge with his piece:
Here is Sidge performing. I love his bow at the end. He just came up with that on the fly. He had seen the little girl before him bow and decided to do it. He made a few mistakes, but we were SO proud of him for doing this.
And then it was time for Isaac:
Here is a video of Isaac performing. He appeared a lot less nervous, as is always the case because Isaac doesn't talk as much as Sidge. But he couldn't get off that stage fast enough!
However, this post wouldn't be complete by showing you what happened the moment we got home. The boys first took just a nice picture with each other. Simple enough:
But then they spotted them. Since our chickens have the run of the farm, they occasionally get a little off track and wander into the yard. They waddle in through the back gate. And since the guineas live inside the gate, we need to keep it open. (We are brainstorming options to stop this but like many farm problems, other things take priority.) The boys actually love this. They love to catch the chickens and let them "fly" back over the fence.
So before I knew what was happening, Sidge was heading over to catch the chickens. I didn't really think much about it at the moment.
But then I watched as Sidge went sprawling on his belly to catch a chicken by the leg, and JB said, "Not in your pants!" and suddenly, there it was. Grass stains on both legs on the first night.
They are in the wash now. Hopefully, I have managed to save them.
Okay, so wait. It wasn't at night. It was in the morning. It was 3am.
I was hot. I got up. I walked out into the living room to turn down the heat.
I heard talking giggling upstairs.
I looked at the clock again.
Yes, I saw it correctly. 3am.
I walked up the flight of stairs knowing that anytime I ascend the stairs in the night, my ability to fall back to sleep is cut in half.
Or in a quarter.
(It's low.)
I peek into the girls' room.
Sound asleep.
I head to the boys' room, swing open the door, and find the boys ... cleaning up their Legos?
"Look Mom!" Sidge exclaimed. "You told us we had to clean up our toys before breakfast, and we did it!"
Huh?
Apparently, without a clock in their room, they both woke up, thought it was morning, and began their Lego clean-up. From all they had accomplished, they must have been up for at least an hour!
"Guys," I said. "It is three in the morning!"
"It is?" Isaac asked. "I've already put on my clothes for the day."
He was totally dressed! Pants and a shirt and everything.
"And I'm hungry for breakfast," Sidge said.
No way. Back to bed.
Tomorrow ... or make that today ... we get a clock for their room!
I am working at collecting any and all superhero-based homeschooling activities for my five-year-old six and seven year old boys. If anyone has any additional ones, I'd be most obliged to you sharing them with me! I plan to return to this page and update it to oblivion! UPDATED!!!
