I Got Nothing Done Today

June 23, 2010 by 1 Comment

I have a LONG list of things that I want to accomplish this summer. 
Not one of them got done today, but not because I didn’t try. 

Instead…

I nursed the baby.
I looked in the baby’s bright blue eyes and told him that I loved him.
I held a fussy baby and prayed to know how to help soothe him.
I washed the dishes.
I got my heart checked by a cute, in-house, princess doctor.
I swept up the noodles that strayed from the kids’ sensory tub.
I filled, ran, and emptied the dishwasher.
I prepared lunch.
I wiped cheesy wild rice soup remains from a toddler’s face.
I kissed a toddler’s knee after she fell and wiped away her tears.
I changed diapers.
I tried to keep my calm as a little one in training became wet once again.
I cried out and prayed to the Lord for strength.
I listened to a 6 year old read a funny story and heard her laugh.
I helped a 4 year old make a list of foods that he wants to bake when he grows up and becomes a chef.
I washed, dried, and redid sheets.
I sang silly songs and got to dance.
I kissed the sweet cheeks of a sleeping infant.
I shared a lift the flap book with a toddler while lying on the floor.
I heard God’s Word being sung through a child’s voice.
I got my order taken by a little waitress, over and over again.
I got to comfort an 8 year old with a headache that doesn’t seem to go away.

I died to self as things I wanted to do were put aside.
And, I nursed the baby again, washed the dishes again, changed diapers again…

I got nothing done today – at least by this world’s standards.

Galatians 6:9
Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest
if we do not give up.

Filed Under: Mom's Heart, The Joy of Children

The Power of Words – Keeping the Peace

June 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Over the last few weeks, I have witnessed more and more arguing and fighting over small matters between my children – whether it be over sharing a toy, choosing a video that they all would watch, whose turn it was to do something, and even arguing with instructions given by me.  This morning, I was overjoyed when God pointed out a verse to me from His Word to share with them…

Proverbs 17:14
Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam. 
So drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

Proverbs 17 14 

My oldest had the opportunity to practice her dictionary skills as she and the other kids wondered what some of the words meant.  We talked about what it meant to quarrel, to dispute, what a dam is, and learned about the word breached.

  • quarrel: verbal disagreement between individuals or a group, to make
    complaint or find fault
  • dispute: to quarrel or fight about; to quarrel angrily; to wrangle
  • dam: a barrier to stop the flow of water, built across a stream or river
  • breach: to break; a rupture; a gap made in a wall; a severance in friendly relations

Then I shared with them a visual…
What does a dam look like and what happens when it is breached?

A simulation of a dam breaking
Real footage of the aftermath from a dam breaking.

They were amazed that a small hole in the dam could be so powerful and have such a large effect!  Our words and how we choose to respond, act the same way.  We can choose to be peacemakers.

And of course, I couldn’t help but put the verse to a tune so we could all sing it…

Head to our Bible Memorization page and scroll down to Proverbs 17:14 for free printables!

I was so excited to get to share this with the children.  It seemed to really make sense to them.

Thank you Lord for this clear illustration from Your Word!

Filed Under: Kids' Hearts, The Joy of God's Word

A Stitch in Time

May 16, 2010 by 11 Comments

When our oldest finally decided on a theme for her eighth birthday party, I wasn’t too surprised… just a little perplexed as to how to make it happen.  She is very interested in sewing and in American history at the moment.  So, when she requested a Colonial Sewing Party, I knew it would capture a part of who she is at this stage in her young life.

centerpiece2

I searched online, asked for suggestions from friends, looked through colonial activity books, and sifted through sewing books for ideas. I then shared them with our daughter who helped to make the final decisions.  Here is what we came up with to make a special Colonial Sewing day for her…

Beforehand, she sent out patchwork invitations.
invitation

The girls made a colonial type toy – a ‘bilboquet’. 
   bilboquets

She and her friends also made some colonial garb – mob caps and aprons.  The ideas for these two projects came from Just Call Me Jamin.  At her blog, she shares ideas that correspond with many of the American Girl dolls!
mob cap and apron mob cap prep   apron
The day before the party, our daughter even made a mini sized mob cap and apron for her miniature Felicity doll.
doll mob cap
She also helped to make these needle cases for each of her guests.  The idea for the cases came from Sewing School.

needle case 1 needle case 2

The girls participated in two Colonial style games – ‘Hunt the Needle’ and ‘Hide the Thimble’.  (Colonial girls would actually have played ‘Hunt the Ring’, but we were trying to keep with the sewing theme as well and so used a plastic needle instead of a ring.)
hunt the needle

For fun, they also used whip stitches to sew together felt bears.   The idea and pattern for the bear is from My First Sewing Book by Winky Cherry.
felt bear prep

And of course, we had to have a sewing related cake.  She wanted to celebrate with a patchwork cake.
patchwork cake

It was a joy to be able to plan the party and then watch her delight in the afternoon with her friends!

Filed Under: The Joy of Children, The Joy of Family

To Know You

May 6, 2010 by 2 Comments

I have a love-hate relationship with my computer.  I love it in that it is a large part of this stay at home mom’s means of communication and connectedness with the outside world.  However, I also hate it in that it pulls me in at times, sucking my time and focus away from those that matter most.  I’m hearing His call to draw me closer to Himself, calling me to deliberately choose to go to Him and His Word -instead of to my computer so frequently.  Yes, this probably sounds familiar because I’ve blogged about it before.  God has a way of subtly, and sometimes not so subtly, getting my attention and reminding me of things I thought I had already learned.

Philippians 3:7-14

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

When I read these Words (above) and hear this song (below), my heart longs to truly know my Savior more….

from Casting Crowns ‘Until the Whole World Hears’ album

To know You is to never worry for my life
To know You is to never give into compromise and
To know You is to want to tell the world about You
Cause I can’t live without You

To know You is to hear Your voice when You are calling
To know You is to catch my brother when he is falling
To know You is to feel the pain of the broken hearted
Cause they can’t live with out You.

More than my next breath
More than life or death
All I’m reaching for, I live my life to know You more
I leave it all behind, You’re all that satisfies
To know You is to want to know You more
To know You is to want to know You more

To know You is to ache for more than ordinary
To know You is to look beyond the temporary
To know You is believing that You’ll be enough
Cause there’s no life without You

All this life could offer me, could not compare to You , compare to You
And I count it all as lost, compared to knowing you , knowing You

I hear You Lord and I want to know You more…..

Filed Under: Mom's Heart, The Joy of God's Word

Homeschooling with a Newborn

April 29, 2010 by 4 Comments

sleepingWhen my husband went back to work, we officially had 8 days to go to satisfy our state required 180 days of school.  However, I really wanted to complete all of our current curriculum and have closure to our school year –which was equal to 4 weeks worth of lessons.

I had already worked hard on getting all of the lesson planning finished and materials gathered as much as possible before the baby arrived.  It was sort of like planning for a maternity leave – only there was no substitute to call!  (Okay, daddy did sub a few times while he was off and we team taught for a little bit before he returned to work.  He did an excellent job =)  )

Now, it is just me, attempting to complete our school year with five little ones – a 2nd grader, Kindergartner, preschooler, toddler, and 2 1/2 week old infant.

So far, my goal has been to ease into school, taking two days (just mornings basically) to complete what we use to accomplish all in one day (usually all morning and some time in the afternoon).  This means that it will be taking us twice as long, 40 days to get through 20 days of actual school!  If we happen to occasionally get a full day in,  I will consider it to be a great feat!  Breaking the days up and stretching them out seems overwhelming, but it is making school with a newborn manageable.  That is what counts.  My kids don’t deserve to have a crazed mommy pulling her hair out each day!

With a newborn in tow, God is having me revisit a word I don’t often like – flexibility.  Taking two days per school day is a start.   However, I have to be flexible, not only about how much we accomplish each day and when we may actual complete this school year, but I also have to be flexible with our normal routines – when we school during the day and how we accomplish typical learning tasks.  Here are a few examples…

-taking advantage of doing hands on projects while our newborn takes a good nap
-having kids read to me or complete some work with mom as I hold a calm or semi-sleeping baby
-focusing on trying to have kids do their independent work from their workboxes as I nurse or try to console a crying, fussy baby
-asking the oldest two children to take turns playing and reading with our toddler (Since our 2 year old is use to being the baby, she seems to be experiencing greater difficulty than the other children with the adjustment to being a big sister- and having less one on one time with me.)
-being willing to read aloud stories and history as I’m nursing
-allowing time for older siblings to be around their new brother.  This might take the form of them doing their schoolwork nearby or just talking, holding, and bonding with him.

homeschooling with newborn

Also, I’ve determined that if a day is extremely trying now and then, I want to be able to throw out the academics, turn on the music (my kids love to sing and dance), play games, go outside, get out the paints, have a tea party, etc.  Yes, we will still get to the ‘school’ stuff, but we are a family first and life with a newborn is demanding – an adjustment for everyone in the home =)

As  our newborn is able to stay awake longer, we will also have to incorporate the use of our infant swing, use the play-mat and bouncy seat more, institute pack in play time, etc.  Babies grow and change quickly and we’ll have to be willing to adapt right along with our new little guy!  God has placed him in our family and I am so thankful for this opportunity to be bent and stretched.

For more thoughts on homeschooling with a newborn, you may wish to read this blog entry posted by another homeschooling mom of 6.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Filed Under: The Joy of Children, The Joy of Family, The Joy of Homeschool
« Previous Page
Next Page »