This is the Day that the Lord has Made

We survived our first day of homeschooling today.  

It was a fun day. We started out with a picture so that the girls can look back and see themselves at the end of the year and reflect on how much they’ve changed. They woke up very excited.

 

 

After breakfast and some pictures, we started out with Bible and prayer time. For parts of our Bible time we’re using a book that was a gift from a friend entitled, “The Life of Christ” by John McArthur. The book is a collection of scriptures that capture the life of Christ in chronological order beginning with the Creation of Man. Scriptures from throughout the Bible are organized in a way that you’re able to read complete themes on certain topics (e.g., creation, the fall of man, etc.) using scriptures that span from the Old Testament to the New Testament.

After prayer and Bible time, they both worked in their handwriting books. Lea will be learning cursive writing this year and Love will continue to just brush up and refine her cursive writing.

I introduced “copy work” which is a technique presented through the Charlotte Mason philosophy of teaching where “copying good work encourages good writing”. The notion is that if a person copies the work of writing that is not just editorially sound, but full of meaning and fruitful context then they will adopt the sound principles that are gained from copying good writing. With copywork you can copy any sort of writing – Bible Verses/passages, poetry, literature, etc.

The time seemed to fly by as the girls wanted to take their time and be neat as they wrote and I tried not to hurry them along. Before we paused for lunch we did an hour or so of math, reviewing the areas where they left off in 1^st and 3^rd grade. While I worked with one individually, the other read a “Life of Fred” math book. The Life of Fred math books are literary books that teach the reader varying math concepts through storytelling. He’s an interesting little guy that will have you laughing. It’s always nice to have a little comic relief when you’re learning math.  

After Math we had some lunch and then had our time of reading and comprehension. Some of the time was spent with me reading out loud to the girls (“we’re reading the 2nd book in the Little House series) so that they can hear the expression and proper pronunciation as I read. And, after our together time of reading they each have their own books where they can do their own reading and afterwards, they each presented their understanding of what was read. Love of course didn’t disappoint us as she reenacted the 1^st chapter of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.

By the time we got through reading and comprehension it was nearing 1 p.m. and I thought we’d finish for the day, but we squeezed in our spelling time with the “Sequential Spelling” curriculum and the girls ended the day writing in their journals about their first day of school. With this particular curriculum the student learns foundational root words and with each lesson the consecutive words that they learn builds off of the root word.

I had to shoo them outside after we were done. Love wanted to drill a little more on her times tables. Geez.. I hope this “problem” continues. I decided to save our history lesson for tomorrow. It was after all the first day of school (Love reminded me the week before we started, "Mom, you know that in school you don't do anything the first week, right?" I had to inform her real quick that this was not her typical school setting =)

Overall, it was a blessed day. It still seems surreal that I’m at home and not at work today. To just walk in the room and see them curled up on the couch reading and writing just warmed my heart. It’s a feeling that no amount of money could ever provide. I’ve experienced that feeling of enjoyment from giving to people in the workplace, but when its your kids its just priceless because its something that I hope they will never, ever forget. And, just maybe they’ll be inspired to give this same gift of “mom at home” to their own children one day.

 

 

1 school day down…. 1 hundred... seventy.... uhm.... who's counting.... yet?!?!?

(ask me again later if I've started counting =) 

SAHM

(written on Aug 21 2013)

I got the chance to write the words, “stay at home Mom” for the first time a week or so ago when we took Love to pick up her violin. I had to write down my occupation. At first I skipped the line and wrote down hubby’s occupation and then went back and thought, “What am I supposed to write?” Technically, today I’m a working Mom for 3 more days, but for the purposes of renting the violin I needed to document the fact that I will not be employed for the long term.

It was sort of freeing to write it down. I’ve been reflecting for the past week or so on the stay at home role since my co-worker gave me a book about SAHMs last week. I’m not sure if the author is a Christian, but she raises some interesting points that reflect the morals of a woman that chooses to sacrifice all else to stay home and raise her children. The book is called, “In the Praise of Stay-at-Home Mom” by Dr. Laura Schlessinger. I’ve only gotten through a few chapters. The author apparently is known for her radio broadcasts where she counsels and encourages SAHMs. So far, its been an encouragement as the author raises a number of benefits to staying at home and its rare to find an author that dedicates a book to praising an unpopular profession.

This coming school year if Love would’ve remained at FCS, she would’ve had the opportunity to select an instrument to play in the school band or winds orchestra. I’m not sure exactly what specifically drew her to the violin, but she is oober excited to start learning the play the violin. A dear friend of ours, Sarah, from our Church is a beautiful violin player and Love took it upon herself to write her a letter (in her 9 year old speak) asking her if she’d be willing to teach her. Sarah was oober excited that Love was interested, so she gave us the hook up on a great little shop in Richmond that rents violins for a very affordable price.

I’m not sure how long the excitement will last… we’ll ride it for as long as her interests continues.

 

 

40 Years of Love...

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary by renewing their wedding vows at the end of July. It was a really beautiful event.

To see them walk down the aisle together, in love as ever, just made me blush and be so proud to call them my Mom and Dad. I get my sense of affection from them I know this to be true.

When I was in school my friends would tease me after seeing my parents out in the mall together walking hand in hand like school age sweethearts. It was a wonderful example of true love within a marriage as I grew up. That's all I knew as a child in regards to what a marriage should look like and for that I'm grateful because it laid a desire in my heart to love and cherish someone in the same way with boldness and without fear of what others may think.

My hubby and I celebrated 13 years together on August 19th. Every year that our anniversary rolls around I relish in the fact that it feels like I just got married yesterday. I love that man with that giddy feeling that makes you blush just as I did 13 years ago. He and I have grown and matured together over the years - in mind, body, and spiritually together as we've strived - together - to grow closer to the Lord as husband and wife. This spiritual growth that we've had together has deepened our understanding of who we are in Christ. and, I have to say he's even more handsome because of His love for God.

Marriage is a beautiful thing...

At Firebirds for our 13th Anniversary Dinner

Girlfriends

How is it so easy for my girls to make friends? Maybe its their personality.
When I was their age I don't remember it being that  easy for me. We were at the playground today and they instantly made 3 friends. As I typed this blog entry 1 of the girls got upset about there not being any boys to play a game and she decided that she wanted to be left alone. My girls did try to smooth things over with her but she wasn't in the mood.

It may be easy for some to make friends but arent we all so moody? WIthin a matter of minutes we can go from being happy with glee to being upset and cranky.

Girls...

Routine...Once Again.

Since the closing its been nice that we've slowly gotten back into a family routine and the routine doesn't include packing a moving box, cleaning, or moving something into storage. We're adjusting to living in a smaller, more cozy space at my in-laws.

The kids new routine includes them getting in the pool every evening. My oldest started out years ago afraid to let water get on her face and now she's becoming our little family fish.

We caught Monster's University the other day and it was really, really good. It was very funny. Its amazing how the movie makers make the kid movies so entertaining for the parent too. We indoctrinated Grandma into our new favorite movie snack that's not popcorn... nachos & cheese! yum!

 

 

As we draw near into August, I've begun planning for my transition home from work. I've spread the news around and have set my last day for 23 August. What's been neat about sharing the news are the other working moms reactions. Several were moved to tears at the thought of me being able to come home fulltime and one mentioned that she'd vicariously live through my experience to be able to homeschool. So, I guess everyone doesn't think that I'm all that bonkers!! I think there's a deep seated yearning in every mother for more time with their children however they are able to manage and juggle their schedule. Mainstream society has set a tone for women "having it all", but the struggle is finding that balance and being at peace.

 

My prayer is that every Mom finds that place of balance and peace. 

 

The Journey Begins

On today, 17 July 2013, one door closes and another door opens for us. After 4 amendments to our settlement contract on the house, we went to closing.

By the time it was amended for the 2nd and then 3rd time I finally relented and in my heart and mind "let go and let God" with the whole closing. Each time that I found myself getting discouraged and wondering if the settlement would ever happen, God would remind me over and over of His power and control of all things. It's frustrating to battle with your own flesh to control and manage your emotions when the visible things that are happening seem to be contrary to what you're praying and hoping for. When we find ourselves in these situations we should not place our hope (and allow our emotions to be controlled) by what we see. Instead we must place our hope in God...again and again and again.

I knew each time that we experienced what seemed as a setback, God was driving us to just wait, have faith, and trust.

I kept one daily bread devotional in my email inbox so that I could refer to it when I needed reminding me that God's timing is always perfect.

While everything may not always happen when we want it to, I thank God that I serve a God who always knows what His daugter needs and He provides at the right time.

http://odb.org/2012/10/04/timing-is-everything/

HEAV Convention 2013

I didn’t want to NOT have a blog entry in the month of June, so before the month comes to a close I’ll blog about the Homeschool Educators Association of Virgina’s (HEAV) Convention that was held this month.

The 2012 Convention was my first encounter with so many homeschoolers in one building. After doing so much research about homeschooling, to be in one place with so many like-minded people (or, I should say people who didn’t look at me like an alien when I said that I wanted to homeschool) was so refreshing and actually very emotional for me. It doesn’t take much to make me emotional, but being at this event and walking through the halls seeing the families together made me cry like a baby. The 2012 Convention experience helped further convince me that this was certainly the path that God was leading us down towards for our children. I learned so much about the opportunities that are available to homeschoolers and hearing/reading the testimonies of the parents and children that have graduated from a homeschooling environment was a blessing. To me it was a reality that not only can children receive a wonderful education from their homeschooling parents, but the additional benefits that include creating close family ties, having the freedom to teach and spend time learning about areas that are more limited in a school environment, and the wide spectrum of curriculum that can be used just further encouraged me. 

So, fast forward to 2013. I knew that I wanted to return but wasn’t sure what else I needed to know after reading all that I read and after attending in 2012. There is SO much information out there that one can easily become overwhelmed, so you can never stop learning about to refine and enhance how to teach your children. I felt the urge to attend again so that at a minimum I could purchase curriculum materials that I’d need. As I reflect on the 2012 convention I believe this year’s event was not just for me, but also for my kids. I decided to take them along and I’m so glad that I did. To see them see the other kids that are taught at home was a blessing. I even let them choose several of the workshops that interested them. They chose an art workshop that discussed how we could incorporate art skills into our curriculum as both my girls love art. Its their outlet really. While I love to pass the time curled up with a great book, their idea of relaxing is painting, drawing, coloring, or making some sort of craft. The 2^nd workshop they chose was the Duggar girls and mother Q&A session. I think they were just a little start struck and wanted to see them in person since they’ve seen them on t.v.

The girls also enjoyed the exhibition hall which is a huge arena full of homeschool curriculum for sale along with other goods that a homeschool family might use. My kids favorite vendor was a paint supply vendor. I was able to find a few materials for the Spelling Curriculum that we’ll be using, but had to order the complete set of books that I’ll need to be shipped to my house later on. Our other favorite spot at the convention is the Used Curriculum Sale which is another huge arena of gently used curriculum and supplies. We found some used reference books, charts, and reading books.

The girls and I had a great time together at the event. I am so looking forward to the time that we’ll spend together. While I know that the road ahead will have its challenges, the gift of time with the girls that God is blessing me to train and educate them is one that I will not take for granted. 

Oh – and, I can’t forget their very last favorite part of the event… eating! Like me, the girls love good food. They had fun copping a squat on the floor (there were SO many people that it was easier to sit on the floor and eat rather than wait for a table) hanging out with Mom snacking on all the good food and snacks.