Then and Now

When I was in 2nd grade, my family moved to a small German town called Fredericksburg. When I think of my childhood, the Fredericksburg years really stand out as some of my most treasured memories. We moved from a neighborhood in a nearby city to a home on 15 acres out in the country. I remember how excited my siblings and I were when we first walked the property with Mom and Dad. We talked excitedly about all the adventures, animals, and exploring that would accompany this move. I vividly remember my Mom telling us we could each get our own sheep and walk them around the back pasture when we got home from school (they were new at this farm thing too!) My sister, Erin, and I were about the same ages as Rollin and Nina are now when we moved.



I'm not sure when we acquired which animals, but in hindsight, for not having much "farm" experience, my parents sure seemed to jump in with both feet. We had chickens, dogs, rabbits, Shetland ponies, and goats in no time (what happened to the sheep?!) I try not to talk about all the animals too much...my kids are constantly begging and negotiating for new animals! Not sure if the tennis court came before or after the animals, but when we wearied of running around the property and trying to get our stubborn Shetland ponies to buck us off, we played tennis. Though this period of time in Fredericksburg only lasted about 6 years, they were great years and I think my siblings would all agree,  it was a really good life.

We went back a couple of years ago and some new animals have taken up residence down the street.











































































My Dad traveled extensively during this time. My Mom had some pretty serious health problems which resulted in a severely limited diet (hello rice cakes and carob!). Although we had many friends, some of whom are still dear friends today, Fredericksburg is a small, tight-knit German town where many of the families have lived and worked there for generations. Moreso than other places we lived,it took more effort to forge strong friendships and connect with people in the beginning. Our church was tiny, because our town was small, so while we enjoyed Sunday worship, it didn't provide much of a community either. There is such a thing as too small :) Given all these factors, sometimes I find it so interesting that we thrived as children and as a family during this time. We became so close and we created many memories. Sadly, I am already hard pressed to remember much of the day to day details of my childhood, but it's interesting that I can still picture many scenes and vividly recall many experiences from our years in Fredericksburg. How I would have loved for blogs to have existed back then to see in more detail what we were up to.

Now that I have my own family, I find it interesting to see how Zig and I moved our family from a neighborhood to the "country" about the same time as my parents did. I often think more about what made our Fredericksburg years so special. From a child's point of view, they seemed like very peaceful years. I remember coming home from school and spending hours outdoors. We didn't come home from school, hop in the car, and head to the next activity. There was freedom to roam, downtime, work, and play. On weekends and during the summers, we would spend the mornings doing chores or attempting to dodge chores (pulling weeds was my parents' favorite) and then head to the pool in the afternoon. There were the occasional soccer or tennis matches on Saturdays, but for the most part we were home a lot. We had grandparents nearby. And cousins. My parents kept a tv in the closet and we only brought it out to watch on special occasions. We played a lot.


Sela sitting in the bluebonnets at our favorite park,  Lady Bird Johnson Park. (2010)

When I decided to homeschool this year, I was looking to do things a little differently to try and capture some of that peaceful downtime that I longingly remembered. We love our friends, school, and neighborhood, but I hated how busy and tired I felt running the kids around after school, especially during the winter months when it's so dreary. I don't like when the kids come home and it's already getting dark. I think eating in the car just feels wrong, like we're not really living or appreciating life enough to sit down and enjoy a meal together.And I got tired of complaining when I knew I had the power to change things.

While we are still making adjustments to the way we do things, I feel like a huge burden has been lifted with homeschool. I love how the learning never stops, how we can head outdoors when it's nice, and maybe finish our history reading in the evening as a family. I love that we can spend more time on certain subjects and move ahead in others. I love that I can choose better literature that both challenges and entertains. And I really, really love that we don't have the morning rush in the morning and the homework to fill our evenings. The flexibility is so nice.  Nina loves that she can do some of her work at the computer with a little mug of tea to sip on while she works.

The kids are still seeing their school friends several times a week, and I think this is what has made the transition so seamless. Sela and Nina are taking part in the school play and while we're not as connected to what's going on at the school as we would be if the girls were actually attending all day, we feel like we have just the level of involvement that makes everyone happy.  I also don't feel trapped as much anymore when I see the forecast.  I'm treasuring this year, and maybe it will turn into years, who knows. I don't have as much free-time, but in many ways I'm becoming more efficient and productive. And it's peaceful. Like Fredericksburg.



Rollin and Nina climbing for grapes.


Got one!






School in progress