Just 2 of the reasons that we homeschool...

One of the joys of homeschooling is being able to be together as a family throughout the day. Granted, this can take a toll on all of us and I often have people telling me that they think I am crazy for NOT sending my kids away for 8 hours everyday. However, even amid the ups and downs, the arguments, always having a kid underfoot and not having too much time for myself, it is moments like the the one below that make every second of it worth it!


On this particular day, C1 completed his work early. Instead of begging for computer time or causing arguments, he took it upon himself to get out one of our math manipulative boxes and call C2 out to the living room. He proceeded to work with C2 on patterns, simple additon and subtraction, and his counting skills. I cannot even express how wonderful it is to see this love in action...like I said before, this moment makes it worth it!

The day after this occurred, my love was beuilding a sundeck addition to our deck and took the two older boys out to help him. Not only did they get to put their math skills to the test, they were able to really help out!

C1 helping to stabilize a post.

C1 carrying a heavy post while L lets him...heck, if you don't need to exert yourself, why bother?!?

L learning how to use the level. What you don't see is that he then carried the level to mulitple places to make sure that EVERYTHING was level, it was quite funny to watch!

This project is a perfect examply of the "extracurriculars" that the boys are able to participate in on a regular basis...they had wonderful bonding time with their dad, and they learned some life skills along the way.

YIKES...I have been bad about this blog!

Okay, so a blog seemed like a good thing to do at the time. It seemed reasonable that I would be able to find the time to journal about our lives once or twice a week. Well, although I do have the best of intentions with regularly updating, reality set in. The reality is that although we do have many things going on that I want to share, I find it hard to put it into words at times. I also find it difficult to get on and update everything...perhaps this is also due to the fact that I am horrible at organizing my digital pictures so that I can find them. Now, give me pictures that are printed off and I am a whiz at keeping them organized. You would think it would be easier to keep the digital images organized...

Anyway, a few quick pics are posted below.


The boys were thrilled when the weather started getting sunny and our yard was covered with a wonderful purple blanket. They love to pick the violets and bring them to me. It was a particularly nice surprise on this day as our schoolwork had not gone well that morning and I was grumpy.

Violets are hard to find a vase for, but a Colts shotglass works quite nicely!

L made his First Communion on April 25th and this shot that Tod captured was beautiful!

Finally, on a gorgeous spring day in the Hoosier Heartland, we were able to get a decent pic of the kids and the dog without any of them looking like they're being tortured (usually the dog) or making goofy faces (usually the boys).

A loss...

Arabella, Caleb's 9th birthday present, passed away yesterday afternoon. We're not quite sure what happened. She was eating, playing, and going to the bathroom that morning., just like usual. We left for food co-op around 2:30pm and when we came home around 4pm, she had passed. Needless to say, Caleb is upset but he knows that it was no fault of his. You see, one of the requirements for him to have this Bearded Dragon was to learn absolutely all he could about them and how to take care of them, and he was a champ at it. He made sure that her crickets were healthy, that she had plenty of superworms, and that she had fresh salad every day. He checked the temperatures to make sure that they were in the right range, and he let her ride around on him and crawl on him. Again, we are baffled by this happening so suddenly...

He spent the evening last night building a coffin for her with Tod and they will bury her either today or tomorrow.

State swimming, a new/old friend, and a lesson learned

The Age Group State swimming meet was held this past weekend at the world renowned IU Natatorium. Caleb was able to go as part of the 200 Medley relay team, he swam the butterfly (the 3rd leg) and did a great job maintaining our first place status. The fourth leg had some difficulties and we finished 7th in the heat. Caleb thoroughly enjoyed being down there and watching his teammates swim as well. Here he is (in the cap) looking at the board to check the results of a race.

Colin went with me to the meet, and it is usually very difficult to keep him entertained for such a long event (for those of you not fortunate enough to experience the swimming world, one session of a meet can take 3-4 hours), but this time he was very well behaved. You see, he made a new friend (kind of, he already knew him) and was on his best behavior. His friend happened to be on vacation, which honestly everyone deserves!

Since we were preoccupied most of the weekend, I was unable to tackle my normal domestic goddess duties (ie., laundry), and it has piled up so high (both clean and dirty piles!) that I woke up this morning very much NOT looking forward to the mountainous task that lay before me:

I proceeded to open my e-mail and received my daily e-mail from Scott Noelle:

":: No Problem! ::

Having a "bad parenting day"? Whatever you're stressing about -- your child won't stop whining... you're way behind on the laundry...the baby nursed "all" night long... you yelled at the kids *again*... etc., etc. -- remember there are two components to every problem:

1. The actual condition

2. Your *belief* that it IS a problem. In other words, you don't *have to* perceive the condition to be wrong or bad.

Would a baby see your mountain of dirty laundry as a problem?

No, because wee ones see the world AS IT IS.They haven't been trained (yet) to pass judgment on Reality, so they don't see the problems we see.

Well, if a baby can do it, you can, too! :-)

Today, try letting go of the idea that conditions"should" be different than they are. Simply accept them..."No problem... It is what it is."But don't confuse acceptance with defeat. You can be accepting and still desire change. And change happens*easily* when you're at peace with What Is."

I chose to just see the laundry as what it is, and tried to not get stressed about it...it's so much more important for me to sit on the floor and play with Play-Doh with my boys than it is to stress about the laundry...

Have a great day, I know I will!

Happy Spring!!

Ahhh...the first day of spring, so very exciting! Leave it to Google to use one of my very favorite children's authors to commemorate this day: Eric Carle

There's something about that little "Hungry Caterpillar" that always makes me think of sunshine, dirt, and growing gardens. If you add that little guy to the seed catalogs

Seeds of Change, Gardner's Supply Company and Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds

that have been coming, I could daydream for hours about my plans for this year's garden.

My dad and I have already placed our order for tomato and pepper seedlings from The Chile Woman and will be quite busy with canning salsas, pepper jellies, etc. later in the summer. I am hopeful that I will have a large enough crop to keep tomatoes in my pantry throughout next winter and spring...I used my last jar of tomatoes from last year at the end of January, so I am hoping that I am more accurate in my calculations this year.

In preparation for all that I will be harvesting this year (hopefully) I have my eye on this waterbath canner kit on Amazon. I do have a pressure canner already that I love, but to have this canner as well would just make the canning a bit easier and less time consuming.

Enjoy the first day of spring, and I hope that all of you are having a wonderful, sunny day like we are!

It's been too long...

Over the past month we have been busy. Caleb and Logan have hit the tail end of their short-course swimming season. Caleb made the Championship Team and swam 6 events in divisionals and is on the State 200 Medley Relay team. The State competition is this weekend and we are gearing up for that. Colin is swimming like a little fish and I will definitely be less nervous when we are at the pool during the summer.

Our homeschooling is going very well. The boys are plugging along in all of their subjects at a good rate. They really enjoy when we do history because it involves me doing a lot of reading out loud to them and then they get to do activities and map work to help reinforce what they have been learning. Believe it or not, one of Logan's favorite subjects is grammar! Even if I don't assign a lesson that day he wants to do one...crazy kid!

One of the joys of homeschooling is the freedom that we have to go on impromptu trips when Tod has to travel. A few weeks ago we packed up our schoolwork and did it in the van on the way to Chicago. Once we arrived, the boys finished their work in the bar while Tod was working on the lights, and then we headed to the Chicago Legoland Discovery Center. It wasn't quite worth the $$ that we spent on tickets, but the boys did enjoy themselves.

The boys with Hagrid, from Harry Potter. Colin with Darth Vadar, and all 3 with a likeness of President Barack Obama.

Yesterday we had an unusually warm St. Patrick's Day and we took the boys down to the parade. Tod had to be down there to photograph the fire department, their bagpipe players, and the engines that were in the parade. He was also able to get me to actually agree to be in a picture, so here are my little leprechauns and myself at the parade...we were right in front of the grandstand, so it was great for the boys to be able to hear everything.

Parker Family Update

I know that it has been way too long since my last post, and for that I am sorry (good thing I don't have too many followers!). We have been busy with our homeschooling, swimming, and other random activities. Here are a few pictures that we've taken over the past week:

We had a couple of nicer, spring-like days last week and the boys were able to get some much needed outside time. Ever since Colin learned to pump on a swing last fall it has become one of his favorite activities. Caleb was having a rough day and complaining of having nothing to do since the bikes are still in the shed, and a light bulb came on in my head... Caleb's feet are almost as big as mine, and I have a pair of roller blades that fit me before my 3 pregnancies, so I thought "Why not give these a try?"...I think I may have created a new obsession. He LOVES them and the fit perfectly! He spent about an hour and a half each day just going up and down the driveway...he's not steady enough for me to let him out on the street yet. I have a sinking feeling that he will be asking for a trick ramp this summer...there is one at Target that he wanted to get last year.

Somehow, above all odds, Tod and I actually had a decent picture of us taken. We were at a friends wedding shower and she grabbed the camera and took this...not the best picture of me, but I am happy that we are both smiling!

The birthday boy: Colin turned 4 last Friday! It is so hard for me to wrap my head around that. He requested a chocolate cake, and as you can see from the finger in his mouth, he approved of the icing!

My parents have continued a tradition (with a twist) that my grandfather had with us when we were growing up. He would come pick us up on our birthdays, take us to lunch, and then let us walk around the mall and purchase our birthday gift with the birthday money that he had given us. We all enjoyed being able to spend that time with him, and we all looked forward to being able to do so. My parents will come over and pick the birthday boy up, let them choose where they would like to go for lunch, and then walk around Toys 'r Us looking for that perfect gift (it has taken longer than expected on occasion!). Colin was given the rule this year that as long as he could carry it he could get it...well, there was a Fisher Price Geo-Trax set on display that he thought was very cool, and the box was almost as big as him! Somehow, the birthday boy was able to carry it up to the checkout counter...talk about the power of want!