Being about their Fathers and Mothers work

Today was a nice Friday with Dad home from work. We sat down to school as usual and Dad headed out to the garage to start on his shelf building project. Part way through school I got this feeling that I should send the boys out to the garage. “Oh no I told myself.We have to finish our work.The boys also have a bedroom to clean,its just a mess!” It really WAS a mess, See!

After telling myself all these things I still had the feeling to send the boys out.So finally I said forget the school work for now and sent the boys out to be with their dad.

Whilst the  boys were  out doing their “man work” we girls decided to do a bit of “womens work” and bake some yummy garlic cheesy muffins.

Yes there was house work that needed done and school work to complete.But this morning was really about showing our children the joys of the roles God gave them.Letting the boys be boys.Letting them learn skills from their father that will make them capable men someday.For me sharing the joys of the kitchen with my girls,no matter how young they are was such a blessing. I have many fond memories of sitting around the kitchen and watching the women in my life prepare meals.

In todays society we are often told that men and women are the SAME.I’m sorry but that is a LIE plain and simple. We are fearfully and wonderfully made,men and women both.But we ARE different.God has given us different gifts and different roles.Today I truly enjoyed seeing those differences in our home.

Justin is 6!

That's my NOT so little boy and he just turned six this week.

The night he was born was such an amazingly exciting night.Less then 4 hours labor,only 1 hour actually at the hospital before delivering, no pain meds and a doctor who Laughed and exclaimed that it was the fastest delivery he’d ever seen! That whole exciting entrance into the world has never actually fit my Justin. From day one he has been the calmest and quietest boy.

He’s my shy guy,never talking to strangers and usually hiding from my camera :0) When he was in the hospital with pneumonia last year he refused to speak to the doctors or nurses!I had to tell him they wouldn't let us leave until he answered their questions just to get him to talk!

He has the most charming smile, when he isn't hiding it away that is! He has brought such joy to my mommy heart.I thank the Lord daily for him.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Walk Like an Egyptian

Since revising  our history plans we have been “walking like Egyptians” All week! Are big focus this week?Pyramids! We started off the week watching “Chasing Mummies” a series that follows archeologist working in Egypt.The series is definitely not geared towards kids so I wasn't really sure just how well it would catch my boys attention.I turned on the first episode and all I heard through the entire half hour was “Oh Wow mom look at that mummy!” “Look there are snakes in their How Cool!” “Mom I am going to Egypt and I’m going to find a tomb no ones ever seen before!”  The boys loved it and it provoked some really great conversations with the boys.

The rest of the week has been spend reading Mary Pope Osbornes Magic Tree house book “Mummies in the morning”

and building pyramids

You know your doing something right when your kids tell you they just “LOVE” history :0)

A little self improvement ;0)

This weekend two things weighed heavily on my mind.I know that Heavenly Father was showing me some area’s of our families life that need some improvement.

The first was our relating to each other as parents and children.A fault that I have is that I tend to lose my temper too easily with my kids. I KNOW that I  shouldn't yell at them.I know that just because they have misbehaved and need correction it doesn't follow that I need to raise my voice.But I have really become lax in my efforts to control my voice and my words.This weekend God directed me to my bookshelf to re-read the book “The Duggars: 20 and Counting”. All throughout this book Jim Bob and Michelle talk about raising there super size brood and how important it has been to really train their hearts and discipline with love.If God can make Michelle able to keep her calm and not yell when she has 4 times the number of children that I do.Then I KNOW God can make me able! I just have to Pray,pray,pray and work,work,work.

The other thing really put into my mind this weekend is our money management.My husband just came home from a year long deployment.After a deployment everyone comes away with a sense of being deprived.My dear husband was deprived of a lot of the basic comforts of home.He couldn't  just hop in his car(nope didn't have one of those) and run to the mall(not that either) and grab a pretzel and a lemonade.He couldn't  wear whatever he chose.He couldn't sleep in Saturday he had to work 6-7 days a week.Heck he couldn't even go to the bathroom in privacy.He had to leave his room,walk down the road a ways just to use a public bathroom(YUCK)!

The kids and I were majorly deprived of Daddy!The kids didn't have there wrestling buddy.I didn't have my other half.We didn't get any truly whole family time.Not for a whole year.Since my husband has been home we have been “making up for lost time”.None of the things we have been spending on are bad.We bought some camping gear for family trips,we went to the aquarium,bought toys,had date nights out and have enjoyed eating out…A LOT!Granted we have not gone into debt.But we have been spending every penny He makes and then some!Even dipping into savings!Just for some fun,relaxation and family time.Again God directed me to my own bookshelf this weekend to re-read “Financial Peace” and “The Total Money Makeover” By Dave Ramsey. These books are great.They are written by a Christian man who by the time he was 30 had been a millionaire in real estate and had then gone bankrupt. He lays out principals for money management that make sense and WORK.After reading his book the first time we as a family became dedicated to getting out of debt,staying out of debt and having an emergency fund(a bit of money set aside for a rainy day) and we were able to do just that.Re-reading these books this weekend really helped me to get more dedicated in working our budget and getting back on track with our saving.

I got up this morning to have a bit of quiet time in the Word and asked God to direct me to the passages I needed to hear.He sent me to Proverbs chapter 21.Specifically to Verse 20:

“There is treasure to be desired and oil in the dwelling of the wise; but a foolish man spendeth it up.”

And verse 23:

“Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.”

:0) On days like this when I can sit back and see the pieces fit together.See God directing my heart and mind.I cant help but smile. I know God lives.I know He loves me. I know He hears me and He answers when I pray.

Weekly wrap up the Adventure edition

This week has been a total blast! We did school as usual the beginning of the week.Things are going along really well.Some changes  are in the works already.We have been doing unit studies the last few years for things like history and science.This year I decided to abandon the unit study approach for history and instead bought “Story of The World”.I thought it would be nice to have a basic,read through for Ancient history.Don’t get me wrong I enjoy the book and its a great jumping off point with LOTS of good information.Over the past month of schooling however its become apparent that that's just not going to do for us!We want to take our time.We want to dig deep into each ancient civilization.SO I sat down last evening to start working on our Ancient Greece unit study :0) If it ain’t broke don't fix it,eh?!

The major “to do” though this week was our “Not back to school” camping trip with all the kiddos!The boys had camped with dad a couple of times and enjoyed every minute.We had never gone as a whole family with the little girls who are 3 and 9 months. We decided to drive out to the coast and camp there since none of us had as of yet seen the Pacific ocean.This would indeed be my first time seeing any ocean!

So it was that we packed up our brood and headed out for what I was sure would be the most perfect and delightful camping trip ever!  Boy does reality hit fast!LoL! We got to our camp site and it took us quiet a while to find a spot.Having a family of six we have a rather large tent.I guess when they plan out the camp sites they don't expect such large groups!We Finally found a spot to accommodate us and unloaded the kids and started to set up camp.

While the hubby and I set up camp the kiddos took to exploring.They all had a ball!

Now it was time for lunch. I don't know if our brains had deserted us during the planning of this trip but somehow we thought it was completely reasonable to find firewood at our campsite perfect for a fire.Did I mention we live in the Pacific Northwest?Arguably the WETTEST place in the continental US??Yeah…after about an hour of trying to coax a fire out of the sopping wet bits of wood  we admitted defeat.Amidst the whines of hungry children I drove to the lodge down the way and bought us some nice dry pre-cut wood!

Fire at last!

Aside from that little hold up and the lack of a spatula which resulted in a ruined pancake breakfast everything really was so much fun! The ocean is AMAZING and we camped literally a few hundred yards from the beach.We were lulled to sleep by the sound of the ocean waves.

The time spent in the woods,away from TV,Xbox and iPods was really wonderful.Sitting around the fire eating smores and watching the kids revel in Gods creation was exactly what we were hoping for this trip.Even if we had a few snafus along the way. 

Our second day was filled with a morning at the beach to play and see the tide pools.All I can really say is how amazing God is. To see the crashing waves,seemingly boundless ocean waters.The tide pools teeming with life.It really was a wonder to behold.

This is what I love to see

 Just Beautiful

 tide pools My husband and kids

We may not have gotten much “official” school done this week.But we sure did learn a lot!

Isn’t it obvious?

I have spent a portion of my time this evening browsing through some blogs.Blogs centered on baking,schooling,family,crafting.You name it!One reoccurring theme that I noticed on these blogs got me thinking.Every single blog I read made mention of a discontent with their childrens schooling.Be it bullying,poor teachers,the class being too slow or too fast,the children struggling with attention issues.So many things really and out of all of them not one mentioned actually DOING something about it.

Now if you are reading my blog then I am sure you know that I homeschool.Let me be clear when I say I am NOT anti-public school. What I am is anti-uninvolved parents,anti-sticking with something that isn't working,anti-not teaching our children about God,anti-trying to teach children who aren't ready and anti-holding children back when they are advanced. A lot of those things happen in public school and I think that's why people tend to assume I am anti-public school.If public school works for you and yours that's awesome.BUT… and its a big but, if your complaining then it ain’t working!

Isn't the answer obvious then?Doesn't it follow that if public school isn't working for your family then you should look for other alternatives?That you as the parent have the right to choose something different for your child/children? It never ceases  to amaze me when I am having a conversation with a mother who is upset/angry/unsatisfied about their childs current school situations.I mention homeschooling and they immediately without thought tell me they couldn't/shouldn't/wouldn't do that for X,Y, and Z reason. I homeschool and people may think I am nuts.They may here me complain about dissecting a fish or my house being taken over by the latest science project.But they will NEVER hear me complain about my childrens education without a plan to fix what isn't working.

Organized madness

Ever since we moved back to Washington two months ago something has been driving me crazy.No not the children,the weather or the neighbors.What has been driving me really crazy,especially having been homeschooling this month are my bookcases!I LOVE books and I homeschool.So you know we have lots of books.When we moved in everything just got thrown onto a shelf.I was on a mission to get the boxes out of the house!

I woke up and today was the day! I had to organize the madness that was our bookshelves!This is what my living  room looked like after an hour of deshelving and sorting:

I separated everything into loose categories like science,history,religion,for fun reads,series,etc.Then I spent the next hour re-shelving.I am happy to report that everyone survived the mess and I can now breath a sigh of relief.The Madness has been organized!