Our Crazy Pet Sitting Summer!

It started innocently enough.  A little comment to Andrew while we were watching a friend's pet.  Something along the lines of how this could be a job for them when they get older, and how a lot of people make money by pet sitting.  A few hours later, the boys came to me with a name, The Watch Dogs Pet Sitting, and a mission to make some spending money.  I love social media for times like this.  I made one post about the business starting up, and my wonderful friends responded in such a huge way.  As of this post, The Watch Dogs have watched pets every day we've been home this summer (we even had to turn down some jobs while we were on vacations or out of town!), and are fully booked through July with 3 different households.  They are currently watching 2 dogs, 4 cats, several fish, and 3 toads.  Every day around noon we make our pet sitting rounds.

I am so honored to have friends that trust my boys to take care of their pets while they are out of town.  And I'm so proud of my boys doing such a good job!  They really are, and that is a fun thing to watch.  They really enjoy it!  And, they REALLY enjoy making their own money.  :)

Lucas is still the animal lover.  He enjoys watching and spending time with them all, and feels pretty certain he would like to continue volunteering and working with animals in the future. Andrew  has decided that, while he likes pet sitting, he'd really like to start baby sitting.  Always the people person.  I had to break it to him that he's still a little young, only being 10, but I'm sure, in the future, he'll be a wonderful sitter.  He already volunteers with me in the church nursery once a month, and it's so fun to watch him interact with the littles.  He's stepped up as the spokesman for The Watch Dogs, and loves the interaction with the owners.

This has been a summer of growth for the boys as they've taken on some responsibility, and have stepped up to the plate.  I can see it shaping their future goals and helping them discover a little about themselves, their strengths, and what they like to do. While all parents worry and wonder about their child's future, those of us with special needs kiddos worry differently.  Will my child be self sufficient?  Will they need assistance throughout their life?  Will they find a niche and thrive?  I have 2 that I worry about.  Some people have more. I can't imagine.  As it is, the fear of when I'm gone, knowing they won't have a "typical" sibling to watch out for them, is terrifying.

Seeing them grow so much this summer, however, and watching people take a chance on them, has been a wonderful thing.  Balm for the soul and a little respite from the worry.

Fresh Year, New Start, Back to Blogging!

What a year we had last year!  It was good in so many ways, but also challenging.  Challenging enough that I felt the need to back off the blogging, and focus on my kiddos, our family, and our homeschooling journey.

I don't want to call it a bad homeschool year.  The boys learned a lot, we made many discoveries, and had a lot of fun.  We took some classes, went on awesome field trips, and continued making educational strides.  Despite the good, it was still a year of some soul-searching and homeschool growing pains. 

We started the year with things all planned out.  The school room was painted, decorated, curriculum ordered (My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures), and everything very planned and scheduled.  I quickly discovered that MFW was NOT going to be a good fit for my kiddos now that they had advanced into the multi-year curriculum (3rd-8th grade), and after about the first week, my planned, organized, prayed over year was falling apart at the seams.  Not the best way to start a new year, to say the least.

We never really recovered, and the "bad fit" seemed to spread into every curriculum choice we had made.  We had a "wondering" year, where nothing really seemed to go as planned, and we spent the year meandering through different curricula and educational philosophies.  In the end, though, it all worked out for the best.  God, once again, knew what he was doing, and was guiding me in the direction I need to go.  I grew so much last year, as did the boys, and having a year like we did, allowed me the confidence to go out on my own a lot more.  We will probably never go back to the all-in-one curriculum, and I am much more able to recognize what my kiddos need, enjoy, and how they learn.

Another thing I realized is that I miss blogging our adventures!  I don't think I'm the best blogger in the world, I'm way too sporadic, I forget to proofread and edit on occasion, and I'm usually pretty far behind.  BUT, I really enjoy looking back and seeing the highlight reel!  So, here we go again!  My next post will be our plan for next year.  We are using so many different choices and pulling from many different places.  I am excited for September!  I'm going to sign off with some pictures from our last school year.  It really was a GREAT year in so many ways.