Ruthie V. : the third month

The third month! Our best month yet! 

Ruth enjoys books! I love her expression here, reading along with me. 

She learned the difference between a nice, red, ripe tomato and a green one. Well... almost. She still picks some greens, but so many are ripe now that it's rarely an issue. 

These two have honestly become the sweetest of friends. While during month 2 Ruth bit Carrie several times, that has not happened at all in month 3. It's as if they had to establish their "pecking order". And Ruth came out on top. 

While Ruth still follows what Caroline does (here they are gathering sticks for a campfire), it's not uncommon to see Ruthie grab Carrie's hand and lead the way. 

We enjoyed the last days of summer, eating as much ice cream as we could while the days are warm. 

We picked countless flower bouquets. 

She thinks she is a big girl and can ride the tire swing without me holding on to her. It makes me extremely nervous as she gets braver each day, wanting to go higher, and wave to passing Amish as she rides one-handed. 

There were lovely moments with these sweeties playing nicely. 

And moments like this where she is angry that I tell her the way she is sitting is unsafe. 

She is afraid of loud noises but wants so much to do what the other girls are doing that she conquered her fear of the mower this month to go for a little ride with Trent and Caroline. 

She loves bath time. Some evenings she throws huge fits if we say "no bath tonight". 

These two are the sweetest snugglers. 

She is often underfoot while I'm making dinner. Here she is eating an uncooked spaghetti noodle and finding it quite hilarious. 

Daddy making salsa was too funny for these girls to watch. 

We love living in a community where large families are pretty common. Our local grocery store has these double seater carts available for families like ours. 

Ruthie's current favorite cereal (other than Honey Nut Cheerios) is Strawberry mini wheats. 

Ruthie's hair has been growing rapidly. I have trimmed her bangs every month. 

A friend of Anne's has a couple of goats, a mini donkey and mini pony. Ruth liked them until one of the goats was too playful and knocked her down. (Thanks Jen & Molly for the fun morning!)

We are working to catch Ruthie up on her vaccinations. This is a behind the scenes of waiting in a doctor's office with five kids. 

We took Ruth to the family cabin in Wellsboro, PA. We haven't taken a trip since coming home from China so we weren't sure how things would go. We have learned that as long as her sisters are around she is quite content. We attempted to leave her in the nursery two times this month at church during the sermon. Leaving her with a stranger and no sisters does not go over well. She cries the entire 25 minutes of the sermon. I hate to leave her knowing she will cry, but I want her to build the trust that I will always come back for her. As you can imagine, this is a difficult thing for a little one who has gone through as much change in their short life as she has. 

It's safe to say the cabin trip was a hit. We look forward to the next time we can go. 

Our whole gang on the front porch of the cabin. I look forward to taking many more photos like this over the years. 

We were all ready to go home after a fun weekend with Trent's family. I am very grateful to my in-laws and brother-in-law who took care of all five girls while Trent and I did a Finger Lakes, NY wine tour that Saturday with Trent's coworkers. Ruthie was well cared for. Anne is a tremendous help and fills in as a little mama quite well. 

We started back to school which was another big adjustment for Ruthie. Gone were the lazy mornings of summer. Having my attention focused elsewhere and in a different way was a big challenge for Ruth, especially the first couple of days. 

Learning to share is pretty high on Ruth's preschool agenda this year. Forced sharing is one thing, but we are hoping to see more spontaneous sharing. And we are! She picked a berry just today and gave it to Caroline instead of instantly popping it in her own mouth. 

Ruthie "helped" me can peaches. Helped as in took bites of the peaches I peeled then put them in the container with the lemon water. 

Ruthie has also been using the potty. Those of you who know me well know that none of my first four daughters were easy to potty train. It is the bane of my mothering. They (whoever "they" are) always say girls are easier to train. That has not been my experience. But then. Ruth. She's been a dream. She goes on her own, with no help to the little potty. She does insist on taking off all her clothes every time she uses the potty, but I'll put her clothes back on all day long without complaining. She isn't fully trained but is really wonderful. So clever. 

Sometimes we don't know what she wants. Hence, the crying in this photo. 

But it feels so good when we figure out what she wanted. Here she just wanted to stand next to Caroline for the photo for daddy's 35th birthday. 

She enjoyed another hike. This time to the Susquehanna River.

Helped celebrate Maggie's 7th birthday.

Went to the Land of Little Horses in Gettysburg, Pa. 

Ate pizza at Mema's house after church. 

Tried out daddy's new hammock. 

Picked raspberries that daddy planted. 

Enjoyed a raging fire. Ruth has become much more affectionate this month. While she was certainly capable of giving hugs and kisses, she did not do so very freely. And who can blame her? I wouldn't want to kiss people I just met. The other evening we were watching a movie and she climbed up onto the bed, leaned over Caroline and gave her a kiss on the forehead. It was one of the gentlest gestures of sisterly love and brought a tear to my eye. 

Ruth went to Hershey Medical Center this month to check in with their Hematology department about her blood condition. We didn't really learn anything new other than that her hemoglobin is 7.9. A healthy child has a HgB of 11-13. They are undecided whether they will give her a blood transfusion before her palate surgery on September 20 or not. As she is functioning very well at a 7.9 the anesthesiologist will make the decision at her pre-op. The doctor assured me that if they don't transfuse her before surgery that they will have blood available to her during surgery if she needs it. 

The only thing that was really new for us is that her blood work showed that she has Hemoglobin H Disease, which is really just further defining her Alpha Thalassemia and won't really affect her day to day life. She will always be anemic but her iron studies showed she actually has excellent iron. 

Ruthie is an amazing, strong, brilliant girl. I'm a better person for having her in my life. She is truly a gift from God. Happy 3 months home, our little deer. 

Magdalena turns 7!

It seems I'll never weary of exclaiming how quickly the time goes. The next time I blink I'll be the little old lady in the grocery store cheering on the young mamas to cherish those babes. 

Each year on Maggie's birthday we like to remember the uncertainty before her birth. A growth restricted babe, foot first breach, dropping heart rate, shunting in her brain, cord twice round her neck. A time of tremendous growth in my faith in the goodness of the Lord, hence her middle name; Faith. 

After a cesarean section this 4 lb 10 oz, 17 inch little lady was placed in my arms, only to be taken away to the NICU. 

She has grown up healthily. 

From a round faced toddler. 

Who always has had her own sense of style. 

Lover of bugs..... 

And babies. 

When Maggie grows up she wants to marry a big, red headed Scottish man. She said she would even go to Scotland to find him if she had to. 

She wants a dozen red-headed children. I find drawings like this all over the house. This is one of her future daughters. 

Magdalena has grown into a lovely, caring girl. She is very generous. She does tend to have a bit of a temper at this age, but it working hard to overcome her natural tendencies to fly off the handle. 

For her birthday she chose a huge whoopie pie instead of a cake. 

This is when Anne and Maggie decided they would search for a four leaf clover together. After finding one they wished that they would get along better. And they said, "with God's help, we will." 

The two smallest babies, together on Maggie's birthday. 

Maggie loves:

Reading

Sour cream and Onion Chips 

Catching toads

Riding bike

Tacos

Climbing trees

Yellow crocs

All the yellow things

Animals

Ice cream

Playing games

Sewing 

Birthday fun at Grandpa and grandma Hess's. Followed by fireworks provided by uncle Troy. 

And at home. We tend to do very small gifts and give time instead. She got a book, a movie, and a game (Chinese Checkers) for her birthday from us. 

We spent the afternoon of her birthday at our community pool. 

She will go to the spelunking at the wind caves and out for dinner tomorrow for her daddy/daughter birthday date. Plans have been made for her to spend the weekend with Mema to continue her celebrations. 

Happy 7th birthday, Magdalena Faith. I'm so happy to be your mom, your first grade teacher, and your encourager. 

We love you!

Hess Homeschool: Part 1: 5 Reasons Why We Homeschool

As we prepare to enter our fifth year as a homeschooling family, I wanted to share publicly some of the reasons we homeschool. Over the years I have had several friends ask why we homeschool, what an average day looks like, and what curriculum we use.

This shall be part one of my homeschool series: 5 Reasons Why We Homeschool

The two years before our oldest daughter was ready for Kindergarten were years full of conversation regarding schooling. We continually vacillated between public school, private school, and home school. Like most people, Trent and I drew from our personal experiences to help aid in our decision making. I went to public school K-6, then Christian school 7-12, then public university. Trent was in Christian school K-12 and public university.

After looking into the cost of Christian schools and knowing we already had three children (at that time) close together and hoped for more, we quickly ruled out the feasibility of affording Christian school.

I'm a list-person so I wrote list after list of pros and cons of public school versus home school. I wracked my brain of all the negative things about public school, and all the positive things about it. I didn't have many friends that I knew of that had been home schooled and, to be frank, had a negative impression of what home school kids were like (you know, weird.). I also didn't have a single mom-friend (at that time) who home schooled her children, which was extremely intimidating.

In the end, Anne made the decision rather easy for us. She started reading a year before she was old enough to enter Kindergarten. By the following year she was reading at a 6th grade level. I couldn't see sending her to Kindergarten because I was sure she would be bored. Anne has been blessed (or cursed, depending on how you look at it) with a very similar personality to my own. Knowing how we react to boredom (getting into trouble) home school quickly won the debate. We decided to take it a year at a time, not knowing how it would go and what it would look like.

If I'm totally honest with myself, Anne's reading level was a cop-out. It was easier for me to explain that Anne is a gifted reader so we decided to home school than to tell people my deeper opinions on it. And many of these opinions and ideas were shaped by the experience gained from living the home school life.

What I have to say next is in no way a reflection on the decisions of other families. All of us moms are just trying to do the best we can, attempting to make the best choices for our children, and our families.  I do not believe that homeschooling is the best choice for all families, but it is the best choice for my family at this time.

Five Reasons Why We Homeschool (in no particular order)

1. Flexibility: I have found that we can have as fluid or as rigid a class schedule as I desire. We often start school in August while most kids are still on vacation, to take our family vacation during times when the beaches are empty and rentals are cheaper. My girls can enjoy playing in the snow all morning, then still get their lessons done in the afternoon. We can sleep in as late as we need or want to in the mornings. This past school year the girls took a very short Christmas holiday because we knew we were going to be heading to China and wanted the school year to be finished before we left. Our family trips often count as field trip school days. I am not a morning person so I am thankful not to have to rush around getting papers signed, lunches made, backpacks prepared, trying to remember when gym day is for several little people, etc. I believe our home is a very peaceful (albeit messy) place to be.

2. Close Relationships: Looking back to the few people I know who were home schooled for some portion of their schooling, this may have been one of the things I found "weird". I saw pre-teens who had very close relationships with their parents and siblings. If this is a side effect of homeschool, I definitely see this as a positive thing. My daughters feel very comfortable coming to Trent or me with their problems. While the girls don't get along every moment of every day, at the end of the day, they are still friends. I often remind the girls that, while it's great for them to have friends who aren't their sisters, those friendships often come and go. Sisters are forever. I wish that I would have had closer friendships with my own sisters growing up. Homeschooling often allows us to feel a bit of the simplicity and closeness you garner when reading the Little House books. While Trent doesn't play a fiddle (yet) he sure tells great bedtime stories and is a fantastic Mad Dog and Tickle Man. 

3. Inter-Age Comfort: I don't have a good title for this one. Basically my girls are comfortable with all ages. Schools are so "grade focused" that it unwittingly pits older/stronger kids against smaller/weaker ones. Whether or not a child is ever bullied in a school (I was not), there was always a bit of fear toward the upper grades. Right now the girls are 9, 8, almost 7, 3, and 2. They are just as happy to play with each other as they are visiting our neighbors daily who are 84, 68, 65, and 8. They can have meaningful conversations with people of all ages (or happily bounce a baby on their knee). I know when I was 9 years old there wasn't much chance of me wanting to have a conversation with a friend's parent. Yet our girls will happily interact with adults as easily as they do with children. (Also, this may make them seem weird.)

4. Love of Learning: I really wanted my girls to love learning and be life long learners. I see many parents complain and vent about the amount of testing their children have to go through. It saddens me to see very young children with such heavy burdens of stress due to their (elementary!) education. My girls are well-read in a wide range of subjects. I find that I am learning right along with them. Admittedly there are some subjects (cough, cough, Science) that are not personal favorites, but this in no way hinders their Science Education. This past school year (when Anne and Abbey were doing 3rd grade) they took on the majority of their own science education. It was so beautiful to watch them not only take on the responsibility, but to do so independently and with consistency. I'll have a whole post dedicated to my curriculum choice at a later date. *Their love of books may make them seem weird.*

5. Influence: While some may disagree or not like this one; I have found it to be one of the most important reasons why we home school. I want to be the major influence in my child's life; not their peers, not their teachers, not the things they hear on the bus, not the misinformation they gather in school. Me. I feel personally convicted to provide my children with a solid foundation of what we believe and why before sending them out on their own for 8-9 hours a day. Granted, this means my children get to see me fail. Every. Day. It means sometimes I lose my patience and raise my voice. But it also means I get to show them what repentance looks like. It means I get to show them, first hand, how to restore a relationship that was hurt by careless words. It means they get to help me to be a better mom, a better person. Together, we get to explore how Jesus lived. We get to see how He is still active in the world, and in our home. They have deep, first hand knowledge of what it means to love people who are different from us. They have the opportunity to build the character traits of godly women who may someday be godly wives and mothers and home makers and whatever else they choose. I want them to have faith in their roots, and not be swayed by every passing trend. This also means that I am the one who explains about their bodies, how babies are made, why we do or don't wear certain clothing, why we wear deodorant, that it's rude to burp and fart at the table (with sometimes little success). But again, I'm so glad that I'm the one giving them accurate information that aligns with our spiritual beliefs.

While there are certainly more reasons and more stories I could share, I think these five pretty well sum up what I love about homeschooling.

I welcome your questions! I had lots of questions before I got started so I am happy to share what I have learned to help others on their way or to sate a curious mind.