Tennis anyone?

One of the things we love about our neighborhood is that we can walk to the sports fields and the tennis courts. Joel loves having Grandma play tennis with him! And sometimes Mark too! It was a beautiful evening to be outside!

First week of school!

We started school yesterday and everything went so well! I was a little bit nervous because this is our first year with Tapestry of Grace and I wasn't sure how well Joel and Ivy would adapt to something new. Well, they love it and so do I! All day yesterday, I just kept saying thanks to God for leading us to this new path. It is so much easier for me to have the guide and framework of our studies already planned out for me after so many years of doing everything on my own. And this curriculum is very rich and so comprehensive that we are all learning so much and really enjoying all the discoveries we are making.

Last night, as I was saying good-night to Joel in his room after I prayed with him, he thanked me for being his teacher and then he said how much he loves what we are doing with school now. He said it was awesome and he really really liked it a lot! That just warmed my heart so much to hear him say that - 7th graders aren't generally that excited about school! Of course that was after our first day and who knows if those feelings will continue after 100 days or more! But so far, so good!

Ivy is excited about what she is learning too. She is reading ahead in her books and talking about what she is learning which is really good! Today we did the map work for our geography and she was remembering things from her reading to help explain the geographical terms and labels - like cataracts.

To celebrate our first day of school, Mark took us all out for Rita's after supper last night! We LOVE Rita's! And we also had to celebrate for another reason - we moved into our house exactly 2 years ago! And another reason to celebrate - this very week, 20 years ago, Mark and I first met at college - has it really been twenty years!???!!!!

Anway, back to the topic of school, I took this picture today as they were doing their maps. Yesterday was mostly reading, today was reading and maps, tomorrow will be reading and questions and discussions, Thursday will be more discussions and Friday will be lapbooks, evaluation and hands-on projects. That schedule seems to work well so I think we'll keep doing that. Our kids both enjoy reading so we don't have trouble getting all the reading done. They love their books!

We'll be doing something different for science as well. Although I was planning on doing Chemistry, Level 1 by Real Science for Kids, we are making a switch to Apologia Science. Joel will be doing General Science and Ivy will be doing the Exploring Creation with Botany book. Our package should arrive on Friday so we'll start that next week.

Why switch our science program? I read so many good reviews about Apologia science and it looks very good. I want Joel to have a very good foundation to prepare him for high school science courses and the General Science looks like it will do just that. Ivy chose to study botany and will be doing the elementary level Exploring Creation book. I like this curriculum because it uses Charlotte Mason methods and it is creation affirming and presented well in a real, living, beautiful book. Not a boring, dry, textbook format.

I've added the Tapestry of Grace blogroll and if you click on any of those you will see so many talented home educating families! I find so much inspiration in reading what others are doing and how they are using Tapestry in their families. So many really terrific ideas and I am amazed and also humbled because I feel like I never "have it all together" like everyone else seems to. But that's OK. We are enjoying our school and even though our lives are not perfect and I don't have it all together, and I'm not extremely creative and able to do many of the fancy things, I am so happy to be homeschooling and so happy with my calling to teach and nurture our children!

Today we went to the Smoketown Airport for the annual "Mission Fest". Several mission aviation planes were on display and represenatives from 6 or 7 mission agencies were there to talk about mission aviation around the world. There were planes taking off and landing every couple of minutes as several paid a small fee to take a ride. We were there 3 or 4 years ago and Mark and the kids went up in a small plane then. This time we just watched - and Jaden really enjoyed that.

The high-light of the day was seeing Steve Saint (son of Nate Saint - one of the 5 missionaries who were martyred in the jungle of Ecuador over 50 years ago). We also saw the plane that was used in the movie "The End of the Spear" that documented the story of those missionaries.

We also enjoyed seeing some friends of ours including John Meyers with Nathan and Bekah, who are missionaries with New Tribes who are preparing to eventually go to Bolivia.

Something Joel wrote today

You know you’re a FOOTBALL FAN if…

You play Fantasy Football every year
You make friends based on potential friend’s favorite team
You can recite all Super Bowl winners in order from one.
Your sons are named either Peyton or Eli
Your said sons play football
You coach your son’s team
Sunday is your favorite day of the week (sometimes)
Your boss knows how your day will go based on the previous Sunday
You’d watch the Lions or Cowboys game over the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving
You mobbed the front office of your precious Packers after they traded Brett Favre
You think baseball players are babies for delaying the game because of a mere sprinkling of rain
You throw pillows, nachos, or anything you can find at your TV if you dislike the ref’s call
You think football should be a Winter Olympics sport
You go to training camp every year
You care if your team wins or looses in the preseason

A long week

This was one of those "funny farm" weeks that often happen at our house. Jaden was sick all week with a fever which means that he hasn't been sleeping good at all. So I've been completely sleep-deprived and at the point of total exhuastion for the last few days. I realized just how tired I was last night. I was holding two pairs of earrings in my hand as I was getting a glass of water before bed. Without thinking, I almost threw those earrings down my throat like I was taking advil pills! I stopped myself just in the nick of time! Imagine what would have happened had I done that! I could have choked on those earrings and everyone else was in bed.... Mark would have found me on the kitchen floor in the morning.... they would have discovered 4 earrings in my throat... imagine Mark having to wonder about that the rest of his life! Like I said, I was so tired and it struck me so funny!

We also had a flat tire this week. But God was gracious and He protected us from entering the highway. I got out of the car at a traffic light to look since the car was driving funny and I was able to pull over to a safe place. We were just about to enter a very busy highway and the tire was completely flat. I have already experienced one tire blow-out on a major highway and never want that experience repeated! Mark was able to come to our rescue and it only cost ten dollars to get our tire fixed. We found out later that when Joel and all the neighborhood boys were playing football in our front yard, the ball had hit our tire hard and bent the valve which caused the air to leak out. Be careful about footballs too close to your car!

On Weds. Joel and Ivy got to go to the Elizabethtown Fair with Grandma. They had a good time but were dissappointed at the cost of the rides - 4 dollars a ride! But fairs are really all about the animals and that part was fun. I stayed home with the sick toddler.

At the store recently the cashier asked Joel if he was excited about school starting soon. And of course he said he wasn't. Then she looked at me and asked me if I was excited about school starting soon and I said YES! And then she wrongly assumed that I was excited about sending him away. She said that is almost always the case..... I should have clarified for her that I am his teacher and I am happy not to be sending him away. But I didn't. And I feel bad about giving the wrong impression. I missed my chance to give a good testimony of homeschooling.

And one more thing to add in this long rambly post from a sleep-deprived mom... After watching the Olympics last night when the men's relay runner dropped the baton and they failed to qualify for the race, Joel sat down and wrote a poem about that. He was inspired by the whole thing to write about it! How many 12 year old boys would do that?! I am going to ask him if I can post his poem here so be looking for it soon.

Thanks for reading these random thoughts!

Pray for my cousin Brian

Today marks the one year anniversary of a horrible murder. Tragically, my cousin Brian was wrongly arrested and has been in jail awaiting trial for this murder that he did not commit. Brian is 22 years old. This has been devastating to him and the whole family. Yet we know that God has a purpose and a plan in spite of the injustice and the suffering. Please pray for Brian. Please pray that the truth would be known and that the ones responsible for this murder will be brought to justice. There is a very hopeful chance that Brian will be released before this goes to trial due to complete lack of evidence. Please pray! Nothing is impossible with God and there is always hope because He is on the throne.

One more week until school starts!

I am almost ready for school to start again.... I have gotten our schedule printed out, Joel and Ivy's TOG notebooks ready for the first unit (9 weeks), and have reserved the library books we need for the first several weeks and have received several packages of books in the mail! Even the kids are getting excited about "hitting the books" again.

We also just found out what classes they will be in at the WHEE homeschool group this fall. Ivy will be taking Archeology and Fun With Spanish and Phys. Ed. Joel will be taking Public Speaking. Civics and he's also taking Phys. Ed. And Jaden will be going to a pre-school class and will be having story time, crafts, and music! WHEE meets at our church on Monday mornings and there are 50 families enrolled.

We are also continuing with Hempfield Homeschoolers where we have been members for 7 years. On Thursday afternoons, Ivy will be taking Art class, music and choir and also gym and fitness. Joel will be taking Future City Engineering and will be in Yearbook class. Jaden isn't old enough for the pre-school class at Hemfield so he will be in the nursery. There are 75 families in the Hempfield Group and we've been very blessed to be part of it since our kids were of school age.

Our schedule will be very full with two homeschool groups as well as a very challenging course of study here at home. One big change for us this year is that we are hoping to begin our day of schooling at 8:00 which means we've got to get up early! We've also started around 9 or even later depending on my night's sleep with Jaden! But this year with so much packed into our schedule, an early start will be necessary.

Joel's theatre contract ends Sept. 20th so the number of shows he is doing is winding down. For those of you who haven't seen "Abraham and Sarah" yet and want to, let me know ASAP! There are plenty of 50% off tickets available. We don't know if this will end his 6 years at Sight and Sound or not. He is growing so fast that he may not be able to play a child anymore. Very sad! But it has been a wonderful experience and we'll always be extremely thankful that God has enabled him to do this for so long.

Mark's 40th birthday!

Mark turned 40 on Saturday! (I'm much younger!) We celebrated the day at the annual family reunion. We also spent some time with Mark's parents on Sunday.

A beautiful day to be outside

Joel is old enough to help with the job of woodcutting! I think we have enough wood to get us through this winter and maybe the year after that too!

Attachment Parenting

More and more I am realizing that my parenting style is very different than the culture's parenting philosophy - even in the Christian community. I am very far from being a perfect parent and I never feel like I have it all together! However, I am very saddened by much of the current thoughts on parenting - especially parenting infants and toddlers. Admittedly, I am very passionate about "attachment parenting" as described and encouraged by the Sears family in their many parenting books. But aside from being somewhat influenced by Dr. Sears, I believe very much that my personal beliefs about parenting come from my own inner sense of the way God wants for me as a mother to nurture and discipline and love my children. The Sears' books were more of a validation of my own parenting philosophy rather than me adapting to their philosphy. That's why I love those books so much! They affirm my deepest beliefs of parenting children.

Because I am so passionate about attachment-style parenting, I struggle so much with all the other ideas out there about parenting babies and toddlers. Sometimes I am deeply saddened by what I read and hear and witness. Sometimes I am upset by advice given on Christian radio to young parents. For example, I am not a big advocate of spanking! And that is very contrary to many in the Christian community. But I do believe in discipline. And I don't believe in rigid scheduling of babies or baby-wise parenting. I believe that babies need to be held most of the time and not be carried around in their carseats. I believe that you cannot spoil an infant. I believe that their cries are to be comforted. I believe that my job as a parent is not to "break their wills." I believe that babies are of equal worth and in need of respect as adults. I believe that parents should be polite and respectful in speaking to their children (and vice versa). I believe that 99% of discipline involves modeling correct attitudes and behavior. I believe that every parent should try to say YES as much as possible and say NO when necessary. I believe that my life is not more important than the lives of my children. I believe that my schedule, my comfort, my convenience is not the most important thing. Parenting involves sacrifice, selfLESSness, and humility. Children are to be respected, loved, cherished and well disciplined. They are to be taught by example. They are to be valued, esteemed, and treated like the gifts from God that they are. And most of all, they need to be prayed for, instructed in the Word, and discipled in their own personal walks with the Lord. Parenting is not easy! It is not supposed to be easy. But the rewards and blessings are vast and immeasureable.

I have many, many, many more thoughts on parenting young children but they are much better presented in the very well-written The Baby Book by Dr. Sears and his Guide to Christian Parenting book. For those books and other parenting info. go to www.drsears.com

My "Tapestry of Grace" arrived!!!!

I was so excited when I saw the brown truck pull up yesterday! Yes, my Tapestry of Grace Year 1 curriculum arrived - and earlier than I expected! So guess what I did last night.... yes, I put all the pages in the first unit in sheet protectors! I've been reading on the TOG forums the pros and cons of sheet protectors and decided that I'm one of those 'page protector" people! And I could not believe how many pages are in each unit! I've got a huge binder for just the first 9 weeks! Thankfully my mom was able to come up with a lot of large binders for me from the bank. She works in several bank branches and has "rescued" them from going to the trash bins! I guess I will be investing in sheet protectors - I used all I had on the first unit and I'm guessing I'll need 3 more boxes at least to finish the year.

I ordered the Map Aids and the Lapbook Kits and also evaluations for Joel who is in the dialectic stage. Ivy will enjoy the lapbooks and that will do for her evaluations this year as an upper grammar student. I browsed through the whole thing and I know that I will be learning so much this year! I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all, but I am really looking forward to this new direction in our schooling.

So we will be studying "The History of Redemption" this year beginning with ancient Egypt and the books of Moses concluding with the fall of Rome. There is so much packed into this curriculum - world history, biblical history, church history, geography, philosophy, fine arts, writing and even some science. (We are continuing with Math-U-See, and doing Language Arts and Science separately.)

My next step will be ordering all the books we need. This curriculum is literature based so all the books that Joel and Ivy will be reading must be ordered for each unit. A LOT of books! Thankfully we use our library extensively - it is almost like our second home. And we can get books we want through the inter-library loan which means that if any of the 13 libraries in our county have the book we want we can have it sent to our library for us to pick up. And the books are ready for us usually within a couple days. For books that aren't in our county, I can order books to be brought in from outside the area. There are still many books that I will need to buy because we'll be using them very frequently over the next several units or even years. Thanks Mom for my amazon.com gift card for my birthday!!!!!! What a great gift that was!

For the first 7 years of our homeschooling, I've been able to go without a curriculum for the humanities subjects and we have always used books, especially biographies, from the library to study history. But with Joel being in 7th grade this year and high school looming on the horizon, I really felt the need for something more for us. After much research, investigating, ordering a 3 week sample, and of course last but not least - praying about this, we are very happy with our choice to go with Tapestry of Grace. It is a leap of faith for us because it is very expensive initially. However, it is actually very affordable because it is a 4 year curriculum that you can use all 12 years of schooling - cycling through it every 4 years. Joel will be able to do Years 1-4 and then Years 1 and 2 again. Ivy will do Years 1-4 twice since she's in 5th grade. Jaden, assuming we stay with Tapestry of Grace, will cycle through the four years three times. I really like that!

Because Tapestry of Grace (TOG) is designed so you can teach all different ages the same subject, they will all be learning the same period in history at the same time - but on their own level. For example, Joel is in the dialectic level which is usually 6-8th grade and Ivy is upper grammar (4-6th grade) so they will be reading different books and doing different projects based on their own level but both be studying Ancient Egypt, for example. That way our discussions and read-alouds will be all on the same topic for everyone to participate. And the next time they cycle through the Year plans, they will be on a higher level so that when they come to Year 1 again, Ivy will be at the dialectic level and Joel would be in the rhetoric (high school) level.

After I buy all 4 years of TOG, that is all I will need to buy (except for their books). Ivy will be able to use Joel's books from previous years and Jaden will be able to use Joel and Ivy's! So even though the 4 years are expensive they will be used over and over again so it really is very economical. And since I am putting the whole thing in sheet protectors, it will be kept in very good condition for little Jaden for all his schooling! : )

On this blog, I'll be writing about all the new things we learn this year with TOG. I'm really excited! I hated history when I was in school because it was taught in such a dry, boring, textbook way. I have always used real books, not textbooks, when teaching our kids and history is something that we all enjoy very much. And now it will be even better!

English Standard Version (ESV) Bible

For my birthday, Mark bought me an ESV Bible and I love it! Soon our church will be using this version which is a new translation that was completed in 2003 by Crossway Bibles, a ministry of Good News Publishers.

Here is the a quote from the preface:
"Each word and phrase in the ESV has been carefully weighed against the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, to ensure the fullest accuracy and clarity and to avoid under-translating or overlooking any nuance of the original text. The ESV is an essentially literal translation that seeks as far as possible to capture the precise wording of the original text and the the personal style of each Bible writer. As such, its emphasis is on "word for word" correspondence, at the same time taking into account differences of grammar, syntax, and idiom between current literary English and the original languages. Thus it seeks to be transparent to the original text, letting the reader see as directly as possible the structure and meaning of the original."

If you are looking for a Bible that is written in our language and that is a literal translation of the original texts, I highly recommend this version of the Bible. It is both a beautiful and clear translation of God's holy Word. I will be using this version for the "Scripture of the Week."

A Day at the Beach

We had a wonderful day at Island Beach State Park in New Jersey. It is a very beautiful beach that we love to visit at least once a year. We had perfect weather and the water was just right for lots of wave jumping! We even saw five or six dolphins! I love the ocean

Ivy's Birthday

We celebrated Ivy's 11th birthday on Saturday at Lake Tobias Wildlife Park in Halifax. She invited a friend to come along and we had a great time on the safari ride and saw lots of animals up close, including some "zedonks" a cross between a zebra and a donkey. Ivy really enjoyed all the baby animals, especially the baby goat she got to carry around. Our last time there was 11 years ago, a couple weeks before Ivy was born! Time flies so fast... I can't believe she's 11 already!

VBS Pictures - my Kindergarten Class

We had a great week at our Olympian VBS! I enjoyed teaching the Kindergarten "A" class of 19 kids and 6 helpers! It was an exciting and exhausting week as we learned about Joshua and joining God's Team.

We celebrated my birthday at my mom's house last week before we picked up Ivy from camp. She made a delious dinner for us and I was spoiled with presents!

Jaden loves to play the drum at Grandma's house.