Update!!

So, the excitement is great at the Fuchs house right now.  We are planning on selling our house and moving into a new one that is double the size and even has a garage.  Tom is excited about the garage and the kids are excited about having their own bedrooms to decorate however they would like and I am excited about everything!!  This is a big step into the next phase of our lives.  This will be the forever home we have been looking for and I couldn't be happier.  The hard part is getting our current home ready for showing.  I can't even call the realtor until we get the house in perfect order.  This entails removing 3/4 of our belongings and taking them to be stored, repainting all of the rooms that we have personalized over the past 5 years.  (ex. pesto green kitchen, electric blue boys room and pretty pink girls room).  And cleaning EVERYTHING!!  We will do it.

Will all this going on our Christmas celebrations have been scaled down.  We are not decorating for Christmas this year because we have realized over the years that we are never home on Christmas to enjoy our tree and lights anyways.  Also Christmas decorations and ornaments are very personal and we are trying to remove the personal from our home at this time.  We are still doing our Advent calendar and we will be celebrating with our families who are setting up.  I think we will survive.

Alyvia is doing well in her homeschooling although we could be doing better.  We are behind and I am not sure how to get caught back up.  The interest is just not really there for her and I feel as though we may need a break.  Now is a great time for that break though because of all the cleaning, packing and holiday engagements we have.  Hopefully after the new year when the house sells (fingers crossed) we can pick up and cruise through to first grade.  This does not mean that we aren't doing school.... it just means that we are doing school less strictly.  We can't afford to get any further behind but we also can't afford to lose her this early in the game.  She is interested in learning to read but not interested in doing her phonics which poses a slight problem.  Working through it.

Mazlyn is starting to talk and run.  I am loving every minute because this is our last child but I am also trying to look ahead to the positive things like not having to change diapers or dress the kids anymore.  It will come in time I know and I am not wishing it away but I am trying not to be a sap thinking about the lasts all the time.  This is leading to great things.  All of this is leading to great things.

Wyatt is just as cute as ever and growing to be a very good kid.  I love his interest in things like reading, trains and me.  Sounds selfish I know but I like being the favorite.  Lyv has outgrown Tom and I and Mazlyn favors Tom so Wyatt is (and always has been) my little man.  Cuddle time with him is wonderful and happens many times daily.  He is amazing!!

Well, there is a quick update on what we are doing.  I am hoping that after we move and get settled in we can start blogging more regularly.  Lol.

Tigers Roar!!

Today Alyvia learned all about Tigers.  We learned interesting facts, read tons of books and even dressed up as tigers.  We got out the masking tape and measured 9 feet on the carpet to show how long an adult tiger can grow to be.  Lyvi now knows that tigers are mammals, carnivores, the largest cats in the world, they have 100-150 stripes and live in Asia.  We learned that to be a mammal means that you have a back bone, are warm blooded and most of them have hair or fur.  Baby tigers are called cubs, female tigers are called tigresses.  She is so smart and really enjoyed her science lessons today.

Fuchs Academy Sept. 19th-25th, 2011

In my life this week…  I have had some emotional moments.  I think I may have realized I have a lot of anxiety caused by my lovely children.  Nothing they do just situations that come with having children.  Now I am trying to figure out the best way to handle the situations we face.

In our homeschool this week…  Alyvia started her homeschool enrichment program at the YMCA yesterday (a major cause of anxiety for me) and she loves it.  She was great and made a few new homeschool friends her own age. 

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…  EVERY moment can be a teaching moment.  Just be creative!!

I am inspired by…  The look on my kids faces when I really get into a story or lesson.  Their expressions say "wow!!  Our Mom is sooo weird."  But I know they love that side of me.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…  Homeschool Enrichment and Grange.  At Grange we have a family reunion every other Friday so we will be seeing the best Grandparents around and some God parents and random important figures in our children's lives.  We are also attending an event tomorrow called "Fun on the Farm".  It is at a local dairy farm and the kids will get to see some behind the scenes of another dairy farm.  We are going to be focusing on the differences between their Aunts farm and this one.

My favorite thing this week was… Being with my children.

What’s working for us…  Babysitting children before (public) school.  They are being dropped off between 6 and 6:30 and they are gone by 8:30am.  It's an effective way for me to contribute to our family finances and it's over before the kids and I are ready to start our day.  

Things I’m working on…  Antarctica Unit.  We are studying the 7 continents and 5 oceans this year and now that we have the concept of continents down as well as their names I figured we would go more in depth with Antarctica first.

I’m reading…  What your first grader needs to know.  Lyvi is already starting some first grade concepts so I figured it wouldn't hurt to get a move on.

I’m cooking…  The usual.  Tacos for dinner tonight before Grange.  Yum!!

I’m grateful for…  My life, my Husband, my children, the opportunity to homeschool them, my family, our dog and fish, our home. 

I’m praying for… Friends suffering with illness.

     A photo to share…

This was Lyvi and I before we left for her Homeschool Enrichment program Thursday at the YMCA.  While we were there she could sense that I was having a hard time so she kept finding me in the hallway and giving me the thumbs up to say she was doing fine, not to worry.  One time she actually left her activity and came out into the hall and whispered "Mom, I'm having so much fun." into my ear and then she turned around and ran back into the gym.  I'm not sure when it happened but, she's grown up.  Five years old!!

I'm back!! I hope!!

So, I may have fallen off the horse with this whole blogging thing.  A lot has happened since I last blogged so I am going to try to hit the high points and then my plan is to start blogging regularly.  Not exactly sure what regularly is going to look like for me, could be daily, weekly, monthly.  I'm not exactly sure what will work for my families schedule at the current time but I know I want to create this blog for my family and friends so that everyone can keep up with "The Fuchs Family Five".  (Oh, how I love how that sounds.)

So since October 5th, 2010 we have celebrated many special occasions.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter.... you know the usual.  We teach our children the real meaning of holidays like Christmas and Easter so we celebrated Jesus' birth and resurrection not visits from Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny.

We have made it through another wrestling season and we love the money but, hate the time away from each other.  Last weekend we had our first night of racing for the year.  This year Tom and I are both working at the track so, the children are staying home with Mazlyns Godmother Melissa while we "work".  It gives me a break from the kids (I know that sounds terrible but I am home with them 24 hours a day, everyday of the week (by absolute choice).  Sometimes Mom just needs a break.) And it earns us a little extra money.  I also started babysitting the cutest little boy Aideyn in January.  We are lucky enough to have Aideyn come play with us every other week.  He is just a little younger than Wyatt so it makes for a good playmate too. 

We sent in our letter of intent for Alyvia to start Kindergarten at home next year.  I am excited but also nervous because Lyvi has been "homeschooling" since she was 2 and she is already most of the way through Kindergarten so we will be doing a mixed school year.  We will start out the year finishing Kindergarten and finish it 3/4 of the way through 1st grade.  We shall see how it goes.  We plan on trying out a 4 day school week (Mon-Thurs), Thursday afternoons Lyvi will be participating in a homeschool enrichment program that is offered through our local YMCA.  The program will cover New York states requirements for art, music and physical education and is an affordable addition to our curriculum.  It will also give Alyvia a chance to interact with other homeschool children her age and older.  Fridays we are calling "Field Trip" days and we will spend them traveling to the zoo, museum, library, park, nature center, ect.  We are also planning on homeschooling year round even though we will have our required 180 "school days" fulfilled by the end of June so that I can send in our year end report.  Can't believe my "baby girl" is turning 5 in June.  Where has the time gone??

Wyatt is going to be 3 on May 5th.  We are having a Thomas the Train birthday party to celebrate and I will be creating another cake for this event.  Wyatt is about ready to start Kindergarten.  He knows all his letters, shapes, numbers and colors.  He has a very mellow attitude toward life.  He takes everything as it comes and loves to snuggle with his Mommy.  He plays GREAT by himself but that's not always a good thing seeing as he's not an only child and Mom babysits a child his age who has the same interest that he does.  Thomas the Train is all we know around our house.  Wyatt has TONS of trains and he plays with them daily. 

Mazlyn, Mr. Mazy.  Is now 9 months old and has 4 teeth.  He is sort of crawling (he does an army crawl sorta thing) and he is starting to pull himself up on the furniture.  Everything goes into his mouth (normal) and he loves playing with his bro~bro and sissy.  He's so perfect and it makes everything even more special with him because I know he is the last baby that Tom and I will ever have.  The Fuchs Family Five has been completed thanks to Mr Mazlyn and we couldn't be happier.

Tom and I are as happy as ever.  Still the normal issues but I am trying to live with them.  I have to realize that not everything can be perfect all the time.  Tom is a guy and I love him more today than I did the day I met him and thats saying something.  Lol. 

Well, hopefully I can write again tomorrow and maybe even add some pictures.  Till then................