Princess Play

My daughter dressed me up as a princess today. She gave me a crown, a beautiful necklace that she carefully clipped together. I had two seperate bows clipped to my hair and a beautiful purse strung over my shoulder. She told me I was a princess and that I was "great". She doesn't care about the pile of papers that need to be shredded, the dirty dishes on the counter, the demanding grocery list or the new messes that pop up every two seconds. No, we secluded ourselves in her bedroom, as we whisphered because her babies were sleeping, and she treated me as royalty and we played. Blissfull, carefree play.

I asked the Holy Spirit why I needed to leave all the other things and play. He said, you feel that mountain growing in the pit of your stomach, the overwhelming task of everything from today, yesterday and tomorrow....you need to sit, play and allow me to calm you and reassure you with the tender words of a three year old girl.

So we sat, smiled, laughed and the weight of the world started lifting off of me and the words, " my yoke is easy and my burden is light" came to me. Hold steadfast my child, for the day will come when you will reap if you do not lose heart. My desire for you is for great things, not for harm. You are my precious precious child and I am in love with you. Allow me to cloak you with my royalty and to enter into my promise, my dear dear child. Ye, the weight of the world is to much for you to bear, take heart I have overcome the world...you are mind and bought with a precious price , do not become distracted from the heart issues while the world issues try to take over. Ye, my child I love thee more today than you will every love your child in a lifetime. Allow me to love you and encourage you...my Holy spirit is here to comfort and strengthen...allow him to do so. my precious preciou child. I love you...you are mine.!

Expectations

I think there must be something in the air lately. I just came across a friend of mine's blog who had written an entire blog on the expectations we put on ourselves. This is something that with our huge move and starting a new homeschooling year I am striving to let go of. I have pretty high standards for myself, at times. I am my biggest critic and I am trying to change that.

There are so many good things that can become "bad" things if we let them, especially when you homeschool. Try to keep up with the "Joneses" while homeschooling- you will run yourself ragged. I feel that it is so important to pray and ask God which curriculum YOU should use, which field trips YOUR family should go on, what extras YOU should take on, etc. Most mamas that homeschool do so because they feel passionately about their children; however, for me, that turns into I want to do EVERYTHING to the best possible degree I can- " play hard or go home" mentality.

How important is it that everything is made from scratch, every item of clothing is uniquely sewn, I clip coupons, I decorate, my house is always immaculate, I work out, etc. All these things actually are important to me, however, when they start to overwhelm me it is ok to say, " you know what, in this season in my life, I say " no" to this or that. There is a freedom in allowing God to mold you into the woman He wants you to be. He frees us from expectations and allows us to walk hand in hand with that one who created this vibrant, creative, multi tasking woman. Its ok to say no, its ok to bring on the paper plates or "gasp" buy pre made chocolate chip cookies if you are analyzing time to make vs time to bake. We are happier and more uplifted when we stop comparing and just enjoy. I'm preaching to the choir, I know. 
 
Normally I keep these feelings at a healthy bay but lately, from the move and just everything else, I am finding that I need to take this time, once again, to thank God for giving us the ability to homeschool, for finding curriculum that works for us and for praying for peace over every extra curricular activity we join in on. Life isn't about how much to be apart of, its what you do purposefully in those moments.

My challenge, to myself, is to wake up each day and live for that day only. What can I do today to make this the most special day for my family. I know that my challenge will not always equate success but its there and I am doing it. I will not compare or contrast myself, I will not feel superior or inferior I will walk in confidence that God has placed me in this unique family for his unique purposes. If all we do is stay in pajamas and bake chocolate chip cookies together while reading library books for that day, I purposed that day for my family and that made it successful.

I am thankful for....
31. a new pack of gum
32. Empty  moving boxes that turn into forts for beloved stuffed animals
33. an empathetic and understanding husband
34. blue spray paint
35. tuffs of green grass coming up
36. my children's laughter
37. listening to the peacefulness of a day's end
38. the ability to say no to time fillers
39. creative energy
40. new starts, new days
41.watching Hannah half smile and half frown with confused eyes from her highchair
42. Austen's concern for his sister and whispering to me that she will probably have a "tape worm"
43. joy in my children
44. a successful end to a great first school week

O Where O Where Has My Little Dog Gone??

Where are the days going?? I mean seriously, they fly by faster than I have a chance to catch my breath at times! We started in on our second week of responsibility because we finished everything from Konos up early this week, having such a grand ole' time and all. I came across this poem and thought it was quite fitting for the unit, as a whole:

A Bag of Tools

By:  R. L. Sharpe

Isn't it strange That princes and kings,

And clowns that caper In sawdust rings,

 And common people Like you and me

Are builders for eternity?

Each is given a bag of tools,

A shapeless mass, A book of rules;

And each must make - Ere life is flown -

A stumbling block  Or a steppingstone.

We discussed what this poem was talking about and visually showing us stepping up or tripping over a " stone". I think this might be a poem to work on and memorize. Also, we read the Bernstein Bears " Pet Show" book, some Clifford, pet care books and " Too Many Cats". I ordered the Aristocats from the library as well as Lady and the Tramp. We are going to watch, next week, an animated movie on dogs and then an actual one, ie: Benji, Homeward Bound.... and discuss the differences that we notice in the different features of the animals with popcorn of course!

Moriah gave us a tutorial on how to care for a baby. She was quite impressive with the knowledge that she has. Demonstrations abounded from her on how to feed, pick up, carry, comfort and nurse her baby, Beulah. Also, "Safety Jayden" questioned her on what she would do if a stranger tried to take her baby. 

I asked what would happen if air traffic controllers, doctors, nurses, teachers, parents, etc were Responsible or Irresponsible. The kids each took turns learning how and cleaning the toilets in our three bathrooms. They all did fantastic and Jayden is such a patient teacher! We discussed what our morning responsibilities are and for the most part, I do not have to ask Jayden or Austen to get dressed, Jay always remembers to turn his anole's lights back on and make his bed and with a few reminders they will tidy their room up quite well. Moriah is pretty organized by nature but obviously still needs help due to her age. 

One of my favorite parts of today was sitting in a circle with the kids, each holding their stuffed animals and talking about past and present pets that they have had. Moriah just received a white dog for her birthday and explained how " Sadie wuns away, gets lost and then goes to a lions cage"- wow Sadie, for such a short life in our home your adventures never cease to amaze me.

Austen had two animals and spoke very briefly on both of them and with Jayden, well, we not only got the rundown from his very first goldfish Nemo at age three, to his present day anole. Hmmm, I can tell you who is verbal and not so much in our family. These exercises are soo good for Austen though because it gets him talking and discussing something in great detail. Love you buddy!

I told the kids the story of my dog Lady, growing up. I think that is where Sadie got some of her ideas for her adventure from. We already know, as a family, what types of pets we can handle now- beta fish and lizards. I truly enjoy reptiles. I think that it is so much fun to watch "Frisky" the anole, chase down crickets and chomp them up. The kids know quite well we are NOT a rodent family nor cat family and THANKFULLY ( :) ) Austen is deathly allergic to cats, sorry Max. 

The boys finished up with their language arts and then went up for quiet time. Tomorrow, I would like to try and start our potted plants as well as make bread and reread some of our stories from this past week ( Mike Mulligan, Little Red Hen and The Three Little Pigs"

Ice Cream

Sweet.Creamy.Chocolaty Goodness. Blonde Sticky Hair. Chocolate Smiles. Big Blue Eyes Dancing. Slurping. Wet. Melting. Sweet. Decadent. Gone.

Spelling Pictures

What a busy day we had. Three of the four kids had well child check ups and wow they are all doing great, tall and light, not a huge surprise to me! Hannah comes in at a whopping 17 lbs 3 oz which is a weight gain of almost 3 lbs in two months! Moriah at 30 lbs and Austen at 41 lbs. I am assuming Jayden is between 49-51 lbs so they are all doing well. Besides Hannah, they are all at the tall end of the spectrum so great trip.

We then ventured over to a nearby store to check out some sales and I ended up purchasing a piece of furniture originally $140.00 for $19 (including tax)!!! I love saving money; we swam, ate lunchables and then came home to do some school and put the younger girls to bed.

The boys and I cuddled in the rocking chair and read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel by Virginia Burton together. I really enjoy this story. I love the small town feel, the hardworking aspects of Mike and Maryanne and the wisdom of the small child over the adult bickering. We discussed, again, who was responsible in the story and why. I think they understand responsibility after all this talking about it. We read a couple of more stories and then moved on to our language arts and math for Austen (I am still waiting on Jayden’s math in the mail).

Earlier this morning over breakfast, we discussed what our responsibilities are given to us by God. A few examples we came up with are: “Love the Lord your God…”, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel”, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, etc. We also read some questions from our “Answers in Genesis” children’s series that we are enjoying. This particular series really involves the kids at a young age by equipping them to learn why they believe what they believe and giving them a basic foundation in apologetics.

Finally, with Jayden’s language arts he is working on spelling correctly five words a week and I am adapting some of Dianne Craft’s (a speaker from this past year’s homeschool convention) methods. Sitting in one of her seminars, she talked about how if the left brain method is not working on a child ( logic, black and white, systematic, orderly…) then that’s fine just switch to the right brain ( sporadic, colorful, creative, spontaneous…). She then continued to explain how many kids are right brain learners and so reciting things like spelling words is not helpful to them; no matter how hard they try, they will not be able to spell the word correctly. Dianne suggests adding pictures to the words to put a visual picture in their mind, increase their brain retention thus making it much easier to remember and learn these words. This can be applied to math, spelling, phonics, etc.

Last year, spelling was somewhat of a challenge to Jayden and I know that Austen learns by pictures already so I figured that it’s worth the extra work on my part, to save on time and frustration on their part. Below is an example of how we are learning the silent “k” words. You can get more information at Dianne Crafts website: www.diannecraft.org

Martin Luther

Today was a continuation of a great school year. We continued with our study of responsibility and read more on the life of Moses. The kids than each drew pictures of the different plagues, the burning bush or anything else that they could remember from our Bible reading. Jayden was also asked to write a few sentences that turned out quite well. He writes very well; there was just a few minor spelling issues and the biggest issue is spacing between words which only comes with time.

I read the Little Red Hen to the kids, we listened to Michelle Obama read "Horton Hatches an Egg" and discussed who was responsible in this story and why. It was a great continual introduction of our study.

Something that has been heavy on my heart is that educating our children at home is so much more than simply teaching math, language arts its more heart based. To mold their hearts to love and desire to serve God; to love the Lord irregardless of culture, society or moral declines. I feel that this is such a heavy burden at times yet I know God has the utmost confidence in us because He gave these children to us. I am so thankful to be educating them and to be sculpting their tender hearts towards God.

We are going through a hymn a month or bi monthly together. Today, we studied Martin Luther and read why he wrote " A Mighty Fortress is our God". I find all of this so fascinating because, honestly, half of it I did not even know. After reading about Martin Luther and talking about why he separated from the Catholic church we came over to the computer and listened to the hymn on youtube and sang along. My desire is that the history behind the song as well as the meaning of the song would go deep into their hearts.

The cool thing about home educating is that when you invite the Holy Spirit to fill in the gaps for all of your inadequacies and insecurities he not only fills you with amazing confidence and courage but also a sense of overwhelming grace for what is being accomplished and yet to be accomplished. Here we were, sitting and listening to these hymns in various forms, organ, contemporary, acoustic, etc and the presence of the Holy Spirit was so strong I couldn't help but cry with Riah and Austen on my lap and Jay hugging on my neck as I asked each of the kids if they would be the Martin Luther of this generation, to wake up our spiritually dead country and spiritually dead churches. It was a precious, sweet moment as you could tell they felt the presences of God and just praying that we would be a family who says "no" when the world says "yes". Wow, amazing home schooling day. Thank you Jesus! I could never do it without you!

First Day of School 2011-2012

I know its blurry but Austen asked that I take his picture with " my best friend Hanns"

another year with a vibrant learner :)

Welcome back! I am so happy to be blogging again about school and not about all the other issues of our lives. We had a great first day back at school. The kids woke up much earlier than I did as I was up late signing them up for different activities throughout the valley and reserving their places in other events. However, they played quietly, which they are great at doing now and Jay came in to let me know that Miss Dainty, our resident tooth fairy, had come again and left " two whole dollars" for the front tooth that he brushed out.

We came downstairs and enjoyed green pancakes with honey and even Hannah joined us for breakfast, something that she typically sleeps through. I decided to skip my workout today as we were having some handymen come and fix odds and ends around the home. ANYWAYS, we started with Konos- yeah!!! Our character trait is responsibility for the next 13 weeks and it is going to be so incredibly fun!!! I cannot even wait to dive into this trait!

The lesson began today by asking what is responsibility. The kids came up with very good suggestions of what would be considered responsibility ie: what would happen if the anole was not fed, the clothes were not washed ( Moriah- " they would be dirty"), did not water the plants, etc. Then, we discussed what it means to be responsible, can we be responsible for everyone else's things , etc.

The three little pigs came into play and we had  a great time reading the story and acting it out with our "three little pig felt homes" that the kids' Grandma made for them. I remember reading this exact story with my own Grandma as a child and it brings back so many great memories of sitting on her lap, looking out the huge front window into the country landscape. Also, we stood in a line and sang " I've Been Working On the Railroad" together. At one point, Austen just stared at me refusing to pretend because he didn't have a real hammer. Oh my!

Finally, we discussed different verses in the bible that pertained to responsibility. We are focusing on Deuteronomy 6:5 and Matthew 6:33 for the next few weeks. Jayden read out of the bible about Moses and the burning bush and the responsibility that Moses was given by God to instruct and teach the children of Israel. Responsible actions give rewards while irresponsible ones have consequences. It was so fun to just hear Austen comment throughout the day, that is responsible, no that is not responsible. I LOVE how interactive activities and biblical teaching go hand in hand in this home educating journey!

We finished up with some more books, sing spell read and write with Austen, Austen's first grade math, some drawing and listening to Adventures in Odyssey. An incredibly great first day back! I am really looking forward to tomorrow and picking up some chocolate chips and butter as we were missing two MAIN ingredients for our back to school cookie cake. I hope all my other fellow home educating mamas enjoyed their day