Homeschooling: OUR STORY

First day of pre-school at home in September 2016

It has been about a year since we started homeschooling Aaron. My initial reasons for wanting to do it when he was still a little toddler have now disappeared. That is for another time, and another blog post in itself. Let's just say it was rooted in a lot of the wrong reasons. But thankfully, a dear friend and sister helped me work through those reasons, and I was able to give it to God. 

Anyway, last year, when we loosely started doing it for pre-school because we had to pull him out of the current school he was attending when I needed to take my maternity leave sooner than expected for health reasons. Financially, we decided not to enroll him in one closer to where we lived and gave homeschooling a shot.

He absolutely LOVED it and totally THRIVED.

When we knew Kindergarten was approaching, Alan and I had to decide what we were going to do. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to continue on with Homeschooling.

"The grass is only greener where God wants you."

The flexibility was awesome. Not having to be somewhere at a certain time and beat the traffic was SUPER convenient. It also helped my health issues since the commutes often flared different ones up. Being able to teach and learn in our pajamas when we wanted was pretty cool. And we were able to teach whatever style we wanted. We could nurture his strengths, while giving him one on one time with his weaknesses. We were able to spend time together. Aaron loved it! It was a better fit for us in our current season, and Aaron was thriving in it. 

But don, don, donnnn....then came baby girl. Having a newborn plus homeschooling was TOUGH. To be honest, I barely had time to do much each day, and was glad the summer was soon approaching. (Yes, homeschoolers sometimes follow the regular calendar year too if they want!) I told myself I should try to see how homeschooling would be like with Annabelle, and let me tell you, it was not cute. 

It was either non-existent, OR I would constantly be frustrated or nagging at Aaron. I felt HORRIBLE (and still do)! Since baby girl wasn't sleeping well, it also trickled into EVERYTHING else, not just with Aaron. So I would often get second thoughts: Maybe we should enroll him. Maybe it'll be better for him. Maybe it'll be better for ME. 

There it was. I was trying to find what worked FOR ME versus asking GOD what it is He wanted FROM me and OF me. The truth is, enrolling him in a public school MAY take away some of the things I was struggling with, but it comes with its own set of new challenges as well.

We often think the grass is greener on the other side...whether it's our marriages/relationships, our jobs, our kids, our housing situation, and in this case, our schooling situation. But friends, the grass is only greener wherever it is God wants you. Wherever that may be, take the time to plant and water there. It won't always be easy, and you may continue to question whether you can do it or should do it, but being where He wants you to be will be the only thing that gives you true peace and satisfaction in the long run, even with the pain, struggles and all.

As for Aaron's schooling situation now, we are constantly asking God what He wants us to do each day, asking for grace and giving that grace to ourselves when we fail, and continuing to find the groove that works for us. He is loving the programs he is in (feel free to email me if you have questions!) and we can't wait to see how God will use them to bring us closer together as a family, closer to our communities, but more importantly, closer to Him. 

And just to clarify, this is NOT a strictly pro-homeschooling post; I know it's not for everyone. It's also not an anti-public school post or belief. I attended public school for my whole K-12 and my undergraduate, so I am a big supporter of it. What I advocate for is doing what is best for YOUR family and what it is GOD wants you to do. Every year, our hope and plan is to take it up with Him what it is He wants for our kids.

"The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps." -Proverbs 16:9  

Lots of Love,
Phoebe Grace

PS- If you are wondering if you should homeschool, you can take this short quiz. After thinking, discussing and praying about it, if you decide to move forward, you can also see what style you are closest to here. 

PPS - Since many of you have asked me where we got some of our materials from when we started his Pre-K years, we got the Tagalog poster, flashcards, and cd here. We also got a book that has both English and Tagalog words in ABC's here. (Thanks to my friend Nic for that one!) We got his classroom calendar kit here, daily schedule here, and other products, such as Spanish posters from their store front as well. The Dollar Tree was another great resource of workbooks, especially in the beginning of the school year! 

This is what our school area looked like in September 2016. It has since evolved and has WAY more stuff than shown above, and sometimes not in a good way...lol

Perfectionism Paralyzes

I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog post.

A lot has happened in the last year, including getting pregnant with our baby girl and transitioning to life with a newborn. 

Although those can be very valid reasons of why I've been quiet, the truth is, perfectionism was the reason.  The truth is, that I could have been sharing so many aspects of my life in the last 12 months- from the pregnancy, to trying out homeschooling, health flare ups, decorating, organizing, my home birth experience, basically...anything in my life! I mean, that is what a blog is for, right? Sharing?! Whether it be thoughts, ideas, emotions, tips, experiences, etc., and here I was, not sharing because I was waiting for the perfect moment, the perfect words, the perfect message, the perfect layout, the perfect pictures.

I've done this with more than just the blog. I haven't made some of my photo albums on Facebook visible to friends yet because I wanted to have the right captions, description and all photos compiled. So as of now, only those that are tagged in the photos can see them (uhmmm, it goes back to Christmas and it's July...HELLO!) 

The combined birthday shower that was in February...I am JUST now finishing up my thank you cards. (Eeek!)

Or how about how I have been meaning to share my birth story with Annabelle and why we chose home birth this time around. Uh, she's almost 3 1/2 months! Oh mylanta!

Or how I've felt the tug to have some conversations with some folks in my life...but have been putting it off because of not having the "right" words or the "right" moment.

It's been on my heart the last few weeks to really let go of perfectionism.

To let go of fear of being rejected if things aren't perfect...because honestly, even when they are, there is always going to be at least one person that still says something or still rejects you. 

To let go of the doubt I feel on whether what I am sharing is helpful or if anyone cares...because if it could help even one person, that is more than enough...and because if I feel God is leading me to do something, it doesn't matter the reason- I will go. 

And the truth is, even when I am completely imperfect, or if I am rejected, or constantly doubtful, I have a God who loves me perfectly, never rejects me and created my most inward parts. And when I remind myself of that over and over and over again, and when I go back to believing it in my heart, the perfectionism paralysis dissipates. Instead, life becomes so FREEING.

So this is my public declaration of giving myself more permission to LET GO, BE FREE (in His love and approval), and ACT! 

Here's to blog posts that may not make sense, tons of typos, imperfect photos and formatting, stuttering and rambling in videos, photos with no captions, late uploading,and probably late of a lot of stuff!  

And while I will most definitely work on bettering each of those areas, DONE is better than STUCK.  

Who of my fellow recovering perfectionists are with me?!

Lots of Love, 

Phoebe Grace  

Greek Zucchini Salad in a Mason Jar

This is one of our favorites in the house!

With the many healthy food aversions I have been having this pregnancy, I was excited when hubby wanted to include this as part of our meals this week. I have been struggling with getting in all my vegetable servings in a day, so I am hoping trying this after sometime, it won't be a food aversion anymore. I loved it pre-pregnancy!

We got the idea here at Team Beachbody's Blog, and made our own modifications to it. 

We used these mason jars, and the veggetti to spiralize our zucchini. For smaller amounts, we have the smaller version you can get by clicking here. If you prefer the bigger one for larger quantities, you can get that here. 

We doubled up on the dressing because the servings allotted weren't enough. We also didn't put it on the bottom. It was hard for me to scoop it out when it was time to eat. So now, we place them in these small containers. We had these leftover for when I made baby food for Aaron, but if you prefer glass containers, here are a few options: baby food glass container jars or smaller mason jars. 

For my 21 day fixers that are using the containers, if you follow the recipe from the original blog, it counts for 2 greens, 1/2 blue and 1/2 an orange. If you double up the dressing like we do, it will be 1 blue and 1 orange. There are other breakdowns for other programs as well. We also add protein in ours, so it also counts as 1 red. Sometimes we add more vegetables and protein, and sometimes we swap the type of vegetables; there are a lot of ways to totally make this to your liking!

Let me know if you try it and what customizations you do to fit your style!

Lots of Love,
Phoebe Grace

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GREEK ZUCCHINI SALAD IN A MASON JAR

For a printable version, click here. 

DRESSING

• 1 ripe medium avocado, cut into cubes

• 1/2 cup reduced-fat (2%) plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt sometimes)

• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 2 shallot, finely chopped (or 4 Tbsp. red onion)

• 4 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

• 4 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

SALAD

• 1 package of ground turkey (about 1.5 lbs)

• ½ cup sliced celery

• ½ cup thinly sliced red bell peppers

• ½ cup thinly sliced red onion

• ½ cup sliced cucumber

• 6 cups shredded spinach

• ½ cup halved cherry tomatoes

• 2 medium zucchini

• ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

DIRECTIONS:

For DRESSING:
1. Place avocado, yogurt, garlic, shallot or red onion, lemon juice, and parsley in a blender. Blend until smooth. Evenly divide dressing between mini containers. Set aside.

For SALAD:
1. Brown ground turkey and season as you prefer. I use sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and a little bit of cumin and cayenne pepper.
 
2. Drain ground turkey and evenly divide into 4 mason jars.

3. Evenly layer celery, bell peppers, onion, cucumber, spinach, and tomatoes in jars. 

4. Using the veggetti, spiralize the zucchini and evenly divide into mason jars. Remove peel first if desired.

5. Place feta cheese on top.

6. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Shake before serving.