Teaching

"Whenever I had anything, and saw a fellow-being suffering, I
was more anxious to relieve him than to benefit myself. And this
is one of the true secrets of my being a poor man to this day. But
it is my way; and while it has often left me with an empty
purse, which is as near the devil as anything else I have seen,
yet it has never left my heart empty of consolations
which money couldn't buy, the consolation of having
sometimes fed the hungry and covered
the naked."

-Davy Crockett

As I teach my children everyday, what do I most want them to learn?
To worship the Lord,
to serve Him,
to show His love to others,
to have compassion,
to show kindness,
to be selfless...

To teach them, I must model
To teach them, I must do and be
Lord, help me
to worship You,
to serve You,
to show Your love to others,
to have compassion,
to show kindness,
to be selfless...

Finding Peace

This is our time of unknowns. It is unknown to us whether the house which we thought would be ours will actually be ours. We are uncertain as to whether we will get the extra money necessary to buy our house and if we do get it, we have no idea where it will come from. Such uncertainty can be scary, and yet we find ourselves calm and at peace.

"Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.

And the peace of God,
which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus."
Phillipians 4: 6-7

Not knowing where we will live in the next couple of weeks is an interesting thing. I am one prone to worry. Yet I remember the promises He gave, and I feel peace.

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Matthew 11:28-30

I find peace in...

little kisses
candlelight
beautiful music
children's laughter
fall colors
holding hands
walking in the crisp outdoors
the scent of pumpkin and cider
warm food
piles and piles of books
made up games
the rain falling on the pond outside
snuggles
holding big babies
feeling little baby inside
the first quiet of the night...
tucking littles in under comfy quilts and blankies
the Word of God...

He knows how everything will turn out, and that sustains me.
When I am at peace, my children are at peace. They are comfortable and secure. All is well.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge Him
and He will make your paths straight."

Proverbs 3:5-6

Not holding my breath...

With one week to go, it looks like everything may fall apart. We may not get our house after all. After approving our loan and saying everything looked good, the bank suddenly decided today that we will need more (and quite a bit more) money to get into our house... so that's that. Is it possible? Well, I know that anything is possible with God. Is it likely? Hmmm.... doesn't seem so. If things don't work out what will we do? Good question. We cannot stay here much longer. So... we are just trusting God. He will work everything out they way it is supposed to be. And I do find peace in that.

A look at our days

I'm up at 5... not because I am so "supermom" to wake up at the break of dawn, but because I have two year old twin girls who don't give me a choice. So I am able to make the best of it...

I get to see my husband off to work at 5:45.
I get to drink a warm, delicious cup of coffee while reading my Bible and listening to my twins play together.
I am able to put a load of laundry in and prepare breakfast...

Then three more children wake up.
Breakfast is eaten, showers are taken.

Our learning time begins.
First is our Bible reading. This morning we read Ephesians 6, about the armor of God. Then Layla and Josiah colored pictures and did a word search and maze about the armor of God printed from here.

Ian, Layla and Josiah each work on their math while I play with and read to the twins, pausing often to help when needed.

Nap time for the littles... the twins go down and I read with Layla and Josiah. We read our history, our literature, our nature books. Fifty Famous Stories Retold, Among the Night People, and Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare were on our list today. After each reading we have time for narrations... the children will tell back what we just read, sometimes the entire story, sometimes a favorite part. We discuss any lessons we learn from what we read... What can we learn by Dr. Goldsmith's kindness? How can we show the same kindness? ... Sometimes the children will draw pictures of a part of our reading, sometimes they will make up and perform a play. Once a week, Layla will write her narration.

At this same time, Ian is typically writing at least a one page essay. He will write about something he is reading, learning, thinking. He does his own history, literature and science readings...each one followed by a discussion with me, an experiment (if science), and at least one written narration per day. Currently he is reading Birth of Britain, Ivanhoe, Age of Chivalry, English literature for Boys and Girls, The World of Physics, A Midsummer Night's Dream, How to Read a Book, and Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?

At some point in there, we eat lunch.

As the twins rejoin our day, it becomes a bit louder. They usually color, build blocks, "read" their books, play with their baby dolls and go down their slide while everyone else continues their learning.

Layla does copywork picked from a current reading...either the Bible, poetry (our current poet is Robert Louis Stevenson), history or literature. Josiah works on a handwriting page. Ian continues his reading, writing and discussions for the day and then does dictation. Layla and Ian both have their own language arts books that they work out of.

We make time each day for something extra...either picture study (our current artist is Leonardo DaVinci, our painting is The Last Supper), nature study (we spend time outdoors, find beautiful things, draw them, learn about them), Spanish, etc.

We read our own books freely throughout the day...
Ian is reading Jane Eyre...(yes, a 14 year old boy chose to read this book, and he loves it! That is what happens when you raise your children up with the best literature there is.)
Layla is reading The Borrowers Aloft.
Josiah is very slowly making his way through Winnie-the-Pooh...and he's on his last chapter!

We do some chores, we play, we read, we do crafts, we bake, we go to the park, we (ok, not me) play musical instruments.

I make dinner...tonight something easy, chicken, corn and pasta.

Usually daddy is home by now, and we eat, we play more, we read more and together, we snuggle, we laugh, we give baths, we play more, girls are getting sleepy... we read the Bible, we talk...sometimes we watch a family movie...but not tonight. Tonight was game 1 of the Dodgers in the play offs, and our guys had to watch it. (They are winning by the way, yay!) This explains why I have had so much time to sit and write this post!

Our littles are all asleep, well, except for Layla who is trying to stay awake and read her book. That is a basic overview of most of our days, with a little of today's specifics. I'm sure I have left some things out...like dessert (pumpkin cake the kids and I made), the trip to the store for pencils (yes, we ran out of pencils...not good when you homeschool), all of the numerous snuggles and kisses we had throughout the day... but, this is most of what our days look like.

Have a good night,
Amy

Simple Woman's Daybook

It has been so long, almost a year, since I have done this, but I thought it would be fun today. So here I go... To join in, link yourself at the Simple Woman.

For Today…October 5, 2009

Outside my Window…ducks quacking in the crisp, cool autumn air

I am thinking…how close it is getting to our closing date, and how amazing it will be when we finally move into our house.

From the learning rooms…Books, music, notebooks and pencils awaiting little hands

I am thankful for…my beautiful family, a healthy pregnancy, a house that will soon be ours, and friends that are helping and encouraging us in church planting.

From the kitchen…freshly brewed coffee and a popcorn bowl from last night

I am wearing…pajama pants and a t-shirt...I should get dressed soon

I am reading…the Bible, The Robe (beautiful, awesome book), church planting materials

I am hoping..for a very peaceful day, with good news on the house and smiling, laughing children

I am creating…ideas for our new house

I am hearing…music, twin two year olds chit chattering

Around the house…everyone asleep but the girls and I

One of my favorite things…these early fall days...just starting to get cool, extra baking begins, as does extra snuggling!!!

I am praying for... the Barkers, the Moores, the Fosses...

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week…prepare to move, read books, learn with the children, bake

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

This picture is from exactly a year ago. There was already snow, just a couple hours north from here!!!

I sat with my children tonight smelling books...


we smelled new books, we smelled old books...

we all decided there is something marvelous about the smell of old books.
There is nothing to new books, so plain, no scent.
Old books just smell amazing.


The interesting ways a homeschool family spends a Friday night.

Really though, don't you agree?