Happy Anniversary

Today marks eleven years that I have been married to my Prince Charming.

My Prince. The one I waited twenty three years for. (Yes, math geniuses. That makes me thirty four.)

My Prince. The one who answered every request I had made to God for him. (Although I should have been more specific with the singing request. Praying that he would love to sing and that he would want to sing specials in church does not guarantee ability.)

My Prince. The one who has stood by me when I was at my worst. The one who cared for me through three very hard pregnancies. The one who worked and cared for the house for three months (on three separate occasions) while I lost every meal I ate.

My Prince. The one who allows me to go shopping alone so I can think and budget.

My Prince. The one who leaves his shoes in the middle of the floor. (I am especially thankful at three in the morning.)

My Prince. The one who moved us six hours from family in order to get a job that would allow me to stay home.

My Prince. The one who walked out of my dreams and into my heart.

My Prince. The one I love and adore more today than when I married him.

My Prince. The best man I've ever known. The best combination of all the good men I've ever known.

I love you, Babe. Happy Anniversary.

Why DO I homeschool??

Sometimes, when I'm tired of homeschooling, and I feel like I would love to quit and have the day to myself, it is good to be reminded of why I wanted to homeschool in the first place.

My oldest went to Kindergarten at a small Christian school, but only because his aunt was his teacher and the other two needed some Mommy time.

Now, I home educate because I want to be the largest influence on my children. I want to instil in them the belief that with God, they can do anything. If someone was going to influence my children from eight in the morning until three in the afternoon, I wanted to be sure that her convictions were mine. That her reason for spending the time with my child was not to pay for her child's education, not to earn a little extra money for herself, and certainly not to indoctrinate them with some liberal agenda. I want to have my children taught WHY we do the things we do. WHY we go to church. WHY we memorize Bible verses. WHY we believe in creation. WHY we love serving others. WHY we pitch in and help out with others. WHY our standards are as high as they are, even though others think they are weird.

 I want them to love learning. I remember distinctly the day when I no longer enjoyed going to school. The day when I was bored to hear about the same thing for the 50th time and I still had to sit and listen to a 45 minute lecture on the topic. I remember hating doing homework over a topic that I understood and was bored of. I remember not retaining things even though I had studied them because it was not a topic that held my interest. NOW, I do teach all the different ranges of topics to my boys, but at the same time I allow them to pursue those that interest them. When we go to the library, they are allowed to pick three books for that week on whatever topic seems interesting. So far they have studied dinosaurs, pirates, sharks, Christmas in foreign countries, and baby animals. I LOVE this!!! I love that they ENJOY learning.

 I want them to realize that they will never know everything, but they can know where to look. I love taking them to the library and introducing them to new topics. I want them to realize that books, and GOOGLE :) have all the answers to all the questions they need. I love memorizing verses on topics for an entire school year. Last year, we memorized verses on God's commands to children (ie. Be quiet, Be still...). This year, we are studying verses from Proverbs on the slothful and the diligent. I love sharing with them Bible verses that apply to simple things like schoolwork.

I want them to have an entrepreneur's heart that seeks out challenges rather than being afraid of failure. So many times, boys at school tease other boys who do not have their sports ability. Those kids that do not have the ability to learn well are teased for their bad grades. I'm not saying that grading is bad. We are graded daily in every area of our lives, and only in knowing we have failed can we choose to improve. It's just that with a dyslexic son that sits next to a brother that has been reading since he was two, he has enough trouble without also being added to the "remedial" reading group in school. It also takes much encouragement from us, and a curve in reading grades. But hey, in my humble opinion, since reading is not a grade in high school, then  it's not really important what their grade is now as long as they arrive in high school with a love of reading and absorbing knowledge. I can give my dyslexic reader a B for his high effort, even if it's not as good as my advanced reader would have done at that point in his life. If they learn from the examples in their own life that they can do anything if they keep trying, they will be willing to take charge of their own lives later down the road.

 I want my sons to get to be boys, instead of disciplined into being robots and sitting still all day. Don't mistake me. They WILL sit still when they are asked, but they will be given enough opportunities to run so that sitting is not so difficult. I love letting them run all day, only to coral them after dinner for two to three hours of schooling. They get done quickly that way and are able to enjoy the day. They have time to do their chores, time to help with the work around the outside of the house, contribute to being helpers in the house, and still get to spend roughly half of their time awake at play. I love that!!!

 I want my sons to have every opportunity to find out what they want to do with their LIFE rather than focusing on the subjects available at whatever college. If they hate this subject or that subject, they will be far less likely to head for the career of their dreams because they have so much prejudice against a certain class they may have to take. If, however, they are taught in a way they enjoy, on a timeline that fits them, they will learn useful information at a time that is best suited to their learning, not to a curriculum's calendar.

In short, I want to give my sons every opportunity to find what God wants and requires, and the strength of mind, body, and character to become that man. THAT is why I homeschool. THAT is why I love what I do.

Kids and Their Thought Process

So, I made some really good granola cereal yesterday! It turned out very nicely, and there was enough for everyone for breakfast with 4 large jars left over.

 

I got the recipe from one of my favorite blogs here: at Homestead Revival.  The only thing I do really different is to add dried fruit of any kind to it.  We really enjoy dried apples and dried berries.

Well, now for the kid thing.  We're eating granola that I made, with milk, and Nate-Nate pipes up, "Momma, when I grow up, I want you to teach my wife how to make this." I say OK, 'cause I'm feeling good about this, when he says, "Cause my kids need to grow up strong and healthy, and my wife needs it, but I'm not gonna eat it, cause I don't like it." 

Yeah, look at you laughing!!  Now try to imagine keeping a straight face and rebuking said son about thankfulness.  See how hard my job is???  But I do get the grand opportunity to tell you about it and sit here smiling since he can't read it and know how funny it was.

The Wedding

This time, it was Nate-Nate who came up with the hillarious line.

As we were walking a mile path this morning, we came to a part where the honeysuckle had fallen and covered the path where we were walking.  Nate-Nate piped up and said, "Look, Mommy, somebody had a wedding here!!"  It was so sweet and innocent.  We were at about the 1/2 mile marker of a whole mile, and the place would have been a pretty place for a wedding, so it wasn't entirely off the wall, but it was cute.

From the Mouth of Babes TWO

Aaron Micaiah is one of the craziest little boys I know.  He makes me laugh so often.

The other day, he was eating tacos when all the sudden he pipes up, "Mommy, I know the Abraham Lincoln song!!"  So I told him to finish his dinner and he could sing it for me.  While he was eating, he began to sing, "Father Abraham, had many sons...."  FUNNY!!

Then, he was sitting by the window "reading" a book, when he piped up, "Mommy, I'm gonna be a Daddy soon!!!!!"  I said "WHAT?!?!?!?"  He says, "See look," (pointing to his arm) "I have little hairs, and Daddy's have big hairs.  When my hairs get long enough, then I'll be a DADDY!!!" 

They never warned me how much I would laugh at my children.... they really should put that in the manual.

Nathaniel Bruce

Now for my Nate-Nate.

Of all three of my little men, he's the one that goes un-noticed the most.  He's shy and quiet, so he sits contentedly in the background when one of the other two is near by.  He is, however, one of the key ingredients in the friendship of the other two, because he is a peace-maker when the two other boys butt heads.

Much to Andrew's dismay, Nate lost 2 teeth in one day (the day of our big snowstorm), robbing him of his defining "grown-up" feature that he was able to lord over the others.  On top of that, Andrew has lost only one tooth, and Nate has lost two.

 

 

Nate has been very kind about the whole thing, though, reminding Andrew he has a new tooth coming in already, and that he is still older.

Nate is ... special.  I've never met a little man so focused when he wants to be.  He can do amazing things, yet he chooses to let his brothers show off, without so much as sticking his own accomplishments out there.  He is content to play second fiddle.  I'm sure, when he gets to an age that testosterone is flowing, it may change a little, but I see him very content with being in the background most of his life.  

He is in kindergarten at home this year, which really amazes me, since he didn't seem to have much interest in it before this year.  I went into this school year thinking to keep him busy, and letting him catch whatever he caught.  He has continually amazed me by doing better than I expected.  He is more adept in math than in phonics and reading, but he is doing great in those, so I'm not worried.  

Of all of Nate's wonderful characteristics, I think the most noticeable is his love for animals and younger children.  If we're at the park, he'll find a littler child, and encourage them to do the things they're scared of.  If there is any animal, anywhere, he will sit right down with it and make sure they're friends before he leaves.  With our dog, Brownie, he is, I think, her favorite.  He is so calm and caring.  I can see him doing very well as a veterinarian.

So, that's my Nate.  He is a blessing, no matter which way I look at it.  I love having him around each and every day.  I'm thankful for his thoughtfulness and his kindness.  I'm thankful that our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us, and plans our lives in such a way as to remind us of his goodness each and every day.

John Deere Too

OK, I've finished Andrew's curtains now.  (I'll post pics this evening if you read this before I do).

I'm staying UBER busy right now.  This weekend is FED, one of the business conferences we go to 4 times a year.  Before we get there, I need to get through 3 more days of school, get my house cleaned (not just cleared), pray for my babysitter to come through, and hopefully get the baking done that I have planned for before I leave.  I need to write out a list of "To Do's" for before I leave.  Ok, now that I've had my brainstorm online.......

These are Andrew's curtains. 

I did them a little differently from his brother's with a few more patches that are smaller than the others.  Don't know if you can see them very well.  I really like the way they turned out.  For Christmas, I'm going to make each one of them a  John Deere pillow.  Just need to go buy some backing material and stuffing.  Should be loads of fun!!!!

John Deere

SO, I've decided to do something to smush my funk.

Ever since the boys were toddlers, we've discouraged cartoons and cartoon characters and encouraged things like blocks and lincoln logs and legos (encourages imagination), and John Deere (something to talk about other than TV).

Because we encourage them in their love of John Deere, last Christmas, I made quilts for each with their names stitched into the bottom:

 

And yesterday, to pull myself out of my self-inflicted funk, I started sewing a John Deere curtain for both bedrooms.  I finished Nate and Aaron's curtain last night, and took pictures of it this morning.

 

They turned out really cute.  And I finished the laundry that needed to be folded.  That improved my mood as well.  Today, it's time to do school, and core/peel/slice about 5 pounds of apples that God gave us for free.  God is good.  Even when we're frustrated and depressed.

Passing the Torch

I love watching things of substance with my boys.

Today, I had a lot of fruit that God blessed us with that I needed to cut up and put in the freezer. As I was cutting, since we have a giant front room/ kitchen, I turned on the movie Fireproof to watch as I cut. My boys will sit to watch parts of it, in particular, the beginning, the car crash where they pull it off the track, the house fire, and the ending (sometimes).

As they were watching the beginning, they actually sat still long enough to watch Caleb yell at his wife. Hearing the things they said to each other was priceless. Andrew: "We shouldn't ever yell at our wives that way. Look at her. He's scaring her." Nate: "I wish I could give her a hug. She looks so scared." Aaron: "Yeah, girls need lots of kisses and hugs."

Then, of course, later on, they wandered out into the kitchen to join me and see if they could get a bite of the fruit, so they one by one started to talk about the movie. Andrew went with me on a couple of errands and said he was taking me on a "date." Nate, while we were cutting up apples, said, "Why are you shorter than Daddy?" to which I said, "Because girls like standing on their tippy toes to give their husbands kisses." And he gave the ultimate little boy answer... "WHY??" "Because it makes something way down in the bottom of a girls belly go all flip-floppy when she stands on her tippy toes." "OH" Like that was the answer to the world's problems. Then my Aaron, just kinda soking it all in at the moment, says "Mommy, I like helping you. I'm gonna help my wife too." So I told him, "Yup. She'll give you lots of kisses if you do." And he gets this cute little expression of anticipation on his face.

I love having the opportunity of letting little things influence my boys. Each day is a wonderful journey toward the men they will be someday, and I am extreemely glad to have such a large part in it.