We are officially into December and it has been welcomed with open arms. We are learning the art of balance in how many things we take on to help out with around here and are - for the first time - not doing a musical piece (or more!) in the Christmas concert. Which, admittedly, feels a little weird but at the same time, wise.
I'm loving the perspective of being grateful for normal days. The cultural celebration has come and gone. It was so much fun to be a part of and a great way to gear up for the Christmas holidays. It has now given way for Christmas traditions and time together as a family.
As for that time as a family. I am so grateful to homeschool these kids. There are times that I worry about whether I am doing enough and then I see how much the kids have progressed and learned and how much homeschooling has blessed our family. I know it doesn't work for everyone (homeschooling, that is) but I am so grateful with how well it has worked for our family.
The kids are flourishing so beautifully. Atticus is presently practicing Christmas songs on the piano while I type this. He loves the piano. All three of the kids do. Atticus is also continuously thinking of others. He is such a great kid. Sure we have our times where he is testing the limits but that's oh so normal and I am glad that he trusts us to be honest about things he is frustrated about. And I love the hugs and kisses that he pours on everyone in this family along with all that surprise service that he enjoys doing so much.
Milayla is greatly anticipating a Mother/daughter date night. I focus a lot on relationships every day and I hope the kids will always love to spend time together like this. She is also so eager to learn. Her printing is progressing every day and she is starting to see some noticeable progress in her reading abilities which has been fun for her as the world around her becomes more tangible with words. She just loves being near us and loves reading books with us. And she has a big heart of gold. It's incredible. She's incredible.
Then there is Phineas. His laughter is so infectious. He is snuggly and working so hard to communicate with sign language where is few words fall short. And he is a climber. A tremendous climber. He learned to push a chair into the kitchen to be able to climb up to the counter. He adores helping and will stand next to me to help with any little task he can. He is just purely happy. Like the wide open grin and giggle that he has when playing tag with us outside. While I peeled and chopped potatoes for dinner last night, he emptied the other potatoes into an empty pot on the floor beside me and showed me the dinner he was helping to make. He beamed, gave high fives and big hugs to celebrate. When I look at him, I often marvel at how deep love can go and grow as I am never lacking in love for each of my children. It runs deeper and stronger every day.
The other day I wrote letters to Atticus and Milayla for them to open after they finished their schoolwork. It was a special gift to me to hear how excited they were about them and how treasured they felt those letters were. Milayla gushed about how wonderful it was to receive letters from mommy and Atticus remarked that they better put them in a safe place and treasure them. I need to do that more often. Write them letters.
I treasure these days. The learning. The growing. The relationship building. Being a mother is more than I ever could have hoped for. It can definitely be hard some days, but that's okay. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I feel so grateful to be there for my children with everything I have.
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