Homeschooling mom to be.

Where did the time go?

I am finding it hard to believe we're into July already!  The summer feels like it's just beginning!  Since we've not been doing any formal schooling, I'm continuing casually with the lessons for my girls.  Mercy is such an avid learner, she is so thirsty for knowledge.  One of her favourite activities is to ask me about something and look it up on the computer together with me.  Her last one was what a xylophone is.  The first was, "how do they make couches, Mama?".  It's actually really fun!

I bought little dollar store cups with bean seeds in them.  I didn't know how well it would work, it was dollar store, after all. But we started them in the house and then transplanted them outdoors.  They grew amazingly well indoors.  Unfortunately, my husband is NOT a garden person, and planted them in the worst spot possible, where they get no sunshine at all.  However, they're hardy little things and they are growing!  I also transplanted some peppermint from my sister's garden.  She thought they were weeds!  I'm going to try my hand at drying the leaves for tea.

We have no travel plans, or even fun day trips planned, since my husband cannot get away from the business at all right now.  He's even been working longer hours in the evenings and usually a few hours on the weekends as well.  But with my mom, if we can cut costs way down, I might see if we can't find something to do.  I have heard of some really good children's museums in neighbouring cities that we might check out.

In all of this, we've had to come to some difficult decisions as well.  My sister-in-law is set to get married on August 1st.  After a lot of discussion, my husband and I had to come to the decision that our girls will not be allowed to spend the night until they are married.  At the moment, her fiance is living there part-time, and they are expecting a child in December.  I realize this may sound harsh.  My girls pick up on things really quickly.  We've already told them that people shouldn't have babies until they're married, since that what God's Word says.  It's nothing personal, which I pray they understand, but I simply cannot jeapordize my children's grasp of right and wrong for the sake of some visits.  They will still be allowed to visit with their aunt and their cousins, just no overnight stays until the wedding takes place.  It was a hard decision to make.  People make mistakes, and learn from them, and move on, but since this is an ongoing thing, we felt this was our responsibility to protect our girls from that type of exposure until they are mature enough to handle it.

Other than that, we spent a lovely day visiting with my newlywed sister on Saturday.  Her husband is in landscaping, so he was working.  We found a walking trail near her house, with some park stops for the girls to have some fun as well.  My sister and her new husband are settling into their very cute apartment nicely.  It's so nice to see the result when God brings two people together!  They're so happy!  I am so thankful that the three of us who are married, God has brought amazing matches for us!  It's so uplifting to see among a world where divorce rates are so high, and vows are conditional.

Well, I'm sitting beside my open window, listening to the birds and my girls, and it's a beautiful sound.  I hope we can add to that in the future sometime.  Things are moving very slowly with getting out of here.  I guess God is trying to teach me to be content wherever I am.  I keep thinking, "When we move I'll do this....."  But perhaps He wants me to do it now, regardless of where we are.  I hope I can learn my lesson well and not disappoint Him.  Have a blessed day enjoying the wonderful sounds of summer!

Mama J.

Untitled Comment

1:31 PM, Jul. 15, 2009 .. Posted by PinkFlamingo

The bean-growing experiment sounds like fun. I remember doing those when I was little. :-)
You're right, the summer is passing quickly! I have a hard time believing it's already mid-July, too.

Thank you for your prayers - I had a great week at camp. I've posted an entry about it along with some pictures.
I've noticed when looking at other camps on the internet, that a lot of them do "family camps" like you mentioned. What all did that involve at the camp you worked at? What kind of activities, etc?

Hope you and your family are having a nice day!
God bless,
Ashley