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Love It!

I love this!

AWOL

I have been SERIOUSLY AWOL the past few weeks. I never knew that getting a house ready to sell, selling it and looking for a new one, not to mention packing was so time consuming. Truly, I think finding our new home was the most intense part of all of this. That coupled with carting Noah back and forth to school, soccer and playdates. Compound that with working and all of my volunteer activities and you have one behind on blogging Mama.

Well, hopefully I'm back!

I was looking for a Lonestar song to add to my blog music and came across this really sad song they did about keeping the kids little. Oh, it was so sad. So, I'm now blogging again in a serious manner in further effort to document EVERY moment of Noah's precious life.

Goddess! The last 7 years have flown by. That's probably why he still sleeps with Nathan or I half of the time. We see the days and moments going by and we want to hold on to him tightly.

So, here are some snapshots from the last few months so as to catch you up.

Noah and BFF

Here is Noah with BFF Cole. Noah and Cole have been friends since his mom Suzanne and I met in childbirth class over 7 years ago.

Soccer Star

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Pink Eye

Never before and hopefully never again. Last night Noah came in from a nearly all day play session with the cutie from next door saying his eye was hurting. We told him to wash his eye with a washcloth. It seemed to help. Apparently not enough. He awoke this morning with a red crusty eye. EEWWW! Pink Eye. I cleaned it out again and gave it a couple of hours before heading over to the FNP at Walgreens. Yep. It crusted up again. So...I left it and we headed over. Yes, it is pink eye. So, we are home now with an antibiotic for his eye. We are washing our hands a lot today and Noah is getting drops in his eye every two hours. Though it has been a mostly good day, giving him these drops is not high on my list of fun things to do. Have a great day.

The Trapeze Artist and the Sun

That's My Boy

Every night since time untold I have fallen asleep reading. I don't know how many nights Nathan has come in the bedroom to find me asleep with my book of choice lying across my chest. So, it should come as no surprise that I've given birth to a reader who most often falls asleep in the same manner.

First Day of School

The Big Day!

I know you are anxiously awaiting my report on the first day of school. The night before was a flurry of activity as we got all of our things together to get Noah to school on Wednesday. We all tried to get into bed early, though it was somewhat difficult. I think I finally fell into an exhausted sleep around 10PM.

I woke up around 5:30 and got up and began to get ready for our day. I woke Noah up at 6:30 and he immediately began crying "I do not want to go to school." He was crying so hard and I began crying and we cried together as I told him how much I love him and how special the time we've had is and how blessed we have been that he has gotten to stay home with me and I truly mean it. Nathan came in and we all hugged and then it was all okay. We finished getting ready and headed off to school.

Luckily, only the grades were coming on the first day not early childhood as it cut down a little on the craziness of the first day. We went in and greeted the teacher, Miss Wang and got Noah situated and then we left before I really lost it. I don't know how many people over the course of the morning asked me if I was okay. I guess the tears on my cheeks showed most of the day.

Nathan and I made our way down to the sanctuary (Noah's school rents out space in a church for the school) and we awaited all of the children to come in for the first day of school assembly. Each of the 1st graders had to walk across the stage and be presented a rose by the 8th graders as a symbol of welcome to the grades program.

After, Nathan and I left and went to visit his grandmother Allene in her senior living community in Brentwood. Unfortunately Grandma is in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's and added to the emotions of the morning, I had to excuse myself to the lobby where I sat gathering myself until time to return to pick up Noah from school.

We returned and waiting for the children to be let out of class and Noah came out all smiles. He had a great morning and each morning since has been happy to go to school. He is getting used to the schedule and loves the teacher and has made friends quickly, as I knew he would.

His teacher has told me repeatedly what a "good boy" and a "delight" he is to have in class. She is so sincere when she says it. As he has come home and reported that some of the children have been naughty in class, I know his behavior has been wonderful. It distresses him to see other children be mean to each other but especially to teachers. I guess we've done something right.

Other things we've done right: he loves books and is a great reader, well above his age; he says he loves math and grasps advanced math concepts; I could go on but that would be bragging!

Have a great day today with your child.

2 Days and Counting

I guess you are wondering what happened to the last 5 days!

Thursday: We vegged out at home, then Aunt ZiZi came over
Friday: Play date at Michelle's, then dinner and the Olympics with Dad and ZiZi
Saturday: Slept in! Afternoon at the Manchester pool, see slideshow below
Sunday: House hunting then a small party for Noah's class at school

Today Noah has a close friend playing over. They had a fun spend the night last night and are just playing today. Tonight we will begin our new nighttime routine getting us ready for school. Wish us luck!

7 Days and Counting

Well, we had a blast today. We met some other parents and kids from Noah's class at Nashville Shores, a local water park. I can report that my Sunshine immediately wanted to hit the big slides. Gulp! No, let's get settled and go potty and do all of those fun things and then evaluate where to go first. In other words, let Mommy put off the big scary slide as long as possible.

He was not to be deterred.

So, after going to the lily pad obstacle course and showing his strength at that, we headed for, gulp, said big scary slide. Of course, I am not going down. But, I did walk him up. Thank goodness, the only dad with our group was up at the top with two of the other kids. Can Noah go down with you? Sure! Whew. So, I hurry back down the four flights of stairs and await my little guy at the bottom in the scary whirlpool at the bottom. After many waves and blown kisses between my very big very brave boy who is at the top and scared Mommy at the bottom, it was his turn. Down, down, down he came and splash. I'm okay. He's okay. He bounced up from the bottom and swam hard to get to the ladder on the side.

Look at you! You did it!

Do you want to go again?

No.

Why?

It hurt my back.

He has done slides before and I know he was not scared. One of the moms had told me the slide hurts your back, so he was telling the truth (as if he would not).

So, we spent the rest of the day swimming, doing the lily pads and then playing mini golf. We are going back this weekend with Nathan so they can do the tube slides. I can't wait.

2-Wheeler

My story begins a couple of weeks ago. Noah requested that his training wheels be removed from his bike. Okay. I'm a little nervous. Not a very brave child normally, this is sort of going out on a limb. I take them off. That day I was on the upswing from a nasty sinus infection so I only had about 5 minutes in me to push him up and down the driveway trying to get a feel for a 2-wheeler. A couple of times over the next week or so, Nathan works with him a little until one or both of them became frustrated.

Next came Thursday night of last week. It was a lovely night, a little cool. Noah had been playing all day outside with the neighbors and was exhausted but wanted to try the bike again. This time, we do it in the backyard. This is a little tougher but with a softer landing should anything happen. Within four or five tries, Nathan was able to let go of the back of his bike. In an hour, Noah was outside in the cul-de-sac riding confidently in circles. He hasn't looked back.

He was so proud of himself. He really realized that had accomplished a major feat and this really put him in league with the kids out on the street! We are so proud of him. The only downside is his legs will soon be too long for him to ride his bike easily. We bought the cheapest bike we could find as the first bike - the trainer bike. I guess the next one will be serious!

Charlotte's Web

For quite some time, CW has been a favorite of mine and Noah's. We listen to it regularly in the car and even took him to see the big screen version. A few days ago, I decided that it was not neccessary for Noah to have a large bin of toys and books in the car. He does not have to be entertained 24 hours a day and in fact I think it negatively impacts his listening skills. So, it all went. But, I neglected to take out our new copy of CW that was in a pocket on my seat back.

Being somewhat bored, Noah spotted it and pulled it out and stated, "I'm going to read all of CW to you." Okay. That's what he's been doing. Every day in the car, he reads as much as he can. It is slow going but with a couple of exceptions, he has read it with no help from me. He has gotten stuck on a couple of words, such as "replied" and "sight" but he is doing so well. I am so glad I took everything out of the car.

He loves being read to but has said he hates reading. Now, he says, "Mom, I love to read!" A good day, folks, and a good feeling.

Peace Out.

Dana

School....Here We Come!

Well, we did it. After months of agonizing over what is the best choice to give Noah the best environment in which to learn and grow through education, we have enrolled Noah in our local Waldorf school. You may recall that he attended preschool there two days per week prior to keeping him home for two years. He really loved it there but for many reasons we decided to keep him home, namely we felt we owed it to ourselves and to him to give homeschooling a try as we really do believe it to be an incredibly valid option for our children.

We have basically completed his kindergarten year and we had many ups and downs. All I can say is when it was good it was great and when it was bad....boy was it. Noah is incredibly gifted and empathic and also very strong willed. As his Mother, of course, I can handle it. But, we promised ourselves that if Noah was not thriving and loving it and if I was not loving it, we would enroll him in school.

Truthfully, I love educating Noah. And, that will not end (there are always Summers!) As his parents, it is our duty and our promise to always further his education in any way we can. But, Noah is so much happier when surrounded by peers and at this age he is desperately trying to establish his independence from Mom, just as it should be. I think that is the part that breaks my heart. But, never fear, I have put my stamp upon him!

I have realized this week that I want to educate him spiritually and emotionally and help him grow in those ways to be the best person he can be. It is difficult to do that when my focus is on teaching him to read. I am hopeful that by allowing someone else to educate him from 9 to 3 that he and I can focus on his spiritual training, which is something that he loves discussing. The mention of God brings tears to his eyes and he can spot a Buddha a mile away.

I am thrilled about his teacher. She is a fabulous Chinese woman who decorates her room with Chinese characters. I am told she teaches her students Chinese, though Spanish is what the school teaches officially. I really think this will be a great fit.

So, there will be new types of adventures for me to post on my blog once school starts. For now, I am anxiously awaiting summer camp to begin...................

The Wildest Animal in the Kingdom

The Wildest Animal in the Kingdom

We couldn't believe it. Noah wanted to get his face painted. This was so unlike him. He is usually a little too nervous to do this type of thing. Here is our "Little Tiger." Roar!

Posted by Dana at 9:14 PM

Croy Kid Blog Posts from April 2008

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Soccer Star

Hi guys. Well, we are in our 4th season of soccer. Noah really enjoys playing and is very excited to be on the purple team this season - his lucky color. The kids really do little more than run around trying to kick the ball at this age. There are one or two on each team that are real go getters, but for the most part it's all fun. Here are a few shots of Noah in action....

Soccer Star

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Big News

I know you've been waiting....here are some photos of Lucy and her kittens, just minutes after birth. It is now 2 weeks later and the kittens (there are 2) are fuzzy and just starting to walk. Their eyes are open and they are very sweet.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Hedgie

Normally on Thursdays we spend the afternoon at a local park and then Biology class. Last week our class was meeting a local wetland area and due to the torrential rains we were having, we skipped class to go and play at the Discovery Center. Noah always has fun there but the big delight was seeing "Hedgie." We are fans of Jan Brett and Noah loves her "Hedgie" character. The DC has a hedgehog in residence and it was brought out that afternoon. Enjoy the pics of "Hedgie" and the Discovery Center.

Camping

This week we had the privilege of going RV camping with two other homeschool moms and their children to the beautiful Fall Creek Falls State Park. I won't go into lots of details or gush over what fun we had and what a great experience it was for Noah and I, but I am posting some pics to give you an idea of all of those things. Also, both families will be moving far away from us soon, so it was a great opportunity to hang with these friends before going our separate ways. Happy Homeschooling!

Dana

Croy Kid Blog Post from January 2008

Train Them Young

Noah: "Mom, where did this book come from?"
Me: "What book?"
N: "This Bible stories book."
M: "Well, it is a book of Bible stories by Tomie DePaola."
N: "Yeah, but where did it come from?"
M: "Well, a group of men many years ago...."
N: "No, Mom, where did WE get THIS book?"
M: "Oh, from church."
N: "I didn't know there were Bibles at church."
M: Dying with laughter!
So, I say to Nathan later...."Do you still think the UU church is indoctrinating him?"
(He has nothing to say as he is laughing is A*# off!)

And, so you have it folks....

Monday, January 21, 2008

Great Quote

“It's taken for granted in adult society that we cannot all be generalists skilled in every area of learning and mastery. Nevertheless, we apply tremendous pressure on our children to be good at everything. Every day they are expected to shine in math, reading, writing, speaking, spelling, memorization, comprehension, problem solving, socialization, athletics, and following verbal directions. Few if any children can master all of these trades. And none of us adults can. In one way or another, all minds have their specialties and their frailties.” Dr. Mel Levine

Monday, January 14, 2008

Good News!

Good news....Nathan's company is sending us to the Happiest Place on Earth! Bad news....Nathan's company is sending us to the Happiest Place on Earth. Here is a copy of the email I sent Nathan today as I begin to plan our trip:

"Okay. This is F*&KING ridiculous. 4 days of "FUN" at the "WORLD'S HAPPIEST PLACE" would cost our little family approximately $800.00, and that's just entry to the park. Okay. Calm down. I'm talking to myself by the way.

We can do this. Oh wait, let me vent some more. If there was a space shuttle launch and we wanted to view it, it would cost os $38.00 a person. Do they know that tax payer dollars pay for that and they want to charge me more money? Are they insane?

Who can afford this stuff? Apparently we are doing something very wrong in our life because we can't afford to pay the thousand dollars it takes to take our 6 year old son to see Mickey Mouse.

Okay, deep breath.

I'm sorry. I read that wrong. It's $38.00 to just get in to the Kennedy Space Center. That doesn't include a shuttle launch or lunch with an astronaut. That's extra.

I now see why Clark Griswald took matters into his own hands....and that waas 25 years ago.

The big thing is figuring out do we go before our after. There are some neat wildlife refuges down along the coast, about an hour away from Orlando. I'm guessing they are not $70.00 per day per person. So...if we planned on doing two days of Disney World and MAYBE - a big Maybe - Sea World - at $50.00 per day and spend one day in the pool, if it is warm enough, then it may be okay. Provided Noah and I pack our lunches down and back and we plan on renting the fridge in room to keep some snacks as we certainly can't afford to eat while we are there, not to mention buying a frigging pair of mouse ears......."

Monday, January 7, 2008

Top 10 Reasons I Homeschool

1. Parents should always be a child's first and primary teachers.

2. We are liberal and want Noah's education to be liberally influenced.

3. We want to choose what Noah is taught, not the Federal Government.

4. 6 weeks to 6 years. A 5 year old is too young to have a full time job or be away from their parents for 7 hours per day. A young child needs the influence of parents, grandparents, etc. and should not be subject to navigating the world alone without parental guidance.

5. Children's emotional and spiritual needs are as important if not more than an academic or a mental need. Emotional and spiritual needs cannot be addressed at a public school or many typical private schools.

6. For every study that recommends the pursuit of academics at a young age, there are studies condemning those pursuits and show the possible damage they can do. We believe in the balance between study and play and at home our son can get both.

7. The definitions of socialization are as follows:

(1.) To place under government or group ownership or control.

(2.) To make fit for companionship with others; make sociable.

(3.) To convert or adapt to the needs of society.
We do not believe in government control. We do want our son to be sociable - all of you who know him know this is not a problem for him. We realize we have to get along in society but are non-conformist by nature and by choice. So....we do not impose conformity on our son, though school definitely would.

8. It is important that Noah develop strong relationships with his elder family members, especially the grand parents and great grandparents and he gets extra time for these things by homeschooling.

9. The Field Trips!

10. Noah does not want to go to school.

Did I say 10...

11. We believe in magic. We teach our son about the magic of the world and do not want that stamped out of him in public school or in a setting where he is around lots of people who do not believe there is magic in the world.

Loose Tooth!

As I was sitting across from the Croy kid doing schoolwork, something appeared amiss about his face. I stared for a minute and then realized one of his teeth was crooked. Come here, I said. He came over and I, being the typical mom that I am, immediately stuck my hand in his mouth. You have a loose tooth, I said! We immediately called Dad Nathan and are all so excited. Noah has been more than a little stressed that many of his friends, some a month or two younger, have lost teeth and he has not. Ah....my baby is growing up. He is losing his milk teeth. Soon he will be passing from the dream time into a greater awareness of the world.

Bittersweet is my life.

I love You Noah.

Mom

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Home Again

Well, we are trying it again. Noah is emphatic that he is not going to school right now. I have to admit that the idea of sending him to school when he is so against it, facing a move and an adoption does not sound good to me. My concern is that he will associate all of these things with school and hate it. So, we are spending time talking about school and trying to get him excited about it. This gives us time to decide where we are sending him for first grade and decide where we are moving.

So, we are forging ahead with our current schedule and adding to it one day of "school" for Noah. My friend Kara, a homeschool mom with a masters in education, has graciously offered to take Noah into her homeschool one day a week. I think this will solve many of our current woes. Noah will hopefully get a taste for a more formal educational experience. He will get the opportunity to listen to another adult and actually learn that sometimes he just has to comply. I would love to say he will learn things like working cooperatively, but he already knows those things after 6 years of living on the cul-de-sac with all of these kids that play together all of the time. He will get more independence from me, which is a good thing ( I think ).

I will get nearly 6 uninterrupted hours of getting things done. I can run errands, clean, maybe get some painting done, do Taste of Home work and who knows what else. My hopes are high. I really hope this works out!

Yesterday we took one of the neighbor's with us to one of those overpriced jump places. It was nice. The boys jumped for two hours while I read a new book I picked up called The Historian. The little boy was telling Noah that school is fun. I asked him what he liked and he said gym, recess and lunch. Hmmm.....that's what....1.5 hours of the 7 hour day? I don't think so. If we have to, we'll keep Noah home until we can afford the private school of our choice.

For now, we have a kindergartner becoming quite proficient in reading, who is a math whiz, loves science experiments and crafts and has finally mastered cutting and pasting. Not bad for only one semester of homeschool kindergarten.

Now, read my next blog where I actually list all of my reasons for homeschooling. I have to keep reminding myself of these things so I can continue down this path. For those of you considering homeschooling, it is not for the faint at heart. Last semester was very difficult. I think that with the schedule changes along with implementing the gold star reward system, things are on the upswing.

One more thing....on rewards....my personal philosophy is that Noah should be agreeable and do what we ask because....well....I said so. I mean really, he's 6 for goodness sakes. Should he be this disagreeable already? I think not. But, we were given a good Capricorn child who is very stubborn and wants what he wants all of the time. We tried for several weeks taking things away from him and realized pretty quickly that this was not working. Due to a suggestion from my friend Kara, Noah's new "teacher", we have set up a rewards system. Now, when Noah is cooperative and gets all of his things done with no complaining, he gets a gold star. These are not special treats folks. Essentially, I took things like 1/2 per day of TV time, 1/2 per day of computer time, getting to invite a friend over, a piece of candy per day and the chance to take a bath instead of a shower and made those things his rewards.

Many books would tell us that rewards are bad and that our children should comply out of the goodness of their hearts. But, think about it. Do you work out of the goodness of your heart? No, you get a big reward, a paycheck. Many things in this world give us rewards of sorts. We do something and get an outcome, a reward. So, that's my justification. If this gets us over this hurtle, then it works for me. Bargaining, pleading, screaming, threatening, spanking, punishing....none of those things work for Noah. What works for us is Love and Rewards. This week has been much better thanks to these changes. Noah is learning that he cannot take for granted these things and he has responsibilities. He does not get a gold star in the morning until he has eaten breakfast, gotten dresses, made his bed and done his morning homeschool assignments. The entire day goes like this. Try it folks. It works.

Have a great day.

Dana

Croy Kid Blog Post from December 2007

The moment you have all been waiting for is here. Our 2007 Gingerbread House. Prize Winning, don't you think? Noah thinks it is beautiful. Ahh....love is blind. Actually, it is these things that remind me that I am not nearly as grateful as I think he should be. Yes, that is what I said. Well, for those of you I spoke with later today, it did harden and with any luck, will last through at least Yule.

Last year, we used graham crackers as we were doing our first house. It was so cute. This year, we purchased a mix from Williams-Sonoma, gotta be good, right? Well, it was , but not nearly enough. Next year we may try to mixes! No, next year we will move up to home made and instead of winging the design, I will print a template off the computer.

I have to tell you, I had royal icing EVERYWHERE. I suspect I'll be finding it in weird places, like in the silverware drawer, for the next few days. True to form, I made it nice and Pagan with our pentagram on both sides of the Peace sign in front of the house.

Noah asked if we could call it our Faery Gingerbread House. Of course we can.

Well, it was big fun. If you have little ones, I highly recommend this project, even if you do it with graham crackers. The icing is a breeze....some confectioners sugar, cream of tarter and egg whites. With the crackers and candy this is easily a $10.00 project.

Well, have fun and come back next year to see what we do next!

Peace Out.


Happy Anticipation!


A Gingerbread Man is Born.



Uhm....doesn't look like a house.



Gingerbread Mama


The Final Product

Croy Kid Blog Post from October 2007

A couple of weeks prior to Halloween, we were able to go to a wonderful place called Walden Pumpkin Farm. This is Noah's 3rd visit there. It has grown since our last visit and so many people go there. But, it is a wonderful place to create a family tradition. I included above some photos of the Croys at the farm. Notice how tall Noah is compared to the hay bails. I nearly cried. The first year he went he was hidden by the hay. He's growing up every day more and more. It's wonderful and sad all at the same time.



Farmer Noah


Hayride


The last of the pumpkins




October 31, 2007

Spoooooooky

What fun we have on Halloween. The past few years we have had a smaller block party and then we trick or treat with the neighbors. This year, we moms sent the kids out with the dads and we stayed behind and handed out candy. It was lots of fun. The dads had lots of fun and just followed the kids wherever they went. Last year Noah purchased a cowboy costume and wore it this year. He picked out a vampire costume for Nathan and I went as Hermione from Harry Potter. Next year I'll be Professor McGonagall. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Happy Halloween!