|
A few days back before it became cold and wet, my girls were antsy. School was a chore because they just couldn't seem to concentrate. After wading through the essentials, I sent the Kindergartener out with the toddler to play in the back yard. We can see them very easily through the school room windows and we leave the back door open. This ignited a struggle with Allison,my oldest, staring out at them, calling instructions on how they should do this or that, being interrrupted so she could excuse herself to give them just the right "thingy" to use, etc.
Finally I gave up and told her to take 30 minutes and go out with them to play. She immediately jumped at the chance! She changed into her "Laura Ingalls Wilder" dress and called them in to do the same. They set up a wash tub, gathered various towels/scraps/rags scattered throughout the yard left lying around from other adventures, and turned on the water! Allison brought out a bar of authentic lye soap acquired from a local historical village and the "wash day" commenced!
I realized they were deeply immersed in learning history through historical reenactment, learning logic/critical thinking/problem solving by figuring out how to install a fully functional clothesline, and physical exertion by hand washing, stirring, and rinsing the laundry, not to mention wringing it out before hanging it to dry. To top it all off, they got along better than they had in days so I will call that a lesson in civility.
Those days are so precious and my hope is that some day I'll learn to more readily give up my regimented school schedule and let more real life learning happen! When will I learn to fully embrace these unforgettable moments and let go of my dependency upon the schedule and checklist? I'm praying for more opportunities to exchange my "watch tapping" attitude for an attitude in "toe tapping" as I enjoy their whistling while washing in the backyard washtub! :-) |
|
My little Lillian developed a badly congested nose. I called the MRI folks and they rescheduled b/c one can not be congested while sedated or anesthetized. This is apparently God's will so we have rescheduled. Please continue to pray for her healing and well being.
Blessings, Krista |
|
Good morning!
Please lift in prayer my little one, Lillian. She is having an MRI done on 2-15-06 Wednesday. She was born with a cyst on the base of her spinal fluid sac. This MRI will determine where we go from here!
Pray for me as well since I'm on the verge of losing it!
Thanks, Krista
|
|
In the last post, I said I might not post again for a while (except for the Christmas letter I snuck in) and here it is January 4, 2006. I am finally returning to blog.
We had a great holiday season. Lovely Thanksgiving, beautiful Christmas, wonderful vacation in the mountains of New Mexico enjoying a quiet and restful beginning to this New Year!
Recently I've rediscovered a ministry called Abiding Life Ministries International! www.abidinglife.com These folks are a true blessing! Check it out! They minister to defeated believers.
Happy New Year! Krista |
|
Just in case anyone might have wished for it and didn't get it...here it is...the Christmas letter for 2005!
Season’s Greetings! Once again another year comes to a close but not before we celebrate the birth of our Savior. ‘Tis the season for the exhaustion that comes from a late Christmas Eve followed by the glorious heartwarming moments of an early Christmas morning with children. During the frenzy of preparing for the big day, I’ve spent more than a few moments thinking of Mary. I’ve been mindful of this teenage virgin; human like us with feelings like us. In spite of her humanity, God the Father chose her as the vessel through whom JESUS the CHRIST was birthed into this world. It helps me to know that young woman was probably scared, excited, sad, gleeful, worried and happy all at the same time. Maybe even while singing a sweet virgin’s lullaby to the CREATOR. We’ve been back in Allison also had a hard time leaving her Bailey, now five, is a willing participant in all things “olden day” as well. She loves being “Laura” while Allison is “Mary” and Lillian, our 21 month old, is dragged along as “Carrie” (all characters from the Little House series). Bailey thoroughly enjoys Kindergarten at home. She’s whizzing through with an unbeatable eagerness. She especially enjoys our skating, gymnastics and nature group activities. Recently her Dad removed her training wheels at her request and shortly thereafter she mastered two wheel bike riding. Lillian is a bubbly, energetic, albeit dangerous 21 months old girl. Our hair grows grayer daily! Our Lillie thinks she is as big as her sisters, attempting things far beyond her capabilities. A few months back she knocked out a tooth. It was literally dangling by a thread! However, by the time we arrived at the emergency room, she had somehow sucked it back into place. $400 later, the doctors there tell me, “Oh it’ll tighten back up; just keep her on a soft diet for a few days!” On another fun day, she quietly pushed a kitchen chair over to a drawer, where she rummaged around until she found and ate SUPER GLUE! Needless to say, Brett and I were frantic but poison control told us what to do and we all survived! She has a vast vocabulary which only her sisters or I understand. We do quite a bit of translating around here. Curiously she carries an amazing tune and entirely hums “Jesus Loves Me” and the famous Barney song, “I Love You, You Love Me”. We’re so blessed to have all three of our girls and we can only vaguely recall what filled our nights and weekends before they came along. We immensely enjoy our children and their antics. There’s never a dull moment no matter how hard we pray for one! J Brett is completely in his element as General Manager of Fabricon Inc., i.e., the family business. He is relishing in his work there and hopes his efforts produce lasting results for generations to come. He carefully watches his P’s and Q’s since his Mom and Dad are his bosses. Grammy and Grandad are thrilled to have us back in the “5 minutes away” area. They baby sit as often as possible and rest up for the next time in between visits. We’d be glad to hear from you all, or even better, come see us! We love each and every one of you and wish abundant blessings on you and yours during this holy season as well as the coming year! Brett, Krista, Allison, Bailey & Lillian |
|
I'm thinking I might need to explain 'MASTERLY INACTIVITY'. I say that because my husband had a totally confused idea about what it actually is. He thought it meant completely mastering inactivity. NO!!! Not at all!!!
I'll explain. I've taken the phase, MASTERLY INACTIVITY from the famous and fabulous British educator, Miss Charlotte Mason. I endeavor to follow her style, philosophy, example of teaching although, many, many times I fail miserably. But I've also had glimpses of greatness while following her guidelines in my own unique way.
As I understand it (and I may be totally wrong here), Masterly inactivity has multiple definitions.
First, it is the act of being silent or holding back when really, we just want to speak up and make the situation a teaching moment. Sometimes we just need to be quiet, stand back and allow our children to learn from the experience itself and not from our explanation/narration of whatever it is they are experiencing.
Secondly, masterly inactivity is learning from doing. Not passively watching TV but getting outside, lounging on the grass while intently watching a bug climb a blade of grass. Taking hedge trimmings and building a forest for your dolls. Discovering grub worms in the hole you dug. Finding a horse apple, banging it on a stump until it begins to soften, peeling it open only to discover it is actually more like a really hard, green orange. Then surfing the net to research it and finding out the real name for it is an Osage Orange. Then uncovering the story behind its nick name "horse apple".
Learing from activity that may seem leisurely to some. Masterly inactivity.....I love it!
|
|
I'm back for a second day/night in a row. I think I could really get used to this.
Okay, this has nothing to do with homeschooling but.....
I really need to lose some weight. 75 pounds to be exact. I know this. I've known this. I can't get myself motivated to do it. Actually, school does have some to do with it. I'm really busy (like every other home schooling mom). I eat on the run, in the car, I eat whatever is left from their lunch because I had no time to fix myself anything, etc. You know the story.
Anyway, I'm sick of it. I'm putting myself out there, opening up about it, seeking encouragement, accountability, etc. I'm tired of being 2 ton Annie....I want to be skinny Minnie...or at least....average, healthy ME!
Okay, enough about that.
We'll be hitting the books a bit harder tomorrow. Today we spent at the local theatre seeing a musical version of The Little Engine that Could. It was sweet but my oldest daughter was a bit bored. However, anything to get out of the house/classroom.
Friday we go to our 3rd nature study for the year. We meet monthly. This time the subject is leaves. I think that will be far less controversial than the whole mammal study. We'll see...I'll let you know!
Tata for now! Krista
|
|
Well, here we are 3 months later and I'm finally posting my 2nd entry! What a dynamo I am!
Well, let's see. We've been at school for 2 months now. We started September 6, 2005, with, I might add, COLDS! We were all feeling lousy but we had to get going so we took it easy that first week. By Friday, we were all over the illness pretty much, so we attended our first nature group study of the school year. The subject was mammals.
My girls each did a presentation. My oldest daughter did an overview of mammals and I was really proud of her when she was able to scripturally back up some of the controversial issues(yes even among Christian homeschoolers). She saw that coming and planned for it. It was astonishing to discover that even in Christian science books some forms of evolutionistic ideas were present. Our position is that people are NOT mammals. Many science books say we are. Our argument is this. If that is true, why does the WORD differentiate between when animals and man were made? Why not lump man in with the animals?
1st differentiation----In Genesis 2:20-23 God created the birds of the air according to their kinds and all water creatures according to their kinds. God saw it was good.
2nd differentiation----In Genesis 2:24-25 God created land living wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
3rd differentiaton----In Genesis2:26-28 Then God said,"Let us make man in our own image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
God showed us in Genesis the difference between fowl, fish, mammals and man. Now obviously there are other things like amphibians, insects, etc. but apparently God knew we wouldn't be confusing ourselves with a lizard, so He didn't feel the need to expound on those. He did however, make it clear that man is not to be lumped in with mammals.
Of course, we have similar traits to many mammals. Breast feeding, hair, birthing our offspring (there are a couple of exceptions to that in the mammal kingdom). We have the opposable appentage similar to the simians but none of these similarities prove we are mammals. Rather, these similarities prove that we all have the same divine Creator. He placed the similarities in His creation to glorify Himself. We should do the same. We should not degrade His creation by classifying man as an animal. Man is unique, different and ruler over animals.
Wow, did I digress or what!?! By the way, I'm not posting to argue with anyone so please, let's not. This is my blog. If you have a different opinion about the mammal/man issue, post it on your blog. I mean that with sincere kindness...really.
Anyway, I was especially pleased with my Kindergartener. She actually made a verbal presentataion in front of the whole group. On top of that, she winged it because I had not worked with her on a verbal presentation. She kept saying she wasn't going to do it and I told her that was fine. We took an armload of stuffed toys as we planned to do a display of them for her presentation. She presented every single mammal, telling what each one was, as well as something about it. That was awesome!!
We've been sick 2 more times since that first week with colds and I actually missed the State Fair because of one of those illnesses. My darling husband took all three girls (18 months and up) to the fair. They had a wonderful, albeit, expensive time! I wasn't there to say, "No, I don't think so. Not this time. Sorry, can't afford it." And you know what? We haven't even missed that money. I guess I need to lighten up. However, Grandad did contribute to the funding of the day so it didn't hit our pocket as hard as it could have.
Well, we are headed into the holiday months so I may or may not be posting for a while again. It's so fun! I just need to make time for it. How do other people do it?
Blessings, Krista |
I had planned to post every week or so but obviously that was unrealistic! 
Yea Grandad!|
Greetings and blessings to all,
This is my first blog ever! It's exciting to have a diary of sorts again. This is a bit different than my childhood diary in that it is available for all to see.
I imagine it will be similar to my childhood diary in that the entries will be sporatic and my enthusiasm for it will wax and wane.
Blogging onward, Krista
|
