Learning and growing

Hello lovely readers,

Sorry long time no blog, I just haven't really known what to write about. But I've put a lot of time and thought into this blog and I hope you get a lot from it. Two weeks ago we went to the homeschool convention which was actually a lot of fun. It really gave me a lot to think about and grow with and I didn't really know what to say. Justin and I went to two talks about self-governing which is really a cool concept where you give your children the opportunity to think about what they want to do and guide them in the right direction. I didn't really know the definition of it before we went to the homeschool convention but that's how my parents raised me and my siblings. I think it's a really great way to grow up because it gives you the freedom you need to learn with the love and guidance from someone who will be by your side no matter what.

I've taken a lot of time to think about it and I've realized that, that was a really cool way to grow up. Having my parents teach us in a way of self-governing taught me so much without even realizing how much I was actually learning and growing in the moment. My parents didn't grow up the way they raised me and I feel really fortunate that my parents wanted to give us a life that they desired to have. Growing up I felt like any other child. I felt my parents had too many rules and they were way too strict. It turns out to be just want I needed for me in my personality. They were doing all the things I really needed them to do. my siblings we're raised a little less strict than me, which makes total sense now that I'm 31. My siblings personalities were different. My parents had to learn and grow with each one of us. They were stricter with me then my brother and they were stricter with my brother more than my sister. It didn't always seem fair but it was worked best for each of our personalities.

My parents taught me some of the best lessons of my life. While they were teaching me these lessons, I couldn't stand it, I felt they were nagging me and saying things I already knew. But I was wrong and it has taken a really long time to realize what some of those lessons were. And to this day I am still learning from the lessons that they've given me as a child. I often find myself in the same situations I was in as a child with Myla, but I'm the mom now. I don't always know the best way to respond in those situations as a mother, but I think back to when I was a child and I was in those situations and the way my mother made me feel as she taught me each of them. My mother did a great job teaching me in those situations and I couldn't more grateful. Then in other situations I put her in where she wasn't sure how to react I learned a lot. Even to this day I take those learning experiences and use them in my reactions to experiences in my life. I am so grateful for my parents, thank you

One of the things we want in human nature is to leave our legacy behind. There are several ways to do this. You can become so popular that you become a historical person people read about in the future. You can invent something that's so life-changing that everyone has a story to tell, or you can pass on your wisdom and your story lives on through the actions of others. My parents and their relatives who taught them are the last of the latter. They continue to teach us kindness, happiness, empathy, calmness, compassion, discipline, respect, ownership and so much more. Then myself, and my siblings, and my spouse, and my children take those lessons they taught us and those emotions and we go out and shine them on the world. And then we share the stories of the people who taught us those amazing things and their legacy lives on forever.

I hope that I can teach my children to self-govern. I hope that they learn to care deeply for those they love, I hope they learn to work hard and take care of what they love, and I hope they express it to those they love daily. After going to the homeschool convention, I have really been trying to think about being calm in stressful situations. I've been trying to take a step back and think about my actions before they jump out. I'm ready to teach my children to be happy, to be weird, and to really enjoy life. I know I'll be successful because I had such great teachers in my life. That's not just my parents. It's the people I've met and I've held very dear to my heart. I hope everyone knows how much I really appreciate you. And I hope my children grow and learn to appreciate everyone the way I do.

Well that was all a very heavy topic. Thanks for reading my thoughts.

For the Cruse household not much has really been going on. We've just been doing our normal things. Justin has been doing some cornhole tournaments, Myla's been doing gymnastics and school, Max has also been doing gymnastics and currently at the moment keeping us outside as much as possible.

We really enjoyed Easter with our family. The kids got too much candy. The Easter Bunny brought too many toys. But it was a lot of fun and a lot of memories were made. I do have to tell you Max got an awesome new bike that I can push and it's been a game changer on our walks lol. I have a video of us coloring Easter eggs which was a lot of fun. And it just so happened to be pretty educational.

We had the opportunity to enjoy a few days at our camper. And the best part was we saw the total solar eclipse. It was amazing words can't even describe how cool it was. Justin save the day because he had talked about the solar eclipse for months. He really hyped it up. So everyone took the day off and we all ventured up to Indian lake to see it. It was totally worth it and I'm so glad he hyped it up as much as he did because it really built up the excitement.

I hope that all of you have had an amazing few weeks and I will try to have another post out in a much speedier Pace, but we'll see. Life happens and it gets a little crazy. .

I'll leave you today with a few little funny stories from Myla:

While Myla was staying at my parents while we were at the homeschool convention, she told my mom that because we're family, we share the same germs. My mother proceeded to say "well that's not true. If you lick a window and I didn't, I wouldn't have those same germs". Myla siad "oh I just licked my arm so I guess you don't have those germs". And my mother said "yes, that's true". My mom goes on to say "I think what you're talking about is DNA not germs". Side note:Justin and I have not brought up DNA yet so it turned into a pretty interesting conversation. Myla asked "what is DNA?" My mom said "well it's the thing that gives us our characteristics. You know you and your brother have the same eyes and you got those from your daddy." Myla looks at her very seriously and says "my daddy didn't make me, my mommy did, what do you mean my daddy made me?" My mom panicked but was successful with changing the conversation. She thought at that time she was good to go. However, the next day Myla woke up and said "can we talk about germs some more ?" My mom said "not today."

Then about a week later Myla says to me you shouldn't touch your crooked teeth, I have a nasty habit of chewing my fingers so I said to her "you're right I shouldn't do that". She then goes on to say "when are you going to get your crooked teeth fixed"? I said "well they have already been fixed once and became crooked when some other teeth grew in. I do not plan on fixing my crooked teeth". She said "well I do not have crooked teeth, see". I said "no you don't but maybe when your big teeth grow ing they could be crooked". I then took this moment to teach her that it's not nice to talk to people about crooked teeth or things that they can't change. I really thought she took this in but as she ran away she just said "Jude I hope you know I love you". I learned that adding etiquette to our homeschool curriculum may be a good idea.

I hope this made you giggle have a good week.

Alex Cruse

(The Whirlwind mom)