Tag Archive - Josh

Husbands and Depression

October 13, 2011 in 31 Days of Finding Joy in Depression, Faith, Women with 0 Comments

wedding rings husbands and depression

Joy Depression

This is day 13 of 31 Days of Finding Joy in Depression. Yesterday, I shared about knowing your triggers for depression. Today, let’s talk husbands and depression.

wedding rings husbands and depression

Photo Credit

My husband saw my depression early on.  He instinctively knew how to deal with it and work with it – most of the time.  All I can say is that I am blessed.  He has always said that he can see me through or despite the depression.  But that doesn’t mean it is easy for him.

It is imperative that you are open and honest with your husband.  Tell him when you’re struggling.  They can’t read our minds.  Remember that depression can take a toll on your spouse too.  Be understanding of that.  Give them as much as possible to help and support you.  They are your greatest ally.

Do you have a supportive husband or other close family member?  If not, who fills that role?  How does depression affect your relationships?

If you deal with depression, please comment and share your journey too.  If you’re a blogger, you can use the button and code below to share your story and link back on your blog.  Feel free to leave links to your posts in the comments area.

 

The Pelsers

I’m linking up with The Nester and others who are writing 31 posts this month on various topics.  I’m not a doctor or a counselor and this is not intended to be medical advice.  This is simply the story of my experience with depression.

Homeschool Mother’s Journal ~ September 3

September 3, 2011 in Homeschooling, Mother's Journal with 3 Comments

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…

  • Thanks for the prayers for Josh’s fire ant bites and swollen arm.  The antibiotics helped and the swelling disappeared within days.  This is the time of year that our house, which seems to have been built on a fire any hill, is attacked by those evil creatures.  I had a bad feeling the other night so I had Josh spray.  The next morning, Jonathan found ants on the couch, thankfully before he sat down.  Unfortunately, Josh sat there earlier in the morning and did not realize that the ants were there.  He has another large swollen spot on his side/hip.  It seems that he is becoming more and more sensitive to the fire ant bits over time.  Anyone have any good suggestions for ridding your house and yard of fire ants?  The spray we use inside seems to work well as long as we spray regularly, but we’ve never been able to push them out of the yard long term.
  • I’m still car-less during the week, but we’re coming closer to the end. I think.  Josh has borrowed the tool he needs for the next step in fixing the car.  {Praising God because we think a coworker bought the tool thinking it would be a good addition to his collection and promptly let Josh borrow it.}  The motorcycle is mostly disassembled and parts have been trickling in.  We’re hoping that one of these vehicles will be up and running by the end of this long weekend.  Josh is on call this week, so we’re praying for no major client issues to interrupt the progress.
  • It’s a new month.  Really, no matter how much I deny it, we are now in September.  That means new 3 in 30 goals and a look at how I did last month.  I’m working in the same areas again, but I have updated my specific goals for this month.
  • An exciting announcement!  Soon you’ll be able to read my ramblings over at Heart of the Matter.  I’ve been invited to be a monthly contributor!

In our homeschool this week…

  • Jonathan loves Kindergarten.  Astronomy seems to be the favorite subject and math is a close second.  He loves drawing the planets in order and does this on average once a day, just for fun.  I can’t count the number of space and earth related documentaries we’ve watched in the last two weeks or how many times we’ve watched some of these over and over again.  He loves taking in the information.  {Hmm, a little mini-me?}  A regular bedtime stall tactic has been asking Daddy to do some big math {adding 3+ digit numbers} with him.
  • Jonathan and I built this coracle and he floated it with Daddy.  I’m not a hands on learner and Jonathan doesn’t seem to be either, but we have fun doing things like this every once in a while.  This seemed like an easy project and I had everything that we needed already on hand.  It was also a fun way to include Dad in our schooling.
  • Jonathan worked on some cursive this week.  Yes, my four year old is writing in cursive.  I had to print his memory verse copywork sheet with the cursive verse this week and he thought that was really cool.  He asked to learn and I went with it.  For the last two days, when he’s looking for something to do, I find him going back to the cursive papers to practice.  I’m in the process of looking for a curriculum or way to teach him each letter and proper form.  Any suggestions for teaching cursive? 

Jonathan's Name in Cursive

Jonathan’s first try at his name in cursive.

My favorite thing this week was…

  • Oh my little Jacob.  He’s growing up so fast.  He took quite a few steps last weekend.  I have a little bit of video that I need to edit.  Coming soon!
  • Jacob is starting to babble a good bit too.  He finally says “dada” and sometimes even “Daddy” quite well.

Things I’m working on…

  • I’m getting ready to start planning our second six weeks of Kindergarten.  This long weekend seems like good timing to sit down with everything and map it out.
  • I love using Scholaric homeschool planner for my planning.  I love how easy it is to use.  I love how easy it is to move lessons around on the fly when I make daily and weekly updates and changes to my master plan.

I’m reading…

A photo to share…

Jacob on Stool

This boy is bound to give me a heart attack or gray hair.  Or both.  He is climbing on everything.  I found Jacob standing on Jonathan’s two-step Ikea stool at the kitchen island.  This child cannot steadily stand on his own for more than 10 seconds and can barely take a couple of consecutive steps, but he made his way up onto this stool to be like his “bubba”.

Floating a Coracle

September 1, 2011 in Homeschooling with 1 Comment

Jonathan Floating a Coracle

Coracle

This is a coracle and a pipe cleaner man.

Jonathan Floating a Coracle

This is Jonathan floating a coracle in my bathroom sink.

We made this circle boat from the The Usborne book of Living Long Ago (see pg. 75), which is a part of our Sonlight Core A curriculum.  Jonathan and I made it together during the day out of pipe cleaner, a plastic grocery bag, and packaging tape.  Before bed, Daddy and Jonathan testing out the boat in the bathroom sink.

Take a look at what happened to poor pipe cleaner man:

Can’t see the video in your email or RSS reader?

Poor, poor pipe cleaner man.  I think his drowning was worth the fun and learning about ancient boats called coracles.  What do you think?  It was also a great way to include Dad in our homeschooling.

How to Involve Dad in Your Homeschool

August 31, 2011 in Homeschooling with 6 Comments

Dads Involved in Homeschooling
Josh Reading to Jonathan at Starbucks ~ September 2009

Josh Reading to Jonathan at Starbucks ~ September 2009

How do you involve Dad in your homeschool?  It can be tough when Dad works full-time and is out of the house most of the day, but it is important to include him in your children’s education.  Here are some things to think about:

  • What level of involvement does he want to have?
  • Is there a subject he enjoys or is better with than you?
  • Is there a type of activity that the kids like to do with him?

In our home, I’m the researcher and the planner.  Josh couldn’t be any more different in this area!  I love researching curriculum and planning out our schedule.  I’m also a verbal processor.  I need someone to bounce my ideas off of in order to make sense of them.  Josh, well, let’s just say that he doesn’t talk very much.  {Those who know him are laughing their heads off right now at that understatement.}  It works very well for me to be the one to research and plan out our curriculum and goals and for Josh to be the sounding board and keep us on track for the bigger picture.

Here are some other things that Josh does with the boys:

  • Read-alouds – Josh is not much of a reader.  You’re not going to see him curled up with a book like I do, but the boys love to cuddle up with him and hear a story.
  • Review and Narration – Most days, Jonathan loves to tell Daddy what he learned that day in school.  Josh, being a great listener, attentively interacts as mountains of facts and stories are heaped on him.
  • Reinforce and Reteach Math and Science – Josh is the math brain of this family.  He is great at reinforcing a concept or re-teaching a concept in a different way to help Jonathan understand.  I expect that as we get to higher level math, Josh will do more of the teaching in this subject.  Josh is also the science buff.  He will definitely be doing more of the high level science teaching when the time comes.  Right now, as we study Astronomy, he listens to narrations of science facts and takes Jonathan out after dark to gaze at the stars.
  • Handwriting – If you’ve seen Josh’s handwriting, you’d be surprised that I include handwriting in this list.  I’m a lefty and Jonathan is right-handed.  Thankfully, Jonathan took to writing very easily, but I have needed Josh’s help to correct formation of some letters.
  • Discipline – Yeah, someone has to do this and when you’re the one with the kids all day long, sometimes the perspective and presence of someone who has been gone all day is helpful.  Daddy is head of the family so he is the final word.
  • Perspective – Again, because he is not in the house all day long, Josh is good at giving perspective and helping me re-think things.

How do you involve Dad in your homeschool?  I missed the link up with Three Thinking Mothers last week, but you can jump over there too and see how other families include Dad in homeschooling.

Homeschool Mother’s Journal ~ August 26

August 26, 2011 in Homeschooling, Mother's Journal with 2 Comments

The Homeschool Mother's Journal

In my life this week…

What a crazy week this has been at The Pelsers.  Josh was busy getting everything taken care of for his motorcycle: safety class all weekend, insurance, registration, license, inspection, etc.  He drove the motorcycle to work yesterday for the first time and it broke down a few miles from work.  Seriously?  I was all set to celebrate that I finally get my van back and the motorcycle breaks down.  Ugh.  Now we have a car whose engine is all over my garage, a motorcycle that needs to be repaired, and our minivan.  And what does that leave me?  Still stuck at home during the day on weekdays until either the motorcycle or the car is repaired.  Then when Josh brought the motorcycle home and was pushing it back into the garage, he stepped on a fire ant hill.  He had a bite that swelled so bad on one arm that he had to go to the doctor this morning before work and is now on a strong antibiotic with instructions to go to the ER if the swelling and redness extends beyond a circle drawn on his arm.

In our homeschool this week…

  • Jonathan started Kindergarten on Monday!
  • Homeschooling went very well this week!  Some of Jonathan’s favorite things were: math, Astronomy, and The Boxcar Children {we’re reading this again – Jonathan read it to me this summer and now I’m reading it to him}.
  • Jonathan blew Josh’s mind on Wednesday night when he rattled off the planets – in order.
  • We celebrated homeschooling {and I got my van back day} by going to Startbucks yesterday morning to do our school work while all the public school kids had their first day of school. {Yes, I promptly had to give the van right back after yesterday’s motorcycle break down.  We enjoyed the freedom while it lasted.}

My favorite thing this week was…

  • Jacob is trying to take steps!  He can stand on his own for a few seconds and if we prompt him and help him, he’ll try to take a step, sometimes two.
  • Jacob the Climber.  If we leave the car bucket out from under the train table, he uses it to climb up onto the train table.
  • My amber necklace from Inspired by Finn arrived yesterday.  Yes, this one is for me.  I’m wearing it now and will be reviewing it soon.

I’m reading…

I’m cooking…

  • I’m always on the lookout for new gluten-free, dairy-free recipes.  I had some buffalo wing sauce that I picked up on sale a while back.  I found a modified a GF/DF chicken nugget recipe to use ingredients that I had on hand.  Wow.  I think they may have been the best chicken nuggets I have ever had!  We smothered those in the buffalo sauce for amazing buffalo chicken bites.  Seriously.  A-maz-ing.
  • I also made some delicious GF/DF mocha muffins earlier this week.  The recipe came from Once A Month Mom.  I used rice flour since I was out of sorghum and I used potato starch.  For the coffee, I used Starbucks carmel flavored coffee in my espresso machine.  So yummy and not icky sweet.

I’m praying for…

  • Quick repairs to the motorcycle.
  • Swelling/irritation in Josh’s arm to go down.
  • Jacob’s next tooth – We’ve had a good bit of snot and low-grade fevers this week.  I know there’s a tooth ready, but it just won’t come through.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

Jacob Jumped Self To Sleep

Tired boy jumped himself to sleep.

Jacob Climbing on Train Table

Jacob the Climber

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