Fancy Nancy is turning 5!

My sweet girl will be five tomorrow. I repeat, she will be FIVE YEARS OLD. Why does that just seem insane to me!? I don't think any other five years of my life have flown by so quickly before.

Miss H requested a Fancy Nancy gymnastics party. I suggested we all go to Chicago and catch a show. But she insisted. And it's her party, so she'll cry if she wants to she'll get want she wants.

It turned out this request proved to be fairly simple and way easy. After B's party last year at the splash pad I realized how much I like having parties out. of. the. house. Just so much less stress and much easier clean-up, ha!

So she had her party at the YMCA gymnastics center with Fancy Nancy plates and balloons and the most beautiful lemon cupcakes ever! (I made the cupcakes, a friend so amazingly iced them for us - with natural dye of course!)

Without further adieu, here are a few photos from this darling girls "best birthday party every!" - her words.

P.S. Getting pics of just her was pretty hard. (I love having photos with her and all of her friends, too, but just don't want to post photos of anybody else's kid on here.)

Atlanta

Oh, man, I feel like time is flying by so quickly and we are just so busy I never get a chance to sit down and breathe.

And breathing is good.

Last week was the kiddos spring break. Right before leaving we received "The Letter" that stated Miss H did not win the lottery for our charter school. Admittedly, I was initially a little bummed because the school is just so great, but I've come to see it as God or Fate or whatever telling me that we are supposed to homeschool and we just need to follow our kids' lead. They know. They just know.

That being said, the application for St. C is still sitting on my desk. As much as I fully believe in homeschooling, as much as I, without any doubts, know in my heart it is the right thing for my family, it's still absolutely terrifying. It's such a responsibility and it's excruciatingly daunting as I don't really know anyone who has chosen this route or grew up this way. But then I remind myself that we also chose a way of parenting that I also hadn't known anyone who had chosen to parent the way we did (when we first decided we wanted to be gentle, non-punitive parents - now we know many!), and that's been working out freaking stellar for us. We have such sweet, fun, empathetic, polite kids! And there didn't have to be any tears or punishments or harsh words for us to get these lovely kids. So I know their education will be the same. We'll work together and educate them just as we parent them - with endless love and understanding, countless second chances, more mistakes then I'll ever be able to count, so much talking, and lots of fun and togetherness - they'll end up on top of the world no doubt.

Anyway, back to spring break.

J had a class in Atlanta so we ventured down with him. It was pretty exciting as we'd never really been to Atlanta. We left Monday morning and returned Friday night, making it a super quick trip - for us.

Our first night there the kids were excited they got ice cream. Really, other than the fact that Miss H knew a ferris wheel existed and was very insistent upon that - we could have just fed them ice cream daily and I think the trip would have been a win.

On Tuesday the kids and I ventured to the zoo per my aunt's suggestion and it was amazing! The kids are definitely animal people and zoo-lovers, so it was an easy success.

Wednesday we headed to the Fernbank Natural History museum on a whim, which turned out to be a fantastic find! The kids loved the dinosaurs, and learned all about different poisons, and then played for hours in their amazing play area.

 

 

 

The kids also went to their first IMAX movie while at the Fernbank Museum. It was about humpback whales so we were all sold. I have, much to my delight, spawned some whale-lovers. I think I'll keep them!

 



And that evening we finally made it to the ferris wheel to Miss H's absolute delight.

 

 

And Thursday we headed to the aquarium. H was all excited about this because the Atlanta aquarium is the only aquarium in the US with whale sharks, and she can still vividly remember the ones we saw in Okinawa two years ago. In fact, when she saw the whale sharks here she proclaimed, "Oh, they're babies! They're so much smaller than in Okinawa!" And she was right! Who'd have thunkit?

 

 

He begged me to take his picture here, just like this. Who can say no to this insane cuteness?

 

 

That evening we had dinner with my lovely cousin and her husband, which was much overdue. I really, really need to work on staying in touch and having better communication with my family. And friends. And really, just everyone, because Lord knows I'm terrible at it. But I was very happy we were able to catch her while we were there.

B was pooped out by the time we made it back to the hotel from dinner.

 

I must admit, Atlanta was probably one of the very best vacations we've had in a long time. I mean, obviously we missed J during the days, but overall. The drive there and back was easy and drama-free. The kids were so exceptionally well-behaved I had to double check they weren't Moor children. There were no fits, no fussing, no bickering...nada. It was just so ridiculously easy, I was amazed. I mean, they're typically pretty good and easy, but long car rides and being out of sync some place new can throw even the best of the best off. But they were absolute gems. 

 

Tomorrow we go back to the routine of life, but last week will definitely be cherished forever. So many smiles, giggles, sticky hands, and sticky kisses. What about it wouldn't be? 



Kicking off 2015...in February!

2015 has been treating these sweet babes well thus far! Per usual, every day is an adventure for them and I am so freaking ecstatic to get to be the one to share these beautiful days with them.

 

I'm excited to see what 2015 has in store for us, despite all ready being half way into month 2 of this year. I'm sure it will be just as much fun as 2014. Lots of smiles, lots of giggles, and as always, a lot of learning! 

 

Oh, ya know, vaccines, and people that don't.

A friend asked me this week if I was still blogging. I answered "yes" even though it's been a long time. Mostly I'm just tired and I have so much else on my plate.

But you know, this whole vaccines thing would be the string to pull me back. No surprise there I suppose.

It's not a secret we don't vaccinate. A part of me wishes it was, because you put a lot out on the line when you're open about, well, anything. But it's all ready out there, so I feel compelled to speak.

First, let me tell you a few of my truths, since the norm seems to be to lump anyone who chooses not to vaccinate into the same group.

1.) I am not anti-vaccines. Let me repeat this one more time, just to make sure you got that. I am not anti-vaccines. I think it's silly to vaccinate a healthy baby with a healthy momma against a sexually transmitted disease and I will likely never be on board with the random flu shot, but I'm not anti-vaccine. I never have been.

2.) I do not believe that vaccines cause autism, and after speaking to the bulk of people I know in real life who also choose to delay vaccines or not do them at all, they also do not believe that vaccines cause autism. That is an old "belief" and that ship has long sailed. The fact that people still throw that out quite often against people who choose not to vaccinate shows how truly uneducated many people are on this choice. (That being said, if a parent of a child with autism does believe that a vaccine gave his or her child autism, or contributed to it somehow, I would never disagree or argue that. That is their truth. And no one has a right to maliciously attack that).

3.) If I had vaccinated my now sweet three year old as an infant, he would likely be dead.

There. I said it. And the lump in my throat never disappears each time that thought even creeps into my head. The idea that if we had, even selectively and delayed as we had begun with H, vaccinated our sweet boy as a baby we would likely not have him in our arms today.

Wrap your brain around that one the next time you throw out the words "baby killer" or "idiot" to someone who chose not to vaccinate their kiddos.

Because guess what?

We didn't know then what we know now. We had zero way of knowing that our child's body does not process or eliminate heavy metals the way a normal functioning body does.

Sit with that for a minute.

Because you've said hateful things. You've had terrible thoughts. You've said I was dumb or un-educated. You've said my doctor shouldn't see my children since we voluntarily choose not to vaccinate. You've said I'd rather see my children died a horrible death than give them a simple prick.

Think about that.

I could have vaccinated my son.

But he'd be dead.

But I guess that's for the greater good, right? His life isn't as important as the whole?

We stopped vaccinating because of H. Because an inconsolable baby with a 104 degree fever isn't a "coincidence." Because I was scared.

And so B never got the same vaccines H had had because we were still sorting that crap out. And then we got to B's lead issues and that consumed us. And after all the lead elimination in the world and way too many blood tests we learned that it was something more than just lead. It was all heavy metals and for reasons not fully understood his body just does not process and eliminate them the same way most people's do. And we're dealing with that, no worries. But it was his doctor, when I brought up thoughts about vaccines at his 3 yr appointment that flat out said what I'd all ready wondered, "You have a mom intuition for a reason. There is a reason he hasn't been vaccinated, and you should listen to that. His body can't handle it right now." Which is when I asked the hard question about "what if we had..." and she gave me the hard, honest answer, about how we probably wouldn't have him.

I won't lie. Even if B could be vaccinated right now, he likely wouldn't be. Except for against meningitis. But the rest...no. So I would never use him as "Well, we can't vaccinate" because we totally made that decision without knowing that. And I completely own that.

But this measles thing has gotten out of control. There is so much freaking hate going on right now. I get the momma bear instinct is intense. I get we all have our "thing." I get we all want what is best for our kids.

And I could sit here and tell you that there are just as many, if not more vaccinated kids with measles, and I could point fingers and play the same blame game, but I don't want to do that. That's not the point of this.

The point is don't assume you know why people make their choices. Don't assume your truth is a one size fits all. Don't assume that people who make a different choice are uneducated or wish for their children to die (the shit people say, right!?). Don't assume. Period.

You don't know.

There is no way you could.

I mean, we had no idea that by choosing not to vaccinate, we were saving our baby's life.

A few pictures and a few photography lessons for me to remember

On the way to the library yesterday afternoon I told the kids we were going to stop off at the FS mall since they were wearing their matching gingerbread outfits (their choice) and the mall is done up so beautifully for Christmas. (You may or may not be able to tell in the pics, but I happened to make these outfits at the end of August. Baaaaad idea. Mr. B has grown a toooon since then. I had to add red cuffs to the bottom of his pants and they're only barely long enough. And I didn't even think about the waist, but I also need to go in and make a new, higher, waistband so they're not such low-waist pants on him, ha!)

I learned three important things on this endeavor.

1.) The lighting in there is terrible.

2.) I do not have the proper lens, etc., to work with such awful lighting and make it look great. (Note to self: Do some research. Figure out what is needed to remedy the lighting issue so next year we can try again.)

3.) White is never a good color to wear in photographs. Ever. But especially in bad lighting. (Obviously that wasn't something I was thinking of when the kids chose gingerbread fabric and I paired it with white...)

Anyway. Here is what salvageable. At least they had fun and my little models make anything awesome.

This might be one of my favorite pics of Miss H. But it was taken in another area where there was good light...and subsequently not the adorable decorations.

Playing the Lottery

I'm not a gambling kind of girl. Never have been. The odds are rarely in my favor. And besides, I'm more comfortable with a sure-thing.

I hate surprises. I hate not knowing. Mostly, I'm just a control freak. I know that. I'm working on it. Some days I do better than others.

Today applications for the next school year for our one and only charter school opened up. I submitted H's.

J and I toured the school a few weeks ago. On a whim. I've currently got a grade 1 Waldorf curriculum sitting on my lap that I've been reading through.

My plan has always been to homeschool.

Well, not always. But for the past 2.5 years solidly. It's still my plan really.

H has been wanting more and more academic "school" lately, so although she is loving her kindy class, she comes home demanding more from me. And so we spend hours reading and writing and spelling in fun, creative, hands-on ways because she begs for it, but I'm definitely a big enough person to admit I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing. Hence the curriculum. I have no grandiose plans of following it to a T, but it's all ready given me a ton of ideas and help that I'm not sure I would have ever come up with on my own. And helped to point me toward emotionally appropriate, but higher level reading materials for her. Again, I just wouldn't have known.

I really, super love the Waldorf style of learning. It is what the charter school that didn't get pushed through was going to be here.

But we went to check out the other school, and we were both actually so super impressed. We were not expecting that, admittedly.

It's pretty much everything we could have hoped for. I mean, I'd love more nature and outdoorsy (and maybe a 10am start time, because I don't know about 8!), but nothing will ever be perfect. Not even at home.

The school is very whole-child focused. The classrooms are multi-aged. The "work" is mostly self-paced. All the grade levels do math and language arts at the same time so that children can be broken into small groups based on ability, not grade level. Which for H, would be a must. She'd lose her mind doing letters again for a whole year.

It promotes creativity and community. Parents are welcome to be in the classrooms any time they want - no making arrangements beforehand and getting permission. There are no desks for children, but group tables and kids can also (and do!) work on the floor or really anywhere they are most comfortable.

They don't have to ask permission to go to the bathroom. You have no idea how big that is to me. Asking permission to go to the bathroom is so degrading and controlling in so many aspects, that we wouldn't even consider a school (which is most) where this is a rule.

They don't focus or even really talk about standardized testing (though they do participate).

They are non-punitive. Which again, is a really big deal for us.

I could go on and on and on. But really, the fact that J came home and said he liked it is huge. I mean, yes, I want my kiddos home and am pretty particular about their education - socially, emotionally, mentally, and academically - but he is even more hardcore.

So, we're in the lottery now. Playing the odds, which aren't very high.

We haven't even discussed it with H. And we won't, unless she gets a spot. Then we will take her to tour it and listen to her input. And likely give her ultimate say, since we are cool with either option.

And I'm not sure which H would pick. She was very hardcore school this year. But she also tells me she doesn't want to go back next year, despite loving school. She's feeling the effects of being tied down and unable to travel with papa. She misses waking up and saying she want to go to the zoo or to a museum, and having the ability to do so. She misses story time at Barnes and Noble. She misses all of her extracurriculars, which she is just too tired from school to whole-heartedly participate in.

But she does love school. So who knows?

It might not even be a factor anyway. Since we're playing the lottery.