Just WAIT, Wendy

My week off was exactly what I needed: time to reflect on my goals, methods, and evaluate what we should do in order to get where we're trying to go. It's too easy to lose ourselves in the details. I was getting overwhelmed with busy-ness.

In a word, I'm learning to WAIT.

These are the conclusions that I've reached:

(1) For my first-grader there are three main objectives: First, establishing the habit of spending time with God and with family first. This is the most important thing to establish early on. Second, he will learn Language Arts: phonics, spelling, reading, and writing. Third, he will learn basic arithmetic. By those standards, we are on track. All of the fancy extras that beckon out to me can wait. He doesn't need a history curriculum workbook every day. He doesn't need a science curriculum right now...he's a science man anyway, so he pursues these things for fun.
That's more than enough.Look at his concentration. :-)

(2) Stories and songs teach better than any other method. At least for us. This is why I so love the Charlotte Mason method. What is education without great literature, or "living books," as she calls them. Stories make it come alive for the kids...it's not just another date and name without background or emotion. We can wait on some heavier material, until the groundwork has been carefully laid. They need the big picture, stone by stone, story by story.

(3) I need better balance with workbooks and hands-on activities. Yes, we do LOTS of fun stuff. I'm all about fun. However, I still get stuck in the "it doesn't count if it's not on paper" mindset. So I've been schooling as if all of my "extra" things like field trips, Konos activities, art and crafts, etc were purely supplemental, instead of a Learning Lifestyle. That mindset quickly becomes exhausting. We're busy ALL the time, trying to cover our bases and fit more in. I have to remember that I'm educating, not just leaving a paper trail!! I want my kids to learn and connect, not just regurgitate information. What am I so worried about anyway? God's in charge. I report to him, no one else. There is a chain of authority involved, and it's not the one I've been focusing on.

Hands-on

When I asked my son to just list 10 nouns and verbs, he shuffled his feet, weary. That's boring review, old stuff. But when I asked him to collect 10 nouns and do 10 verbs...he hopped right to it (literally.)

He was the 10th noun, so he's in the bag! And the picture is of a place. Good boy.

If we read about a toad in a book, it might stick with them for a day. But if we find a toad, look it up, learn how to take care of it, name it...they will never forget. They vividly remember Herbert, more than any other animal we've just read about.

I love this quote by Dorothy Sayers,

"The sole end of education is simply this: to teach men how to learn for themselves; whatever instruction fails to do this is effort spent in vain."

(4) We need to resolve (determine once and for all) the goals that will give direction to our homeschool. I don't want to be tossed by the wind.
Francis Schaeffer said,

"We must be consciously preparing the next generation for the new battles they will face."

That's my job. And I intend to do it to the best of my ability. That means we need to focus and keep this task at the forefront of our minds. Too many other concerns can crowd out the goal.

And, along those lines...

(5) The good in our life gets in the way of the best. I need to simplify life. It's only as frustrating and complicated as I make it.

God will always give me enough time to accomplish what
He intends for me to accomplish.

My Papaw has told me this multiple times!

Often God's answer is WAIT. I see a need, hear of an opportunity, and I'm ready to hop up and rush in. God places his hand on my shoulder, pats me, and gently whispers, "wait." It's not my time. That mission, leadership, ministry, field trip is intended for someone else right now. My kids right now are my mission, my ministry. And I need to pick the activities that work towards our goals and interests, not jump into everything that is available.

In the past I've done the childish prayer: "God, I'm planning to do this, so stop me if it's not the right thing." Yeah...like a kid about to cross the street. Apparently I still need one of those kid leashes?? When I should have been praying "God, is this the right path? Is there a different way? Is this the right time?" Like a woman asking for directions and waiting for an accurate map or correct directions. (We all know men don't do this!) Wouldn't that make more sense and lead to a more satisfying and less frustrating journey?? I'm a slow learner, I guess.

Wait. Live for the important, not the urgent. And, Wendy, quit making things urgent when they shouldn't even be in your life to begin with. (I can almost hear God sigh sometimes.) I want to live in Quadrant 2!!
(6) This is perhaps the biggest one for me: I am responsible for the atmosphere in my house. Yep, it's me. If the kids fight, I'm still responsible for my response (not reaction) that controls the atmosphere in this house. I can act frustrated, upset, exasperated, tired...or I can take more responsibility than that and remember to be diligent about the emotional climate in my house.

I need to wait on him, and get His strength. Okay, so these aren't exactly new things. I've known them all along, but sometimes I need some quiet time to reflect and reset the direction. We start running on autopilot after awhile, and that doesn't work. Life has to be intentional.

So, is there anything else I'm forgetting? Or anything you've been learning lately that might help me, too??

Surprise Lobster

Well, my HH (hot hubby) is getting old.

And how better to celebrate than with a true SuRpRiSe party! The Artist and I have been planning it for months. She's such an angel. She even sent out emails reminding people about the time and to "not tell Daddy."

HH thought just our family was eating at Red Lobster. That in itself is a BiG deal since we are fairly broke (4 kids + homeschool/ one income= no money.) And it's always a big thing to take four kids to a restaurant. (They were fabulous, by the way!)

I told the kids that this was a big special event, so we would be dressing fancy. My Nature Man to his sister: "Oh, I know where some 'fancy' dress-up girl clothes are that we can wear!!" Uh, no. Not what I had in mind. Anyway, he is fancy enough with these long lashes of his!!

Little Lad woke up from his nap with his hair like this! So I did what any mom would do, and hair sprayed it before we left!!

When we arrived and all of the family and friends poured in, he truly was surprised. Yea! I had called several days in advance to make sure they could set the 25 of us up together, and in a separate room. Everything went according to plan. In fact, we got an extra treat when a waiter took lobsters out of the tank for the kids to pet. Nice touch!!--literally.

Of course, Nature Man was the first to brave the creature.

It was great to have so much family together at once. Even HH's mom and dad both arrived and got along!
As an extra treat, I got a triple berry sangria. (They don't list the recipe for this one, but I imagine it isn't too different from this recipe, which also sounds delicious.) If you haven't tried one, you are missing out! YUM. Of course, my husband ordered the everything-fried-platter. (ugh) When he got his food, we all sang happy birthday and he blew out the candle that I'd stuck in his mashed potatoes. Fun, fun. I can't sing, but I sure do like to party. :-)

For part of his birthday gift, my folks got HH The Encyclopedia of Immaturity. He loves it. This for a man that can't be serious to save his life.

Laughter really is great medicine.

The weather was fantastic today, so we stopped by a big park on our way home and let the kids work off some of their extra restaurant calories.

Whhhheeeeeeeee!!!!!

I was worried that they'd throw up on the way home, after all of the swinging & spinning (that has happened to us before!!) My HH didn't seem too concerned.

Little Lad tames the wild bronco...er...parrot.

Then home to roast marshmallows and put those calories right back on. Can't beat that.

Here, Daddy, for your "birfday."

Ahhh....what a great day.

Coming soon: "what I learned on my 'week off'," and "home management makes a come-back," and "If Mama ain't happy..."

Mr. Sucky

We like to have fun. We bake cookies ALL the time. We can often be caught doing schoolwork in costumes. Or dancing to Jack Johnson music. Or "shaking our sillies out."

And I love keeping up with the house, but it just wasn't *FUN* anymore. Not until now.

Enter Mr. Sucky (yes, he actually has a nametag that reads, "My name is Mr.Sucky the Sucker." The Nature Man named him.)

Oh, yeah, he's a bLASt!!

Happy Birthday and sister pictures

(Here I am--on a People Break [more accurately, an "OUTING BREAK"]-- and I'm blogging every day. Go figure. But it's because I want to. No obligations. No demands on my time except the ones I set. For one week. Ah, to be home. We're never all home on a Monday night!!)

Yesterday was my youngest sister Amy's birthday!!

Happy Belated Bloggy Bday, little sister!!

We all celebrated together with Italian cuisine on Friday night. A large crowd of Amy's buds came, the manager came out to greet us all, wish Amy a happy birthday, and then time to wine and dine. Fun, fun.

Birthday girl (and baby in utero) and her hubby Vu
Sister Julie and Hubby Adam (And here is a link to her post about the evening.)

Me and My hot hubby (I've got to come up with a good nickname!!)

And, yes, I realize that we all look alike. :-)

**edit** After the dinner, hubby and I hightailed it back to town so I could make it to a chick flick with Mrs. Smiley. It's hard to take a good photo in the dark, in a "truck" at nearly midnight.

Well, poo

Okay, so I didn't make it even a full 24 hours. Why? Because I got too many emails regarding the last post. ha! So you do read!

Yes, I'm okay. No, I'm not mad at anyone. No, I didn't mean that you cannot email me (which was a funny question to receive in an email.) I left off the pronoun. Oh, those ridiculously necessary pronouns. I meant that I would not be emailing, calling, or visiting. Or at least that I will not feel obligated to. And, yes, you can certainly drop food by my house tomorrow. I think that covers all of the questions.

Everyone once in awhile I get so much on my plate that I feel overwhelmed. Too many things come up at once. Too many demands on my time, and emotional strains at once. And the flight reaction kicks in. I want to shut down, run away, and be alone for about a week. Ever feel like that? No? It's just me?

So I canceled everything this week. Except the field trip on Friday that we are all looking forward to. I want to focus this week on things that really need my attention. I don't want to worry about any extra activities, needs, plans.

For one thing, The Artist has suddenly started asking some very pointed questions. I knew it was coming. She is in 3rd grade after all. And I want all of her information to come from me. But I was unprepared when the comments and questions started coming. She's still my baby!! Now I feel the need to formulate a plan, and handle this wisely. I don't want to say the wrong thing and warp her for life. (Hence the reason for the new survey question on the left hand sidebar)

I also feel the need to organize my time better. Too many things come up, and I let them in my life without giving it much thought. We need to be more intentional. But I can't even formulate my plan, rewrite my schedule, plan our holiday activities because I'm never home!!! That is going to change.

I asked God to help me have some resolve and just back off for a week. And then I got the stye. Yeah, it looks bad. It's uncomfortable. And it's keeping me home. And guess how long it lasts? You guessed it: one week. God is good.
(I'm not being sarcastic.) He knew I needed some more motivation to just stay home and focus. :-) I'll save you the pain of an eye photo. It's not pretty. (I also have mastitis, so I'm feeling very rundown... and I'll save you from pictures of that as well!)

Sooooo, there you have it. You can email. I may answer, I may not. You can call. I probably won't answer, but I still love you. Call and leave an urgent message if it's important. I'll put my sign "We're busy with SCHOOL." on my front door. And maybe my other sign, too: "Solicitors will be shot. Survivors will be shot again." I can't stand solicitors.

This one week we will be home. Glorious home. No cub scouts, plays, drive-through events, homeschooling functions, extended family functions, MM, church things ....nope, just HOME. I love my home. And I don't get to enjoy it as often as I should. And the kids-- oh, we do so many FUN things, so many school things...but there are so many other things that I would love to incorporate and focus on. So many gift ideas, craft ideas, and other homeschooling resources that we own, that I don't even have time to look through.

Time is such a precious commodity. I've always loved the quote: "Children need quality time; quantities and quantities of it!"

Enjoy your time!!

People Break

I love you guys.

But I'm taking a people break. No emails, calls, visits for awhile. Please understand.

Smooches.

That's what I'm talkin' 'bout!

Okay, so God proved me wrong. I have no problem with that. I'm wrong a lot.

It DID snow, and more than just a dusting. We had a blanket, in fact!!

First we just watched from the windows while we did our schoolwork.

Then we ate some watermelon after lunch (in fact, an entire watermelon in the span an hour hour) to celebrate the first day of December. (Okay, I just made that "tradition" up!)

Next, I let the kids run around in it. They took out the trash, checked the mail, and then just made circles around the house. They made snowballs and threw them at the car, at each other, and at me (as I watched through the window.) Nature Man was particularly worried that Daddy would not get to enjoy the snow, so the kids gathered several bowls of the white stuff to save in the freezer. We'll make a mini-snowman later, after Cub Scouts tonight.

Ahhh, it was a GOOD day. We stayed on task and got our work done. The snow was bright, light, relaxing...and then it melted away and the sun came out. Nice, nice. It's days like this that make me so happy that I don't have to get out and drop my kids off. (Of course, there are other days.... but we won't think about that right now...)