Homeschooling and Piano Lessons for Brinley

It definitely wasn't in my plans when we started Brinley's Kindergarten year that I would ever plan to homeschool. We lived in one of the best, if not the best school district of the entire state of Florida. She went to an A rated elementary school. and had a teacher that absolutely adored her. She was progressing and learning and reading and making so many new friends and loving her time at school.

When we knew we were moving to North Carolina, Ryan and I weren't too sure to throw her back into a new school, without knowing much about the district, and then what if we moved again before the end of the school year? Another school change? I just couldn't deal with the parent/mom guilt of potentially having my baby go to 3 different schools her kindergarten year.

When we told Brinley's Florida K teacher that we were moving, she was devastated! I really do think Brinley was one of her favorites. She just loved her. I could really tell when I saw them together. I knew she wanted the very best for her and really helped her learn and grow. Her teacher provided me with emails upon emails of printables to get started and to carry us through the school year. Those printables have saved me! She even gave me 2 brand new Common Core Math workbooks (that I HATE, but still try and use).

When we got to North Carolina, I knew we need a formal school set up and schedule. If it was just Brin and I, we could be more relaxed on our learning, but with Ellie still needing lots of attention and Owen's nap schedule, we needed to figure out the logistics. It took a few weeks to iron out our mornings to find the best time to do certain activities, but I think we have finally found our groove and have been doing pretty good lately!

Brinley on the left // Ellie on the right

The biggest thing for me and homeschooling is that I needed a good schedule and to have a "go and do" activity out of the house, if we can manage it. And what's nice about homeschooling is that you can be very flexible!

Out of the house activities:

Discovery Kids Place

the Library

the Park

playdates with new friends

our "schedule." Might be rigid for some, but it gives us a good outline of our days so we don't lose focus. I don't look at the schedule as much anymore because of the habit we are in at using our time wisely! But--we love shortening or lengthening certain activities if we are having a good time or needing to move on. Again, loving the flexibility! 

Brinley has been doing a great job. I know this transition has been hard on her, especially missing her friends. She always talks about them and wonders if they miss her. The social aspect is the hardest part that we are both missing from her going to a public school. She has a Primary class full of girls that she is super happy about. Ever since she was a Sunbeam, she bas been with majority boys in all her Primary classes. Now, the girls outnumber the boys. I'm excited for her to build those friendships. 

We applied to a few Charter schools in Charlotte right when we got here. Charter schools seem to be a pretty big deal here because the good school districts seem scattered throughout the city and not consistent. For the area we are looking at to eventually buy at the schools seem pretty good. One of the Charter Schools, Brin was put on #5 on the waitlist. But unfortunately, for 1st grade, it seems like the list hardly moves, but being #5!? We are crossing our fingers so tight that it DOES budge and she can go to school there. It really does benefit all of our kids because if would put Ellie and Owen priority when they apply to attend there. So, we are just kind of waiting to hear back if she gets in.

And as for me (and my sanity haha!), it has been a big transition for me too. I was used to having Brinley at school until 2pm and be able to run errands and run around town with only 2 kids. Also, I had a lot of alone time with Ellie. She craves 1 on 1 time and I just can't give her that much of it right now. Ellie's love language is definitely quality time. She loves having someone pay attention to her and play with her. Even if I play for 10 minutes at a time, our day seems to flow so much better than if I just put a quiet show on for her. She really doesn't like movies or shows (come on kid!). Brinley could watch endless shows and movies if we let her haha Kids are so different. 

I'm trying not to get too caught up on the to-do list the internet homeschooling websites have given me. And not to forget, the endless amounts of tears and stress and anxiety those dang lists have given me. There is always something kids can learn. There is ALWAYS something as parents (and now as her teacher) that I can teach her. But, with help from a few trusted friends, I have tried to take a relax approach and focus on those real-life experiences to learn from instead of hours in the "classroom." The hardest part for me to grasp was even though Brinley was at school for 6 hours everyday, she wasn't learning for 6 hours straight. A friend told me that the rough equivalent to public school time to homeschool is about 10 hours a week. I am doing my best trying to exceed that, but for the most part, we are doing it. We are using great resources like the library to aid in our reading. and great literary and math books I found on Amazon. 

We are all learning and growing together and we all still love each other, and I think that is what matters in the end. My goal was to just keep on what she was doing at her public school and to get her into a great school for her 1st grade year. Brinley is happy. and thriving. and learning. and really enjoying her time at home. We spend a lot of time playing and imagining together. We utilize every teaching moment. When we play Lego. When we cook together. When we are outside, we talk about science in nature. We have a few times during the week for arts and crafts.

So there you go! Homeschooling is a work in progress, but we are enjoying it!

--

One of Brinley's favorite parts about living at Grandma's house has been taking piano lessons! She has been at it for 6 weeks now and is crusing! It has been so great for both of them to have this time together.

OWEN: 10 months

I can't believe how long it has been since I wrote an update about Owen. Poor 3rd child :-( 

Double digits!!! I can't believe Owen is 10 months old! I feel like the last few months have flown by and now we are only 2 months away from his first birthday. (don't mind me crying in the corner over here...)

Owen has had such a great month. This kid has been standing for 2 months now and even though we thought FOR SURE he would be walking by his 10 month mark, he has only taken 1 step at a time in the last few days. He is so strong when he stands but it seems like his favorite thing to do is squat, and then stand, and squat, and stand. He is a fast crawler and he's following in his sisters footsteps by doing the bear crawl. Our kids are so funny! Bear crawling!? It is hilarious to watch and he can get around so quickly. Owen is very strong and he loves being apart of the family and will follow us all around the house. We joke that he needs to wear a bell because he is so quiet, but really, it freaks me out! This house is way too big for our little family and he loves going behind chairs and between couches. Can't take your eyes off him for a second. Brinley loves tracking him around the house and making sure he stays out of trouble.

Owen has also FINALLY cut his first tooth!! He has been drooling (more than normal) and a bit crabby over the last few weeks so I knew his first tooth was coming! and this weekend, I noticed a little pokey tooth on the bottom. So happy that mama isn't crazy about his change of mood and sensitivity.

Owen is still the sweetest and quietest little baby. I swear he never cries during the day. He rarely cries from getting hurt. Owen doesn't like being carried around by his sisters (surprise haha!) but he tolerates it. Brinley has become pretty confident carrying him around, even though her parents discourage against it constantly! Ellie rarely asks to hold Owen and gets pretty frustrated having him around. She has her good days and bad days when playing with Owen, but she always asks to kiss him before going to bed. I know she loves him, but I think she is so used to playing on Brinley's level that understanding that a baby just wants to suck on everything in sight is hard for her. 

Owen's favorite things to eat are:

avocado

banana

peas

sweet potatoes

rice cereal

toast

baby mum mum's

puffs

yogurt bites

eggo waffles

This past month, I've been trying to wean him away from pureed foods. Now, we are doing most finger foods which has been super fun to try! He's had a great assortment of foods. He definitely lets you know if he doesn't like something by spitting it out.

Owen's average day goes like this:

7:30am awake! I nurse him and change his diaper.

8:30am breakfast. Eggo waffle cut up into bites, banana, or rice cereal.

9:30-10am goes down for his first nap. I usually nurse him to get him tired.

11:30-12pm wakes up from nap. I nurse him and change his diaper.

1:00pm lunch. Something from the fridge haha 

2:30-3pm goes down for his second nap. 

4-4:30pm if he isn't already awake or I wake him up from his nap. Nurse him after he is awake.

6:00pm dinner!

7:00pm bath, rice cereal, and nursed to bed.

Most nights he is asleep by 8:00pm. He has been sleeping longer stretches since we have incorporated rice cereal after bath time more regularly. He typically wakes up sometime around midnight, and then will sleep until 6 or 7am. I'm feeling much better when I wake up in the morning if he only wakes up once a night. He rarely wakes up more than twice, so I'm crossing my fingers and toes that his sleeping habits only get better. 

Ryan and I were talking the other night about our children and the word we kept coming back to describe Owen is JOY. He makes us all so joyful. He is constantly smiling. and giggling. and makes life so easy to be around him. He loves people and loves giving kisses. I am so grateful this boy is in our family. It has been 10 beautiful months with him, and if his easy going personality is any indicator as to the next 20 years with him, I can't wait. He is the best.

OWEN VIDEOS

(9 months)

(right after he learned to crawl)

Snow Snow Snow!

It snowed in Charlotte the first weekend we were there! We couldn't believe it. The girls were so excited. There was quite a bit of freezing rain in between all the snowfall, so it wasn't nice powdery snow, but we still had tons of fun outside. I swear I have been to the store multiple times since we've been in NC to get MORE warm clothes. This winter, we are absolute wimps. But we are loving the cooler weather and change of seasons. 

THE MOVE TO NC!

The day after New Years is when we signed the official documents for Ryan's new job in Charlotte! Everything happened sooooo quickly, and now that we have been in Charlotte for 2 weeks, I'm realizing now just how fast everything went down. We are keeping the details of the interview process private (but you're free to ask via email or in person!) just for the privacy of Ryan's career and new job. Here is his profile! Check it out.

We were all so excited to make the transition to North Carolina. It hasn't been a secret that we've been itching to get back to North Carolina for awhile, but we didn't really know when or how we were going to the switch. Since Ryan could only practice in Florida, it limited our job hunting. This job kind of came up out of the blue and we knew we couldn't say no. 

For now, we are living at my parents house. It is a short commute for Ryan into Uptown (what people in Charlotte call their downtown...NEVER say "downtown Charlotte," it's Uptown Charlotte! *cue eye roll...it isn't that big of a deal to call it both!). We were able to give away a lot of furniture before we moved so fortunately, all our belongings fit in their house. We have about the same square footage living in their upstairs as we did in our apartment in Florida. 

The girls are having a great time living at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It has also been nice to see Ryan's family too! They are about 30 minutes away. We can't wait to plan fun things with them as well. This is so new for us! We have never had family around us, so to have both sets of parents, and Ryan's sister, we are so excited!

Pics below are from our last weeks in Florida. We couldn't find the time to go to the beach one last time, and right now since it's cold I'm not really regretting that decision, but I know once it gets warm again we are going to be missing our quick access to the ocean!

trip to target to get some warm clothes for the girls! We have been so cold in NC and poor Ellie didn't have anything that fit.

sleepy boy :-)

Ellie didn't enjoy her first week of Sunbeams. I really tried to hype it up for her, but she just wasn't having it. I kept telling her that if she needed a hug that Brinley was right behind her in a different class. Apparently she started crying just minutes before the end of Church so when I took this picture below, she had a big alligator tear on her cheek. So cute/sad.

sleepy boy #2

Caught Ellie in her element. Always wearing a dress. And always running :-)

new warm clothes!!

Brinley made different stuffed animals for some of her friends at school. Isn't that the sweetest!? She misses her friends so much.

sleepy boy #3

these two playing side by side has been so fun to watch.

Brinley and her best friend Luke at her first and last basketball game. We need to get her back into basketball here because she has such a natural shot! She loved playing.

Sad for the Seahawks, but so excited the Panthers are going to the SUPERBOWL! And to be in Charlotte, Ryan is LOVING it.