Patience

Lately, in our Konos lessons we have been learning about cooperation. We are still on the human body and still studying the nervous system. Each day, we read a portion of scripture about unity, cooperation, etc. Well, lately we have been reading about unity and this passage, in particular:

1Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

I have felt that this is a particularly fitting passage for our family, especially me, to remember to be patient , calm and loving even when I do not feel like it. The hardest thing, I think  about being a parent sometimes is to exhibit what we try to teach your children and how you try to train them. " Use a gentle response Jayden" but then I use an exasperated response....." Be patient Austen"  , but then I'm not patient. I am praying lately that God will continually work these things in and out of me for " Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks"- wow, may I be a constant example of Christ's love and not a pharisee where I run my mouth all day but show no evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I am encouraged by these verses because I take them to heart. I truly want to be remembered as a mama who was loving, patient, firm, and gentle....I know that I will accomplish this all through the Holy Spirit....but it is a constant laying down. 

Yesterday, I put Hannah in her crib, on her tummy with a mirror toy in front of her so she could have some play time, away from the constant "shifting" floor and sea of legs of my other children. I actually kinda forgot she was in there because she was so quiet. About 20 minutes later, I went in to check on her and she was laying on her back, quietly playing with the little dangly toys that were on the mirror. It was so precious. I just want to remember her, laying there looking intently, out of hte corner of her eyes at the fallen mirror, quietly and perfectly content. She has been so much fun lately. The kids and I have this running joke of " Miss Hannah Prim and Proper". It all started when all the kids were in their pajamas at dinner but Hannah was still in her dress, a green one with white daisies on it, and just the look she was emanating at the table, was cracking me up. She looked so proper as I placed her on the edge of the table and it was like she was lounging. Her arms, remind me of an obese women's arms or at least of a very elderly woman's arms as they are very round, loose and saggy :) But she was just look at the kids and so I decided to give her " an air" about her as she corrected the way Austen talked with food in his mouth, Jayden sat on his knees. She was given a very poor British, Mother Goose type accent ( if you can imagine) and would say, " Hellooo, I am Miss Prim and Proper Hannah, you need to get your feet off your seat, that is not prim and proper like me"- and the kids would just crack up and laugh....now, even Riah requests, " Hannah do prim and proper??". I have given this little 3.5month old a personality all her own :) 



So yesterday, we were all sitting in the girls' room and getting ready to go work out when Jayden, walking around with a joke book, started telling Hannah some knock knock jokes.... " Hannah , Knock knock" " Who's there?" ( keep the British voice going), " Andrew" " Aundrewww, who??" " Andrew a picture in the car" ....then the best part of it all, I gave Hannah a hearty, deep, British laugh..... " HA, HA, HA" :) The kids just fell over laughing so hard...here is this little lady, with this laugh coming " out of her" and she is bouncing up and down. It was soo funny....so we did it all day. Oh, Hannah, we love you :)

Finally, yesterday in school I ended up just working with Jayden because we were getting ready for our lego club. We did Konos and did some "neurotransmitter" activities. It was kinda cool as it explained how who have a transmitter that is received by the dendrite, given to the axon to send out to the next neuron's dendrite ( I think I have that right)...anyways, we used a domino as our transmitter and left hand as our dendrites and right as our axons ( phew, give me so literature!!!). Then we started working on his " Math for Gifted Students" workbook. I love this series, they sell them at Barnes and Nobles for like $9. We are almost done, like we have 10 lessons left in his Saxon 2, but I don't want to move him on yet partly because he's only 6 and also because I want to make sure he truly understands everything we have just learned....so, I buy this book because it has amazingly challenging, yet cool ways to practice what he has learned without pages, and pages of drills...it uses real life applications, and scenarios...so, I decided to start it a little early since I'm pretty bored of saxon 2....everyone says by 4/5 it gets better...anyways, we also worked in our language arts and practiced bible quiz...He has a competition this Saturday. That was pretty much it.

I'm pretty excited to work with Austen on his kgd SSRW as he is learning to read!!! He can read and put together many 3 letter "at" words and it's so much fun! I am bringing out our BOB books and just working with him. My goal for Austen this year is exposure, to watch, to see how he learns, I bought him a Kumon maze book the other day, his face was so delighted it just blessed my heart, he even asked for a "school" book for Christmas. The boy loves to learn, and I want to keep that going. I love you Austen!