Do you ever have one of those days where you're sure that Abba is trying to tell you something but you're just not getting it? *sigh* Yesterday was one of those days.

The day before the weather was beautiful and warm! I had all the windows open to air out the stale winter air. Of course, 50* isn't really that warm but it was warm enough! I was able to get caught up enough to clean up the windows in the basement - which I'm ashamed to say I hadn't cleaned since we moved into the house two years ago. There was still drywall mud and concrete splattered on the windows, not to mention the regular mud and other construction crud. What a HUGE difference that made! I was really looking forward to using the treadmill in the basement (I walk a little over a mile a day) the next day to see out the clean windows, just to see what it looks like out there. Miriam and Shalom were out helping DH get the sheep barn finished, and it looks beautiful. It was just a great day - a day that I sung His praises all day long. And I had weighed myself and had noticed that I have lost several pounds in my 'quest' to loose some of my hindquarters and get a little more healthy. Beautiful!

Then yesterday hit. Miriam (age 13) flew out of the house first thing in the morning after looking out the window and seeing 'something'. Turned out that the sick ewe had lambed, and the lamb was alive! What a miracle! (and it was cold outside!) This ewe had been toxic for about two weeks and we didn't expect the lambs to survive, we weren't even sure the ewe would survive. This is a first time mom and she's been very ill so we felt we needed to keep a close eye on her. We noticed that Eliezer's (age 15) only ewe was lambing as well so we stayed in the field, Miriam and I, to keep watch. It should have been 30 minutes or so from the time we saw the second ewe enter the second phase of labor before we saw any lambs. She was pushing very hard and in a lot of pain with no progress. We called the vet - whose secretary asked "How will you be paying for the visit today?". When I heard that this was the line of questioning that Miriam was getting I told her to tell them "Look, this is an emergency. Is it possible to have a vet call or come out?" That was about 3 and a half hours before any vet was able to come. (I even called another vet outfit in the area and told both of them "The first one here gets the money. I'm desperate, do you understand?") Anyway, in our wait for a vet to come help her I had done a manual exam and found that something was terribly wrong - horribly wrong. But not being a vet and not having much experience playing with the insides of birthing ewes, I didn't know what. I kept praying and telling Miriam to pray - that's all we could do. Eliezer wasn't home and if he had been, he'd have been climbing the walls in terror. His life has been so rough in some areas and this would strike a fatal blow to a lot of areas of his life, I fear.

To make a long story short, his ewe died. The uterus had ruptured at the top at some point, we think it may have started a week or two ago, and the cervix tore off of the uterus (explaining why it felt so wrong inside). The first lamb was breech and upside down, with his lower back presenting first, so the force of his little body against her cervix ripped it off. Can you imagine? By the time the vet got here he had a hard time making sense of what was going on inside but he felt no movement of any of the lambs - they were all dead. Not only that, there was no way he could get the lambs out to be absolutely sure. Still, no movement shows a huge problem and a total of 5 hours in hard labor is bad news for them too. We had to put the ewe down due to her internal damage. Miriam just cried and cried as she held Eliezer's prize ewe. DH stood and watched with great big tears in his eyes too - we all knew the impact this would have on Eliezer. *sigh*

In the meantime, Miriam's ewe that had lambed gave birth to another one but this one was stillborn. That was a very disturbing thing for her and Shalom as they were the ones "attending" her. She wouldn't let the living lamb suck, being so tender and all, so the two kids were milking her by hand and bottle feeding the little ram lamb.

While all of this was going on, DH went to rent a bobcat to get some dirt work done for his parents, who live in an in-law suite next to us. He is building them a garage. On his way down the drieway one of the rear tires blew out - a hole the size of a large grapefruit. The "BANG" was rather loud. So DH spent the day not working on his parent's place but getting this tire replaced (how else do you return equipment when you can't tow it?) and helping Miriam and I with the ewe when we needed it. He had just taken Reuven (age 10) and Shmuella (age 8) to school, which was a wonderful blessing that they didn't have to be home to experience the same day we did. But then that evening BIL came over just after dark and started telling DH how stupid he is for doing what he's doing and that it's not even worth FIL/MIL having a garage if it can't be a certain way (it is this way because of the county zoning department - nothing we can do). There's nothing like your brother-in-law of 25 years and 'best friend' to come and kick you while you're down.

What a day, huh? When Eliezer got home he was devastated. All I kept saying is that "Yah works all things together for the good of those who love Him are called according to His purpose. Somehow there will come good from this, even though I just can't see it right now. For some reason this was allowed to happen to grow good things in us." Still, I really hate this.

You see, if this were the first time that might be okay. But it's not. Last year a very similar thing happened with Miriam's first lambing ewe. She lambed quads and then three days later died. Turns out she had a ruptured uterus too and slowly bled to death. We never knew. When I asked the vet how common this is, he said it was very rare and even more rare to have it happen twice in a row. Considering the size of their flock, it's astronomical that it'd happen again. Is it a rite of passage for our kids to have their first birthing animals die? It isn't comforting to hear that the odds are seriously stacked against them for this to happen like it did. But it brings a glimmer of comfort to know that it's not likely to happen to the remaining ewes left to lamb this year. Still, there has not been ONE successful lambing here at our place for our kids - ever.

The sun never came out yesterday - it was overcast and cold all day long. DH had to work till 9:00 at his parent's place to get the work done that he had planned on getting finished before noon. Nobody ever ate breakfast (except the two who went to school) or lunch, and dinner was just leftovers from the fridge. All we accomplished yesterday was Bible reading before bed, when DH came inside. Poor Shalom was outside helping DH by carrying dirt in the tractor and dumping it for him and crashed (at dusk) into a post, ruining a gate and fence line. After that he just parked the tractor and came in to sit by me and cry. It was more than he could take in one day.

But in every day there has to be blessings, right? So let me list the few (though some are huge). Miriam was devastated for her brother so after he was able to digest what had just happened to him and his prize ewe, Miriam told him that he could have her ewe that just lambed and the little lamb. She was giving it to him because "I don't want to see you lose everything." Wow. What a sister! She told him that he could sell her later on and get a better ewe too and that the ram lamb is his to do whatever he wants with - sell him or raise him for this years fair. DH was able to find a tire in the barn that fit the truck, but it's not in the greatest condition. We still will need to get new tires but at least he can get the rented equipment returned today. FIL noticed our trauma and went to get us all McDonalds for lunch, which nobody ate for fear of getting sick to their stomaches. LOL BUT he noticed and did something for us, which was a blessing. We'll never tell him what happened to those burgers...

I felt all day long that HaShem was trying to tell us, at least me, something and that I just wasn't getting it. If this is just a test to grow good things, I can deal with that. If there's a roadblock somewhere between us and Him that is causing these things to happen, I want to know what it is and how to get rid of it! If there's hidden sin somewhere (we had read about Achan and the battles at Jericho and Ai the night before) then I want it revealed so we can deal with it and do t'shuva. Everything is spiritual, everything has purpose, everything has it's reason - what on earth is yesterday's reason or purpose? I'm so tired of this happening and the fact that it happens to our kids just makes it worse. Being a parent and standing by helpless as your children suffer horrible loss is terrible. I'm so tired of the fact that Miriam has had to struggle so much just to get her sheep up and running. The trauma we had the first year she had sheep has never left - it just continues every year in one form or another. Never mind the awards and achievements she's won over the past 5 years, it all has come at a very high price. She's feeling like maybe she doesn't belong in the sheep (or any animal) industry at all. Now, this from a girl who is a better vet than some vets we've had out - this is a sign of a seriously broken heart and breaking spirit. What does a Mama do? I hate this!

So, that was our no good, horrible, very bad day. I have no clue how HaShem is planning to make this turn out for the good...

I e-mailed my dad, who is a pilot and stuck in Denver right now, that if he's interested in understanding our family a little better he would be welcome to check out my blog. After all, he has all that spare time on his hands, right? He had made a comment to me recently that he is glad we're doing what we are and learning a new language and new traditions and such. Basically it was a backhanded way of saying, "You aren't really serious, this is a phase. You're just trying to be different. There's really no validity to what you're living and believing. But it's good that you're teaching the kids something outside of what is considered normal." Offended I was (which is rare). But that got me back to a series of thoughts that I've been thinking for quite some time now. I thought I'd take a few minutes and write them out and see what other readers think. Who knows, maybe someone related to me might read this and a light will turn on and understanding of our family might become more clear.

What is the Torah Pursuant/Observant Believer like? To what can we compare this mindset and way of life? Take a step back with me and lets revisit the Reformation. What did Martin Luther find, struggle with that eventually force him to draw a line in the sand? He found that the traditional church of his day was not in line with Scripture. He took a stand, a stand that began to change the world. The Reformation was a good and necessary thing, it was only the beginning. We move on to the Puritans and Separatists (Thanksgiving wasn't that long ago) who were continuing with the work that began in the Reformation. These people worked very hard, sacrificed so much, to keep their faith pure and separate from the world and things that were not Scriptural. All of these people were striving to purifying their faith and lives. When our family watched the 3 hour tv special this year, "The Untold Story of the Mayflower", we saw glimpses of ourselves! It was amazing! One of our children turned to me and said, "So we're like the Puritans - sort of."

So what is this thing we're "caught up in"? It is a modern day continuation of the Reformation and the Puritan/Separatist movements. We, as a family, have been studying the roots of our faith and learning about how the Christian church got off track - so off track that the Reformation and Puritan/Separatist movements were necessary. We have been studying and examining our lives trying to bring our family back on track, back onto the Scriptural track. To many we look funny, we act funny, we are "legalists". To others we are backward and silly. But what we have found is that G-d has never changed, what He wanted in the beginning is what He still wants today. We find that when the Messiah came He did not come to abolish the Torah but to fill it fuller and to show us how to live in such a way. We realize that Paul was a Pharisee who never forsook G-d's Torah and never taught others to do so. Being legalists is - well - a compliment of sorts. That means that we do our best to follow G-d's ways, His laws, His Torah. Mercy and grace are not "New Testament" concepts for even before the Messiah came the Torah was full of mercy and grace, just as it is full of righteousness and a holy standard. Just like most of our society follows the laws of the land, we are also trying to adhere to the laws of the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. We are, after all, grafted into this family line by our faith in the Messiah and there is but one law, one standard, that all believers will be judged by.

Here is where my time runs out and my thoughts continue to run along inside my head. I have tried to brush the surface of my thought but having the kids running around the house starting on their Shabbat preparation chores and I'm sitting here at the computer, I remind myself that I need to get a move on! Tonight is a big night! The Sabbath begins, it is Hanukkah week, AND it is expected that tonight will be a new moon. WOW! Big night! So I need to get a move on and I can't continue with my thought. But what I'd like to ask is that those reading would give me their ideas and thoughts on this. If you consider yourself Messianic or Torah Observant/Pursuant, do you think that we are simply a continuation of these movements in history? If you are a Christian who does not agree with our family's stance on the relevancy of Torah and such, what do you think of us "strange ones"? ;-)

There are many groups who are continuing the Reformation in various ways and I honestly believe that these groups are coming closer and closer to one another. But we need to keep moving in the right direction - there's no use steering a ship that doesn't move! What we're going to have to do soon is abolish the segregation between our "groups" and worship Him in unity and truth. Having the Torah Pursuant believer living and working our our salvation hand in hand with the Reformers and the Baptists and the Non-Denom.s and the Messianics - we all serve the same Master after all, right? Is this possible in our lifetimes? Can it begin with us?

I have my in-laws coming over to "observe" how we keep Hanukkah tonight, more for giggles and for entertainment (as if we're the local freak show) than out of a desire to know us better or understand our motives. This being a big night for celebration and remembering our Creator, I really have to get going. But I am also very interested in hearing what others think - whether or not you agree with me. Constructive criticism is very valuable, so don't be afraid to point out where I've gone wonky. :) I appreciate it when people shine the light on my errors. And if you have thoughts to add - please do so! This in no way fully explains all the thoughts that I have running around inside my head concerning this subject, but it is a start.

Blessings to you all. May your Sabbath rest be sweet, may your Hanukkah celebrations be full, and may this new month bring blessings abundantly to you and your home!

Our weather has been - well - harsh. First the flooding then the winds then the 2' of snow that stayed around for over a week and now we're back to wind. The wind storm that is expected to hit us tonight is going to top the previous wind storms so we expect to be without power yet again, maybe for a few days. Perfect for Hanukkah. :) It'll make the candles a LOT brighter and emphasize the point of "letting our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father Who is in heaven" and "a city on a hill cannot be hidden" (Matthew 5).

I have had a lot I have wanted to write about in the last few weeks but between power outages and weather damage and now weather preparation, I just haven't had time.

So to those of you who keep Hanukkah, Hag Hanukkah Sameach! We'll be celebrating The Light of the World (John 8:12) with you and remembering that the Master thought it was a worthy enough event that He traveled from the Galilee region, where He spent the majority of His ministry, to Jerusalem (John 10:22-30), something He only did at the major festivals. While He was there, He told the people that He IS the Messiah. Significant things! We'll be celebrating a standard of holiness and righteousness that does not leave room for compromise and how to strive to live in such a way - to work out our salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12). We'll be living out our anticipation of His return as we study the 10 virgins (Matthew 25), who is ready and who is not, and we'll assess what kind of bride we are as we wait for His return. We'll be studying about how Y'shua told us that the days of the Maccabees will be repeated in the end, but maybe in a spiritual sense because Scripture does include the statement, "Let the reader understand the allusion" with His statements in Matthew 24 and Mark 13. There is more, but the lights are flashing and I want to get this posted.

So, Shabbat Shalom, Happy Hanukkah, and blessings to you all! :~) I'll be back when I can...

My DS, age 11, Shalom picked Hanukkah as his monthly report topic. I thought it was an appropriate subject to share with others here as it is Hanukkah time AND it's a homeschooling report. :) I have corrected his rough draft (for spelling, incorrect information, etc) but have not yet looked at his final report. I'm going to read it after I post it. Why, you might ask? Well it is part of an effort to share what his work really looks like as well as an effort to share with others who have kids about that age what kind of work another kid is doing. This is the boy that has just started to really read in the last few months (see previous post about his newly discovered joy of reading). Another reason I posted this is because he wrote with the desire to share it with others. He changed Y'shua to Jesus and Torah to Bible so that others will understand it better. He has given me permission to post his report and has asked that if others have comments to please make them (he likes feedback and constructive criticism as much as I do).

Shalom's Hanukkah Report

Have you ever wondered what Hanukkah is? Hanukkah is the festival of dedication. It dates back to 165 years before the Messiah was born. Hanukkah is a fun holiday to celebrate with games, treats and gifts. I think that all believers should celebrate Hanukkah because its meaning.

The Greek king of the Selucid Empire, named Antiochus, made it illegal to worship God. Antiochus decided that he was god. The Jews that would not compromise got tortoured and killed. Antiochus made it illegal to obey God's commandments. The Greeks went into the temple and stole the menorah, the table of shew bread, the alter of incence and everything that was made of silver or gold. A Greek officer tried to get a priest named Mattathias to eat unclean meat sacrificed to a pagan god. Mattathias refused but another man came up and said ''I will''. Mattathias stuck a sword through the Greek officer and the other man. Most people assume that when Mattathias did this he was in his 80's. After this happened, war broke out between Antiochous's men (or the Greeks) and a small group of Jewish fighters. The war lasted three years. Mattathias was killed during the war and Judah, his third son, took over the little band of fighters. The Greeks brought out their war elephants, something the Jews had never seen before. It was probably very terrifying to see the elephants. Simon, Mattathias's son, died after killing a war elephant when it fell on him and crushed him. After three years the Greeks gave up because God was fighting for the Jews. Mattathias, Judah, and his two brothers became known as the Maccabees, which means Hammerer, because of there motivation to protect there faith. After the war Mattathia's sons and other priests went to the temple to restore it. They cleaned it all up and rededicated it to God. The rededication of the temple lasted for eaght days. It was a great celebration and that is where Hanukkah came from.

There are good reasons to celebrate Hanukkah. the Bible says Jesus celebrated Hanukkah where we find ''at the time of the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem (in the winter) Jesus went to the temple of Solomon" in John 10:22-23. The only time Jesus went to Jerusalem is at the festivals, so it must of been inportant to him. Jesus refers to him self as the light of the world in John 8:12 and Hanukkah is called the festival of lights today. The light is a simble of Gods righteousness so if Jesus is the light of the world then he is like our candel on our Hanukkiah. If there is one candle in a very dark place it is very bright, it shows you where to go. so let the light of Jesus shine thru you to evrybody. There is some very good oportunities to learn about Jesus at Hanukkah.

There are a lot of ways and traditions to celebrate Hanukkah take dreidels for instance. A dreidel is a four sided top with the Hebrew letters; nun, gimmel, hay and shin. The leters mean, a great miracle happened there. To play you have to have money or chocolate and a dreidel. Each player gets ten pices of money or chocolate the rest of the money or chocolate goes into a pot. First you spin the dradle and if it lands on nun you get none of the pot if it lands on gimmel, congratulations you get all the chocolate in the pot! If it lands on hay you get half the pot, if it lands on shin you have to put four chocolates or money in. We play dreidle becuse the when the Greeks came, the Jews had to hide the bible and pretend they wer playing dreidel. During Hanukkah you get lots of treats like; jelly donuts, candy and potato pancakes or latkes. Tradition says that the Jewish women fried latkes and handed them to the Jewish solders when they passed by. Making latkes is simple, all you have to do is grate potatoes and then fry them in oil. Latkes are a very tasty treat. Another tradition is lighting a Hanukkiah. The Hanukkah is a Menorah with two extra branches for a toltel of nine branches. We light one candle every night of Hanukkah.

Hanukkah is a holiday that is a good learning experience and a way to get a closer relationship with God by understanding more about Jesus. So next Hanukkah I hope that you will be able to cellebrate it and have a lot of fun.

I'm sitting chuckling at myself and thought I'd share it with you all to see if anyone else ever finds themselves doing this. I have a few minutes of spare time. We've spent the day with the vet and our best cow, apparently she's been poisoned (not a malicious thing, but probably someone threw something into a field in the spring/summer and it got into the hay we bought). *sigh* So school is off for the day, besides Reuven and Shmuella have half days at school and that tends to mess up our schooling plans too.

Anyway, I have a few spare minutes and I thought I'd check my e-mail, my blog, and a few other places. I used to have a lot to keep me busy online, but that was in the past. LOL Today, there is nothing to check - no activity at the places I tend to check. Not even bills to pay or a checkbook to balance. LOL "Back in the day" I used to be flooded with actual e-mail that needed my attention, in the neighborhood of 100 messages a day. Today I've had 3 messages - two daily devotionals and one spam message. LOL

I guess that I've weaned myself from all those activities that "required" my regular attention and now that I have a few minutes - I have no place to go. It's a good thing, really. I just find it funny that there's a twinge of disappointment. I'm sure I'm not alone though, or am I?

I'm laughing because I have worked hard to wean myself from all these extra activities that took all of my time and attention. Now that I realize I have actually done that, it's a little disappointing - just a little, tiny bit. It's funny, but it is a blessing.

See? I didn't even have anything to really write about! LOL Okay, I'm getting the hint and I think I'll go pick a book to read since I have some time to do that...

Let everything that has breath, PRAISE THE L-RD!!

This is intended to be a place where anyone, everyone, can share their praises of and blessings from the Creator of the Universe! When He works in our lives, we need to share it with others. When He blesses us, we need to tell others about His goodness. When we feel down, we need to praise Him. He is more than worthy of all of our praise. So let's join together with all of His creation and praise Him!

I praise Him for my family, children that love Him and children that are learning to. For my husband who is a wonderful man, full of wisdom and strength. I praise Him for all of His provision for our family - even when it doesn't seem to be coming in the time I expect it. I praise Him for His Salvation (Yahshua - means Yah is my salvation) and for opening up the Scriptures to me and to my family. I praise Him for His discipline in my life, because He only disciplines those He loves as sons and daughters - AND I have grown through those times. I can't praise Him enough!

Give thanks to the L-RD for He is good. His love endures forever! Come, celebrate His goodness with me...

There's nothing quite like being a day late and a dollar short. *sigh* Sorry. It has been busy here and I have wanted to write about Thanksgiving but I never got the chance. When I did have time to write, the thoughts in the front of my mind were my husband and my children.

So, let me direct you to a friends blog, Turkey Day or Sukkot the Sequel. What he wrote here is likely close to what I would have written myself here.

I was even asked by a dear friend, "Do you keep Thanksgiving?". I understand her question and I appreciate her feeling comfortable in asking. :) Yes, we LOVE Thanksgiving! I suppose I didn't feel a pressing need to write about it because everyone seems to already know about Thanksgiving and any day set aside to give thanks and praise to HaShem is a good day. :)

We have a lot of work to do today to prepare for Shabbat after we help DH at work today. I'd love to stay and write more but I can't right now. Hopefully soon I'll be able to get back and write a little more. I came across a news article the other day while at the kids' piano lessons that has stirred some thoughts in my mind that I'd like to write about as well.

Blessings to you and your house this Shabbat! May you find His peace and His rest as you wait on Him. Shabbat Shalom!

Last night there was a mens group meeting and DH wasn't sure he wanted to go. He spends so much time away from home and I often need him here - if for nothing else than for my own sanity. The men talked last Shabbat about getting together regularly and DH was thrilled with the idea then. But last night was one of the first nights he would be able to stay home in the evening and just be with us. So he called one of the other men to let him know that he was going to stay home, something I really wanted him to do. I wouldn't have begrudged him if he went, but I really wanted him to stay home. The other gentleman asked him if he'd please go and even offered to help him get whatever project done after the meeting if that was what was keeping him home. Needless to say, he went to the meeting. He felt like his friend really wanted him to go and we agreed that it'd be a good thing for him to go, even though we both wanted him to stay home.

Well, this man who wasn't a leader when we got married is an AMAZING leader today. :~) He came home beaming and bubbly (I was exhausted and a little irritated with his sudden noise LOL). These men really respect my husband. :~) They had a great meeting where they talked about praying for their wives. He was so excited. He had had some great conversations with the men and was able to encourage a few of them with stories of his own experiences. He had taken his "Power Of A Praying Husband" with him, on a whim, and left it for any of the men to borrow. As he was recounting the evening we were realizing just how blessed we are together, to have such a close friendship with each other and such a tight bond. Not every family has what we have, and I suppose we never really thought about it. Our first years of marriage were terrible. Most people say their first years were wonderful and a delight - ours were miserable. We never thought of separating but we did talk about settling for "as good as it gets" which was really quite bad. To think that we're here now is amazing.

I'm blessed to have the husband I have. :-) He felt he was able to minister and encourage a few of the men as they lead their wives and love them. Our hearts break for some of the families in our congregation, there are things we've seen over the past few months that cause us great concern - things we've been through ourselves. I'm so blessed that he was able to talk to them about that and share encouragement with them. Our own sufferings are for a purpose - to help others when they are in the same suffering.

In talking we have discovered roughly when and exactly what has brought us together at the level we are. TORAH! Surprise? Before we "discovered the Torah" we were at odds often, irritated with each other, we had multiple outside influences that wreaked havoc in our lives, and life was not really enjoyable. Since we've accepted the Torah the statement "a cord of three strands is not easily broken" makes so much more sense! No more is there fighting, irritations are easily solved quickly and happen almost never now, the outside influences have almost all stopped in their attacks on our marriage, our home is a house of peace - shalom! I am so blessed. I hear long time friends tell me about the drastic change in our family since we've found the Torah - it's not just our assessment, but it's the assessment of others as well. To YHVH be ALL glory and honor!!

For years it has been difficult to get our son, Shalom (age 11), to read but he's finally doing it on his own and now I can't stop him! He is an active and busy boy, something in my family heritage. LOL For him to sit still and concentrate has always been like pulling teeth. So getting him to sit still and read hasn't been very successful over the years. Many times I'd get frustrated or concerned about this. I have done many read-aloud books with the children as well as evening Bible reading time and always this precious boy of mine is busy - coloring, playing with blocks, etc. He's listening very well, but he's busy.

I've always had the theory that if one can't read (Shalom could read very well, he just didn't) that the one unable to read wouldn't be behind once he did learn. If a child learns to read at age 8 he starts reading at an 8 year old level and if one starts to read at age 12 he starts to read at a 12 year old level. It's a theory I've had but I have been unable to test it. LOL I have always hoped that this theory would apply to a desire to read in some loose way as well.

So Shalom, my boy, has been a source of concern for me when it comes to reading. NEVER did I ever think that I would have trouble getting him to put a book down! These past two months he's read almost everything in the house! Something clicked! At the moment he has one book up in his bedroom and one in the living room - and one in the van. :-) He can't stop reading. DH commented to me this morning as he was getting ready for work that "I can't believe it. He's sitting on the couch reading when you call us for dinner and he just can't put the book down. He has to tear himself away for dinner then after dinner he's back at the book again. Who is this kid?"

So, those of you who have children and you simply cannot get them to sit still and dive into a book - there is hope. Keep reading to them, keep encouraging them to read themselves. Even if it's a short little baby book, if it's of interest to them let it be. Someday it'll click. It's not only a relief because I want to instill in each of my kids a joy of reading and learning, but it's a pleasure to see this one in particular enjoying his book. (that also means that he's still and quiet for a bit - though he's still tapping or humming or wiggling or something...)

Guess what he's reading right now - the encyclopedia (in the kitchen by his fish tank)! He's reading up about yet another jazz musician that he is wanting to do his public presentation this winter on. READING... Learning... Self-motivated!!!!

Update: After I posted this we had breakfast. After breakfast I noticed Shalom and Reuven, age 10, over at the adult book shelf (yes, I have separate bookshelves, they're even arranged by category...). Shalom was telling Reuven which books in the historical fiction section are good ones to read and where they fit in chronological order and in the Bible, the basic gist of each book and why he thinks Reuven would like to read that one. *contented sigh* Shmuella got irritated that I asked her to pick a book from the kids shelf to read rather than the adult one. LOL So she picked "Don't Know Much About The Pilgrims" from the section that contains the books that go along with what we're currently studying. LOL Yes, I can say "anal about my books". LOL I think I have the heart of a librarian...