Mother's Day

On this day every year, mothers are celebrated and elevated to queen status, as children all over the nation give thanks to the women that gave them life.  I, however, would like to do things a little differently this year.  I would like to give thanks to the three people that make this day possible for me.


To Julian, my amazing baby boy...
Your courage and passion astounds me every day.  Never in a million years could I imagine the way my life would change the day I became your mother.  You give so much to me and your family.  You make me better and stronger, and I can't imagine one day on earth without you in it.  You will change the world and I will watch proudly knowing you are my son.


To my princess, Isabella...
There is a special bond that girls share with their mommies, and I thank my lucky stars every day that God gave me you to share that special bond with.  Your heart is so full of love and you give that love so freely and unconditionally.  You fill our family with sunshine and the day you came into our lives you made us complete.  I await the day that you will smile upon your own children and gift them with your wonderful generosity and spirit.


I will be forever grateful to both of you...for giving my life meaning and purpose...for making each day an adventure...and for calling me Mami.


Last, but not least, to my husband, my lover, friend, partner in life.  There is no greater gift on earth than the one you have already given me...the gift of being a mother.  Thank you for making these wonderful children with me and for helping me raise them into the amazing individuals they are becoming.  


Thank you for being you and for choosing me.  


XO.

Awareness

Sometimes, you go places...

And you see beautiful and amazing things...

An you explore...

And you feel free...

And a little girl offers you an expression of love...

And you become aware of how lucky you are...

And you feel blissfully happy!


{I realized recently that I had neglected my photo journal from our Seattle trip and these last ones were too beautiful not to post. Enjoy!}

This Moment

Joining SouleMama...

"{this moment] - A Fridat ritual. A single photo p no words - caputuring a moment from the week.  A simple, special,  extraordinary moment.  A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."

Trick-or-Treating and High School Dances....

Sorry...couldn't decide this week so had to cheat a little :)

Happy Friday!

Learning...

Let me just say right out of the gate that I don’t home school and I’m not very familiar with the ins and outs of it.  I understand the basic concept, but I cannot speak to it with any type of authority.  My kids have always gone to a traditional brick and mortar school.  I also have only recently (through many blogs posted by you all out there) come to know the term “unschooling,” and although the concept fascinates me the unstructured-ness quality of it leaves me with many unanswered questions.

That being said, there are some things that I am, and that is a mother who loves her children and wants to see them grow to be smart and successful adults.   So, when I went to my 2^nd graders parent conference last week, I was naturally very verbal, asking a lot of questions and doing a lot of explaining about the things we do at home to supplement what’s being taught in school.  My daughter’s teacher was very receptive to my questions and encouraging in regards to continuing to work with Bella at home.  She said to my husband and me, “You can always tell which are the children who spend a lot of time with their parents, doing things with their parents, and she is definitely one of them.”  Well, this made me feel a little sad for the kids that don’t have parents at home that spend the kind of time we do with our kids, doing the kinds of things we do in order to ensure that they are learning and developing appropriately.  However, it also made me realize that all along I have been doing the thing I thought I wasn’t by sending my kids to a public school – homeschooling.

My very first job as a teen was as an after-school aide in a preschool.  I loved working with the kids on projects and I always thought I would go into teaching.  Alas, things don’t always turn out as you expect them to and I became a Sociologist instead, but the love of teaching is at the very core of who I am.  Fortunately for me, I have been able to pursue that love with my children.  Even at nineteen, with a new baby and no idea how to raise a child, I have always instilled a love of learning in my children.

With Julian, it started with books.  Both my husband and I love books, and so naturally we wanted our son to love them as well.  When I was pregnant with Julian, Luis and I would sit in bed at night and take turn reading Grimm’s Fairy Tales to my belly.  As soon as Julian was able to open his eyes and stay focused for prolonged periods of time, we continued “reading” to him by showing him picture books and talking about the pictures.  At seven months, my son spoke his first word and by one year he was speaking in clear and complete sentences.  At nine years old he was reading book five of the Harry Potter series on his own and by twelve the favorite was Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code.  He has always also excelled in math and science and has an amazing ability to remember complex concepts at a very detailed level.

When Isabella came along, I thought, “Ok, this one is going to be my ‘normal’ child.”  We followed the same pattern with her, reading from infancy and encouraging exploration and learning every day.  However, when at one year she had the typical repertoire of 10 or so words, which is probably developmentally ok, I began to panic.  Of course, my only comparison was Julian, my brain child.  I had to continually remind myself that she was developing just fine and that I really needed to stop comparing her to her brother.

The toddler years brought on may fun days of painting, coloring, cutting, and pasting.  Talking about letters and numbers and colors and shapes.  Because we are working parents, we tried to maximize the time we have to expose our children to as much learning as we can.  I let go of the comparisons and relished in having another little one through whose eyes I could re-experience the world.  Then, when Bella turned four, something happened.  Something clicked in her little brain and in six short months, she went from reciting her ABCs to reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

Once she started kindergarten, it became instantly apparent that I needed to step up my game a t home because the school curriculum was simply not going to cut it.  We began reading more at home, doing more spelling and writing activities, and practicing some simple addition (“If I have 5 apples and I eat 2, how many do I have left?”).  Now, my daughter is in second grade doing third grade math and reading at an almost fourth grade level.  She probably could have skipped kindergarten altogether.  I still panic that whatever clicked in her brain at four years old will click back someday and she will fall behind; so I relentlessly continue to push her to her limits at home.  I love the social environment that she is exposed to at school and so does she.  She loves going to school and I would never take that away from her.  However, I also know that school is not enough…that I need to use my time at home to fill in gaps and continue to create an environment for her where she can feel challenged.

So, I guess I have come to the realization that education does not need to be a one or the other type of approach.  There is really no such thing as traditional school v.s. homeschooling.  I argue that you can have both.  You can’t really pigeon-hole kids and judge the decisions that parents make regarding the children’s education.  There is no right answer for everyone, there is only the right answer for your child right now.  My kids?  Yeah, they go to public school…but they have also been homeschooled all of their lives by two loving parents who feel that learning happens every moment of everyday, whether you’re sitting at desk in front of a chalk board or sitting on mommy or daddy’s lap reading a book.  Learning doesn’t start and stop…it is a continuum…and we are all students as well as teachers.

October

October has arrived and I have to say that, although I was very excited about the coming of Fall (as I posted here), it has been a very slow start indeed.  I wouldn’t say I am uninspired or feeling gloomy as much as I am just very busy.  With everyone back in school, it has been a challenge this year to get into our groove.  Julian’s junior year is proving to be action packed from the word go.  Trying to fit in his evening review sessions, extra after school APUSH classes, and his new responsibilities as co-president and youth council member of GSA, along with Bella’s Taekwondo and Brownies, has my head spinning…and we have barely finished month one!!
 

There have been consequences, as so often there are.  I have dropped the ball on packed lunches and home cooked meals and find myself taking the kids to eat out more than I should.  I have not been giving the attention I should to my “Uncovering Happiness” project (last month was hit and miss).  The blogging has slowed way down.   I realize that I haven’t finished posting the pics from our Seattle trip, and my camera has been conspicuously empty lately and the words these days come out as lists of things I can’t forget to do.  We have not made it apple picking yet this season, and at the rate we are going we probably won’t.  The unraveling feeling is creeping up…and try as I might to gather the threads, it seems like I almost grab a hold of one and another slips through my fingers.

However, through all of this, there are some glimmers of wonderfulness…

Text messages that start “OMG MERCIFUL HEAVENS…” from my high schooler when assignments and exams get pushed back unexpectedly…never fails to make me smile, that boy.

Feelings of pride as my mini one gives her all during her sparring matches…her attitude of no fear is amazing and humbling.

Bittersweet feelings of excitement and sadness as I watch my son get ready for the first dance of the year…the teen energy as we drive them to the event is infectious and reminds me of times long ago.

Watching Bella bridge over to Brownies with her girl scout sisters…and realizing the bonds that have been forged amongst the girls and also amongst the moms.

Knowing my weekday evening will be that much easier cuz my better half made dinner last night and all I have to do tonight is warm it up!

Not sure if the threads will ever come together for me this year.  Not sure if I will ever get my blogging rhythm back or if I will have to resort to sporadic updates and occasional pictures.  Not sure how much happiness I will uncover or how many takeout pizzas we will end up consuming.  However, one thing is abundantly clear.  This year I will be very busy living…and isn’t that the best of all?

Amazing Things

Amazing things happen when you run down hills.  The wind blows your hair back and you can’t help but laugh at loud at the feeling of absolute freedom that soars through you. 

Amazing things happen when you find yourself surrounded by hundreds of neon yellow plastic strips.  Your heart lightens with the joy of being a kid and having a child’s imagination that can create entire worlds inside these long plastic straws.

Amazing things happen when immerse yourself in the creations of others.  You find inspiration for your own creative spirit.

Amazing things happen when you take time just be.  You often find yourself and find the joy of sharing simple moments with those you most care about.

Amazing things happen when you take something simple and multiply it, creating a mosaic of simplicity that is startling in its beauty.

Amazing things happen when you spend a day teaching your children to respect and admire the wondrous creations that amazingly talented individuals have created.  The beauty of what they have seen will shine through in their smile.

What amazing things have you experienced?

Inspired by our recent trip to the Los Angeles Museum of Art.

This Moment

Last night, after a full day of work dealing with attorneys, rushing home to run to the tailors to pick up Bella's Taekwondo uniform, feeding Bella before Daisy meeting, going to Daisy meeting, and getting home at 8pm (still in slacks and heels), I found this:

Grant it, my son had warned me that he had not done the dishes prior to locking himself out of the house, but that didn't stop the annoyance and frustration from overtaking me.  


However, through the haze of anger, I remembered a blog post I had read earlier in the day over at Inner Bliss.  I could allow the anger to consume me and ruin the rest of my evening, or I could reframe it and embrace it.  


So, the pile of dishes has become my moment that I want to cherish and savor today because, one day in the not too distant future, there will no longer be piles of dirty dishes in the sink.  After a full days work, no errands, and no Daisy meetings (as those will be long forgotten), I will come home to two coffee mugs...and that will mean my babies have grown up and moved on...and I will miss the pile of dirty dishes that were the symbol of a full house.


Linking with SouleMama.

Summer

We are officially in the final stretch of summer. 


The school supplies have been purchased.  The high-schooler has his junior (Yikes!) year schedule.  The MA student is enrolled and the books have come in the mail.  One week from today the Araujo household will once again be in the grips of another school year. 


But until then...we have a few more days of summer to enjoy. 

So for the next week we will be:

• Enjoying evenings free of homework...
• Spending as much time as possible in shorts, tanks, and flip flops...
• Celebrating late summer birthdays...
• Eating LOTS of ice cream...
• Grilling, grilling, grilling...
• Spending pressure-free time with friends...
• Getting wet...
• Going for evening walks (in our flip flops)...
• Soaking in the sun...

How will you be spending these last days of summer?

Photo Journal Day 5: Olympia Farmer's Market and Pioneer Square

Photo Journal Day 5:  On our 5th day we headed to the capital, Olympia, to visit another Farmer's Market (noticing a theme here...planes and food).  It is much smaller the Pike, but oh my, the fruit was amazing.  Peaches and apricots like nothing I have ever tasted before.  There is a band playing music and several places that serve breakfast and lunch.  Luis ate the biggest burrito I have ever seen!  After Olympia, we headed back to Seattle and Pioneer Square (check out the socks on the trees!) to take the Underground Tour.  This was too awesome for words.  Basically, Seattle was first built below sea level and after "The Great Fire" in 1889, they rebuilt the city on top of the existing city.  The underground was used for many years as like a city under the city.  Fascinating!  This is a must do for anyone visiting Seattle.  The tour guides are great storytellers and the history is super cool.

Photo Journal Day 4: Pacific Science Center

Photo Journal Day 4:  On day four, we headed back out to Seattle Center.  There was a big foodie fest going on.  We were a little unprepared for the size of the event.  It seemed that every Seattleite was there, enjoy the bands and the food.  We grabbed some hot dogs and headed over to the Pacific Science Center, our destination for the day.  Bella had fun with the hands on exhibits...especially touching the sea anemones.  My goofball son had fun too :)  The best part of the museum was the Butterfly Walk.  They have a solarium full of beautiful flowering plants and trees and hundreds of butterflies!  You have to be very careful not to step on them or take them out by accident on your clothes.  Bella and I were absolutely enchanted.  In the evening, we bought tickets for the Lady Gaga Laser show in the Laser Dome.  Bella and I laid on the floor (the boys were too cool for school and sat in the uncomfortable seats) and enjoyed an hour of Lady Gaga favorites and psychedelic lights.  It was a Gaga-rific ending to a great day!!

Photo Journal Day 3: Future of Flight Museum and Boeing Factory Tour

Photo Journal Day 3:  One of the reasons we took these trip is because my son, Julian, is a plane geek.  A BIG plane geek.  The kind that wants to be an aerospace engineer when he grows up and design and build planes for a living...preferably for Boeing...preferably in Everette, WA.  So, what better place to really find out if the dream lives up to the reality than by taking the Boeing Factory Tour in, you guessed it, Everette WA!  


We first hung out in the Future of Flight Museum which is at Paine Field and the departure place for the tour.  It was amazing to see the size of the engines up close and some oldie but goodies (I was a big Pan Am fan in the 80s).  


We couldn't actually take pictures on the factory tour for obvious reasons, but we were able to snap some shots of the completed planes waiting for delivery and the buildings where my son my someday make a living.  The best part of this day was watching my son absorb everything and have him reconfirm that this is where he wants to be.  Alas, it is wonderful when the reality turns out to be even better than the dream!!

Photo Journal Day 2: Pike Place Public Market, Seattle Waterfront, and The Space Needle

Photo Journal Day 2:  Our first full day in Seattle we decided to hit the tourist spots.  Our first stop was Pike Place Public Market.  This was hands down my favorite place and I could have spent the better part of our week just in this few block stretch of the city alone.  I wanted to buy everything!!  The energy of the place is fantastic and I felt very jealous that we don't have an equally amazing place here in So Cal.  If I live in Seattle, this would be where I would do my shopping.  Oh...and of course we had to visit the first Starbucks :)


After Pike we headed down to the waterfront.  It was a spectacular view of Puget Sound.  It amazed both my husband and I how this state seems to be surrounded by water.  It's everywhere you turn, which makes for beautiful bridges and so much green!!!


Right before dinner dinner we stopped at the Space Needle for a better view of the city...the best view, really.  It was a great ending to our first day!