My precious 9 year-old cousin passed away this morning. Please be in prayer for my family during this difficult time. She was a lifelong liver transplant patient, but her early death still comes as a terrible shock. She fought so long, and so hard. She was deeply loved.
How can she be gone already?
So, yeah. Life has taken some extremely unexpected twists and turns these last few months. If I know you and you would like to updated on the more personal side of things, drop me a comment or an email and I’ll send you the link to my “private” blog to get you up to speed.
Homeschooling has taken a bit of a back seat lately, as we took an unexpected road trip to Seattle, and our house and life in general have been in a shambles. We’re getting back in the groove now, and are FINALLY finishing up our coral reefs unit. This week, between reading, finishing up coral reefs, and the boys excitement about Easter, we’re combining our regular curriculum with a bunch of crafty Easter stuff, as well as making the Easter lapbook from Little Laplinks.
I’m feeling a bit of a time crunch as getting through the rest of this year’s curriculum is pretty important to my hubby, and all of a sudden spring and summer are just around the corner. Time to get cookin’!
Sorry to have disappeared on everyone. We are going through a very difficult family situation right now, and blogging just isn’t a priority at the moment. Thanks for understanding, and I’ll let you know when I’m back.
31 years old today…wheee! For my birthday, I get to go to Nashville to meet up with some of my WAH girls! It’s seriously the best birthday present ever. I’ve known some of these ladies for 6+ years, so it’s going to be so great to actually be together in person. I’m driving to St. Louis tonight, and then on to Nashville in the morning. Pray for safe travel, and for me, because I have a horrific headache that needs to go away!
I miss the flexibility of having my own domain, so this blog will be moving shortly to moosetrails.net. It’s not set up yet, so stick around here until I say otherwise, but hopefully you won’t mind changing your links and following the moose trail! 
Oh look! An actual post about homeschooling!
Dr. Moose brought the book Reef home for the boys the other night, after they got to check out all of their daddy’s SCUBA gear, which has been collecting dust in the attic since the beginning of med school eight years ago. They have been pouring over the book ever since, taking it to bed with them at night, and obsessing about creatures of the deep.
And, since this is one of the many joys of homeschooling (which definitely outweigh the challenges), we’re skipping ahead in our curriculum to our oceans unit, right past rainforests, woods, and deserts. It’s nice to be able to explore what they’re interested in right now, and not have to say “well, we don’t get to that until week 23″. So, starting today, we’re diving into deep waters and exploring our oceans! (This is our curriculum, if anyone is interested).
It is in the hardest moments of our lives that we become most aware of the incredible power of prayer, of God’s faithfulness, and of the love of friends. For those that I am so blessed to call friend - thank you. Thank you for being there and encouraging me and showing me that hope is never gone. Thank you for reminding of God’s constant work and presence in my life. I love each and every one of you. So so so much.
Now that the post-Christmas craziness has worn off and things are settling back towards “normal” (as normal as they get, anyways), we’re working on getting back into our homeschool routine. I’m taking a little break from our whole curriculum and doing a reading-intensive focus with Brother Moose right now. Between getting our house ready to put on the market, dealing with some of our own personal issues, Doctor Moose working working working, and me getting ready to head out of town for a girlfriends weekend, it’s nice to have the flexibility to shelve the parts that feel overwhelming right now as far as our curriculum goes. The boys are anxious to get back into our rainforest studies, but that’s going to wait one more week. We’re also reading the Magic Treehouse books as a family, which is lots of fun, and it’s neat seeing the boys make connections between the books and things we’ve studied in school. I’m so thrilled that Brother Moose is finally READING, and he’s pretty stinking proud of himself, too, which is kind of fun to see.
I’ve been carving out a little time for myself to work on some of my scrapbooking. It’s been a long time since I’ve had time to work on some of my own projects, so it’s a nice treat. I’ve also pulled my art/spiritual journal back out, and have been some art entries with my watercolor pencils, which is very therapeutic and is a great way for me to express some of what I’m learning through my Bible studies right now.
Dr. Moose finally has a little time off this weekend, so we’re going to finish painting our dining room and laying the new floor. The living room has been finished since before Christmas, but we just haven’t had time to do the dining room. It will be nice to be able to enjoy some of these home improvement projects for a little while before the big move. June is creeping up on us awfully quickly. Dr. Moose will be heading down sometime in the next few weeks to start working on the design for his clinic and hiring staff - how crazy and exciting!
My birthday is on Thursday, and I get to spend my birthday weekend in Tennessee with my Women at Home girls, and I can’t wait!
I think this is something all moms struggle with - finding the balance between meeting the needs of your children and family, and taking care of yourself in the process. The recent events in my world have caused me to revisit this topic, and I’ve realized some things about myself and about what “taking care of myself” actually means.
I’m pretty good about making time for myself. Life is busy and crazy, yes, but my days are not so hectic that I can’t read and have some computer time while the kids are playing. There are times when all of my attention is on them - homeschooling, for example - and times when my attention is on taking care of the needs of my family, which includes mundanities like housework. The real question, though, is what am I gaining by that “me” time? And why is it important?
My world came crashing down around me over the last few weeks, and I was forced to reevaluate everything about my life. In those moments of darkness and despair, making time for myself wasn’t the issue. It was easy to sit on the couch in my jammies, and read or cry or sleep. But was that doing anyone any good - myself or my children? The answer I came to was no. A certain amount of that is okay, but taking care of myself doesn’t mean allowing myself to wallow. Indulging myself doesn’t mean eating nothing but cinnamon rolls because I’m too depressed to eat anything else. Those things don’t have a positive end result, and therefore, they are not actually taking care of myself.
What I did learn is that taking care of myself actually does benefit not just me but my kids as well. It’s not just about having time to myself, but about doing things that are restorative and beneficial. For me, that turned out to be simple things - like taking the time to get dressed and do my hair and makeup. It made me feel better, about myself and the world, and therefore my attitude improved, as did my perceived ability to cope and take care of things. Does it include time to myself? Absolutely. But that time for myself needs to be time that has a positive outlet. Sometimes, that can include things like crying. But only to a point. It also includes time to figure out how to handle things. What the next step is. What God is telling me.
My “me” time has switched focus. It’s not mindless net surfing, just trying to while away the hours, nor is it sleeping to escape the world. Those things might feel good in the moment, but they don’t contribute to any healthy pattern or do anything that benefits anyone. I realized that indulging myself didn’t have to be something unhealthy. Putting makeup on just to stay at home is an indulgence - one that makes me feel better about myself, boosts my spirits, and therefore enables me to handle life better. Semantics and mind games? Maybe, but it makes a difference. Allowing myself the time to curl up with my Bible or a devotional book, my journal, or my spiritual scrapbook feels like an indulgence. It’s a treat, but it’s one that has an incredible affect on both me and my family, and the reality is that it’s a necessity. Who knew that a necessity could feel so indulgent?
At the end of the day, my realization was that taking care of myself really has far reaching benefits. It allows me to be a better mom, teacher, and wife. I benefit and feel good, but as a result, so do those around me. I’m better able to deal with frustrations, I’m more in tune with God and how He is working, and I relate better to my kids and husband. Me time is so much more than just time. It’s time that shapes who I am, how I parent, how I talk to my husband…it’s a good thing. And it doesn’t feel selfish anymore.
We are: Mommy Moose, Doctor Moose, Brother Moose, and Little Moose (the other brother). A Christian homeschooling family and a mom with a wee bit of a moose obsession.
Our curriculum of choice is Winter Promise, but we use lots of other fun things, too!
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