Morning Surprise

This morning was to be just another "normal" day of school. You know the routine, math, language lessons, history readings, etc. But sometimes one must throw caution to the wind and take advantage of an unexpected opportunity. Today was that day.

While doing the early chores my husband noticed a spring peeper perched on our house just above the water faucet. What a treat! After breakfast, the kids and I caught the peeper and brought him in for observation. We made him a nice home in a large apothecary jar. In the jar we placed a few smooth river rocks, a small stick, and then lined the bottom with moss. A very nice home if I do say so myself.

We have been having a wonderful time watching the tree toad move around the jar. He seems very much at home. The Handbook of Nature Study had quite a lot of information and we read it all! Ashlyn even took a turn "reading" about our amphibius friend. The older kids are still working on their nature journal entries, but Ashlyn had her "froggy" drawing done in a very timely matter.

Most days, having a daily schedule is important, and we did get to the majority of our other lessons, but sometimes the unexpected journeys are the ones that teach us the most. It is on a day like today that I am reminded how blessed I am to have this precious time together with my children. God is good!

Learning is FUN!

We read Mr. Revere and I by Robert Lawson in April and the kids just loved it. So much so, it's infiltrating their play. Caleb in the coonskin cap (strapped on with a leather belt) is Paul Revere and Allie and Daisy the dog are the Red Coats hot on his tail. It's a good thing we live in the country, because I'm sure even the few neighbors we have heard the shouts of "The Red Coats are Coming". Ahh, don't you love living books that just keep on livin. Have a blessed LORD's day.

I wonder....

Is it mean to make your daughter clean the bathroom while you finish your quilt top?
I think not.


I am making this quilt for our living room. As you can tell (by the uneven rectangles and mismatched corners) I am not a professional quilter by any stretch of the imagination. Fortunately, I like them scrappy.

Encouraged

This morning I awoke to a dreadful migraine headache, dizziness, nausea, the whole bit. It took all of my energy to tell my Allie(11) that she would need to give Ashlyn(3) breakfast and to let Caleb(7) know that he needed to do his morning routine and play quietly. I went back to bed and slept for three more hours. When I got up again I was feeling a bit better, so I went to check on the state of affairs, expecting things to be in a bit of disarray. To my surprise and delight, the kitchen was neat and tidy and all of the breakfast dishes had been dutifully hand washed. But to top it off, the two older children had done all of their independent schoolwork for the day, graded it, and put it away. Don't you love how the Lord can take a bad morning and turn it into the greatest of encouragements. If you read here often, you know that I am focusing on habit training. Well, this morning happily showed me that a few rails have been successfully laid down. Glory be to God!

First things first....

I've been reading a great (life changing!) book from the Simply Charlotte Mason company called Laying Down the Rails. It's all about habit training - the whys - the whens -and the hows. And of course my thought process when I chose this book was how great it was going to be to get those kids whipped into shape - well the Lord had other plans! My eyes are daily being opened to all of the habits I need to form or reform in my own life. I have been inspired to get my housekeeping regimen back into practice (after a 3 1/2 year hiatus - that's when Ashlyn was born) and to re-evaluate my food choices. Healthy living is also a habit -one that has to be worked on in order to be maintained. Yes, I'm still gonna to work on those kids, but I'm going to work on me too.

If You're Curious the New Cleaning Schedule is Below:

Apple Trees in Bloom

Allie was practicing her photography skills on our apple trees this afternoon. The blossoms smell even better than they look.



Daisy came along to keep her company.

Under the Clothesline

It is 80 degrees and sunny today with a gentle breeze - the perfect day to wash and hang out my quilt on the clothesline to dry. The kids love the cool shade a quilt on the line offers and often play underneath - today was no exception.

I Think I Can - I Think I Can

Caleb learned to ride his bike - YIPPEE! He was given this bike for his sixth birthday (almost two years ago now) and the fear of falling off has kept the bike sitting on the porch most of those two years. Well this week he decided he was going to learn to ride that bike and that was all it took. He spent the last two days practicing and practicing and alas he rides. The funny thing is, today he said, "Mom, I learned to ride my bike in only two days!" I smiled and cheered him on as I laughed to myself "give or take 695 days" :O)

Bee Happy!

Ashlyn (age 3) drew a very sweet little bee this evening.

Homeschooling Perks!

My Allie loves to bake and she is quite good at it. Today she turned three unsightly bananas into delicious banana bread***YUM*** Nothing like sharing fresh-out-the-oven bread with your kids without even lifting a finger.....now that is what I call a perk!