About Us & Why I Do the Things I Do

Here is where you can find more about us: North Laurel Home & School Family.

Our family is made up four people living in Wyoming -oh and a cat. We are a Christian family that is most associated with a Baptist background. This is our second almost complete year of homeschooling.

A bit about the kids of the family:

Lee is our oldest and our only daughter. At 14 she loves to draw and read. Also she is very into Manga and anime. You may read some of her posts on this blog occasionally.

Fox is our youngest and our only son. He is 11. He loves all things Legos and Nerf. Also he draws awesome stick people ;) He also has access and ability to post but may do so very rarely.

The parents of the family consist of:
Blossom- aka: Mom- is a current undergraduate at Eastern Oregon University anticipating graduation June 11, 2011. She loves reading, blogging, drawing and homeschooling. 

The Other (who will never actually be mentioned by name- ever- nor will there every be photos of him -ever- on this blog because he is extremely paranoid of having himself on the internet) works with railroaders but no, he doesn't conduct a locomotive. He enjoys, immensely, fast cars, explosions and keeping busy.

The cat of the family:
Kawaii- sweet and generally mild. She dislikes people in general but has made an exception for the four of us who have imprisoned her in our house :) You'll see photos of her frequently as we all love her.

And now Why I Do the Things I Do:

In an attempt to prioritize (something I am very bad at) I have decided to put it down on paper why I do the things I do. Excuse me now if it gets random or a bit scatter brained at times.

Why Do I Homeschool:

Why do I homeschool? I love my kids, plain and simple. I want to be able to enjoy the time I have them under my roof for as long as possible. First and foremost for me is the love I have for them. Perhaps that is selfish, very selfish. The second reason, and perhaps it should be the biggest and most important reason instead of being second, I homeschool because God has directly commanded me to do so. Our school scripture is Deuteronomy 6:5-9 "And thou shalt love the Lord they God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." Some people will argue that this scripture does not mean to 'school' my kids at home in the subject other than Bible (ie, go to church, read the Bible, believe in God, etc.). But I believe otherwise. I haven't always thought this to be the case but I do now, whole-heartedly. Here is a compilation of verses by Brandon and Rebekah Staggs that give commands to 'teach' our children that I personally found helpful. With public school taking up majority of a child's day and week, there is little time to be able to teach the way we are commanded to teach our children. A child cannot go out into the world with the correct attitude if they have not been taught this or if they have more of an influence to the incorrect attitude. It's unfair to throw our children to the 'wolves', so to speak. Negative influences will more quickly take root than positive if there are more negative to start with. Also, my children were bored with public school. Oh, they liked that they could sit and read in class while the rest of their classmates finished their assignments but they were bored more than not. Here is a post I wrote on contemplating the standards set in public schools, and how they frustrated me. Our homeschool is not perfect (show me one that is and well, good for them!) but I will not send my kids to the 'wolves' ever again. I still feel that my kids learn more in this school than they would in the school down the street.

Why Do I Blog:

At first when I heard about blogging I didn't know if I could do it. I simply wanted a place to put down what we've done in a day. For school record keeping I suppose. I've been blogging, as of this writing for only 4 months. I've swayed from my original purpose. I stopped keeping track of our school days on here. The reason for that was I was letting negativity take hold of me and I'd write things that I don't need to say about my children. So now why do I blog? I blog to get out the things in my head. I am home with my kids all day long but they do not always like the same things I do nor do they want to 'talk' about the same things that I do. I have always been a bit of a loner. Not a sad, depressed loner but I preferred to be by myself. But the trouble with that is that I love to talk. Even when I don't want to talk, I talk :) I like to be 'social' without the socializing. It's a bit like being in a room with a lot of people who are talking, having conversations while you sit and sip on coffee. You can listen in on the conversations because they are loud enough to be heard, or you can ignore what someone is saying if you don't want to listen. I don't just like to eavesdrop if that's what you think :) I enjoy airing my thoughts. Interestingly, my dear hubby will listen to me talk about what's on my mind with a kind look and really have nothing to say and I feel that I am talking to a wall (ungrateful I am, I know) but when I blog, I feel that at least one person out there is listening. They might be sitting and sipping on some coffee while I talk, and they may say nothing at all but I am heard. It's a strange strange feeling. So besides my own self-gratification, why do I blog? If it were simply for self-gratification well I'm not sure how long this would go on. But I think it may be also because I feel that something I say or share will be helpful to someone else. I love to help others but often I just do not know how. Recently however (as if 4 months of blogging is an extremely long time) I have been rethinking why I do blog. A wonderful lady who is a mother to many and homeschools, has a blog that I just love to follow. Her blog is probably my favorite of all that I follow. I believe God uses her to reach others when we don't listen to His whisper in our ear. She blogs for the reasons I want to blog. I haven't gotten there yet...I've a ways to go. I do blog lately about reviews that I do for various companies because I like to write, I like to get 'free' things, and I want to let others know what someone thinks of a certain whatever-it-may-be. Oh, and since not keep track of our school day on here meant that I was barely keeping track at all, I have resumed using the blog as a record keeper with our What We've Accomplished Today and Weekly Wrap-Up posts. 

Why Do I Stay Home:

I haven't had a job outside the home for about 1 1/2 years now. I worked otherwise steadily since I was 17 (a few years ago!). Why don't I get a job now? I have posted a few times about finances and such that I run short on money or I can't buy something that I would like. If I had a job I would be able to get by without feeling a squeeze, I would be able to buy so many more of my wants. But if I were to work outside the home, oh I can see the trouble it would cause. The very first and probably the worst problem that would crop up is the kids' need to go to public school. I've been in middle school and high school...I don't want my children there. I was thinking today of the situations and circumstances that I had already experienced by the time I was my daughters age...Things that I should not have but did because I was in a place with immoral and uncaring people. Priorities were definitely messed up! I want to shelter my child, it's true. But I don't plan on keeping them in a bubble or a padded locked room. I'm a bit more realistic than that. I've worked before where I was home when they came home from school but not before they left. I've worked when I could take them to school but miss kissing them goodnight. It's tough. I think that love and our family is of higher importance than the money I sometimes worry about. God has taken care of us and He promises He always will. I stay home so I can care for what He has given me to care for. Lastly, I stay home because my dear hubby says I can.

Why Do I Still Go to College:

That is a very good question! I'm going to be honest and tell you that it is because I am addicted to learning. I have this almost real fear of not being in 'class'. Realistically someday I would like to be either a middle school social studies teacher or a high school history teacher. That is not until my kids are both on their own and I have to have a masters degree first... That keeps me in college! If being in school were a 'career' I would choose it in a heartbeat. I love having books to read that I am not normally going to pick off a shelf and read on my own. I love to learn about all things (except science I discovered) and don't mind writing lengthy papers about what I've learned. It does get to me sometimes and I feel that if I take one more class I will just go insane and have to be admitted early to the insane asylum. But I just can't not go to college. It's a good and a bad thing. But eventually I will stop going and hopefully I will be happy with the result.

So those are the 'whys' of what I do. I hope that I have clarified it...to myself at least :) It was nice to get it out and down so I can look back and see how I'm doing or if I need to change things.