It's been a year...

I cannot believe the changes that have taken place in our lives this past year.  And I say wholeheartedly that there is no way we could have made it through without the Lord holding our hands, and at times carrying us through (yes, like in the "Footprints" poem...). I didn't realize how dark and scary it was until I made it out and was able to look back.  I know I'm stronger for it.

I am now a homeschooling mom.  :-D  I homeschooled Aimee for the first half of 2nd grade, but we put her in school shortly after Lex was born, because I had postpartum depression, four kids, a developmentally delayed 3 year old, and a stubborn "I don't feel like doing school" second grader.  It was too much for me at the time.  But things are different now.  For starters, the Lord blessed me with the use of my FAVORITE curriculum!!!  I have spent HOURS pouring over the Sonlight catalog and website, hoping one day I could homeschool (again) and at the very least, try to follow their curriculum.  About 6 months ago, before I even considered homeschooling again, I prayed, "Lord, You know how much I want this curriculum.  I need to let it go, but if it is within Your will for me to homeschool, and there is a way for me to get this curriculum, would You please provide it?"  About a month or so ago, my bestest friend and I decided to homeschool our preschoolers, along with a mutual friend of ours, and we were in line discussing curricula.  A woman behind us spoke up and asked if we homeschool.  I told her we were starting this year.  She said she was new to the church, had four children, and had been homeschooling for about 8 years.  I asked her which curriculum she uses, and she told me Sonlight!  I told her how much I love Sonlight, even though I've never used it, and asked how she liked it.  She said she had been using it for years.  We continued chatting and she asked me what grades my children were going into. When I told her, she said that she had the years I needed just sitting in her basement and I was welcome to them if I wanted!!!  Can you believe it?!  I still can't!!  This was our first week of school, and the books are everything I thought they would be and more.  My kids really do sit and pour over the books, even when we're not doing school.  And on our first day, my (now fourth grade) "I hate homeschooling" daughter said, "That's it?!  I love Sonlight!!"  She hasn't changed her opinion yet!  :)

I am also baby-sitting for my friend Ellisa a few days a week.  Her son, Max, is Amerie's age.  My sister Emma and I have made our own preschool curriculum (which I will share later if she's okay with it and I remember.  ;-)  I'm using it for Andrew, Amerie and Max, and incorporating some of the Sonlight P4/5 into it (which is what I went with for my boy). Andrew will also do Kindergarten math (his math workbook has a train on the front.  He is now permanently sold on math!) in the afternoon, during Amerie's naptime.

I am so excited about homeschooling!!  I have felt for years that i am supposed to be a homeschooling mother, and when God provided Sonlight for me, it was such a confirmation.  And no, I'm not getting paid for this advertisment by Sonlight.  :)  There are many, many different choices for homeschooling, and lots of them are incredibly good curriculums.  But I am a researcher, and research I did, even when I had given up the dream of homeschooling (I should have known then that it was something I should be doing, seeing as how I thought about it many times and researched it even after giving up).  After looking at many of my choices, I knew that Sonlight was the best for our family. Apparently so did the Lord!!  :-D

I am also trying to get back into eating a traditional diet.  I was so stressed with the changes going on in my life, especially after Phil filed for divorce in May, that I stopped eating.  I also stopped drinking pop like I used to.  Between the pop and the lack of food, I lost 25 lbs in just a couple of months.  My hair is falling out at such an incredible rate that it is worrying me, and I am sure it's because I'm undernourished.  So I spent this week planning out meals and snacks, grocery shopping, and collecting a ton of recipes.  Today, I made a roast for dinner (I am also anemic, surprise surprise, and want to try and build my iron supply through my diet, so I am incorporating lots of red meat and dark greens) and made a fresh batch of chiclen stock.  I haven't made chicken stock in months, but now that the air has a Fall chill to it, i'm craving some soup!!  I also have some pastry flour soaking in some yogurt to make this recipe for zucchini bread.  I have never made soaked grain zucchini bread before, but I'm excited to try it.  To read about the benefits of soaking grains, visit here or here.  Soaking grains allows our body to actually absorb the nutrients found in the grain, instead of passing them right through our bodies (think about this...most grain-fed animals have four stomachs, to allow the grains to properly break down and be absorbed in the stomach.  We have one stomach, so we need a little work done beforehand...).  In the morning, I am contemplating taking my four babies to Eastern Market.  It's a crazy place, in the middle of Detroit, so I might wait for the afternoon and drag my mom along to help me.  But I am almost out of raw honey, I need eggs and finally found a source of pastured eggs (whoo-hoo!!), and I'm looking forward to introducing my children to farmer's market shopping.  :)  It will be crazy, but fun!

That's it for now.  This mommy needs to get to bed...   :)