I thought to check this blog tonight and I'm shocked at how long it's been since I posted!  I actually haven't been blogging as much, and Josh and I found Facebook about a month ago, so it has consumed most of our time.  When I do blog, I've just done it over on my blogger.com blog . . . anyway, to make a long explanation simpler, I've been busy! Guess I'm also winning the ADHD contest, since I basically just forgot I had two blogs!

School for us is different this year.  See my post over at that other place.  I'll try to do a better job at keeping homeschool and faith ponderings here, and funny boy stuff there.  This year, I only have my two younger boys at home.  I thought this would be a nice change, that I would have more time with them, and that without their brother to terrorize them and distract them we'd get so much more done.  However I've discovered that there are distractions even within their own heads!  The other day I was working on reading with AJ, and he starting picking a fingernail.  It wouldn't have been a problem, except it was mine!  I watch his eyes when we are trying to get something done, and they are all over the room.  I have to constantly remind him where the book we are reading from is located.

I told my dearest friend last Tuesday that somebody is going to need to be medicated before the year is up!  I'm don't really care who--them, or me--but somebody needs to be put on meds!  Anyway, it all goes back to the usual, I'm putting too much pressure on myself, especially for the day-to-day, and probably putting too much on my plate.

The great thing about sending Josh to school this year is that it has forced me into a schedule, and forced me to plan some things in advance.  Having to plan for him is causing me to plan better for the other two as well.  So even on days  when I feel like we've gotten nothing done, we probably have done more than I think. 

Anyway, I'll try to blog more later about what we are doing.  Not that anyone is reading this . . .after all, I haven't posted since January!!! Then again, maybe I still have one fan out there . . .  somewhere . . . maybe?

I don't pressure myself to necessarily participate in many aspects of most holidays.  At Christmas, for example, I ask the boys what traditions mean most to them--what they would like to do to celebrate.  If we get other things done, fine.  If not, fine too.  I'm slowly adapting to the limitations of my circumstances, and to my laid-back nature, and it's OK if I don't have photographs of every holiday on the books because we actually didn't do much for some of them.

But New Years . . . that's different.  I recently stated my view to a friend, that New Year's Resolutions are not a waste of time making promises to yourself that you don't intend to keep.  Instead, new years are fresh starts.  They are reminders to me that God lets us have regular do-overs . . . or at least try-agains. 

Tonight I got the following e-mail from a friend:

I didn't plan to write to you about "New Year's Resolutions."

In fact, I've sometimes disparaged them, preferring the term "goals"--partly because they're not linked to the calendar, but partly, I'm afraid, because they seem less intimidating.

Resolutions require--well, you know--resolve!

I've just read a blog post on the topic of resolutions--and especially resolve--by a dear friend, Lynn Bruce, who had a double mastectomy last fall. What a perspective!

Not only is she a cancer survivor, but she's also one of the most intelligent and literary women I've ever known.  (She's one of the founders of the wonderful free online Charlotte-Mason-based curriculum Ambleside Online.)

Please take a few moments now to read Lynn's compelling and convicting blog post about resolutions and resolve. Don't set it aside to read "later."

I went and read the blog post and found there a very eloquent and convincing case for the importance of not only making New Year's Resolutions, but of resolving to keep them.  So I encourage you to go NOW and read this wonderful entry.  Then do what I plan on doing this weekend--spend some lengthy, quality time alone with God, asking Him what His plans are for you this year.  Make those resolutions that He gives you, and plot out how you will keep them! 

Let's not waste our fresh starts on piddly, silly things.  Let's go for the Kingdom!

About a month ago in church, my pastor used a clip from the new movie "Amazing Grace" to illustrate a sermon point.  The boys and I were sucked into finding out exactly WHAT movie the clip came from, since we are huge Iaon Gruffudd fans. (Yes, the boys loved him in Fantastic 4, but even before that we went crazy over him in the A&E Horatio Hornblower films.)  Once I found the website for Amazing Grace, and saw what the movie would be about, I was committed to seeing it.  Then all the publicity came out from organizations and individuals I respect--organizations that don't normally recommend movies to their members even.  I was even more intrigued.

So yesterday, we diverted from the planned school day and I even let Josh cut out of his Chemistry Co-op class early so we could go see the first showing of the movie. Now, I realize I am an absolute sucker for a period piece.  And in the past I could have been accused of being somewhat easy to impress when it comes to movies (although that changes more and more as age and being refined by God's Word make me more discerning), but everything good I heard about this movie was completely accurate.

The movie was well cast, and superbly acted.  It did a wonderful job of taking a story which could have been somewhat boring (Who wants to watch two hours about a political career?) and turning it into a fascinating story.  The characters were well developed and showed men of conviction and character.  It gave the viewer great insights into the time period--everything from clothing, political climate, customs and the horrors of slavery. But the thing that impressed me the most was the very character of Wilberforce.  In an age when superheroes with their quick rescues and daring feats dominate the fantasies of little boys, I was thrilled to say to my boys,"Here is a real hero.  He acted on his convictions, worked hard to fight for what he believed was right, and did not give up on it, even though it took him his whole life and cost him his health to realize his dream."  I also appreciated that the movie clearly communicated the effect of Wilberforce's faith in his political fight against slavery.

There was nothing flashy about Wilberforce.  In the end, he probably wouldn't have even taken credit for leading the fight against slavery in England.  Yet his persistence and conviction changed the world.  Oddly enough, this movie showed so many of the arguments made to justify slavery--arguments made today to justify abortion, euthenasia, the deterioration of moral excellence in the arts, and many other issues.  It gave me a chance to challenge my boys to seek out the mission that God had for them, and to fight for it until it was won.

Oh, that my three boys could be men like William Wilberforce!  Well, I'll keep praying!

My 6th-Grade son just explained to me why Superman is able to fly on earth, but not on Krypton.  Something about molecular density and gravity being less here than there . . . whatever!  That's it.  I'm removing him from his co-op Physics class. And I think he officially knows more than me.

(Last week we were making up some missed experiments here at home.  I was explaining the results all wrong . . . and he figured it out.  Duhhh!)

I am now in my seventh year of homeschooling, and on my third boy.  After reading MaggieRaye's  comments about homeschooling boys, it prompted my own thinking about what I do differently now that I've learned a few things in the school of hard knocks. When I started out I was very intimidated about homeschooling, even though I had read nearly every book written on it, watched other families do it very well, and perused all the curriculum catalogs available at the time.  I knew a lot, but I was scared of myself.  I tend toward the undisciplined, fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants side, and I could not see how that could be an advantage to homeschooling my sweet little boy and teaching him everything he would need to know in life over the short stretch of twelve years.  I was so afraid of myself, that I started Josh in K4, so that if I really messed him up, after two years I could put him in school and he might still have something worth salvaging!

In spite of my fear, my rebellious nature also influenced my homeschooling decisions and I tended toward unit studies that I planned and controlled.  In the first few years, with the interruptions of a new baby, a move, and the normal challenges of a young family, I basically unschooled.  It was so much fun.  When the Disney movie "Dinosaurs" came out, we spent a whole summer studying dinosaurs and reading Creation science books for kids.  I learned a lot!  We studied bugs, and the human body, oh yeah, and somehow along the way, Josh learned to read!  Being the rebel though, I decided not to bog him down with lots of memory work.  I came up with lots of reasons why I thought memorizing "useless" facts was a waste of his time.  I discovered last year though that knowing math facts is kind of important. 

So one thing I do differently now is to work on memory work a little earlier.  In the last few years I have been influenced by more classical approaches to learning, and while I will never be able to keep pace with some classical families, I have adopted a tighter approach to memorization.  In addition to math facts, we memorize scripture and the Westminster Catechism for Children.  With my slightly older children we have memorized poetry, the bones of the body, Spanish words, Latin roots,  and other things.

Anther thing I do differently is to make them accountable for keeping up with their own work and materials at an earlier age.  While my kindergartener has to put away his own books and supplies, my third and fifth graders are working off an assignment sheet (Have I mentioned Homeschool Tracker?  It's definietly worth the money!  Thanks again, MaggieRaye!)  They check off assignments as completed and turn them into one central location.  In the next few years, if I don't see a temptation toward dishonesty, I plan to teach my oldest how to use teacher's editions to check over his own homework.  I went to this simply out of exhaustion.  I couldn't keep up with three kids' assignements!

I have also become (gasp!) more disciplined.  Funny how at the time I am homeschooling my children, God is homeschooling me!  I am learning to get up on time in the morning, follow a routine, and stick to the plan, especially in those seasons of life when we have others depending on us to be in certain places at certain times.

I have not only become tighter in some areas, but I have also loosened up.  It doesn't stress me out any longer that boys need to listen to read-alouds standing on their heads . . . or playing with Legos.  I don't get so worked up when I find them wandering, I send them outside for  a few minutes to run around.  I give them trampoline breaks, and I think I feed them a little more often.  I've also given up on crafts.  I used to try to come up with craft ideas for every unit.  Last year we did one of the Dina Zike/Susan Simpson science units, and by two-thirds of the way through it we were all ready to scream at the paper folding and the glue bottle.  Although we managed to finish the science study (and the are VERY good, quite thorough, just not fun for non-crafty types!), I promised the boys no more crafts.  We do manage a little notebooking, and a very few coloring pages (and I've learned not to complain when they color William Shakespeare with Florida Gator colors, or Martin Luther's face purple). 

We read together a lot more (instead of doing crafts) and  listen to lots of books on tape.  I no longer have my aversion to using "curriculum."  This year I am using Rod and Staff for grammar!  And I actually like it.  I still like reusable stuff-just seems to make more economic sense that way.  As I go on and on, I wonder how we ever have time for anything fun!  But if I stop and look back at my kindergartener, yeah, he is probably worked a little harder on the "basics" than his brothers, and he doesn't get the "fun" unit studies, but overall, he still spends most of his day playing outside!  So maybe some things haven't changed that much!

I feed my boys on a bit of war.  That may sound shocking to some, even scandalous.  But I don't want to raise tame, harmless men.  Granted, it gets frustrating at times to have to keep saying,"It doesn't matter who is the best at fixing toast!"  Or,"Quit calling your brother a girl!  You KNOW that isn't aloud!"  BUT I want them to be fighters (just not with each other!).  The world is a wicked, scary, seductive place, and I want them ready to fight for what is right and true. 

The movie Braveheart has one of my favorite boys' quotes.  The hero William Wallace (a true-life hero!) is facing troops of poorly trained commoners, going to battle with the well armed, well trained forces of England.  England is greedily fighting for more land.  The Scots and Wallace are fighting for thier home.  But they face incredible odds that could easily cost them their lives.  These poor farmers question the value of such a battle.  At just the moment when they are ready to turn around and leave, Wallace says:

"Aye, you may die!  Run, and you'll live--at least a while.  And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade all the days, from this day to that, for one chance--juse ONE CHANCE--to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they will never take . . . our FREEDOM!!!"

If Providence sees fit, my children will be free men.  They will claim the promise that "if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."  But they will face an enemy who will try to convince them that they are not free.  This sneaky, deceptive one will not actually be able to take their freedom away, but he will try to make them believe they should just surrender and let him control them.  Oh, it won't be overt.  He will promise them land and castles and titles.  And like so many of the Scottish lords, some of thier friends will fight for the wrong side, thinking they are benefitting their country by doing so.  But I don't want my boys to end up in a place where they believe they are subjects of a slave-master.  I want my boys to spend their lives fighting for thier freedom, for their true kingdom.  And I want them to be used to win battles for the King! 

So even though I'd rather watch Princess Bride, we watch Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Spiderman.  I buy them swords, guns, and superhero costumes.  In spite of my preference to read to them from Anne of Avonlea or Little House on the Prairie, together we read Redwall.  And we even read the gory parts of Judges in the Bible.

Yes, women should have a calming effect on men.  But for now, I am raising modern knights and warriors.  The world around them is trying hard enough to steal their fight.  With wisdom, I am trying to nurture it.  So give us a battle and here our war cry!