Fireproof Trailer

Unfortunately this film is not playing anywhere near to me, here in Humboldt...sigh. The closest theater showing it is about 2 hours away. However, many of YOU are near theaters playing it and I am encouraging all of you who can to go and see it and then post a review here on my blog. To those of you back home, this film opened this weekend in Gurnee and Kenosha. You lucky ducks!!!!! 8-) NOTE: Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page and pause the music so you can hear the movie trailer!

Fireproof

I believe that voting for "the lesser of two evils" is still evil. Instead of listing all of the many reasons why I will NOT be voting for the Republican party (and of course you know that the Democratic ticket is never in my consideration....) in November, I submit to you the link above. Check out this third party candidate, if you read their platform you will see what my reasons are for supporting them. WARNING: for my non-Christian readers, you probably won't have any clue why anyone would want people like this in control of the country....for the rest of you, that's exactly the reason why we want them in control. 8-)

Blogger Friend School Assignment 2

Assignment: This would be a good week to tell about your worst struggles with a lifestyle of homeschooling. Tell about something you’ve struggled with and how God’s mercies gave us the strength to get past it. Also, share any curriculum/homeschool methods that have been a relief to you, i.e., a particular Teacher’s Manual or Homeschooling method that’s been easier for your family. Talk about how you felt when the burden was lifted and Oh, What a Relief it is!

Our worst struggles with the lifestyle of homeschooling....hmmm. For our family it has to be the previous two years for a variety of reasons which I will list for you instead of rambling on for paragraphs about each one:
1. They were the first years of homeschooling our oldest and we were getting our feet wet.
2. I was working full-time outside of the home the opposite shift of my husband (me days, him nights).
3. I would write lesson plans and he would teach them while I was gone (so I missed out on all the learning).
4. I was pregnant and delivered twice within those two years, and both pregnancies were physically difficult and very painful (but both babies were very healthy!).
5. We had other children at home all under the age of 4.
6. My husband was in school full-time while working full-time.

People often have asked me how we did it: homeschool, both work full-time, DH was in school full time, by the end of the 2 years we had 5 children ages 6 and under! My only answer is that God was merciful to us and was guiding us along during those crazy years. I never wanted to work outside the home, it was something that came out of necessity for a period of time. Thankfully in March of this year, the Lord provided my husband a full-time pastoral position at a church which required an out of state move for our family. Because of his new job, I was able to leave the workplace and stay home full time with my kids. What a blessing! Now I am with my children all day and I actually SEE my DH outside of the "Hi" "Bye" lifestyle we had for so long.

A verse that my DH and I have held fast to throughout our marriage is Ecclesiastes 3:11 "He has made all things beautiful in its time". We have found this to be true time and time again in our life. We actually have this verse printed in our living room and it reminds me multiple times daily how wonderful it is to serve our loving God. He does know our every need and he does "work all things for good for those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose." The beauty of the Ecclesiastes passage is that it states He HAS made....meaning it is already done! We are just waiting for our own eyes to see what He has already done for us. Therefore we need not worry or be anxious. 8-)

As far as the second part of the question regarding a curriculum choice etc. that has helped us, we definitely have been a family who has bounced around between curriculums! And our oldest is only in 2nd grade!!!!! One resource that has GREATLY helped us is The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I cannot recommend this book highly enough! We had tried several different phonics programs before this one and the others all burnt out my DD with the amount of handwriting/workbook pages to complete. I love that this one is orally done, has very short lessons and is thorough in its instruction.

My second recommendation is for My Father's World. We switched to MFW this year and have LOVED it! We are currently completing their Adventures program with our oldest and we have the Kindergarten program as well for DD #2 (although we have held off on starting it so far this year, she's only 4). The days are planned for you so it is "open and go" but there is still a great deal of flexibility within the plans if you would like to add/subtract according to your child's needs. I also like that if you purchase the packaged curriculum ALL of the required reading materials (living books) are included in the package price. They also provide a supplemental reading list to add to your study each week but NONE of those books are required to complete an accurate study of the topic you are focusing on. For me this is a huge blessing, I love to use the library but it was always a frustration to be searching for the book you *NEED* and find it unavailable - (I'm speaking from our history with various OTHER curricula) and I just don't have the time to plan around inter-library loan etc. MFW has been a great blessing to our family!

First Day of School!

Here are the shots from our first day of school (which was actually Tuesday). Emma needed a backpack for Pre-school so we took pictures of Kailie with hers as well. 8-)

Isaac was being Buzz of course!

Even Abby did some schoolwork!

John 8:12

Kailie's memory verse for this week is: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." Here she is writing her verse, we also decorated candles for the table with the words "Jesus Light of the World". We also made a frame to go around her lightswitch in her bedroom but I don't have the photo.

Our little man is 3 today!

Today our little man turns 3!!! Happy Birthday Isaac, we love you so much!

This is his most recent impressive achievement. I blogged about it already but here's the picture. At 2 he could put this puzzle together alone and he always does it just like this shot which means the US is always upside down to him....I think he's a genius....IMHO that is! ha!

Could you be more adorable? This is what Daddy refers to as his "little man" look.

Tee-Pees, Wigwams and Jamestown

This week we studied the North American Indians and are reading Squanto: Friend of the Pilgrims. Here are the shots of our various history projects:

Kailie went hunting for tee-pee sticks in the backyard:

She painted them to finish them off:

Cutting out the strips for the base....

Forming the structure.....

And here's the finished wigwam (with a "fully functioning" smokestack)

Here is the replica that we made of Jamestown. We actually did this project over the summer (in case you're wondering).

You can make this replica to, it's from Homeschoolinthewoods.com here's the link: http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/promo/Jamestown-Replica.htm

Lauren entertaining us

Lately Lauren's little personality has been blossoming in spades! Here are some shots from the other night where she was goofing off for Mom and Dad. I love her kissy faces.

To Infinity and BEYOND!!!!

Kailie recently found this Buzz Lightyear costume at a garage sale we stopped by and told me "That's for Isaac!". Needless to say Isaac is ecstaticly embracing his "outer space man" costume multiple times per day! I especially love the second photo with the closed eyes and dreamlike state....ahhh, Buzz...we love you!

Done with week 1

We have had a great first week of school this year! We spent time this week learning about Christ as the Light of the World, studying the North American Indian tribes, making our own tee-pees and a wigwam, memorizing the locations of the 50 states via puzzles, re-visiting the Jamestown settlement, reading a variety of delicious literature, learning about the universe and the stars and sun...and doing it all with joy! Oh, and we did some spelling, math, art, music and health too!

Isaac is very interested in "doing schoolwork" too. He can actually complete the entire US States puzzle on his own (and for some reason usually turns the frame upside down too....)! I think he's a 2 year old (until tomorrow anyway) genius!

Emma is really enjoying her time at King's Kids each morning. She loves to bring home her backpack and show us what she's been drawing for us. I know she is making friends there and loves the time with Daddy in his office alone each day (she goes there for an hour after school ends before Daddy comes home for lunch).

Abby is happy to color and do puzzles and sing at the top of her lungs "A-MEN, A-MEN, A-MEN, A-MEN" etc. or the VeggieTales themesong (along with Isaac).

Lauren is currently content to crawl around and when she catches a glimpse of you to say something in her adorable baby babble or even "Hiya" with a backwards wave!

What a blessing from God that He has allowed me this time to raise His children.

Comments

Thanks to those of you who have notified me that my comments section is faulty....who knows why???? I'm working on it but all my settings are right.....anyway, hopefully it will fix itself and I can hear all of your lovely thoughts. 8-)

Blogger Friend School Assignment 1

Assignment: Take time this week to write about YOU and your feelings of trials and triumphs with homeschooling. Touch on when you first heard about the concept of home schooling and whether you tip-toed into the idea or just jumped in and never looked back. Share your schooling as a child and how you compare it to what your goals are for your children.

Hmm...well, in all honesty my first thoughts of homeschooling families were along the lines of "they're crazy to spend all that time with their kids" "she must be super-mom" "that's nice for THEM but I look forward to some free-time for ME when my kids are school-aged"....thank God for His gentle guidance and my great change of heart and mind towards my children!!! My husband and I decided to homeschool when our oldest was approaching preschool. Largely our decision was influenced by researching homeschooling as well as the history of the public school movement. We truly believed that we needed to live out Deuteronomy 6 and raise our children with a vastly richer Biblical foundation than they would get by attending school even a Christian private school.

When I look back at the education I had, it's pretty similar to most people's I would guess. I attended public school all my life (as did DH). I didn't have any ENORMOUSLY terrible things happen to me there, nor did my husband. However, I did learn to live my life in a godless vacuum. What do I mean? I learned that we were not to SPEAK OF, nor PRAY TO, nor READ ABOUT God in school. I practiced this very well. I would go to church on Sunday and go to youth group during the week. I knew who the other Christian kids were and they knew who I was, but that was about it. I learned to LEARN in the absence of God, all my subjects were strictly learned without mention of God. Now most people will argue that this only matters in Science due to Creation/Evolution etc. I argue that that belief is a LIE. ALL of life should be viewed through the lens of Scripture: Literature, Poetry, Science, History etc. Even math! If there is no God then there is no Absolute. If there is no Absolute then even math is meaningless because on what basis do we claim that 2+2 is ALWAYS 4 unless we have absolute truth? I have learned in my adulthood how little History I actually ever learned in school and how much damage has been done to the history taught in school through revisionist teaching.

When the time came to make a decision for our children the choice was clear. God had taken my once arrogant and selfish heart "I'm looking forward to the ME time when they go off to school" to who I am now, a woman who still struggles with selfishness, but views my calling as a wife and mother as the noblest of all callings. A woman who has embraced the vision of my husband to see all of our children grow in the discipline and admonition of the Lord and who dreams of one day seeing the fruit of this labor in the lives of my grandchildren.

The verse I cling to is: "Do not grow weary in well doing, for in due season you shall reap if you faint not." What a glorious promise!