4 weeks in, and no doubt about it...

can you believe it????
we've already made it FOUR whole weeks into the school year!!!!

and while i will gladly admit it's had it's share of ups and downs,
i think this whole homeschool idea is panning out quite well for us!!!!


Providence has proven to be such a blessing, as i truly thought it would be.
giving my children the best of both worlds. and let me tell you too....
it's really pretty amazing to watch your child learn right before your very eyes,
knowing that you are the one that taught them the lesson.


levi...
caught on and took to it right away. he's actually looking forward to the days at school (which was a far cry from last year, he battled me most every morning),
but loving the time spent at our kitchen table learning the daily lessons equally as much. He's well behaved, and well manored, being atentive and willing to learn. which is an answere to prayer. I thought this feat would be the hardest, showing him the difference of seeing me as mom and then a teacher.

alivia...
sweet sassy alivia. of the two she is proving to have the most melt downs. but this past week it feels like she is getting into the routine of it all. she loves to color, and her eyes get big as i pull a paper out of her folder that looks in need of color.
she's getting a good handle on letters and sounds....
which is really an amazing thing to witness before my very eyes. and can usually be found singing "be my echo" well into the night.

all in all, i see us doing this for a long time. we love the school...
and love the change we see in our children already.
so...
this is a good thing, no doubt about it!

new beginnings...

i seriously remember the day levi was born like it was yesterday.
even the first few weeks of his life, are very vivid in my mind.
everything was so new, and so changed.

looking at this tiny human, that seemed so perfect to me....
i had no comprehension of what "school" years would be like then.

but...
time waits for no man, and before i knew it...
here you are in kindergarten!

this past week started out rocky. partly because of the ideas that i had in my head of what homeschool should be like,
partly because you had no clue what home school life was.

but, here we are one full week into it,
and all i can say is...
levi, you were made for the homeschool life! :)

so well behaved, so willing to learn....
the truth is, i didn't think it would be that way. i honestly thought it would take time for you to adapt to me
adding the role of "teacher" in your eyes. but, you've jumped right...
already saying you never want to go back to full time school.

i suppose it's partly because of your smarts...
quickly picking up on the fact that you can get work done faster at home,
and maybe partly because you are alot like me, and love to sleep in...
just a bit. :)

either way,
i am excited for this bonding experience.
to have the ability to watch you learn new things right before my eyes, and know that a great part of it is because of me.
knowing that i love you the best, and i care for your heart the most... and because of those facts i would naturally strive to grow and educate you in the best way.
what a blessing this is.

we get the best of both worlds. :)
homeschool monday, wednesday and friday.
and a class of other kindergartners tuesday and thursdays... (5 boys and 2 girls, lucky for you).
teachers prepare the lessons, and grade the papers,
but i get to take the time to teach you in the timing you require.

i am thrilled to be taking this journey beside you!
here's to a great first "real school" year!



then there is my alivia.
tiny the day you were born, and so tiny still.
i picked you up on thursday, and took quick note that you are about 5" shorter then all your K4 (6 girls 2 boys, luck for you) peers. :)

my girl anxious to learn, there is no doubt!
loving every minute of both homeschool and school school.

God ALWAYS has a purpose...

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your
own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6


God always has a purpose.

this is a sentence i know i have seen time and time again in my life before.
but sitting in church on sunday morning, it really hit me...
God ALWAYS has a purpose.


as i've gotten older, i have come to realize just how amazing his purpose is.
he always hears my prayers, but doesn't always answer them the way i think He will.

i know there have been so many times in my life i have been thankful that He didn't give me what i thought i needed at the moment, after seeing He had something greater planned for me down the road.


with that being said,
at this point (and i can't say for certain)...
but, i am pretty sure God is having "a bigger plan" in the works.

when we first entered levi at tabernacle,
we truly thought this was God's plan.
and when i started my mary kay business,
it seemed even more clear that He provided the way to pay for the tab for all of our children.

so, i was a bit confused when the talk of homeschool kept coming around.
because...
in my mind, His purpose had already shown to light.

in fact, i knew it had...
so, i didn't know why in my private thoughts, it would randomly pop into my head.
yet still in my uncertainty, i wore a disguise and would quickly bypass the "talk" of homeschool any time anyone brought it up.

and then one day on a hour long car ride...
i asked the question...
the one that was really in the back of my head for a couple years at least.

"can you tell me about this homeschool thing, orenda?"

i think i truly thought she would shed some light on the topic, and that it would finally reassure in my head
"the plan of tabernacle".

but, once again to my amazement.
the opposite of what i thought was going to happen happened.

every question and fear of what i had been hesitant about was answered without my even asking.
and by the end of the drive home,
i honestly think my mind was made up.

i came home, walked in the door...
looked into brian's eyes, and once again, told him my heart.
on the surface, i really thought he would laugh at the idea.
but i think i knew before a word was ever even spoken,
just what his desire was.

and within 10 minutes, we realized we were on the same page.
homeschool...
was a good choice for our family, our goals, and our life.


a part of me is excited, i can't deny that.
excited to see what God has in store with this opportunity.
and to see how this experience draws us closer as a family, and closer to Him.

yet, even as i write this the thought of it kinda makes my stomach hurt.
i am full of fear, not really knowing fully what to expect.
but, as of today...
the choice is made up. and our children will be homeschooled through "providence community school"
home 3 days a week, school 2 days a week.

and in the back of my head i know,
i have always drawn closer to God through my fears,
and as always, i rest assure in knowing...
He ALWAYS has a purpose!

fall festive....

here i am again with not alot of time, and plenty to blog about.
sigh, crunch time wont be ending anytime soon i fear.


fall festival...
i think i have mentioned this before. levi's school always does some sort of special event every month. the day is always filled with clever activities, and all the kids have so much fun. levi always tells me after those days how much he likes school.

well, fall festival was no different. from hay stacks and games, to cotton candy and snow cones...
with a class hay ride through the schools pumpkin patch to top it all off.
it interested me to watch and see just how much levi has grown in the past few months.
his skills in alot of the activities amazed me....
and i can tell you first hand, that boy playes me at home! he can do perfectly most everything that he still asks for help with at home.

here are the stations they had:
~musical chairs
~ the cracker whistle
~ the apple sauce slurp
~ hay stack class photo spot
~ clothes pin drop (dropping clothes pins into a mason jar from a standing up position.
~ hula hoop hustle
~ find a coin in a hay stack (which was levi's favorite)
~ tug of war (which was my favorite to watch)
~ face painting
~ potato sack race (which was another fun one to watch)
~ and an obstacle race (which ended with levi running with a potato on a spoon.

so, as you can tell the day was full of excitement.
most activities that where "competition" were boys against girls.... and the girls always won!

i helped out with snow cones towards the end of the day, which left me a sticky mess.
but i don't mind cause i am getting to know so many new faces, and making new friends of my own.





halloween...
alivia decided she wanted to be a cupcake of all things (i think she saw the pottery barn catalog) so my brain rotated and decided that nataley would be a ice cream cone. i had hoped that i could convince levi to be a cookie so that brian and i could put aprons on and be bakers....
but, i would imagine every mother in the world would have a hard time talking their 4 year old son into be something so lame as a cookie, so in the end bumblebee transformer beat my idea out the window.
halloween was a rather hot night and we all pretty much sweated to death, poor nataley was a watery mess half way through, so i improvised and her ice cream cone costume was transformed into a doughnut by the nights end.

not two houses into it faye bay fully understood to go up to the door pick out her piece of candy and return it to her bucket that daddy was holding. she would even get mad when we made her sit out a house or two along the way.

alivia freaked out at all the "scary" houses...
which is one of the many reasons why i really don't personally care for halloween.
and levi would shoot his arm gun and all the "mean" costumes he saw along the road.

so, here i am a full week later with loads of candy, which i only let the kids pick two pieces a day...
and will more then likely throw the rest out sometime this week (or hand it off to alyson) seeing as how no one in this family is big candy eaters.


they had fun, which is what's important, and the talk of what to be next year has already started.






levi's repot card...
yes, my son received his first little report card this week in the mail. he had pretty much all "O" or "G" except for that he won't sit for more then 8 minutes to listen to a story...
daddy's son 100% :)

the parent/teacher conference was good. levi is a pleasure in mrs. koch's class. he is learning so much, and is pretty much right along with all the other kids in his class....
which was my concern because of the past hearing issues, and the young summer birthday of his. they have started ladder blends and i must admit...
it is the coolest thing in the world to see my biggest little person actually starting to "read" all on his own.
smarter and smarter everyday!

field trip...

it was totally in my plans to be very involved in all my kids EARLY school years.
i actually remember thinking of it when i was pregnant with levi.


on the other side of that, i hope that i can keep my cool as they get bigger and allow them the "school space" needed so that they don't feel suffocated by my involvement!

notice how i just said my "hope"...
i will try hard guys, i promise!

in the mean time i am soaking in all the moments when levi feels like the "cool" kid to have mommy tag along.

and yesterday,
i got my first ever "chaperoning a field trip" experience,
while i watched levi experience his fist ever field trip!

we headed down to the southeast guide dog center.
levi (and all his friends) had a blast with all the little black puppies (about 15 of them).
although, i kinda think the bus ride was levi's most favorite part.

it was a rather short trip and the kids were back to school in time for lunch.
so, i decided that i would stick around and see what the lunchroom was all about.

levi seems so grown up in his school atmosphere.
quick to help, quick to clean up....
i think i finally figured out that he is fully ready for a list of some chores to do at home...
aside from just putting his toys away at the end of the night.

i'm going to work on some sort of chart and reward system for things levi can do around the house to help out.
so, if anyone has any ideas, i'm open for suggestions!

anyway,
yesterday was a special kinda day.
and i'm so thankful that i was around to be able to experience it with my favorite boy ever!

rodeo roundup...

every month levi's school has a special "event" day.

and the month of september was the rodeo roundup.
and let me just say watching thirty- forty 3-6 year olds go round and around in a circle on their bikes with huge helmets on is just about the cutest thing i have ever seen. levi was himself and kept finding the need to crash into his friends like he was at some sort of truck rally! but still very cute.

his kind heart once again rang true when he noted that his friend brian didn't have a bike. he jumped right on board when my brian and i offered that levi and brian take turns on levi's bike (brian later used another kids bike that had already had their turn going around).
it always touches my heart when i see my kids go above and beyond. knowing that they are growing into people with good character and compassionate hearts (cause it doesn't always happen that way). it's a great feeling.

levi got hot and sweaty real fast and cooled himself off with some snacks over at their "snack shack".
i love that families are always welcomed, and i love that my husband always finds the time in his hectic work days that he needs to make it to all our important events.
it's moments like this that make it so clear in my head just how blessed i am to call him my husband.

and i'm sure it was nice for him to put some faces on the names he is constantly hearing levi talk about. tabernacle is quickly growing into another part of our family. and i'm so excited to be trying out their church tomorrow.
the school is such a great fit, and i am praying that maybe the church might be as well.

a grand day for grandparents...

OK, i know i say it over and over...
but here i go again!

I LOVE TCS!

seriously! it is the biggest blessing to my heart!
levi is learning so much! already putting letter sounds together to read words.
he's learning bible scripture, and coming home with loads of questions.
he's drawing pictures, playing, and making friends.
i can tell he is happy to really feel apart of something, as am i (making new friends myself).

and today was an extra special day...
today was grandparents day!
levi's face looked shocked when he saw nana, papa, mimi and grandpa sitting there in his chapel when he walked in.

he practiced his song all week, both at home and school.
and was very excited to preform with his class.

but then, when the moment came, our typical levi stood up there with a scowl look on his face almost to say
"this is lame, why am i even up here?" the entire two songs. mary lou, my mom and i practically had tears rolling down our cheeks because we were laughing so hard. it was just such a levi thing to do....
always full of his own expressions and filled with character to the brim.

after, they got to go meet his teacher and have lunch with him.
it was just such an awesome concept to me. so often i know my mother sits and wonders what levi's school is like and now they all have the exact idea as to what he is talking about.
so... in levi's exact words when i picked and asked him how his special day was....
"it rocked!"

levi's a real life preschooler...

i know, i know...
by now you are tired of my blogging today...
i just can't help it, today was an important day!




while i can't fully tell you what the house is like without levi around (because we were hardly at home today without him)...
i can say this, it is unusually quiet.
and i miss him. :(

he on the other hand...
shows no signs of missing me.
although tonight when i tucked him in and asked him once more what his favorite thing about school was...

he said (once again) "nap time", but then he added "but, i miss you mama... just a little, little bit" with a sad look on his face.
which funny thing is that was first moment tears actually ran down my cheeks today.

my little boy is so big,
just looking at him in the pictures i took this morning.
somehow he looks even bigger to me today then he did even last night.

he walked right in, no problems, no quarrels.
and when we picked him up mrs. koch said he did GREAT!
which makes this mama happy, but sad at the same time.





i will say i feel so happy to have him at tabernacle.
both brian and i talked about how we feel so "at home" every time we step foot on the school grounds.
it feels right, like this is where we are supposed to be, like this is where we will adjust what needs be in order for our children to stay. this is the place i am trusting to love and care for my children, when i am unable to be there loving and caring for them myself.

yes, today was a good day indeed.

the last day...

sorry,
i wasn't exactly feeling the best last night, so i didn't feel like blogging.

but my dad...
"the situation is far from ideal". that's what my mom told me on the phone yesterday afternoon.
apparently, my dads heart had a bit more damage done to it with the heart attack then they originally thought.
it's only working at 40% right now.
and the scar tissue around the stent is building up and causing the stent to collapse which is causing blockage.
the problem is that the stent is in the main artery and it is a little too close to another artery for them to feel safe to go in and do another surgery. so now they wait. the doctor wants to take a look at things and see if maybe he can control the blockage with some more meds. which has me a little worried cause his blood is already so thin. they want to wait it out a couple weeks before they decide the next step to take, but something is going to have to be done. so, keep him in your prayers.


the kids had their last day of school yesterday...
i didn't think it would be, but it was kinda sad. it's funny how attached the teachers get, and when they teared up...
well, being how sensitive i am it made me tear up.
but i survived it...
barely, but i did survive....

yikes! and that's not even "real" school. how will i be when they start kindergarden, graduate it... high school, college!
time goes by too quick i tell ya!


anyhow,
for me it is officially summer!

busy bee...

honestly, i wish could just run away sometimes...
just for a little while... to have peace and quiet, to not have one thing needing to be done or accomplished for just a few hours would be nice.

i had so much i needed to get done today but my list was completely twisted around this afternoon. i spent the morning making valentines day cards with the kids. i was sure to start this project bright and early because i wanted to make sure they got out in todays mail so that grandparents would be getting them tomorrow. perfectly planned procrastination done only as shannon could do it!


brian and both girls have had runny noses for the past few days and this afternoon i swore i felt a mild grade fever on alivia. seeing as how today is friday i thought it best to go ahead and take both girls in just to be sure everything was looking A OK....
and naturally it wasn't. alivia has yet another ear infection! so, i now have the joy of having antibiotics spit in my face for the next 4 days...YEA!
fitting in their DR. appointment made it so that i couldn't possibly get the cards in todays mail. but thankfully brian came to my rescue and was nice enough to be our "mail man". he said that he would drop cards off to the places they needed to get to in tomorrows mail (and i love him for it!).




levi spent the day with nana and papa. munky had a vet visit and so did my parents dog so they decided they would take both dogs and levi wanted to tag along. i am assuming that everything went well. i know levi had a great time cause he talked about it the whole time he was in the bath tub tonight.


i took full advantage of only having two kids in tote today. after their appointment we ran over to the new produce stand and stocked up on a few things. this seriously makes my world.... the produce stand that is. they have everything i could ever think of wanting and being able to get all that kinda stuff at the restaurant just knocked my grocery bill down to practically $0.... i'm so excited.... it doesn't take much to amuse me these days! :)
speaking of which. as i drove around thinking of what i could possibly give my husband that would have meaning i started thinking about how becoming a mother has changed me. seriously, five years ago a new high end designer bag would have practically made my month (well, my week at least) and now i honestly don't remember the last time i walked in anywhere with enough money burning my pockets to drop on something that does nothing more then hold my lip gloss (that i never even use)!
that thought was made even more clear this evening while i strolled the isles of target looking for little things to put into the kids valentines day boxes. i have been told my brian to make sure that i walk past the "monster jam" toy section anywhere i go with eyes open looking for the trucks to which my son is lacking. levi thinks, breaths and lives for his $3.04 monster trucks. whenever he gets one he stares at the back of the packaging for at least an hour going over which ones he has, and which ones he doesn't and which ones are the "hard" ones to find (he learned that from brian).
anyway, there today as i scrolled my eyes down their selection i quickly spotted "superman".... i say this in all honesty, the lady across the isle from me looked at me as though i was crazy as i jumped for joy. i was so super excited to see levi's most craved one. he talks about it daily with this super sad look on his face because it is so hard to find. and i found it!
yes, this girl who used to be excited about pretty jewerly, handbags, and the perfect shirt was elated to find a tiny little toy for only the excitement i would find in those big blue eyes when he realizes he's got it....
when did this life become so wonderful?
and let me just say...
i felt 10 billion times more happier in that toy isle today then i ever did even once at COACH!

*********************************************************

here are a few pics from school yesterday. i think (and this may sound funny) that valentines day is levi's favorite school holiday.
he was so excited when he went in yesterday morning. he shouted "look friends, i brought us candy!"..... stinking cute!





now i'm off. i still have to make up sugar cookie dough so that the kids have something to put pink and red frosting on tomorrow...
once again, perfectly planned procrastination! ;)

love mail...

i will admit i was the tiniest bit excited when i got the paper last week that levis "homework" was to make the nostalgic valentines day mail box....
hearts, kisses and love was what popped into my brain.... but who was i kidding... we are talking about my three year old boy!
like i said a little while ago levi is obsessed with monster trucks in the current moment. actually, i think my son is a true "redneck" at heart. he loves NASCAR, "monster jam".... and yes, even hunting! which is funny cause his daddy is such a pretty boy, so i have no idea where on earth these thrills that make up levi came from.

i spent all of the late afternoon and much of the early evening helping a pair of little boy hands invent his creation....
turning a garbage bag box into a truck.... although, i know about no such things. i had ideas in my head but my creative child had ideas all his own, and in the end i fought back the urge to be the perfectionist that i am and let his little mind do the creating.
so now we have a red box, with four freshly painted black wheels, decaled all over with "monster jam" and spider man stickers. it was levi's ingenious idea to have the hood be the spot where you put your love letters....
all in all it was a little on the messy side. paint was all over and levi and alivia fought over where the stickers would go.
but, the end product is absolutely perfect in my eyes.
my creation created it after all. :)


right before baths i made up an assembly line.... levi and livi helped put their "treat bags" together. not my favorite task by a long shot.... note to self: never put mounds of candy in front of children and think they will be able to control themselves!


one more quick thing....
i know i am short for time but i'm looking for a good romantic gift for the hubby. something special. for example last year i gave him a "list".
it included stuff like
*making his favorite dessert.
*a night of watching sports in bed (i hate sports on TV and he is never allowed to have them on in our room).
*sleep as late as you want, unbothered by me or the children.

that was by far his most favorite gift i have ever given him... he still talks about it. and the best thing about it was that it was FREE!
anyway, i'm looking for good ideas like that does anyone have any?

moments like this

my heart has been rejoicing all day. levi and alivia had their christmas program at school today, and it was just so stinking cute!
watching little alivia, who naturally is the shortest one in her class (which actually would make her the shortest child in the school) do all the little hand motions of "away in a manger" and smiling so big when she first saw a glimps of brian and i in the crowed. and then jingling her little bells away during jingle bells. it seriously was just about the sweetest thing i ever did see.... i know, i am partial. but really, i'm sure you would have agreed! ;)
levi was nothing short of typical levi. as they were arranging the kids up on stage he glanced over and saw me first. he quickly looked around for his teacher and then pointed while shouting on the top of his lungs for everyone to hear "it's my mommy, she over there....SEE!!!". and then towards the end of the program, apparently he got bored and just sat down right in the middle of the group never to be seen again till the end. but the songs he did make it through "happy birthday jesus" and "joy to the world" he did amazingly.
It feel like it was just yesterday that i was having my own christmas programs, and here i am going to my childrens. life sure does move along fast. i honestly can't believe that levi is three. wasn't i just rocking him to sleep in the blue rocker yesterday? and now he is holding full out conversations with me! it's crazy!
i can whole heartedly say that i live for moments like this!

christmas party

yep, thats right... yoder's always does the christmas party in november.  that way they aren't taking up busy time during the month of december.  so now its quarter till 5 and my children are sleeping, a busy afternoon will do that to you.  i'm assuming that because they're snoozing away now, it's going to be a late night in the emrich household!  

the party has been at the same park for the last few years, and going to it this year it occurred to me just how much my kids have changed over this past year!

all the toy equipment that they needed my help with last year they were doing on their own.  alivia mostly because she already has a determined little mind that won't allow her big brother to do anything she cannot do herself.  it is such a joy to my heart to go to a public place and my children behave... cause as i'm sure as most toddler mothers can say, it isn't always the case.  levi never missed a please or a thank you, covered his mouth when he coughed, and waited till brian and i were done doing what we were doing to ask for something he wanted (this is a big one in our house, i can't stand when children interrupt and demand something when the parent is busy with another adult).  alivia, needed a little reminder help in that area but never once threw a tantrum.  both of them intermingled with the employees all on their own, and that is such a blessing to my heart.  at only 3 and 2 i can see that my children have a heart for people just like their daddy, which in my mind is the greatest characteristic they could have gotten from him.  

nataley too was a little ray of sunshine.  she has managed to come down with the goopy eye herself.... just looking at her today i could tell how miserable she was, but never once did she let it get her down.  she smiled and cooed right through those half open eyes, and showed everyone around her what a joy she is.  that is what nataley is to me.  this little unplanned gift.... but what a joyous gift she is.  she is by far the happiest little child i have ever seen.  very sociable, bubbly, and  my heart adores her.

a thought that crosses my mind still very frequently, but practically everyday during thanksgiving.  what a wonderful life god has given to me.  i always seem to choke myself up when it gets right down to it,  to imagine where i would be had god given me my hearts desire at the time and let me stay in ohio.  to live a life without all that i have now, i don't think would have been a life worth living...... i see a piece when god sees the big picture... how amazing! what could be more reassuring then that?