(Caution: Long! And please forgive typos-spelling errors....time to blog is rare---and now that I'm done with this epic it's time to nurse Jacob and eat lunch!)
In no particular order I will share (hesitatingly) what's going on in our lives in recent months. Why do I hesitate? I hesitate because everything I tell you is subject to change. Everything I think I'm learning, I could learn something different tomorrow. Everything I think I've finally figured out, given time, I may realize I hadn't gotten it figured out at all. One thing that is CERTAIN, I've got nothing to boast about, my life isn't a model life (hah!), and I'm no smarter than your common sheep. Thank God he is the Good Shepherd that lays down his life for his sheep! I'd be stuck in a thicket or would have fallen down a ravine long ago if it weren't for his grace. Daily grace. Every hour grace. Ever minute-Every second grace.
So here's where we are at presently....subject to change at any time.
Jacob...ahhhh...Jacob. A gift from God he is! He is nearly 4 months old! He laughs now...he's very ticklish. He's settling into an amazing routine. Morning nap (1 to 2 hours), afternoon nap (2 to 3 hours) and if he takes a short (30 minutes) evening nap I feed him for the last time at 9 and then he is in bed for the night. If he doesn't take an evening nap I can feed him at 7 and he goes to bed for the night (at 10 or so, I will get him up to feed him once more). He doesn't cry much. But I honestly don't give him much opportunity if I can help it. If there is one thing I despise, it is a young baby crying. Now, once he hits 12 months and up---he'll have to learn to wait every now and again! That's life.... When he is awake he is usually being held by someone. I can't wear him a carrier a lot now because the b'jorn tore my back apart (my upper back is in almost constant pain), and he doesn't just love the Ergo yet. I keep trying though. Me and Andrew are probably his main care-takers. It's adorable. If he is crying and I can't get to him immediately, Andrew will. He's very comfortable holding him as well---very confident. Sometimes I fear over-confident! It's a sweet bond they are forming though.
Okay--on to the boys chores. Here is our new system. On the cards are their daily chores. Some cards just have one chore written on them, some have several such as what they need to do when they get up: Make their beds, get dressed, take their dirty clothes to the laundry room: easy quick stuff. I ditched the chore chart that they have to make a check mark on. I have to keep printing those out. This is lower maintence! And as far as seeing that the chores are done---I have a new system. It's called intermittent rewards. I told the boys that I would be checking their chores at RANDOM. They never know when I'm going to check. And if I check, and they have not only done their chore, but also done it well, they get a reward. For now, I have a basket full of toys, etc. Some are more costly than others. I numbered each one and then put in a little bowl those numbers written on little pieces of paper and they get to draw a number and get whichever toy has the corresponding number. It seems to be working. Each child is different of course---for Andrew he is very motivated by this. For Micah, he really struggles with motivation in general. We're still trying to figure out how to help him stay focused and get out of the frustration of constantly reminding him or getting on to him for not doing things.
Oh there is Jacob again. He wore this for Easter pictures. I've really enjoyed photographing him. Someone asked what type of camera I use. It is a Canon D60 and I use a fixed lens...Canon 50 mm 1.8. The two together are about 800.00. That is a lot for a camera but not nearly as much as it could be. When I finally decided to upgrade my old camera, this seemed to be a good middle ground. And I learned that the lens is very important. Don't just buy a kit and expect the lens it comes with to be quality. This lens is only 100.00 dollars and it is well worth it! I am not technically savvy with my camera. Their are three things that I really focus on when taking pictures, 1. Use natural light---open windows and place your subject where the light is cast upon them---not behind them 2. Get up close! Don't allow anything in your frame that isn't your focus of the picture. 3. Make clothing and background non-distracting/non-busy. (Anyone can take good pictures!)
To help our boys grow in spiritual maturity---our ever present aim. This book is beyond awesome. It teaches the boys deep spiritual truths very simply. They take one catechism question per week and give you 6 very short devotions with Scripture references. The devotions are wonderful for digging into what the meat of that catechism question actually means. And each devotion can be completed in as little as 5 minutes (but you can ask questions, we usually do, and expound further if you have time). The only thing I've realized I don't like is the wording of the Catechism question and answer. They aren't simple---quite complex---and so I'm going to research a more simple version of the questions/answers and write those in.
For fun at the dinner table! I picked these little question and answer trivia games up on clearance at Hobby Lobby a few months ago. They can be played as a game or just used for trivia. The boys think this is so fun---and the questions are really cute. The Human Body one for example has things like how many times does the average person "fart" per day. (It is 14 by the way) But it has lots and lots of actually usual material as well. I've not forgotten that capillaries are like 1/10th the size of a strand of human hair! Amazing! I'm on the lookout for ways to have more fun as a family. This is one!
Diet---I was thinking I was going to have to go on a GAPS style diet again--avoiding grains, etc. Reason being, I was having joint pain again. I think I've realized though the joint pain was because I started consuming stevia as my principle sweetener. Not anymore! Back to good old sucanat and honey. But I do think I need to be regularly, daily consuming things like bone broth, gelatin, and fermented veggies. I'm hoping to get together with some friends and make sauerkraut soon! My gut health is definitely delicate but I'm not at a place in my life to dedicate to an extensive diet like GAPS. So I'm hoping eating healthy and eating healing foods in general will keep me good for a while.
I finally caved and let Steve get me an i-phone. It was free with the service plan through verizon. I've really enjoyed having it actually! Here are the things I love: Texting. This is so helpful. When Steve is in a meeting at work, I can text him a question and he can respond, whereas if I had to call him, he wouldn't be able to answer. I text others as well and it is such an easy way to correspond when you don't have time for an actual phone call. Next: Being able to use it as a GPS. It helps me when I'm lost and it helps me get places without having to print out directions via mapquest.
I have enjoyed but have mixed feelings about having email and facebook readily available. I used to only look at facebook/email about 1 or 2 times a day, on my laptop when the opportunity arose. Now, because I am nursing and sitting down much more often, I'm on it more frequently. It isn't an addiction per say, but I do feel the "need" to have my phone when I sit down to nurse. Like I need to be constantly entertained. This is the opposite of what I'm trying to teach the boys---that they don't need to be constantly entertained. I also don't want to look back to memories with my last baby boy of spending those precious nursing times in my "phone world". I want very much to be in the "real world" making "real memories" with "real people". Yet, I am thankful for the connectivity that facebook has provided. So it has it's place. Just trying to figure out what that place is. Balance. That is what I'm looking for.
Garden! I'm super excited about these blackberry plants! That I totally didn't space well. What through me off is that in the middle of this long bed there is a 6 X 6 running up and through the bed, dividing it into two smaller beds right in spot where I would have wanted to put the plant in the center. So I had to offset it, and then I didn't think put the plan to the farthest right more towards the center. I figure when they are all grown up and out, you won't notice. Currently we have a whole bunch of buds and flowers on them. That means blackberries this year! (just a few) but woo-hoo!!!
I built this salad table about a year ago. It took me that long to actually get it filled and planted! Mostly I planted seeds, but I decided to go ahead and buy some small lettuce plants as well.
The table is mostly for lettuces/spinach---although I planted some kale and swiss chard as well. None of the seeds have grown much since sprouting, so time will tell.
It's been fun to see the boys playing in the sandbox more. I'm really trying to kick them outdoors more. My instincts tell me it's the place that kids need to be. (and me too---still working on that one!)
Education. Big change here. Could do a whole blog post on it and may at some point. But here is the short version. I'm not homeschooling next year. All my boys will be in school. Our oldest will either be in public school or private. We aren't certain yet. Probably public. Micah, Andrew and Benjamin are all going to Dominion Classical Christian Academy that meets at our church. There are many reasons, but I think the main one is that we feel that is how God is leading us. I'm sure in His master plan, there are multiple reasons. It was something that I probably would have never initiated on my own, but my husband felt a direct leading in this area and I slowly came along. It's not that I have ANYTHING against other schooling options. God uses all sorts of means to shape his children into the people he is going to use for all sorts of different purposes. I'm not one of those die-hard, homeschooling is the only way sorts of people. No. Actually, what I have learned is not to hold any sort of dogmatic opinion about any "gray" area in Scripture. And one thing I realized is that I have neglected to have regular study of God's word nearly every year since I started homeschooling. Is everyone that homeschools like this? No. Does not homeschooling mean that I now I'll have all sorts of time and will make the purposeful decision to study God's Word? No. But with that said, I have decided to be purposeful about studying God's Word as well as other resources that I've collected over the years because I know I want to grow in those areas---but I've failed to actually utilize those resources. So what you see above is my "homeschooling" plan---for myself! One thing I've learned about myself is that I am hugely motivated by having a place to check boxes. And if I write it down, I'm WAY more likely to do it then if I just think a plan in my head.
The "Systematic Theology" book is one that I've been meaning to study for about 2 years, but have been intimidated by it's SIZE. Over a 1,000 pages! That's nothing for some of you--but for me, it's a bit daunting. So I broke it up into 5 pages a day, 5 days a week. With that amount studied each week it should take me 45 weeks to complete it. Not bad! And 5 pages studied has equeled to about 30 minutes spent each day. Totally do-able. I'm using this book, plus the additional Scripture references as my Bible Study. It's been super cool.
I love what I'm learning!!! In my notebook that has my "lesson plans", I have a tab for each resource I'm studying and paper behind it to take notes. Note-taking is really important for me to actually absorb and remember what I learn. This is a lot of fun. Like going to collage again sort of. But it's free and I don't have to go anywhere! (I would like to go back to college some day...but for now this is good!) I actually wasn't going to start this until next school year when all the boys are in school, but I was too eager and went ahead and started. I study about an hour in the afternoons during nap time and about an hour in the evenings after the kids are in bed. I sit down at the table to do it. This helps me stay more focused and of course allows for more vigorous note-taking.
Ahhh...the warm weather. This has lead to more time outdoors and pulling out the water tables! The boys love these.
Meal planning and grocery shopping....A post in and of itself, but again, short version: I've started planning for the whole month. This has been a huge help. It's not my favorite thing to do so just going ahead and getting it over with is great. Plus it helps me with my shopping planning and staying more on track budget wise. We've gone to the cash system for grocery shopping to curtail going over budget each month. So now, when we run out of frozen blueberries, I know when is the next time we can buy more---instead of just going to buy more. I plan to go to the Dekalb Farmers Market every other week, Costco once a month and Wal-mart once a month. It's working really well as a structure for meal planning/shopping/budgeting.
Enjoying the basement with the boys----wish it wasn't always messy though.
Even though the boys are going to school next year, I fully intend to continue to homeschool them....some. I'm going to make a plan (complete with weekly objectives/check lists, etc...---that's just the way I roll!) with the books I want to read to the boys, field trips I want to take them on (I have to do these on the weekend anyway---I need Steve's help!), and discipleship materials I want to take them through. Since Dominion will have the "have-to's" covered (yay!), I can have fun planning the things I love---bird identification (by song and sight), wildflower/wild-edible identification, learning common trees that grow in the Southeast, missionary biographies and other great men (and women!) of the faith, historical novels and other works of fiction, hymns to study and learn, Bible memory objectives...God has provided us with so much to learn and study in his creation---we really enjoy Him this way! I will probably plan about an hour's worth of reading per day---15 minutes devotional time in the mornings and about 45 minutes to an hour of time in the evenings. Probably 15 minutes at the dinner table and the rest of the time after the littles are in bed.
The other day we discovered a Carolina Wren had flown into our home. I posted about it on facebook and my facebook friend and encourager told me she was certain I would turn it into some sort of amazing lesson. Well, I didn't. But I did think about it and here is what I came up with...
Sweet, wild, little Carolina Wren...yes, the window looks like the way. For me, my natural inclinations look like the way to life as well. But no, the open door is the way to life.
Jesus said, "I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9)
I am tempted to make homeschooling, even learning, healthy eating, certain routines and schedules, gardening, or the outdoors, earthly relationships, the way to life... the way I find joy and fulfillment. I'm so thankful that God doesn't leave me like that...because he sees that I'm like little Carolina Wren, hitting myself into the glass over and over again. He knows I need Him and His way, not my own. And he comes to me, takes my hand, and leads me through the door, to His Son. Jesus.
He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. (John 14:16)
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