We are Truly Blessed - Our Newest Blessing

Life continues to surprise us with so many blessings and we were simply thrilled earlier this fall to see our newest little one growing and thriving.  The miracle of life is truly amazing and continues to always bring me and our entire family closer to God and his amazing works. 

Our boys LOVE this picture and think that their little sibling is VERY STRONG!

These four young men are so excited to welcome another BOY into our family this next February.  I adore their brotherly bonds and cannot wait to add another little guy to our mix.

Growing up

Human Sexuality and Theology of the Body for Children

An important topic in any household is Human Sexuality and how to teach it to our children.  My husband and I have discussed this topic a lot within our own marriage, how it was presented to us as children and how we would like to present it to our own children.  We have always been open and receptive to our children's questions, but thought that we had a while before we got to the BIG STUFF.  Well, although our oldest is only 8 1/2 years old, between having a new baby in our family this year (which brings up a LOT of questions) and our oldest being very inquisitive we have learned that we are lot closer to all of the big talks than we thought. 


Here is what we have been doing to prepare.

1.  Pray:  Talking about sexuality and God's design for sex is a big topic and even kind of intimidating for parents to approach.  We have been praying to God and together for us to receive the graces to best present this topic to our children.

2.  Unity within the Family:  Although we have boys we want to talk to our children together as a united couple.  Certainly if they have questions that they just want to ask my husband or I we want to be open to listening, yet want to initiate conversations together. 

3.  Fluidity and Continuity:  We want to continue to talk about sexuality as our children continue to age and have more questions.  Even when our children are very little we teach them the proper names of their body parts and what body parts are meant to keep private.  As our children have more questions we want to continue to engage in conversations rather than just having "One Talk" and then brushing our hands of it.

4.  Modeling Healthy Sexuality and Modesty: I think it is really important that my husband and I prioritize our marriage and also modeling healthy sexuality for our children.  It is important for us to teach proper modesty and privacy within our home.  We teach things like shutting the door when you use the restroom, changing clothes in your room, not walking around the house in your underwear (even for boys!) and as our boys have gotten older giving mom full privacy while in the shower and/ or while getting dressed.  We also want our children to witness the blessings of healthy sexuality within a marriage.  My husband and I will kiss and hug in front of our children and speak to each other in loving words.

5.  Education:  My husband and I first wanted to properly educate ourselves about how we want to present the topic of the gift of sexuality to our children.  We also wanted to have resources available to help us in the discussions with our children.  Here are a few things that we have found that we have read, and will read with our children.

For Parents

• The Truth and Meaning of Human Sexuality by the Pontifical Council for Family

• Beyond the Birds and the Bees:  Raising Sexually Whole and Holy Kids by Greg Popcak

• Theology of the Body for Beginners:  A Basic Introduction to Pope Paul's Sexual Revolution

For the Kids

• Listen, Son (Family Life Education for Boys)

• The Story of Me (God's Design for Sex Book 1) - Recommended for ages 3-5 years old

• Before I Was Born (God's Design for Sex Book 2) - Recommended for ages 5-8 years old

• Wonderfully Made!  Babies:  A Catholic Perspective on How and Why God Makes Babies

• Good Pictures, Bad Pictures:  Porn-Proofing Today's Young Kids

Lots of other people have also given tips of how they address the topic of Human Sexuality with their children and you can find them here:

• Tools for Teaching Healthy Sexuality - National Catholic Reporter
• Teaching Children Healthy Sexuality - Focus on the Family
• Teaching Our Children about Sexuality -My Child I Love You
• Sheltering Kids, How we do it and How we don't - Catholic All Year

Our First Day of School 2017-2018

Here we go with a new year of school!  Homeschooling has truly become a way of life for our family and we are learning to some extent every day throughout the year.  Still, I like having some special traditions and check in's at the "beginning" of each new traditional school year!  We are trying some new things out this year and thrilled to join a co-op of  Catholic Schoolhouse in our community one day a week.  This year we are most excited to, God willing, welcome a new member to our little school in February!  We are blessed that homeschooling grants us the flexibility to flow with life changes in our family.

Ryan-

Age:  7 1/2 years old

Grade: 2nd Grade

Favorite Subject:  Math/Science

Future Occupation:  Priest and Entomologist / Myrmecologist

Connor-

Age:  5 1/2 years old

Grade:  1st Grade

Favorite Subject:  Music/Math

Future Occupation:  Piano Composer/ Farmer

Luke-

Age:  4 years old

Grade:  Pre - Kindergarten

Favorite Subject: Science/ Story time

Future Occupation: Paleontologist

Peter-

Age:  1 1/2 years old 

Grade:  Nursery School

Favorite Subject:  Art/Music/Story time

Future Occupation:  ??

Baby-

Age:  Due February 2018! (Currently 13 weeks)
Grade:  Nursery School
Favorite Subject:  Winning the Hearts of the Family
Future Occupation:  ??

Celebrating 10 Years

My husband and I celebrated our 10th year wedding anniversary this June!  In some ways it feels like it's been a life time and in other ways it has simply flown by.  We've had quite a journey through helping support each other through finishing school, getting new jobs, moving, starting a family and more.  We have been blessed with 7 children including 4 wonderful sons, 2 little saints in Heaven, and 1 on the way!  My husband converted to Catholicism.  We started a journey of homeschooling. We have lost loved family members, had family joys and family trials.  We have lived in 6 different houses within 2 different states.  We have traveled to Illinois, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Kansas, California, The Bahamas, New York, South Carolina, Florida, Mexico and more.  We have owned 1 ferret, 3 dogs, and 8 chickens. It has been quite the journey and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.

 

We were so lucky to be able to sneak away for an early Anniversary trip in May to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  My parents offered that they could help watch the kids for a few days and we jumped immediately on the opportunity to get a little time away!  Usually when my husband and I travel we have always gone to areas where we stay very busy and active with tourism or activities.  This time we decided we wanted to slow down, relax and enjoy each other!  We went to an adult all inclusive resort on the beach and we hardly left.  It was a beautiful way to reconnect.  It's been a wonderful l0 years and I look forward to many more.

 

 

Photo Credit: Flytographer