Another Camping Trip and Our Brenna is a HERO!!

Brendon, Brenna and I went camping at Lake Corpus Christi this past weekend. It was quite an eventful trip! We left on Friday and our plans were to stay until Monday. We made reservations last week but a few days before we were supposed to go we found out that there were, not one but TWO, cold fronts that were supposed to come in. We didn't let that scare us away though and went anyways. LOL We got there Friday evening and set up camp (picture to the left) and had a nice time hanging out and cooking dinner. Brenna made a couple friends right off the bat and kicked her ball around with them for a while. We went to bed Friday night and I woke up at 4 in the morning to flashes of lightening illuminating our tent. I waited for a while and it proceeded to get worse so I finally decided to wake up Brendon. It started to sprinkle a little and we felt like we had to come up with some kind of plan. Our tent was set up beneath two huge trees so we figured that it wasn't the safest place to be during a lightening storm. By this time Brenna had woken up from the thunder and us talking. We decided that the best place for us to be at that time was our truck. Right when we established a plan of action it started poring down rain! So now we started to panic a bit and I ran out to the truck and got our ponchos. Brendon then picked up Brenna and carried her like a sack of potatoes out to the truck. We then scrambled to get pillows and blankets transferred from the tent and after all the chaos we were finally safe and snug in our truck and spent the rest of the morning trying to get more sleep. It was quite an adventure!! We now look back on it and laugh. LOL

So after that huge mess we contemplated on whether we were going to stay or bail on our trip. We were driving around the park and came across these screened-in shelters. We decided to give up our tent because it was supposed to storm again that night. Long story short - we didn't have bad weather that night BUT it was still fun staying in the shelter. It did rain most of the next day (Sunday) so it was nice having a big place to stay and somewhere to hang out and play board games.
Saturday was beautiful though and we spent most of the afternoon at the lake. We had a big raft and Brenna loved swimming around everywhere. She still is not a good swimmer so she is stuck to wearing a life vest. There were lots of kids there and she made a few friends and had a blast.

Now here is quite a story.......(I am sure most of you know it by now but I just HAVE to tell it...)

Brendon and I were sitting at the picnic table that we were fortunate enough to call dibs on. Brenna was doing fine and she had her life vest on and we felt very comfortable letting her swim in the lake by herself (she stayed close to shore). As I was watching Brenna, my eyes went to this kid (about 5 years old) who kept going under water (about 20 feet from Brenna). At first I thought he was just playing around but I soon realized that he was in need of help - apparently he couldn't swim and was struggling to stay above the water. As soon as I realized that, I saw Brenna swimming towards the little boy. She was going as fast as she could and got to that little boy before anyone else realized what was going on. She held him up and kept his head above water and started paddling him back to the shore. When she was about half way back the boy's Dad realized what was happening and ran out there to get him. Poor thing was crying and coughing and was so scared. I truly feel that if Brenna had not seen him and been so brave to do what she did then things could have turned out really, really bad.
Brendon and I are so proud of her!!! She thought fast and didn't even hesitate one second when she realized that somebody needed help. Brendon and I asked her what she was thinking and how she knew he was in trouble and she just said that she saw that he couldn't swim and saw him going under water and she just kinda shrugged her shoulders and said, "I just knew I had to help him."
Later when we were leaving the boy came up to Brenna with his Aunt and thanked her for saving his life. It was such an amazing thing that my little girl did and as parents we couldn't be prouder!!! GOOD JOB BRENNA!!!!

Lots of pictures!!

We have done so much these last couple weeks. I have a lot to write about as well as quite a few pictures to post. I guess I'll start with the park clean-up for Girl Scouts.

On the 19th Brenna and her Girl Scout Troop went to one of the local parks and picked up trash. They have been discussing recycling and how to make the world a better place. They all had a really good time and stayed afterwards and had lunch and played on the playground for a while.

We also went to Rio Fest that weekend and Brenna had such a good time. Rio Fest is a small festival that they have here once a year. There are games and activities for the kids to do as well as GREAT food (that's my favorite part! LOL). She got to pet a camel, see how a cow is milked, pet a miniature horse, ride in a paddle boat and also sat in a real helicopter! She was the only kid there at the time and the pilot let her wear the helmet (I got a great picture of that!). This year they had a section with bouncy houses and of course that is where we spent most of our time. I took some cute pictures of Brenna that I want to share.

Another really cool thing happened too since I last posted. Brenna and I went to the zoo with my friend Mieree and her daughter two weeks ago. Since both of the girls are homeschooled we usually go during the week while other kids are in school. It is so nice and we practically have the whole place to ourselves. The girls can run ahead and look at what they want and we don't have to worry about a lot of other people. Wonderful example of #13 from one of my favorite things that I have ever read about homeschooling..... 13. Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.

So while we were there the girls were in the petting zoo brushing the goats and playing with the baby camel that they have in there. A woman who worked at the zoo came out carrying three huge bottles and told the girls (who were the only kids there) that she could use a helper - she was there to feed the camel! Yes, Brenna got to feed a baby camel three bottles!! It was so cool and such a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing. I've never fed a camel a bottle, have you?? :) LOL That's just one of the things I love about homeschooling - you're out in the real world and get to experience things that you never would if you were at school. But being the forgetful Mom that I am I didn't even have my camera!! I was sooooo upset about that.

Anyway, I finally finished reading my book about the benefits of socialization when you homeschool and it was WONDERFUL (I wrote about it in my last post). In fact, I am reading it for a second time just so I can absorb as much information from it as I can. It made so many great points and really justified my reason for homeschooling. The entire book talks about how children who are homeschooled really ARE better socialized than kids who are in school. Most people think it is the other way around. I won't get into all the details. If you're interested then just ask. I'll send you a big long email that you probably will wish you never asked for. LOL :)

So as a closing --- I just want to thank everyone who takes time to read my blog. I have over 1300 hits so far (almost 1400!) in just under a year. I think that is amazing and I am grateful. Hopefully I will become better at not posting so sporadically. :)

New Book

So yes, I am addicted to books about homeschooling and am reading yet another one. Curriculum, socialization, general information about homeschooling - just about anything. As I have said before, I don't think I have ever been as passionate about something in my entire life as I am about this. I don't read the books to convince myself that what I am doing is right for us - because I strongly believe in what I am doing is soooooo for me and my family (I could not imagine doing anything else!) - I read them to gain as much knowledge as I can on the subject for myself and so that I can also educate other people when they have questions.
For example.... Brenna plays with two twin boys that live right behind us. I love these boys and they all play so great together. They are six years old and currently go to public school. When I first met their Mom (about a year ago) and when she found out I was homeschooing Brenna she told me that was something that she could never do. (Never say never....) Recently she has told me that she is, in fact, considering homeschooling all three of her boys because she is fed up with the public school system. All of her reasons are things that I have been against from the start and reasons as to why I do what I do....

- way too much emphasis on the standardized testing. Apparently there are 23 bench-mark tests throughout the year! Yes!! 23!! In one school year!! That is almost three a month. So they really ARE going to school just to learn how to take a test - sad. And WHY would I want to send my child to public school if the only thing she is going to learn is how to pass a government test?? What exactly are they really learning from that?

- the "bad" kids at the school are making things miserable for all the kids. When the bad kids mess up then the entire class gets punished. "The inmates are winning", she says. This is one huge thing for me. I absolutely DO NOT want to send my kid to public school where she will socialize and hang around kids who I do not know at all. My sister-in-law told me that when she was working in the public school district, she would have little kids (I'm talking 2nd or 3rd grade) tell her all about the horror movie that they went and saw the night before. Just the other day my Dad and I were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital to see my Grandpa and this father was there with his two small children talking to another man. During about a one minute conversation he used about four curse words while his kids were sitting two feet away from him. My Dad looked at me and said, "That is what's wrong with kids today" and basically insinuated that he doesn't blame me for what I am doing.

- the kids don't really get to socialize at school. I just found out that the public school that Brenna would be attending does not allow boys and girls to play together on the playground. What kind of socialization is that? Does that happen in life? Just out of curiosity I looked up the definitions of "socialization" on the Internet and this is what I got.....

1. a continuing process whereby an individual acquires a personal identity and learns the norms, values, behavior, and social skills appropriate to his or her social position.
2. To place under government or group ownership or control. (interesting....)
3. To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable.
4. To convert or adapt to the needs of society.

Does this sound like what is happening in the public schools? Which definition is true in relation to acquiring socialization skills in school? The kids don't get to talk in the cafeteria during lunch; they are not allowed to talk during class and now, apparently, they are not allowed to intermingle with the opposite sex.

Okay, so I am starting to get a little off topic. My whole point was about talking to this Mom who was thinking about homeschooling her three boys. That is why I love to read all the books that I do. When she called me and started asking me questions I had the answers. Not just my opinion but facts.

Okay, so my whole point of this post was to share a passage from this book that I am reading and I got a bit carried away and made this post longer than I had anticipated.
The book I am reading is The Well-Adjusted Child - The Social Benefits of Homeschooling by Rachel Gathercole. I was very excited to find this book because, until now, I was not able to find a book just on the socialization aspect of homeschooling. Almost all touch on it but to have an entire book focused on that one subject was very exhilarating. I am only about a quarter of the way through it but I came across a very interesting piece that I wanted to share. I will post it and then leave my post at that since this has become quite long. I will probably be posting more from this book in the next few days, as well, as I come across things that really move me.

Part of Chapter Three - What is Good Socialization, Anyway?

" Socialization is important. There is not doubt about that. No one wants their child to be a "misfit"; no one wants their child to be lonely, unhappy, or unprepared for future relationships. There is no doubt why the question of children's socialization is an issue for all parents and is a particularly common focus when people think or inquire about homeschooling. Parents, quite rightly, want their children to grow up in a healthy and proper social environment. Concerned citizens want all children to have this opportunity as well.
But unless we know exactly what healthy socialization is, we can not determine what kind of environment encourages it or even whether children - homeschooled, traditionally schooled, or otherwise - are properly or improperly socialized. So just what is good socialization?
This may seem like a simple enough question. But though everyone agrees that socialization is important, there is no commonly understood and accepted definition of "good" socialization. It is not enough to say that good socialization means being "normal". Every individual developes her own idea of what socialization (and even "normal") means and what it should be. There is no standardized test at the end of high school rendering a socialization score, no common objectives for socialization over the course of schooling. There is only happiness and the ability to function well in the world. And even these are very personalized matters.
Indeed, socialization is a very personal concept. We must all chose what kind of socialization we want or feel is appropriate for our children. Is it an ability to "fit in"? To be comfortable being oneself? To get along with others, to stand up for oneself, or both? To blend in or to walk away in the face of peer pressure? Is it preparation to belong to a group? To lead it? The interpretations and perspectives abound. Likewise, as pointed out earlier, the question, " What about socialization?" asked of homeschoolers by a hundred different people can mean a hundred different things. Do homeschoolers have friends? Self-esteem? Do they hold down jobs when they grow up? Are they "cool"? Do their parents smother them? How will they learn to deal with bullies? Learn independence? Sometimes it means one of these things, sometimes several, and sometimes something completely different. One thing is certain: socialization remains an elusive, abstract concept that parents, educators, and citizens alike fear because, in the end, we simply do not know what it is."

Birthday Girl At Last!

So much has happened since I posted last. One huge thing is that my little girl turned 6 years old. Her birthday was Sunday, April 6th. She was so excited about not being 5 anymore and had been looking forward to her birthday for months. :) She had her birthday party at the bowling alley on Saturday and all the kids had such a great time. We had a wonderful turn out and thirteen of Brenna's friends joined her in celebrating. She had a Hannah Montana party (of course!) and she wore her jean skirt with a Hannah t-shirt. I found a really cute hair extention thing with purple and blonde/brown hair that we clipped on her ponytail and she looked adorable. I downloaded all of the pictures from her party to a website so if you want to check all of them out then just click on the link below. (Double click on the first picture and just click "Next" on the right to view them one by one)http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v23/raving_butterfly/Brenna6Birthday/

For her birthday Brenna decided that she wanted to go to the beach. We packed up Sunday morning and spent nearly the whole day there. We took our screened-in porch tent that we use for camping, along with a table, chairs and a cooler full of drinks and food and drove on the beach and found a nice little spot to set up our "day camp". Our friends Jake and Mieree and their daughter Rhiannon met us there. The girls had so much fun together and Brenna went boogie boarding all by herself and did a fantastic job.

After we got home that evening Brenna was relaxing and watching a tv show and Brendon and I surprised her with a piece of her birthday cake from her party with a candle and sang Happy Birthday.

Here are a few pictures from the beach......

So the co-ops that our homeschool group have been doing are going wonderfully. Next week is our last one and we are going to miss going on Wednesdays. We will be doing it again next school year though. Since the co-ops will be ending we will start doing Report Days again as well as field trips.

Here are a few pictures from co-op during "recess" that I wanted to share.