Learning New Things

My dear husband purchased a semi-professional camera for me! I've been playing around with it in manual mode. I've taken some not so great shots.

But...to my surprise, I've taken a few that aren't horrible. I asked around and was pointed to Digital Photography School; I've gleaned a lot of great information from the website and forum!

I've learned all about aperture, shutter speed, f-stops, etc. It's all overwhelming to me reading about it, so I decided to just play around with the settings and see what works.

I can not wait to learn more and share better pictures.

A Whole New Vision

I have struggled with confidence in my ability to homeschool. My oldest son is in 3rd grade at a public school.  During his K, 1st, and 2nd school years, he was homeschooled and in public school. I would start out homeschooling and then freak out that I wasn't doing a good enough job, or I had a hard day and just gave up.  This year I decided to just put them (my son and daughter in K) in public school, they keep begging to homeschool.

I've done a lot of thinking over the last few months and I realized what the issue was. I was trying to force a style of homeschooling that doesn't work for us. I was trying to mimic the public school classroom...it wasn't working. Our life needs to reflect education. I need to immerse them in a life style of continuous education. There shouldn't be a line between home life and education. Education should be a part of life, not separate.

I'm not sure that I could choose just one style of homeschooling for us. We will be learning through living books, not textbooks. We follow more of a Charlotte Mason/Classical style of homeschooling but we will also add in a technological spin. We are techie nerds and technology is a huge part of this world we now live in.

I've learned that homeschooling is what we make it. It isn't about learning exactly what someone else is learning, at the exact same age they are learning it. It's about teaching the children to have the know how to get the information they need. A person who knows how to educate themselves, instead of relying on other people to feed them information, will have a deeper understanding of the world around them. We've decided that for our family, it will be through home education.

The kids are very excited for their last day of public school on December 14th. They are excited to be able to pursue their interests without having to figure out how many hours of homework they have that night. They are excited to be able to participate in activities around the city during the day. We are all excited for this shift in out lives.

Being a mommy...it's not the only reason I'm tired 24/7

After becoming a mom everyone and their mother told me I would be tired forever.

For.EVER.

ugh.

That didn't sound fun but I dealt with it because I loved my baby...fast forward to 8.5 years later and 2 more kids later and I'm more tired than ever!

I always chalked it up to the sleepless nights. People would tell me I need a sleep study for sleep apnea. (Which I did but the test was inconclusive and I didn't want to do it again!)

Finally, I contacted my doctor for some blood work to figure out what is wrong with me.

My youngest is now 14mo old and I'm getting a little more sleep; although, by 11am I am falling asleep while playing with my kids. This is not right. I should not be this tired.

There were times I napped while the little was napping that the older kids would wake me from a nap to ask me a question...I started falling asleep in the middle of my sentences.

I could NOT stay awake. I did this several times to my son, even when just relaxing in my recliner. I was so tired I physically could not keep my eyes open.

I kept thinking "Stay awake! Open your eyes! Why can't I form a coherent sentence? Why does it sound like my speech is slurred? I know I haven't had any wine yet!"

I'm still working with my doctor to figure out a bigger picture, but in the mean time she is treating me for iron-deficiency. Which causes chronic fatigue. It's hard to explain what this type of tired is to people who are just tired from a late night. It's hard to explain it to people who are not suffering from iron-deficiency/chronic fatigue.

When I say "I'm tired." I'm not saying..."Gosh I had a late night, I'd really like to take a power nap and be good for the rest of the day."

It's me saying: "I literally can't keep my eyes open anymore. I am going to endanger myself or someone else if I don't sit down or go lay down right now because I might fall asleep and fall over."

I have to FIGHT these sleepy spells. I splash water in my face, do jumping jacks, sing at the top of my lungs while clapping. Anything to try and get my blood pumping and catch that second wind.

Sometimes most times I lose. :/ It's hard when I know my children need me or want me to read them a book or sing them a song and I physically can't.

I'm learning to take pro-active steps everyday. Most days I forget, but some days I'm really good at taking my iron supplements/vitamins/walking. Reminding myself that I feel better, even for a little bit, after doing my daily morning routine helps to motivate me to continue with it.

Hopefully this phase of my life will pass soon. In the mean time, I will continue to just keep swimming.