Sadie

The week of Thanksgiving Sadie Pearl turned 4. We were in Oregon to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with the Forbes clan, and Sadie was thrilled that her birthday celebration was included in the trip.

We were able to tour the Tillamook Cheese Factory and enjoy some samples - as well as sandwiches and ice cream from the restaurant, and then drive to the beach in a sort of wild and windy rainstorm. The Oregonians weren't keen on exploring the beach in the cold storm, but those of us from Wyoming decided we had to seize our shell-collecting and ocean-touching opportunity. We don't get to the coast very often. :) We were soaked - but happy! Sadie chose pizza for her birthday dinner, and I made gingerbread cupcakes -- which were Ephraim approved (no dairy) and quite tasty! Sadie had a wonderful fourth birthday and we enjoyed celebrating her precious life with our extended family.

What can I tell you about Sadie?

She is a personality. She is fun and flamboyant and flighty. She is bright and sweet and generous. She is brave and outgoing and talkative. She loves stories. She is (usually) patient. She is a snuggler. She talks with wide hand gestures and full expressions.

Sadie abruptly dropped her nap right around her birthday. She still takes 2 or so a week, but is generally just "resting" in bed with books for an hour or so now. She has been such an easy napper up until now that I decided not to fight the transition at all -- just let her go to bed early. I have sad memories of naptime battles with her big sister, and I didn't want to go there this time around.

"School" is beginning to click for Sadie. She has always been more interested in dancing and stories and imaginative play than in busywork or memorizing, and that is still the case. She knows many letters by sight and sound -- but not all. And it took her forever to learn shapes! :) She has impressed me lately with her "phonemic awareness," her ability to take apart the sounds that make up a word - even if she doesn't know what letter makes each sound. And she continues to make up stories that sound like adult (and somewhat poetic) narrative.

She is my little ballerina. She has natural grace, poise and rhythm. Didn't come from her mama! :)

She has a sweet tooth - but she will tell you that "this isn't good for you. It's not healthy. Beans are good for you." She will eat everything, for the most part. Current favorites are fried eggs (with squishy yolks), quesadillas with apples, and vegetable stir-fries.

She loves dressing up and being a princess. Most days she wears dresses.

She will follow along with Elisa's games, but she is also beginning to assert her own opinions and invent her own games, too. And she refuses to play Laura and Mary if there is a panther involved. Elisa scared the living daylights out of her one day convincing her the panther was in the downstairs bathroom.

She has a keen memory for songs and lines of poetry. She can belt out any number of Christmas carols with perfect pitch and timing.

She is a big four year old. I'm not sure how tall she is, but she towers over her little friends. :) And she is also solid. She weighs 39 pounds - just a few pounds less than her slender big sister (although only a couple of pounds more than Elisa at 4, so she might slow down and even out).

Sadie is precious. This morning she sat on my lap for a two-hour ballet performance of Snow White - nestling her head in my shoulder whenever the scary queen came on stage. She doesn't like bad guys. :) I loved having her sit with me - even though she's "big" now.

Happy Birthday, my little princess!

Little Miss Raina

It is hard to believe that the baby of our little family is nearing her second birthday (still four months away -- but it goes so quick!). Everyday I am alternately in awe of her growth and her adorable personality - and a bit overwhelmed at the bursts of sometimes sinful determination that she exhibits! Time passes so quickly these days. Our weeks are a flurry of homeschooling, chores, outdoor play and activities. I want to grasp the fleeting moments and hold onto them -- but there also plenty of times when I think eagerly about what the future holds. But - I don't want to forgot all the funny and sweet Raina-isms that delight my mama's heart.

Like - the way she grabs my hand, and says "Come," when she wants my help, or is hoping for a fresh cookie off the baking tray. :)

The way she gives kisses and hugs and says in a way only Erik and I can decipher, "I wuv you!"

The way she will grab my lips and turn my head to ask me to "Ding a dong!"

The way she sits diligently on her little school chair to color (for at least five minutes!).

The way she follows big sisters everywhere and asks for them upon awakening. "Sissy! Sissy!"

The way she sings the ABCs (sort of) while pointing emphatically at the alphabet chart.

The way she says "Running!" and commences to race in circles around the kitchen table.

The way she jumps.

The way she grabs Ziggy the Zebra from the shelf the moment I pull out Sadie's yellow alphabet book.

The way she says 'Here you go," and gives you things.

The way she says "No stink," when I go to check her diaper. Or "Stinky. Change." (Yeah, she wants to be potty trained. Mommy's not ready for that intense endeavor.)

The way she says "Scared," so plaintively and pathetically. (Like when she saw the full body of a dead deer hanging in the garage.)

The way she yells 'Dinna! Weady!" when the older girls and I start setting the table. Or when the oven timer beeps. She likes to eat.

The way she likes to have all three baby dolls in her crib, and they have to have a blanket (a blamie!). And she has to have at least four blankets covering her, too. She's quite demanding about it. Luckily, once everything is properly in place, she goes to sleep within minutes of me closing the door.

The way she loves, loves, loves her Gramma, Grampa and Nana.

The way she always tells her sisters (and even Daddy) that the clothes they have on are "pretty."

The way she will often say "No-no Raina. Spank," and swat her own little hand when I correct her behavior. It makes actual discipline difficult - when your toddler gives her own spankings. :)

I love this stage and all the uprising challenges and gaining of independence. All the new-found vocabulary... all the brave exploration and the wanting to be a part of EVERYTHING.

This third arrow in our quiver of little girls is a charming one, and I love her!

My New Running Partner

Back in early September, our family participated in our town's HUGE charity fun run. We decided to have Elisa run beside us as we pushed the other two in our double stroller. We figured we would walk, run, rest, and follow her little girl pace. I never expected her to run a 5K. But - she shocked us! She ran the WHOLE way. She never complained of being tired. She never stopped, or whined, or slowed. She did have two mandatory water breaks, but she just pressed on with her determined face set forward. 3.1 miles of pure, gutsy grit. Sadie ran about a quarter mile or so at the end, not quite matching big sister's leggy strides. It was such a fun day!

Since then, my little girl has been asking to go on a mother/daughter run. We haven't been able to because of Erik's hunting "schedule." This Saturday we finally did, dressed in warm clothes to brave a November dusting of snow. We only went about 1.5 miles, but it was a fun, sweet memory. I hope we can spend the rest of our lives running together as a family! :)

Books

Every year I make a Book List. And every year I have to completely revise my book list multiple times because I get completely sidetracked!

I have read so many wonderful books this year, and I am thankful for all those authors who smarter and more eloquent and more faithful than I am so I can learn from them! I wanted to share a few favorites with you in case you're adapting your book list too!

Parenting:

My favorite this year has been "Give them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus." Written by mother/daughter team Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson, this meaty gem of a book focuses on sharing the Gospel with your children in everyday moments, and centering your parenting goals, thoughts, and reactions around your personal understanding of God's amazing grace. It is practical, but also very thought-provoking. It helped me to think through how our family can glorify God in the mundane, the difficult, and the messy - and even how we can glorify God through the open rebellion of wayward children, if God's plan for our family doesn't include our children always walking faithfully with Him. If you want a book that fleshes out a Gospel-centered approach to parenting, this book is wonderful!

Home Schooling:

I have to admit I have been devouring books on this topic lately - trying to sort through how we want to "run" our school and what methods we want to follow. I have read a few general books, and the "Well-Trained Mind," which is about classical education, and am now reading books about Charlotte Mason techniques (she was an educator a long time ago in England).

I know that I want to follow some of the classical timelines, but I also am loving Charlotte Mason's thoughts. My favorite book (actually my favorite for the year from any category) was "Pocketful of Pinecones" by Karen Andreola. This book reads like a story because it is written as the fictional diary of a homeschooling mom in the 1930s. But it is totally chock full of inspiring ideas, and I just reveled in reading it! Our focus on nature study definitely derived from this wonderful book.

Other:
I enjoyed reading a couple of Dave Ramsey's books on finances, and have been encouraged to maintain our budget carefully so that we are able to both save a little and give generously.

I was able to hear a woman named Martha Peace speak in September and have since enjoyed a couple of her books. I'm in the middle of "The Faithful Parent," and finished "Attitudes of a Transformed Heart." That was incredibly convicting. I read it more quickly than I should have (probably because I just wanted to get back to "Pocketful of Pinecones"), so I need to reread it with a bit more attention and prayer. :)

Erik spent much of late summer and fall traveling for work, so I have had extra time to read in the evenings. I'll probably have to slow down a bit now that my sweet hubby is home and (imagine!) would like my attention on occasion!

Nature Studies

A new aspect of our little home school is “nature study.” My children love exploring nature, even if it is only a walk around our backyard, so we are trying to incorporate simple nature activities several times each week. Little black composition notebooks are growing fat with drawings we have pasted in, and Elisa gains handwriting practice by copying verses from nature poems next to her colorful pictures.

W We also enjoy reading books with nature themes. We are wading through Bambi right now. I hadn't realized quite how adult it is - but Ellie wants to press on. It's slow-going. :)

We have not seen Lindsay Barrett George's name on any nature book lists, but we discovered her at the library a year ago, and love her books! There is a series of books about life on Long Pond, and several nature discovery books where the kids have a chance to guess for themselves "Who's Been Here?" before turning the page and viewing the answer. The pictures are wonderful and the text is charming and informative.

So So, here is my plug. If your little ones enjoy reading about nature - check these out!

Pumpkin Seed Counting

I know it is Saturday, but Erik is hunting, it's cold out, and this activity was completely kid initiated. We have enjoyed this book, called, "How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin," and the girls have been begging to recreate the story in our kitchen. Here are our educational results by video!


I have to comment that truly the best part is Elisa snatching the book from Sadie to put it back in its proper place. My Type A oldest subduing her dreamy sis.

Snow Flurries and Lady Bugs

Today was a good day. It was one of the few in my brief career as a homeschooling mom where I have reached the end of the day with a song of joy in my heart - and the sense that my dreams for this journey are actually being fulfilled. I have enjoyed every day with my girls -- but so often there are battles, and messes, and chaos, and whining.... and I reach the end of the day with a tired sigh instead of a triumphant smile. :) Now, today was not perfect. We didn't cross every 't' or dot every 'i', and Elisa's spelling words were sloppy and Raina still dumped out every container of "educational" toys available to her, and the laundry still mounted and the dishes piled high, and the pencil shavings spilled.... but we learned. In the moment, with joy and excitement!

Today happened to be our first snow day. Yup, I know. It's October. But, there were were, mid-morning, with snow falling outside, and Elisa quickly rushed to change the rainy symbol on our weather graph to the snowflake one. :) We finished spelling, worked on some addition using cutouts of apples, read a beautiful story about a scarecrow, and then tucked the books away and left the mess on the floor to go dance in the snow. My kids were so excited. Our science lesson about fall seemed less than appropriate, somehow, so, off we danced, happy hearts and giant grins.

Grandma showed up with lunch from the grocery store deli (mid-errands on her day off from work). We had a green tea party with her and read Allan Say's book "Tea with Milk." We're studying Japan this week. Grandma headed home.

Raina settled quickly for nap, but the big girls were too happy about the snow. They kept jumping on the beds and singing, "It's our dream come true!" I only made Sadie try to sleep an hour before I let them get back up for more snow play. Angels, snow balls floating in the pond, cold toes and hands....

Back inside I got everyone dried off and seated for a snack. At the kitchen windowsill, I checked on Elisa's bug collection. For two days, her ladybug larvae had been still against one side of the jar. I had thought he was dead, but wondered whether it might be a stage of metamorphosis for him to be so motionless, too, so I didn't move him. Lo and behold -- the little larvae was now a blob of yellow with dark head. Gooey-looking. Quickly, I grabbed the jar and hurried to the computer to research the life stages of a ladybug. The images of pupa matched our ladybug perfectly. I called the girls upstairs and we read about how our baby bug would soon emerge as a spotted adult! Elisa was exultant. We printed off some ladybug coloring pages from the website and the girls happily colored as I prepared a Japanese dinner. Elisa asked if I knew any poems about ladybugs for her to write in her nature notebook. Remember this one? "Ladybird, ladybird, fly away home. Your house is on fire and your children all gone!"

I ate (imitation) sushi. The girls nibbled rice. :) Afterward, Elisa and Sadie played a game with the squash-headed fall figurines from the table. They found the dreidel Emily and Ryan had given them for Christmas last year and invented a game that involved lots of spinning and jumping and falling splat to see which side the dreidel had landed on.

All the kids were sleeping by 7:45.

Yup. It was a good day.

Four Years Ago

... my daddy went to be with Jesus. I remember that day so clearly. I miss him. My heart still aches with missing him. I wish my girls could have known his big belly laugh and dancing, his hugs and his wisdom.

I have learned much in four years. That God is good. And sovereign. And wise. That He loves us, and that we can trust Him even when our hearts break and it is hard to believe that so much hurt some how glorifies Him.

And I have learned that suffering and tragedy are not unique. They are commonplace in this broken world.

There have been many beautiful, poignant songs that touch my heart as I remember.

This morning, eating syrupy pancakes, we listened to this one.

"My heart, makes me wonder how much longer til you're coming back to take me away. My heart, longs for you to fly right through the sky and take me to the place where I'll never feel my heart break down again..." (Third Day).

Don't you long for that day? No more tears, or pain, just the face of the One who loves us! Come, Jesus!

Elisa's Favorite Book

The other day, we had just finished reading a particularly wonderful picture book together and I asked my oldest daughter, "What is your favorite book in the whole world?"

She answered, "I don't know, Mom. I haven't read every single book in the whole world yet."

I laughed. Oh, I laughed! "You are so right! And that is so exciting! That means your favorite book is still out there, waiting for you to discover it!"

Isn't that the most exciting news you've heard all day? I thought so.

North America

We are almost three weeks into school now... I wish you could sit in some time on our morning chaos. :) Actually I don't. Some things are better kept private. :) I am learning each day -- and I hope the girls are, too! We are figuring out our routine, what works, what results in anarchy, what subjects need quiet concentration and when it is okay to grab our books to study in the grass.


We spent a week traveling the U.S.A -- learning a little bit about the country we are blessed to call our own. We browsed Lynn Cheney's awesome book about the 50 states (if you are a Fancy Nancy fan, you'll love Robin Priess Glasser's intricate illustrations). We colored flags, classified some common animals, learned about the Statue of Liberty (and enjoyed Jane Yolen's book Naming Liberty), and enjoyed some decadent graham cracker, cream cheese frosting, and berry edible flags. We also read How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A and learned some lessons about grace and forgiveness in the ensuing mess of cherry-pie-making. In other areas, we studied Day One of Creation and talked about light and darkness. We spelled. We read. Sadie learned the letters M, N, and O and went on bear-hunting adventures. Elisa can now count to 100.
Our journeys then took us to Canada. We learned that 90% of the population lives in the southernmost 100 miles of this vast country. We read about hockey, and snow, and "loonies." The girls loved learning the word "toque." We sang "O Canada!" Thanks, Jill, for teaching me the lyrics 10 years ago on my first visit to Saskatchewan! We made snowshoes from posterboard and ate "poutine" for dinner. I don't recommend french fries covered with cheese curds and brown gravy as a nutritional meal, but it was fun!






An ice sculpture - made after reading about the Hotel de Glace in Quebec.
Poutine! For my sweet Canadian friends - I know it is probably not any where authentic. I actually used mozzarella cheese instead of cheese curds due to availability and cost. Funny - the kids actually wouldn't eat it. I guess they like good ol' ketchup.

In the midst of the bright spots of learning and laughing, I changed dozens of diapers, settled fits, comforted a fussy baby, cleaned pattern blocks off the floor three times a day, vacuumed messes, swept cocoa powder that Raina had dumped on the kitchen floor, let toddlers play naked in the kiddie pool so Elisa could finish her reading lesson, and, for some reason, allowed Sadie to wear cross-country ski boots and walk around jabbing carpet with her poles. :) It really is chaos. But I am so thankful for the chaos!

Labor Day found us camping again -- this time, with no tent! A new adventure, sleeping under the stars. We had a fabulous night out.

I forgot to add that I ended up downloading another geography curriculum from Confessions of A Homeschooler to get some craft ideas and I am so thankful for the extra help in organizing each country's study!

Salt Dough Maps and Wiggly Teeth

First Day

This morning was our first "official" day of kindergarten. I snapped a quick photo, plunked Raina in the play pen with some plastic Lauri toys and began with prayer. I prayed something about the mess and noise we were going to create, and Elisa just giggled. Two hours later, as we finished up, it was clear that I was right on! Mess and noise 101.

Raina played happily in the playpen through our Bible time and Elisa's reading (the most important and concentrated lesson). Then, she was done. She tried to steal Elisa's spelling tiles, but Sadie distracted her with a stack of shape flashcards. Mess #1. She dumped out the pencil sharpener filled with pencils I'd sharpened for handwriting. She emptied a tupperware full of elastic bands used for loom projects while Elisa worked on math and Sadie and I sang the alphabet. The construction paper Sadie and I were using to make a pouch for her K kangaroo was fun to spread on the floor. She stamped the floor and my desk chair pink and yellow while the older girls talked about continents and oceans and made a map of our neighborhood. She emptied a cupboard while we poured water into different containers to see how it conforms to whatever shape it is in.

You know what? She might have had the most fun!

I think we have some planning and training to figure out, though. Any ideas? I do want to train her to play contentedly in the playpen for 30-40 minutes. This morning she lasted about 15-20. We'll get there. :) In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of our ransacked school room.

One Room Schoolhouse

As I've been planning kindergarten (and preschool!) for the coming year, I have enjoyed reading the curriculum line-ups of other homeschool mamas. Sometimes I get new ideas or inspirations, sometimes I am encouraged that we are on the right track, and sometimes I realize that actually I'm missing an entire chunk of something important, and, oops! I better fix that! :)

I am still learning and discovering all the methods and philosophies of education and I don't feel like we have settled in a camp at this point. But my goals for these early days of formal education are to teach the fundamentals simply, to enjoy (lots of) quality literature, to gain an understanding of world we live in, explore the outdoors, and see God's grace and kindness in all of it!



I decided to pull together my own curriculum. There are lots of packaged programs that cover everything... but I couldn't find one that fit our needs. So... we've had fun researching and compiling a program I am quite excited about!

Baby jail... if we need it. :)



Language Arts:
We are using the book "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading" as our core phonics program. We are about 1/3 of the way through and are loving it. I like that there are no pictures. She's reading letters! :) It's very scripted and simple for me, and has enough variety in the reading exercises to keep Elisa interested. We are working on long vowel sounds this week. Silent Es. :)

Our spelling program is All About Spelling. I wasn't going to use this originally, but read so many positive reviews I couldn't help myself. :) It has some corresponding readers with beautiful pencil illustrations. I am also using their Level Pre-One reading program for Sadie. I love the clean, basic presentation - no frills, but wonderful illustrations and simple fun with the fundamentals.

We are using A Reason For Handwriting as well. This program bases its writing practice on Bible verses, with each Friday's lesson being a decorative page to write and share the verse. I like the idea of practicing handwriting by sending letters, so we will have a rotating penpal schedule for the verses. Let me know if you want to be on the list! :)

We may add First Language Lessons towards the end of the year for grammar, depending on how far we get with our phonics studies.

Math:
My basic plan for math is to use the 100 chart, clock, pattern blocks and manipulatives to teach basic math concepts. I also have Singapore math workbooks that Elisa loves!

Science:
We are using the program "The World God Made" as our science core, supplemented by a few resource books, nature walks, and the library.

Social Studies:
The elder board at church was asked to commit to a year of praying for the world - country by country. We decided to make that a family endeavor, so our social studies will be weekly country studies. There are several curricula that do that sort of exploratory geography program, and I looked at them... but they are designed for older kids. So, I am putting together my own, based primarily on the books "Children Just Like Me," and "Windows on the World." We will color flags, work on maps, read about the lives of children in other countries, learn bits of language, prepare meals, and pray for those nations. The website www.homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com has helpful printouts and library book basket suggestions for a lot of the countries we'll study.

(these are Sadie's books)

Art, Music, Etc.

We are going to use "Drawing With Children," and try to teach some piano with Bastien Basics. Maybe I'll introduce some classical music with the help of the library.

We will be reading lots of fun read-alouds based on lists from "Honey for a Child's Heart," and the lists from Sonlight and Beautiful Feet curriculum. Right now we are enthralled with the world of Winnie the Pooh. Silly old bear.

Bible:
We will be using "Big Truths for Little Kids." Each week there is a story, a verse, and catechism to learn. Also, we'll be doing AWANA again.





I am looking forward to studying and learning together -- especially the country studies. I know it will be challenging with a strong-willed kindergartner, an easily distracted middle daughter and a rambunctious one-year-old, but we are so thankful we have the freedom to teach school in our little transformed dining area! What a blessing!

Introducing... Micah! Our adorable nephew who visited with his sweet mama for two weeks in July. Erik's brother Adam is serving in Afghanistan with the Army, and brave Kristen is serving on the homefront as Micah's faithful mommy. We loved having them here and wanted to share some pictures!







Pictures of the four cousins turned out as horribly as you can imagine. :) But I'll include one, anyway. We tried to have Erik do manly things with his little nephew. He helped with tools, and barbecuing, and enjoyed the Land Cruiser. :) Come back soon, Micah!

Close Call

It doesn't show up clearly in the photo, but there is a new safety feature in our home. I have always been afraid that a small child would decide to climb through the railing that looks out over our brick entryway. Sadie was my docile baby who never tried anything dangerous, so we never needed to block it. Enter Raina - my mischievous daredevil. Last week, I was cooking dinner and Erik had all three girls upstairs. He came down with Elisa for a quick chat that became a very involved time of discipline. Sadie emerged on the stairway, saying, "Daddy?" to which he answered, "Don't interrupt, please." Sadie, again, said, "But, Dad? Raina's on the railing." I heard her announcement and bolted up the stairs. Erik ran to the brick and stood below her in case she fell. One of the pictures shows where she was. Not on the carpeted area, but on the wood strip on the outside of the railing. A full story over hard brick. Praise God for her big sister. And - we now have a plastic guard.

A Thousand Gifts

In June, I requested a book from the public library: One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I savored each beautifully written page, then renewed it twice to savor it all over again. Last night I scrawled a few more quotes in my journal so that I could reluctantly hand it in this morning - no renewals left.

Ann is a farmer's wife and mother to six... and she has written a book so wonderful and challenging and inspiring that I don't even know how to describe it. It is lyrical and poetic, and she writes in a sort of fanciful stream-of-consciousness style without adherence to normal sentence structure or word choice. It might actually drive you crazy if you aren't someone who enjoys the magic of words.

The theme of the book is the word eucharisteo. She discovered the word in the passage of Scripture where Jesus takes bread, gives thanks, and offers His disciples the cup symbolizing His sacrifice of blood. The "thanks" is eucharisteo, and, while the meaning is thanksgiving, the word also encapsulates the Greek words for grace (charis) and joy (chara). When we receive God's grace with thanksgiving, we experience joy.

Ann responded to a simple challenge: write down one thousand gifts of God's grace. Writing gifts sent her on a journey of discovery, joy and closeness with the Giver of each gift. She doesn't ignore the heartache of our broken world, but chooses to see God's grace in the brokenness - in "taking the pain that is given, giving thanks, and transforming it to joy." In her journey of chronicling daily gifts, she learned to give thanks for the beauty and the miraculous, and for the mundane, to enter fully into the noise and clatter and mess of her daily work. She also learned to give hard eucharisteo for the hurt. And she learned that the blessings she was given so freely were hers to then give away....

"I murmur eucharisteo thanks in a pile of laundry and the world expands and heightens and surges with the glory of God... Eucharisteo makes the knees the vantage point of life....

When the eyes of the heart focus on God and the hands on washing the feet of Christ - the bones, they sing joy, and the work returns to its purest state: eucharisteo."

I have started my own list. I am loving the art of capturing moments of seemingly unimportant God-glory with my pen. I haven't figured out how this practice of thanksgiving can so permeate my heart that is a way of life.... how I can give thanks and slow the current of busyness by being fully, joyfully present in each messy moment. When a carton of yogurt topples and strawberry goo slimes the just-mopped floor, and the kids jump in the pool fully clothed and I watch the laundry pile higher, and mugs shatter on tile, and vomit pools on crib sheets.... and, impossibly harder, when families lose loved ones, or jobs, or homes. When orphans sleep lonely, hungry. When famines and earthquakes steal life and livelihood. How to see God's grace in ALL things and give thanks because He is good.

I want to learn. So I am writing down thanks.

Today:

#95 - pushing little ones on the swing
#96 - two kids clambering for my lap
#97 - two ripe red tomatoes on the vine
#98 - my husband bent over index cards, writing verses for his far-away brother
#99 - blueberry ice cream

Three Mommies in Training

Miracles in the Mundane

Today was a quiet day. A normal day.

It started at five minutes before 6:00. I was about to hop in the shower in hopes of a few quiet moments before my little girls awoke. But at 5:55, my towel-clad husband carried in my very awake one-year-old. As I snuggled and nursed her in bed, the other two came clamoring in. So much for morning quiet time! :) Erik needed to be at work early, so after a quick shower, I helped him put together breakfast and lunch before meeting the needs of the girls. By 7:00, everyone was settled at the breakfast table with eggs and toast. I read about two pages of Beth Moore's "Praying God's Word," while sipping PG Tipps tea.

After breakfast, I managed to clean up the kitchen(including a massive cinnamon and sugar spill which occurred while I was trying to read :)) while simultaneously playing "driver" for the older girls' morning adventure of "traveling to Nana's." For this adventure, Elisa was dressed in a sleeveless white blouse, long john pants, and corduroy jacket. Sadie was wearing her blue Cinderella dress over the top of a watermelon print swimsuit. Raina was still in her pjs - and a stinky diaper.

After arriving at the imaginary Nana's house, we headed upstairs. Big girls were instructed to make beds, brush teeth, and finish dressing while Mommy settled Raina-bean for a nap. After Raina was asleep, I sat my Sadie-girl down for some instruction and correction regarding the fact that her bed was unmade and she was still wearing a swimsuit. This time, we got the job done right, with a little help from Mom.

School-time! First - our morning calendar, shapes, weather, and counting reviews. Devotions. Elisa's phonogram writing practice. Reading. While I worked with Elisa on her reading, Sadie got to write in a pan filled with white rice. Yup. That required vacuuming when we were done! :) Sadie reviewed the letter E with me, singing the alphabet song and reading an elephant rhyme. We played a rhyming word matching game. Then, we located Bolivia on the world map and read about a boy named Oscar who lives there.


Ziggy Zebra joins us for Sadie's alphabet lessons. He makes things fun!


Right about then, Raina woke up. It took some time to clean up, and the girls worked on some coloring as I changed Raina and put last night's chicken carcass in a pot to boil into broth.

Outside! We checked out the progress in our greenhouse, noting new arugula and cucumber shoots and then lightly watering. Raina loves dirt! We splashed in mud puddles, and swung, and Mom pulled the wagon around the yard. We found a bird's egg and speculated about how the fragile shell had made it's way into the middle of our grass. We went for a short walk - Raina on my back.








Lunchtime. Bananas and peanut butter. Another mess. :)

Stories. We read a few more chapters in "The Long Winter", #6 in the Laura Ingalls Wilder series. Raina sat in my lap and read a board book upside down.

While the younger two slept and Elisa rested, I checked email, quick-cleaned from lunch, folded a load of laundry,



and started dinner.



Elisa got up, and we finished the book. My throat was hoarse, and I somehow burned the edge of my cookbook. :)

Raina joined us, and found the pan of rice from school that I had left in a too-accessible spot. Vacuumed again.

Sadie woke up, and it was time to head back outside. This time, we loaded up the stroller and walked down the road about 1/2 a mile to a neighbor's. "Miss Patty"'s kids are junior high and up, now, and she invites us to use her swing-set and sand box.



Back at home, we rode bikes in the driveway until 6:00.






Dinner. Erik pulled in just as the pasta was going on the table.

Okay. So you're probably thinking - if you made it this far :) - "I get the mundane. Where's the miracle?"

You know what?

It is a miracle that I have three healthy children to love and nurture.
It is a miracle that I have food to nourish their bodies with and clothing to wrap them in.
It is a miracle that I have materials to teach them with, and Bibles to read.
It is a miracle that the sun was shining today and we could play - safely - outside.
It is a miracle that our bodies are strong and we can run and jump in puddles and explore.
It is a miracle that I have a husband who loves me and who adores his three daughters. Who provides for us and protects us.
All of these mundane, simple, quiet, and normal things are made possible because of miracles.

Memorial Day

We are thankful for the men and women who valiantly serve our country today - and those who have served in the past, from the Revolutionary War until the present. Especially remembering those who have given their lives as a sacrifice for our country's freedoms. This photo is a message for Uncle Adam and his group of brave SF men as they faithfully serve in Afghanistan. We love you and pray for you! The video is the girls trying to tell you. Elisa kept saying "save" instead of "serve." I guess that applies, too!