One Day At A Time: Here Comes 1st Grade & Pre-K3!

It's time for a new school year! I can't believe I am now the mommy of a 1st grader!

Wait...is that really even possible? It seems like just yesterday Makenna was a tiny little baby, still relying on me fully to make it through her days.

Now that sweet little baby has grown into a spunky, energetic, independent little 6 year old. She has the best imagination, and loves everything and everyone. She is passionate, and is an amazing big sister. I couldn't be more proud!

We are excited for this upcoming school year, and have decided that we will continue to home-school as a family. We aren't actually starting our school year until we get back from vacation mid-September.

The kids (and us parents, too!) can't wait for our beach trip! It's been years since we have been able to go to the beach for an entire week, and we will be doing that the 2nd week of September. It's a much anticipated, and deserved, trip!

But, when we do return, we will start our 2014-2015 school year, and are excited to incorporate Kaisyn and Mikah into the school routine, too!

Kaisyn has grown up so much in the last year, and she continues to amaze me every day. Of all of my kids, she is the most dramatic, opinionated, and tender-hearted. She is sensitive, sassy, and has a heart of gold. She loves very deeply, until you tell her no or hurt her feelings. Then, she will let you know you have upset her, and sounds more like a 13 year old than a 3 year old!

Kaisyn will be doing a pre-K3 program here at home. She absolutely loves to "do school", and asks daily if we get to start school today. She is very smart, and learns quickly. I don't plan to be strict and force her to do more than she is ready to do, since she is still so young. But, while she is excited to learn and wants to participate in school daily, I plan to make it as fun as possible while giving her the best head start that I can!

But, we will have to see just how much this little diva will actually let me teach her, before she starts trying to teach me! ;)

As for Mikah, I am hoping that seeing the girls doing their schoolwork will make him interested as well. I won't force him, either, since he is only 2. But the curriculum I am using for Kaisyn incorporates so many fun little learning games, I am hoping that he will start to pick up things from it, and enjoy it daily as well!

Mikah is also very smart, like his big sisters, but he is much more energetic than the girls. It's quite a feat to try and get him to sit still for any period of time! And, if you take your eyes off of him for a second, you are bound to find him getting into something that he shouldn't!

I guess I can call it "creativity", but that little boy will find a way to get anything he wants. We had brownies in the kitchen not too long ago, and I had them in the pan, covered in plastic wrap and foil, and out of reach of all 3 of the kids. Mikah was sitting at the little table in the kitchen coloring, while the girls and I were reading a book in the living room, just around the corner. He was super quiet, so I snuck around to peek at him, only to find that he had built himself a ladder (his little chair, then a bigger kitchen table chair), and was sitting on the counter eating the brownies. He had managed to move the chairs so slowly that we never even heard him! Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky!

Back in May, we went to the beach for a long weekend. We came back on a Sunday, and Dustin returned to work the next day, leaving me to unpack. I got up before the kids, and went ahead and showered. After my shower, I got the kids up, and let them play for a few minutes while I finished getting ready. Mikah had ventured into my room, where all of our luggage still was, and was just sitting on my bed talking to me. We had taken all of our medicine in a little cooler, and it was still with all of the luggage, in the corner of our bedroom.

I walked back into the bathroom to put on lotion, and was in there for honestly maybe 30 seconds to a minute. When I came back out, Mikah was sitting facing the wall, and I asked him what he was doing, just being silly. I figured he was just trying to hide, and didn't think he could have possibly been up to something that quickly.

When he turned around, he proceeded to hand me an EMPTY box of Sudafed (which had been over half full when he found it). He had eaten 11 12-hour, slow release sudafed tablets. I absolutely panicked! He was acting fine at the time, but then again they were slow release, and he had just eaten them. I had no clue what to do, so I called poison control, who told me to hang up immediately and call 911.

Within minutes, 2 different ambulances pulled up, and 2 paramedics looked over Mikah while the other 2 had to search our bedroom to make sure he hadn't just hidden the pills. We didn't find any of them, so Mikah, the girls, and I all got to take a very expensive ride in an ambulance to the local hospital.

Even though I was a complete mess, and feeling like the absolute worst mother in the entire world, the kids loved the ambulance! The girls thought it was the best thing ever, and Mikah still talks about it today. He wasn't to thrilled while he was in it, though, because he had to stay hooked up to the pulse-ox machine, and was strapped to that bed.

At the hospital, Mikah basically just ended up getting extremely "high", and it was terrifying to see as his mother. He was seeing things that weren't there, and couldn't sit up without falling over. He had to drink a yummy chocolate milk and charcoal "milkshake", which he loved somehow, and that helped soak up the rest of the medicine in his stomach. Then it was just an 8-hour wait, to make sure he didn't have any other side effects, and that he was less out of it. And after a good, long nap, the sillies were gone and he was back to his smiley self, thank God!

Needless to say, with Mikah, I can't even take a potty-break without taking him with me. He is adventurous, care-free, and completely fearless! But, he is also one of the sweetest and most loving little boys.

My favorite part about homeschooling is watching day to day what my kids are learning. It's an amazing feeling to watch them accomplish something new, and see the pride and joy in their eyes, and know that you are the one that taught it to them. And I've learned this statement to be very, very true: God doesn't call the equipped, He equips the called.

I have patience, yes, but no more than any other mother out there. And do I need a break sometimes?! More than you know! Everyone does! But, when I lost Khoen, I was forced to face the reality that tomorrow is never promised. Not for me, not for my kids, not for anyone. We can only appreciate every little moment today, and be ready for when we are called home.

Therefore, I enjoy being able to spend my days with my children, and teaching them the things they will need to know as they grow up. I enjoy teaching them about love, about respect, and about God, and why we love Him.

I feel blessed to have to opportunity to watch my babies grow into independent children. And I can't wait to watch what this year will hold, and see where our adventures will take us.