Our New Adventure Begins!

Well today a new chapter in our lives began... HOMESCHOOLING!! I can't believe it is really happening and I am so excited! We have been blessed to be able to do this and have our family support us in this decision that has been in planning since before our kids were born. I knew that one day I would be teaching my own kids. Why is a teacher homeschooling? That is very simple, as much as I enjoy being with my students, I know exactly what happens in the classroom. I see how we rush some of these kids into things that they are not developmentally ready for but we do it because it is something that we have to do. I don't want my kids to be part of that. I want my kids to actually enjoy what they are learning and pick subjects that they want to learn about. I want them to have fun while doing it as well and I don't want them to spend the whole day at school when in reality teaching doesn't take that long, we just make it long at school and we get kids that are bored throughout the day because instead of sitting down for multiple hours they should be learning through play. Unfortunately that is not what Kindergarten is all about anymore and don't get me started on Common Core that is another story for another blog post... People may not agree with my decision and that is fine. Homeschooling is not for everybody but I know it is for my family. Saying all that I can't believe my little boy has begun Kindergarten. Today we did all the subjects and it only took us less than 2 hours! It was amazing! I know his favorite subject is Science and he can't wait to get outside and explore which of course now that I know that we will definitely be doing a lot more of that. The beauty of Homeschooling I can choose what to teach and how to do it! Anyways, of course I had a small photo shoot prior to beginning our school day so I am sharing them with you although they are raw... I have not touched them or edited them.

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Summertime!!

Yesterday was the official last day of school, since I had to go back to make sure my classroom was cleaned up and all things had to be put away. This past school year was a tough one considering that I had a room with a very high percent of ESOL students so my observations went rather interesting and not with the results that I always wanted. I definitely have been ready to end the school year since the first day of school. I also must say that being very much pregnant at the end of the school year was exhausting! Busy days are ahead for the Deffenbaugh's... In just a few weeks we will be welcoming our third little boy to the family and just like that we will become a family of 5. It is very exciting and no I will not be trying for the little girl... we believe adoption is a wonderful thing and if God chooses to bless us that way, we will gladly accept but for now we are content in being the parents of boys! In the midst of new baby we will be begin our new journey of homeschooling! I am SUPER excited about this. Although I have second guessed myself a few times on the curriculum for Matthew I know everything will turn out great! We will begin his first year (Kindergarten) officially at the end of July even though we have already begun the studies... We even joined a homeschool group that does field trips and a lot of social things together. They even have co-op classes so I am really excited that he will meet other homeschool kids and we will get to meet and befriend other homeschool families! Although I am counting the days until I can stay home permanently that will not be happening next year, instead I will be working half days. I am excited though for this new adventure, I truly believe that God has opened this door for us. The teacher I'll be working with is very much similar to me so I know we will work great together and have a successful classroom. Starting the school year I am sure it will be crazy!! I mean new baby, homeschooling and working aghh!! But I know this is the path that God is taking us in. It will be a hard year but I know God will not only provide but give us the strength to get us through it! I am hoping to have the energy to at least blog more... Id like to have these memories of our new adventure in homeschooling and life down in words rather than just memories in my mind. So this blog might turn more into our weekly events instead of just family updates which there will be some of that too but I would also like to blog not only about homeschooling but also my photography and crafty adventures as well... So hopefully you won't get too bored with the blog and keep reading and if you do decide to stop reading that is fine as well :) As for now I hope you enjoy your summer as much as we will, but hopefully yours will be more relaxing than ours!!

Yes its been a while...

Here are some pics from our outing to see Thomas the Train... the boys were surprised and excited especially Jonathan who at the moment absolutely LOVES Thomas the Train!

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Easter 2013

Some pics from Easter... this was at our neighborhood Community Easter Egg Hunt

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Spring Break 2013

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It's T-Ball Time...

Tomorrow Matthew will encounter the world of baseball...okay t-ball but to him it's baseball. When he found out he was playing he immediately said he wanted to watch baseball on tv with daddy...that's kind of cool since most of the time when David watches sports Matthew doesn't last very long but lately he lingers on a bit longer... So we shall see how it goes tomorrow. Its supposed to be cold (yes cold for Florida) and rainy so we shall see how it goes! Hopefully I can download the photos tomorrow and upload them to the blog so be on the look out!

A New Year....

So I know it has been a while... I'm trying to blog from my iPad and see how this works...maybe it will get me to post more often! Well January was awful... It was definitely our sick month. We were all sick it started with David, trickled to the boys who got it really bad then me with the flu and back to the boys and David... Yeah, no bueno... But thank God we seem to be healthy again and hopefully we remain that way.

Just a quick update... on life here at the Deffenbaugh's:

Our new niece was born today!!! Welcome to the world Sofia!! We can't wait to meet her in person!

Our boys are doing great and getting so big! Matthew just went to the Monster Jam Truck Show with David and LOVED every minute. Jonathan is our little tornado... He just doesn't stop... His favorite word is NO :) yep we are in that stage.

David is still enjoying his training and work, and me I'm still at school and now working at church as well. I will be working on Sundays and Wednesdays in the children's ministry which they call Red Jr. which is considered the nursery part of the Red Ministries.... I'm excited since it was an answer to my prayers... I'm not making millions mind you but every little bit will help as we save for when I finish my journey with the school district next year and begin the new journey of homeschooling. I'm excited! I'm also hoping to experiment a bit more with photography which is another passion of mine and who knows maybe eventually it will make me some money!

Well I must go to bed but will hopefully blog very soon!