Brain Damage (a time of confession)

I love this bit -- back from a time when standup comedy could be done without so much cursing, and this bit is pretty much true! I love my children so much and am blessed continually by them. But they do show a fair amount of what Cosby calls "brain damage". This, I accept, because they are being trained. It's not a "let kids be kids thing" it's just a "I know they don't know so I'll teach them for these years and show them what is and is not acceptable" thing.

But what do you do when the brain damage is yours???

Two weeks ago, I almost destroyed one of Shelby's beautiful cakes! I was supposed to deliver it, thought she spelled the name on it wrong, hand pieced one letter to "fix" it only to discover I was WRONG (did not double and triple check) and ended up in my kitchen after midnight making decorator's icing and trying to match the shade of pink to a "t". No one noticed, thankfully, but OH MY GOODNESS! What if I had been out of shortening, food coloring, or had not had the right tip? Shelby was so cute, laughing and forgiving me, but I would have beat me up if I were her. I used to bake and sell cakes. You DON'T touch someone else's work, ok? You just don't. Valuable lesson learned. Will not experience brain damage again in this area.

Last week, I broke the computer chair. I use it to teach because I don't want to sit in a hard kitchen chair for too long, so on Monday morning, it comes to the table, and on Friday evening, it returns to the computer desk. It also allows me to roll from child to child without hassle. Daniel was tickling me and I bent the wrong way, slammed against the table, and BAM! The old, flimsy frame bent and I was stuck sideways, wheels turning, Guido and I both howling in laughter and him holding onto my arms to keep me from hitting the ground but I was so weak with laughter I was having trouble pulling out of the chair. Oh, believe me, it was awful. Thank goodness my daddy had an old office chair in his garage that he donated to our school.

Also, the week before last, I was insisting that Addie CANNOT have a cup without a top on it when we're doing school. Too many spills! Who dumped a giant cup of coffee on the table while all the books were on it? Yes, moi. And it went through the seam in the middle of the table and managed to end up ACROSS the table in Carter's chair too. Ugh.

Then, there are instances of me riding bikes in WalMart, dressing up as a gecko to teach a VBS lesson, etc. Oh, the list goes on and on...

I'm sure I can think of a few more and if I do, I'll come back and update, but all I can think is that if the kids have such a brain damaged mother, how can I blame them for their own damage? :)

Just a Regular Week

"America's present need is not heroics but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution but restoration." Warren G. Harding (1865-1923)

I love it when we have "normal" weeks. Not perfect ones, no, there was one really bad day this week where the kids didn't understand me and I didn't understand them. But that is all part and parcel of life -- not just homeschooling. Homeschooling, though, does push me to try harder to get to their level, to reign in my selfish tendencies, and to help them learn the disciplines of paying attention and listening. But there is something about normalcy that just feels good and leaves me (and I think the rest of my family) with a deep contentment.

Here are a few pics from the week:

Addie built Jericho out of her blocks. She was so thrilled, and since her joy is mine, I was thrilled too. Not sure who the bear is... maybe Rahab?

Carter finished his first language arts project. Now, most of them will be more "project oriented" but this time, I had the choice of doing a book project or a project geared toward getting the child to practice the godly character traits we had studied. We had been studying responsibility and diligence along with the biography of Amelia Earhart (who coincidentally was NOT always responsible). This is his sheet where he assigned himself a task for responsibility (making sure his room was immaculate without being told) and diligence (striving for excellence with his piano practice). He did this for five days, and each task was worth a certain amount of "counters", which I made nickels. The max he could earn was 4 nickels a day, or 20 nickels. I told him if he earned all of the counters, he could keep the dollar. He earned them all, turned his project sheet in today and we talked about how good it felt to exercise responsibility for things he knows he's supposed to do. It was a great project!

An experiment in mummification. This is a "control" apple next to an apple soaking in baking soda and salt. They will do this in co-op as well, but I didn't have the co-op assignments yet so we went on and did it. He loved it so much, I know he'll love doing it at co-op too! And this way, Addie got to experiment because she has diligently been listening in on our science reading. I'm taking pics of it every day and will post the process next Monday or Tuesday.

The garden is STILL producing... Here is one of Addie's watermelons. And it was GOOD.

Carter doing dictation. I wasn't too keen on this thought but a friend does it and told me it's worth and I read up on it. It seems to be a very good language building skill, and one of our agreements is that if he does super neat work in dication and his other assignments, we won't do as much work in the handwriting workbook. He does very well with dication. Today, he even got a hyphenated word and got all of the commas in the right spots.

With all of this accomplished, we can now go shopping for a few fall clothing items to see them through to winter and then hit the grocery store. We are thankful it is Friday and look forward to some good family time this weekend!

My Worst Mistake

I have made many mistakes in my time. But there is one I can think of that is the worst.


Assumption.

Noah Webster's 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language defines "assumption" as: 1. The act of taking to one's self. 2. The act of taking for granted, or supposing a thing without proof; supposition. 3. Undertaking; a taking upon one's self.

Do you notice how many times "self" is mentioned in this definition? I equate frequent assumption with a huge sin: pride.


I have, in my lifetime, assumed that:


My pain is worse than anyone else's.


My needs are more important and in need of attention than the needs of others.


My leisure time is more indispensable than the time of others or the needs of my children.


I am alone.


No one cares.


Because I am alone and no one cares, it is ok for me to lash out in pain and/or anger.

Because I am in pain or am angry, I am entitled to unload my thoughts on others until I feel better.


All of these things are lies, straight from the father of lies himself, Satan. But I think the tool he delights in using is my selfishness (pride) that leads to assumption that leads to action without consideration. I am so thankful for God and his mastery of breaking me without crushing me. In the almost eight years that I have known Christ, He has slowly but surely knocked me off of my high horse named Assumption.

The thought that anything in me is more important than others is one that I still wrestle with it, but I am thankful that the Holy Spirit has enabled me to wrestle with it instead of continuing to assume that I am just fine the way I am. If I am to die in Christ then I am to live in Him, and it is in Him that I "live and move and have my being". (Acts 17:28) There is not really room for self in that equation, and assumption and pride are facets of self that I have to pray about daily. Lord willing, they have gotten better and will continue to.

And I am also thankful for those in my life who have forgiven me my prideful nature of assumption.

"...and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

Saturday Night at WalMart (aka Life Among the Commoners)

I debated on whether to blog about this for two reasons:

1. One of the two pictures I have to go with it is a VERY unflattering picture of me.

AND

2. My husband said I sounded really snobby when I said, "I feel so common."

But, I had to go pick up a cake from Shelby last night so I was telling Marie and the family all about our crazy night. We had been discussing children getting out of control, so I felt compelled to share about our night. Really, I was right in on the mischief, but we had a lot of fun. Marie got really tickled and told me I needed to blog it, and my husband, who took the horrible pic, told me if I didn't he would give the pic to Marie who has many more readers on her blog than I do. SO, without further ado...


We ate supper at Fernando's last night and while there, I let both of the kids have a few sips of my sweet tea. BIG mistake! It doesn't take much caffeine to wind them up, and they were already partially wound anyway. We also got fried ice cream to share for dessert. BIG mistake number two. Most of the time, the kids listen well to us and we run errands with minimal correction and misbehavior but I think the combination of caffeine and ice cream had some sort of chemical effect on all of our brains.


Now, we finished up supper and headed across the street to grab a few necessities from WalMart. Daniel parked by a light pole and as soon as we were out of the car, Carter was on the pole climbing. WHAT?!?!?!? He has never done such before. I hollered at him to get down. We headed into the store and Daniel took Carter to look at Legos while Addie and I went to grab the groceries. We met in the middle and kind of strolled around a bit. Daniel said he had found me a new bike. It was a shiny blue bike with whitewall tires and a massive seat (yay!) , so, I decided to take it for a ride. Here comes the embarrassing part, ok? Carter was leading the way, running in front of me with Addie staying right beside me, and I rounded the corner to come face to face with Daniel's cell phone. ARGH! He got me. Here it is. Ready?

I am not pedaling because when I saw him taking my pic, I started laughing so hard I had to put my feet down. I couldn't even brake, I was in such hysterics.

We managed to make it through the checkout line with our kids pointing to every point of sale display and informing us that they wanted it all. I kept telling them no, not realizing I was getting a little louder with each "no". I finally realized it and leaned over to Daniel to say, "I feel so common!"

"WHAT?" he said.

"You know, only the common people come to WalMart to yell at their kids! We have lost it!" (Marie helped me feel slightly better by pointing out that the commoners also smack their kids around while everyone tries not to watch... At least we weren't there.)

As we got to the car, they were still in high gear. Really, nothing bad had been done but they are just usually more contained than they were. I muttered something about "tearing someone up" as they climbed into the van. The back hatch was open and I was putting bags in when this was said. Carter and Addie both start to cry, and Carter yells, "Don't kill us, please!" Now, I have NO IDEA where this came from. At this point, I had a desire to turn around whip out a bullhorn and say, "We homeschool. Just turn us in." Really, we were the same people before we homeschooled but at least now we have something to blame it on, right? :) I went to put up the buggy and Daniel pretended that he was going to drive off without me. But I was ok because if he did, I planned on going into WalMart, buying a paperback book and a coke, and finding a nice computer chair to curl up in for the night. Really, you could probably survive for MONTHS at WalMart. What a vacation that would be!

But alas, Daniel stopped the car and I climbed in with the savages and informed Carter that "tearing up" is just a phrase for a sound spanking, and that no one was killing anyone. Daniel and I were cracking up, though, because of the overdramatic reaction. We were just really tickled.

There were three ingredients that WalMart doesn't carry that I needed, so Daniel stopped at Kroger and I ran in. Upon coming out, I discovered this:

Yes, my common husband let the kids get up on top of the car. They were hooting and hollering and loving every minute of it.

So, there you are. For one evening, we were the people that I always want to smack. And you know what?? We laughed all night long and had so much fun. But I think I'll be ok if we only have one night a year like that. And our new catchprase is... "Because I'm a commoner!"

Halfway Through Week 2...

School is officially in session!!!

We started a week and a half ago, actually, and that is why I have not posted much. Carter has taken on a language arts curriculum in addition to his grammar, spelling, math, science and history. Addie has begun kindergarten phonics and math with Christ-Centered Curriculum, which we love! They tackle some pretty intense spiritual concepts, so I just take them and adjust them for the ears and understanding of a four-year-old. But already, she is identifying a few short words, blending consonants and short vowels, and studying the sound that each letter makes. With math, we are just introducing the numbers, each of which is represented by an animal character with special character qualities. It's all precious!

It is a joy to teach both of my children, but since this is the first "real" year with Addie, it is so much fun to see how quickly she absorbs what she needs to know, and in so short a time. I know it has so much to do with it just being her, Carter and me, and outside distractions are stripped away. Not that we don't have distractions here. There are plenty of toys and noises to distract, but we just try to be disciplined during school time.

Anyway, to mark the beginning of our school year, I wanted to post a few pics:

The sweet snuggle bug at her spot and ready to go! And yes, she prefers long-sleeves, even in August! I have to make her change for outside time.

My Carter-man working on some handwriting. I love that smile. He knows the drill.

The three of us. I didn't know they were making the faces because I was preoccupied with getting us all in the frame... I hope that come May, we're all still smiling like this. :)

Catching Up #2

As promised (a couple of days late), here is my last catching up blog for the summer. We started school this week and I will be blogging more about our school year adventures if I can find the time. I have stopped the Multitude Mondays and Daybooks because there is just not as much time as I would like to do those things. I remain thankful, though, it's just that I utter my thanks in prayers and as my head hits the pillow. I just want to spend a bit less time on the blog and a bit more time with daily life. Here is the rest of the summer in pictures...

We did A LOT of canning! Now, for some, we probably did nothing. We have a few jars of tomato sauce, a few jars of tomatoes, and a few jars of pickles -- but for anyone who has a garden, you realize how much time and work those few jars took. Somewhere in the process, I realized that while I love the garden, I don't want it to take up so much time next summer. SO, we will reevaluate the process next year.

HOLY PICKLES!

Does anyone know what to do with a GIANT cucumber? Any ideas would be appreciated...

Daniel brought this monstrosity in off the cucumber vine last night. It is 17" long and has an 8.5" circumference. If there was a contest for these things, I'd enter it. We just laughed at it. I guess all the rain had an effect. Below are: Addie holding it "like a baby" and Carter thinking it would make a great baseball bat.

GRAND OPENING!!!!

We thoroughly enjoy playing with our kids. Because of Daniel's involvement with the local Chamber of Commerce, they have been exposed to the idea of grand openings. Carter has had one before for a delivery business that he shut down after a day or two, but he decided this time to open a business called Making Music.

Cutting the ribbon.

Making some music at Carter's business. He basically put on a concert (see the guitar set up next to him). Making Music is apparently a business where you can make any music you want.

Of course, Addie had to have a grand opening too. I'm not sure what her business is called but what we did there was pretend to have a meeting and a meal, then all four of us laid in her bed and goofed off...

Addie getting wrapped up in the hilarity of the moment.

Carter was still making music, though...

But Addie decided he needed to keep his music at his own place of business...

Not willing to miss out:

Daniel teaches night classes at a local college, so we have started going out there to eat with him in the student union on the nights he has class. It has helped so much with not missing family time and devotion on those nights. There is a piano in the student union and the kids have a blast playing it. Carter does impromptu concerts and Addie plays her pieces she has learned with Mrs. High.

***A side note because this next pic was too cute to leave out...

One thing Addie REALLY gets creative with is the arrangement of her stuffed animals. This arrangement was so intricate and specific that we had to get a picture:

Helping Dad:

Here is what the kids do when Daniel is working outside:

Addie wearing shooting earmuffs to protect herself from the noise of the lawnmower. Somehow she turned this broom into her own mower and "helped" her daddy out.

Carter displaying his ability to be scary while overseeing the yard work.

***One more side note to show off my less than stellar sewing skills. :)

A pillowcase dress that I made for experimental purposes. Addie adopted it as her own. I now need to make more of them and gather some ladies at church to make them and send to Africa. If you don't know about the project, see Little Dresses for Africa.

BBQ Club:

Daniel has two good friends and once every few months, they make a pilgrimage to a BBQ place. They usually go pretty far for a day trip. Last weekend, they went to Hattiesburg. I'm thankful for the "club". Male friendships are rare, and I am thankful to see him having the support he needs as a man. While they were gone, I took the kids to the park for some sweat and sunshine.

Carter at the top of a CRAZY big hill back in the woods. I tried to get a pic of both kids up there but my phone froze up so I only have this one. They worked so hard to get up there! I was proud!

Addie climbing the rock wall. When did she get big enough to do this on her own without falling??? This was bittersweet for me.

Carter nestling up to me underneath the playground structure.

Addie doing the same. Sweet girl.

As you can see, we had an incredible summer. Addie also learned to swim and Carter got a lot better. I'm so proud of and happy for both of them, but I never took any good pics because I didn't want to risk ruining the camera. I might risk it Saturday and update this post. We'll see. We did no major travels other than a few day trips to visit friends. We just played and played and swam and swam. Daniel took days off here and there to be with us and that was such a blessing. I wish we could have traveled some but that will have to wait until next summer, Lord willing. But even without the travels, we really enjoyed each other. We started school Monday so I will post about that soon. It has been a crazy week but we have continued to enjoy each other. That is probably my favorite part of homeschooling. I know the kids are getting more educationally at home (**update note on 5/2/11 -- don't know why I thought this -- Carter is getting SO MUCH MORE at the school he's in now), but the benefits of all of the family time have been indespensable.

"The family is a haven in a heartless world" -Attributed to Christopher Lasch

More Later...

I will write more later. I want to do one last final summer catching up blog and hope to do so tonight if I can find the time and energy. But we have started school this week and it has been a very busy adjustment. Part of me thinks I am asking for too much out of myself, out of the kids and I need to just chill out. Part of me thinks I just allowed myself to be too lazy this summer and the hard reality of starting back to school is catching up with me. Could be both. Whatever the reality, I read this devotional this morning and it cut straight through to my heart. Ok, I'm going to give you two. I was behind and I read several of them, and both of these hit home... I'm so thankful too that I was behind, because I needed these today.

From "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young

July 19:

"Bring me all your feelings, even the ones you wish you didn't have. Fear and anxiety still plague you. Feelings per se are not sinful, but they can be temptations to sin. Blazing missiles of fear fly at you day and night; these attacks from the evil one come at you relentlessly. Use your shield of faith to extinguish those flaming arrows. Affirm your trust in Me, regardless of how you feel. If you persist, your feelings will eventually fall in line with your faith.

"Do not hide from your fear or pretend it isn't there. Anxiety that you hide in the recesses of your heart will give birth to fear of fear: a monstrous stepchild. Bring your anxieties out into the Light of My Presence, where we can deal with them together. Concentrate on trusting Me, and fearfulness will gradually lose its foothold within you."

Ephesians 6:16; 1 John 1:5-7; Isaiah 12:2

July 26:

"Relax and let Me lead you through this day. I have everything under control: My control. You tend to peer anxiously into the day that is before you, trying to figure out what to do, and when. Meanwhile, the phone or the doorbell rings, and you have to reshuffle your plans. All that planning ties you up in knots and distracts you from Me. Attentiveness to Me is not only for your quiet time, but for all your time. As you look to Me, I show you what to do now and next.

"Vast quantities of time and energy are wasted in obsessive planning. When you let Me direct your steps, you are set free to enjoy Me and to find what I have prepared for you this day."

Psalm 32:8; Psalm 119:35; Psalm 143:8