Musings

Have you ever stopped to think, how far God's grace and mercy extend? As we approach the end of 2006, we all begin to think ahead to 2007. We imagine the things we want to be different , the changes we want to see happen in our physical and spiritual lives. I come back to the extension of God's grace and mercy. What if God had not allowed time to be measured? What if days were not numbered, months not measured, years never counted? What if time droned on and on? Yet God, gave us days, weeks, months and years to count. As the sun sets, we are guarenteed His mercy, new in the morning of the next day. We are able, as December spirals down to an end, to look ahead to a new year, blank, with a clean slate. God knew, when He created man and woman that this was a need that we all have. The need to start from a place of new beginnings. What a wise God we serve!

Christmas, Christmas time is here

What makes Christmas special? Is it the lights? the tree? the food? Not for me...First and foremost it is Christ. For without Christ, I would not have this Christmas....or any Christmas' to come. For me to live it Christ, as Paul says. Without him, everyday would have no meaning! But at this time when the world celebrates the holiday of Christmas, I say thank you to Him! Thank you for leaving the comfort of Heaven to become a sacrifice for the World! I pray that even in this season, that the world would feel Him!

Christmas Fun

Spending the day with my kids, making salt dough Christmas tree ornaments...My son has spent the day creating things with KNEX....Made Date Nut Balls with my daughter this morning...My husbands fav! I love days spent having fun and making memories!!

Holiday from Unschooling

Can you take a holiday from unschooling? If you can, today is our first day of Christmas vacation.... In my state, Georgia, you have to have 180 days of schoool per year....Some days I think, why not count most everyday, since most everyday my kids are learning? I guess the vacation for me is now they get to have unsupervised, unsuggested learning....Am I making sense?

Back from Vacation

The title says it all...After 5 days of fun in leisure in Gatlinburg, TN, it is back to the real world. What is the real world? Cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, etc., definitely not things I want to do on vacation. My body is screaming out for some good for me food. On vacation, I tend to eat whatever I want, whenever I want.....Again, I am being forced by even my body back into my daily life.
I still managed to fit in 2 school field trips into my vacation. (You know you're a homeschool mom if...) We went to the Gatlinburg Aquarium one day, and then I counted our time over the mountain, reading about the mountains history on the way up and back, along with our brief stop in Cherokee, NC seeing local Indians, doing traditional dances. Also, at the top of one of the mountains, we stood on part of the Appalachian Trail. Too cool for me! Always a chance to learn, even on vacation! And also a lot more fun!

Sick Days

Yes, it is a sick day here at our house. My son hasn't been feeling well since Saturday. So, the kids are watching a movie right now, and I am playing catch up on the housework....We took off Friday to be with Dad after he got home early from his job. Thanksgiving is just a few days off...oh the holidays. No worries if my children are learning anything. (Which they usually are without me trying to teach!) Next week, we are leaving for a family vacation with the inlaws. (brother-in-laws, sister-in-laws, cousins included!) That, I am really looking forward to because it means a true vacation for me...little or no cooking, and fun with the family! Ahhh! I can't wait!

Monday, Monday

Today has been a great hsing day! Woke up and played 2 phonics games with my son. Then, my son started reading the book "There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly". After he finished, he was showing me the pictures. On the back of the book, the illustrator had drawn about 18 different kinds of flies. (I never thought about there being that many!) So, we google the word "fly" and got to this cool site about bugs, www.whatsthatbug.com It's a great site bug site! Anyway, we got to see real pictures of almost all the different flies and learn something about each one. Then we went to www.enchantedlearning.com to see if they had anything on flies. While there, my son saw spiders. So, we printed off a diagram of a couple of spiders and talked about them. My son asked, "Mommy, how do spiders keep from sticking to their own webs?" Well, I didn't know, but the site had a page about spiders, and it said that spiders produce an oil on their legs that keeps them from sticking. Again, I learned something new too! Then my dd woke up, and we played 2 phonics games. She worked on Starfall.com and worked on more phonics work. Then we I showed them the Samaritans Purse website and talked to them about putting together boxes. They got really excited and started planning what we will put in the boxes. A great home learning day.

Forgetting

Here it is, six am...Yes, I am never up at this hour. But, this morning, I awoke around 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep. Around 4:45, I decided to get out of bed and sack out on the couch. Being at my brother and sisterinlaw's house, I didn't know what I would do....When I went down, there was a book laying on the coffee table called, NightLight for Parents by James Dobson. I picked up the book and started reading....As I read God spoke, and I cried. I cried tears that had needed to come out all week. I realized I have (again!) gotten busy this week, too busy for God. I have reasons to "not have enough time." But this is no excuse! Yes, I have been taking care of 3 extra children this week. Yes, I have been pulled on in ways I haven't been used to. Yes, I tried to do it in my own strength. But, God again reaches down in His infinite and everlasting love and pulls me close. He gently whispers that He has seen me struggling all week. Why didn't I run to Him, He asks. I don't have an answer......But then I do. I thought I could do this in my own strength. I was wrong! God says to me He has what I need. All at once, I feel my inadequacy to parent, hs, be a wife, an aunt, etc. I can't do the things God has called me to without Him. If He calls me, hasn't He promised to equip me? If there is no time in my schedule for Him to equip me, then I will fall down and feel like I need to stay there. But if not for His grace, sweet grace, that picks me up when I fall. That picks me up when I've decided it's not worth me trying to get up.

Grace, grace, God's grace
Grace that is greater than all my sin.

Oct. 10, 2006

This week I am staying at my brother and sister-in-law's house, keeping their 3 dd's, while they are at a staff retreat for his job. The interesting thing is that the 2 oldest are in public school, and the the youngest is in a private pre-K. I say that it is interesting, because I am getting a taste of what it would be like to have kids in public school. Their days run like this: up at 6:45am, to get ready and have breakfast. At 7:17am, leave the house to walk to the bus stop. Arrive home at 3:30 pm. Do homework, ranging from 2 hours for the 10 yr old to 30 min. for the 7 yr old. Bedtime 8pm for 7 yr old, 9pm for 10 yr old. Whew! What a long day! (for me too!) My kids and I are used to getting up between 8 and 9 am, and leisurely starting our day. My hubbie commented yesterday that he is glad that weares hsing our kids. He has his own business, and his schedule is different every week. Some days, he is off at 5 and others, 12 noon. So, we are able to do things, as a family, all the time. He said he would hate to have to schedule our lives around jobs and school. It is truly nice having flexibility!

Playhouse

Right now, my kids are playing in their "playhouse" (two tables with a big comforter thrown over it). I can hear everything they are saying, but they think it secret and private. It is so neat to see my kids enjoying things like this, not tv, computers, or video games. "School" is done for the day. My ds has played math and language games on the computer. I read 2 books aloud to my ds and dd.(one science, one history) They spent an hour jumping on the trampoline and swinging. I helped my dd write her #'s to 50. She also learned (on a dry erase board) how to add one to any number. Then, we reviewed leter sounds. My dd and ds made a homemade pizza for lunch and my dd made a box cake for dessert tonight. Fun day today!

The Unschooling Experiment

A fun day today...Still experimenting with unschooling. It "worked" today. My ds did a math program on the computer, asked to play a letter bingo game, got me to read aloud from a historical fiction book, listened to The Long Winter on cd, caught a frog, took a nature hike with me and his ds, listened to a Bible story, did some writing practice....on his own!

During the nature hike we did something called letterboxing. It involves finding boxes hidden all over the U.S., stamping the box owner's notebook with your stamp, and using their stamp to stamp your's. I am probably not explaining it in the greatest way, but check it out.
Letterboxing...a fun new adventure. Check it out at www.letterboxing.org

Fresh Air

Today we took a little field trip to a river nearby. While hiking a nature trail, we came upon a creek. Of course the kids had to get in and play. As I watched them, it made me think, "Why don't my kids have more of these days? You know meandering through the woods, playing in the creek days." It is really my fault. I get busy doing life, school, church, coop, small group, family time, my time, etc. It seems that I have to be so purposeful about times like today. Kinda sad to me.
I chose hsing so my kids could have carefree days. But, I get sucked into the pace of society. (Go, go, go!) Todays like today make me reevaluate my time spent daily with my kids. A good thing, ya know?

It Happened Again

Staying up until midnight does not make for a chipper mommy...Today, I didn't want to get it out of bed.... Getting up late, I thought we won't have "school" today, we'll just be off. (Yes, I am still having my mind renewed about when learning actually takes place) Again, I was proven wrong.... We made it until 3 pm without any learning activities. Then, the mail came. I had ordered my ds a Star Wars spelling workbook, that he requested. So, in the excitement, he dove right in. (Reading, writing, and spelling) I also got a card game I ordered. (Geography) So, we played that. Then, I had someone forward me a free online typing program. He spent about 30 minutes on that. ( His choice) Then we did a little piano review. (My choice). Then we went outside after dinner and jumped on the trampoline. (PE) The day is still not over, I am sure we will be doing some reading outloud, Bible devotion, and who knows what....

Reptiles and Amphibians

As I said in a previous entry, my ds expressed interest in reptiles and amphibians. Yesterday, we accompanied my dh to fly his rc airplane. He is a member of a rc field out in the middle of nowwhere. Beside the flying field, there is a great patch of woods with a long trail running through it. When we go with my husband, we always take a nature hike. During this hike, we happened upon a puddle. My ds spotted a glob of what he thought were frog eggs. My dd who had been collecting rocks in a ziplock bag, dumped her rocks and said, "Let's take them home." My ds scooped them up and they made it home with us. Today, they (to my suprise) were still alive. We made a trip to Walmart to purchase a small tank w/ a filter. Now we get to watch the tadpoles (which hatched overnight) grow into frogs. Isn't God cool? I told my son that God knew his desire to learn about rep. and amphib., and that God let him find them, because He cares about everything we do....

Unschooling?

In our family, Saturday is known as a non-school day, as well as, Sunday. But today proved me wrong. My son and I awoke at the around the same time with him wanting to watch TV. We found an educational program about the life of cats. (science) Then my son picked up a book and did some independent reading (reading practice). He then wrote his name inside and the date he completed it. (writing practice) Then he asked me if he could "do piano". So, we reviewed note values and he began working on a new song introducing the note "D" on the piano. (music theory) He then got on his favorite Star Wars sight and played a game where you match music scores with the correct scene pictures. (more music and logic) Later, he picked up a storytime kit that he checked out from the library. It came with little cloth figures and a felt belt. (A story telling kit) He began to use the cloth figures to make his own cute story to tell me. (Langauge arts) This all happened before 12 noon.

My whole point to this is that I started out the day thinking, "No school today." But my son proved me wrong. He wasn't doing "school", but he was learning (gasp!) and learning what he wanted to learn (big gasp) , when he wanted to learn it. (even bigger gasp!) That makes me smile!

Ahhhh!

I made it to the iVillage home school message board yesterday. I was able to post one of my concerns with my ds. I got a lot of great advice. It was definitely an answer to my prayer. I also decided today to get my son involved in planning this school year. After asking what he would enjoy doing, he said science experiments and learning about amphibians and reptiles. Wow! That gives me a great place to start. Thank you Lord for my children!

Another day

Here we are another day of hsing. My son hasn't doesn't anything really schoolish today. He is watching a Magic School Bus DVD again. (Does that count?) Anyway, no paper and pencil time yet. Played "The Allowance Game" with DD5. I have no motivation to do school today. Dealing with heart issues with DD5. There has been constant whining, yelling and lying on her part recently. We sat down this morning and prayed, then talked about what the Bible said about those issues. I asked her to pray at the end. She prayed for God to help her stop whining and complaining. Oh God, here my prayers to make me the mom you want me to be!


Okay, so this day isn't going how I planned...today is one of those days when I am thinking, why am I hsing? What was I thinking? It seems that my kids and I are just butting our heads together today. I am having to hold the screams of frustration inside. I need you Lord.

Today

Today is my first to blog...Blog, what an interesting word. Here in Georgia, it is a rainy day. My kids are watching a Magic School Bus DVD. I am doing laundry and catching up on other things, while they watch school. I don't know how often I will blog, but it could be theraputic.

Mommy Duty

Well, my dks seemed to have recovered from the flu. But, last night around 1 AM, my son came into my room saying, "Mommy, I just threw up in the bathroom." My heart went out to him, but I was relieved! My relief was from him throwing up in the bathroom and not all over his bed or the carpet. I mean if he had done the bed/carpet route, I would have still cleaned up with a good heart. But...cleaning a tile floor, vinyl wallpaper, cloth shower curtain and toilet were much easier that all the other tasks that being sick somewhere else would have entailed.... Is that TMI?
Slowly getting back into a routine again today....Our coop is tomorrow. That will make for a fun day for me and the kids.....