I like to call the picture "Sassy Girl." I love this photo so much because it is an actual family photo taken in Sweden in the year 1905. The young man in the light suit with the moustache is my Great Grandfather Erick. The other people pictured are his siblings. The little girl who grabs your attention with her jaunty, VERY un-turn of the century pose is Emilie, My Great Great Aunt. She was, obviously, the "Queen of Everything"! I love the photo and relate to it in at least 2 ways; One, is that I grew up as a "Rose among thorns".....but I could throw a snake and climb a tree like the rest of my brothers! However, I did have my own room until I moved out of the house, despite the fact that there were 5 Children in a 3 bedroom house! I always got first morning dibs on the only bathroom in the house, I think it was because I remembered to set my alarm early and actually managed to get up in the morning. I did have a precious sister, she joined the family when I was 12, boy was I happy..... yet, for some "magical" reason, I still managed to keep my own room for 5 more years..... hmmmm....I think this is due to the fact that my brothers grew to enormous sizes and flourished in the carpentry trade. Because of this they were able to build rooms for themselves in the basement, a kind of large family "escape hatch"! Well, due to the fact that boys ruled the house, I did have to learn Karate, how to get out of a "full Nelson" wrestling grip, name all the parts of a car engine, clean fish, catch worms and bait my own hook. No room for girlie stuff with all that testosterone about! It makes me wonder what Emilie had to learn & keep up with? The other reason that photo touches my heart is because my daughter is also stepping off in the same direction, A Rose Among Thorns sailing in a sea of dirty socks, smelly boys and interesting pond experiments..... and the best is yet to come. I too gave birth to 4 boys and only one girl.... I call her my oreo cream filling between the chocolate cookies! I do love the whole cookie, but there is only one sweet cream filling to enjoy! Just like My Only Girl, the sweet cream filling between the chocolate boys! So, when I look at that picture I think God must have set this up, boys vs. girls, as a generational joke, he must be having a good laugh, I, for one, enjoy the cosmic joke.  What this has to got do with homeschool...not much I just love the photo! Hey, weren't they all homeschooled back then?

Who needs time to think when we can just rush around accomplishing the unaccomplishable....? ME! After several weeks of busyness, emotional cartwheels (refer to my last blog about my dear grandma) and just "doing what needs to get done" I now, have had the chance to sit down and study the Word of God (Big Bite size chunks! yum!) and reflect. In my reflections, I have realized that in the greater scheme of God's plan, I really just need to trust Him more and rely on the fact that He loves me, and that if I remain in Him, He will remain in me (book of John) AND I must trust in the fact that, as He remains in me, He will accomplish His tasks through me, tasks that He deems necesscary. He is in control! For the homeschooling mother in me this means that I really DON'T have to cross all the t's and dot all the i's. I have learned this fact in greater measure as I have now begun to homeschool "set 2" of my 5 children. Let me explain my child "sets"...God gave us 5 beautiful children, 3 of whom were born almost 1 year apart from each other-set 1. Then God blessed us 5 years later with 2 more children  born 1 & 1/2 years apart from each other-set 2.  Set one is advancing into Highschool, as my oldest son is 15! Set 2 is just starting off into proper grammar school. I am enjoying the fact that God is in control and sometimes things fall through the cracks for a purpose! according to His greater plan He did not needs those thing to be done. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy doing school, we do write papers and study languages, ect,  but, I am learning how to enjoy the process of teaching them truth as we move about our daily lives instead of just accomplishing mulitple the procedures of "the program" . I am learning to seek a balance between our "schooling" and our "real life".  I have realized that taking my children to visit their great-grandma instead of a doing "full day of school" has accomplished more in their hearts than 15 memorized Bible facts! BTW- we can do our Bible memory verses "on the fly"! We can read that great history novel together in the car with books on tape. We can see and discuss the greatness of God as viewed through Science & Creation as we move about our day.....So my prayer is...Lord help me trust you more & Love others like you would have me love them....AND then help me accomplish my daily tasks as You remain in me and ....

SILLY STORY

I was with all 5 of my children at a park. I was holding the baby, who was about 1, in my arms and the others were milling about close by. I was trying to gather them so we could head toward the car so we could go home.  I couldn't find child #4!!! I became worried & started asking franticly where the 3 year old was.....My 3 older children all looked at me funny and said, "Mom, you're holding his hand!?!" ".......oh...... "  It's been 5 years since this incident and still they torment me with it's memory! As the saying goes, some things are worth remembering......for some!

Got up, too early, I forgot to reset the most important clock in the house, my alarm clock  and....well, we've all done it, we end up getting an "extra hour" in ways we hadn't expected. I read. I prayed. I ran. I feed 6 people, found their shoes, coats, books, backpacks and HOMEWORK! Really, I do not know the how families who attend "traditional" school do it!!! Co-op mornings are CRAZY! I dropped off half the kids at their co-op classes and then took the others shoppping...can anyone say MATH? Yes, a  grocery shopping trip constitutes math some days. Some math questions to use shopping are: Which has the greater value, family size A or six B's? I need 8 of those how many more cans will make 8? (can be used as a subtraction question also!) Will that feed 7 people including 4 boys? I believe the last question has some algebraic qualities, if I could only figure them out how while I'm  trying to read my hastily scribbled list and negotiate a disobediant cart while apologizing to everyone I "bump"! Back to math; Another math activity for shopping is; Can you tessellate those cans and boxes? That last one is considered advanced Math for kindergarten. I might have to run around alot some days and feel as if my feet never touch ground, BUT what I do get after next Monday (co-op shuts down)  is SIX weeks to spend with my children without having to stress them out, almost, every Monday. After next week we can spend some time just reading books, or diving into that study on the book of Revelation we've been working on. (The Revelation study was their choice!) I like Revelation, it comes with a blessing and it previews with an awesome assurance of out GREAT GOD'S love!!! Yep, it's right there in Revelation 1, just after God tells us just how big He is! Anyway, today flew past and I didn't touch home base for nearly 12 hours....But I know my children all learned something today. On the fly, we read 2 DK books on the World Wars, My 12 year old daughter & her friend & I went to the store & used money she saved in order to to purchase a bible for her 8 year old brother. She wanted to congratulate him on his learning how to read! We all purchased a bag of clothes & goodies for a young girl in a Kenyan orphanage. We made treats for their youth group tonight. Now, I get to spend time with my hubby while my 14 year old son takes care of his little brothers. Then, as he says, after they go to bed he will write some more of his book. And my middle son decided to look up more renaissaince works of art on our computer version of the encyclopedia after his older brother shared his "Art of the Western World" video with him.  I love Homeschool! I wouldn't trade this for all the free time in the world...! However, I do enjoy a little time alone in the coffee shop once & a while! For those of you who read this, thanks for coming along on my, very often, unpolished journey.... May you be blessed with the Love of our Great God!

SILLY STORY:

Yes, I love coffee....no excuses...okay, one excuse, I drink only water & coffee...1/2 decaf.... I guess that's 2 excuses. My Children are now up on the fact that I like (read: need) coffee. My 5 & 8 year old wanted to visit a certian bookstore to buy a book. My 5 year old says, as we walk through the bookstore, a fun bookstore that offers coffee, coffee I intended to purchase before purchasing their books says, "looks like the Queen of Coffee should give up her coffee." "Shh!"  Yesterday, at Church this child declared my husband "the King of Coffee"..... too much insight from one so young!.....Uh, 3rd excuse, I don't drink coffee after 2pm..... (except once in a while!)....I'll stop now!

2 Corinthians 4:18
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

I have been to England and have visited many of their awe-inspiring cathedrals. The cathedral that inspired me the most was Winchester Cathedral, it was breathtakingly beautiful (it was the first cathedral I have ever set eye on; they are amazing works of art!). But it wasn't the beauty of the cathedral that came to inspired me. It was the fact that the cathedral was in grave danger of becoming uninhabitable. Its foundations were cracking and giving way. Hundreds of years before, these  foundations hadn't been securely laid. They were not deep enough nor were they soild enough to hold such a weight. The foundation was partly composed of old wood and refuse; these elements were beginning to rot and give way, ultimatly endangering the whole structure to failure. Although the cathedral had stood beautifully for several hundred years it now, was begining to fall apart and crumble in on itself...I thought it interesting and hoped that they could raise the millions of pounds needed to fix it. Even Duchess Sarah had gotten involved to help raise the funds to fix the foundations. It was an emegency situation. The fix included having to send a man down into the boggy, wet underside of the cathedral so he could replace the rotting material with new, solid, longlasting material. Poor man! I put some money in the fund and shook my head. Yet the next morning as I was having a quiet time at our bed & breakfast a thought came to me. I was seated on a windowsill looking out at the rolling countryside. I was praying and asking God to speak with me. He asked me (in my heart) "What kind of building do you want your life & marriage to be?" My answer, "I would like it to look like a lovely cathedral!" God impressed me to look down at what was supporting me. It was the windowsill. The windowsill was actually part of the farmhouses foundation. The foundation of this ancient farmhouse was dug deep into the gound as well as being elevated above the ground level by several feet and it measured at least 3 feet thick. It was solid! God was telling me that although the cathedral, built to glorify Him was beautiful, It was in grave danger because the unseen foundation was not solidly built. But, this farmhouse, built to house a family, a family that possibly attended the cathedral church and brought glory to God through their simple life, this farmhouse was going to last much longer because it's foundation was solid... the question came to mind; Did I want my beautiful life to crack apart because I missed building and taking care uf the unseen yet intensly important part of my building, my foundation? God wanted the foundation of our life to be a foundation built of faith and righteousness going deep in Chirst. The same goes for the unseen foundation I am building in my little cathedrals, My children...So when we feel unseen, and  feel like we are underneath we shall remember that what is unseen by human eyes yet is dedicated to God in service to Him can be the most important part of our lives.

May God give us the grace, peace and strength in order that we may build our cathedrals, our lives & children, strong and mighty for HIm

I've had a pretty good day, because this week I have taught math to my 8 year old every day this week! I know to some of you this may not seem like much of a miracle but, to me it is. I have been homeschooling 4 children (plus 1 "kindergartener") and somedays it just doesn't flow very well. But this week , I did it 5 days of math!!     

Ahh, the pleasure of measurable success was seen!

My older 2 boys have been studying for their first Apologia Biology test and they've memorized some lengthy, complicated definitions...I think I've memorized them myself as I have been quizzing them for the last 3 days...the big test is on Tuesday. We are all worried! Recently, I realized that every time my kids take a test I feel as though I'm being tested too. It seems as though I am being tested on how well have I taught them. So, Tuesday afternoon should be interesting! I shall find out what kind of a day we shall have Wednesday after scoring the test on Tuesday evening! If the test goes well, Wednesday will be a success, if the test bombs....Wednesday will be....sober! For all of us, no one likes to bomb a test, especially the first one of the year! It is sometimes hard not to place my identity in my children. I feel a success when they do well and a doomed failure when they struggle. I am trying to keep my identity in Christ but every so often it shifts... It is like a play on a stage and the spotlight is on Jesus and the other players or "events" in my life take their cue from Christ and respond accordingly. But sometimes the spotlight shifts to another event in my life (or player on the stage) and everything else will take their cue from that player/event and the play of my life will become a mess, all off cue and erratic. I have to prayerfully place the spotlight bavk on Christ. I am learning more and more how to trust Him. (Do we ever fully "get it?") In my study of God's covenant, I have realized just how in control and sovereign God is. He is more concerned about the welfare of my children than I am! As long as I dedicate myself and children to God and pray for them & teach them according to His word I know God will take care of the rest! The history of what He has done for, and how he has loved, the children of Israel is a beautiful reminder of His care for the whole world! Even my little world! What does a Biology test actually matter in the end....very little!

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Oh Lord help me keep the spotlight of my life focused on You!

SILLY STORY: Children have an uncanny ability to catch you off guard and get a yes response out of you, saying yes to things you never intended to say yes to. My story: I had left the older children to care for the little ones while I was busy working in my home based business (I am a hairdresser) I told them that they could watch a pre-chosen (chosen by me) science video AFTER they cleaned up dinner. While I was engrossed in conversation with my customer a child bellowed a question down the stairs at me. I, barely taking the question in yelled back, "yes" after about 15 minutes I realized that I did not hear a droning scientific voice giving slide by slide commentary but a cat and mouse chase, including the silly music! I was about to pounce upstairs myself and replace "Tom & Jerry" with my pre-approved science video... but before I could zip upstairs my customer reminded me of the unintelligible bellow that had come from upstairs was actually, "Can we watch Tom & Jerry..." Dog gone it, they did it again! They slipped in the "Busy Question!" If you ask mom something when she's busy she won't be listening and she'll say yes! So...Tom & Jerry it was...I couldn't go back on my word, maybe we can hook it to science somehow...cat-carnivore, mouse-herbivore......let see, there MUST be a way to make it science

Well, leave it to a newbie to DELETE her whole 1st entry after writing for over an hour and making her kids late for the AWANA Hallalujah night party..this included dressing up 5 children in their various costumes (including one reluctant 15 year old participant, he went dressed in brown and was the door to the C.S. Lewis Wardrobe .... chalk one up for the classic part of my eclectic Homeschool!) Now, I get to have "Date night" with my hubby, which I normally look forward to, except tonight I'd like to resurrect my last Brilliant entry (tongue in cheek). God is sovereign, so he must have known better!

With this blogspot I hope to connect with some other homeschool families or meet those people who are just interested in what homeschoolers have to say. I also hope to write down some of the musings I have during the day about God, Life and...the universe (how pithy!)

SILLY STORY: My 5 year old son was climbing up a tree with his older siblings. he was up fairly high when he suddenly slipped off & tumbled to the ground. Before I had a chance to react, he was up brushing himself off, saying to himself, "Didn't Die!"