P365 – Day 65 (Mainly Pictures)

March 6, 2007 KME 5 Comments

I woke up early this morning (for some vague definitions of early – not early according to Aunt Kate or Tim) and couldn’t go back to sleep. This was especially painful as I stayed up LATE last night fine tuning yesterday’s blog. Gotta watch that blogging, it’s addictive. Tonight I need to finish my BSF lesson and get a good night’s sleep.

Needless to say I don’t have much time or energy to blog this evening. Of course, I did take some fun pictures of our day so I simply must post them. It will be a rather brief blog (one can hope).

This morning I was determined to make some progress on Daniel and Rachel’s Eastern Hemisphere Explorer Log (we’re still studying China). It’s difficult working with Rachel and Daniel at the same time. Rachel writes much faster (just don’t ask that it actually be legible) and gets impatient with Daniel. He, in turn, feels frustrated that he writes so slowly. Rachel and I work well alone – she can move through the material quickly and seems to understand and remember what we study. However, what usually happens is that the day gallops along (as days are want to do) and Daniel and I never get back to the study. As a result, right now, he is behind. No one wants to work on our Chinese log during the weekends and evenings are usually busy with life. It’s a difficult balancing act.

When I got up to make coffee (gotta have that morning cup of java) Rachel snuck a few minutes to read a page from her book. Some friends from our homeschooling co-op have started attending our church (hooray!) and I’ve noticed the older children have begun congregating at the library after Sunday School classes. The girls share title suggestions and then empty out the shelves. Rachel checked out a few of the Mandie books by Lois Leppard and is devouring them. So fun to find a new author to enjoy (especially if she’s an ‘old’ author who has written LOTS of books). She took this picture today during school.

Meanwhile Joshua went into the kitchen to work on his science lab. It was something complicated involving a candle, some vegetable oil, tin foil and a lighter. Don’t ask me any other details. Sounds like a recipe for disaster to me.

Love the glasses, Joshua!

David and Sarah were blithely ignorant of all this wild experimentation going on in the kitchen downstairs. They occupied their usual spots up on the stairs.

The rest of the day was spent in the usual ways – school, reading, meals, and outdoor play. The kids are enjoying our Swing Ball set these days. Joshua set it up and goes out several times a day to play a few rounds (either by himself or with a sibling). Tim’s parents gave it to us years ago. It comes with a very handy case that stores away nicely. The weather has been so pleasant lately that there’s ample opportunities to go outside. I can’t locate the company that sells the Swing Ball set (by Mookie). It looks like it is only sold overseas (not very convenient when you are looking for replacement parts).

Even Sarah can set up the game.

Watch out Sarah, the ball is flying.

Careful, sometimes the ball hits back!

The sad news in the household is that Allergy Season has started! This begins a rather miserable time of the year for Tim. He went to the doctor today and loaded up on meds (which do help), but there doesn’t seem to be any way for him to fully evade the truly uncomfortable plagues of allergies. No fun!

Kathy

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P365 – Day 64 (Athletes in Training)

March 5, 2007 KME 1 Comment

It’s Presidential Fitness time at the Y. Sit ups, push-ups, running, that sort of thing. I have memories of participating in this same program as a child. These memories are not particularly pleasant. I was more of a reader than a runner. I clearly remember the assistant principal of my elementary school singling me out of a crowd of kids in the hallway. He came up and told me the librarians said I had read just about every book in the school library. Obviously my reputation had preceded me. Um, without going into further, painful details, let’s just say the PE teacher would NOT have had such positive things to remark about my performance in his class.

Sarah gets ready for gymnastics.

Needless to say, I continue to struggle with fitness and having an active lifestyle. I would much rather snuggle up with a good book or while away the hours blogging than get up and go for a hike. I would like, however, to be a healthy example for my children. This means I try to make exercise a priority (albeit a low one) in my life and I strive to provide them with opportunities to exercise. Enter the local YMCA. The kids are able to take swimming lessons, join gymnastics, and participate in all sorts of sporting activities.

Daniel had a hard work out in the pool this week.

Right now the emphasis is on the Presidential Fitness test and the different areas where the children will be graded. With Joshua’s new height has come some length of leg and ability to run faster (or at least with longer strides). Suddenly, Rachel and Joshua are both spending time on the treadmill. We went to Target today and got new tennis shoes for all three of the older children. Keeping a family of 7 in shoes is expensive, not to mention messy as each child has one or two (or more) pairs of shoes. I can’t imagine the shoe rack in bigger families.

David stretches out those arms in PE.

I am thrilled the children are taking an active interest in their own health and physical fitness. I had a great workout, myself, on the elliptical machine this morning and even managed to sneak in a 3 mile walk with a friend in the evening. Tim and Joshua played tetherball before dinner. The scooters and bikes continue to be popular when the weather is nice.

We live in a beautiful part of the country with plenty of opportunities for exercise (when it’s not raining). It’s just up to us to get off Dough Boy and Cream Puff and head out the door.

The Apostle Paul was not specifically referring to physical exercise in these verses but they still have an application.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. I Corinthians 6:19-20

I believe the Lord is honored when we keep our bodies healthy and strong. We are better able to serve Him and do the good work to which He has called us.

Next, I need to work on getting enough sleep.

Kathy

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Music, Musings

The Power of Song

March 5, 2007 KME 4 Comments

There are so many things I want my children to learn – how to study and do well in school; how to cook, clean, and help run a household; how to budget their money; how to be honest, responsible and hard-working; how to care for other people, and on and on and on (I doubt the list has an end). As a mother and follower of Christ, however, my intentions and hopes for them are more focused. One of my greatest desires is that my children study and memorize the Word of God.

Joshua and his little cooking assistants, David and Sarah, tackle a big baking project in 2004.

Notice Sarah’s “picture posing smile.”

Give a child a cookie and they’ll be hungry in an hour. Give a child a SPATULA and they’ll never lack for cookies. Ancient Duckabush proverb.

Years ago my mother gave us a set of Steve Green’s Hide Em In Your Heart scripture cds. I immediately copied them onto cassette tapes so we could play them in the van. This was before cars routinely came with cd players. Oh wait, we STILL don’t have a cd player in the van. Let’s not go there. How long since we abandoned the 8 track and upgraded to cassette? We can’t rush right to cds and mp3s. These shifts in technology take time and adjustment.

There are two Hide Em’ In Your Heart volumes, both of which have been made into DVD’s as well. We loved these cds and played them constantly in the house and car. To this day, if you begin a song or verse from those two cds, my older children can belt out the finish.

Unfortunately Steve Green only made two albums and eventually a person does grow weary of listening to the same music over and over. I never did understand why he didn’t continue with the series – ran out of verses, lost his voice, got in copyright issues with the source of his songs??

Wow, it’s 2003 and Sarah is already doing First Grade Math! She’s obviously a child progeny (as Calvin would say).

I’m sure Daniel really appreciated Sarah helping him with his math.

Last year I stumbled across some amazing Bible memory cds (probably heard about them on the SHS loop, the source of treasures too many to enumerate). I listened to sample songs on Christianbook.com and was so taken with them that I immediately bought all four of the cds (I never was one for just window shopping). These Family Worship cd’s, Seeds of Purpose, Seeds of Faith, Seeds of Courage, and Seeds of Praise are truly outstanding. I highly recommend them. If you don’t have young children, buy them for your friends or grandchildren. Find the Christian Director at your church and give him/her a set. Drop hints with relatives who buy for your children. Put them on your Amazon gift list. Borrow a friend’s child so you have an excuse to listen to the music yourself.

The songs are energetic, fun, and worshipful. The lyrics come from God’s true Word. The music varies from lively to moving but best of all it sounds like real ‘praise music,’ not kids music, but it’s praise music that is solely scripture. How powerful is that? The songs are performed by grownups (with occasional help given by children) and have a contemporary feel to them. On the CBD page, the cds come with this comment:

WARNING: This package contains songs that may result in the listener unintentionally MEMORIZING SCRIPTURE. Furthermore, those who learn these words may find themselves inexplicable recalling and/or applying them to real-life situations, as the Holy Spirit leads. USE WITH CAUTION.

Summer 2006 – Samuel gets a good grip on Daniel while David smiles on. These boys obviously need some good Bible music!

More and more I find myself playing the Seeds Praise Mix (as it’s called on my computer) on days when we have busy (i.e. stressful) mornings. On Sundays, in particular, everyone is rushed and a bit harried. It’s difficult (especially when both parents are NIGHT OWLS) getting a large family fed, dressed and out the door in time for Sunday school. Being on time is NOT something I do well as my children will gladly tell you.

On such mornings, I put on the Seeds Mix. With the music blasting and the Word of God filling the house, a new spirit of cheer and praise fills our hearts. It is remarkable how something so small can evoke such a dramatic change.

Rebecca favors classical music but might let Rachel and Sarah talk her into some songs from Seeds of Faith.

Listen to the clips and see if you agree. I separated out the links so you can reach each album easily. We’ve been listening to the collection quite a bit over the past two days and the children are rapidly picking favorites. This does lead to a bit of conflict when one child sneaks up to change the song while another child’s song is still playing. Is there something a bit odd about children fighting over what Bible song to listen to? Ah, these rascals will find something to fight over if it kills them (or is that the point?) Let’s see if they can resist the power of God’s Word reflected in these songs (“Do Everything in Love” comes to mind).

Note: these are NOT hymns. My children love hymns (Daniel and Joshua in particular) but they do NOT enjoy cds of children’s choirs performing hymns. I haven’t been able to find a decent collection of hymns aimed more for children. Still looking. If you know of a treasure I’m missing, please pass the info along!

As the Psalmist wrote:

Praise the LORD with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does. Psalm 33:2-4

Kathy

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P365 – Day 63 (Cleaning Helpers)

March 4, 2007 KME 8 Comments

We were gone for so much of yesterday that the house was thoroughly in need of some loving care (especially as we have Bible Study meeting at our house on Sunday evenings). Since two of my boys (Tim and Daniel) were low on their computer playing allowances and the rest of the family low on funds, I had a house full of eager workers today.

Tim made a LONG list on my wonderful (full size) whiteboard. I added to it later as we were nearing the end of the day.

All of the children worked very hard today. They cleaned (and vacuumed) their rooms. Between them, Rachel and Daniel handled all three of the bathrooms. I think Tim helped Rachel with the master bathroom floor. We washed all sorts of laundry and put away five overflowing baskets of clean clothes. Tim and I cleaned up our room. Joshua worked on the garage.

Rachel hired David to clean her room. She said he always does a great job. With off hand statements like that, a mother wonders just what kind of deals the children are making behind her back. This sounded like something that they had arranged at least once before. Check out David’s cool costume – maybe my work would go faster if I had a royal cape.

Rachel folded socks for me. Reminded me of the time my parents were in town and Mom stood in that same place working on socks.

Finally it was late afternoon and our Small Group was due to arrive. We had accomplished so much, I was truly stunned. The only thing that wasn’t finished was a small stack of paperwork of mine. All that remained from two baskets full was a paper bag of misc. papers. Wow!

When this family comes together to tackle a task, and is energized and motivated to work, we are a formidable force.

Thank you, everyone for helping me get the house picked up and ready for company. It looked great!!! All of the rooms were vacuumed, the bathrooms were sparkling, the kitchen fresh. Ahhh.

David asked me, right before he went to bed, “Are we going to work as hard tomorrow?” I didn’t know what he meant. School work? Finally he told me, “You know, around the house, are we going to work this hard again tomorrow?” Hmmmm. I looked around. The house looks beautiful. The laundry room is fairly empty (there’s always more laundry to be found) and the toys are all picked up. The garage is still in reasonably clean shape, even after kids playing in their for two hours. The bedrooms look great. Just what kind of work did he have in mind?

It really illustrated for me how little the children really understand (especially at a young age) of my desires for the house to be picked up. They are content to enjoy it messy and lived in. He didn’t see the clutter in the first place but knew we all had to work hard (and he enjoyed the ‘payment’ for his labor) and this evening (after it’s all finished) he didn’t see the cleanliness and was wondering if we have a full day of work ahead of us. Interesting.

We never seem to get to any deep cleaning (spring cleaning – sounds like such a wonderful idea) because we rarely stay on top of the clutter and daily mess. How could we possibly deep clean when we can barely reach the bottom of the chaos?

It’s lovely going to bed, knowing the house is fresh and pretty for Monday morning.

Kathy

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P365 – Day 62 (A Day full of pictures)

March 3, 2007 KME 5 Comments

When night falls and I sit down to download my pictures, I always wonder what number will appear on the screen. Have I been a picture, snap-happy fool or a more sedate, busy person with little time for picture taking?

Tonight the magic number was ninety-one! Now that is an impressive amount but hardly excessive. I know one day in January I took at least 150 pictures. When Tim is involved with WNW Day Camp he takes hundreds and hundreds of pictures in a single day. Ninety-one is way below hundreds and hundreds. It’s even below a hundred. With ninety-one you know it has been a good day. You know the camera has been well used and the day thoroughly documented. Since the Project 365 only requires ONE picture, some would say ninety-one is a bit overkill. Those people probably get things done in their home rather than just sit around blogging all evening. For the time being, let’s just ignore that sort of riff-raff (as my mother-in-law would surely call them).

So, please be forewarned. This is a blog of many pictures. If each picture really was worth a thousand words, we’d be in real trouble. Whew, the mind boggles.

Daniel and Adam and a few ‘gun poses.’

Rachel and Sarah spent the night at a friend’s house. We, in turn, brought home Adam with us. Although the boys are rowdy, noisy (which is trouble on a Saturday morning) and full of energy, I think we had the easier group of kiddos. Poor Sarah got scared and turned around in the middle of the night and, um, putting it delicately, didn’t quite make it to the bathroom in time.

Thank you so much, Jennifer! You took excellent care of Sarah in her hour of distress.

Fifteen minutes before we were supposed to leave, I got an overwhelming urge to cut David’s hair. It was SO shaggy and messy looking, I just couldn’t take his sloppiness any longer. He said he would love to take a shower (a requirement after a haircut), “I’ve been wanting to take a shower again sometime.” What does that mean? Is someone stopping him from showering? Has he been sitting around contemplating showers for days now? I guess perhaps the last shower was quite an experience and he’s been eager to try again? Baths are blasÃ© showers are the new ‘it.’ These are the things that a mother contemplates late at night when she reviews the day and the comments from her very precocious six year old. A definite sign the mother should stop staying up so late and get some sleep.

After Sarah and Rachel were returned to us, we set off for a dinner with Tim’s parents and some old friends. We used the drive time to go over our Proverbs chapter of the day. It being March 3rd, we read Proverbs 3. We don’t normally have Tim with us for these Proverbs devotional/study time. He has such an amazing gift for teaching. We were able to really look deeply into the meaning of the different verses. It was awesome!! It was enlightening!! It was really long!!

It was the longest Proverbs discussion time we’ve had since we’ve begun this practice. Since I’m normally the one who handles the study time, I’m not sure if I should be embarrassed by that or relieved.

Rachel listens intently from the back seat, but Sarah just can’t stay awake for Proverbs.

I find myself convicted about the length and depth of our typical Proverbs discussion. What a blessing it was to have Tim with us today! I am very challenged to take more time during our school Bible time and look carefully at the verses with the children. I DO NOT have Tim’s gift for teaching and applying word pictures to a study but I DO have the Holy Spirit living in me and there to help me understand God’s Word.

We stopped along the way to visit some friends and see the progress on their house. I took all sorts of pictures. Tina and Greg, these are for you. Enjoy. Everyone else can skim along at a clipped pace.

Now a few photos that include some kiddos (lest you think I only took pictures of boring old, I mean, new houses).

How cute is this little face!

Joshua and David play tetherball while Z. takes a ride on the tire swing.

Sarah loves her friend, A.

Look at this gorgeous face – and no braces!!

The men folk visit and tour the new house.

After a wonderful visit with our dear, house building friends, we went off (late at this point, sorry Mom and Dad) to join Tim’s parents for dinner. Tim’s dad immediately gathered the children (our five and the visiting two) and took them all off to race boats in the creek. Mom worked on the dinner preparations while Tim and I had few minutes to sit down and talk with the B’s.

You’ll have to envision the pictures of the boat race since I stayed inside where it was cozy and warm and chatted with grown ups, not taking a single picture (for the first five minutes anyway). It was grey and wet and very fun down at the creek. Two of the seven children came back with soaking wet shoes and socks. My goodness! Somebody should really talk to their mother about proper creek etiquette and the importance of keeping your feet dry. Oh wait, that mother would be me. Never mind.

We had a delicious dinner followed by a yummy cherry cobbler. The grownups sat around talking about everything from parenting to eschatology while the children watched a movie.

At one point the three girls dressed up and snuck around, presumably on Spy Duty.

Sarah wasn’t interested in the movie so she set up the doll house and played contentedly for a long time in the hallway.

She also spent some time chatting with Grandma. Aren’t they sweet, matching girls. Did you plan that, Sarah?

It was a very full day. Three of the children fell asleep on the way home. I finished the last chapter of our school book, Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. Hooray for long drives and a good book. We spent the last 15 minutes of the drive describing for Tim the other adventures of the main character. I’m not sure he was interested in the story but he was interested in staying awake so he listened cheerfully. I was pleased to see how much of the story Rachel and Joshua were able to recount. Hooray for listening children!

So that, dear reader, if you are still here and awake, is the story of our Saturday in full pictorial glory.

Kathy

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P365 – Day 65 (Mainly Pictures)

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