Huge Update!

Lots has been going on around here and I have not had the time to blog about any of it. So here is a short version of a few highlights...

Joshua has been spending his spare time playing dominoes, Lego's and pattern blocks.

The space shuttle. It is docked and can be removed. The actual shuttle then separates from the fuel tanks.

He had fun making neat designs.

Two space ships battling.

Asher and Elliana dancing.

I finished the quilting portion of Elaina's quilt. I just need to complete the binding :) I designed and put together her pillow case this afternoon.

She likes her quilt!

Must Read!!!

There is a great article in the New York Times about education. It has some wonderful insights into how to change the way schools are taught and make them more successful. It is neat to see how much these new ideas resemble homeschooling..Playing to Learn

I really enjoyed this section..
Imagine, for instance, a third-grade classroom that was free of the laundry list of goals currently harnessing our teachers and students, and that was devoted instead to just a few narrowly defined and deeply focused goals.


In this classroom, children would spend two hours each day hearing stories read aloud, reading aloud themselves, telling stories to one another and reading on their own. After all, the first step to literacy is simply being immersed, through conversation and storytelling, in a reading environment; the second is to read a lot and often. A school day where every child is given ample opportunities to read and discuss books would give teachers more time to help those students who need more instruction in order to become good readers.


Children would also spend an hour a day writing things that have actual meaning to them — stories, newspaper articles, captions for cartoons, letters to one another. People write best when they use writing to think and to communicate, rather than to get a good grade.


In our theoretical classroom, children would also spend a short period of time each day practicing computation — adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. Once children are proficient in those basics they would be free to turn to other activities that are equally essential for math and science: devising original experiments, observing the natural world and counting things, whether they be words, events or people. These are all activities children naturally love, if given a chance to do them in a genuine way.


What they shouldn’t do is spend tedious hours learning isolated mathematical formulas or memorizing sheets of science facts that are unlikely to matter much in the long run. Scientists know that children learn best by putting experiences together in new ways. They construct knowledge; they don’t swallow it.


Along the way, teachers should spend time each day having sustained conversations with small groups of children. Such conversations give children a chance to support their views with evidence, change their minds and use questions as a way to learn more.


During the school day, there should be extended time for play. Research has shown unequivocally that children learn best when they are interested in the material or activity they are learning. Play — from building contraptions to enacting stories to inventing games — can allow children to satisfy their curiosity about the things that interest them in their own way. It can also help them acquire higher-order thinking skills, like generating testable hypotheses, imagining situations from someone else’s perspective and thinking of alternate solutions.


A classroom like this would provide lots of time for children to learn to collaborate with one another, a skill easily as important as math or reading. It takes time and guidance to learn how to get along, to listen to one another and to cooperate. These skills cannot be picked up casually at the corners of the day.

Gratitude Monday, a few days early :)

101. The windows that allowed me to watch my children play outside.


102. The walls that have kept us safe for 8 years.


103. The stove that I used to make hundreds of meals for my family.


104. The bathroom that has been the scene of many potty training adventures.


105. The nursery that has held all three of my children.


106. The backyard that has been a wonderful place for our family to unwind and laugh together.


107. The neighbors that we will miss terribly.


108. The cul-de-sac that offered a wonderful environment for teaching little ones to ride bikes.


109. The little girls next door. We will miss them so much.


110. This home is also our school. We have been blessed to learn here.


111. I fell to my knees in this kitchen and sobbed knowing that I had lost a precious baby that I had loved so dearly for such a short time.


112. We have been blessed to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and births in this home. Thank you Lord for your provision.


113. Aaron and I bought this home young and naive in many ways. We leave different people. Constantly growing in the Lords ways.


114. My youngest son has knelt on this carpet and said countless prayers. I so wish I could tear it up and bring it with me.


115. We entered this home with a 5 month old baby boy. We leave with three healthy, amazing children. We are so thankful for them.


116. The closeness of our family that could come only because we live in a small home. I will miss being so physically close. Listening to my children breathe as they sleep.


117. The floors that I have scrubbed thousands of times attempting to scour off the remnants of our busy life. Thank you Lord for those dirty floors. I was blessed to serve my family in this home.


118. Hugging my neighbor on the front porch upon news that her father had passed away. Lord thank you for allowing us to invest ourselves in the people around us.


119. Teaching our children that bigger isn't always better. They shed tears over this move as well.


120. The Lords presence everyday. Without Him this place would not have been a home.


Today has been an exciting and memorable day for our family. We sold our home and bought or next. We are so grateful to God for leading us down this path. He kept this house for us for 101 days :) Thank you Lord!!!

81. Family to care for me when I am sick.

82. Listening to Joshua read the bible. His future is bright.

83. Elliana calling for me at 12 a.m. This will end soon, her dependence on me will forever decrease.

84. Asher's trembling lower lip and tears. A great reminder that even tough little boys need a shoulder to cry on.

85. My husbands strength. He guards his family well.

86. Wonderful neighbors that share their lives with us.

87. Elliana's favorite phrase "I do it myself!" She is so like her mother!

88. Snow days! I love being shut in with these people!

89. Joshua's self appointed job of making his siblings laugh through their tears of sorrow.

90. No screen days!

91. Date night! Love spending time with my man.

92. Gods word, the comfort and strength it offers make the tough days much easier to navigate.

93. My husbands job.

94. A warm house. God provides all our needs.

95. Another school day. Another opportunity for growing closer and stretching ourselves.

96. Brushing my daughters hair. I am so blessed to have a daughter.

97. Wrestling with my sons. I am so blessed to have my sons.

98. Aaron covering me up when I'm sick. A wonderful reminder that we are in this together.

99. Remembering to let go and let God handle everything that is plaguing my mind.

100. All that God has in store for us.

Fight Club

When students go to another venue for an education that is filled with other students, crazy things can happen. I am sure you have memories from your own educational experience that would illustrate this point to some degree. I was reading the headlines on the Fox News website when I came across this leading story. A teacher encouraging his elementary students to form a "fight club". And even teaching the kids how to lie to school nurses and their parents about their injuries.

These news articles remind me of the insanity of placing kids in these situations when they are not able to stand up for what is right. Can we expect elementary aged students to stand up to their teachers and classmates? That is something that very few students would have the courage, bravery, and maturity to do. More importantly, why should they have to? These are children that are being forced to stand up to adults. The adults should be standing up and protecting these children.

These are random stories that are unfortunately becoming more and more common. But what really bothers me is the lack of focus in the school system. The goal in any setting that has the goal of educating, should be educating. All of the social situations should be on the back burner.

But how can students be expected to have this focus with so many distractions around them? When you went to school were you only thinking about the math problem in front of you? I doubt that you were. Most likely you were thinking of the math problem, the kids sitting next to you, the friends you were meeting at lunch, the fight going on between two of your friends, the note you needed to write to your buddy, the enemy that you were trying to avoid..the list is endless. How can we expect students to succeed when they are bombarded with all this junk?

Homeschooling takes all that extra junk and throws it out the window. When my son does his math problems, he is thinking about math.

61. Loved ones I have lost (Grandma Shirley, Jayme). I love them so much it hurts. Yet I know God loves them more.

62. Trials of my childhood. I learned to utterly and completely rely on the Lord for everything.

63. The day I said "I do".

64. Fulfilling dreams at my age. With God all things are possible.

65. The laughter of my children. They are loved and happy.

66. My father, his quiet ways bring tears to my eyes. My love for him is very deep.

67. Friends and family that accept and truly love me. They are a wonderful gift from God.

68. An uneventful day.

69. My children growing up in a home with a mom and dad. This will bless them the rest of their lives.

70. Aaron playing board games with the kids. I am blessed to have him as the father to my children. I could not ask for better.

71. A washer and dryer to clean our clothes.

72. The health of my children and husband.

73. Gods reminder that He has always taken care of me and He will continue to do so.

74. A hug from Asher.

75. An Eskimo kiss from Elliana.

76. Reading books to my kids.

77. Singing in worship.

78. Tears that remind me that I am frail.

79. When Elliana tells us she is not freaking out, she is freaking in. There are many ways to see a situation :)

80. All the people that have come to look at our home.