A relaxing afternoon

I got my hair done today at a salon. It was so nice! As much as I'm loving life right now, it was good to get away. I've been feeling myself stressed. I've been a bit short with the girls, and especially my Zoelle (who is so much like me).

Meridian too has been extra clingy lately and really seems to have a hard time with separation anxiety (day or night). I never had this with Zoelle as she was miss independent. Meridian wants to be held all day everyday. I'm thinking this may have to do with two year molars coming in (see her fingers in the picture?). I love to hold her but sometimes my arms need a break. So today it was nice to know dad got special time with her.

It was even nice to get away from my little Xiomara. Although she hardly makes a peep and is so cheerful, it was nice to just be alone in peace and quiet with not even a quiet, tiny babe to tend to.

I think sometimes as a mom it's so easy to put ourselves as last. We give, give, give all day everyday (and many times at night). It feels wonderful to give, and I wouldn't trade it for the world. But an afternoon (or day) of pampering every once and awhile is worth it. To have my hair fixed up and drink a cup of tea while chatting with another adult, well it soothed my soul. It was just what I needed. Hopefully tomorrow I'll wake up to these three beautiful faces and feel refreshed and renewed to start again.

How about you, do you ever get out for a day to relax? If you do, what do you do?

Wordless Wednesday: Trimming the Tree

On why we chose (or didn't really) Preschool Homeschool

I haven't blogged about it much yet, but this year we decided to homeschool Zoelle for preschool. I'll be honest and say that I had mixed feelings about it to begin with. For one, Zoelle and I have very similar personalities and I was afraid she would fight me to do her work. Secondly, Chris and I have noticed a trend in homeschooling kids. They either are way ahead of their peers, or way behind. If you are the former, you tend to have the typical "nerdy homeschooler" reputation (not that it is bad). The latter, is something we do not want to happen at all! Being that homeschooling is something that most already look negatively upon, I did not want to attribute to the negative by having my child be one who falls behind. Thus if we homeschool, I will strive to have my child be at least average, if not ahead.

So when we started researching what we would do we had to weigh the pros and cons. I have my degree in Elementary Education thus it only seems natural that I should teach. We also looked at our local private schools and public schools. We are not a "Christian school only" type of family, nor are we just going to send our kids to public school without thought. I see nothing wrong with either of our choices in the area we live.

So why homeschool? I'm not sure we came up with a concrete answer. It's not because we are Christians, or want to keep Zoelle home longer (although I'm sure those things attributed to it). Rather, it just felt right this year. We decided to take it on a year by year basis. We agreed that for this year, we will homeschool her. She is three afterall. Had we sent her to preschool at either a local Christian school or public school, her schooling would have only been a few days of week anyway. At this age, school is geared more towards social interaction, than actual learning.

Speaking of social interaction, Zoelle gets plenty of that during the week. On Sundays she goes to church in which she participates in Sunday School and nursery with other kids her age. Every other Tuesday I go to a bible study, so she once again gets to interact with other kids. We have play dates! We also go to storytime at the library every Thursday. Anyone who knows my Zoelle knows that social interaction is no problem for this chica!

So how are we liking it (both her and I)? Which curriculum are we using?

I'll answer those questions and any others you have in a separate post to come soon!

Loving Life

I'm just loving life right now!

Yes that is a knife in Meridian's hand. Don't worry I was supervising her the whole time!

Seriously, these three make me smile and laugh constantly!

Yes she really does smile this big all the time!

Of course, we have our moments and our days,

Zoelle recently packed up a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child She and I both had a blast and I'd recommend it!

but I am totally basking in being mama to these three precious jewels!

Blog Anniversary Winner

I typically don't announce the winner of my contests but being this was my blog anniversary giveaway, I wanted to announce it. Before I do though I want to say that I appreciate the feedback each of you shared. I hope to implement some of what was shared. Of course, some I can't or won't change, but I am doing my best to listen to the voice of my readers while staying true to myself at the same time. One thing I was surprised about was that so many of you want me to do book reviews. I love to read, so I will definitely look more into that!

Without further adieu, the winner of my one year blog anniversary is #27: brightleigh #7

She has been contacted and has 24 hours to get back to me.

Update: I never heard back from brightleigh, and I even gave her a few extra days of waiting just in case with Thanksgiving...so I'll pick a new winner in the morning when I'm not so tired!

Update #2: A new winner has been picked and emailed. Congrats to #7!

Thanks everyone and I look forward to this next year of blogging with you!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! From my family to yours, I hope your day is filled with blessings and thanks!

Wordless Wednesday: I'm Talkin' To You