Stories From Africa

This short book has 6 stories from various missionaries in Africa. It is part of our homeschool curriculum and this is my second time reading it. I really enjoyed reading it again, as I never tire of hearing the amazing stories of how God is working and has worked around the world. It is fun sharing these stories with my children and telling them more about how great our God really is. Highly recommend this book.

5 stars

YAY for Viability Day!

Yesterday I turned 24 weeks, which, for L&D nurses, is known as viability day. It's the day where we do a happy dance, because if the baby were to come early the chances of survival greatly increase. I do pray that this baby will at least wait until June. Having a boy I do not want him to come before 36 weeks. I am so thankful that God has allowed us to get to this point and that both he and I are still doing well. I pray the next 16 or so weeks continue to go well and that the delivery is smooth for both of us.

Why I Love Homeschooling (Part 2)

Yesterday I shared some thoughts I wrote down in September about why I love homeschooling. Since then I have written down some others that have come to mind. The more I think about these the more I really do love being a homeschool family and thankful that God has led us to do this at this time in our lives.

Teaching Jesus First
I love that we can open our day with prayer, Bible reading and talking about Jesus as a family. We also are able to talk about God in everything we learn, which I love. At the doctor last week, when asked what his favorite subject in school was, Jamey replied, "learning about Jesus!" What parent doesn't want to hear that?

Family Being Together
As a homeschool family we get to do a lot together. This is such a blessing! Can it be stressful at times? Absolutely! But we also learn and grow together in many different ways. With Jim being a nurse, it also means a lot of Daddy time for the kids and he really runs the primary part of our homeschool day. I think we all love this. I know I do!

Family Learning Together
As Jim or I teach the kids, we learn too! As we teach the older ones, the little ones get to hear and begin learning things as well. It is so much fun when we all read a story together and can talk about it on different levels and hear what each other gets from it. This doesn't happen all of the time, but as the kids get older it is becoming more frequent and it is so precious.

Watching Things Click
I cannot explain to you how happy it makes my heart when I see one of my kids get something and we all celebrate. Whether they are struggling with a concept or just learning something new, there is something so precious in their eyes when they have that "aha" moment and they get it.

Kids Teaching Each Other
This is beginning to happen more and it makes my heart melt. Last week I sat and listened to Lillian read to Reuben. What a precious moment! Both Jamey and Lillian help the little boys with their letters, phonics and numbers at times. It is exciting to see this starting so young and I pray it will continue.

I am sure these are not all the reasons I love homeschooling, but they are the most prevalent. Why do you love your school choice?

Why I Love Homeschooling (Part 1)

During September (and really the last 5 months in general) I have been reminded of a lot of reasons why we homeschool, even though they may not have been reasons when we first started to homeschool our kids.

Flexibility
The last few months have been chaotic to say the least. Some days we have so much going on that other things go by the way side. Other days are open and free and we have time to delve more into things the kids want to know or learn additional things. We also have the ability to go on vacation whenever we choose. My parents had fall break in September, so we went on a trip to St. Louis with them just because we could. In this we also had some natural history, geography and science lessons along the way. Why? Because life is a classroom and we can learn in any situation.

Teaching Where They Are
Because of the way school went last year, our kids ended up in different places than we had originally anticipated. But that's OK! When you school at home you can put your kids on whatever level they are on. Jamey is doing a combination that falls from the kindergarten to 2nd grade realm. Lillian is doing pre-K. Reuben and Gabriel are being schooled together with a basic preschool learning curriculum. As we go we get to evaluate where they are and how much we need to repeat or if we can move right along. At first I was a little frustrated by this, because my kids did not do what I had anticipated, but now I love it! I can focus on each child and see where they are in their learning process. I can also see better how they learn. This way I can help them learn more effectively.

"Why-why," said Elizabeth Ann, "I don't know what I am at all. If I'm second-grade arithmatic and seventh-grade reading and third-grade spelling, what grade am I?"

The teacher laughed. "You aren't any grade at all, no matter where you are in school. You're just yourself, aren't you? What difference does it make what grade you're in? And what's the use of your reading little baby things too easy for you just because you don't know your multiplication table?" 

from Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher pp. 64-65

Focus On Strengths and What They Enjoy

This goes along with the last one, but more specifically, we can focus on where they excel and spend more time on the subjects they enjoy so that they enjoy learning. In essence, I don't have to make them well rounded. That does not mean we do not teach all the subjects, but we don't have to harp on their weaknesses so that they are excellent in every subject. Instead we give them space to do what they enjoy, whether it be academic or extracurricular. For example, Jamey loves language arts, science and drawing! We can spend more time doing these things, helping him to develop these skills and just do the basics in other areas. We are still learning what the other kids strengths are, but I love the concept of being able to give them space to be who they are. 

Lenten Season

I had planned to do another series during Lent this year, but family life is more important and so there is no specific series. Right now, during this season of reflecting on what Christ has done for us, learning to live the life He died to give me seems to be what He wants me to do. I struggle with this. I am a dreamer and always thinking of what else I could be doing. But that is not God's best. Right now His best for me is to learn to be who He has made me to be in the life He has given me to live. I'm still learning what that means for everyday life. Right now, some things have had to go so that I can get His priorities in order and that is clearly going to take some time to learn. Since Lent has started we have been cleaning, purging and organizing our house. As we do this, I see God working on the same things in my heart. What could be better than God purging the sin and darkness out of you? I can't really think of much else.

Thank You, Father, for saving me, for sending Jesus to die for me so that I might live with You! Help me this season to really learn who I am in You and to live according to Your Word and Your Way.

February Blessings

February was a short but full month. A lot has happened and God has shown Himself in so many ways as He seeks to woo us to Him and guide our lives in His way.

1. Being able to speak into other women's lives
   
2. Getting to take a Sunday afternoon nap with Jim
3. Working as a family to do massive cleaning in the living room
4. Having enough box tops for co-op in the fall!
5. Four course meal at Red Lobster (love that deal!)
6. Thinking about who and how God made me
7. Walking around the mall as a family
8. Seeing God's grace in how Jim handled the mall
9. Becca painting my toenails in a fun way!
10. Getting out of the house on a Saturday
11. Sam saying "amen" after praying with him at bed time
12. Seeing our baby on Ultrasound
    
13. Finding out the gender for the first time!
14. Girls night at Comfy Cow with Shannon
15. Organizing everything in the time warp room
16. Going to playgroup
17. Hearing testimonies of people in CG
18. Time to read and pray while the kids were running around
19. God revealing more of my heart to me
20. Lillian reading to Reuben
21. Good conversation with Jim, working through things
22. Turning 31
23. IHOP Breakfast with the family
24. Seeing "Kingsman" with Jim (really liked this movie)
25. Jim making a really yummy birthday dinner: maple walnut chicken, apple cheddar rice and green beans (My husband is a wonderful cook! So thankful for that.)
    
26. Talking to Brit for awhile
27. Jim surprising me with friends at Comfy Cow! 
28. Really good birthday
29. Daddy and Mom singing to me
30. Having a lazy low key day with the kids
31. Time to talk with Becca
32. Lots of snow! (Think we got 8-10 inches during the week)
33. Getting buckets put in the attic
34. Ash Wednesday Service
35. Date night with Jim at the Cheesecake Factory
36. Seeing God at work in our hearts
37. Becca having a Saturday off
38. Watching movies not on Netflix
39. Jamey turning 6!
    
40. Getting needed errands run
41. Jamey and Gabriel playing together
42. Andy and Shannon
43. Book Club
44. Moving things around to get more organized
45. Hanging out with Julianne
46. Yummy dinner and night out with Jim
47. Quiet hang out night with Jim
48. Writing group
49. Free drink at Panera
50. Sleep  

February Evaluation

Due to circumstances this past year, I'm not really changing my goals. Some will go that are not top priority, but I'm keeping the ones that fit with the overarching goal of having a God-centered life and the things I see Him leading me to right now. So thus far this is how it goes:

Spiritual

• Spend at least 10 minutes praying daily- Yes, usually for strength or wisdom sporadically throughout the day
• Spend at least 10 minutes reading and reflecting on the Bible daily- Getting better at this, but still struggling to really sit in the Word every day 
• Memorize verses with the kids - We are working through verses related to lent and catechism
• Memorize Scripture- Currently working on verses that go with North Star Catechism

Marriage

• Go out for a date once a week- Yes
• Go on a night away once this year- Need to plan this
• Read 3 books together this year- Started a list of books we want to read together
• Discuss plan weekly on Sunday afternoon- Starting to discuss plans more, though not always on Sunday afternoon

Kids

• Spend 30 minutes of one on one time with each child every week- still growing in this as we work on what our days need to look like
• Go to playgroup each Tuesday- Missed a couple due to weather and house work
• Write in individual journals at least 3 times this year- I have not written in any this month, but hoping to get caught up
• Finish Jamey's 1st year Scrapbook- This is not a top priority,but hoping to at least do some work on it this year

Homemaking

• Keep up with cleaning schedule- Began working on this together
• Keep up with my calendar- Starting to do better with this
• Being fully present when with my family- Getting better at this, but still struggling

Ministry

• Continue sending out Prayer List- Yes

Personal

• Read a book a month for myself- I have read with the kids and begun "The Odyssey", but it is taking a little time to get through
• Journal 5 days a week- doing better in this, but still not where I want to be
• Write (books) 3 days a week- Wrote down some ideas for a non-fiction work I have been thinking about for awhile
• Edit novel to prepare for publishing and research publishing options- No editing this month
• Finish Rosetta Stone Russian level 1 - Have not worked on this
• Continue to meet once a month with writing group- Yes!
• Blog 3 days a week- With all my book reviews this month, I have reached this goal. Hoping to keep it up in March as our family reads and learns

Health

• Go to water aerobics once a week- YES! Though I ended up missing one week because of really bad weather
• Maintain weight until birth- Have gained a little, but been having more digestive issues with 2nd trimester. Hoping to get back to eating healthier again
• Lose weight after giving birth- 

February was really fast! We had a lot going on this month and the weather was terrible. Being home bound for many days did help with working through things, being together as a family and getting started on some much needed organization in our house, which was a huge blessing. There were definitely some tough moments, but our faithful God saw us through as He always does. Looking forward to March and what it will bring.

How was your February?