Asheville: I love you

My first impressions of Asheville were that it rained all the time, the hippies were just as pretentious as the hipsters of Nashville, and that it was expensive. It didn't take long for my views to change though. It did rain all the time, but that's because it was January of the rainiest year Asheville had experienced in years. Sure, I had a Portlandia like experience when I forgot to bring my own back to Greenlife once and I got glared at every now and then for having my baby in a stroller rather than an ergo, but for the most part, those hippies turned out to be pretty awesome. Maybe a little low on iron, which could make anyone grumpy. But really, for the most part, the people of Asheville are kind, interesting, and generous. The people here want to be here and that results in a really cool sense of community awareness and pride. 

Our time here has been full of adventure, beautiful friendships, amazing food, and so much fun. I feel like I have learned so much about myself here and really found a focus of how we want to raise our children. 

I'm getting sentimental about leaving this place, so I have a feeling there will be a few entries about this place over the next week until we leave. For now, I leave you with these- a few pictures that sum up what I will think of when I think back on our time in AVL (if only I had a picture of 12 Bones or 9 Mile...).

Thankfulness and sorrow

Today I am thankful for sunshine and for life. For the way my boys' hair gets super curly after a bath and the fact that we have plenty of warm water to bathe them in. I'm thankful for friends whom I fully trust to watch my children. I'm thankful for my littlest son's naptime and for coffee. I am thankful for school days with my eldest that go smoothly and happily and that I get to be such a big part of his educational experience. I'm thankful for a husband that makes me laugh on a daily basis and keeps life fun and bright. I'm thankful for so many things this week and it comes at a time when I have friends who are deeply mourning the loss of loved ones. It's so hard to keep in mind that our life here is temporary. That our souls go on and we leave people behind. It's easy for me to get so heavy hearted when loved ones are hurting that I cannot allow myself to celebrate the good that still is here. But certainly we must have balance... Right? I mean, if we spend our days mourning only the injustices and hardships, then isn't it a bit of a waste? There is a season for everything, to be sure. Right now, I am working on loving those around me and having compassion and sorrow for their pain, but also to remember why we are here and to love and rejoice. Trying to celebrate this life and each day we have with each other is not always easy, but I do think it is necessary. Thoughts?

Determined.

Well, I did not succeed in my goal of documenting our kindergarten homeschool experience, nor did I succeed in doing so for first grade as we are now in the final months. But, I blame a lot of that on not having the blogger app on my phone... So I am determined to kick start it back up! 

In a nut shell, homeschooling has been great. The two biggest challenges have been trying to figure out how to provide a calm and quiet place for my 6 year old to learn with my 2 year old around... Who is neither calm not quiet! The other has been teaching reading. I do feel like we are in a much better place for both of those than we were 6 months ago and that gives me hope for the future :0)

My favorite things have been learning my son's learning style. The things that I can do to help him want to learn and the things that only frustrate him more- it's fascinating! I also love learning alongside him. So many things that we are studying have been long forgotten in my brain and it has been so fun to learn about Ancient Egypt and Greek myths together. I had also forgotten how complex learning to read is! All the rules and then things that break the rules are so overwhelming at first. I know I was pushing him to fast last summer and he absolutely hated school to the point if years because if reading. So we took a break for weeks and only did silly sight words. It was refreshing and a good lesson for me to learn about why I am homeschooling and that the spectrum for learning to read is a big one. I want him to have a love for reading, not just a basic understanding of it. 

I am so thankful that I get to stay home with my boys and teach them. I am also thankful that my husband is supportive and encouraging in this journey. 

So, I am determined to keep this going and document the rest of first grade and beyond!