Growing Thankful Hearts

If there's one thing I really want to ingrain upon my kids, it's a spirit of thankfulness. There's so much materialism and consumerism in our society that it's easy to become discontent. Every time we turn on the TV, we're bombarded with new toys and products we can't live without. Every five minutes a new phone or game system or whatever comes out and the one you have is obsolete.

I really, truly think of my family as wealthy. We don't have the newest car and I don't even own a cell phone. We don't eat out every week and we don't plan on taking the kids to Disney anytime soon. But we have plenty of food. We live in a comfortable house. Everyone has shoes that fit. We never miss a bill. My kids have toys exploding out of their closets and will get a few more when Christmas rolls around. We are doing great, and I want to make sure my kids- and I- appreciate it. I want to make sure we always remember all these good things are from God.

So this past week being Thanksgiving, I used the time to focus on our blessings, or as Caleb would call them, "bressin's".  It wasn't an original idea, but we put up a "Thankfulness Tree". Just like a tree grows from a seed, I wanted to plant seeds of thankfulness in their hearts, nourish them, and watch them grow.

         It was really simple to make. I cut up used paper grocery bags and taped them in the dining room.

                                                       
                                                       I added an owl just for fun!

Then I cut out some leaves. Every morning after breakfast, the kids picked at least one thing they were thankful for, and we taped the leaves to the tree. Then we prayed and thanked God for those blessings, then recited Psalm 118:1.

                                                                             
As the week went on, the things they were thankful for went from the "standards" to more creative things- napkins, a woodstove. It was great to see the wheels turning, to see them realizing that these things we take for granted are indeed blessings to be thankful for. As a mom of a toddler, I too, am very thankful for napkins!                                                    

                       By Thanksgiving our tree was full of bressin's, and our hearts were full of thankfulness.

 

Then it was time to start preparing for the big day. While I baked pies, the kids occupied themselves with their own "Thanksgiving dinner".         

                                                                 

                                  Luke got bored and decided he would help me make the pies.

                                                                           
                                              But he really just wanted to steal my apples!

Then, the night before Thanksgiving, the boys got sick with fevers and runny noses.Instead of going to Grammy's, she sent over some Thanksgiving "take-out".

As we sat down to eat, we realized just how much there was to be thankful for. The boys just had colds, and not a chronic illness. We had a loving family that sent us over food. There was pie and whipped cream and a toasty fire in the woodstove and each other.
                                                                    
Thanksgiving day might be over, but I want to continue cultivating those seeds of thankfulness all year.         

Thomas, We Love You

It all started one Sunday morning when Gracie was 2 and 1/2 yrs old. She was home sick from church, and while flipping through the channels we stopped on Thomas and Friends. Since we were usually at church at that time, Gracie had never watched it. Little did we know what had started...

Gracie fell in love with Thomas. While most girls were sporting pink and white princess sneakers, Gracie was proudly showing off her Thomas sneaks. Her toddler bed was decked out in Thomas sheets and we started collecting wooden trains at $12 a pop. Her 3rd birthday was a Thomas theme. Finally, we made the Pilgrimage to the Mecca of Thomas fans- Day Out with Thomas at the Strasburg Railroad.
               
Then Caleb arrived, and the obsession intensified. His first word was, "THOOOMAA!" shouted at a very loud volume. More trains arrived. More clothes. I found myself on Ebay looking for size 4 Thomas sneakers because he refused to wear anything else on his feet. Books, videos, more parties and trips.
                                                                            

                                                                                  

                                                                                        
                                                                                     
Now we're on kid number 3- and you guessed it- another Thomas fan. We're just happy to be getting a good return on our investment. We've probably sunk $400 in Thomas paraphernalia over the years, so the more use it gets, the better.
                                                                        

                                                                                     


I'm not just blogging about Thomas because I have no life now. My point is, I love Thomas too.Because Thomas helps me homeschool.

When we started this year, it became clear that Luke was having none of this school-time nonsense. As far as he's concerned, it's all about him, and he lets me know that loud and clear. There was a point about three weeks into this year when I was pretty sure I was gonna have to pony up five thousand bucks and send Gracie to school. The thing was, I didn't want my boys camped out in front of the TV so I could teach Gracie. I wanted them to happily play or do something constructive, not turn into mindless slugs because the TV rotted their brains. But after a month of screaming, temper tantrums, and head banging, it became clear I had a choice to make: send Gracie back to school or turn on Thomas.

I chose Thomas. And now, I'm ok with it. There are worse things as a parent then letting your kids watch TV for 2 hours every morning. Even as I type that, I feel embarrassed, like I failed. But the way I see it, they're not stuck in daycare all day. I spend lots of time doing things with them the rest of the day. So if watching a big blue train helps Gracie learn math and language, so be it. It really is my only option for now.

I'll leave you with my all-time favorite Thomas video. I hope you find it as inspiring as I do.

                                                                                                                                                              

Five Minutes

My kids love trick or treating. We don't actually "celebrate" Halloween, but we let them dress up as something friendly and go to their grandparent's for some candy. This year I heard about Halloween at Batsto from my sister-in-law. There were games, hot dogs and pony rides. Sounded like a great family fun day.

After lunch we got Gracie dressed in her bat costume and headed out (Caleb refused to dress up). Luke fell asleep in the car, and actually stayed asleep after I put him in the stroller. We visited with our family and the kids talked to their cousins, then got in line for a pony ride. It was really relaxing.

After the pony ride Gracie saw a bucket of treats. They had them set up at every game station. She asked if she could get one, and I said, "Sure, let's go play some games and then you'll get a prize!"
So we walked down the trail, away from the ponies and into the section where all the old cabins are. Gracie decided to play a ball-toss game. I stood about two feet away, and when she finished the kid in charge of the game said, "Ok, grab a prize!" I smiled at her and turned back to Jeremiah.

When I turned back again, she was gone.

I gave Jeremiah a puzzled look. "Where'd she go?" he asked. " I don't know, she was right here." I looked behind a big tree next to the game she played. I looked behind a family next to us. I looked around at the other games.

Gracie isn't the kind of kid to run off by herself. She has always stuck right by me, always kept me in her peripherals. One time she burst into tears when I walked a few feet away at the store and she thought I left her. It was slowly dawning on me that if she wasn't here, it was because someone took her.

I ran behind the cabins and scanned the wood line. I ran back to where the crowd of people playing games was. "Gracie!" I called. A few people glanced up, surprised at my volume. Everyone was in costume, wearing black like Gracie, blending together. "Gracie!" more looks. I ran into the bathroom. "Gracie!" Back into the crowd. "GRACIE! GRACIE" Everyone was staring at me now. "Why don't they do something?!" I wondered. My life flashed before my eyes. Not my past life. My future life, my life without my sweet baby girl, my life as the mother of a missing child, a life of police calls and news segments. A life of not knowing. Somewhere in my panic I had a moment of clarity, and a feeling of something like, "this is the moment every mother dreads, but never believes will happen- the moment your old life is over and a different, , horrible, half-dead life begins."  I thought this was the last picture I would ever take of her, the last picture of her sweet little face.

I started running up the trail now, screaming louder than ever. At this point I wanted everyone to pay attention, to know something was wrong. "GRRAAACIIEE!"

She ran up by my elbow. "Right here!" I stared at her. "Where were you?" I didn't recognize my voice. It was hoarse and shaky. "I went to get a prize", she shrugged.

I guess she is the kind of kid to run off by herself.

As if in a trance I turned and started walking back to the car, which was difficult now because all my limbs felt like jello. "You wanna go home?" Jeremiah asked. I couldn't even answer. I just kept walking, Gracie's hand tightly in mine. A relaxing family day had almost turned into a nightmare.

We got into the car and I immediately dissolved into tears. I cried off and on the whole way home, and when I got home I laid down because my legs were still shaking and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I'd say it took me a good two hours to calm down. But all evening, the event kept playing through my mind like a video.


When the kid running the game told her to get a prize, I turned my back and she took off running, down the trail, all the way back to where the ponies were. Knowing Gracie, she probably sifted through the prize bucket and took her sweet time deciding what she wanted, which in the end was a bag of cheese curls. Then she had a leisurely walk back in our direction, until she heard me screaming like a maniac and decided she better hurry up. I don't know how long she was actually gone. Maybe ten minutes? Probably more like five. But they were by far the longest five minutes of my life, five minutes in a hellish world without my child. 

It made me realize that, as homeschoolers, this is one area we need to emphasize more. My kids are always with me. We get together with safe communities of friends and family. Of course we've told them, "don't talk to strangers", but they are definitely not as street smart as I was at their age. Gracie saw no danger in running off by herself to grab a prize. We had a good long talk about what happened, how dangerous it was, and what we will do in the future.(Specifically,  NOT RUN OFF!)

The thing that I STILL cannot get over is how fast she disappeared. One of the things convincing me she was abducted was that it seemed impossible for her to run off that fast. I had my back turned for one minute- but that was all it took. Scary. Even now I get a sick feeling, thinking about how differently it could have turned out. All those people -in costumes- making them impossible to identify. Candy and ponies everywhere, prime fodder some evil sicko could use to lure my daughter away. But it didn't happen that way, and for that I thank God. Because even though I turned my back for a minute, He never turns His. He was right there, holding her hand tighter than I ever could.                      

I don't mean to brag, but...

...well, actually, I do. I am going to brag on Gracie right now and how stinking smart she is! Because it's my blog so I can do that. :)

Yesterday we went to our class at the Wetlands Institute. We went last year and loved it, so I signed Gracie up again. This month's class was about Bats. Gracie has been interested in bats for a while, and enjoys reading cute books like "Stellaluna" and "Bats at the Beach". This year our Science curriculum is Apologia's "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" and includes a chapter on bats. So when I found out that was the topic at the Wetlands, I decided to skip ahead in the book and do the bat lessons, in addition to some books from the library.

The teacher at the Wetlands started the class off with a friendly trivia game. Each side of the room was a team and had to discuss and answer some questions about bats. Some of the questions were easy, like, "Are bats really blind?" and some were harder.

Here's the part where I start bragging.

Gracie knew the answer to every question. She knew that bat babies are pups. She knew how many thousand insects they eat in an hour. She correctly guessed that there are nine different species of bats in New Jersey. One of the things that made me the proudest was when the teacher asked a question that all the other kids said was False. Gracie kept insisting that it was True, and she wouldn't give in. And she was correct. I was proud that she didn't doubt herself, and that she didn't let the other kids change her mind. She had confidence.

Then the question that brought a little tear to my eye. The teacher said it was a bonus question, and it was ok if nobody knew the exact answer, but if they were close enough they would get it. "What disease is killing off a large portion of the bat population?" Now, Gracie's seven, and we were in a room with some kids up to thirteen, and the moms were helping with answers too. None of them knew the answer. "Is it rabies?" a mom whispered. "No!" said Gracie, "it's white nose fungus!" The mom didn't think Gracie could possibly know and asked some of the older kids again. I gave Gracie a thumbs-up. The teacher asked for the answer, and Gracie told her.Two bonus points.

It was a validating experience for me. It's working. Homeschooling is working. Gracie is learning so much, and being challenged more than she would be in a traditional school setting. We have days that are full of interruptions and days that we don't feel like doing it. We have days that run perfectly. In the end they balance out and yes, she is learning something! A lot, actually! But more than that is she's enjoying it. Learning is fun and exciting to her, and as a result she's able to really understand things and retain all this information about bats and birds and Pilgrims because she wants to know. And that has been one of my main objectives from day one, to teach her to love learning. Once she's mastered that, nothing can stop her.

The Folder System

Last year I used a lesson planner called "The Well-Planned Day". It was designed specifically for homeschoolers. It had a calendar at the beginning of each month, subject squares to write in, extra boxes on the side to record extra-curricular activities, and even space in the back for recording grades. It also had Bible verses and "insights" strewn throughout the pages. It cost me $25 and for that amount of money I was sure it was going to improve my homeschooling- no- my LIFE.

It wasn't a bad idea, but it just got so...boring. Writing everything down every week, when I pretty much knew in my head what we were doing. Writing down the pages, then getting them out, every single day, and tearing out the pages for that day. I know that sounds like something really small to complain about, but it got to be one of those monotonous things that I just got tired of doing. The planner was fine, but it was just more than I needed. All I really needed to do was keep track of which workbook pages we were on.

I shopped around for a different planner this year, but I couldn't find any I liked. Then I came up with the folder system.  I bought four folders and labeled them for every school day (Thursdays we go to co-op).

 Every weekend, I get out the books for next week. I tear out all the worksheets and coloring pages, and put them into the correct folder.                           

Then I'm done! Everything is ready to go for the week ahead. We just get up, get out the folder and the books we'll read (our curriculum provides our reading schedule) and everything's set. I don't need to look at the workbooks again until the next weekend. It helps me to get it all done at once, and it helps Gracie stay motivated because she can see exactly what's expected of her every day. 

It also helps when I need to take care of the boys. I can tell Gracie,"finish the Language pages in your folder while I change Luke", and she can stay on track. A couple of forty-cent folders save us time, and the money I would have spent on a day planner.

Co-op

Probably the biggest change to our homeschooling this year was joining a co-op. We went for the first time last week and the kids loved it! I had contemplated joining last year, but was unsure if I could make that commitment- Luke was still an infant, it was only our first year homeschooling- but this year I knew I was ready. As much as I love the homeschooling lifestyle, it felt like it was time for us to get out of the house for something on a regular basis!

Co-op couldn't be more convenient for us. It meets once a week and is literally five minutes from my house.  The kids start with opening exercises- flag salute, praises, prayer requests, announcements, and then they break into classes by age groups. Classes last until lunch, and after that they kids are free to play.The moms take turns teaching for a four week session, and you can pick any topic you want. At the end of each session there's a family night where everyone get together for a pot-luck dinner and the kids can show off what they learned to dads and grandparents.

My biggest concern about joining was how Luke was going to handle it. He is my anti-social child and screams when I leave him anywhere, but he did awesome! I snuck out of the room, which made me feel kind of evil, but it worked because he was pretty happy the whole time. He almost went to sleep on one of the moms! He and Caleb are in the same group and they went on a nature walk and collected leaves and acorns and stuff. So cute.

Gracie already had some friends (one cousin even) in her group,so that was a bonus(not that she would have any problem making any, lol!) She is learning about space right now. Her teacher made paper mache planets with them AND they made their own ice cream for snack time! How cool is that?

I teach Gracie's group in January and Caleb and Luke's in May. I'm doing a unit on music with Gracie's group. I want to make it fun- make our own instruments, paint to music, maybe find a copy of Disney's "Peter and the Wolf".For Caleb and Luke's class I'm doing farm animals and I'm HOPING to time it just right to have some chicks hatching...we'll see ;)

It's so encouraging to see how all the moms work together and do their best to make the classes fun and interesting.  Unlike a job where people sometimes show up and do their work half-heartedly, everyone gives it their best, because they want the same for their kids. And it's nice for the kids to meet with friends on a regular basis- not because they won't be "socialized" otherwise but because it gives them time to form those steady friendships that will last for years.

Momma's New Toy

Before I had kids, I worked at a preschool for four years. It was a really nice set-up, complete with an office housing full-sized copy and laminating machines. Those years spoiled me. The lightning fast copies, the kid's adorable crafts nicely laminated to last throughout antiquity. *Sigh*... waiting three minutes for one page to copy off my printer is torture- and Gracie has made so many nice crafts, but I find the edges torn and creased a few months later. Some women dream of expensive purses or spa days. I dream of office equipment.

Which is why, when I found this little beauty, I new I had to have it. Not for Christmas. Not for my birthday.                                                                 

                                                NOW                                                            

                                                                                

It's a small laminating machine. I picked it up at BJ's for about $22 and have already laminated the crap out of half the stuff in my house.

We use it mostly for our timeline pieces- it keeps the tape from tearing them when you reposition them.

                                                                                         
And it is super handy for laminating cute craft projects, especially when you want them to hold up for a while.

                                                                     (Gracie's)    

                                                                          (Caleb's)

I love it so much I sit around all day and try to think of new things to laminate... recipe cards? bookmarks? baby booties?  the cat?

Now all I need is a copy machine. They're a little more than $22, so maybe Santa will bring me one.
                

Teaching Toolbox

My husband is a handy kind of guy. He does industrial HVACR for a living, and drives a work truck completely stocked with tools for every problem he might encounter. Then, he has a stockpile of completely different tools he uses for the house. Whenever anything breaks, it never crosses my mind to call someone- I just know he'll be able to fix it. In almost 10 years of marriage and three houses, he's never let me down.

So recently when I read a child development book, the part that really jumped out at me was about "tools". It said that studies have shown that a child's IQ is directly related to having tools in the home. Not the kind of tools my husband has- although you could teach a child great skills with those- but things like books and maps, tools they can use to gain information and learn skills. It got me thinking about our house and things I consider essential "tools".

Books
I've always been a reader. I learned to read before I even went to school. My mom and grandmom were always reading to me, and I just picked it up by being read to. So it's very important to me to read to my kids, and to have books available for them to read. Even Luke likes to sit on the floor and look at books! We have a very varied selection of kid's books, from funny to serious to educational. I don't care what my kids are reading, as long as they're reading. If they learn to love it, the rest will fall into place.

Maps
Last year we put up a map and I can't believe how much my kids have learned by just casually looking at it. Gracie knows the seven continents and how to use a compass rose. She has a general sense of where most states are located and can find a lot of countries. Caleb can show you where we live, and where Pennsylvania and South America are. Whenever they hear of someplace new, they like me to find it for them on the map. It isn't something we intentionally try to learn; they're just interested and so they pick it up.

Craft Supplies
Gracie is one crafty kid, so our craft supplies started accumulating about the time she turned three. She spends a lot of time coloring and drawing each day. She also likes to make things and her grandmom has just started teaching her how to sew. I try to keep a large amount of supplies on hand so they can make things whenever the mood strikes. Some staples(besides crayons, glue, markers and paint) are: paper plates, sequins, fabric, a hot glue gun, card stock, and poster board. Check out the owl she made:

 

 

Music
Baby Mozart aside, it's good for kids to appreciate music. Whether you play it or just listen to it, it's a part of everyone's lives, and I think it's more enjoyable if you know a little about it. From classical to rock, I let them listen to anything as long as the lyrics are clean. (right now they really like bluegrass and are wearing out my Nickel Creek cd) Gracie has been taking piano lessons for about a year now, and Caleb really likes singing along to his favorite song. But even if your kids don't want to play an instrument, you can still talk about the music you listen to, name the instruments used, and do some research about the artist. You can also have some fun making your own instruments with items around the house-coffee can drums, soda bottle flutes, rice-filled maracas. Or, you can just do some crazy dancing!

Outside play
I love watching my kids play outside. They love hanging out in the "clubhouse" at the top of the swingset and Caleb loves digging in the dirt box ('cause we've never gotten around to buying sand). Outside, kids need things to climb on, balls to play with, buckets and shovels, jars to catch bugs, and bikes to ride. I love watching how their imaginations wake up when they get outside- they're on safari, they're pirates, they're spies and the dog is their arch nemesis. It's good for them to run and play without an adult directing their every move, so when they get outside, I make sure they're safe, and get out of the way.

Inside play

Toys that you can use in a variety of ways are awesome-Legos, building blocks, Lincoln Logs. They get the creative juices flowing and provide hours of entertainment. My kids also like plastic animals that they play farm or  pet shop with. Plastic food and dishes are great for lots of games, and don't forget dress up clothes! Puzzles and board/card games are great for problem solving and pre-math skills.Toys and games that promise learning, like "Leap Frog", sound great, but in the long run I don't believe being talked at by a computer compares to letting kids exercise their minds and imaginations.

Children learn through play. Don't ever think that play time is wasted time. It might not seem like it, but a whole lot of  learning is happening while the kids are building a cardboard box spaceship. You can help by stocking your toolbox.                                                                           

A Great and Horrible First Week

Last week was our first week of school. I hadn't planned on starting quite yet, but thanks to hurricane Irene I was able to spend a few days getting organized and making lesson plans. I spent a whole day organizing and baby-proofing Gracie and Caleb's bedroom to give Caleb and Luke a space to play while I teach Gracie. I have been trying to come up with a plan to keep Luke happy, and I felt like this one was truly inspired. He's always trying to get in there and play with big-kid toys, and I thought if I made it safe and let him loose, he would be no trouble at all.

Monday started great. Gracie got up, dressed, and made her bed without being told. We had breakfast and chores done and were ready to learn at 9:30. We started our day with a Bible lesson. Caleb wanted to join us, and I got out a puzzle for Luke to play with. I had a fresh cup of coffee and there was even cheerful music playing in the background. For like, 5 minutes, we were the perfect family.

The boys were having a hard time sitting still, which I knew they would. So I moved them from the table into the living room to play with some "educational" toys.
        

                                                                                
In became apparent that these toys were not baby-proof and I spent a few minutes chasing Luke around the house and then shoving my fingers down his throat to pull out two foam fishes. No problem, I thought. Time to pull out my ace in the hole, the newly readied playroom.

They stayed in there for 3 minutes.

Luke kept shutting himself in the bedroom and then screaming and yanking on the doorknob. I went to free him, and as soon as I sat down with Gracie, he did it again. And again. Then he tried to crawl through the cat door a few times. Then he pooped. Then I had to sit in the bathroom with Caleb while he pooped (his highness requires an audience). Then Luke hung onto my shirt and screamed. Then they took turns pushing each other and crying about it. Then they were hungry. Then they spent a long amount of time just kind of following and watching me like really tiny stalkers.      

The whole week was like that. The boys are driving me up a wall! We don't have this rigid, structured curriculum that requires silence, but they won't even let me read three sentences to Gracie! Wednesday I collapsed on the bed and cried for a few minutes. Thursday I gave up and put "Thomas the Tank Engine" on repeat play.

*hangs head in shame*                                             

Gracie did an awesome job all week. She never complained and did her best work. I was amazed at how much her handwriting improved since last year! We didn't practice it, but it seems like she is just ready for it and wanted to do her best. She was really proud of her notebooks and showed them to Jeremiah when he got home. She seems enthused about this curriculum. So in that way, it was a really great week. I truly enjoy teaching her.

But I still don't know what to do with the other two. I don't expect them to disappear into another room and play quietly for three hours, but their behavior this week was ridiculous. The fighting, screaming, whining- it has to stop or I will lose my mind! I thought I was prepared- the room to play, the new "school" toys- but I guess not...for me, this is really the hardest part of homeschooling!                                                                                 

This Year's Starting Line-Up

We started school last Monday, and I am very excited about this year! With the exception of Math, we have a whole new curriculum for every subject. Here's what we're doing :

Our main program is called My Father's World (MFW). It's a Charlotte Mason approach and it covers Bible and (this year) American History. I like the Bible lessons because you actually sit and read a passage from the Bible, not just a Bible workbook. Some days there's an activity to go along with it, and there's a list of memory verses. Some examples of activities are: baking bread (Jesus is the bread of life), learning the meaning of your name, the names of Jesus, then making a poster of Jesus' names. The best part is, all the things you need come with it. The bread recipe is in the book. The names of Jesus are there for you to color and cut out. For History, they include a storybook-style textbook for some lessons, and then for others you use readers and biographies that you can purchase separately. There are even lessons on all 50 states! History usually includes a page to color or write on to include in your "United States Notebook", which you add to all year. Oh, and you also work on a timeline, again, pieces included! It's only been a week but I already LOVE this curriculum.

For Language Arts we went with Abeka. A lot of people hate Abeka, put I really like their LA program. The workbook pages are pretty short, it includes spelling and poetry, and reading books. I like that the lessons all tie together. You see the "special sounds" (blends) from the workbook in the spelling words and the spelling words in the reading books. I think it's pretty thorough. The only part I'm not doing is the Handwriting. It seems like busy-work when Gracie's already writing for other subjects.

Math is the same, Modern Curriculum Press. I was happy with it last year.

For Science I chose Apologia Science's "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day". It's a whole year's study on animals that fly- birds, bats, bugs, even pterodactyls! Gracie is really interested in all of that- but we may have to play it by ear. Even though the book says it's for 1st-5th grades, the first lesson included classification and binomial nomenclature. Pretty intense. But it does include cool experiments and notebook activities, so we're gonna give it a good try.

I also purchased a Spanish kit called "Puertas Abiertas". It uses an immersion approach through videos and cds. There are workbook lessons to complete after you listen to each lesson a few times. This is an area I'm not worried about the kids excelling at, but I thought the exposure would be good. So three times a week they watch the video.

Gracie is still taking piano, so that covers music for me, and....we joined a co-op!! It meets every Thursday, and it's only five minutes from my house. We are all really excited about it. (except Luke. He will be really mad at me when he has to stay in his group without me)They have two hours of learning in the morning, followed by lunch and then playtime.Gracie and Caleb both have about nine kids in their groups, so they will have plenty of friends to play with. It will be especially good in the winter when the days start to drag!

As I said, I am really excited about this year. But we have had our challenges already! Gracie is enjoying her books and doing really well. The boys, on the other hand, are not cooperating AT ALL. But that's another entry...

Learning Rocks

One of the things I'm finding to be the most rewarding about homeschooling is the freedom it gives you to learn from just about anything. You can take almost any object, situation, or experience and expand on it as much as you like. This summer, we used rocks to help us learn.

Gracie has always been a rock hound. Everywhere we go, she's looking at the ground, finding cool ones and stuffing them in her pockets. One of my favorite memories happened one day when she came home from kindergarten. I had just had Luke and couldn't drive yet, so her grandmom dropped her off. She got out of the car, and her pockets were bulging with rocks. As she ran up the driveway to greet me, her pants fell down around her ankles! Sometimes she finds really interesting ones, but most of the time, they're just your average driveway variety. Until Elise found out Gracie likes rocks...

Elise is one of the most interesting people I know. She's a missionary with YWAM and has been all over the globe- Australia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia- lots more- and now she's in Latvia. But even though she's across the ocean, and very busy, she takes time out to think of Gracie and enhance her education.She started collecting rocks for Gracie from all the different places she travels to, and I have to say, the rocks she finds are much cooler than the rocks in our driveway!

                                                                                             

                                                       (I told you she was cool)              

Elise was home for a few weeks in July, and brought a bunch of rocks for Gracie. The rocks from Latvia are my favorite, because one is actually a piece of a castle, and the little one is amber (Gracie loved that, because now she has a fossil) The one from Sweden is interesting too, because it's really black and looks like it may have been volcanic in origin. Elise labeled them for us, and then it was time to do our homework!

                                                                  
We went to the library and got a book about each country.We had already been studying some other countries from our FIAR curriculum, so the rocks were a great way to continue what we were already doing

After we read about the country, we located it on the map. I don't mean to brag, but I don't know any other seven- year- old who can find the Baltic states on the map. And Caleb can find Pennsylvania, 'cause that's where Thomas the Tank Engine lives!


Then we colored each country's flag, and wrote the capital and language on them.
                                                                             

                                                                          
We still have a few more countries to cover, but that's kind of the beauty of it- we can do it at our own pace, just for the fun of it, and still be learning tons!

And, most importantly,since the rocks came from Elise, it's the perfect way to teach Gracie about missions. I'm able to show Gracie, "Look, this is where Elise went, so she could tell people about Jesus. This is what the country is like, these are some rocks!" And Gracie can really understand that. Instead of just imagining what missionaries in other countries do, she knows a real person. Her world gets bigger and smaller at the same time.


I'm hoping that we can make up a nice display box for the rocks so Gracie can show them off when she moves into her own room. Right now she's been keeping them in her nature box with the rest of her treasures.
                                                                                  

                                                                                          

I also had to find a solution for all the other rocks that were coming into the house. While I'm glad Gracie is interested in them, I'm also tired of stepping on them! So we decided to make a rock garden. We got a cheap planter from Home Depot and I planted the flowers the kids gave me for Mother's Day. Then we put Gracie's rocks around it. Now every time she finds rocks, she knows right where to put them. It's become one of my favorite things to look at.                                                           

                                                                           
Thanks Elise!

I'm so scared...

                                         ...about homeschooling right now!

                                                                                   


The summer has just flown by and books have been trickling into the house from UPS every few days.  I've  been getting really excited and making all kinds of plans in my head. Today is a lazy day and the perfect opportunity for me to sit down and plan out the first few weeks of school. My idea is to start the last two weeks of August and use that time as review/practice time to kind of "ease" our way into the school year. Instead of starting with our curriculum, I thought we would do some fun math games, read some library books, do a unit study on farmers and go apple picking.

Gracie and Caleb were playing in their room, and Luke was in the living room playing with blocks. I got out every single book we have, a blank paper to brainstorm on, the calendar, and my planner book. I sat down, and what seemed like 75 children descended on me. Luke decided he wanted to sit with me and was hanging on the back of my shirt with one foot up on the bench screaming. In the process he flipped himself sideways and hit his head on the floor. Caleb decided very sweetly to make me paper flowers and began cutting out petals and gluing them on the flowers. Except he can't really cut OR glue, so there were bits of crumpled up glued paper everywhere. Then Gracie realized she was ravenously hungry, which happens about every 20 minutes, and asked me to make a smoothie. So I left the books and two sentences I had written and got out the blender. I put the fruit and juice in and Caleb appeared in front of me, stepping on my feet and pushing the blender buttons. Gracie was telling me a detailed story about the neighbor's dog and Luke was still screaming. I finished the smoothies and poured a glass for Gracie and myself, as the boys don't like them. Except today Luke decided he DOES like them, and was trying to grab Gracie's glass and saying, "Numma numma numma!" over and over again, then opening his mouth wide and saying, "Aaahhh". He came over to me and I crouched down to give him some sips. Caleb wanted to show me his unceasing affection by climbing onto my bent knee and wrapping his arms around my neck. Luke got jealous and did the same, and their combined weight caused me to topple over. It became pretty clear now that I wasn't getting my smoothie back, so I gave Luke mine and started making more.Withing seconds, he discovered it was much more fun to paint things with the straw than actually drink it and now I have really sticky tiles. I poured my second one into a cup and Caleb asked me to come look at what he had made. I followed him to the dining room where he proudly showed me the map he had put up on the wall. Only instead of putting it up with tape, he Elmer's-glued it to the wall. So now I have sticky tiles AND sticky walls.

Then, just as quickly as they appeared, the 75 children were gone, leaving untouched smoothies everywhere. I got absolutely nothing accomplished, except for making a giant mess of books, papers, and smoothies. And now I'm sitting here, wondering if this is how the year is gonna be? If I can't even sit down to write out some plans, how will I teach them anything?

AAAAHHHH!!!

My grandmom has a saying- " I don't know whether to laugh or cry!"- and it has definitely been that kind of morning. I've decided to laugh, but I've also realized that the game plan I had in my head for this year is not going to work. I definitely need to come up with a strategy for keeping the boys busy. I'm planning on including Caleb more, but not formally, and I need to think of something to occupy Luke, whose biggest problem is he thinks he's 5 and should do everything his siblings are doing. Here's what I've come up with so far:

a sandtable

yeah, that's pretty much it...

Many Things

                                                                         

We all know one of those "perfect" women. You know who I mean- she's slim and perky, always dressed nice; she has four mild-mannered kids, and a beautiful, well-kept house. Like a "Better Homes and Gardens" house. She's always on time for church and Bible study and volunteers at her kids school or homeschools them all while still keeping that house immaculate. Meanwhile, you are struggling to keep it together with "just" two or three kids. There are no clean socks left and the baby is starting to smell funky. Your kids won't stop fighting and the dog just threw up. Your floor feels like flypaper and you are really, REALLY hoping that's chocolate over there. How does she do it? How come she can pull it off and you can't? If you're like me, you think she's just a better mom. A better person. A better Christian.

Being that woman has been my goal since I got married, even more so since I had children. For the past nine years, I have tried my hardest to be her. And I know I'm not alone. Being this June Cleaver-kind of wife is a recurring theme among Christian women. Visit any Christian bookstore and you will find whole sections on home management, cleaning, meal-planning, organizing. There's even devotionals on it. There is no doubt in my mind that many Christian women equate homemaking with holiness. After all, we're helpmeets, right? 

I was making fairly good headway being that woman.  Then, my husband was taken hostage. The company he works for took on several huge accounts. But they didn't hire anyone! He is now averaging about 70 hours a week. I don't usually see him till after the kids are in bed, and being the sole parent for all their waking hours is taking its toll. Not only being the only one caring for them, but being the only one disciplining them. Always feeling like the bad guy. So for the past few weeks, things started getting not-so-great around here. The housework started spinning out of control and I was tired of breaking up spats. Sometimes I was tired and let behavior slide. Other times I would snap. Caleb wasn't obeying well and Luke was screaming and Gracie was getting an attitude. There were lots of whiny noises and bossy comments. "What is wrong with these kids?" I wondered. "They're miserable". Then I heard words that seared like a hot knife: "They're miserable because you're miserable." 

That moment changed my life. I was doing everything backwards. I was worrying about keeping my house clean and my kids behaving. But it was like the white-washed sepulchers. It only looked good. Inside was bad attitudes and disharmony. Like Martha, I was anxious over many things, when only one thing was needful. I decided to choose the good part. I decided to worry about my kids' hearts and not their grubby hands. To worry about their walk and not what shoes they're wearing. To check if their minds are in order and not if their rooms are. I decided to bring them all to Jesus' feet, where we will sit, together, while He teaches all of us.

I think we Christian women need to just let it go. I really think Satan is using this perfect Christian-Betty Crocker-Martha Stewart ideal to thwart us. To make us less effective. To make us resent our kids. To store up treasures for moths and rust to destroy. I think instead of the benchmark of the perfect Christian woman being a lovely Yankee Candle-scented house it should be flour all over the counters from baking with the kids. Paper scraps on the floor from letting them be creative. Dishes piled up because you were busy reading to them. I think we should stop being concerned when our houses aren't perfect and start being concerned when they are.  Before we know it these little people will be gone and we will have nothing but perfect houses, filled with regret. Choose the good part!

                                                                                  

True Grit

A few weeks ago I wrote a post about getting attacked by my rooster, who has since been named "Marshal Cogburn" by my husband. I disagree with the name, as I don't believe the rooster exemplifies True Grit, but anyway...

Things have been pretty quiet on the rooster front and I have not been having panic attacks since I started wearing jeans and sneakers instead of shorts and flipflops to the coop. I have also started packing heat when I go out there. Well, I have been carrying a plastic t-ball bat, but it gets the job done.

So this morning my parents were visiting and I headed out to the coop, yellow Little Tykes bat in hand. I let the chickens out, and the hens, who have pretty red combs now and are laying four eggs a day, ran to greet me. The rooster ran too, but not to be friendly. I tried to look non-threatening and walked slowly toward the house, but he matched my pace. We were neck in neck for a minute or two, and then he struck. It was classic Cogburn, talons outstretched, wings flapping. But this time, I was ready. I swung Little Tyke at him and thunked him in the side. Undeterred, he lunged again, and this time I brought the bat down square on his head. He ran away, bawking.

Victory!

But then, he started making this unearthly bawking-gobble sound and flapping his wings. He stumbled sideways and fell over in the grass, dead as a doornail, his neck extended and legs sticking up in the air. My face flushed hot and my hands started shaking. I killed him! I didn't mean to KILL him! I just don't want to get scratched! The hens ran over and looked at him, curiously. I put my hand over my mouth and ran to the house. Once inside, I leaned my back against the door and sunk to the floor. What would I tell the kids? What would they think of me, now that I was a murderer? "It's ok", I told myself, "you had no choice. It was self-defense" I went into the dining room, where they were playing with my mom. "Hey guys, " I said softly. "I...I accidentally killed the rooster." They looked indifferent. "Oh good," Gracie shrugged. "Now he can't scratch us." I sat down at the table, still shaken. "I've never killed anything before," I told my mom. "I really didn't mean to. But he was coming after me, and I just wanted to stop him..." as I sat, staring out the window, the rooster's head poked up out of the grass. A second later, he was back on his feet. "IT'S A MIRACLE!!!" Gracie shrieked,  "HE'S RAISED FROM THE DEAD!"

I watched the rooster shake himself, then walk around in circles for a few minutes. He finally regained his composure and made his way to the woods to rejoin the hens. "Well look at that," I said, "I guess he really does have True Grit."

                                                                             

The Day the Rooster Kicked my Butt

We've been keeping chickens now for about five months. We brought them home when they were two weeks old, held them, pet them, and handled them a lot in hopes of having very docile chickens. And it worked. As soon as my hens see me come out in the yard, they run right up to me, clucking as if to say hello. Until the rooster comes along...
                                                                             
I was warned about roosters. I even had a little experience, as my husband's parents had one for a while, until it started going after Gracie. I know they can be mean, they have to be the boss, etc. But I did hope that by handling him so much when he was young, he would be more, approachable. And you have to have a rooster if you want to have chicks, which we do.

Everything was fine with the rooster until we started letting the chickens roam the yard. Everytime they came out, Caleb would charge up to them, excited to see what they were doing. Of course this scared them, and the rooster started looking suspicious. I warned Caleb, but in typical little-boy fashion, he ignored me. One fateful day, he charged up to the rooster, bent his thirty-inch frame over, and screamed, "BAWK!" right into the roosters face. That was the last straw. It fluffed its feathers, took a flying leap, and pecked Caleb on his leg, leaving a blue bruise in the shape of a beak. Caleb ran to me, I picked him up and stomped at the rooster, and it backed down. However, the incident left Caleb a marked man, and he is never safe in the yard if his winged arch nemesis is loose.

A few weeks later, Caleb decided to help me feed the chickens and put them up for the night. He was humbled by his first experience, and was keeping a respectful distance. Nevertheless, when the rooster saw him, he charged up to Caleb and started dancing a fluffing and jumping at him. Mama bear instincts were pumping through my body as I ran over and sent the rooster sailing with one swift kick. When it regained its composure, it ran for the pen, and when I stuck my head in the coop to get the water, he darted out the door, scared to death of me. "You better run sucka!" I yelled.

Things calmed down a little for a few weeks. Caleb won't go near the rooster, and I continued tending the chickens without incident. But over 4th of July weekend, I started noticing something- I was being stalked. The rooster would literally hide behind trees and poke its head around, trying to calculate my coordinates. "Oh it's like that, huh?" I would shout. "BRING IT ON". It would sneak up behind me as I was walking through the yard. It tried to be all stealthy, but it's getting fat and I could hear his feathers swish-swishing. When I turned around, it would stop and start pecking the ground, trying to act nonchalant.

Then last night, I made a mistake. I got lazy and let my guard down. I was outside, talking to Jeremiah about some stonework we just had done. He had worked late. We were both tired and I felt like I was starting to catch a cold. "Well, I better go put the chickens away," I said. I started back for the pen. I should add here that I was wearing SHORTS and FLIPFLOPS. "Here chicky chicky chickies!" I called. They all ran up to me, eager for me to tuck them into their little chicken beds. The rooster ran up beside me, leading his ladies like a pimp in Atlantic City. As we got to the pen, I crossed in front of the rooster to open the coop. That's when it happened. Behind me I heard the familiar swish-swish of feathers. As I spun around I saw the rooster was airborne, sharp talons aimed at my bare legs. "Argh!" it was like a dream where everything's in slow motion and your limbs are jello. I jumped back just in time and grabbed a stick. It came at me again, and I wacked it on the head but MY STICK BROKE! I felt claws and beak on my bare legs again and again, and I was unable to kick because of the flipflops! Everytime I stuck my leg out for a kick, it scratched me! I had no choice but to retreat. I started to walk away, but it came from behind again. I walked faster...faster... finally I broke into a run. The rooster ran too. That thing is fast. It got me again. "AAH! AAH!" I continued running, my flipflops snap-snapping in mockery. I came around the hill and saw Jeremiah by the shed. "What's wrong?!" "AAH AAH!" I managed. I ran behind him. He of course was wearing Carharrt pants and work boots. "Thunk" he kicked the rooster. "Thunk thunk". It retreated for the pen. He followed, flexing his muscles like the Incredible Hulk. "Oh yeah! who's a big man now? this is MY hen!" (??????)  he threw a duck decoy at it ( the longer I write, the redneck-ier this sounds) "I'm the rooster here!" He turned to me. "You have to think like a chicken," he explained. Oh.

Jeremiah of course wanted to know why I was running from the rooster in the first place. "Isn't it obvious? SHORTS and FLIPFLOPS!" Then he told me I need to show the rooster who's boss, which I would have done, but again, SHORTS and FLIPFLOPS!

I would like all my readers to know that my daughter actually witnessed the whole attack, and was standing at the back door laughing her head off.

One often experiences great clarity after a near-death experience, and I learned several important lessons:
1) chickens do indeed have large talons
2)  they run very very fast
3) I can still run surprisingly fast
4) never, ever wear SHORTS and FLIPFLOPS around a rooster

IT IS SO ON!

The Still Small Voice of a Screaming Baby

I love big families. I always have. Growing up with just one brother, I always dreamed about having a sister. All the kids I knew with families bigger than mine always seemed to have so much fun, and they usually had these cool parents who did fun things with them, like bust out guitars and have campfire sing-alongs. Being at their house was like a constant slumber party. So by the time I was twelve, I had established that I would have a large family.

Fast forward 17 yrs and big families are "in", thanks to the Duggars, Jon and Kate, and a bunch of other TLC shows. I am not the kind of person to be swayed by the media or current trends. I actually pride myself with how disinterested I am in Hollywood and reality TV. But the big family shows draw me in with their siren's song of happy, crazy, messy, fun lives. Add to that the growing number of friends and acquaintances I have who are adding to their families, and my head is full of uncertainty.

This is something I've been struggling with for a long time. About two years I would guess. Some of you who follow my blog may remember I've written about my struggle with family planning (or lack thereof) before. My struggle is still going on, but I feel like it's reaching it's end, that I am finally coming to the conclusion that, as much as I would love to, and as much as I admire and respect large families, it's not for me. More specifically, I don't think God wants it for me. Elijah listened for God's voice in wind and fire, something dramatic, and found it in a still small voice. I keep waiting for an answer to my prayers, a big sign or deep conviction. I feel like He speaks to me through a small child named Luke.

Again, if you follow my blog, you will remember I've written about Luke, and how absolutely trying he is. Gracie and Caleb were, and continue to be, happy, easygoing, little kids, full of laughter and wonder. Luke is not like them. He is one unhappy kid. Almost all the time. Without being dramatic, I feel like I shuffle through life in a constant state of exhaustion. I constantly have tension in my shoulders. I can't do the things I used to do. My husband and I take turns sitting in church, because he screams non-stop in nursery. I can't go to the store anymore. Last time I tried I had to leave a full cart of groceries in the middle of BJs because he wouldn't stop screaming and bashing his head into Caleb. I can't wear my glasses even though contacts bother me, because he smacks them off my face. I have not sat through a meal in months. And it doesn't just affect me. One night after Luke went to sleep, Gracie covered her ears and said, "Ugh! I can still hear Luke screaming in my head."

Before you write me off as the worst mom ever for complaining about my son, know that I'm not really trying to complain. I am saying all this in a matter-of-fact way. I have come to terms with this. This is how my life is, and that's ok. I love my son so much. He is my little snugglebug. He gives the best baby kisses and hugs and sings the sweetest songs. He makes me laugh with his dancing and bawk-ing like a chicken. But he makes me realize I have reached my limit.

                                                                              

Last night I went to visit a friend a her beautiful newborn baby. I wondered when I held her what I would feel. Longing? Sadness at the thought of no more children? She was perfect and tiny and pink and soft. And I felt nothing but happiness for my friend.

There is a movement in the church right now to abandon family planning and let God do it for you. I agree that you should let God plan your family. I think it's something you need to pray about a lot and seek Godly direction on. God has a special place in His heart for children, and we need to have the same heart. But I don't think it's necessary to abandon the physical planning of your family. God has a different plan for every family. Like homeschooling, I think it's something God will call you to. Some people are called to have a large family. Others are not. The important thing is not the size of your family, but letting God lead you. Some people (and I agreed with this for a while) argue God commanded people to "be fruitful and multiply"- but commands are for everyone. Why would God command that, and then render some people barren, unable to follow His command? I believe "be fruitful and multiply" is a blessing, not a command. I certainly count every one of my children as blessings, especially Luke. In the beginning of my pregnancy it looked like we might lose him. Now I thank God for him every day. But I'm starting to think my family is perfect just the way it is  :o)

A Great Many Things

One of my favorite movie quotes is from "Little Women". A man at a dinner party tells Jo, "You should have been a lawyer, Miss March" and she replies, "I should have been a great many things".

"I should have been a great many things"

I feel that way all the time! I don't think it's that I'm discontent with my life, because I'm not. I love my kids and staying home and teaching them more than anything. It's truly a dream come true. It's just that there's lots of other things I'm also interested in. Some of them I will try one day, others are just dreams. Here they are, in no particular order:

farmer with a farm stand
beekeeper
run a hand-made goat milk soap business
potter
library assistant
dog breeder
go on missions trips
travel to every state in the US (right now I'm up to 33!)
write an updated book about the Pine Barrens
own my own diner I cook in and I get really fat and every one calls me "mom" (actually that sounds pretty similar to my life right now, hmmm....)
own a "fruit ice-cream" shop where I make everything out of frozen fruits. I'll call it "The Whole Fruit" and paint, "The Fruit, the Whole Fruit, and Nothing but the Fruit!" on the wall, and it will look really funky and have rainforest animals painted everywhere.( I'll hire Megan Benson to paint them and she will get free ice cream for life) : )
children's book author
run a petting-zoo birthday party business called "Zoo to You"- instead of just pony rides, I take a whole petting zoo, but I think I will need lots of insurance for that one

Well that's my short list anyway. I think it's enough... for now.

The Big, Bad, TV

                                                                            


I really like TV. After the kids get to bed, I like to relax, maybe make some popcorn, and watch TV. It's the end of the day, and I can FINALLY just sit down, and do nothing... ahhhh...

But, as a homeschool mom, I'm not supposed to like TV! I'm supposed to disconnect it and throw it on the front lawn until the trash men come. TV hating and homeschooling go hand-in-hand. When homeschool people introduce themselves, they often say something like, "I homeschool my 14 children, who were all born in the bathtub, and we don't watch TV." They also usually throw something in there about how wonderful they eat too. One mom confided in me, "She thinks green beans are a treat!" I punched her in the boobs.

I'm not advocating parking your kids in front of the TV all day. Any one who knows me knows that's not how I roll. And I think you should be very careful what they watch. I just think people should stop vilifying TV. Like so many other things, it's what you make of it- you can use it for bad, or you can use it for good.

Last summer we signed up for Netflix, and we ended up using it for homeschooling more than anything. In September we did a unit study on Johnny Appleseed, and we were able to rent the Disney movie. We've watched a few IMAX shows about animals and several episodes of "Liberty's Kids", a cartoon series about Colonial America and the Revolutionary war. When we read Madeline and studied France, we were able to watch the cartoons of Madeline as well. It's a nice supplement. And we really enjoy making popcorn, grabbing a blanket, and having family movie night- just like sometimes we have campfire night or board game night or going out for ice cream night. I just really don't get what all the fuss is about.

That being said, I am hyper-vigilant about what my kids watch, and they are usually limited to PBS cartoons (I LOVE Martha Speaks and sometimes find myself watching it...) And I do have two kids with couch-potato tendencies, so we have some guidelines:

One hour max a day
No TV if you don't do your chores
No TV when there's something else to do- nice weather, piano practice, family over
We also watch movies before our kids do. Even "G" movies sometimes have things that are a little too scary or themes we're not crazy about.

So that's my take on TV. It's one of those things you have to use common sense with. And no, I didn't really punch that lady in the boobs. I usually go straight for the jugular.