Big Brother Justin stopped over for the morning with his new puppy, Lexi, and she conducted gym class for the morning. Lexi is a Lab mix and she is so full of energy:)
There is going to be a line up at lunch time--these guys have been at this for 2 hrs.!
There is always alot of excitement and high energy when Justin comes home to visit. He only lives about 35 minutes away, but it is always the same when he comes home...a frenzy:) I hope he feels loved:) Being the oldest is a challenge. I know we were so different when we were raising Justin and Jenna..much more structured and being a part of an organized christian religion also made a large impact on them. For our family-and I do realize that many would differ on this point--I really feel that was a negative . I will never forget Justin coming home from Jamaica-where he had spent nearly 2 mths. working on an orphanage- saying he had a good time-that the dicipline and the stuff he learned was positive, but that he felt like a hipocrite for agreeing with religious values he didn't share. That was a bittersweet moment for us..bitter because it caused us grief to know we had required he participate in this for graduation and we had caused him to be someone he was not...and sweet, because he was able stand alone and say " This is not for me!"--we had suceeded in instilling in Justin the ability to stand alone and stand up for what he believed in-even if it was different from the rest of his family at the time. Adults struggle with being different from their friends let alone their families..it is so much easier to just go along with the flow-and here was this young man saying he could respect the opinions of others and still speak up for his own opinion. That is what we wanted from homeschooling--the ability to be free-to be original and unique-and be happy about it. So often we disrespect ourselves by denying our true feelings. Justin helped us see that is what was happening in our family as well..it was the turning point in our family and I have to say that we have grown immeasurably closer--the respect we hold for eachothers thoughts and feelings is not a measure based on the size of the person..at our home EVERYONE'S opinion counts and we talk about our thoughts and feelings without fear that they will be discounted . I cannot tell you the difference this has made in our younger children-to know without doubt that they are equal with us-that they are valuable and their ideas are important. They often can provide just the right energy for whatever project we are working on.
I have to say thanks to Justin-he has been through the thick and the thin with us..growing up together and he had blazed a new trail that his sibs will be so much richer for. Thanks kiddo--we love you:)
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