Seeking His Will - Homeschool Blogger

Celebrate With Me

Wed, 4 Feb 2009 20:26:00 -0600

At almost 3 years old, Rebekah is finally ON the growth chart. She has been well below the 5th percentile forever. Now she weighs in at 25lbs 2oz and 34 1/4" tall, putting her in the 6th percentile for weight and height. Whooo Hooooo!

New Wheels

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:20:00 -0600

Rebekah's physical therapist came and brought a pink wheelchair for Rebekah. I had really mixed feelings about her having a wheelchair at not-quite-3-years-old. Rebekah's PT pointed out some of the advantages of wheelchair use for Rebekah. For instance, at Rebekah's age, constant carrying on my (or dad's) hip is not good for the development of her spine & hips. She is already at greater risk for scoliosis and hip dysplasia, and she needs good support. When she is in a stroller, people are more likely to view her as, and respond to her as, a baby. A wheelchair (at her age) puts her up at a higher level (similar to what she is when standing) and makes it easier for her to see eye-to-eye with kids her own age, fostering social developement. Not to mention that even when she does begin walking, she will not have the stamina of a typical chid, so she may need it for distance, etc. I still wasn't thrilled about it, but was willing to give it a try. When it got here, it was sized for a much larger child, so someone is coming out in January to adjust it to fit her. In the meanwhile, our plan was to just sit her in it a little each day so that she could get used to it. Within 2 days she was moving it!!! I never would have believed that she could wheel herself. I am sure it helps that we let Ryan and Rachel play in it and they had great fun, so she wanted to do it too. Granted, she can't go more than a foot or so at a time, as the size is wrong, but just the fact that she knows how and is trying opens up a whole new world. I am much more open to her having a wheelchair that gives her freedom to move on her own, rather than a wheelchair to be pushed in. I am thrilled that she will have the opportunity to run away from me at the park, like typical kids. There are so many things that our typical toddlers just learn in day-to-day play that can't be learned when they can't walk and really explore. For instance, you can't learn what your boundaries are if you never have a chance to test those boundaries. She has never had the opportunity to learn that you don't run in the library (or in the parking lot!) She rarely gets told "no" because there is very little for her to get into. She has been in my or dad's arms everywhere outside of the house 95% of the time since she was born. I am thrilled that she will have the opportunity to explore her world a bit more on her own power. I can't wait for the day that she "runs" away from me in the store!

I am GREAT!

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 17:27:00 -0500

On October 4, I had one of the most beautiful experiences of my life. I got to be with my neice as she brought her daughter into the world. My poor sister got caught out of town and missed the birth, so I was lucky enough to get to be the "stand in". (Thanks sis!) I would love to post a picture, but my niece is not crazy about the idea of her child's picture being on the internet. You will just have to take my word that my sweet great-niece is the cutest thing since, well, since my own kids were born! I have been an aunt for 22 years and have now officially worked my way up in the ranks to GREAT aunt. Thanks Amber!

My niece is an amazing, strong young woman and she is now an amazing, strong young mother. I am so proud of her!

The Ups & Downs

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 22:26:00 -0500

I am really good at sharing the good stuff, but not so good at sharing my failures. My blog has been sadly neglected (again!) because I was just too depressed to post about my fall after a few good weeks following a schedule, keeping up with schooling and keeping up with housework.

Really, it is amazing how Satan can kick us down in the most obvious ways, and still we don't see it. We hear those little whispers in our heads - you know the ones - "You always fail at this so you might as well give up now" or "You are hopeless, why even try" or much, much worse. He delights in telling us how worthless we are, how we can never overcome, it will never be better, etc. We think this only happens with "spiritual" things - prayer, Bible reading, daily quiet time, etc., but it happens in the everyday things as well.

This is how it happens for me:

I was having a few really good weeks. Life was going along rather smoothly and I seemed to be conquering something I have struggled with my whole life. My lack of organizational skills, chronically messy (dirty!) house and habit of procrastination have beaten me down time after time. I grew up in a messy (dirty!) house and I promised myself that I would not let my children live that way. I didn't want them to ever be embarrassed to have friends over, like I had been. Well, as I said, everything was going pretty well. I was patient with the kids, I was sticking to the schedule, but able to be flexible with the inevitable interruptions, I was slowly conquering the mess in the house. Then the words I had always dreaded were said - "My mom says your house is dirty. You need to clean it up!" The words came from innocent 5-year-old lips, but they tore at my heart. I cried for days and I listened to all of Satan's lies - "You're no good!" "I told you you would fail!" "You don't deserve any better." And on and on and on. I gave up on it all. I quit cleaning the house, except for what had to be done to eat. I did very, very little school with the kids, very little therapy with Bekah, quit talking to my friends, and just sank into depression. I laid down my armor and gave up the fight. It took several weeks, but The Voice of Truth is finally getting through to me again. I have realized that this is a spiritual battle. It may seem common to some, but this is where Satan knows that I am weakest and that if he can take me down here, I will be useless in all other areas too. I have refused to take this area of struggle to my God, the God of ALL things, even my house! I guess I figured that it was not "spiritual" enough for God and that I should handle it on my own. Let me tell you - that does not work! I am resolved to rely on God, not myself. I know that I may fail again and again, but I will get back up and get on the path again and through Christ, I will overcome. It sounds silly to say that God will help me keep my house clean, but the messy house is just the symptom. The real issues are self- control, faith and persistance in prayer (among other things) and I am confident that God will help me overcome and make me more like Jesus in every way. My new favorite song in " Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns. I will leave you with the lyrics:

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of faith it takes
To climb out of this boat I'm in
Onto the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone
Into the realm of the unknown where Jesus is
And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name
And they laugh at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The waves they keep on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

Chorus:
But the voice of truth tells me a different story
The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"
The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"
Out of all the voices calling out to me
I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have
The kind of strength it takes to stand before a giant
With just a sling and a stone
Surrounded by the sound of a thousand warriors
Shaking in their armor
Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name
And he laughs at me
Reminding me of all the times
I've tried before and failed
The giant keeps on telling me
Time and time again. "Boy you'll never win!"
"You'll never win!"

But the stone was just the right size
To put the giant on the ground
And the waves they don't seem so high
From on top of them lookin' down
I will soar with the wings of eagles
When I stop and listen to the sound of Jesus
Singing over me

I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Starting School

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 15:50:00 -0500

We got started on school again last week and I am very pleased at how well it is going. We started early because we got so little done last year, basically just keeping up with math and reading. I had not fully realized how hard last year was until it suddenly got so much better. Looking back, I can see that it is only the grace of God that has brought us through the last two years. It is like coming out of the darkness into a bright new day. Rebekah is SO MUCH EASIER now. She still has her moments when she just screeches and wants to be held, but most of the time she is HAPPY. She scoots around all over the house, exploring every thing she can. She plays, she sleeps, she eats. She is just a joy. Ryan and Rachel are excited and eager to learn.

The positive side of barely getting anything done last year is that we are able to recycle last year's curriculum. We are picking up where we left off (right around week 11) in Adventures in My Father's World with Ryan and officially beginning My Father's World Kindergarten with Rachel. She really was not ready for it when we tried it last year, but she is flying through it now and loving it. She is also doing much of Ryan's activities with him (and he with her!). I can see already that I will probably not do all of the activities in either curriculum and just choose the ones that I think they will both enjoy and get the most out of. It is fun to see them learning together and to see their different styles.

Aside from Rebekah sleeping well now, I think the biggest difference in this year and last is that John and I sat down and created a good schedule for all of us. We read Managers of Their Homes and created a schedule similar to the style they recommend. It has blessed our whole family tremendously. Ryan and Rachel are doing much less complaining now that they can see when an activity begins, when it ends and what is coming next. They are doing chores without (much) complaining even. My expectations of them in regards to chores has increased greatly and they are stepping up and really helping out. Our house is much cleaner. I still have two years worth of very minimal housekeeping to recover from, but I am tackling it slowly and the difference makes me feel so much better. Not only am I striving to bless my family with a much more pleasant environment to live in, I am striving to be a better steward of the blessings God has given us. It is amazing how much better I feel after a day of taking care of my responsibilities, rather than just spending the day laying around, just doing the minimum because I am exhausted. I have discovered that laying around, especially on the computer or just watching TV, makes me feel even more tired. Taking care of the house and the kids in the way I need to leaves me tired at the end of the day, but it also feels good. I feel like I am accomplishing the task God has assigned to me and it feels incredible.

I'll stop rambling for now and go play with the kiddos. I took some pictures of their first few days of school and will post them soon - hopefully this evening.

God Bless!

Square Foot Gardening

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:53:00 -0500

hmmmmm...I have no idea what happened to this post. It was here and now it is gone. Strange.

I might as well give an update as long as I am here though. Our beautiful little seedlings didn't make it, thanks to a couple of cats who decided to use the seedlings as a litter box! I have had to resort to buying transplants, which I am doing a little at a time. So far I have two tomato plants in the box (one cherry tomato and one heirloom). I have basil, jalapeno and okra ready to go int he box today and I will be getting a heirloom pepper plant tomorrow to put in. The kids are disappointed that we didn't get to plant watermelon or canteloupe, but I think it is too late to plant them now. I'll need to investigate that a little more.

So Proud of my Baby Girl!

Fri, 11 Apr 2008 00:17:00 -0500

I really should be in bed, but I just had to take a minute and share what a great week we have had with Rebekah. She is talking and signing up a storm. Yesterday I was watching the weather as I was feeding her dinner and she kept pointing to her hand and saying Ti-Ti! Ti-Ti! It finally dawned on me that she was trying to make the sign for "Signing Time"! When she finished eating, I put in the DVD and told her that Signing Time! was coming on and she said "Yaaaayyyyy!" It is so fun to see that she really understands us and is responding so much more and asking for things that she wants, not just repeating words and naming objects.

She had a really good physical therapy session yesterday. We got a reverse walker for her (had to return it today because it was defective) and we were able to get her to stand with it a little. She actually held the hand grip and stood with the PT just holding one leg at the thigh. She has never been able to stand before without support at the knees, ankles and hips. I guess all that time in the stander is paying off! She was fitted for orthotics (DAFO's) last week and when they come in they should really help with her standing.

She is scooting around the house (sitting on her bottom) so much now! She went back and forth across the living room, through the kitchen and into the dining room today. I was amazed! It is so hard to believe that just 3 short weeks ago she had basically no mobility. After 2 years, I finally have a need to childproof my house for her. I need to clean my floors too. I couldn't believe how dirty her pants got after scooting all over the floor. Yikes! Now that she is sleeping all night and I am not living on 3 hours of sleep per night, I guess I have no excuse not to mop. LOL

To top it off and make the week even sweeter, I went to get her from her (non)nap and she was sitting up in her crib! This is the first time she has gotten herself into sitting all by herself! I was so, so, so proud of her. I am kicking myself though for not remembering to go get the camera and take a picture.

My baby girl is awesome! Our God is so good to us! He has answered so many prayers in regards to Rebekah and blessed her tremendously.

The Latest Update

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 13:11:00 -0500

I am long past due for an update. It was a rough winter in regards to illnesses. Rebekah seemed to catch everything that came along. In addition to the run-of-the-mill colds & tummy bugs, she had bronchitis & slight pneumonia, chicken pox and influenza. Someone in our house was sick almost constantly from just after Thanksgiving until the beginning of March. We have never had a winter like that. I am now trying to dig myself out from under the disaster that is my house and trying to get caught up on homeschooling. We'll get there.

Rebekah turned 2 in February! Despite the constant illnesses, Rebekah is doing very well. She is talking and signing up a storm. She has 70+ words/signs now and is learning more everyday. This is huge for her. We really expected her to have major speech delays, but she is not far behind at all. I credit most of her amazing progress to Signing Time! If you haven't seen Signing Time! you need to check it out. It is a DVD series teaching ASL to infants & children. All of my kids love, but especially Rebekah. Aside from the developing language skills, we are working on physical skills as well. Still no crawling, standing or walking, but she is starting to scoot around on her bottom and her legs are getting stronger. We got a stander last month and she spends 30-40 minutes two to three times per day in it. She will be getting orthotics for her legs soon and we will try a reverse walker with her to see if that can help get her moving. She is not thrilled with all of the therapy, but you can tell that she is ready to be moving. She goes in for a sleep study tomorrow night, so that we can try to pinpoint where her sleep problems stem from. She has slept through the night 5-6 times in her life. Two of those times were within the last week, so hopefully we are seeing the beginning of improvement.

Rachel (5) is doing great. She has matured so much over the last few months. She still has her moments where she just loses it, but overall she handles things so much better. She is ready to be finished with preschool and begin homeschooling with us for Kindergarten in the fall. She got her hair cut short and it is so adorable. I was reluctant to let her cut it, but I am so glad we did. It is sooooooo much easier to take care of. She has entered the stage where she really likes to be helpful. She tries to do so much and doesn't let much stop her. Of all of my children, Rachel has the most determined spirit.

Ryan is trucking right along in school, despite my lack of attention to it lately. He really does seem to just absorb knowledge like a sponge. He is reading better and finding some books that he enjoys. He spends alot more time playing and building with his legos and is learning to be more patient in finding solutions to things that are hard. His big interests are still science and math. I am going to be in trouble some day, as those are definitely not my strong areas! He played basketball in the winter and really enjoyed it. He plans to play again in the summer.

John is still going to school on-line full time. It is tough but he is doing very, very well with it. After 11 classes, he has a 4.0GPA. I am so proud of him. Despite going to school full time and working full time, he still spends hours with the kids and has been picking up the slack for me alot during our months of illness. God has surely blessed me with him. He is an amazing father and husband.

Rebekah is waking up and Ryan is begging for some computer time. I'll try not to let so much time pass without bloggin again. Pray for wellness for all of us.

I will update my blog, I will update my blog, I will update my blog...

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:06:00 -0500

Really...I will!

Rosetta Stone For Free!

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 23:01:00 -0500

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE!

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program. Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking. Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included! For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports.

To win this most excellent program -- in the language of your choice -- copy these (blue) paragraphs and post it in (or as) your next blog post -- then to enter the contest, go to the original contest page HERE: http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/JenIG/501132/ and leave a comment with the link showing where you blogged about it. And please make sure the link works to get back to the original contest page when you post it. And good luck! The winner will be picked randomly on March 26, and will be notified thru the link they left to their blog pg. And if you have more than one blog, you can post them and enter those separately for more chances to win. Yay for free stuff!