Virginia update

She is still dealing with the fever. She is so tired and looks so pitiful. She is rarely sick, probably not in the last two years. She is so used to running around and doing things. She is tired of lying around and just wants all her energy back. Hopefully she feels better tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Naomi

A year ago today, Naomi arrived. I can't believe a year has already passed. It is amazing how God sends a helpless baby into this world and seeing the changes everyday. Naomi of course does not realize today is her birthday. She has more fun with the boxes and cards than the actual present.
We will have birthday dinner and cake with my parents this weekend.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl.

sickie

I am home with the girls today. Virginia is sick with a fever. So we are laying low.

Good News Club

Today we had a lot of cleaning to do. We had bible study last night and people stayed until 10:30. The alarm seemed very early at 7 am. We did a lot of dishes and I still did not get them done. 12 people for supper and dessert make many dishes. I got a little sewing done and hope to do some more tonight.

We had Good News Club. Mark was going to be late so my sister helped us do a craft until he got there. We keep praying for more kids to come but are very thankful for the regulars that keep coming back to hear more about Jesus' love for them.

The baby fell asleep at 6:30 tonight. She was exhausted. She normally takes one nap in the morning around 10 am. She then takes an afternoon nap around 3 pm. She is getting to the point that she only needs one nap. However, she is now falling asleep around noon and wants to take another nap around 6 pm. This makes bedtime hard. Hopefully we will get this straightened out this week. I will go wake her up when I finish this post.

We have friends coming tomorrow for the kids to make a cooking show for school. The boys will make the main course while the girls tape and do the directing. Then they will switch while the girls make dessert. It should be fun.

I will spend tomorrow, cleaning the kitchen and prepping it for the children. We also will spend some time with Mark since he has tomorrow off.
Write more later.

sara

Sorry for being MIA

I have no excuse for why I haven't been writing. I just don't think about it. Hopefully I can get into a routine of doing it on a more regular basis.

We have been up for two hours and I have gotten a lot done. Mark worked today so I got up and made his lunch. Virginia was a big help with packing him snacks. I made apple muffins for breakfast. I have the dishwasher running and diapers washing. I have baked beans in the crockpot for supper. Nathaniel has already cleaned the kids room and Virginia cleaned the bathroom.

We still have a lot to do. Sundays we do not do anything in the way of chores. I also was sick yesterday, so as I did anything I just dropped it where ever I was. So the kitchen was a disaster this morning. We have a load and a half of laundry to fold and a load and a half to hang.

We will also be working on school today. We need to finish the video for "new" grandma and grandpa. It already has Easter dinner on it. I will write later today after I get some more stuff done.

sara

menu changed

I like writing up a menu plan but it is nice to change it as we may have new food options. My parents gave us all the turkey leftovers on Saturday. Sunday we were given some leftover veggies from lunch. Monday I made some tortillas and we had turkey, veggies and ranch dressing. They were so good. Today lunch was cheese and crackers, veggies and peanut butter, and beef jerky.
From the turkey I also got a big bowl of usable meat and about a gallon of broth.
The baby is doing really good eating. She loves food and wants to eat everything. She started some crackers today.
Those are our daily happenings. We are still doing our best to organize our new smaller space.

sara

Bible time at our house

Everyday, after morning chores are done, we have Bible time. All the kids must be there. We sit around and sing bible songs. Some are silly for the baby to dance to and then we sing a lot of the old hymns. We are memorizing all the verses of our favorite songs. Virginia's favorites right now are "Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus" and "Victory in Jesus".

Next is time for scripture memory. We currently have ten verses that we review everyday and we are learning Psalm 1. It is amazing how well children can memorize compared to adults. Virginia can hear the verse a few times and quote it. Nathaniel is also good at learning them and can think through to explain what it means. I am really glad Naomi will be hearing these great words from scripture at such an early age.

Then we do devotions as a family. Sometimes this is Daddy picking a random bible story to read through and talk about. Other times Daddy spends time teaching us something he discovered in his personal devotions. Nathaniel and Virginia each have individual devotions books that they do on other days.

I do my devotions by reading an online Bible (Naomi still likes to grab at books). Mark does his own in the morning. As a family we have a lot of discussions about God as we are all in the Word. However, we are reading a book right now that shows the life of a family that spends a great deal of time in the Word. This makes me realize that we could spend more time too. To know God better we need to learn about him more and look for his leading. We could spend all our waking hours reading the Bible and it would still never be enough to understand how awesome God is.

This is speaking to myself. I need to spend more time getting to know my Creator. This should come before all else I do and I need to impart this hunger for knowledge into my children.

sara

Lord's day

We had a great time at chapel this morning. We then came home and just rested. Tomorrow we have some errands to run. We will also do school and clean the house. Write more tomorrow.

sara

planning a menu

I have not been good about this in the house renovations. Hopefully, I can keep up on here.
Saturday
breakfast- banana muffins
lunch- breadsticks and sauce
supper-turkey dinner at Mom and Dad's- I'm taking rolls

Sunday- banana muffins (we got a 40 pound box of bananas and we love banana muffins)
lunch- at church- taking rolls for this
supper- popcorn and hot cocoa (normal Sunday supper)

Monday- eggs and toast
lunch- grilled cheese sandwiches
supper- taco casserole

Tuesday- pancakes
lunch- peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
supper- pizza

how I homeschool

Today I had many people ask me about homeschooling. People seem to think I know something they don't about homeschooling. I think I just figured out how to relax a lot sooner than some other homeschoolers.

Every family homeschools in a different way and has a different goal in their minds. Some families use a "box curriculum" that tells you exactly which pages to read today and what questions to ask. There is also the other side that unschools, allowing the child to direct all learning. Different approaches work for different family dynamics.

I am the type that would drive myself crazy with a written out program. I would need to finish every word on every page. Even if I write up the schedule, I am practically in tears if I do not finish everything by bedtime. A stressed out mommy is not helpful in homeschooling.

For Nathaniel, we have a list of daily school activities for if we were having a perfect day. Those are very few and far between. On the average day, Nathaniel does reading, math, history, and bible with other subjects depending on the day. Everyday we do bible even if we do no other school.

For Virginia, we do school as she wishes. This is at least once a day. If I see Virginia looking bored, I suggest a school activity. She loves it. Everyday, she does reading, math, handwriting, and bible.

Schooling for us is part of life. Rather than do all chores myself, I teach the children how to run the house. Nathaniel learns everyday math by helping Mark with building projects. Virginia learns everyday science by helping me cook. She can explain what each ingredient does to the recipe.

We love the way we homeschool. We are able to focus on God and each of our children's unique abilities. We are not stressed by trying to keep our kids to anyone else's standards. The kids are excelling in areas of interest and have more time to focus on those interests.

I will explain our bible time tomorrow. I love sharing our homeschool life with others interested in homeschooling their own children. Feel free to ask questions and I hope I can answer them.

sara