Merry Christmas & Learning from the Biblical Ladies

We will post a year update sometime next week, but I just wanted to share our CHRISTmas greetings!!

And share the Christmas nugget I've had on my heart for the last few weeks....

Sometime in our Advent studies and Sunday morning sermons the conversation between Elizabeth and Mary in Luke 1!

And behold, even your relative Elizabeth 

has also conceived a son in her old age; 

and she who was called barren 

is now in her sixth month.

For nothing will be impossible with God.” 

And Mary said, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; 

may it be done to me according to your word.” 

And the angel departed from her.

Although we've had a pretty "quiet" year, we've had plenty that has come before us that has been hard and some things just really seemed (and still seem) "impossible". I'm not going to share the who/when/where/whats but only want to go back to the Christmas Story and see the HOPE that is there.

For years Elizabeth had struggled with infertility, wanting a baby, having a natural God-given desire to mother a child. And in His time God allows that to happen in a miraculous way that fits into His plan. She is overwhelmed with joy. And when confronted with Mary's part she gets just a glimpse of understanding of who her own child will become, that he has a role in the bigger picture of God's plan of redeeming the world.

Speaking of that plan, people for generations before Elizabeth were also waiting and wanting. They were looking for one that God had promised centuries beforehand that was going to rescue His people, all those willing to make Him Lord.

I continue reading in the conversation and I am confronted with Mary's response. Obviously she is humble, but what strikes me is her willingness! She didn't ask to be the Mother of the Savior!! She didn't ask to carry the burden of a basically unwed mother within a society that could have cast stones at her... not words, real stones to kill her like the law would have allowed.

But she accepted it, willingly. And we see her at the crucifixion of Christ... a faithful, willing, and devoted mother.

I am definitely NOT saying that my struggles are made right because I've decided to "give them to the Lord" and be used by Him during the hard times. Or that my struggles compare in scope to these great biblical women.

But what I am suggesting is that maybe, just maybe, having an attitude and outlook that is focused on the Lord and trusting Him to work it all out in His time (while being faithful to do what I am supposed to be doing... like Gal 6:4,5 NLT) would help. I can still walk in faithfulness and joy and not let the situation weigh me down even when it feels like it's staring me down or holding me back. 

Maybe, just maybe, if I'm willing to trust and be used these struggles will one day seem soo distant and temporary and I will be able to see how God used these times to bring me or others to closer to Himself.... which has been His plan all along.

I just have to check my words and deeds and see if they demonstrate a heart that is willing to see struggles as not impossible to God but a means to fulfill His great plan. I have to be willing to confess when it's my heart and plans that are trying to lead instead of being lead by the Lord. 

Isn't it crazy how this simple event still carries soo much power! It's life-changing on the big Redemptive scale and on the small my life scale. 

Praying that in where ever life has lead you, that you would see the HOPE of the Christmas Story... that you can believe in the impossible and be willing to trust God... through the good times and bad! 

Merry CHRISTmas!! 

Just Another Week- Painting the Door Frame & Grammar Ninja

Bible
This week we began the lessons that prepare for Easter. We are using Ann Vokamp's Trail to the Tree Easter study series. And then using the little pictures the kids made last year (or making some for the ones we missed) to review each morning. I love how simply powerful the little devotions are.

One day last week we read and talked about the Passover. How the blood around the door showed that they obeyed and trusted God so that the death "passed over their homes and allowed them to escape from the control of the Egyptians. I think that is just a awesome picture of Christ's blood "protecting/saving/sealing" us. And so we did it:

Language Arts

Last week during Grammar with the middle two I introduced dictation. They did pretty well... yay!!

And then we took a new color and "Grammar Ninja-ed" the sentence finding the verb, noun, article and prepositions. They loved it;)

And if you haven't played Grammar Ninja... you are truly missing out... LOL!! We are definitely nerdy enough around here to enjoy Grammar practice with Grammar Ninja;)

We finally finished Rifles for Watie... loved it!! It definitely had us holding on at the end! We started Across Five Aprils but it started way too slow for us:/ We started a new book on the way to visiting parents ... totally read Bridge to Terabithia in 2 days! I selectively read it aloud because it contained a LOT of stupid, dumb and uses of LORD... that I really would prefer my kids NOT to say, just as a heads up;)

Math
Chugging along... lesson by lesson:) Anna working through word problems, ratios, calculating tax, and longer division;) Chris starting multiplication families while reviewing other concepts from Saxon 2 and adding fractions to make a whole.

Lydia had some memorable lessons:

History
We began our 1st back in Story of the World vol 4 after our 6 week study of the Civil War. While we've loved using Story of the World the chapters for the next few weeks feel really rushed covering 2 or 3 events in totally different countries. I am actually debating about either slowing down and doing one "event" each week and just using SOTW vol 4 next year too or skipping over seemingly "insignificant" events to finish sometime in the summer. Honestly, I'm leaning more towards slower and savoring for a couple of reasons:)
 
So last week we studied the rise and fall of Paraguay and the role of Great Britain in the ruling of Canada. We did the outline, maps and read a little about each country:)

Science
Here's where I dropped the ball last week;( Sadly!! It seemed hard to jump back into a new topic after finishing simple machines soo strongly:/ I know BAD excuse.

We did though begin a "side" unit of identifying birds. I printed off some little bird "cards" and the kids have been finding the birds in a identification book and then reading together the information about each bird! We are excited and hopeful that soon we will be able to tell what each bird in our yard is:)

Art
We discussed two more of daVinci's works, The Last Supper and Madonna (or Virgin) on the Rocks. The kids would much rather paint B&W sketches of famous works. But we did do something a little unique. We have a Biblical art book that we pulled out to compare daVinci's works with other artists to painted the same "scenes".

Another week:/ Wow! They seem to go soo fast!

It's All Sinking In

While all 4 of us (the schooling kids and I) were piled around our school table, Nate opened the our storage cabinet. The inside doors caught my attention as a space we could write some of the lists of things we are trying to memorize (US Presidents, skip counting, poems, etc).

I said aloud what I was thinking and the kids carried the conversation from there:)

Anna: We should put out math facts on the wall (high above other things already on the wall). So then when we are taking our timed tests we can just look up for the answers.

Chris: Just like the snake on the cross in the desert.

Anna: Yeah! Instead of looking up to be healed we look up for the right answer!

LOL!!! They are so silly:) But I love that they had such great recall on the story of the snake on the wooden post that it reminded them of their math facts on the wall:) Who knows how many times our reading through the Bible stories or  Sunday School class has brought us to that story.... but it's sinking in.

If you are unfamiliar with the story Numbers 21:4-9. And then how it beautifully "points" to Christ, John 3: 14-16!!

****************************************
We had a similar (not as grand)  moment with Nate this week.  I offered him a muffin that I had baked us for breakfast.

He responded , "No, thank you!"

We literally stopped everything going on at the moment and praised Nate for his good manners.

yes ... it's nice to see that our words, corrections, teaching and even Bible story times are "sinking in"!!

It's your turn to share what your kids have been saying:) Share via the link or in the comments:)

Weekly Wrap-Up: Lots of House Hunting, Some Basics and Shakespeare

Our week started in the dark with no power :/ But our town was one of the VERY fortunate ones that had it's power restored by Monday night...

of course we weren't sure when the power returned! Once Brian figured out that the college was closed for the day, we jumped in the house hunting machine and went on our way. We walked through some model homes and log cabins... ummm??

And then we made our way to the "big city" to drive down a few more streets to see the homes for sale that we had googled! We did that 2 days in a row;/  House hunting is a full time job.... between searching for property, homes, modular/log homes,etc.... phew!

Tuesday morning, and then the rest of the week... we schooled:)


Bible
We are continuing to read through Psalms... one chapter at a time, finding clues that tell us more about God. The kids aren't picking up all the "clues" but I have to say that we're all learning... and it's great the conversations that come up !

On Friday, I got the idea to start reading through The Book of Virtues by WIlliam Bennet.... I feel like I drop the ball on intentionally teaching the kids about having good character, morals and faith! Teachable moments come up all the time, and I attempt to seize the moment... but taking moments to read a poem or short story that teaches us about good virtues would be a great way to start:) BTW... the kids loved the story:)

Language Arts
Anna is loving First Language Lessons #3... I mean LOVE it... she asks to do lessons!! So I think she's done 4 lessons this week! She's been working hard on Spelling Power... neither of us are sure we like it, and I"m not sure we're even doing it right :/  She's been reading children's versions of Shakespeare plays and a Romona book by Beverly Clearly!

Lydia and Chris did two grammar lessons. Chris missed out on spelling b/c of my lack of planning... although he learned a new set of words during his reading lessons and I noticed he was trying to read and spelling them afterwards!  Lydia is still working on her color words... she'll finish this week! Both completed a few reading lessons... Lydia more than Chris... she's a motivated little kiddo!

Math
Everyone worked hard on math...
Anna's lessons are starting off WAY too easy! She's zooming through each lesson, nice for the confidence level though:)

Chris and Lydia completed a couple lessons a piece! And both got to make pictographs this week;)

And Lydia worked on Left and Right:)

It's always fun to have some hands-on lesson;)

History
We continued with the Elizabethian period by studying some about Shakespeare! The kids really enjoyed reading simplified versions of MacBeth and Twelfth Knight. We also read about staged sward fights... Chris was really into that:)

Science
The Chemistry experiments in Adventures with Atoms and Molecules are super simple!!

I'm hoping to add some more reading into our science days, but the kids really have enjoyed the experiments!

This week we put a little bit of vanilla and mint extract in some balloons and blew them up. The kids could smell the extracts in the balloons...
meaning that the molecules of the extract had "come through" the balloon! Simple but important concept!!



Momma's Thoughts on the Week


We are still not "into" our schedule!! I have found it's VERY hard to school in the schoolroom while Nate is awake... he wants to be right with us... into everything :) So I'm going to have to rethink the schedule, start school later or pick the activities that can be done with him outside of the schoolroom:)

I know that I'm soo distracted by housing hunting and moving. We're in the early stages with no where to go yet... but I'm really having to discipline my mind NOT to be consumed with the hunt and all the decisions to be made. Brian and I are also staying up at night WAY too late... in the quiet we look over floor plans, available lots or the next night homes for sale and their location!

Picture of the Week Nate meeting our neighbors' new cat....
Nate loves animals. He'll get really close and then stop and be afraid of petting them;)

Weekly Wrap Up: 1st week back at work

Our "big" start date was Monday!

So Monday morning we all rose and attempted to follow the new routine.... much grace and patience was given because it was NEW to all of us;) And we started with a fussy toddler and two kiddos complaining with headaches :( It was a reminder to me that it's a routine and NOT a strict schedule... we do what we can.

Tuesday and Thursday we spent most of our mornings doing errands... groceries, library, getting stocked with water, bread and milk since we have a hurricane coming. We spent Tuesday afternoon driving (more to share about this) so the kids brought schoolwork with them and we read ALL of our history in a parking lot while Brian was visiting at the hospital! Thursday after a quick shop and picking up a neighbor from the doctors, I knew I was sick and attempted to rest after I got the kids down for early naps.... not sure what is going on with me :(

So what did we get done???

We started our mornings with Psalms at breakfast:)

Inspired by the book we used in Bible study with our homeschooling group we have started to look for things we know about God from Psalms. It's hard for them, but I think it's better than just reading through it and checking it off a "to do" list!

We have a pretty long prayer list and the kids were volunteering to pray for each request, but it was getting hard to remember everything. Then Chris and Anna decided to do prayer cards... index cards with the dated request on the back... my kids are soo wise! Anyway, they LOVED it and were thinking of other people to pray for (and make cards for). Very sweet and too simple!!

And then we tackled our "book work"!

Anna did mostly reviewing this week. Her books finally came in Wednesday:) But it was just better to stick with the reviewing while Lydia and Chris started getting settled into their books;)

MATH
Anna reviewed subtraction facts and subtracting with borrowing! It was a great refresher;) She did start on her first Saxon 3 lesson, too!! She was eager to get into her new math workbook;)

Chris did 3 math lessons! He rocks at math! I was a little hesitant with giving him an "assessment" on the 2nd day because we hadn't reviewed some of the concepts all summer... but I was pleasantly surprised that he had retained soo much;)

Lydia begged to start math! She was ready LAST week and she carried around her workbook Monday until we finally came to her "math time" ! She has done a lovely job finishing 4 lessons!

Language Arts
I've spoiled Anna (and probably all of them) this summer by letting them read only what they wanted. So this week I"d had to push them to read books from our historical topics/time periods! I've definitely been met with resistance! Anna also worked on giving words endings (like y, ed & ing) and grammar (thanks Miss Sue sue!!) terms as a review before starting Spelling Power. She took her 1st placement test on Friday:)

Chris is working on a list of 1st grade sight words for his Spelling words. We read over the 4 the words he has and he wrote them a few times!

Lydia is working on her color words! Kids learn to identify colors, but often to teach them the color words gets neglected (like by me!!). So Lydia is doing color words worksheets.... she thinks it's "baby work" :)

On the first day we did an "About Me" on the first day! And I let the younger two trace most of it... an easy first day:)

Lydia and Chris have done 2 Grammar lessons together! I KNOW Chris is ready, but Lydia is a little hesitant to participate :( So we'll see if she continues to do it with us, I'm going to give it a couple more weeks!

History
We read about how Queen Elizabeth began queen and what kind of queen she was. We colored, did the map and quizzed each other about Henry VIII wives and children;) There are some fun books about Queen Elizabeth... one is a journal format similar to the American Girls books (Anna liked that one). I like Ten Queens which contains a chapter about Queen Elizabeth.

Science
Anna started on our first week of Chemistry alone :/ She was excited to start, so she did her Definitions page with a couple of questions about how to word the entries.

On Thursday while we were out and waiting in the car I read some of the book Drop of Water. It was a fun and beautiful introduction to water, molecules and phases of water;) Beautiful pictures... beautiful:)

Friday we did our first two experiments:) I planned only to do one ... a drop of food coloring into a jar of water...

and watched it disperse!

but then I got caught up in the simple experiment and we did it with heated water, ice water and tap water:) And watched how quickly the coloring moved in the hot water tan the others!

As I read to them from our science book, I saw blank stares as I read about atoms, neutrons, protons, electrons and a nucleus:) So I drew them one and they made their own to put into their science notebooks.

Other
While in the car this week, we've been listening to music from Handel. One CD was a biography of Handel focusing on "The Water Music" and a CD Brian picked up at Dollar Tree YEARS ago;) I'm hoping to play these for a while and learn a little more about Handel the next few weeks and then move on to someone else;) Trying to sneak in some music appreciation;)

We have been watching the news following the path of Irene and the events in Tripoli this week! We're ready for some rain.... but hoping Irene stays off the coast! We're ready though with flashlights and water!

We were hoping to go to a Splash Pad for our annual homeschool back-to-school gathering on Friday night. Unfortunately Hurricane Irene has postponed our plans :( Just praying that everyone has prepared and is ready!

I realized this week.... that with the school year officially started now SCHOOL is going to have to be our priority again! I have a couple of different things that are pulling on me... but i have to stay focused! On the right priorities!

Picture of the Week
Nate's 1st day of School

Nate was soo "off" and fussy Monday while Anna tried to keep him during her time with him!! She worked her little tail off those 15 minutes!

Linking up to Weekly Wrap-Up !!!

Weekly Wrap Up : Great Aunts & The Important book

I'm seriously considering feeding my family ONLY GV pasta until I save our grocery $ for a Mac!!! I kill PCs... not sure what I am doing but they keep dying on me. Brian resurrected, via recovery disks, my 3 yr old Toshiba (that i love using when it WORKS... arghhh!) anyway, it's not starting again :(

So you're getting the only word version on our week :( Sorry!

At the beginning of the week we attended my younger brother's wedding;) During both Monday and Tuesday we stayed at my parents and swam in their pool;) WE all love pool time at Grammie & Pey's:)

This week was a little different because we had Grammie's sisters, my aunts, visit and swim with us at the pool:) It's soo much fun that although we don't get to see them very often, they keep up with us via FB and our blog! So hey guys, thanks for reading... it really means a lot;) And are you sure you are called "great aunts".... that sounds soo old for how young you all are;)

To see my kids playing and getting to spend time with my aunts was really special. Makes me wish for a big family get together so my kids can meet my million of cousins (lol... not that many, although it can seem like it with all of us there!) and I can meet my cousins' families;)

I don't have ANY pics of my kids with my 3 aunts! I DO have a video of my one aunt and my mom playing a game with the kids on the diving board.... oh, my goodness... it brings tears to my eyes! My kids have a WONDERFUL Grammie and a SUPER Grand-Dee!! But the video will be saved and shared with family... it was funny the day of... can't imagine how much we'll laugh in a few years:)

WE got home Tuesday early evening and so Wednesday we tried to get back into routine;)

I've been trying all summer to "keep up" with doing a chapter a week of history and keeping Chris doing a couple math lessons a week... this week I saw it as silly.... why RUSH through history when we're really enjoying it at a slower pace?? And why not have Chris REALLy know the math facts we've already covered then RUSH ahead???

SO that's what we did last week... we enjoyed the slower pace. We read, we read history, we colored, we read, we practiced math facts, we took walks...

The slower pace was also a change in my focus. I think it happened sometime between the rush to get home, the quiet 2 hours driving home, the drive to get to Tuesday night Bible study and the challenge at Bible study that as parents we have a great influence on our children and calling to teach them about God.

Wednesday morning I started asking the kids what they thought the "most important" book was. They answered the Bible. So I asked "if it's the most important book, what should we do with it?" And the kids quickly answered,"Read it!" and "Memorize Scripture!"

On Wednesday morning we read the Bible (a small Psalm) after breakfast. And I pray that we will make it habit to read the Bible together earlier in the day and NOT just tied with "school time" or practicing Awana verses... which are GOOD things. But treating it like the important book we believe and say it is!!

One fun thing happened this week.... Anna is forever trying to find books that she enjoys reading at her reading level (which we're not exactly sure what it is!). She usually just settles on something she finds at the library and does her "time" and finishes the books eventually. But last week at the library I picked up Pippi Longstocking thinking it might be on Anna's level (or a little above) and that she would like it.

Oh, goodness!! She loves it. The time timer goes off and she keeps reading:) And she's soo excited about it that she shares some of the silly stories with us. So Lydia and Chris want me to read it to aloud to them:)

So when I say we read this week..... it wasn't any classical literature:/
If it wasn't the Bible, it was Pippi:)
Yay for the summer;)

And this week we are totally off, minus reading library books, because we have VBS each morning;)



247. diving board laughter
248. noodle squirts
249. great aunts
250. refreshing ices
251. challenging lyrics
252. quiet car rides
253. balance of faith & wisdom/planning
254. peach season
255. breakfast fruit
256. roots that soak up Truth
257. Truth in pages that can be held in my hands
258. missionaries to small towns
259. masking tape
260. like-hearted friends
261. children excited about VBS
262. familiar faces
263. a child enjoying a book
264. sharing a banana with a toddler
265. banana cheeks
266. breakfast for supper
267. a welcoming home
268. a return-ed visit from neighbors

Weekly Wrap-Up

Seriously... another summer week over :(

Bible
To better learn the 10 Commandments, I made copies of a simple list of the 10 Commandments. Then the kids took some time one morning to decorate their own.... I cut off the "aquarium" theme, pasted the Commandment List on a piece of cardstock and the kids decorated. I'm hoping to use this as out first page of a 10 Commandment booklet they will put together.

They all copied and illustrated the 1st Commandment. Anna wrote on her illustration in her own word what the Commandment means, and she did the 2nd Commandment, too. So for those 2 days that was her "journaling".

I also copied a 10 Commandment Train for our "working on it" door or wall. We'll add a piece as we study each Commandment. And I changed the 1st verse to be John 14:15,"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." It's definitely a motivation for learning and following.

My challenge this summer if to read through J.Douma's The Ten Commandments:Manual for a Christian Life as the kids (and I) memorize and talk about each. I read the book in seminary but felt "rushed" through it. I remember loving how it applied each commandment to modern day situations/thought!

Language Arts
We followed our goals each day we were home;) Anna journaled and read! She's also

Chris did most of his reading from Leap Frog "learning to read" set of books. He likes them, but it doesn't follow our reading curriculum's school of teaching reading, so there are a lot of words I have to help him with because he hasn't learned some of the phonics rules yet.

Lydia has been doing a great job in the OPG book. I kind of knew once she started getting some more one-on-one time she'd really start "buzzing" through. But I've been really impressed with how quickly she wants to and can work through her lessons... funny how different kids can be:)

Math
We did a math lesson or two. And Anna practiced her addition facts using a workbook I had saved for her. We also went back to the "store" and played store for a couple of turns:)

Math fact practice and discovery has been happening on it's own. I've lost count how many times Chris or Lydia shares with me a math fact that they've figured out on their own;)

History
We started a chapter on Christopher Columbus and other explorers during that short time period. Obvious in a young children's curriculum Columbus was the one most discussed:) So we read, colored and read some more. Our read aloud book last week was Christopher Columbus from the Sower Series of books. And we'll be finishing it this week;)

We also finished the chapter of explorers learning about Magellan and Amerigo Vespucci. We borrowed a great biography of Vespucci that we're hoping to finish reading after we finish Columbus although a lot of the Vespucci biography contains a lot of Columbus.

We have some company coming in midway through this week, so we'll probably continue working on the 4 explorers that were mentioned in the chapter and finish up the biographies that the kids had started to enjoy listening to:)

Science
No intentional Science again this week :(

But from reading about the explorers we got a nice review some of the constellations that would have guided the explorers and even some earth science with hemispheres, equator, and directions. That wind and currents affected where the explorers landed. And different types of land formations... like islands, peninsula:)

And we FINALLY started planting a garden;) LOL... I know super late. I had really given up hope of having any flowers or veggies. We were given two healthy cucumber plants and then one evening at Walmart we started hunting in their plants and found some clearance tomato plants (we'll see if they do anything!!) and flowers:) So we talked PLANTs:)

Ohh... that gives me some ideas for THIS week;)

Other Activities
On Monday night we made a visit with Brian. Since it was in a hospice facility and we really didn't know how everyone was doing, the kids and I stayed in the car (and explored outside until they got bit by fire ants!!) After a bit, Brian came out and asked if we wanted to visit because our church member was ok with visitors and seemed well. I know the kids were a little nervous, but Chris brought in a picture he drawn and wanted to share and we marched the troops right in.

Looking back it was a simple last minute decision to visit with her too... it really would have been a LOT easier to NOT visit, to jump into the car and head to our next destination/activity for the evening.

But I am soo glad we went in, we had no idea that she was going to pass away soo quickly just two days later. I am soo thankful for her kind and sweet words over the years. Her testimony of a gentle and quiet spirit. And our last visit. The family said that on Monday evening she was talking about all the teeth Chris had drawn on his giraffe picture he had given her.

On Tuesday morning/afternoon we went to town:) First we made a stop at the library to get loaded up with library books for at least the next week and I got history books for next week as well. Then we headed to the park and met up with another sweet family... it was last minute and the kids were glad to have friends to play with:)

And then we completed our grocery shopping for the week. I went without a list or my coupons pulled ;( But I knew that we'd complete the shop during Sonic's Happy Hour so I told the kids if they behaved then we could make a stop... slushies for 50cents... sounded like a cheap way to have a good shop!! The kids did awesome... soo nice and I was GLAD to stop to get their slushies;)

The rest of our days were filled with bike riding, scrapes:), reading, naps, meals, another swimming time, cleaning the playroom, Little House episodes, Father's Day cards:) The kids ALWAYS have something to do:)

Pics of the Week
Just realized I had only 1 picture of schoolwork from last week :(

here's our Father's Day pic for Brian;)

Just taking pics outside with the kids....
I liked this one of Anna and Nate drinking
I think I like it b/c of Anna's eyes;)

Pics & I have a NAME!!!

I am ASHAMED that I have yet to post Baby's pictures from our ultrasound weeks ago... like weeks BEFORE Christmas!!! In the rush of the season and then the getting back to "normal"... I just hadn't gotten to take pictures of my ultrasound pics!! So here they are:)

Front-n-center


This one is cute with the explanation that his fist is under his chin:) And his cute belly:)

The best news is that.... after months of deliberation AND Brian's final threat,"If you don't pick a name I'm going to write whatever I want on the birth certificate!" LOL!!! My poor husband... I might actually drive him crazy one day:) .... we have decided on a name!

I am soo excited... when Brian suggested the name, my heart was soo set on it already... in fact I might have scared him when I soo quickly responded, "That's a perfect name... I love it!" Let me list WHY, this is a great name (in no particular order)

1. It fits our naming pattern!



2. The meaning of the name is "gift of God" - this was important to me because while trying to have another baby, I was brought to the fact that our babies are a gift from God there was nothing I could do but trust and wait for God to allow us to have another baby.



3. His middle name is the same name of the 1st known relative from Brian's father's side of the family. We read it on the man's gravestone... written in German!



4. This aspect of his middle name is not blood-relative, but family in our eyes. And it's a sweet friend of Brian's that meant a LOT to him. Brian drove the family 9 hours (one way) to participate in his funeral and my only regret was that we didn't plan to stay longer to be with his sweet and awesome family!!!



5. The one in the Bible he is named after is described as being "without guile".... my NLT says "man of complete integrity"!



6. The passage that this biblical character is from is special because he comes in contact with Christ and Christ immediately shows him that He KNOWS him! That would be our prayer, that Baby would know that His Heavenly Father knows him already... in fact even is forming him now:)



7. This disciple's response to Christ is one of knowing Christ's position... I'm sure he didn't understand everything! But we also pray that our son would know Christ's position in his life early in life.



8. Brian and I just chuckle at one of the disciple's well-known responses to a friend,“Can anything good come from Nazareth?” .... we read into it his sarcasm!! And it might match my husband's dry sense of humor.... LOL, I can only imagine our dinner table when they are all teens/adults!!



9. He'll have a MOUTHful of a name but many great options for nicknames:) Kind of like our Chris!!



10. It's a name you've heard before, but not so commonly used! Kind of like Lydia:)



11. Brian and I BOTH love it:) LOL!! That counts for a lot around here:) But we've been 100% in agreement with the other's names and so it's nice that we BOTH really like it and neither is "compromising".

Well.... that's WHY!!! Quite a list I know:) But funny that a name that we thought of could hold soo much meaning and purpose for this little babe named, Nathaniel Stephen, that grows daily inside of me:)

Which Bible Story????

Christopher drew a picture about the Bible story we learned last Sunday... he actually did the picture immediately after the teacher told him what the story was about that morning:)

So use up all your Sunday School and Bible knowledge to figure out what story Christopher was depicting in his drawing (that has taken a few creative liberties... LOL)!!!

Reading the Bible Alone

This morning during some "down time" during school... Anna pulls out her little New Testament NIV Bible. At the moment it was fine but we were about to start working on her reading text.... so I was afraid that having her Bible out would be a distraction.... but I let her look through it while I gathered the remaining supplies.

All of a sudden I hear my little girl reading a passage from Matthew 25.... yes, out of her Bible. Sure she stumbled over a few words... but she was READING from a BIBLE!!!!

I'm not sure why I was soo surprised. She reads books that we get from the library (or the words she can) and she'll read the papers that she gets in SS class and her AWANA book.

But the Bible just seems like a harder read.... I guess it's not! She was soo excited that she asked if she could read her Bible duirng her reading time.... LOL.. of course I answered "YES!!"

Reading is such a fundamental skill in life for soo many reasons!!! But one of the greatest reasons is to be able to learn about God and the life of Christ by oneself! What a wonderful skill to already be doing and like doing at 5 yrs old!!

Brian and I were talking last night about how hard it was to begin to teach Anna how to read... oh, it was a struggle... balancing her age, obedience, not pushing too hard or getting frustrated with her... and there were many times when we both had to face the fact that we had BAD attitudes.....

So to see her enjoy reading and then to hear her reading her Bible is a sweet blessing indeed... I think she said she might even read to me this afternoon... I can't wait!!

They Listen...

We have been finding Christopher laying in the ground lately....no he's not sick....He's working through his Bible story.... you see little boys are listening to our lessons when they are fidgeting and moving around!!


And WHAT/WHO is Christopher pretending to be!!

Well I found him I asked, "Christopher, are you ok??"

He answered, "Mommy, I am hurt. A little boy hit me with a stone."

Knowing he was pretending I decided to continue.... "So, what is this little boy's name?"

Christopher answers, "David."

"And what is your name?"Chris answered,"Goliath." Of course!!!!

The end in Sight & Just Miserable!!!

It started off like a normal morning, minus Christopher's coughing and ruinny nose. The family had our quick advent devotion and got to work on chores and "school work". Anna and I had a wonderful revelation that if she did 4 lessons a week (about normal right now), we'll be DONE her "reading book" by Christmas!! So awesome... the end is in sight!! But now I'll have to chat with the seasoned homeschoolers about what is next?? hah haa

About 11:15, Christopher started to say he was cold. He grabbed his "night-night" and climbed on the couch under the BIG, soft green blanket!! He barely touched his lunch and then slept for 3+ hours!!!

He woke from his nap and sat back on the couch watching a video! After a couple moments he asked, "MOmmy, I'm not feeling well. Can you gte my night-night please?" I started walking to his room and he called after me, "And my pillow? And my bear?"



Poor little guy is soo miserable. He's got a nasty cough. Runny nose. No energy or desire to use energy. Congestion that's making him breathe out of his mouth. A tummy ache (at least that is what he is telling me). And every few moments he rolls over and fusses:(

Between the throwing up last week and this cold thing... he's had a rough first week of being Three!!

The Look - Watered Down Heidi

Christopher is probably the one most relieved about Momma's camera being sent off.... he's finally getting a break from the crazy-Momma-armed-with-the-camera.

On a completely different topic, I've been wanting to read classics with Anna and whoever else will listen. We tried it during the day but it felt like non-picture book reading with Anna goes better at night when she's all tucked in and Lydia can listen from her bed. Anyway, last night we finished Heidi!!!

As I closed the book after the last page, Anna asked, "can we read it again?" I giggled and said that we'd have to find some more books like Heidi to read together:)

I brought it into the kitchen telling Brian how exciting it is that Anna and I can read "classics" together..... only to look down at the book to find it was totally a watered down version... not even abridged!!! NO wonder Anna was able to pick out all the words that she knew!!!

Attempted

This is what I attempted... to quietly read my Bible while the kids played with outside and a small bucket of water....


And this was my distraction.....

Do you see that my Bible isn't even in focus???

This school year I am determined to have Bible reading, prayer,and study carved into my schedule. It just seems like I will always have something to distract me(who doesn't)!!! BUt it's using those quiet moments throughout the day to find the wisdom and encouargement from the Lord that I need to be the solid MOM and wife that will bring Him glory and that I desire to be!

Ok, off to enjoy some quiet!!

Getting Back on Track

Well I've mentioned before that my biggest hesitancy with homeschooling is that I won't be consistent enough. Anna and I have been working through her "reading" book for months now and we've just finished lesson 44 today!!! BUt I am a little laid back about schooling right now, considering she is only 4 and it's the summer!!!! Still I think it's good to get a little "structured" time throughout the year (that's the teacher in me)!!! So one of my big goals this week was to get back into a routine.......

Yesterday, anytime of structured school didn't happen, at least on my part, until right before dinner prep!! But earlier in the afternoon I was mentally beating myself up over not reading with Anna before lunch.....as I was folding laundry I heard Christopher and Anna giggling in the office.... When I peeped in I realized they were playing a reading "game" on Starfall. Anna was sounding out words and her and Christopher were slowly working their way through the stories.....

It was just a reminder to me that they want to learn and will learn regardless of things I make more important. And that they are little, so they can learn A LOT from play and toys that encourage learning. I finally did spend time with her reading and I was pleasantly surprised by how well she did since we hadn't worked on any reading for at least a week and a half.

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Maybe it's because I tried to buckle down or because we had soo much fun last night reading, we worked on our lesson before lunch today!!!

Bedtime Reading

We love reading with our kiddies:)

Resurrection Story

Last year I'm not sure how much I shared of the Resurrection Story - the REAL Easter celebration with Anna. But this year I decided to just go ahead and share it all. I'm not sure what she really understands about death..... except that it happens and that people we know and bugs we've seen have died. Part of their even basic concepts of dying that they know right now has to be from the fact that Brian is a pastor and has been with families during the deaths of loved ones and has done funerals. We've even taken them to the funeral home for visitation on occasion (especially when the families are close friends to us and the church).

So around the breakfast table this week I've been sharing from their kiddie Bibles the Easter Story. I haven't really liked how the kiddie Bibles kind of skip over the fact that Jesus really, truely DIED, but I could tell the kids had questions with just using the term "was crucified" or "put on a cross". And try to explain why they put Him in a tomb if he hadn't died???

As I continued with the story the kids and I were kind of sad that the disciples and the women missed Jesus and were so sad that He wasn't with them (becasue He had died). It was soo sweet to tell them the GREAT NEWS that when the women were at the tomb the angel told them that Jesus had RISEN!! Then I had to explain that Jesus was alive again after He had died.....I almost lost them there :) But when we got to the fact that Jesus saw the women and His disciples again, the kids showed that they at least understood that Jesus was ALIVE and that the disciples had their friend and teacher with them again (for a little while).

I know I recieved the greatest blessing from sharing the story that is soo foundational to our faith with the kids. My heart was so relieved and excited when I told them that the stone was rolled away on Resurrection Morning and the words of the angel, "He is not here, He has risen, like He told you He would do." I'm sure they've already forgotten some of the story.... but if they remember that God sent His Son Jesus, who died and rose again for them..... then I think they are blessed indeed!!!

Pieces of our day :)

Our morning started off so much easier than usual. I'm always trying to find the "right time" to sit the kids down for a Bible story/quick lesson, memory verse work and a little tiny bit of "school". I read on another blog about the mom of many young children having her Bible time at the breakfast table..... ingenious ..... they have to eat breakfast sometime, and I'm usually the one preparing it and watching them:) And I don't have to take them away from playing with their toys or from a show they are watching.

And since I was pretty quick with the story and verse this morning they transitioned into writing and identifying letters pretty easily. Here's a photo of Lydia "working on her writing skills"!!

Then we went out to enjoy the pretty day!! So as I was doing some gardening in the front, my little man decided to pick one of the flowers that I was soo excited about in the back. Brian actually caught him in action and so he brought the culprit and the evidence to me. Christopher held out the flower and recited the line Brian had told him to say on the way, "I love you!" And then he started playing and dropped the pretty flower on the ground. Only to later return with Anna and stomp it into the cement :) Why do I garden, again??? Ohh, when it's done there are beautiful flowers, a clean looking house (at least on the outside) and being outside!!


















Christopher is going to get a MUCH needed haircut tonight.... so that will be very an adventure for us!!!

We also have our Grammie coming to see us tomorrow..... we're all very excited to see her. We haven't seen her since the beginning of January so she'll see Lydia running around everywhere for the first time!!! It's going to be beautiful again tomorrow an Anna had informed me that Grammie loves the BIG park and popsicles... he hehee... sounds like Anna is already planning our day with Grammie!!! (Hope she comes rested.)

What a Day!!

Well we started our day little more tired from all of our adventures yesterday!! BTW...check out Andrea's website and Flicker account:) But this morning I tried to get some housework done. And then we went off to the park and grocery shopping before we had some company for dinner.
The day was busy...but very "do-able" until the kids cried and fussied throughout the meal. But we made it :)

A Couple Funny Stories to share:

Everlasting Friendship:

We've shown a video of Anna reciting John 3:16....but she's still getting stuck on the last phrase saying "everlasting friendship" instead of "life". We couldn't figure out why she would say "friendship"??? Anyway, on the way home from lunch on Sunday we turned on their DVD...and on one of the previews we hear the famous phrase "everlasting friendship" describing the movie The Fox and the Hound 2.

WOW!! Can you believe just a little phrase on some DVD preview could be sooo ingrained into a child's head??? It's funny that we actually found out why she was getting mixed up. But it's REAL warning that YOUR kids are taking in EVERYTHING and that they can quickly COPY IT!! I'm even more convinced that I need to better guard what the kids are watching and taking in.

Teaching Pre-Reading

This morning Anna and I were able to complete one more "lesson" from her reading book. She did pretty well and was really excited when she saw the letters starting to come together to make words. I still wonder if she is ready...she loves learning and is very, very capable to do the work....but sometimes doesn't want to do the work :) ahhh, just a good thing we started early, maybe we'll have it done before kindergarden or 1st grade.

So the funny part was coming home from the grocery store I listened in to the conversation in the back seat.

Anna: Christopher, can you say "ahhh"?

Christopher: ahhh

Anna: OK, now say it fast. (Christopher answers.) Good boy! That is the "A" sound.

Christopher: A

Anna: No, we are learning sounds. Say "ahh". (Christopher answers.)

Anna: OK, now let's work on a new letter.

So even though I feel bad that I don't work as much with Christopher as I think I did with Anna, he's still getting it. It's just from his sister!!!!

Not Paying Attention

I was reading a new favorite library book to Christopher and Anna. Christopher was at my feet playing around some. I figured he wasn't really listening but maybe he was picking up a couple of words. Anyway, I like to stop sentences early and let Anna (and sometimes Christopher) fill-in the last few words. So while reading I stopped a few times and down by my feet I would hear the sentence being finished:) Yep, he was paying attention!!!

A Timely Word

While I was at Seminary I was challenged to read a Proverb chapter on each day that corresponded to that day of the month.....like on the 4th of July read Proverbs 4. Anyways, I am not consitent but sometimes when I have a moment to read......I'll just open to the Proverbs and read through some or the whole chapter that corresponds to that day....it's kind of nice not having to figure out what I was last stduying or where my Sunday School class is going to be studying form......especially when I just have a moment.

This morning I needed a gentle reminder.....and so while drying my hair I opened my Bible up to Proverbs.....of course 31.....the "perfect" wife!!! And actually it was what my heart needed to be reminded of.....

So tomorrow is Feb 1st!!! Why not start and read Proverbs 1!! ANd whether you can consitently read each Proverb or whether you visit Proverbs during a moment of "down-time". Maybe our hearts and mind can be encouraged and directed this month to seek the wisdom of the Lord!!