Missed Again! (Day 9/90)

Oh, I can't believe it!  I totally missed writing yesterday, so today is Day 9 instead of yesterday.  (It is supposed to be Day 11 because I missed another day last week as well.  Bummer.)

This week, Rose and I are still on Christmas vacation ... but we have been reading by the fireplace anyway.  The Children's Bible, the Promised Land Series, and Everyday Graces have been fun to read together.  Sometimes she plays, wanders, eats, and rolls around on the floor like a dog or a cat, but I think she is still listening most of the time.  I remember when Sam was little and he would bounce around while I was reading to him and Hope.  I quizzed him a few times, and he almost always knew what I had been reading to him.  I eventually had him see how long he could stand on his head while I read to him.  He got pretty good at it!  That led to a short, but fun stint as a gymnast.  :-)   (This past fall, he even resurrected the back flip and showed it off a few times.)

It has been nice having less places to go lately, especially since it has been so cold out.  Snuggling on the couch and reading is a nice winter activity.  For exercise, I used to bring the kids to the kids' care at various gyms I was a member at.  They actually made some very good friends with the ladies who worked there because they were the oldest kids in the care room during the day.  (During the school days the kids their age were in school, obviously.)   To save time, I started working out to videos on YouTube instead - and walking in the summer.  It has saved so much time!!

I have also saved time by bringing Terry (wonderful husband) along when I grocery shop for the seven people in our house.  It helps the packing, loading, and unloading process quite a bit.  It is kind of like a date.  :-)  Time together at the store.  Very peaceful. 

Lately, though, I am thinking about using Instacart.  It could prove very useful! 

And - next week we will go off of Christmas vacation, I guess.  :-)

Until Next Time,
Blessings,
Heidi

Filling Blank Pages (Day 8/90)

Staring at a blank page, whether it is physical or on a computer screen, can be daunting, can't it?  It reminded me of helping Sammy with his writing class he had last semester.  It can be intimidating to come up with one thousand words on something and do it intelligently with good grammar and all.  Rough drafts are so nice because they let the ideas flow without worrying about the details, but I did notice that the big picture and the topics that each paragraph covered was the harder work - and the more thought and creativity that was put into that - the better the paper was because grammar is something that software can help correct.  The flow of ideas and the coherence of an entire paper, however, cannot be corrected simply.  You have to step back and look at the big picture. 

I think the older and wiser we get, the less "rough" our drafts are.  Sometimes we mess up, but we can always learn and do better next time. 

So - maybe life can be compared to writing a good paper. 

Always understand the big picture.

Know what the main point is.

Communicate well.

The details matter. 

And -

end well. 


Until next time,
Blessings,
Heidi

Day 7/90, unofficially, because I haven't gone to bed yet

Is it still day 7 if I haven't gone to bed,  but it's after midnight?  Purely theoretical.

Anyway,  today I read an old favorite to Rosie. .... Everyday Graces by Karen Santorum.  Mrs.  Santorum compiled many classic stories and poems about manners and values.  Rosie loved it!   And there are such good messages about things like saying "please".  I also recently obtained a copy of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle's Farm by MacDonald and illustrated by Maurice Sendak at a cute little used book store in Stillwater, Mn. (Used book stores are so fun!  I always find good stuff at used book stores.  I got Hope a cool printing of Sherlock Holmes stories for Christmas.  I also got her a cuddly blanket.  Perfect combo gift for an avid reader. )  The children in the local town go stay with Mrs. Piggle Wiggle on her farm to correct behavioral issues.  She always succeeds.   I want to be like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle when I grow up.

Until next time, 
Blessings!
Heidi

What Would Jesus Do? (Day 6/90)

Today I was reading out of a book that Sam read last spring as part of his Notgrass American History course.  Notgrass is a publisher that has some great history books, including Economics and Government. There is literature recommended all through the courses, which is so great!  He was able to get credit for English Literature, History, and Bible all in one course.  (I had to keep reminding him that there was more work because it was three courses in one.)   I also love that the literature applies directly to the period in history that he was studying......putting some leaves on the tree, so to speak.

Anyway, the book....... In His Steps by Charles Sheldon.  If you have ever heard the phrase "What would Jesus do?" you have been part of the legacy of the pastor in this book.  I am only in the third or fourth chapter, but it is very moving.  The people in this pastor's church actually prayed for guidance from the Holy Spirit to make all of the decisions in their lives based on the question..... "What would Jesus do?"  More to come....but I believe it will be a wonderful book - a great one to read as we start a new year. 

Blessings,
Heidi

Happy New Year! (Day 5/90)

Another year is coming to a close.  I thought I would list a few monumental events for last year and the ones that will most likely happen this year......

2017

• Hope performed at AMTC Shine and we spent New Year's Eve in Orlando last year.
• Hope graduated high school, got her first non-babysitting job, started free-lance writing, and started an apprenticeship.
• Hope performed in Robin Hood by CB productions and Narnia with Youth Performance Company.
• Sam got his driver's license and is now able to take himself to workouts, co-op, math team, baseball practices, and more....by himself.  And he was enlisted to drive Rose around too.
• Sam is getting better at basketball!  He's driving to the basket and scoring some points this year!
• Sam has a real hair style which requires gel and a brush and everything.  For the first time in his life, the words "Don't mess up my hair!" have been heard coming from his general direction.
• Sam built an arc furnace and didn't burn the house down or get electrocuted!  (However, he plans on adding more power to the thing soon. Ugh!)
• Rose started playing basketball and then started paying attention while playing....these events were not simultaneous.
• Rose started auditioning for plays and was actually cast in Candle in the Window!  She also performed in a showcase of Frog and Toad with her acting class.
• Rose broke her arm.  It was very sad and traumatic, but now the brace serves as a very useful prop in the movies she makes!

2018

• Hope will complete the Praxis program this year, but not before she has to most likely move away for an internship starting in July.  :-(
• Hope will be going on a mission trip with All Grace Outreach as a reward for raising money for Operation Underground Railroad.
• Sam will be taking the ACT (he's so excited!) and finishing his junior year of high school.  He will most likely be picking a school where he will pursue a degree in something and play baseball.
• Rose will continue to make us laugh and want to pull our hair out at the same time. :-) J/K  There is no way to know what she will do.  Really.  Seriously.  Not kidding. LOL

Well - time to get going.

Happy New Year!

Until next time - blessings,

Heidi

Totally Missed Day 4!! (Day 4/90)

I had nothing on the calendar yesterday, BUT I still missed writing yesterday!  Well, I didn't sit on the couch all day.  I went to Hope and Sam's workout at REDline Ultra.  This is the first time I have seen the new space.  It is really nice!  I had fun.  And Aaron is great with the kids.  He pushes them while smiling very warmly so you can't really hate him. :-)

Then I went grocery shopping because we had dinner guests coming!  Josh and Kimberly came over and we had dinner, played telephone Pictionary, and made some movies with Rosie as the director.  Which finally brings me to the relevance to home schooling.  Hope, Sam, and Rose have always been able to steal our friends when they come over, no matter their age.  Even though Rose's age and personality can make her overbearing at times, even she wants to interact and converse with people of all ages.  (To be fair, Josh and Kimberly are closer to Hope and Sam's age than they are to ours, but that is neither here nor there.) 

I don't know if the kids would be as excited about hanging out with Mom and Dad and Mom and Dad's friends if they weren't home schooled.  When I was their age, I preferred my friends or being alone.  My parents are great people and I see them every day now, but we just were not as close. 

I also noticed that for two days in a row, Hope and Sam have played Monopoly by the fireplace.  So cute!  I recalled watching them play years ago....when the dolls each had a turn as well. :-)  They reminded me that they do this every Christmas vacation during the lull in school and activities. 

Why do I think it is a positive that they enjoy spending time with their family?  It is really cool to have a close family, knowing that we are there for each other and cheering for each other.  Hope and Sam genuinely care that the other one achieves their goals and dreams and attends each other's games or performances whenever possible.  Home schooling is obviously not a prerequisite to having a close family.  I just think it would be harder to accomplish without it - for us, anyway. 

Until tomorrow....
Blessings!
Heidi

P.S. Today will have to be Day 4 instead of Day 5.

P.P.S. I know I totally sounded like I was making excuses for not writing yesterday, but I simply put it off and then forgot.  No excuses!

Book Review - The Child's Story Bible, by Catherine F. Vos (Day 3/90)

I figured I could get several posts' worth out of book reviews...since we have a lot of them. :-)

This particular book, The Child's Story Bible by Catherine F. Vos, has been a staple in our home schooling library ever since Hope and Sam were little.  We have read a chapter (or more) most days of school, before we read or do anything else.  It was recommended to me at a seminar by Carole Joy Seid.   She has a wonderful eloquent explanation and promotion of this book, but here is what I remember, combined with my experience.

We wanted to teach the children to say a prayer and read their Bible first thing before doing anything else in their day to place the importance on it.  If we place it first, we can make it the framework on which every other subject hangs.  We can see God in all school subjects, and we purposefully look for it and point it out.  This ranges from history to science, and everything in between. 

Catherine Vos seems to stay quite accurate in her version of the Bible and also points out connections and foreshadows events to show the significance of certain things that a person might not normally notice, especially the kids.  (I have personally learned a lot about the Bible from reading this book to the kids.)  Rose noticed a connection between the Promised Land Series and the Bible just yesterday!  Those mean Amalekites used to attack the Israelites, especially the vulnerable, and God eventually sent Saul to destroy them.  Making those connections helps her internalize and remember what she is learning!  Yeah!


Until next time!
Blessings,
Heidi