Well we've been home from Disney for two weeks now. The first week back was a little rough. We missed co-op because Jamie was still fighting a fever from all the junk he ate on vacation. We took it easy and tried to catch up around the house.
Last week however was full to the brim. We started with co-op on Monday. It is a long day for little people, 9am to 1pm and it really wears him out. He usually falls asleep on the way home.
On Tuesday we went to "Art Kids" downtown at the Walter's Art Museum. We have signed up for once a month classes through January and will sign up for spring classes (God willing) when they are opened. We were joined by my besties and Jamie's besties the Denny and Lewis families. It was a really fabulous program and free! I LOVED being at the museum and exposing Jamie to true art. The class was focused on the Renaissance and most of the art work focused on Christ in someway. I was really moved by it. I super love the way the kids (3-5 years old) were taught to use their senses to experience the paintings. It was just really cool and I feel blessed to have these moments with Jamie. I truly treasure it in my heart. I love to watch him sit with his legs criss-crossed, hand raised, waiting eagerly to answer each question asked. He has never spent a day in a traditional classroom, but you would never know it. He overwhelms me. I love these moments we share. I know tomorrow is not guaranteed. I am so thankful for today.
After the class we rocked some Chik-fil-a for lunch and the kids has a blast playing in the little playground. I have to mention that we all rode together in Kate's truck. It does seat 8, but oh my what a circus!!!! It was fun though and made it all the more special.
Wednesday was our only day with nothing outside the house to do. Its funny we "home"school, but don't spend a lot of time at home. The world is our classroom. We do, do a lot of our memory work in the car since it is all on CD. So anyhoo we got a full day in of more traditional type school work. Jamie is still working on blends. We continue to do most of our math during calendar time and when teachable moments happen throughout our days. We practiced our Spanish, specifically working on shapes and numbers. For science we transitioned to studying autumn, but will return to the animal kingdom soon. We have lots of "Fall" books stacked up on our nature table that we read through each day. We took a couple books that focused on leaves out into our yard and tried to match the trees in our yard to the leaves in our book. It was fun and Jamie was excited to see the leaves from the books in his very own yard.
On Thursday Jamie went to the dentist... fun times and then headed off to gymnastics. He is there for 3 hours on Thursdays. It usually goes by fairly quickly, but when I drop him I feel like I left a body part and drove away. It is good, I suppose. I mean I have a time period to work on a project or clean... but I miss him. Sometimes I'll panic for a millisecond wondering where he is. When I worked last year I spent everyday like that. It sucked. The important thing is he is having a good time and there are only 2 other children in the class (for the first two weeks it was just Jamie and Jimmy!) I know he is being taken care of and its impossible to overlook him with only two other kids in the class!
Friday we had a play date with some other children in his co-op class. It was REALLY fun. I enjoyed getting to know the other moms. Its so comforting to talk with a group of parents that share our beliefs on education and faith. I am glad we started early with the co-op because Jamie and I will be with this same group of people over the next 12 years. I pray that it will become like a family as we spend school time and play time together. We have also joined a Bible study with some of the co-op families and Jamie has friends in Sunday school that also go to our co-op. I know that if I was doing this 10 years ago this community would not have existed. I am just so happy that Jamie has loads of friends being raised the same way.
Saturday we had a yard sale!!!!! and soccer.
Yard Sale...
Why did we have a yard sale? Well we are doing a little experimentation these days in the Gaeng house... minimalism. I am still learning what this means and how we might practice it in our family. So where is this coming from you might ask? This past trip to Disney World revealed a lot to me about my life and how I am choosing to spend it. Also the sermon series at church is causing much self-reflection as well. Ever since I can remember I have been obsessed Disney. What I didn't realize is that it had become an idol I worshiped. I know that sounds weird, but its true. In 2010 I went 3 times. Jamie has been 5 times and he is only 4 years old. I spend time planning trips, daydreaming about trips, being jealous of other people's trips... We have spent WAY too much money on Disney trips. Often when we didn't have it to spend in the first place. This time when we were there two things that happened on our trip that have never happened before. One was that Jamie did not come with us. Some alien from the planet Disobedient and Spoiled came with us instead. I was happy when we landed in Baltimore (one because I was alive) and two because Jamie came back too. The other thing that happened was that I thought about reality the entire time I was there. I was missing our routine Jamie and I had worked hard to establish. I didn't like that we were missing co-op. I was thinking about the Compassion and CMF children and how giving them the money it cost us to go on this trip would change their lives forever. Something just didn't seem right. Now I am not saying we shouldn't go on vacation, but I just want to do some things differently in the future... one of them being not seeing the "Mouse" for at least a few years.
So what does this have to do with a yard sale? I felt like I had literally been released from bondage when I decided that Disney was not a necessity in our lives anymore. And its funny because when we were head high in worshiping Disney it didn't feel like "bondage." But that is exactly what it was I was a slave to a mouse. And now I am not and it feels soooooooooooo good. I love my life and I genuinely appreciate it. I know this has a lot to do with Lucy. I have learned so much from her. I have also been slave to "stuff." Wanting more stuff, different stuff, the newest, coolest stuff. Stuff for me, stuff for Timmy and of course a LOT of stuff for Jamie. And now I am realizing that I certainly don't need "stuff" to be happy and actually am happier without it. I don't have to find a place to put it, clean it, worry about loosing or being ticked because something expensive broke. When I find myself wanting something I write it down on my "I Want List." As I look at it now some of the stuff I don't even want anymore or I have found something in my house that will work instead. It would be neat to have a bread maker and a Keurig, but seriously unnecessary. I would certainly love my iPad back, but certainly will not go into debt to get another one. I have never done this before.... just wrote "it" down when I wanted "it" and then let "it" go. It sure saves money! And I like what it will teach Jamie. Christmas will look different this year in our house too. It will be difficult, but that is ok, even good. We have decided to give Jamie three presents, symbolizing the three gifts Jesus received. A few weeks ago my mom told Jamie that Christmas was coming and asked him if he was excited. He replied that he was and then we asked him why he was excited, his answer... "because we get to do the nativity!" I almost passed out. Praise Jesus this is what he has learned Christmas is about. I will pray this continues. At the end of the day I just want to please God. That is really truly all I want to do. I am incredibly grateful that Jesus died for my sins. I can never do anything to earn my way to Heaven, even if I sold all my possessions and lived like Mother Teresa, I couldn't earn God's love. But I want to make Him happy. I want Him to say "Well done, good and faithful servant." I have a long way to go, actually I will never get "there." But I want to continue to change and learn and grow along the way. I will have hills and valleys but I won't stop trying to do God's will. Even if I look super weird to the world.
Okay that was deep, lets talk soccer. My Bubby is not a soccer lover. He doesn't not like taking the ball away from his "friends" and he doesn't like it when they try to take the ball from him. He asked me on the way to his game on Saturday if he could not play soccer anymore. I told we will finish the season (only a couple games left.) But we certainly don't have to play next season. He says he likes
t-ball. Thats fine by me. Baseball is the only sport I like. He does seem to have a good time skipping, jumping, doing cartwheels and cheering for both teams while he is out on the field. I find it dear that he claps when the other team scores!
Today we went to church... I am soooooooooo delighted that he LOVES Sunday school! Then back home to eat homemade sweet potatoes chips and watch Narnia. I also started making some Christmas gifts and picked up around the house a little. Now we are at Pop Pop and Ga Ga's for our weekly visit. This week will be another one packed full. That reminds me Jamie needs to practice his presentation!!
No comments:
Post a Comment