Life throws curve balls from time to time. Some are really good curve balls…like sunshine on a regular old Monday AND Tuesday. What’s a mom/teacher to do?!?
And then there was the morning I had to go buy car tags. We left the house early so we would have time for J. Christopher’s!
And we are still getting our school work done! Math and Science and Grammar and Reading and Writing and History and scripture memory and more! I have to remind myself to Be FLEXIBLE!!! Take advantage of the ability to not have to stick to a schedule! This is such a great time of life.
I realize that God is a personal God who loves me. Sometimes that realization is a bit more easily recognizable than other times.
Thankfully, this home school year, He has helped me! I decided to have the girls study Astronomy with Apologia this year. Timothy Ministry, a co-op for home school families, offers science as well. I signed Mack up for science, and wouldn’t you know that astronomy is the topic!
I am teaching US History this year to all of them. I signed Mack up for History at Timothy Ministry, and I thought I was signing him up or Middle Ages, which would be fine because we covered that last year and he could likely use a review. However, I signed him up for Westward Expansion, which means he is getting our history on his level AND he gets to hear about history of the US here at home as well. I really couldn’t have planned it any better.
I happened to already have Explode the Code Workbook 4, and wouldn’t you know that my Sonlight Language Arts for Mack encourages the student to use Explode the Code 4!
I’m telling you—only The Lord knew what I needed and helped piece it all together, despite myself.
Today we created the solar system out of some construction paper and tape. Not anything to write home about, but we all worked together on it and continued to remind ourselves of God’s mighty workmanship called the Universe.
Our verse this week is Psalm 8:1, “O Lord, Our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth, who has displayed Your splendor above the heavens. ”
Indeed, His creation is mind boggling! I love having these wonderful conversations with them at home.
I loved hearing Mack read Genesis 1 while the girls wrote out some science definitions.
I loved hearing Ruby teach Mack how to remember the first five presidents of the United States.
I loved going on a good walk with them this morning after we read The
Word at the breakfast table together.
I love hearing Ruby read aloud off and on throughout the whole day. She uses great inflection and really gets into sounding like the characters.
I did not enjoy watching one child have an absolute meltdown over much of nothing. But I do love that I have the time to talk her through her emotions that seem out of control.
I loved hearing Mack tell me what he learned from his Lewis and Clark movie….and seeing him decide to build Lewis and Clark’s expedition out of Legos!
I love that I already know what is dinner and I don’t have to go to the grocery store!
Happy Birthday to Molly! I’m always reminded at times like this…when I am looking for pictures of Molly from over the years…that we accidentally deleted a huge amount of photos, most of which were taken during MOlly’s baby years. Of course this would happen to her. She is the middle child. Just one more reason she will have to feel left out or abandoned by her family. ha!
Molly is a very independent little girl with a mind of her own. She continues to be intrigued with all things handicapped. She has also recently taken up an obsession with office supplies. Thankfully, Aunt Merrilee and Uncle Jason gave her plenty of her own supplies, so she will likely stay out of mine for a little while.
We surprised her with a very simple, small get together here Sunday night. She had no idea, so it was fun to see her walk in to some of her favorite people here to celebrate her.
Mack helped me put together the gift Ruby bought for Molly. He was a good helper.
Molly is rolling it around like she is some sort of worker. She got a digital camera, too. We shall see how well she takes care of it. The girl is always into something.
She keeps us on our toes, and we love having her as part of our family. It would be quite boring around here without her personality involved in our every day lives. It’s been this way since the day she was born!
It has been a great, full week here at the Dorminy home! Our first full week of school went very well. I have enjoyed being back into our school routine. I absolutely love the “no screen” time!! The kids are so much more creative this way. Molly is quickly learning that her whining, “What can I doooo? I’m so boooorrreeed” is met by me answering with a list of cleaning opportunities for her. She sighs and walks away. She also likes to ask, “Do you have anything, like for an adult, that you don’t use anymore?” I tell her no. She asks again anyway. I then tell her that I have a broom (very much an adult thing) that she can use….unless she’d rather use the vacuum cleaner or the dust spray. Again, she sighs and walks away.
We have had a little friend outside our school room window each day. Ruby has even given him a name, Chunky. It’s a chipmunk! He eats all sorts of things from the ground.
He was quite the distraction the first day for all of us, but we’ve gotten used to his shenanigans. Today, Ruby noticed a flock of birds had landed on our back lawn. She said, “Oh, look. They’re having a social in our back yard.”
The kids started Timothy on Tuesday; it is a co-op where they each take a few classes.
Ruby (10), Molly (almost 9), Mack (7)
Mack and Jack are buds, so it was fun to run into them on the way out.
One day is was beautiful, so we took a jaunt to the pool.
Molly finished the bag for Ruby!
This little girl turns 9 on Monday! She cannot wait. Sweetie sent a Target gift card and some clothes in the mail for her. I let her open it because I love opening packages, Sweetie didn’t say she had to wait, and I do not think I could have taken the begging for the next four days. So, of course, we had to go to Target! You can’t just hold onto a Target gift card. Ruby decided she would take some of her birthday money from May with her. Mack, who spends every dime he ever gets, was just along for the ride. Broke and heart-broken! He could not wrap his mind around how I could possibly allow Molly and Ruby to each get things they wanted while he left with nothing. He made this clear to me by how he whined and cried the. entire. time. we. walked. around. I gently (and eventually quite firmly) told him he didn’t get to buy anything because he didn’t have any money. I wasted my breath by telling him how he could save his money that he works for, so that he can actually have money for our next shopping trip. He continued crying and crying. He finally said to me, “Mom, just slap me in the face.” I looked at him, quite puzzled and said, “No! Why would you want me to do that?!?” Very somber was his response….”I just need to get it together, Mom.”
It was like he knew he was out of control. He knew he shouldn’t be crying like this, but he couldn’t stop on his own. He needed someone to slap him across the face so he could pull it together.
Of course, I didn’t slap him across the face. I squeezed his cute, freckled cheeks and told him I loved him and couldn’t slap him. He looked at me and said, “Really, Mom. Just slap me.” I laughed and laughed. I can relate, too. There are times that I know my emotions are out of control, my actions are immature and selfish, yet I keep doing what I don’t want to do. I need to have someone slap me in the face so I can “get it together.” I won’t be offering this opportunity to my children, however. I am just going to need to remember that trip to Target! And thankfully, just like Mack came to me, his parent who loves him, I can go to my Heavenly Father, who loves me and tell Him all about my out of control self.
And I am just now reminded of a lesson from summer Bible Study and one from Sunday School and one from church…sometimes in life the Holy Spirit tells us “Just stop it.” There are some things that I don’t have to ponder and pray over. There are some things that it’s just time to STOP. I have heard this more than once. My mouth starts running with frustrations and complaints, and immediately I hear, “Stop it.” I then have a choice. Ignore the command and vent, only to live with the consequence and put disobedience between God and me OR Stop It.
And one final tidbit about Mack. He is obsessed with Nate the Great. He likes reading his stories and wants to be a detective. He couldn’t find a hat like Nate’s hat, so he made one with two other hats. He has a magnifying glass and wears Ruby’s house robe around the house as his detective jacket. It cracks me up. He asks us all from time to time, “Lost anything???” Ruby graciously creates a mystery with clues for him. It’s so cute.
The days are full. Sometime they are hard and demanding. But I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Sitting on the couch with Mack dressed as Nate the Great while he reads and rubs his chubby feet together, back and forth, back and forth.
Walking with the kids this morning in the neighborhood while Ruby chats and chats with me, telling me how she admires Molly for being so adventurous and seeming to not care what other people think of her. I loved hearing what Ruby would like to be when she grows up.
Watching Molly set up a restaurant for some play time with the other two….making sure she uses her label maker, her restaurant guest checks and her receipt book. She has requested office supplies for her birthday. I’m not sure what to think about that.
These kids crack me up. I’m thankful for the time that I get to have with each of them.
Well, well, well…the day came to wake up and get a little more done than swimming. We started our curriculum today!
“Hello! My name is Mom. I will be your teacher…again.”
I got up bright and early and did my usual routine and then I wrestled with whether or not to wake them up at 7:30am. I opted to do some Sunday School admin stuff and just wait for them to wake up. It was 8:30 before I saw any of their smiling faces. We had a busy and fun weekend with my sister and her family, so I think they needed rest.
Hilarious picture. They were about to leave to go home here, and my kids are still in pjs/ old art shirt! We so enjoyed having them here.
Ok, so back to our school day.
We read the Bible together. We had a prayer focus on the Mayan Indians. We started memorizing Matthew 4:4
Then, it was time for my second cup of coffee. And a quick prayer to, once again, thank God for the freedom to home school and for the time I get to spend with my children.
We are learning patriotic songs this year, which I think is fun. “Stars and Stripes Forever” kicked off our first day!
And then there was math and English and reading. Molly and Ruby are reading the same books, which I think will foster great conversations. I’m also trying to read them before they do…I quickly realized I shouldn’t read too far ahead because I forget what the book was about!
We ate lunch and read some more. Then, Molly and I had time to work on a sewing project for Ruby.
At this point, it’s 2:00, and I’m about to fall asleep! I took a nap, which helped me to even think about dinner prep.
All in all, it was a productive day!
Also, I will no longer be using dictionary.com. I was informed that these are the example sentences for the word “homeschool.” I politely emailed them to let them know I disagreed with their sentences, and I left a few examples of how the word homeschool could be used in a sentence. Here are their sentences:
Wow. Someone has a bone to pick with homeschoolers. I had fun offering my own example sentences. 😊
