I get up early in the wee hours of the morning to bake the cakes for my son turning five, when it hits me - I am celebrating a birthday with my son, a blessed year of joy with him, while another mother travels to receive the remains of her son, shot in the midst of battle in Afghanistan.It doesn't seem real - this moving on, when others are standing still, praying for that call, hoping beyond hope that somehow they are wrong, and it was someone else's boy..... I push blue frosting across a … [Read more...]
Archives for September 2011
Letting go of the Labels….
I passed a hill the other day - a naked mound with five trees. Nearby, a forest of trees stood mocking the vacant hillside that once harbored the same forest. Years ago stripped bare of all trees but five, it stands exposed.I thought of what the hillside was missing - about all it had lost. How time and man had decided to take away that which God had first blessed its ground with. I mourned for the hill in a way, identifying with the feeling of what could have been, should have been. … [Read more...]
The Only Rule: Touch Everything!
Friday is our "unstructured school day". After our core work (Bible, Writing, Reading, Math) we headed to Madison to the Children's Museum. Oh what fun! The kids had a blast painting on a clear board with watercolors, building, climbing, fixing, breaking, creating, discovering, and just getting dirty! … [Read more...]
Classical Learning
The kids are having a great time this week learning thier Classical conversations material. Classical learning teaches facts at the younger ages - the kids memorize the core of info, not neccessarily their connections. A lot of the information is set to a tune or a dance. We also had fun making up our own. In the first video below, the kids are all joining in - I love how Ryan is having fun too (and the room he destroyed in 10 seconds flat while working on … [Read more...]
Famished
A friend of mine told me her story - how she bled that others might live and how she thought of Him in the midst....Let's start at the beginning and I will tell the story the way I see it in my mind.....She's running slightly late, thinking of all the parts of her day left undone - the laundry, the errands - even lunch, which never found time to be eaten. She drives quickly, but not so quickly as to alert any official - afterall, she is married to one of them, and what would be more … [Read more...]
The First Day of School!!!
Well, technically we started school a few weeks ago, but this was our first day of Classical Conversations, which felt like a day at school, so I decided to document the event with typical back to school photos! The kids loved their classes! Their presentations this week were titled "All About Me" and they both did great. Becca summed up her first day by saying "I have a bunch of new friends". You could tell they were having a ball! Robby's group was a little more … [Read more...]
Nature Study
Yesterday afternoon we headed outdoors for a nature study on the trails at Apple Canyon State Park. There is a trail with a one-mile loop that is pretty kid friendly, and the little ones were sure excited! We found all sorts of cool things to look up when we got home. Best of all, we got our hands dirty and touched God's world. As always, it touched us back. I always feel restored after spending time outside (ok, maybe not in -20 degree weather...) … [Read more...]
Becca’s Birthday!
Becca asked to start her special day with cinnamon rolls which started rising at 2am. Anything for Becca Boo! I am not sure who loved them more....Becca or Ryan!!!Her party started in the afternoon. The theme was Circus and she had such a ball playing with her friends in the bounce house, getting their faces painted, playing on the jungle gym, firing rockets, and playing pin-the-nose on the clown. Such great friends and family to share her special day with! I can't believe … [Read more...]
Preparing for the Party!
Preparations for Becca's birthday took place on Friday after school work was done. As you can see, Gabe was very glad to "help" me with the cake! … [Read more...]
Mud
I awaken at three in the morning, a cracking thunder overhead and nothing between the impending rain and I but a tent. The four little ones slumber quietly even while the world around them shakes. Wind blows the tent shuddering from the pressure, the showering rain so loud it's hard to think. The phone rings - a friend snug and safe in thier camper a few sites over. "Are you guys doing ok?" she asks. I tell her the tent is bearing the storm well, and the kids are … [Read more...]
