Homeschool Mother's Journal, April 12, 2013

Early Life, William Henri Colchester Mollett

In my life this week...

I continue to peruse homeschool classifieds and e-bay for used homeschool curriculum. I'm waiting on an e-bay auction for the girls' science curriculum.

I'd like the six-week summer break and the rest of this year to pre-read the boys' books for next year. They'll be studying the Eastern Hemisphere with Sonlight during 2013-14.

We've also begun the spring clothing switch in earnest. Suffice it to say...the living room is a mess as I work on washing and hanging all the extra clothes, and as I record what we need from thrift stores and pile up what we can pass on to church friends or to Freecycle.

In our homeschool this week...

The boys are reading In Search of the Source and marveling at the thought of a people in the highland jungles of Papua New Guinea eating beetles, grubs, cobras and bats. Fascinating, eye-opening book on many fronts. The translator and his wife, Neil and Carol Anderson, spent over two decades in this remote jungle area, translating the Bible into a previously unwritten language.

Praise God for this precious couple! God cares about every single soul and sometimes He has Believers endure the unbelievable to get the gospel out. Think that Bible Study you host or teach is a lot of trouble? Sometimes I'm put out by the commitment to provide a Children's Bible Study every Saturday afternoon. Read this book and renew your commitment to the Great Commission and your passion for God's Word.
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Sonlight synopsis: "A translator struggles to help a tribal people understand what the Bible says. Fascinating, thought-provoking, and often funny, these are the stories of a culture's first encounter with God's Word."

The other neat thing this week is the opportune check out of a DVD series called Liberty's Kids. It's a reenactment of the American Revolution and the events leading up to it. In cartoon format with engaging characters--including such greats as Ben Franklin, George Washington, and Paul Revere--the kids find it riveting. Very high quality and we're all reviewing our history. Even my six-year-old daughter finds it fascinating! A great find at the library (five total hours). I believe you can watch the episodes online here.

Helpful Homeschool Tips or Advice to Share...

Christian Homeschooling is a call from the Lord. As such, trust God to guide your steps. Commit yourself to praying for your homeschool and walk in peace as you pass on a love for learning. And remember this...their hearts first, academics second.

Things I'm Working On...

...In my heart: A neighbor family of six here often needs help and I'm working on helping without feeling irritated by the inconvenience. The husband is nearly six months without a job and the mother works a low-wage job (not even full-time). Intermittently, they need gas money, help with transportation to the local schools when their van is down, etc. They even come fairly often for milk and sugar. The other morning our plans were upset by a sudden request to take them to two different schools. The brakes are out on their Dodge van.

So often people don't want to give their time. It's easier to give money and call it done, patting ourselves on the back. The other morning I felt so inconvenienced, wondering ultimately...wouldn't it be easier to just give them $200, rather than taking them to school until they have the money on their own? But then I thought...can we really afford to part with $200 after all the homeschool costs recently? And why am I so against giving my time? As I ride with those kids I could pray for them and maybe something that God allows to come out of my mouth might encourage them as they endure hardship after hardship.

They don't come to our Children's Bible study and we don't know why, but we do take the 9-year-old boy to AWANA each Wed. And lately, a tiny local Baptist church has a van that arrives to pick up their kids for Sunday worship. This particular church goes door-to-door in our neighborhood frequently, looking for new Sunday worship guests. Shame on me for feeling irritated when God is obviously working on these kids' hearts....


I'm grateful for...

Every single day of being with my children all day long. What a privilege. Even when the four year old gets into the spring clothes, tries them on and leaves them strewn all over, in every room. Sigh....

Something I am ogling or have my eye on...

I'm too busy to ogle anything! But I guess I could mention this review of the Writer's Jungle from the Simple Homeschool site. Sounds like an interesting, motivating book for every homeschool family, if you can afford it. Here is the creator's website. Here is Cathy Duffy's review of the product.

Bless you, dear friends, and have a wonderful weekend!

 

When You Have Questions: Walking in Peace

Psalm 119:125 I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!        

Psalm 119:144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live.

I ordered a used copy in good condition of Understood Betsy, by Dorothy Canfield Fisher.



It's one of the greats in American Literature and I wanted to own a copy...an unabridged copy. When classics are published by curriculum companies--Bob Jones University Press or maybe Sonlight--they're often abridged. This isn't always clear to the buyer. Not all abridged copies are labled as such, clearly enough. 

According to Webster...To abridge is to shorten without sacrificing overall sense. In literary terms, an abridged book is one that has been condensed, but is relatively the same in content.

When I read something, especially a classic, I want it in the author's original words, thank you very much.

Anyway, the used, unabridged copy I received was in awful condition, after being sold to me as a copy in good used condition. For the first time I had to file a complaint with Amazon about their affilitate.

Books classified as "good used condition" are usually quite nice and often look new. They refunded me half my purchase price, and now, as I look for another original text copy, I find that Amazon's site is slow as a snail for some reason, which has been typical lately.

I have time to share a thought and scripture.

As I wrote before, homeschool curriculum can be expensive. I'm nearly done puchasing what we need for the upcoming school year, and what we needed to finish this one.

And several hundred dollars went out the window, which makes me nervous.

Oh, spending money never used to make me nervous, but God has changed me. He's shown me that He is enough...that spending is a distraction Satan uses to set our minds on the worldly, instead of on the spiritual. Self-denial sends us crying for God, who truly satisfies. Self-indulgence sends us crying for more things, which never satisfy. They're a mirage, leaving deceived people continually chasing the next mirage.

I need the homeschool materials, but to be truly thrifty, I could use the library and own no more books, or use what's available. Yes, it would be difficult to chase down exactly what we need through interlibrary loan, but it's possible. I just don't want the extra stress.

And I consider this: Books don't just sit on a shelf if you love words....they're read again and again. I personally remember three readings of Little Women before I finished the eighth grade, as well as Jane Erye and other Charlotte Bronte novels.

These good books I'm gathering will be read...to more than just my own children. I may provide daycare once my husband retires (he's eight years my senior). And once my children are gone, I'll reread them myself and maybe even sit down and write one of my own, God willing.

And I will certainly read them to my grandchildren again and again.

As I wait for the Amazon website to roll forward, I have two verses to share.

I don't know for certain God wants me spending so much on curriculum. It's not written about directly in the Bible, like so many daily questions we contemplate.

But the beauty is...we need not live in confusion. We can ask for wisdom and indeed, we're encouraged to do so.

As I peruse used curriculum, I can pray for wisdom...for the best prices, for the best products, for the best people to do business with. God will have me wait sometimes, and other times go forward with a purchase. His influence is there for my good, if I ask for it.

If I desire His wisdom and defer to it, instead of living in my own, I can walk in peace. If I'm filling my life with Him, and not with things, I can walk in peace.

Life isn't black and white, but the Holy Spirit will direct our path...especially if we understand that our hearts are deceitful. They can't be trusted, but He can.

Psalm 119:125 I am your servant; give me understanding, that I may know your testimonies!

Psalm 119:144 Your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live

Multitude Monday: The Lens by Which We See

In the middle of the night, she blessed me.

He blessed me.

I'd gotten up, remembering that the wet towels needed a dryer. 

Out she comes, my sleepy-headed Beth struggling in the dark, too tired for words. When she found me, she simply put up her arms and I knew what she wanted.

I brought her to bed with me; as I adjusted the covers, her body squirmed and experimented, trying to nuzzle as close as possible.

She arranged herself just right, driven by the desire to fully enter into my essense. She wanted to be utterly connected until we felt like one. Until she felt wholly warmed, wholly protected, wholly blessed by my love.

No hesititation exists in her, for she fully trusts my arms and my heart. She's never been turned away.

It's like that with our Heavenly Father too. He's never turned us away and we can wholly trust him. We can nuzzle in close, until we are one. Until we feel wholly warmed, wholly protected, wholly blessed by His love.

And yet, do we look for Him in the dark?

So often we look at the clock and wonder if we'll possibly find the time to read our Bibles. And to pray. There aren't enough hours in the day, we lament.

Here's what I imagine God thinks of that:

"How will you raise your children? How will you do your daily work? How will you wake up and keep going, and go to bed and face the next day? How will you face tomorrow?"

He wants us to remember: "All for My glory. Everything you do, every day, is for my glory. I am your reason for waking up and taking your next breath. It's all about Me. So how can you not find the time? I am the lens you see through, the strength you live in, the food you need to consume. Without me, you're dead."

Cuddle up. Snuggle in. Squirm as close to Him as possible, until you are one in Spirit. Until you don't know where He ends and you begin.

Psalm 16:2 I said to the Lord, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good besides Thee."

 

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In

Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Giving Thanks Today:

~ For my sweet Beth, who reminds me to pursue Him with my whole heart.

~ For my husband, who says I'm beautiful and seems to see the 47-year-old me from the same lens he used when I was 33...taut and toned and minimally-lined, with maybe two white hairs gracing my whole head. Bless his 54-year-old, tender heart.

~ For the Bible being His essense and being so easy to enter into; always accessible.

~ For my friend's OCD son passing his nursing final. He needed a 78% and he got it, exactly. It was as if God said, "Yes, your brain goes wild during exams, but my grace is sufficient for you. He started his preceptorship (practicum) and is loving each 12-hour nursing shift. Praise the Lord!

~ For 18-year-old Chelsea's depression improving.

~ For my 71-year-old uncle making it through a stroke, still alive and able to walk and talk, abeit with a walker for now.

~ Spending time on the couch a few times a day with my girls, a stack of books on my lap to read.

~ My Mary memorizing all her favorites and "reading" them back to me. How a child can memorize every precise word of a book always amazes me. I don't think I could do it...but she can, even with complicated plots.

~ For Mary giving us such spiritually mature answers during dinner-time conversations. I recently asked her what she loved best about being a child of God. Her answer immediately brought tears of gratitude.

~ That gratitude is the answer for so many daily human ailments. Gratitude is simple, yes? Just look for the beauty and acknowledge it before God, thanking Him.

What's beautiful in your world today, my friend?

 

A List of 35 Things

 

Intermittently over the last year I've gotten dizzy...sometimes just lightheaded, other times a full spinning sensation with nausea. Just last month I had to call my husband to drive us home from the library, due to my sudden vertigo sensation.

In college vertigo came on due to high stress, so I pretty quickly decided I was under stress again.

But this month when it happened at AWANA I decided to investigate a little.

I want to share a list with you that just might save you beautiful, thirty-something ladies some money and stress in your next decade.

A lot of strange things can happen before you enter menopause. If you're 33 years old, don't read that word menopause and click out of this article. Give me a minute?

Women have incorrectly been diagnosed with Meniere's Disease and other disorders, after spending a lot of money on tests, when all along their issues were related to the hormonal imbalances occurring in the years before menopause.

Turns out, my vertigo comes only mid-cycle, along with heart palpitations....both of which are normal but less-discussed aspects of perimenopause and menopause. You don't have to skip cycles to be in perimenopause; at first the changes might go unnoticed. For example, your cycle might gradually come a few days sooner, be heavier and mimic endometriosis. Eventually it might come every 2 - 3 weeks before disappearing for a few months altogether. Then it might come four months apart consistently for a couple years.

Each woman is different, but hormones are powerful chemicals affecting many bodily functions, so multiple symptoms are likely.

The sad thing is, few doctors know much about perimenopause, or that neurological and heart symptoms during this time can be quite normal.

So, please, quickly look over this list and keep the possibilities in the back of your mind, before stressing about your possible brain aneurysm the first time the room starts spinning and the headaches keep coming.

And share it with your 40-something friends, if they start having medical tests done? Changes can occur in the late thirties and early forties, but age 45 is when the first subtle changes usually arrive. The symptoms can go on for several years before a woman is past the entire process and said to be menopausal.

About 15% of men go through similar experiences between ages 45 and 50. If you had high blood pressure during pregnancy, that is said to be a predictor of a more symptomatic menopause transition. Wonderful.

source here


1. Hot flashes, flushes, night sweats and/or cold flashes, clammy feeling
2. Irregular heart beat
3. Irritability
4. Mood swings, sudden tears
5. Trouble sleeping through the night (with or without night sweats)
6. Irregular periods; shorter, lighter periods; heavier periods, flooding; phantom periods, shorter cycles, longer cycles
7. Loss of libido
8. Dry vagina
9. Crashing fatigue
10. Anxiety, feeling ill at ease
11. Feelings of dread, apprehension, doom
12. Difficulty concentrating, disorientation, mental confusion
13. Disturbing memory lapses
14. Incontinence, especially upon sneezing, laughing; urge incontinence
15. Itchy, crawly skin
16. Aching, sore joints, muscles and tendons
17. Increased tension in muscles
18. Breast tenderness
19. Headache change: increase or decrease
20. Gastrointestinal distress, indigestion, flatulence, gas pain, nausea
21. Sudden bouts of bloat
22. Depression
23. Exacerbation of existing conditions
24. Increase in allergies
25. Weight gain
26. Hair loss or thinning, head, pubic, or whole body; increase in facial hair
27. Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness, episodes of loss of balance
28. Changes in body odor
29. Electric shock sensation under the skin and in the head
30. Tingling in the extremities
31. Gum problems, increased bleeding
32. Burning tongue, burning roof of mouth, bad taste in mouth, change in breath odor
33. Osteoporosis (after several years)
34. Changes in fingernails: softer, crack or break easier
35. Tinnitus: ringing in ears, bells, 'whooshing,' buzzing etc.

Some Special Treats

I've been doing more children's ministry lately and not surprisingly, I'm sick more often. I don't know if it's back-to-back colds or what, but fatigue and muscle aches seem to be a new normal.

Perhaps cold season has been so much harder this year because we never got any teaser warm days in March, like we usually do. April's been wintry so far, except for the 50's we had yesterday.

The tulips and other bulbs are usually in bloom by now, but this year they're just coming up out of the ground.

Easter Sunday the kids were acting and looking well and I wasn't coughing or sneezing, so we went to church. I noticed there wasn't enough help in the Pre K-K room so I stayed to assist.

Taking those kids to the bathroom is not something you want to do alone, and not every adult who signs up to help actually shows up. A few have the habit of peeking in and only seeing a few children, so they go to service instead.

Five minutes later, six more children show up. Children's ministry is very hard in that getting reliable help to work for free, feels like a miracle.

If you do any children's ministry, you're nodding your head right now.

Larissa, one of my favorite little girls in this class, seemed very healthy on Easter, all dolled up in her pastel fancy, happy as could be.

Then she sneezed...................

My friends, it was a sneeze you could write a children's book about. The Great Big Sneeze, by Christine Doe. I already have a few pages of that book written in my head.

A thick line of dangling snot shot from her lovely nose, reaching almost to the desktop. The teacher and I both scrambled, looking for tissues. Our church meets in a school and I believe this is the first grade room. Finding the unsuspecting teacher's stash, I ran to the embarrassed, dismayed girl with three tissues in hand, my heart full of compassion.

Sometimes it occurs to me that I could have been a school nurse. I love to nurture and when children are sick, my heart bleeds love. I volunteered to catch the dangling line of cold virus, thinking it was too much for Larissa to manage by herself.

And it was, believe me.

Larissa passed the rest of class feeling especially close to me, I think.

But I must have been in direct line of that sneeze, because now I have an old cold mixed with a new cold, despite the teacher's smart stash of hand sanitizer.

I think we owe the teacher some money for supplies by now?

If my husband can take over with the kids for just half a day, I can concentrate on drinking a ton of water and resting. Hopefully that will happen tomorrow afternoon.

Since I'm canceling our Children's Bible Study for tomorrow, I have a little time to share the great books we enjoyed this morning.

Am I Big or Little?, by Margaret Park Bridges, 2004



This book is reminiscent of The Runaway Bunny. It gave me such a warm, fuzzy feeling, I had to read it again immediately, letting it sink into my mother soul. My girls snuggled into me, enjoying every word.
A tiny preschooler asks her mom, "Mommy, am I little or am I big?"

"You're both, sweet pea."

"You're little enough to ride piggyback to the stairs."

"But I'm big enough to hop all the way down."

Each page is part of their conversation, and the illustrations by Tracy Dockray? Just perfect for the mood and characters.

I recommend you check this out especially for the lovely, perfect ending. You'll remember why there's nothing dearer or more worthy of your time, than loving a child.

One reading of this book every morning will carry you through the spills, the messes, the endless laundry and sticky floors.

Really. I mean that.

I'm aching to print the ending here, but that would spoil the suspence and I just couldn't do that.

Next up....

Eleanor, by Barbara Cooney, 1996



I very much enjoyed this Eleanor Roosevelt biography, geared toward ages 5-13, even though I found myself deeply saddened by the tragic turn her young life took. Later, as she develops into a lovely young lady full of compassion and grace, you can't help but cry and cheer. This would be an awesome addition to your library list this week.

I love the author here too, Barbara Cooney, who also wrote and illustrated Miss Rumphius, one of my favorite children's books.

I leave you with a longer review of the Eleanor book, from Scholastic.com:

"From the beginning the baby was a disappointment to her mother." So begins the story of Eleanor Roosevelt's painful childhood. Rejected by her mother and neglected by her father, she develops a "serious" demeanor, which keeps her isolated from other children as well. When her father takes her to a lodging house to serve Thanksgiving dinner to homeless boys, it is this demeanor which moves her to always remember the poverty in which some souls live. She is a lonely child, even before she is orphaned at the age of nine by her mother's diphtheria and her absent father's fall. Sent to live at Grandma Hall's gloomy, silent house, her shapeless dresses, short skirts, and black stockings make her stand out from the other girls. By the age of 14, her peers have become elegant young ladies and she is still an awkward girl. Finally, Grandma Hall writes to a European boarding school: "Eleanor is a good girl but sadly unattractive and full of fears." She asks the boarding school to accept Eleanor. Happily, Eleanor is accepted. At school she is encouraged to think for herself, and to be passionate about life. Her experience transforms her and prepares her for her destiny — to become the First Lady of the United States, one of the most remarkable women of the 20th century.

Barbara Cooney, a two-time Caldecott Medal winner, has said that a picture book is like a string of beads. The illustrations are the beads, and the text is the string that holds them together.
Children will be inspired by this biography of a great historical figure emerging from a life of hardship. 

Use Eleanor in studies of U.S. History or Great Women of the 20th Century. 

And here is Miss Rumphius, by the same author...another awesome addition to your library list for this week.



Publisher synopsis:  Seeking adventure in faraway places, Miss Rumphius fulfills her dream and then sets out to make the world more beautiful.

I loved reading this book to my first graders every year. Following the reading, I asked them to think and write about what they could do to make our world more beautiful. We talked about physical beauty and moral beauty...a great spring board for many discussions.
(ages 4 - 13)

Have a blessed weekend! We're praying for sun here. And warmth!