Being inside can be fun

Yesterday went great. We turned off the TVs and played our hearts out. Darion even took a nap while we played. The ball/straw races were a hit! We even got to do a little science/experimenting with it. The kids found out that the paper balls roll easier across the carpet if they are smaller and balled up tightly. The picture below shows the balls rolled loosely, and man, were they having a hard time getting them to the other side of the livingroom. We played all of the games listed. The artsy stuff didn't go over well with the big guys, so we stuck to games. Of course, the laundry folding was a no-go! They were ready to play again today, but we had doctor's appointments, and we had to get everything ready for another yard sale this weekend.

I can not begin to thank the Lord enough for the blessings that he has given me. All I can do is try to raise them up in the way they should go. I love being their mom. I honestly would not ever wish to be doing anything else, except be their mom. God is good!


"Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Psalm 127:3

It's another rainy day

With it being another rainy day in sunny Florida (seriously an oxymoron), we have resorted to being couch potatoes. I really hate to see the kids watching TV all day, so I am going to think of a few things to occupy their little minds. I'm thinking that making them do math with no hope of going outside when they are done will not go over well. Unfortunately, here in Florida, if it is raining then it is lightning, so I can't just let them go play in the rain. Here are my top 10 activities, and I will see how they go over:

1. play another board game

2. sponge paint

3. make macaroni pictures

4. inside baseball

5. Trivia bowling

6. fold laundry (ha ha!)

7. paper ball/straw races

8. read aloud

9. invent-a-game

10. make collages

This is what they look like right now. Everyone is engrossed in the TV. My oldest is in the livingroom watching the NFL network, while this crew is watching cartoons.

"a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame." Proverbs 29:15b

How big is our God?

I have a good friend that sends me inspirational messages/devotions all the time via email. I really look forward to them periodically throughout the week. I could easily subscribe to the messages myself, but it feels good to know that someone cares enough about me to help edify my soul. Well, the one she sent today had a great message, and I liked one statement in particular : Peace begins when you decide to compare the size of your problem to the size of your God (Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, Inc). This really made me think. So often we look at our problems and get discouraged. We immediately assume that there can not possibly be a way to overcome them. Yes, I know, we do have huge problems. Especially in the trying economic times we are in. There are job losses, foreclosures, even a lack of food and the means to purchase more. However, we serve an amazing God. We have to remember that he is all-powerful; bigger than all that is around us. One of those problems couldn't possibly fit in the palm of our hands. But the Almighty can hold every single one of each of our problems in His hand and they will look like no more than a speck of dirt. Then he can just swish them away like they were just dust in the air. Do we really need to worry about anything? Not with the shepherd we have watching over us.

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." Psalms 34:19

Yum!!

Today I made a pound cake for the first time in my life. It turned out amazing! The kids loved it. I really love to bake, but I am a pastry, pie, and cookie baker. I have NEVER been able to convince myself that my cakes would turn out right. Either this was the easiest recipe on earth, or I can actually make cakes. One day I will be able to convince my husband to try all the things I make. He's not a 'eat sweets all the time' person, but it would be nice to get his opinion on my creations as well.

My son decided that he wanted a mohawk last year when we studied Egypt. Well, last night when Daddy was about to cut his hair, we allowed him to finally get it. He is so happy. This is not my normal idea of creative expression, but hey, what can it hurt?! As long as he doesn't try to progress to spiked hair, spiked collars, tattoos, and body piercings, then I am a-ok.

"Give her the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates." Proverbs:31:31

Disney Movie Night

Back when my oldest was about 4 we use to have what we coined Disney Movie Night. Basically, all we did was camp out in the livingroom in front of the TV and watch movie after movie until we fell asleep. We also used that time to eat things that I normally don't allow. Like, smores, chips, candy, cupcakes, etc. Well, now I have five kids, not one, and we have decided to start doing it again. Last night was the start of our old tradition. We had homemade pizza and cinnamon-sugar breadsticks. We watched 1 1/2 movies and fell asleep! Apparantly the yard sale from Saturday had worn us out.

The kids had fun selling cookies and lemonade. They made quite a bit of money, so to them it was well worth the Florida sun and heat. They'll probably want to have a lemonade stand everyday now!

Well, I am off to print some math worksheets. Gotta get some school in. My niece and nephew are hanging out with us today, so I guess they will be doing school, too. They are in public school, so they are actually on summer break. However, we are not so they will just blend in to what we are doing.

"He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich." Proverbs 10:4

I'm a Ferber dropout!

I just can't do it. I tried and I have officially failed. On a normal basis I would not dream of quitting anything. We have a family motto: last name never quit. Even my 3 year old knows it and recites it when he is unsuccessfully trying something. However, there is no way I can do this. My baby cried for 20 minutes straight! I have had five kids and I have never let the other 4 cry it out. So why did I attempt it with this one? Because he is the only one that neither he nor I gets any sleep. But we will just be sleep deprived until my Heavenly Father shows me a different way to approach this situation. How could anyone look at this little face and let him cry?

This too shall pass....

"Lord, all my desire is before thee; and my groaning is not hid from thee." Psalm 38:9

Just some ramblings....

I talked to a friend yesterday, and she had two encounters with people that staunchly opposed homeschooling for the exact same reasons. They felt that homeschoolers were denying their children the ability to learn to defend themselves. What!? It's unfortunate that people are quick to comment on things that they are not properly informed about. If only they could be a fly on the wall in some of our lives. I equip my children daily with the knowledge to defend themselves. Daily, we walk with the Lord. We praise Him, discuss Him, obey Him, and meditate in His word. That alone would be sufficient for their defense. But since we live in this world of ours, then I also talk to them about situations that may occur or have occurred, and how they should react to them. Our children are not sitting inside their bedrooms, cut off from the world. They have activities where they interact with children of all ages (homeschooled and not), they have family members of all ages that are not homeschooled, and they do actually go to the park, grocery stores, etc. They are faced with some of the same issues as any other kid. My kids have been ridiculed and bullied. So their experiences are truly no different than the average kid. Their reaction is what will be different, and that's where homeschooling (our home) is the ideal venue for them to learn to defend themselves. Now, if those people were worried about our kids being able to physically defend themselves, then I will say this.... Being in a public/private school will not and can not teach a child to defend himself. If it could, then please explain to me why so many children have resorted to bringing guns to school when they are being picked on. All we can do is pray for those who make ignorant comments about things they know nothing about. I wish that we would ask questions to learn about things that are different from our norm, instead of making blanket statements of what we ASSUME.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1

New Approach....

It is now a complete year since I started this blog, and I have only made two posts. I really like to write (and talk), so I am going to start updating this daily. Life has calmed down a bit since last year: We had the homebirth; he's a boy! We named him Darion Malik and he is now 5 months old and a whopping 22lbs. Football season starts in 2 weeks and both of my older boys are playing this year. My little princess wants to take ballet. The economy seems to make it appear that it won't happen, but God is good, and he will make provisions for it, I am sure. My 3 year old is my little man, he has been writing his name for about 3 months now!

Well, all that being said, the title of this post says "new approach". So I guess I will write about that. I think I am going to start journeling our homeschool endeavors along with the 'day in the life of me'. I think it will keep me on track, motivated, and excited about moving along to the next project. See, this is my reasoning behind it: My kids and I get bored really easily. So what happens is we skip along to different subjects before we learn all I have planned for us to learn. We also say "hey lets go to the beach" when we should be doing math. They are learning like crazy, but I often wonder how much more they could be learning if we stayed focused. Ha! I just had one of those moments. I stopped typing just now and was about to grab the camera to take some pictures. I have no idea what I wanted to capture on film, but it just struck my fancy. Would that be ADD/ADHD? My husband is convinced that I have one or the other.

Anyway, this weekend we are going to help my MIL have a yardsale. The kids have decided to sell cookies and lemonade to make a little money. They are saving for a big gift for their daddy. They have no idea what they want to buy, but they are saving, so I will encourage and help anyway that I can.


"O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Psalm 34:8