A Link to Check Out

I regularly try to keep up with this blog Making Home, and today I was reading the latest post. Jess, the author, addresses the issue of children. Not discipline of children or education of children, but our attitudes toward children in our families as well as the attitudes of others around us. Are these gifts from God welcomed wholeheartedly? Or are they looked upon as "accidents," or "oops-babies"? Are parents considered irresponsible for wanting a large family? Are mothers of multiple children just supposed to "suck it up" because they've made their own bed? Or are these children truly a blessing?

I've found in reading her other posts that her thinking and worldview is clearly Biblical and thought-provoking. So I'd encourage you to take the time to check it out here -

http://makinghome.blogspot.com/2008/09/some-subtle-effects-of-birth-control.html.

Look, Mom! No...training wheels?

Yep, we did it. On Saturday, the training wheels were removed from Mr. Blue-Eyes' bike. Nevermind the fact that the stupid things would never stay where they were supposed to be anyway, it was time for him to learn to ride without them. I don't think he was too keen on the idea for a while. He kept asking us to put them on again. He didn't like not being able to zoom around as fast as his little brother!

But after another practice session yesterday afternoon and a short one this morning, he is doing pretty well. No feet on the pedals quite yet, but he can make it down the driveway without falling now. And he's getting the knack of this balancing stuff too. I know it won't be long before he's zipping around again.

Ok, this was a funny one that I just had to post. Hilarious, actually! Honestly, he wasn't hurt! But he's had a cold, and he was just feeling sorry for himself for falling...trying to get as much sympathy as he could by just lying there, unmoving. Only, he got no sympathy...just Mom with the camera catching the moment for all posterity!

Hallelujah, Praise the Lamb!

Just got this one on film this afternoon and had to share...

If you can't make out the words, they are from a hymn we sing at church - Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal. Boo-Boo is singing the refrain... "Hallelujah, praise the Lamb! Hallelujah, praise the Lamb!"

And I guess he was praying at the end?? Not sure about that...

Fun at Frying Pan Farm

On Wednesday morning, I woke up with the need to get out of the house and enjoy the brief preview of fall-like weather that was to be coming that day. It would either be the zoo or the farm. Since the farm was a lot closer - and free! - we chose the farm. Besides, we had just finished reading A Year at Maple Hill Farm, and I knew the boys would enjoy seeing the animals we had read about in the book. We called up some friends from church who were able to join us for a picnic lunch before checking out the farm.


From the picture below, you can just imagine what it was like following four active little boys around a farm, looking at all the animals. Mr. Blue-Eyes was rather the ring-leader, being the oldest by a good bit. But the littler guys had a great time, too, trying to pet as many animals as they could reach. We moms enjoyed the chance to chat as we walked...and watched for photo-ops! The weather was picture-perfect. Hope we have a few more days like that coming soon!

School Starts

Yesterday was our first "official" day of school. Nevermind the fact that we've been doing school for the last year or so...we took a long break during the move, and now we're back to school. Mr. Blue-Eyes is doing Kindergarten this year and is quite excited about it. Boo-Boo is hanging out with us, too, and likes to listen in during story-time. His favorite activity while we do school is checking out the farm page in the First 1000 Words book.

This year we're using Sonlight's P4/5 curriculum which is essentially a pre-K curriculum. But we've beefed it up for Mr. Blue-Eyes by adding in reading/phonics instruction as well as Math-U-See Primer level. He's been learning reading for the last year or more, though we've been taking it rather slowly.

And he loves doing his math. We started it back in the spring, and it's probably his favorite part of school. Just today, he got SOOOOO excited when he finally made his '8' correctly for the first time. I think I was almost as excited as he was since he'd been having difficulty with that number and I've been telling him again and again that we just have to be willing to try and practice in order to learn it. He finally got it - I'm glad I didn't miss that moment.

When people comment about our decision to homeschool, they usually either think I must be crazy not to want to send my kids off to school or incredibly organized and brave. Well, I'm none of those things! I just love these "moments" and don't want to miss any of them. I'm learning along with the boys and learning to know my boys better too. We want to make sure that their education is centered around an understanding of God's world and our place in His world. We want to make sure that their education is customized for them...allowing them to excel in areas where they are gifted and giving them extra help in areas where that's needed, too. And we don't want to miss those moments when something just "clicks" for the first time...those moments of discovery.

So when people wonder about our decision to homeschool or comment on my bravery or craziness and I'm not looking to get into a deep discussion over it, I mostly just tell them that it's fun...'cause it is.