The Zen Life

We have two Shiny Birthdays in November! Jonah turned 9 and Elijah turned 3:

For Jonah's birthday, he chose a Star Wars the Clone Wars themed sleepover (very Awesome indeed!).


Our table ready for the party (you can't see the 6 bottles of soda and huge bowl of potato chips!)






Jonah's cake (a Lego Clone Trooper from Star Wars: The Clone Wars). We LOVE "Ace of Cakes" here--the boys are always challenging me to create cakes that are Duff-Worthy!

Combine that with Jonah's love of Legos (especially the Lego Star Wars video games) and this is what you get!





We light it up! We had about 10 tween boys here that night! What a loud, rollicking, Joyful night that was! We set up a Star Wars marathon--Most of the boys fell alseep by 1am. Our Jonah and Garrett were up until 3am!!! They Love that Claim to Fame!







Jonah gets a Sims game for his DS from Ryan! Garrett got him Tony Hawk for the DS, and Elijah got him MySims for the DS. Are we sensing a theme here?







Grandma and Grandpa Sirotkin got Jonah this model of the solar system complete with a listing of the exact location of all of the planets for each month through 2010. Jonah actually recognized that Venus and Jupiter were going to be visable in the night sky before it was announced in the news!




Elijah's Birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year! What fun! Turkey and Pumpkin Pie AND Cake!!



When asked what kind of cake he wanted Elijah was very kind: "I want a Triangle Cake!" Later he decided it should be yellow and it should have a "1" on it (because, as he explained "I'm number 1!!")






When it was finished (or almost finished) he realized it needed some tweaking! So he made it perfect!







Elijah LOVES to blow out the candles!! (ANY candles!). In this case, they were Shabbat candles! We couldn't find the birthday candles I bought!!!!




In our home, if you are up when it turns midnight on your birthday--you get to open your presents then!! Of course--the kids always stay up!! This year Elijah got a Dora House (Dora is Elijah's FAVORITE!!! Here he spends the midnight hour decorating it!




Love,
Karen

I love this video!! I want to carry it around with me in my pocket and hand it out to anyone who asks me why I homeschool or how can I be sure my unschooled children with learn "the basics". Just Click on one of the Players in the window--Be sure to pause the purple music player (scroll down--it's on the right!)

Okay--so it has been awhile! Admittedly, I have some catching up to do! My goal is to get it all caught up before November ends! Let's see how I do!!






In October, we took a LOVELY camping trip with some other Homeschooling families in the Syracuse area. We had such a great time!!!





I think the whole experience can be summed up by Ryan, who told Mike: "I REALLY Like playing with the other homeschooled kids. They don't pick on my like the kids in school do."






That was a bittersweet moment for us as a family. Ryan and Garrett's mom still refuses to trust in the boys, and honor their wishes to be homeschooled. The frustrations that they feel from their "teachers" and the other kids grow from being in a system that cannot (or will not) honor Who They Are. ::sigh::




We still continue to honor Them when they are with us. And listen to them and their frustrations. Our biggest hope now is that the damage that is done by being in school and by having a parent who doesn't listen to and trust in Who They Are can be mitigated by what we provide for them while they are with us.






So, back to the camping trip! The boys Love Love Love to camp! It was Mid-October when we went, and the boys found a Monarch!!! We were a little concerned that he was a bit to far North for the Migratory pattern. But as Unschoolers--we do not judge Any Being taking It's own time!






On this trip we also discovered Letterboxing! The Joy in Discovery was endless! (This is our stamp!)






The boys loved this personal kind of "treasure hunt". We have continued this since returning home (Blog on Letterboxing to come shortly!).






The first night there we had a pot-luck dinner. The boys had pork-fried rice made by a couple of teen girls in the group, meatball subs, pasta dishes, chili, chips--and of course SMORES!!!







We also put together a Halloween party for the kids!




















Oh the Joy of dressing up and eating Candy and Cupcakes!



And--we can't forget about the Silliness!









The Wonderful, Glorious, Joyful, Silliness that comes so naturally when everyOne is allowed to Be Who They Are!







Love,
Karen

Thanks to Anne Ohman, Pam L, and Alicia B. on the Shine with Unschooling Yahoo Group! They posted their reponses to the questions "What is the definition of an Unschooling parent?" and here is what they had to say (in some cases I have rephrased the response to make it "fit" neatly into my format, but none of these statements were written by me). :

Unschooling Parent Job Description

From that place of knowing what is real and what is True as defined by my children's hearts, I place my feet in the direction of the next right thing to do and I move forward.

Alway remember that this is actually my job description as an unschooling parent: To trust in my children.

It is my job to help my children get what they need and desire in order to live a joyful life.

It is my job to nurture and encourage that which they love to do.

It is my job to be a student of my children and learn about them and learn from them.

It is my job to learn about real learning, watching how the connections are made in my children's lives from focusing on the Joy and allowing their lives and spirits to unfold as they grow and learn.

It is my job to be the person who gives my children the freedom to really learn by playing around with the world.

It is my job to love and support my children as they explore the world on their own terms.

I am not the controller of my children's lives. I am the one who actively brings joy into their lives.

It is my job to first ask: "How can I connect with my children today, expand their worlds, bring joy into their lives, nurture and encourage what they love to do?"

*Enthusiasm* is the best part of my job description! *I* set the tome for my family's energy, and it is not only my job description as an unschooling parent, but my path on my own spiritual growth journey, too, to take each step forward with enthusiasm for live and for the world and for all that I am and for all that I have and for all that we are, collectively . . .

Children are NOT empty vessels that need to be molded and filled. They are the seeds that are packed to the hilt with potential energy. We need only to love and nurture them for them to grow into their life and into the lives around them.

Shhhhhhh.





Breathe.






In deeply,


slowly,


through your nose,


through your diaphragm,


pressing your belly button to your spine.








Out slowly through your nose.


Relaxing your abdomen,


so the air fills your lungs naturally


as you breathe out . . .





Rinse and Repeat.

We had planned on going to the Teen Service for Yom Kippur up until about an hour and a half before it started. Then we decided to ask the boys if they wanted to go to the Teen Services.


And we talked about being each other's cheerleaders as they explore their Uniqueness.








And we explored the beauty of our day and our surroundings.