Homeschool Happenings

Homeschool has been going well. I think sometimes my kids miss some of the larger social aspects of school but I haven't done my part to get them out and around other kids very much lately. After our terrible time with the flu last year, I am finding myself very content to be homebodies throughout cold and flu season. As soon as we move, I am looking forward to getting the kids involved in some good activities where we can make friends. I also hope we can see some of our friends there more often. Abby talks abut Jen's daughter Rosie sometimes. I guess she's the only other little girl her age who she knows is homeschooled. I want to definitely have some play-dates this Spring. Here's a wrap-up of everything we have done in January/February:

After the break, Abby started the 1st Grade level of the reading program I bought her. She is flying through the lessons and has almost finished the whole thing! I am so excited for her. After 5 more lessons, she will be through with it and she will have a very nice foundation on which to build. She's reading things all around her - headlines on TV, boxes and labels at the store, the funny papers - and I have learned to play it cool. She tends to shun the spotlight and would rather I didn't make a huge deal out of it all the time. An educator friend told me that we should continue to read aloud to her for years to come but to make sure we're reading 1-3 grade levels above her. This has opened up a whole world of great books. Baxter got to read Old Yeller and I just finished Little House in the Big Woods. Now it is his turn again with Where the Red Fern Grows. When I think about how far she has come in these few short months, I can hardly believe it. Homeschooling her was definitely the answer for us and although it has been hard at times, it was worth every bit of effort.

We have also started a few new lessons since Christmas. I bought them the complete Hooked on French program. Since I speak a little, it's been fun for me to share my love of the French language and culture with them. Right now we are focusing on Anatomy, using the Dr. Seuss book Inside Your Outside. We have learned all about the brain and nervous system and now we're learning about the heart and lungs. Before this, we did a unit on sewing that was really fun. Abby has really enjoyed learning how to sew. We made superhero capes for all of our friends in Yoga Sprouts. It was a great lesson in how to follow directions, units of measure, stitch techniques and their purpose, how a sewing machine works, and so much more. Ford did a little hand-stitching and hasn't been that interested - but he loves his cape! I wanted to share our little project with you and here is the blog where I found the simple design and directions that we used: kcquilts

Here are a few pictures from our Yoga Sprouts class on "Superhero Day" - Ms. Rachael really looks spiffy in her cape, don't you think? We made the girls capes in turquoise/pink combinations with either key lime green or purple ties. We chose either black or dark green capes with red corduroy letters for the boys. I will post more when I get my camera back from Atlanta!

Looking For More

I just wanted to share a quick post about something that, until now, I never knew existed. I love blogging and I love reading good blogs. My "favorite blog" list on the right includes a couple of blogs by people I've never met as well as some by old friends who I love to keep up with. Some blogs are funny, some blogs are practical and some are inspiring. Today at The Nesting Place, you will find an "acceptance speech" of sorts for an award naming it one of the top Christian blogs of 2008. I followed the link to see the rest of the list and am really excited to have this inside scoop to some great blog-sites offering more than the usual fare. I plan on scouring this list for my own personal favorites and I may end up following them or at the very least, including some links to the ones I like most. It's cold outside! Pour yourself a cup of cocoa, read some great writing and warm your spirit!

100 Top Christian Blog-Sites

Looking Forward

Well, I'm having a hard time tearing myself away from this thing. It is very cathartic. As you know, we're moving back to Atlanta soon (very soon) and things are starting to take shape on that front. This weekend we are going to the Smyrna house and create a punch list of things that need to be done. It may be small, but I have decided to make it the best darn little house that there is. I have started arranging furniture in my mind and deciding what pieces to give away, as not everything will fit. I'm comparing the prices on bunk-beds, refrigerators, dishwashers and water heaters. I'm thinking about what boxes and packing supplies we will need and what size truck to rent. I have a lot on my mind. I am searching for smart ways to store/organize stuff. I know I've seen a thousand decorator's magazines with those cute little bungalows that are so tightly put together they seem to be twice as big. I'm hoping that I can copy a lot of those ideas. Unfortunately, a lot of our stuff is just plain big. We are giving Baxter's brother our big chair-and-a-half that's in the playroom. I'm giving my sister our huge bulky coffee table. My big leather sofa is way too bulky but will just have to squeeze. A lot of things are going to go into storage. It seems a little daunting. However, I should try to see this as an opportunity to decide what is important to us. We have a lot of things we can do without!
Our plan is to live in the little house for a brief time. We hope to build something bigger in the future - but who really knows what the future will hold? A few months ago, I kind of shuddered at the thought of anyone coming to visit us when we're moved in. Now, I think I am humbled by a few things going on around me and the thought of such humble surroundings isn't so bad after all. I want to, instead, take you along with me on this journey - which is what I should have realized before.
Looking forward makes me also consider the past and the Smyrna house has an interesting story. My Dad was born in Elijay in 1931 at the height of the great depression. Appalachia was everything you've read about in the history books back then - very, very poor. Daddy remembers whole years when they literally lived on beans and nothing else. Things were tough and my grandmother, although very pretty, wasn't a very good homemaker and found it difficult to stretch their dollars and their food through these early years. Then World War II came and my grandfather went off to serve in the Navy. He was almost too old but I think they took anyone back then. The little bit of money this afforded wasn't enough to live off of and my grandmother had to find a way to survive. She heard that they were hiring ladies at Dobbins AFB to work on airplanes for the war effort and within no time at all, she had a pretty good job with money of her own. She rented a house in Marietta at first and my Dad, his brother Hansel, and her mother all pitched in. After a short time, her good looks won her a job as an officer's assistant and she got a raise. After that, she purchased the house in Smyrna for a small sum of money. My grandfather's homecoming meant no less than five people shared the tiny space but back then people lived in smaller dwellings and I'm sure it wasn't out of the ordinary. She only moved out of that house when she could no longer take care of herself. First, alternating between her children for a time, then moving into Lanier Gardens where she spent her last days.
I have thought about her a lot lately, as I am sure I will when we move into her home and make it our own. Moving out of Elijay all those many years ago saved her and her children from the brink of starvation. Like so many other depression-era stories, she showed great courage to do what she did and it is nothing short of heroic. It is strange that in many ways, that little house is going to turn out to be our salvation as well. I'm sure that my grandmother would be pleased to know that.

Creative Energy

Okay, I've done something impulsive - I started writing a book yesterday. I have been thinking about it for a while now and even wrote about it in a recent New Year's post. Still, the actual beginning of it was rather sudden. At 5:15, I literally sat down, looked up a template on Microsoft Online, and started typing. In 20 minutes, I had written the Foreword. This morning and tonight, I wrote Chapter 1 - 2300 words so far just like that. It feels very natural and for the first time in all of my attempts at this, I feel like I know what I'm doing. Anyway, with all of my creative energy going towards this, not to mention the other writing I actually get paid to do, I'm afraid I'm going to have to put off blogging for a while. I will still post pictures and maybe brief stuff here and there but until I'm finished writing the book, I need every bit of juice I can muster. So, to all 3 of you that read this, I bid you farewell! Wish me luck - or better yet - whisper a prayer for me if you will because it will probably get a whole lot tougher as I continue.

Dreams are the stuff of joy. Never let go of your dreams.

My Own Joy

My little girl is very special to me. Having her has been everything I imagined it would be - a close bond that nothing could change. When I look at her, I can honestly tell you that I love her unconditionally. There isn't one bit of me that would hesitate in saying that. When she smiles, she sparkles. When she cries, your heart wants to tear itself out of your chest. We have a close relationship. She doesn't walk on eggshells around me and I don't either. We talk to one another. Although she is young, our talks have included a variety of topics so far: love and hate, marriage and divorce, war, crime and punishment, fairness, God, birth, death, life and after-life, sex, drugs, smoking, politics and so much more. I cherish these moments. I don't pretend to have all the answers but I know that the fact that I don't back down from a subject is key. That is one thing that I'm doing right. Still, as the years go by, I know that her questions are going to get more pointed and my answers are going to have to go deeper. When life begins to throw her curve balls - perhaps when her heart gets broken, perhaps when a friend betrays her trust, or maybe someone she admires falters and leaves her stunned - will I still be the one she goes to with her questions? And if I am, will I have the answers she needs?




Think of it this way - she's 1/3 of the way to 18. She still has the sparkling smile, ever-ready with those blue-green eyes to make you forget anything that might be troubling you. Today I might wish for a moment or two that I could slow this process down - keep her youth and innocence for a little while longer - but I know that there is more wonder down the road. I clinch my gut thinking about the milestones and moments that lie ahead but I will ready myself to watch her passions emerge, to see her dreams realized and allow God to make her blossom.

Happy 6th Birthday, Abby! I love you and I'm so proud of you!