better late than never!

 we are embarking on our second year of homeschooling...

 they are growing up so fast

i choose to savour these days...

and am so excited for what this year holds!

on homeschooling

i couldn't say it better than this....

SO please go on over to A Holy Experience and read her post on "Why would anyone be crazy enough to Homeschool?"

here's an excerpt from her post that speaks my heart:

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the problem today is that ‘parenthood is no longer lasting as long as childhood‘ — that our children need parents to be intimately involved, moment-by-moment, not till they are only four years old and leave home for school and possible peer dependency, but they need us to be parents until they are fourteen years old and older…. “We need to hold on to our children and help them hold on to us. We need to hold on to them until our work is done,” writes Dr. Neufeld“We need to hold on, not to hold them back but so that they can venture forth.”

Where two or three are gathered, there He is also. What I love most about the homeschooling lifestyle is that we are all together, in all our glorious mess, day in and day out. We are not time-torn or fragmented. We are gathered. There is no dichotomy between God and secular: we are making a one-piece life. This works for us. We are real, transparent, and growing –sometimes painfully– with each other, season upon season, and God is in the center, bathing us sin-scraped ones with His Grace. That’s rich.

Because homeschooling is this magnificent crucible, to reveal impurities and sinfulness and brokenness. It keeps us on our knees. Homeschooling often hurts and disappoints. You cry and wonder if you are insane to try to educate these children, to disciple these little hearts, while laundering, cooking, cleaning, managing a household, and still being a wife, a sister, a daughter, a missionary in your community, a servant to Christ and in your faith community. And He smiles and say that He walks with you, has grand and glorious purposes, and He understands radical and crazy!

Homeschooling is about going higher up and deeper in, for you learn to sacrificially love in ways you have never loved before. You come to know your own heart in ways you never imagined, the souls of your children in intimate, very real ways.

For you will be together, making memories together, laughing together, crying together, praying together, and asking forgiveness together. Throughout your day, you worship God, together. And you learn to die-to-self together. It’s about doing hard things… together. And there will be no fragmented scraps of learning, home-life, friends, work, God.

We keep homeschooling to weave a one-piece life – hallowed threads of parenting, love, pain, education, growing, stumbling, creativity, forgiveness, wonder, sacrifice, and God all woven together.

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...ahhh, I am refreshed!!

::monday::

outside my window....clouds are flying by revealing big and small sections of beautiful blue sky and sunshine

i am thinking.....about a friend who has returned to work, what to get for a four year old's birthday, and what is in store for us today

i am thankful.....for the stirrings of new life - in my garden and in my body. For my husband who is preparing for next winter by going out and collecting wood. For my girls who are slowly learning how to be good friends.

from the schoolroom.....i will attempt to cover more science and social studies this week, in hopes to get finished this year with a bang....and extra early!! i am thinking about doing some plant growing and neighbourhood drawing....that should be good!!

in the kitchen...some nearly black bananas are screaming to be made into banana chocolate chip muffins! the oven is hoping to be needed for dinner, but i am personally thinking we may just pull out the BBQ again tonight! everything tastes better a little charred!

i am wearing.....a bright pink AE hoodie, some ultra comfy (read: super baggy) lounger pants and my sheepskin slippers.....YES, I am still in my "jammies"!!

i am creating.....i just finished sewing up 6 burp clothes, a lovey, a beanie and a hooded bath-towel for a friend's baby shower yesterday.....and now i must "hook" like a mad-woman to prepare for my looming....er, i mean up-coming craft fair on April 2nd!! eeeeek.......

i am going......to try and get the kids out for a walk/ride/play today as well as do a bit of grocery and hunt down a gift for a four year old...all by 3pm today!!!

i am reading......Francine River's Her Mother's Hope and still getting through Tim Kimmel's Grace Based Parenting

i am hoping....to get started on a garden sooner than later...to hear baby's heart beat this week at my appointment.....and to start enjoying warmer weather!!

i am hearing.....the hum of the fridge.....the chatter of a five year old.....the silence of a three year old, napping

around the house.....floors need washing....laundry is crying to be done....dust is setting up permanent residence.....and we are loving life!

Jim and Ron have been working like crazy downstairs finishing off a closet and making things feel more "homey" down there.....the trampoline has been set back up and the yard is starting to show the signs of spring's arrival!

one of my favourite things....as of late - citrus fruit!! i have been devouring oranges and grapefruit like a pirate with scurvy!! they are more enticing lately than chips, cookies or ice cream!!

a picture of what' been going on so far this morning....

my monkeys sure can make a mess in a short span of time! but man, they had fun making it!!


i made this "shoe lace box" for Karys the other day (reminding me of the book I used to love reading as a child!!)


after we bought her runners with laces...


she was determined to figure out how to tie them on her own......


and after one afternoon alone, this determined girl brought the box to me displaying a beautiful double knotted bow!! and she figured it out HERSELF!! i was certain Daddy must have helped her, and even asked her to make sure she was telling my the truth when she said "no one helped me!"...but after asking Daddy and him replying "nope, i didn't help her" I had to apologize and further praise Karys for her determination and figuring abilities!!!

So....I hope you all have a great monday....me and my lemon-sized baby (and #1 and #2) are off to get things going today!! ....after #2 wakes up from her nap, i guess!

a little gem of truth

So...I was going my daily dose of blogs when I came across this gem from over here...and, the awesome-er part about it is if you go over to her site, you can click on a link that will give you a printable version!!...i {heart} printable versions of ANYTHING!!!

So, although her site is quite obviously geared toward homeschoolers, there is still SO MUCH TRUTH in this little gem here....please take the time to ponder these truths and soak 'em up!

Super Mom	Abiding Mom
Does	Is (Psalm 46:10)
Tries to impress others	Pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10, Proverbs 29:25)
Is controlled by an agenda (curriculum, schedule, etc)	Is controlled by the Holy Spirit: (Gal. 5:22-26) (Uses curriculum & schedules as tools for orderliness so she's more free to follow the spirit)
Her self worth is found in her accomplishments (clean house, perfect kids, the perfect bulletin boards, etc.)	Her self worth is found in an accurate view of who she is in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)
Her peace is found in the “perfect” environment	Her peace is found in Jesus in the midst of any storm (Is 26:3)
She is discouraged by failure	Failure reminds her that God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
She expects perfection from herself and others	She practices grace with herself and others (Eph 4:32)
She teaches her kids to be good	She teaches her kids to be Godly (Proverbs 22:6)
She is frustrated with her lack of spiritual fruit	She abides in Christ and bears much fruit (John 15:5)
She does things with her children	She builds a relationship with her children (Deut 6:6-7)
Her perspective is based on what is seen	Her perspective is based on what is unseen (Col 3:2)
She chooses quantity of activities	She chooses the most excellent Way (I Cor 13)
Her kids may recall how busy she always is.	Her children rise and call her blessed. (Prov. 31:28)

OH the truth in these statements is so incredibly humbling!!

may you come to know your true value and fully realize the importance in the role to which you've been called!

...be blessed!

Type-B Muma...

i happened upon this refreshing post...and it brought comfort to my soul! I now know that I am not a failing type-A person, but rather very much a type-B person!! And this brings much freedom to my convictions of "failure" on all levels of life where I felt as though I could never measure up to those people who THRIVE of schedules and timetables!

I know that most of you who read this aren't homeschoolers, but I had to share it somewhere:)

enjoy...

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This one is for all you Type-B homeschooling mamas out there – be encouraged – you CAN homeschool well! Article brought to you by the sewing, cheesecake eating, ninja of jewelry and accessory hipness, Ashlee Baker.

My name is Ashlee and I am a work at home, homeschooling mama to 6 kiddos, ages 12, 10, 9, 7, 3, and 1, with another arriving in early July.

I run an online baby store as well as my home. And I am total type-b. Let me give you a glimpse at our school day and then I will explain. My husband heads off for work at about 8am and I try to be up by the time he leaves, but that doesn’t always happen. I make sure all my kids are up by 9 and we sit down for breakfast. It’s usually 10 or so by the time we clean up and do morning chores, and we dive in to our work. Everyone does their math and then we do some form of English. It could be a workbook, a creative story written after I give them a scenario, a synopsis of our weekend, their opinion of an upcoming holiday or event or anything else I come up with. The point is always to have them use proper English, punctuation, their best handwriting and make them think. After that we usually eat lunch and I lay the babies down. Our afternoon usually is spent watching a documentary, painting or doing a craft, listening to an audio book or just creative play.

To some people this does not look like a sufficient school day, and that’s okay. I was that person once. We started homeschooling six years ago when my oldest was entering first grade. I knew what a typical school day looked like so that is what I tried to duplicate; we did not have much fun. I am extremely laid back, but the only thing I knew about homeschooling was strict schedules, preplanned curriculum, and an 8-3 schedule. That was not working for me. I would spend hours writing up the perfect schedule, only to fail miserably the next few days, and beat myself up about the failure. Over the next few years I settled into a groove of teaching what is necessary, and teaching a lot of extras in things that were fun. This did work for me.

I am fortunate enough to have a type-a husband who keeps me in check. I have a tendency to be extremely type-b which can be tough when you are teaching four kids and raising six. He would love nothing more than for me to write out a schedule and stick to it. But he also sees that I work better with routines than schedules, so he helps me stay accountable to that. He also appreciates the crazy things we do in the name of education. Last week we watched several episodes of Mythbusters on Netflix all in the name of learning. A few weeks before that we watched the documentary, Babies, and discussed in detail, cultural nudity among other things. And that’s okay.

One of the things I try to do as a type-b mom is accept my weaknesses and ask God to make then strengths. I am a horrible procrastinator, so I try to make sure I am early everywhere I go and explain to my kids why its important. When we are late somewhere we are being disrespectful to the person waiting on us because we are not respecting their time. This helps me to be accountable to my kids. Another weakness is poor time management. I try to make this a strength by sticking to my routine in an acceptable time. This keeps the pressure of a schedule at bay, but makes sure I am getting the most done in the time allotted. I am teaching my kids through this as well by making sure they do their chores and school work in an acceptable amount of time, with diligence.

I am very thankful I am type-b because I think it allows me to be flexible and easy going. If something happens in the middle of our school day that causes us to get off track, no biggie, we will catch up tomorrow. If a kid becomes sick in the middle of the day, we just take that opportunity to exercise our compassion by taking care of whoever is sick through serving them, taking over their chores joyfully, praying over them and doing what we can to cheer them up.

My kids may never memorize all the Presidents, but they will know what they do and they will know to respect them at all times, even if they don’t agree with their viewpoints. They may never memorize pi, but they will know how to spot the best deal at the store, calculate percentages, and make change quickly and accurately. They may never recite Robert Frost’s poems from memory, but they will be able to quote scripture with the quickness, for any situation they come across in life. They may never draw out the countries in Africa in 60 seconds, but they sure will pretend they are missionaries in the African jungle bringing the Word of God to an unknown tribe. Then again, they may do all those amazing things if they want.

I heard a story last year that solidified this thinking in my heart. It was the story of Francis Collins, scientist who helped map human DNA and who also happened to be an evangelical Christian. He was interviewed about his success and was asked about his homeschooling experience. His father was an English PhD and professor and his mom was a playwright (and type-b, I bet). He said they were very into folk music and putting on elaborate medieval productions. But this environment was a place to thrive. They would explore a topic, like the origins of words, for a week or two, doing nothing else, then move on to another subject, like mathematics. As a result, Dr. Collins said, he grew up with an unquenchable curiosity and love of learning. You see, God’s plan for him was to help map human DNA. All his parents had to do was create in him a passion for learning and God took care of the rest.

I will never teach my children all there is to know, but I will teach them all they need to know. My job is to create a passion for learning and a passion for Christ and He will take care of the rest.

Lastly, I must accept that I will never be type-a. I will never run well off schedules and strict curriculum. But that is okay, God created me just the way He wanted. He will give me all the strength and ability I need to do what He has called me to. Also, I am not inferior to my type-a friends, just different and their detailed schedules are not better, just different. There is room for all of us in the realm of homeschoolers, and our goal is basically the same, to provide our children with the best we have to offer.

Ashlee is a disciple, wife, mom of many, and artist. She stumbles through Gods calling, trying to do her best to honor Him. She make lots of mistakes but never gives up the pursuit of her Savior. He guides her as a wife, strengthens her as a mom to almost 7, and inspires her as an artist. Head on over to her blog (or check out her shop) and say “hi!”

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ahhh...so refreshed!

~be blessed

The Setting of 2010...

Here are some pictures I captured of the last sunset for 2010!







What a gorgeous day we were blessed with to close off a year that has showed us SO much!!

2010 was a year filled with growth...

finishing off a job that took me 100% out of my comfort zone, but taught me I had nothing to be afraid of...

surviving a 6 month drought with Jim's work that found us seeking the Face of the Only One who knows our future...

enjoying the work that comes along with a "fixer-upper" home such as ours...

seeing the progress in a job well-done!!

getting to spend our first summer in our new home!

taking the huge step out of a paid job to stay home with the girls...

and with that step, picking up the extra job of "homeschooling"

witnessing, first-hand, the joys of our steps of faith...we've never once regretted our decision to homeschool! what a freeing, bonding, growing, relaxing, fulfilling, encouraging job i have...not that it doesn't have it's challenges...there ARE certainly moments through days where I wish (and so do the girls) that we had some space, but that only teaches us more about how we work together as a family and how we deal with trying circumstances!

finally getting our heads above water with Jim getting his job back, only for us to find ourselves back in the same boat now for over 2 months! But we know God is faithful...and He has a pleasing plan for our future!! We now see this as a period of time in which we are to grow closer to Him and to each other, and we look forward to the day when His plans for us will be shown!

All in all an incredible year! One that I entered into having chosen to SAVOUR...and one that has certainly taught me to do so!!

Now...stay tuned for my words for 2011!!

Have a blessed and happy New Year celebration!!

i AM here

and life is INCREDIBLE

a LOT of "unknown"

a LOT of trusting

some HUGE steps of faith

i am still here

i still want to be writing posts

uploading pics of our incredibly blessed life

but i am really trying to figure out HOW

HOW i want this to be presented

HOW i hope this to be interpreted

SO....until i figure that out

i hope you'll stay tuned



~be blessed

well, as the days and weeks pass by, i am still 110% confident that we've made the best decision to homeschool our girls!

no...it's not easy

yes...sometimes i wish that we all had a 6 hour break from one another

no...we do NOT "do school" every day for 6 hours

yes...i ultimately love the time that we are getting as a family to work and be together.

here are a few pictures of 'school' in the past while:

our week focusing on the letter "c"

Cuties

Colours

Cookie Cutters

Creations

more fun with our discovery toys "busy farm"

colouring our little "fall is..." reader

Thanksgiving Turkey and her creation;p

my very creative Beanie...yes, that IS a "turkey"

so, there you have it. it's all i got right now...basically my life in a nut-shell - crafts and kids!
and I wouldn't change it...for anything!

{last week...in a nutshell}

...brought to you by the letter "Bb"














We've been homeschooling for over 2 weeks now...and wouldn't change a thing!!

THIS is what's RIGHT for our family...

THIS is what we NEED at this moment in time...

THIS holds such significance in the development of US as a FAMILY...

THIS, I wouldn't change for ANYTHING!!

{let the games begin!}

well, the first week of 'school' ...aka: life...has come to a close

here's a snippet of what we've enjoyed doing...

our morning song list...

for calendar time!

Calendar close-up!
We have "Weather," "Days of the Week," "Months of the Year," memory verse, and some songs that help to learn/recognize the names/spelling of our family members!

this INCREDIBLE resource is available on-line HERE...and it's all FREE!!!
We LOVE it!!

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After Calendar time, we "get to it"...having more fun;)

Awesome "Math tool" from Discovery Toys

Lots of fun for her...

AND her!!

Most days our "baby" goes for her nap a little after the calendar/math fun...

and that's when we do our big girl "work"

but even THAT'S fun!!

So...the first week we focused on the letter "A"...
and this is what Karys' "A" page looked like...

SO CUTE!!

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And....as IF the first week of Kindergarten wasn't major enough...







my big girl learned to ride WITHOUT her training wheels on the second day of school!!!!







and I missed it ALL...because I ran in to get the camera!!

and THIS is the face that met me when I came out...

sheer JOY!!

So...it's done...and we're SO HAPPY!

What we're doing is what we've dreamed about...it is SO right for our family...we are in a good place right now!

we ARE blessed...

{still here}

...and many posts a-brewing! but with all this not-going-off-to-school organizing and finding our groove here at home, blogging has - obviously - fallen by the wayside!!

once we fall into a nice rhythm here at home, you can be sure i'll be back here updating...

until then, savour these moments you're in - whatever they may be!

No matter what situation you find yourself in,

you have the ability to face it with JOY

~ joyce meyer

...blessings,

C

{wordless wednesday}

{crayola magic}

here's an awesome way to use up the remnants of your crayons...it's a project Karys and I did the other week while Avery was sleeping...and it was a hit!

first: get a piece of wax paper and find all your broken crayons and choose 2-3 colours that you like...


second: scrounge through kitchen cupboards to locate a grater whose use you won't require tonight at dinner! once located...start grating!!


third: once all the colours have been grated, place a second piece of wax paper over top.
fourth: place wax paper sandwich on a sheet of newspaper, and fold that newspaper over the wax paper (are you getting my drift?!)...iron very carefully, making sure not to smooth the iron over the paper, but just gently press it over the entire area.

fifth: uncover your creation...and blow on it a little (you don't have to do that, but K wanted
to;))


sixth: once cooled, figure out what you can turn it into...



seventh: and...VOILA!

all this in seven easy steps:) ...enjoy!!