So Grace tagged me for a meme that takes you back in time.  So for your reading enjoyment and my own personal ammusment here you go!

10 years ago: Mike and I would of been married 2.5 years.  We were “plugged” in to our church and praying for God’s direction in our lives.  At that point we were just a year fresh out of college and wanting to go on the “mission field”.  No one would take us.  It still puzzles us.  We then began considering “church planting” as we knew it then and the rest is histroy. We often say now that ether way we would of ended up at the same place pragmatically and philosophically with all things having to do with the “Church”.  It has been a fun 10 years to say the least.

20 years ago: I was right in the middle of middle school hell.  What else do you say about that .  It is the beginning of the teenage gauntlet that leaves most limping for many years to come. I hated school starting in the 4th grade and never pulled out until my junior year in college.  I went from super board to super “over” all the relational drama that left me unbable to think about learning. 

30 years ago: I was waiting for my baby brother to be born, going to montessori preschool and generally climbing every tree in site.  I still remember when I swong the garden house over a ficus tree limb in our front yard.  I was swinging back and forth on the hose from limb to limb.  In my youthful vigor I forgot to grab both lengths of the hose and came crashing down on the roots of a ficus tree and landed on my ankle.  A three year old and “bed rest” is not a good combo.

And there you have it, the best that I can remember it. Thanks Grace for asking me to play along.

a tropical depression darkened our door. 

Our poor weary travelers are ever so worried that treats and goodies will not be forthcoming.  A wonderful gala event has been planned for neighboring children and their parents at the gates of our humble abode and we fear that all might be lost.

Oh the scandal, oh the injustice, the travesty.  The earnest and humble prayers of three young saints have been on their lips since sunrise.  Me thinks there will be no “trick or treating” if 40MPH gail force winds persist but we believe that prayer does move mountains and in our case weather systems.

Please pray with us!

Mama Squirrel has the next CM blog carnival.  As usual I have picked up so great tips and tricks. Wander over and see what she has cooking.

Peace to all~

I have found a wonderful free software that allows you to download  handwriting fonts onto your computer and create tons of handwriting activities for your preschooler.

I can customize them, and then save them on my desktop and use them over and over.  We have  one notebook that we keep all of our work in.  Keeps our days a bit more streamlined.

In the car, the kitchen and in the stair well.  These seem to be places I end up with the kids, that I fall into “quit fooling around and do it mood”.  I need to remind myself that time is short.  Kids need love and direction more then they need a clean house.

• “You can be busy and not be hurried”
• “Your kids are only this age once~enjoy it!”
• “Build them up with your words.”
• “Have you given them something to love, something to do and something to think about today?”
• “Call out what you see God doing in them.”
• “Discipline consistently in love.”
• “Take a picture~one day you will smile at this mess!”
• “Savor every moment~it is a gift”
• “You have  a beautiful life”

My days are wonderful most days but there are days that at 4:00 I loose my sanity.  I am shoring myself up for those 4:00 moments when I have lost site of the goal.  Little sign posts that will point the way and help me stay grounded in reality.

Peace to all~

Today our youngest is 3.  We took him to the fire station.  He had so much fun and loved driving the fire engine.

We named our little “tank” Hudson Taylor after the missionary.  It is almost erie how he randomly talks of China and how it is far, far away. (We don’t often talk of China here at home so Mike and I find that a bit interesting) He is “all boy and a mile wide” and I wouldn’t have him any other way.  Today on his third birthday we pray blessings and protection over him. I adapted a bit of the evening compline for him.

 The peace of God
be over Hudson to shelter him,

 under Hudson to uphold him,

 about Hudson to protect him,

 behind Hudson to direct him,

 ever with Hudson to save him.

Next week we begin week #12 of AO year 1 cirr.  We will then have our oral exams.  I am adding some grace and courtesy things in to the exam but for the most part will use what AO prescribes.

I have done a good job of staying on target.  It is amazing how flexible we have been with our schedule but still been able to stay in task with what we need to finish in the way of course work.

Overall we have had a great beginning.  I am still weak on foreign language and hand craft. We will work on that in term #2. I have mostly been doing painting and cooking in the kitchen for all three as our handcraft.  Our youngest (just three this Sunday) is happy as a clam with his Montessori style practical life works.  Our daughter jumps in and out of lessons as she is drawn to them.  She always sits through her older brothers literature readings an phonics Lessons and requests some of her own too.  She also loves her MUS primer.  Our oldest just read “The Story of Ferdinand” by himself yesterday and giggled the whole way through.  He was so tickled that he was reading a real book and not a “learning reader or phonics lesson”  afterwards he said, “Mom can’t I just read a few pages of Ferdinand everyday instead of having a phonics lesson?”  We only have 20 left so I want to finish them through so I have the experience of teaching it for our next children. 

I love how well rounded the entire course cirr is.  How everything spirals into each other.  It is one masterpiece that is being painted in front of your child, from history to art study to what is going on with Gods People. I am not tweaking anything but doing what AO has prescribed completely and that is why I love it.  I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. ANYONE can do this, really!  Honestly, I am not a trained teacher.  I never liked to play teacher as a child.  I hate busy paper work type things.  In my mind I thought that was what homeschooling was.  I laugh at myself now. 

If this blog does anything, my prayer is that people on the outside looking in would see that you really can do this. So that is my term one update! Thanks for all the encouragement along the way and for everyone who pointed me in this direction. There are too many to name, but I am deeply grateful to all.

Peace to you on this rainy October morning~

“Mom, I am pretty sure that in heaven we will not need toys to entertain ourselves.” Jackson~6 years old. 

 I am pretty sure he is right!

…that no one else in the North American Continent, dare I say even the world….

started their day with a 5lb bag of sugar being poured all over the floor, the couch and the carpet.

I found him after he started trying to clean it up. SIGH!  At least he was trying to clean it up. Honestly, people, don’t ask OK - School is postponed a few hours for some KP.

*****Update*****

OK - I bagged the agenda and we got most of school work completed by dinner time.  I am also almost positive that no mom in North America ended the day by sitting on the stairs and having their 4 year old princess say…

“Mom you don’t look so beautiful, you look a little wild. Sit down and let me brush your hair”  She then proceeded to brush my hair and put pretend makeup on my face.  I said I was sorry for having a bad attitude today.  She said “It is OK - I understand.  I get really frustrated when my stuff gets ruined too” and then she gave me a hug. 

One bonus…..I have a REALLY clean house to start my day off tomorrow.

OK - so I have taken your thoughtful comments to mind and have been inspired. 

 Of course I will be purchasing books.  I consider those “hand-made”.  It is like buying an author’s art and as I said before I am “down” with that. I am purchasing the Tales of the Kingdom Trilogy. Holy Moley you need to read these with your kids if you follow Jesus and love allegorical tales  plus some Christmas classics like, The Other Wise Man and The First Christmas Tree.

For Jackson, I will be making a quiver and new bows for his authentic bow that came from Peru.  It only had 2 arrows and one of them was broken by his little brother.  One arrow is a bunch of work so we need a few more and a quiver to hold them all.  And I think a target too.  I am not sure how to pull that off, but I will think on it.

 I will get Chloe a full size tea set.   It is store bought because making one from scratch would be crazy expensive and time consuming.  The idea being that she and I will make and have tea together with special guests.  That to me is where I am at with gifts.  I strive to make things experiential so this qualifies. 

For Hudson I will purchase him a small starter set of real tools.  I know I am not making them, but we will make things together.  He is forever pulling out Daddy’s tools to work with.  I think I will make a small work bench for him with screws and things he can work with.  I had a small tool set with a had crank drill when I was his age and I still remember how much I loved it and how much I worked with it. 

Then if I have time and am adventurous enough I will make them all swords, shields and capes.  We have been learning the Armor of God and of course reading the 50 Famous Stories so we fight many battles around the home.  I may regret it, but I thought it would be fun….. if I can get them to not whack each other with them.  Hmmmmm, I will have to think of soft sword material.

They will have plenty of “store bought things” from extended family, so the store bought toy thing will be met there and I can start making the toys that we will enjoy and then in time when they grow past them I will keep them for the grand kids.  (OK - now I am thinking too much but we are creating a legacy right?:-)  These are hand made wooden items people. If I am spending the time to do it I am making them to last! Or at least I hope I am but you never know with our youngest.)  

I was thinking that on Christmas morning we could have a scavenger hunt with clues to find their gifts.  My mom did that one year and my brother and I had a blast, so I thought it would make a nice memory.  For advent we will beginning reading out loud together each evening and working on delivering gifts to friends and neighbors.  We like to put the tree and decorations up Thanksgiving day after we eat.  This year we may even put lights on the house - heaven help us all.

OK~ now sound off people!  What say ye?

 You will be proud to know that I stopped riding my children’s emotional roller coaster.  I know enough not to ride any of  my peer’s emotional roller coasters but somehow the concept escaped me when it came to our kids. 

I had an epiphany 2 weeks ago and it has made all the difference. My attitudes, emotions and feelings are not dependent on or directed by their attitudes, emotions or feelings.  It is a beautiful thing!

Have I mentioned before that Richard Foster is one of my spiritual heroes?   Classical SD are to be used by ordinary people, not by spiritual giants.  When I first got my head around the fact that everyday people, with everyday jobs and concerns where supposed to use these disciplines as a way to experiencing the “fullest life” in Christ, I had an “a-ha” moment.   I was blown away when I realized that there was more to Christian Spiritual Disciplines than reading your bible and praying. Go get the book and see for yourself.  It will be like a cool drink of water for you.

Every week, I  do less and less in the way of busyness.  I quietly move through my house work and schooling.  I have no game plan, just living in the moment, enjoying the space, enjoying the fact I don’t have it all together.  I am not taking myself too seriously, and trying to learn from our children how to “not have a care in the world”. Funny, I thought I was supposed to be “schooling” them.

Each moment I am given, I have the opportunity to keep choosing Jesus as my King, keep choosing His Kingdom and not my own.   So on this quiet day of rest, I wanted to leave you all with a teaser from the beginning of the book. 

“I go through this life as a transient on his way to eternity, made in the image of God but with that image debased, needing to be taught how to meditate, to worship, to think. ~ Donald Coggan”

Superficiality is the curse of our age.  The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem.  The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. Celebration of Discipline ~ Richard Foster. pg 1

Peace to you~

October 19th at 9am.  Trying to beat the heat that just wont quit! They thought they could help the turtles by digging a nest for them. Not quit sure it works like that but the thought was nice!

The kids and I are gong to be making and giving as many hand made gifts as possible this year.  The glitz and glam of Christmas, not to mention this whole toy thing with China is a bit sickening. The goal is to make Christmas special and instill that since of “wonder” without it being about the gifts.  Tricky I know but I am going to give it my best shot.

I have found some cute and inexpensive things online to make and give to neighbors and will be using ETSY as a resource for anything I don’t want to do myself. If you haven’t been to this site, you should go right now and look around.  It is like eBay but with all independent business owners from all over who sell handmade items. 

When Mike and I first got married we decided we wanted to make sure we purchased hand made art in every country we visited.  It was a simple way of blessing some-one’s craft and supporting independent business owners in poor places.  Over the years, that has grown to simple things like buying items form those we know who are just starting a business or are in business for themselves.  When we get bagels on the weekends we go to the local Mom and Pop shop instead of Einstein Brothers.  For us, it is a symbolic way of sowing our resources in a life giving way into people instead of machines.  We can’t do it all the time.  Home Depot and Wal-Mart are unfortunate evils but at least we try.

I am not sure how to make things for the boys though.  Our oldest wants a Transformer or a Bionicle.  He doesn’t watch commercials or movies with these things on them but somehow he knows they are the “it” thing this year.  Isn’t it strange?  Does anyone have any thoughts on a hand made Christmas gift for a 6 yr old boy?

One of the spiritual disciplines I have started teaching our kids about is one of “acting in the opposite spirit”. This is how I started our discussion. What is the opposite of black and they responded white.  I continued with hot and they said cold, fast and they said slow.  Then I said, one of the little secrets about how Jesus calls us to live in the kingdom of God is acting opposite of how you feel.  It is a secret tool to keep our hearts soft like clay so God can keep working on us, otherwise we get hard and then we don’t hear God very well. I was relating this all back to the story of “The King of the Golden River”.  I wont tell you how because I don’t want to ruin the story for you, but the kids understood exactly what I meant.

So I continued, If you are mad at your siblings how could someone who follows Jesus respond?  They thought about it and said, be nice and hug them and help them.  We talked about a few other things too.  Like what could we do if we REALLY wanted money or things and that was all you thought about. (again relating it back to “The King of the Golden River”) They said, give money and stuff away.  Now I have a reference point to refer back to as we move forward together as a family.

We talked about how throughout the story of God’s People, we have been learning how to act opposite and do what Jesus would do and not what the world would do or what maybe feels the best. So this morning the children were playing Lego’s upstairs and Jackson came down and explained an interaction he had with his sister.  Then he said “Mommy aren’t you proud of me I acted opposite”.

If you are interested in learning more about spiritual disciplines I HIGHLY recommend the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.  This book is on my all time top ten list. 

Keep doing it.  Over and over and over and over and over…….well you get my drift.   A friend of mine who has three grown boys said, keep doing it even if you feel like you are not getting any results because some kids just take longer to “get it” than others. 

There are days, oh lets just say like today for instance that I want to smart off to my kids and say “AM I SPEAKING SPANISH?”   What about “Do not pour the soap in the bath tub to make bubbles!”  is unintelligible?  Yeah those where my famous last words. 5 minutes , 1 bottle of soap and 2 beach sized bath towels in the tub later I returned to find what looked like a local car wash.     

I didn’t smart off …. but just by the skin o fmy teeth.  Instead the “littles” as I like to call them, went to have room time, the oldest had some quiet Lego time and Mom had a breather.  I counted to 10…backwards, recited the 23rd Psalm, particularly emphasizing the “valley of the shadow of death part” out loud, brushed my self off and got back in the ring.

I will reboot our day with some nature study the afternoon at a little path near our house.  We need some wide open spaces.

I can’t say enough about the Ambleside Online website and its free curriculum resources for the Charlotte Mason method.  I am deeply indebted to all the people and all the hours spent on creating well rounded, balanced resources for parents to implement in their home schools. 

Between all of the articles archived on the site and all the discussion threads contained in the yahoo groups, anyone who wants to provide a well rounded, classical education for their children can jump right in and get started.  The thing that overwhelmed me the most about homeschooling before I got started was the many different types of curriculum out their and how prepacked so much of it felt.  I know that works wonderfully for so many, but somehow it wasn’t inspiring me.

To really grasp something and own it I need to be inspired by it and that is what I am getting through this website.  If you need a little inspiration or direction with your homeschool, check out their site or the new CM Blog Carnival that has started. There are so many tips and thoughts it will keep you inspired for your homeschool journey.  

Our kids that is.  We just completed yet another road trip to Oriental North Carolina (12 hour trip) for our friends wedding.  Mike and I were interested to see how our kids would do and were considering it a good dry run for when we are off to Peru in Feb.

They ate well, slept well, were fairly flexible and obedient.  Yesterday we drove the entire 12 hours straight through in order to get home in time for Mike to be at work this am.  I was dreading that part but they all handled it well.  The last 30 minutes resembled this but other then that it was good. 

Oriental is a sweet  little fishing town on the coast.  I think there is only one stop light in the whole town.  It had a nice slow pace about it.  On the way home we asked our kids what their favorite part of the trip.  Our oldest said the driving. Yes I know that is a bit strange.  Our daughter said the party after the wedding.  With a  Pinata and sparklers to see the bride and groom off, it was every kids dream.

Out littlest said, the ferry boat.  We got to ride a car ferry several times. He loves boats and the water so that was the highlight for him.  That is our grey van right up front.

For Mike and I it was deepening of relationship. We were able to take one of the teenagers who went to Peru with us along for the ride so those connections were deepened and also being with our Peruvian missionary friends strengthened those bonds too.  The change in weather was nice but unfortunately we didn’t see any leaves turning.  Our kids did find some good nature finds but we will have to go again when the leaves are in all the glory.

For us Florida folk, snow and leaves changing is a pretty big deal.

Peace to all~

If you have not had a chance to read this book with your kids, take some time and do it.  Our library system did not have it so we had to get it on inter-library loan, but now we will purchase it to have in our family library.  Our 6 year old was captivated.  He had so many questions and his little mind was thinking, thinking, thinking.   He had some of the best insights and thoughts about God and money.

Very simply, the story is about 3 brothers and their treatment of people and the use of money. At one point in the story Jackson “Mom do you mean that Hans and Schwartz (2 of the brothers) loved money more than people?”  I replied “yes”.  His little face got all contorted and he shook his head.  You could tell that really got him. We talked and talked about so many things after finishing the book.  That is what a good narrative does.  Leaves you thinking and thinking and then a few years later you are still thinking and thinking.  Already in just a few days since completing the book we have referred back to it time and time again.  This would be a great Christmas present for a family read aloud.

So - if you frequent this blog you know our family has been working on living more life with less stuff.  It has been a very restful process if that makes since.  We have also been working hard with our children on eating what ever is put in front of them without whining or complaining and I will say after a few months of this, our children usually eat what ever I serve.  We still have to say 3 more bites of this or  that but we are light years from where we were a few months ago.  The other day someone saw our children’s plates and said “They eat salad?”  and I said “Yes, they do!” and almost did a happy dance.

So I have found 2 great resources that I will be checking into to help broaden our pallets so to speak.

Extending the Table: A World Community Cookbook

More-With-Less Cookbook

They are both written form the Mennonite perspective which I highly respect so I am cautiously excited. I also have been looking for cost effective ways to feed tons of people.  One thing that has been important to our church family is eating together.  Are there ways to do it without spending tons of money to do it:-) and still have it be healthy and nutritious and balanced? That has been the question.  

If any of you have these or have used this books, let me know what you think and what you have liked etc.

Peace to all~

We have secured our tickets for this years Nutcracker performed by our local Classical Ballet Studio. Our communities Theatrical Center has some special performances for children as well, so we have slated those for the school year. 

I remember being in 6th or 7th grade and one of the boys in my grade had seen tons of artistic performances. I remember thinking right then  that when I grew up I wanted to see good artistic performances.  Mike and I try to go to one or 2 good pieces every year from theater to musical performances and we want our kids to get in on that habit too.  So go see what you can take in in your area.

Peace to all~

 Jackson and I are reading the beginning of Genesis.  A few years ago I did series of 7 oil paintings representing all 7 days.  I gave them as a wedding gift and have wanted to recreate them for some time.  This week the kids and I will do it together and they will hang in the boys room.  I will post them here for all to enjoy.

My mother in law sent me this article about the University of Florida’s quarterback. 

It is about his life growing up with homeschooling.  It was encouraging for me to read and thought it may be for other homeschooling moms too.  It is a big picture reminder.

Enjoy~

I am participating in this weeks Photo Hunt. 

Here is my “curvy” submission. I took this during our trip to Sea World.  We spent some time at the pool and our littlest needed a little rest.  When I saw the theme I knew I wanted to capture one of our children’s profiles and this was a great moment. I want to hang on to these snuggles even after they have kids of their own.  Alright people!  Go snuggle someone:-)

Our first home school field trip with our local PEC group was so much fun.  My dear Mom watched the youngest children so I could go with our six year old alone.  It was such a joy.  All I could think of as I heard his cries of wonder and enjoyment was, “This is why I am homeschooling! This could of been experienced by some teacher fresh out of college.  She would of barely noticed because her class room is too crowded and she isn’t making enough money to live here and my little treasure would of been lost in the cracks.”    It was a very fufilling day.

I also connected with another home school Mom who is using AO for her daughters YRS1 and 4 so I am thankful to find a local resource to bounce things off of.  

Here is Jackson with the figures of the Astronauts.  I think it is so sweet how he is holding the big ones hand. 

This is the device that projected the images on the planetarium’s dome.  They were beautiful and Jackson was mesmerized.

He could of stayed all day at the science games. 

He asked if this was the name of some Pharaoh out of a book we read a few weeks ago.  It took me a minute to remember who he was talking about.   I said “No, just a small child sized mummy.”  We wondered who it was and how their life could of been.

All in all it was wonderful. Go explore something new in your community this week.  It is a BLAST!

Well, everyday is read out loud day here, but it REALLY is today.  5am and it is raining, and raining and raining.  It has been raining consistently for 10 days now so the kids and I will snuggle up with some good books today.

I am very excited about The Lion Tree that Ruth Willms just sent me.  I started reading it out loud yesterday to the kids and they are hooked in Chapter 1.  It is a fiction book based on the facts of Jonah, Job and Queen Esther.  It has the feel of Chronicles of Narnia so I will keep you posted on how it goes and do  an in depth book review when we are done.

Peace to all~ 

This week I wanted to host the carnival around music/composer study. For the last 8 years I have taught music and movement to Moms and young children( including my own) in a variety of venues,  preschools, library sessions, private studio work and birthday parties.  I feel like I wanted a fresh perspective on music instruction for children especially as they grow past the early childhood stage and hosting the carnival around this theme has been inspiring. 

In all my years of teaching, there have been a few valuable resources I have used that I thought may be helpful for those of you with young children.  Firstly, I used the international Musikgarten curriculum for all of my studio teaching.  It is a wonderful program that is inspired by the seasons and introduces children from birth through age 6 to beginning rhythms and tonal patterns, composers, chants, poems and early instrumentation.  I was bouncing  our kids on my knee (literally ) to Vivaldi and other famous composers at birth so they all have a strong sense of rhythm and pitch.  If you have the time and additional resources,  look for a local group class in your area. It may be a fun home school activity to add to your week.

I also used The Remarkable Farkle McBride and Zin Zin Zin a Violin to introduced the orchestra and their many instruments.  We still read and look through them often. We have a large and eclectic musical tastes as a family and my husband keeps my ipod well stocked with music from around the world.  Between car time and house time, the children get a little taste of it all.  I usually ask them a general question at different times like ” What do we want right now for music? Worship, Celtic, French, Portuguese, Latin or Classical”  It is interesting to hear them develop their musical tastes.  Usually during quiet play we have a classical selection playing in the background.  I find it really helps them focus and play quietly.

There are so many valuable resources available to us online.  The following Moms have put together a great collection of tips and ideas for music/composer study for you to implement in your own homeschool.  Take some time and see what might inspire you and leave a comment for these inspiring Mamas.

Dewey’s Tree House shares her homescool’s Music Appreciation for the Fall 2007: Glenn Gould

Heart of Harmony has some ideas on Russian National Composers.

The Educational Life gives helpful hints for music study for AO year1.

Yielded Heart offers tips for music study from home.

Higher Up and Further In offers thoughts on composer study.

Liberty and Lilly  shares on hymns and their importance in her life.

The Dusty Frame  shares about their term’s composer, Rimsky-Korsakov.

Eclectic Education provides great links on Mozart.

Thanks to all who participated in this weeks carnival.  Your entries will be helpful to homeschoolers around the world.

Submissions for the carnival are due by 11:59 tonight and will be posted in all their glory here tomorrow.

See you then!