Introducing The Cherubs - Not Back To School Sharing

This is the first in a series of 4 posts during the month of February whereby I am holding my own Not Back To School fun. The fun's just for me, but since a couple of you asked (or at least suggested you wouldn't mind joining in) I have added a linky to the bottom of the post.

If you school to the calendar year, like us Aussies, feel free to join in.

My three cherubs! Some days they are certainly far from cherubs, but then so am I (on the odd occasion anyway hehehe). I am so blessed to have three of the cutest, kindest, funniest, smartest and just plain loveable kids around.

Even on our hardest days of homeschooling I know that there is no where else I would rather for them to be. What I have experienced over the past 3 1/2 years of home schooling these guys (not counting the 5 years prior to school age) has been nothing short of amazing.

Our days are definitely a handful, with a lively 2 year old in the house, that no longer naps, things can get a little hairy. Thankfully I have learned that academics is not the be all and end of all of life and in the grand scheme of things, a happy harmonious environment has to be number one on the list, otherwise everything else is simply a waste of time.

So without further ado, let me introduce you to cherub number 1:

B is 9 years old. He's sensitive, caring, kind, full of empathy, still loves to hug his mum, adores his baby brother and is always making up games to play with his sister.

This guy is the light of my life. He is so easy going and I am so grateful for that. The other two can be quite headstrong and I know I can generally rely on B to work with me (and not against) on pretty much most things.

I simply cannot believe that this is his last year of single digits.....wow this motherhood gig really does fly by ever so fast.

Considering I spent the first few weeks of his life crying and thinking that that was how it was going to be forever, I really cannot believe how quickly the time has passed.

B is our mathematical mind in the house, the little engineer in the making. He is also flourishing into a fabulous artist and I love that he has the time and freedom to explore that side of himself as much as he desires.

Our main area of focus this year is to continue to grow his reading love, he enjoys it, but doesn't love it just yet, so any and all suggestions for great books for 9 year old boys are very very welcome (that are of an easier read). He does at least adore being read to so this is one area that we will continue for a long time to come yet.

The other area is writing for him. I think he fits the stereotype of boys not liking writing and I don't ever expect him to love to write, we can't all enjoy everything, but it is one area that we are going to focus more on during the year ahead.

K is 6 years old. My one and only baby girl. She is funny, oh so funny, sweet, kind, head strong, very head strong, crafty, creative, loves to hug and kiss, cares very deeply for her baby brother, enjoys putting on 'shows' for the family and encouraging B to join her and loves writing letters and posting them (she runs down the drive and pops them in the mailbox) to all members of our family.

K has taught me many things in her 6 short years of life. In many ways she is so much like me and that is very difficult to deal with at times. We definitely butt heads but as she grows and matures (and as I also grow and mature) our communication skills are growing stronger all of the time.

Having her around has given me the opportunity to look within and see myself for what I really am. To work on areas I need to and to reawaken parts of me that have been missing from my life for sometime (like my love of all things crafty). 

She is my talker, the one that is happy to tell me anything and everything and the one that makes me listen to her, even on days that I am not listening to myself. You can always see where K has been, she leaves a path of discarded crafty materials behind wherever she goes. I love this about her, but it is oh so irritating to go from room to room and see a mess. Cleaning up after oneself is something we are working on, some days we seem to be making real progress and others, well you can imagine.

K's focus for academics this year is basic reading, phonics and sight words. Yes we are a better late then early family, so for now K appears quite behind many of her peers. Thankfully I now have the confidence to not be concerned by that, since we have walked this road before with her big brother. I know that everything will fall into place as it should, when she is ready, willing and able. 

C is 2 years old. You know some days I still have to pinch myself to remind me that this little guy is actually with us. And how blessed we are to have him as part of our family.

He is the most exuberant, vibrant, funny, cheeky, outgoing, simply plain gorgeous two year old that I have ever known.

His knowledge, comprehension and vocabulary far exceed his years and we often find ourselves in deep conversations with him.

He is carefree and caring. Fun and funny. A daredevil, but also a wee bit shy at times. He is very eager to 'be big' and grown up and not content in just enjoying being the little guy around the house. Even though we just want to keep him little forever.

C's focus this year is play and fun as it should be for any 2/3 year old. Whilst I do have some theme related activities in the works for him they will be totally led by him as to how much of them we complete.

I know this will be an amazing year ahead for my baby, as he truly grows into a little boy and out of toddlerdom (she says wiping her teary eyes) and I am so grateful at being able to spend every minute of it with him.

If you'd like to join me in the "Calendar Year" Not Back To School Sharing Fun please add a link to your post below. Please don't forget to link back to us in your post also. :-)

Don't forget that there are hundreds of fabulous posts in the Not Back To School Blog Hop over at the Heart of The Matter.

Next week I'll be sharing our plans for the year ahead.

I will be using the same linky for the entire 4 posts (as I am sure there will only be a few of us playing along) so it will probably be helpful if you include in the linky description what your post covers. In this instance, it is the students.