Blessings:

- Husband and our three older kids hooked up with our homeschooling friend, Elizabeth (age 8), and her father today.  They went to a National Park--its waterfall area--where newts are known to be found.  Peter and Daddy are ecstatic over the finds of the day:  female praying mantis (Daddy caught one for Peter and one for Elizabeth), 1 newt, 2 small crayfish, and a small salamander.  Thank you, Lord, for building my little boy's faith this summer.  He is yours forever!

- The copywork assigned to my boys this week was Psalm 37:4--Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Peter says it works.  The evidence?  1 female praying mantis, 1 newt, 2 small crayfish, 1small salamander

- My baby.  She is my last baby and she happens to love nursing, thank the Lord!  The longer she nurses, the longer I can put off saying goodbye to her babyhood.  My second pediatrician had six kids.  He told me his wife nursed their last baby, a son, until he was three--he co-slept that long too.  So, see?  I'm not a freak.

- My husband loves the Lord.

- I took a few toys out of the shed (Little People Barn and accessories).  It feels a bit like Christmas to the girls.  Neat.  Rotating a few toys at the beginning of every season works wonders for playtime.

- I made a dessert with the name "crisp" in it and for once, it tasted good!  My error all this time was softening the butter beforehand--something I regularly do for baking.  I'm about as happy as Peter tonight, over my good-tasting fruit crisp!  Praying mantises for him, fruit crisps for me.  To each his own.

-  My mother has five sisters.  One is in a nursing home near me, having recently been diagnosed with dementia/heart issues.  Her children all work outside the home, which explains the nursing home decision.  They had to choose a nursing home rated a 1 out of 5, because at first my aunt was displaying violent tendencies and no one else would take her.  Now however, her medication seems to be at a more therapeutic level; they've been working to find the right combination of medicines.  As I'm opposed to nursing homes, I would like to care for this woman, if the doctor clears her to be around children.  All this made me realize something.  The events of the past 18 months (underemployment) taught me a big lesson:  "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13  Before, these were just lofty words.  Now, they're truth for me.  A deep-down truth.  Praise God for the experiences he walks us through!

Crisis for Our Men

I found an interesting article on We Are That Family's weekend links.  It's about the rampant immaturity of men between the ages of 18-34.  We have a crisis in the Church!  These men badly need godly models to grow them in the areas of Christian leadership and fatherhood.

Here is another article by Pastor Mark Driscoll about the same thing--written for The Washington Post.

Time to step up our prayers for our men!

late summer memories

Praying Mantis got away on us.  Remember he was a present from Daddy?  He ate well for one day in captivity. Day two he ate nothing.  Day three we decided to let him go.  Daddy and Peter really wanted an egg sac, which they scored by catching a female praying mantis two years ago.  But alas, research pointed to this guy being a boy.  Boys do less well in captivity; they like to move around a lot.  The girls are happy to sit around and get easy food.  

Did you know that female mantises often attack and start eating the male, even during the mating act--which then lasts longer, because of the urgency of the matter?  What's up with all that, God?  

My Mary was very unhappy that Mr. Mantis got to dine on small butterflies, which she just loves to catch--hour after hour.

My sweet baby girl will be 21 months in a few days.  I am in a panic about it.   Many times I've tried, but I don't think I can adequately express how much I love babies!   I fear I will have a dip in contentment in my life, for a time, as I adjust to the passing of this stage.  Counting blessings will help. 

I looked at recent fair pictures of both my husband and myself and I was astonished.  We look very old.  No wonder people stare at us in public, with our brood of four young children, at our ages!  It's so easy to forget our advanced ages, because as I said before, we don't feel old.  It's all so strange--to see a photo and be shocked and saddened at the personal changes.

All hands on board for homemade chicken soup.  There was a hint of fall a couple weeks ago. (Then several days of 90 degrees).  Anyhow, Peter was at the table slicing carrots and celery for the soup.  Mary kept sneaking up and eating little pieces of carrot.  Finally, Peter said, "Mary!  Stop it.  Don't you know the Bible says not to gorge on food?"

I had to laugh!  This, spoken from Peter, who loves food to no end, skinny though he is.   

 "Did you remember that from Proverbs, Peter?", Mom asked.

Peter smiled.  "Yes."

Trying not to look too amused, I said, "Well, I'm glad you listen so well to Scripture readings.  That's outstanding.  But bites of carrot don't exactly equal gluttony."

Mary felt triumphant.

This girl!  She can eat a lot of berries!  It does look a little like gluttony here, doesn't it?  

My advice?  Undress your baby before feeding berries.  The stains don't always come off.

It was 90 degrees at the fair last weekend.  Phew!  The animal barns were stifling!  

The bunnies and turkeys were our favorites!  

We had the best time!  All of us!  There's just something about attending a county fair together.  It's a summer highlight, for sure.  I was sad to see the day end, and I wasn't alone in that sentiment.

Their first taste of cotton candy, courtesy of Daddy.  Did I ever mention my husband is like Templeton the Rat (at county fairs)?  When we watch Charlotte's Web, we always have to tease Daddy.

Little Beth was so hot that day!  Daddy is like a camel.  Loves the heat.

Gobble gobble!

Homeschool Group's Not-Back-to-School Party (last Tuesday).

This is at our friend Kim's house.

One of the Monarchs we said goodbye to.  Peter still has five chrysalises left.  When the last butterfly flies away this year, it will be a sad day for Peter.  As Paul keeps saying, "This has been a great summer!"  My children really lived this summer!

Twisting each other at the park yesterday.

It had been two weeks since we were last at this State Park.  I was amazed at the changes!  It is looking like fall.  The brilliant, lush green hues are gone.  While I love fall and often think it's my favorite season, I must admit, this has been a great summer!   I will miss this park's summer face.  

Even though it looked like fall, it was a sweltering 90 degrees during our visit.

Jesus blessed Peter with a tree frog!  He was on top of the world!  Even though he had prayed that morning for various caterpillar sightings, and for a female praying mantis, he got a tree frog instead.  I reminded him that he had spent a good month praying for a tree frog earlier in the summer.  He remembered and smiled.  "You never know when Jesus is going to answer a prayer, do you Mommy?"

We were all amazed at this adorable little frog.  Even Paul--who doesn't heart life science like Peter does--felt this little frog was a blessing.

Three hours later, little froggy died.  We were devastated!  Our joy deflated!  Life is like that, isn't it?  God gives and takes away.  One of these summers, Peter will hopefully observe nature without wanting to contain it.  I can't force it on him.  Kids go through this; it wasn't his fault.  But memories of beautiful little tree frogs that die in captivity will inspire him to let them be.  

Working on catching a butterfly for Mary, who was having a bad catching day.  Tears flowed.

I've just got to catch a butterfly!

She knows that cute little tree frog is in that stroller somewhere.  It amazed her.  No, she wasn't the culprit in his demise.  I believe it was the heat, unfortunately.  Or being handled.  They don't like being handled, we found out through research.

Leaves were falling off the trees at an amazing pace!  They tried to catch as many as they could.

________________________________________________________

Today, Peter wanted to write an e-mail to his homeschooling friend, Elizabeth.  She's as nerdy as he is when it comes to life science.  Here are the first and second e-mails, which I mostly typed to her, as is.  Forgive his spelling!  He sprints through his writing, focusing only on the content at this point in his "career".  LOL

Hiy Elizabith,

I was wundaring how much your fiar beley tods cost (fire belly toads)?  If they are posen (poison) it is ok.  Did you know that they los (lose) their posin in captivude?  And you said sumthing abot a river with lots of newts.  Where is that?  And do you know of sum plas weth lots of tre frogs?  

Love Peter

Hiy Elisebith,

Do you know of a plas that sels salamadas (sells salamanders)?  If you know of plases with amfibeens (amphibians), ples tell me.  

Did you get any new pets?  How is your crafish?  What did you do this summer?  

My aunt came.  We went to the bech.  We went in the pool a lot.  We went to parks every week, and  I raised many Monarch's.  My dad cot me a praying mantis.  We let it go.

Love, Peter

My Charlotte Mason Makeover

My homeschooling identity crisis is over!  No, I've haven't spoken of a crisis here, but for three months I've searched for truth.  Truth in education.

And the conclusion?  I'm a Charlotte Mason kind of gal!  I wouldn't generally describe myself as a purist, but in this case, I really am.  Everything I've observed about children and learning lines up perfectly with what Charlotte believed and taught.

To get to the heart of what I knew to be true and right, I had to toss out practices I've adhered to simply because they were mainstream and expected.  I had to really think!

Charlotte's beliefs are fairly straightforward:  

- No formal schooling until six years old.  Children younger than six need to play and be outside, observing nature.  They also need to hear good stories throughout the day.

- Character development and knowledge of God are of utmost importance.

- Nature study is the best way to introduce children to God.

- The formation of good life habits, concentrated attention, and excellent execution, are all paramount.

- Short lessons of 10 to 20 minutes for primary children.

- All lessons complete by lunchtime, so that students can develop their interests in the remaining hours of the day.

- Reading only the best that literature has to offer (living books) in all subject areas, even if it means Mom does all the reading at first.  The literature Charlotte emphasized supported and furthered character development in her students.

- Having students ( 6+ years old) give a short narration of everything that has been read, in every subject.  The narration is simply an oral summary; length is not important.

- Elements of good writing are first introduced through copywork and dictation.  Copywork (transcription) is simply copying a small portion of Scripture or other good piece of literature (at first this is just handwriting practice).  Dictation consists of a student briefly studying a short passage, and then writing that passage as teacher dictates it. 

- Writing composition is delayed until about age ten.  This sounds shocking, and at first I thought--no way!  But as I thought more and more and remembered many experiences as a teacher, it began to ring true and right.  A student doesn't have much to aptly say until they've been exposed to years of the best literature, and until they've narrated much of that good literature.  The cohesive thoughts, the rich language, the complex sentence structure, all happen so naturally, after they've had a proper filling!  

Of course they can learn to write earlier than this (both my sons write), but it takes a lot more time and effort, leading to frustration for both parent and child.  Yes, there have been tears here.

My conclusion on this writing issue comes partially from my blog reading.  While I only have time to read three or four blogs a day, I make sure that most of the posts are written by published writers (while still keeping up with my online friends).  I've learned so much!  This next truth isn't new to me, but lately I've relearned it.  Exceptional writers are avid readers.  They're always in the middle of a book--whether fiction or non-fiction.  

Being regularly bathed in prose means beautiful words just spill out, effortlessly.  

The following is an excerpt from Ambleside Online's FAQ page, regarding the use of narration.  Ambleside is a free Charlotte Mason Curriculum resource.  They don't sell anything or earn any money.  The site was put together by devoted homeschool moms.  It's an incredible resource!

Why is narration so important and how do I do it?

"Narration - your child telling back what he's heard or read - is perhaps the most important key to making this kind of education work. Narration requires the higher-level mental activities of processing, sorting, sequencing, sifting and articulating information. Filling in blanks in a workbook can't match narration as a comprehension exercise. Oral narration is also the first step toward composition - the child becomes adept at articulating his thoughts in order, which is required in writing. Thoughts should be formulated in the mind before they are put on paper. Although simply 'telling back' is the most focused form of narration and probably the most challenging to the mental processes we are seeking to develop, some parents occasionally break up the usual routine by using other forms of narration, such as acting out, playing out, or drawing what children have heard. You can have a CM education without classical music, art, or Shakespeare--but you can't have a CM education without narration from living books. In fact, it isn't too extreme to say that a lesson that isn't narrated may be a wasted lesson! "





So, my task now is to collect all of the good literature suggested by Ambleside Online, across the many subject areas.  Some I've already found by searching Ohio libraries.  A few of the inexpensive pieces of literature (less than ten dollars), I've ordered from Amazon.


Suffice it to say, I'm excited!

Lead Me

Lead me, a new song by Sanctus Real.  Every time I hear it, I cry.  It's such a beautiful picture of what God wants for families.  I've written some commentary after the lyrics.  These thoughts swirl around my head each time I hear this song.

Sanctus Real - “Lead Me”

I look around and see my wonderful life
Almost perfect from the outside
In picture frames I see my beautiful wife
Always smiling
But on the inside, I can hear her saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're in independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”

So Father, give me the strength
To be everything I'm called to be
Oh, Father, show me the way
To lead them
Won't You lead me?

To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can't
Don't want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

I'll show them I'm willing to fight
And give them the best of my life
So we can call this our home
Lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

Father, lead me, 'cause I can't do this alone

When did our society get away from the husband as head of the home?

Was it when women left the home?  Did the birth control pill start all the confusion, in terms of Christian gender roles?

Huge numbers of our men don't know how to lead, or how to fully support a family financially.  I wonder how many families would lose their homes, if women left the workplace?  How many families would struggle to pay the mortgage and buy food and gas--not to mention keep up with those credit cards?

When women began leaving the home in huge numbers, we must have changed how we raised our boys (as well as our girls).  No longer were boys and young men trained to put a wife and children above themselves--living and loving sacrificially, working as though it all depended on them.  With the ease of their burden, they didn't need to rely on the Lord as much.

Half of their weight shifted to women, who began to lead themselves.

And the children?  They were left with no leader at all.

Are we "liberated", with the advent of the birth control pill--with women in the workplace?  And what are we liberated from?  Isn't the average family more stressed now, than before?  Isn't the average woman more stressed now, than before? And isn't the average man weaker than before?

Caring for children day in and day out is sanctifying work.  How sanctifying is workplace work?

Respecting and following an imperfect husband is sanctifying work.  How sanctifying is leading ourselves?

Working hard to support and lead a family is sanctifying work for our men.  How sanctifying is relying on your wife's income, either to buy a nicer house, or to buy pricey boy-toys?

How sanctifying is it for families to use credit cards, because of our addiction to experiences and to things?

Are we better off without leaders in our homes?  What foundation is under our families now?

How can we get back to God's design for the Christian family?

I don't have any answers, or any judgments.  I only know that when God's design is followed, our families are strong--our society is strong.

And our Lord is glorified!

Who is glorified now, in our society?

The individual?