I have two wonderful friends, Esther and Bridgette, whom I teased all the time. You see, they enjoy reading Amish stories. I would never make fun of quilting, since I am a quilter, but why would you read an ENTIRE book on churning butter. I mean, every page must read the same: Got up at five am, milked the cow, put the cream in the churner and I churned and churned and churned until I got butter. hehe-silly me!
They kept insisting-no, its not like that, they're wonderful stories.
Fast forward about a year and we've exchanged all the Christian fiction we have and Esther drops off three Amish stories. There they sat, staring me in the face, until one night, I cracked one open out of sheer boredom. Well, not boredom really-lack of wanting to pull anything else out to do at 8pm really.
I stayed up until 1am and finished that book. And to top it off, I stayed up the next two nights until 1am finishing the other two books.
Now, I'm hooked. Esther just dropped off four more books-no sleep for the Amish readers!
I write the following post for myself of our homeschooling journey. However, I hope it's of benefit to others as they will reach this stage all too soon. We're beginning a new journey and although our story is not a perfect one (as you'll read below), real life rarely is. We're human; we make mistakes. Inevitably. But we serve a God who has all in order and who makes all things perfect in His time. We rest in that.
Our Story -
My first son, Seth, has finished high school. It happened rather unexpectedly. You might think that very strange and I hesitate to even write it because it does sound rather odd. How could it happen without it being somewhat planned?
It all started with a 1 day class I went to back in January where Mary Schofield was the speaker. She spoke on jr./sr. high school and how to set up a course of study, write transcripts, etc. After her class, I was motivated to come home and write down everything my son had done for his studies up to that point. We have been keeping track of grades and courses but I needed to write out exactly what my requirements were for him to graduate.
When I did this I could see that he had did ALOT. My heart became heavy and yes, tears did flow because I thought of all the work I had put upon him. I know we homeschooling parents tend to do more then we should just because we feel so uncertain that we're making right decisions. And of course, we wouldn't want to let the homeschooling community down.
When looking over my requirements and what he had already completed, I could see he had enough credits to graduate right then. But I wasn't ready. It was just too abrupt. I had so much more I wanted to do with him. My baby (he's my oldest but he's still my baby) would be moving on. This time of life would be completely passed.
So we continued on and he was fine with this for he was enjoying what he was doing (Ambleside Online).
Then came the church project. Our assembly is building a church. We're just a small congregation and so my husband, who is not a contractor, but knows as much as one, is in charge of the project. My boys have been called upon to help quite a bit, especially Seth. This has been very frustrating to me because I like to see little check-marks next to each subject as it's completed. And I knew it wasn't happening.
Here it is folks. The whole enchilada as to how he graduated sooner then I expected. In a weak moment (I have a lot of those.) I said to him, "Son, if you want to say you've graduated that's fine. You have enough credits, so it's not like you haven't done your work."
The problem was he ran with it. In a few days I wanted to take it back but whereas I was feeling regret, it inspired him to action. He had given his future career decisions some thought but this moment really propelled him to take a harder look at things.
I know we ask God to direct our paths and that he can even use our "weak moments" to perform His will. I can only trust that this was the case here. It's hard sometimes as a mother though, to just let go.
She is giving away three of these books to her readers -- two in the United States and one outside of the U.S. So, all of my Canadian and British friends... and Jimmie -- go check out her giveaway! Deadline is Monday, August 4, 2008.
Now, granted, I know portions at "sit-down" restaurants tend to be more than one can eat in one sitting, but I found this blog entry (from a mother in Malaysia) to be very thought-provoking in regards to the abundance that we (as Americans) hoard have.
Here's the statement that caught my attention:
(it’s a U.S. kids portion, that means the food was a lot!).
Please note: I am not responsible for the content of other webpages. There were some other entries on the aforementioned blog that may not be suitable for children.
There's so much going on here, so much to keep up with. Everyone has a huge need at the moment, which is not an easy situation for a mommy.
The boys new homepathic consult comes up in another week & a half; they seem to be past the point of any more "clearing" activity, hopefully.
Big Guy had similar issues as last month, such as heavy wetting, some diarrhea, & a few meltdowns. Lately he's just been very giddy & loud (stimmy noises) at times. He's been a lot more "huggy". There are times I see a positive difference in his demeanor. It's not always, but it's there.
Little Guy also had a similar reaction as last month, although not great. Last month he started refusing his remedies, but he got past that with some persistence & took them fairly easily again. This month he's decided he no longer wants his goat yogurt in the morning, which is the only way I could get vitamins in him. I had also hid (he did know they were there actually but never minded) them in applesauce, so he doesn't want that anymore either.
Needless to say I was not pleased. Many of his vits & supps have been rather helpful, with his autistic behaviors & health-wise. For the past couple of days I've been able to put them in a little juice & use a dropper to get them down him. He's not taking them happily, but at least he's getting some of them; I'm picking the ones I think are most beneficial at this point.
One odd thing is he's running up to me for the remedies now! Some might recall he used to run from me when this first started, so this is a major positive thing which I do hope continues!
And thankfully his support remedies cover the bases all the vits & supps were meant to as well, so I guess that has kept him above water. Some have even mentioned him maybe not needing all the ones he used to get, now that he's so well supported homeopathically, which may be true too; we'll certainly discuss all this next consult.
So far he has not had any respitory reactions (praise God!), which he's been on a support remedy to prevent. I think he's past the point of concern now, hopefully, but I'll keep giving him that remedy for a few more days full strength, then taper off a bit. It's not the last time we'll have that concern though; he has more clearings of that nature coming up, even bigger than this past month.
This week has been more taxing for me, in that I've been preparing for a little birthday party for the babies, who will turn one year next week (stay tuned for more info with pics!). I enjoy it, but at the same time it's tough right now, especially not knowing how the boys will handle it all. I prepared ahead, ordering in all the presents, as well as Little Guy's since he will be 3 soon after. Today I was able to get some much needed cleaning done, as the babies were a little more patient this morning then they have been lately. I haven't been able to complete lesson plans for next week yet though, & doubt I'll get to it before the weekend now. It's probably fine though, as at this point I'll not be starting Butterfly's new program for another week, & haven't made any changes for Storyman yet. Their work has been light lately, which they should enjoy while it lasts!
The days will be getting very full shortly. We still need to complete the next module for RDI training; Mike finally caught up to me. I will try to get to that Sunday probably. I'm also trying to implement Floortime for Little Guy, which seemed more appropriate for him given his younger age & ability to be engaged a bit easier than Big Guy at this point. More on that soon...
The Ladybugs are doing well, even though they are very tiny girls. Ladybug I has had a growth issue, which I've spoken to my natural practitioner about. Being she's doing great developmentally she's not concerned. However, I went ahead & did a consult with a classical homepath for her. He's chosen a remedy that really encompasses several things that are applicable to her, especially since teething has really interfered with good nursing the past few months. I pray that & tweaking my nursing style will help. It should come in next week.
Neither baby is in the least bit interested in solid foods. I've tried about 3 times, with the least allergenic foods, & there were no takers. A couple of times maybe 2 little bites went down but that was it. The last time I took anything out Ladybug I actually cried at the sight of it, so that was it. They are clearly telling me they are not ready, & being we are a food allergy family I respect those cues. Butterfly didn't want a thing to do with solids until she was 15 months old, & she was very tiny until she was over 2, then her growth took off. Turns out she had a severe, epipen worthy nut allergy & a dairy allergy (although not as severe, it does make her sick). Babies know best, & will protect themselves as best they can.
The homepath consulted also felt there was no reason they need to eat at this age, being they are nursed, & we don't want to encourage weaning as all my kiddos regressed upon weaning. They need the protection for a good while as they grow. I'll periodically give it a try here & there with different low allergy foods, & eventually they will show me they are ready to eat. In the meantime they will go back for their one year checkup with our natural family doctor, I'll give the remedy to Ladybug I & probably do another consult at some point for her sister (as finances allow). ALL the kiddos need this intervention, so we'll take it a little at a time as we can right now.
I need more reading time, for autism, health, Biblical living, etc... If I get my vitamins in me it's a good day! I've also got to eat better; lots of protein I'm told. I should probably stop eating cereal for meals so often, even though they're gluten free with goat milk...it's just easy & fast. It may be handling the remedies, as I've heard sometimes the parents feel stuff too, but I've been a lot achier lately & more tired. It definitely feels like the EBV is flaring. My blood work earlier this year showed some pretty bad inflammation. My Vitamin D levels were almost zero; not good. I keep forgetting to take that supplement as well. Now the MB12 shots are giving me welts; can't figure that one out, but I've been skipping it & I need that one too. Mom comes last, but mom can't wear out because everyone needs mom!!
I've also been hearing so much bad news lately; so many people going through terrible traumas in their lives. It seems like many of us Christian women, in different ways, are going through various "valleys" these days. There is tremendous growth in the valley, as difficult as it is. At those really low moments, He quickly has me recall the many I'm praying for who are in such devastating circumstances, & I can come outside my own circumstances in prayer for them & thankfulness for all He's doing for us. I also know there are many praying for us too, & I'm so thankful for them as well.
Sweet cheeks is getting so funny. Tonight Shane was talking to her about stuff. You know planting those future seeds... and she says "hehehe, you funny daddy"
Every night at bed time she starts down the hall and stops halfway and says to daddy "I gonna get to" I gonna get to" she wants Daddy to get her.
Anytime I talk to Shane during the day and she's close by, she says "HI DAAAAAADY" "HI DAAAAAADY"
She has also discovered water from the toilet, but I didn't feel so bad because up until now, she's only stuck her hand in. Apparently Shane used to brush his teeth with toilet water when he was little-- yuck!
Now the not so funny, she just dumped the dogs water... where's the mop??
I just wanted to share some photos of Gabriel that are new and exciting. Amie, a photographer in Pittsburgh, took some photos of him. We don't have the pictures back yet but she did put some on her blog that is on her website. They came out perfect! So natural and peaceful looking, just like his birth! To see them ::CLICK HERE::
Having someone come and take photos of your child is a completely different experience than going to some photo place at Walmart, Sear's, Penny's or even Olan Mills... It is so nice watching someone take their time to get just the right shot and having it so personalized. If you have ever thought getting a photographer to take photos of your family I would say to go for it because it is worth it... and if you live in the greater Pittsburgh area I know just the lady to do it!
Good grief! I guess I did not make myself clear in the post about Mercola's article on shyness and the comment made by one of his readers. I was specifically addressing the commenter's quote supposedly written by the author of the book about the "alexander technique" stating that we "just don't do bad things."
The passage highlighted in black in the previous post about shyness is by the author of the comment on Mercola's blog--not my comment. The passage highlighted in red was the specific part of the comment that I was making observations about. My thoughts are in green. The specific issue I have, is with the comment about ""assuming we are bad," and that we have been "made correctly and just don't do bad things." I believe that taking the complete comment alone, without any clarification (which the author of the comment did not do) to the logical conclusion leads one to believe that "all people are made good" and that is not true. If all people are made good, then none of us need a Savior and Christ died for nothing. If all people are good, then the logical conclusion is that their actions are good as well, and it leads us to the conclusion of humanism, and the belief that there is no absolute truth, which leads to the "I'm Okay, You're Okay" mentality--which is not true. It would also lead to murder, stealing, rape, abortion, etc, etc. being okay.
I know nothing about this book or the Alexander technique" I have no idea how the "alexander technique" relates to back pain or anything else. Although I do believe stress can lead to backpain and an assortment of other problems as well.
Personally, I am not a shy person by nature, so I wasn't reading the article to find out how to overcome my shyness, but I thought it sounded interesting, so I read it. I was soley commenting on the comment quoted in the original post in red--if this quote is in fact written in the book, it is an untrue statement and is humanistic in nature. That is all.
Anonymous, what you describe is different than what the commenter on Mercola stated. Or maybe the commenter on Mercola's site didn't explain themselves thouroughly.
BTW,. it would be nice if you identified yourself because it gives your comment more credibility.
I'm the blessed wife of My Honey of 12+ years, and Momma to eight wonderful Lambies aged 12 and under. We live in Central CA, and use Ambleside Online for our curriculum. I'd love to meet you , so browse a while and feel free to leave a comment!
) I said to him, "Son, if you want to say you've graduated that's fine. You have enough credits, so it's not like you haven't done your work."
