Nice Easter

We had a real nice Easter this weekend. I had been so worried about not having a lot of gifts and candy for the kids. I remember as a child waking up on Easter morning and having some very beautiful Easter baskets with toys and candy. My mom would make us get up very early and we would find a church that would have sunrise service. We would go to that and then find a brunch to eat at. I remember those traditions as a child fondly. I have tried to recreate them in my own home, but it never seems to work out. This Easter I had meant to get the kids a gift for Easter morning, but I'm never by myself. Since David is gone all week, it is just me and the kids. So, it was impossible to get them anything during the week. When David got home on Friday it was too late to really go to the store, because we went to church that evening. On Saturday, David and Aidan had a father and son football game, which went very well. They had lots of fun. After that we had errands to run, and we were going to separate in the store to pick up goodies for the kids. Well, there I was in the Easter isle. David had told me I could not spend much money. I look around and it was a mad house. Parents scrambling for the last remaining white chocolate rabbit. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it. God was screaming to me at that very moment that this is not what Easter is about! I left the area and found my family in the store looking at socks, which is exactly what we all needed. We don't need candy, we don't need toys, we need socks. All our socks have holes in them. So, we bought socks and I went home and cried. I cried, because I just didn't want to disappoint my children on Easter morning. I cried, because I couldn't live up to the traditions my parents were able to give me as a kid. I cried, because I forgot what Easter is about. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. He showed me that Easter is about being with Him and being together. So, we read a book together and I sent the kids off to bed knowing I had nothing for them to wake up to in the morning. So, I sat there on the couch and it occured to me that I could make them something. I had wool from my new hobby-felting. I decided to felt them a little rabbit. It came together well. They each got a rabbit and David went up to the grocery store and bought two small chocolate rabbits. We put them in an old Easter basket that we had already had. When the kids woke up in the morning, they were very excited about mom's homemade rabbits. It really didn't take much to make them happy. My kids read the Bible about the tomb being empty and we made a wonderful breakfast together. We had went to church on Friday so we decided that we would stay home together and enjoy the day the Lord had made. We are very blessed. I thank God for showing me truth when the world tries to mislead us.

New Day

I feel like today is a new day. We are changing our studies to new things this week. I'm hoping to get the kids out into the garden a bit if it stops raining. I hope we can plant some lettuce and peas. We worked all weekend on designing our new garden layout. It's going to give us more room. It was hard work, but worth it.

It's Not Easy!

Woke up this morning thinking about my friends. I am so blessed that God put them in my life. We went to the Science museum yesterday with our friends. The kids were so happy. My daughter loves to get out in the fresh air with her friends and just sing. While we were there the other mom and I began talking, as most of us socially deprived mothers do. And as usual we were talking about our kiddos. I came to a realization yesterday that a lot of us homeschool moms are in the same boat when it comes to teaching our kids. Yesterday, we woke up early. I had plans of a relaxed day. In my mind the kids would do their written work quickly and we would have the rest of the day to play. Well, that was living in a fantasy world. The minute the children picked up a pencil the whining began. I would explain what would need to be done, leave them to do it, and then be called back 2 seconds later for 'help'. It went on like this all morning with quite a bit of tears shed. As a mother you start to think that your doing something wrong. You start to think that it is your fault they are crying-that it is your fault that it is not easy. You began to think that your a bad teacher- that your a bad mother. And then you question homeschooling all together. "Am I doing the right thing?" you repeat to yourself over and over again. We came home from our science museum trip and I talked to another mom I know on the phone last night. She was having some of the same issues. Not only was she questioning, but she was angry. I know that feeling too. You get angry at your kids. You get angry at yourself. You get angry at the kitchen sink! And then... you feel guilty because your angry. On and on it can circle. I know. I've been there. Done that. And still do it. Until I realize one thing. One word. Satan. Now immediatley in my head I hear, 'Now don't go blaming Satan for everything'. That is Satan saying that!!! He wants us to think it is our fault. He wants us to think we are not good mothers, teachers, wives. He tells over and over again that we are not good enough. Here is the thing: Life is HARD. That is not our fault. Ok ,maybe in a round about sort of way. Yes, Adam ate the apple and Eve was seduced by it. Sin entered the world. Yes, yes yes, it is man's (and woman's) fault. But it is not our individual fault that life is hard. It Just Is. Sin Is In This World. Now what is our fault is how we deal with it. Do we beleive Satan? Do we believe those lies in our head-those feelings of guilt? Your guilty if you do. Your guilty if you don't, according to this world. It does not matter what you do. The world already calls you guilty. Here is the kicker: Knowing that information, knowing that life is hard, knowing that it is not our individual fault and that sin is on this Earth, we can make some choices. Deal with it! How? First and always -Pray. That is something I forget to do in the midst of trouble. Yes, I pray in the morning and I pray at night. But I need to remember to pray while trouble is happening. The minute those thoughts start to enter our mind we need to pray. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!! And then take a deep breath, take your emotions out of it, and deal with it. Do not add to the whining and crying. Let them whine, let them cry. It's ok. But they still have to do their work. We do not have to argue with our kids about doing their work. We have to stay the path without getting our emotions into it. Do not argue back! We are the parents. We don't have to convince them of our way. From so many moms I hear these words: "But so and so doesn't like this or that.... " There are many things my kids don't like. Oh well! If I think it is something that is good for them, they are going to do it. Period. No argument, no having to convince. Period. It is very freeing as a parent when you realize that you do not have to get your emotions into it. These are God's children that we are raising, not only our own. We have responsibilities to God to do the right things for our children. The right thing is not always what our kids want. Does God yell and and scream at us? I have never heard Him yelling. Sometimes He talks very loudly. But screaming? No. We don't have to yell. We don't have to scream. We don't have threaten. We don't have to bribe. We just have to expect that it will be done. And if it is not... then there needs to be consequences. These consequences need to be laid out. You don't do your homework. You don't get lunch. You don't clean your room. You don't go out to play. (Even if mommy really wants to go out to play.) You hit your sister or brother. Go to your room and you get spanked. We don't have to get mad. We don't have to try to avoid punishing our children. We just have to follow through. Sounds so easy? It is. When you realize that you have to stop trying to make it easy.

Multiplication

Yeh!! We finally got through the multiplication flash cards today without any whining or complaining. We have spent three years on learning skip counting and times table memorization. And today we made it, at least until tomorrow. Hopefully, they won't forget by then. We still have the twelves to do, but the hard part is over. I think the multiplication tables are up there with learning to ride your bike. They are something we don't forget. I remember my exciting time learning them. I was in 4th grade, I think. It was a miserable experience for both me and my parents. Finally, I got sent to my room and wasn't allowed out until I had them memorized. Needless to say, that gave me incentive to get the job done. I asked my son this morning why he thought that he got them today instead of the other days. He said, "I decided not to cry about it". I think that is it! When we are faced with a hard and terrible task, we need to face it head on. Forget the tears, and make up your mind to do it. My dad use to say, "There's nothing to it but to do it." And, my husband always repeats The Cable Guy quote, "Get her done." Are we going to do things God's way or our way? Either way, it is going to be hard, but one way leads to peace and knowledge and the other to devestation and foolishness. It's our choice, what will we choose? I think I'm going to go tackle those dishes now.

Yeh, the Weekend

What happened on Friday? There must have been something in the air or in Fruit Loops. Because the kids I teach in our co-op were acting crazy!! Jumping out of their seats- not obeying. It was an insane day. It was a day that made you want to go home and crawl back into bed. I didn't think I was going to make it. All day I just kept praying for God to help me through because I knew I would blow it and the stress would be expressed on those little minds. On days like this we have to just let go and let God handle it. Once I prayed that and released the day to Him, it let up, and I made it through. Thank you God for the Sabbath!

September 3, 2008

In the beginning was the Word... Have you ever thought how important words are? Not only did God create the world with four simple words, but words have transformed history. From the halls of ancient Egypt to the pillars in Rome man has an inner desire to speak, to express himself, to make his voice echo throughout the seemingly unending vacuum of space, and to leave his mark, to leave his word...The ability to express our thoughts and feelings is quite a magical thing.
But is it too much? Do we treat this gift too casually? Words are everywhere. They are so abundant that people don't pay attention any more. This brings to mind that song that Tesla use to sing..."Signs, signs everywhere the signs -Blocking up the scenery breaking my mind"... I'm also reminded of my young son. I love to read books to my children, so much so, that sometimes I see those rascals fading off into nowhere land. I want so badly for them to hear me-to understand what I'm teaching them, but when I use too many words, they phase me out. I think brevity is the key. I think we need to weigh our words before speaking to be effective. There is power in words. And power can go both ways.