06/15/24
We experienced and celebrated the fruit of our homeschool year this month. Hannah has been a rockstar, educating and taking care of our four older girls while also caring for the baby. The kids are most excited about their musical accomplishments this year. They’ve been taking classes through Foothill Musical Arts. Ashlinn continued with violin, piano, and choir, and she also started playing clarinet with the beginning band this year. Carys continued with flute in intermediate band and joined the choir. Elena continued with piano and choir and added saxophone in the beginning band this year, and Evangeline continued with choir and added violin. Their spring concert and recital were amazing! I’m grateful for the growth in their confidence and the many friends they’ve made in the program, and I’m thankful that they are unlocking the joy of making music in community. Also, their music skills have grown to the point where we can enjoy jam sessions at home together, which I’ve been dreaming of their whole lives. Even more than the musical things, I see our kids growing in their compassion, strategic thinking, gratitude, and desire to be a positive influence in their groups.
Elena, Evangeline, and I planted a couple of corn stalks together that seem to be growing well. The two of them have also dedicated themselves to cleaning up their very cluttered room so they can set everything up better for the year ahead. Sometimes I find their intense motivation overwhelming because helping them clean their room isn’t my top priority, but I’m very glad to see them excited about changing their environment to support their goals.
Baby Annaliese is growing in her leadership skills too. She often grabs my hand and tugs me toward a bin of blocks, saying, “Play…play.” She also presses books into my hand and says, “Read…story.” Then she sits down in a spot, vigorously pats the spot next to her, and urgently exclaims/commands, “Sit sit!” She also enjoys walks around the neighborhood, where she enthusiastically greets neighbors and points out all the objects she can recognize.
We’ve been learning together about how to create more encouraging conversations. Most recently, we’ve focused on thanking people for specific things, sharing how those things helped us, and acknowledging what the person gave to make it happen for us. I shared with Elena and Evangeline how I had told a worker at Del Taco, “Thanks for bringing good energy to your work. It really makes a difference in our experience.” As she prepared our order, she told a couple of her coworkers proudly, “He said I brought the good energy.” With a big smile, Elena replied, “Wow! That’s pretty cool.” They were both excited to try this “power thank you” technique on their mom, and it made a big difference that day.
Thanks so much for sharing a slice of your day with us. Blessings until next time!