Homeschooling....Learning all the time!

  The day I decided to homeschool was probably one of the scariest days of my life.....I mean I already had the responsibility of being their mom, but now I was going to be their teacher, too!  What was I thinking? Well, like everything else, I waited until the last minute and right before school started I pulled them out.....and sat in my living room and said... what now?

 Four years later, and it was the BEST decision I ever made!  Now don't get me wrong, this does not mean that everyday is filled with pure joy and perfectness like a hallmark after school special, because it is far from that!  But it does mean that my kids are learning how to love learning and hopefully along the way find their true passion.

The hardest part for me is the stress of society and it's "standards", but as time passes I gain more confidence and realize that "standards" and actual learning are two very different things!

Which brings me to our month stay in Dominica.  There is not a book, worksheet or test that could have given my children this "lesson".  Seeing another culture, living another culture, helping another culture is a priceless gift of learning that we all as a family had the privilege to experience.

A lesson on being content with the most simple of things.  People living in small shacks with corrugated iron walls and roofs, they have the bare necessities and so content, yet in America we have SO much and seem to never be "content" Just happy being alive and able to have food, shelter and water so amazing to see.

A lesson on helping others and not only thinking of ourselves.  Sure we could have worked on our tans and spent much more time snorkeling at beaches etc, but to take time to teach dance at the school, help paint and give unconditionally is something my kids will cherish FOREVER.

All though, there are days when I question what the heck am I doing, it is moments like these that give me strength to carry on!  It is always hard to go against the grain, but when you do.... WOW how wonderful it feels!

Brenna

WHEW....NOT THE ONLY SENSITIVE ONE!

Okay....... watched Toy Story 3 last night. Never thought I would be crying watching ole' Buzz and Woody..... thank goodness I was not alone in the tears department, or I was really going to question my emotional state.  :D Gotta see it!

BONDING.....ON A 7 HOUR HIKE!

11 and 14 years old and not getting any younger.  Of course, if we were to ask the boys "do you guys want to hike for 7 hours in rain and mud" I believe the answer would have been....."uh not really" But we delivered it this way"let's go on a nice family hike to the worlds 2nd largest BOILING LAKE" Yea sounds great!!!

Well, I must say I was impressed with them.  Loads of very vertical ups, scaling down into a valley, walking thru rivers and more.  They ask you to hire a guide as the hike gets a little "thin" at times.  But we decided to go it alone!  Not too bad....a few "sketchy" bits but nothing too dangerous. The boys did GREAT and loved every minute of it!  Of course, seeing the massive Boiling Lake was absolutely breathtaking and the hot pools on the way back were incredibly relaxing, but all the chats and laughing along the way were the icing on the cake.  When do you ever get 7 full hours of uninterrupted conversation?  And believe me, there are days when I am only with them for 30 min, and I am about to "kill them" So this was simply a true bonding moment.  Those moments you imagine in your head as parents that everything is going to be so peaceful and great.  Yet tend to go the other way...if you know what I mean=)  So you take it when you can.....even if it is 7 hrs  hiking, pouring rain, and full of mud!

A good

Laugh

HEALS ALL!!!!

The Boiling Lake!

Relaxing in the warm sulphur pools

Crazy, scary hiking

Soaking wet but we DID IT!!! 

HELLO CARIBBEAN!!!!

Well, nothing like packing your life up into a 10X20 storage box and flying out to the Caribbean for a month vacation!!!! We are truly blessed!  Or off our rockers!!! hee hee

We are in the beautiful Island Of Dominica...not to be confused with the Dominican Republic.  Not the Caribbean with the all inclusive hotels and drinks with umbrellas.  This is everything but!  The airport is the size of some of my friend's homes and has maybe one flight a day into the island on a smaller plane you walk up the stairs to get on. We arrived and had a taxi/driver pick us up which in itself was an experience.  It took 1 1/2 hours to travel 20 miles.  There is one narrow road to get around the island which gives new meaning to car sickness and desperation to find a seatbelt!!

We are privileged to be staying with a long time friend of Mark's in their beautiful guest house.  They moved out to Dominica on a whim 2 yrs ago with their 3 children!  If you think we are gypsies they wrote the book!!!! Their home and guest house sits way atop of the capital city, Roseau overlooking the beautiful Caribbean Sea!  The winding, tiny, narrow roads to get to their home give hills a whole new meaning! They are vertical!  Literally!

We began our trip by visiting the local school which has 200 children ages 3 to 11.  Very simple, rustic buildings, no air conditioning, tiny rooms, yet the children are dressed in their beautiful school uniforms. Everyone was so welcoming and thankful to have visitors.  The whole school sang a "thank you' song to us. We brought a few supplies....borders for bulletin boards, stickers, pencils, can opener, serving spoons, chalk etc.... and the looks on their faces you would have thought we brought  200 MAC computers!

The boys offered to teach dance classes for the month we are here and the students are thrilled!  Every Tues and Wed the boys come to the school to teach.  As much as the students love it, Keean and Cade are loving it even more.  We also offered to paint one of the school rooms.  Such a simple thing to us, a new painted room, but these kids gasped with pure delight at their new room!

Painting

Teaching at the School

I believe with all the beautiful hikes, snorkeling, and swimming in beaches we will do, being at the school is going to be a huge highlight of our trip!