Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Who would have thought that last year at this time Georgia was suffering from a severe drought? Right now we are suffering from bad moods and boredom because of so much rain! If I see another day of gray, dreary drizzle with temperatures in the 40s I think I just might go crazy! Thank goodness we are headed to Naples, FL, next week to visit with my mom and dad. The kids are excited because this will be Gizmo's (our Shih Tsu) first time on vacation with us. It should be interesting. :-)

Things continue to progress well with homeschooling. I am beginning to see a whole other side of my daughter that I thought was lost somewhere in the middle of second grade, and I am so happy. We are noticing that everyone in our house is happier, more relaxed, and just enjoying each other's company so much more. I have to admit I wasn't completely sold on the idea of homeschooling at first, but I now believe it when people say you will discover so many blessings along the way and your family will be stronger because of the journey. God is good, that is for sure.

We finished a beautiful book this week, "The Secret of the Andes" that kept both Anna and I enthralled. It's very interesting to learn about the Ancient Incans and just what a sophisticated society they were. I love using the Sonlight homeschool curriculum because it does not "talk down" to children - the literature is beautiful, and the subject matter is sophisticated and solid.

My iphone is also coming in quite handy for homeschool (all the more reason I need a newer, faster, phone -- HAL!). We are doing multiplication drills on the phone and Anna can now do times tables at 35 mph. Pretty cool. Better yet -- I think I need an iPad come spring to really be the best homeschooling mom possible! Oh, and who knew you could play math games on the Wii, too? The site is Arcademicskillbuilders and it is great! I relax math instruction on Friday and ditch the workbook in lieu of games like this.

Grant continues to toodle along happily in preschool at our church - what a blessing! Today was backwards day, so he went with his shirt backwards and even read a book to me backwards this morning! He is a clever little guy. Of course, once the weekend gets here it's all about unlocking the Spear on Mario Kart - so I am sure we will work on this tomorrow and Sunday. He begins to play t-ball in just a few weeks and Hal and I are very excited to see how he likes it.

On a personal note, I think it's amazing the way God works on us throughout our lives. Over the past year I have had several glaring examples of just how NOT in control of my life I really am. First, surgery and a difficult recovery. Then, stomach problems (which took a long time to diagnose). Then (and still!), a herniated disc that causes pain every day. All of this after 37 years of perfect health. Go figure. I think God was telling me to SLOW DOWN, trust HIM, and spend more time with my precious children and time helping others. As I do these things, I am feeling so peaceful and content. And of course I have the best life partner in the world who shares all of this with me.

We continue to pray for the future of our church, as our congregation faces a difficult vote over the issue of same-sex people in leadership positions in our church. Regardless of our stand on the issue, it is bound hurt our church family and this is so sad to me. Our church is a wonderful collection of people who love each other so very much - it is sad when politics and agendas of larger bodies work to destroy that. I know many Lutheran churches are going through the same thing and it saddens me.

That's all the musings I have for this evening.... enjoy the video of my little G rocking out to the Mario Kart music!

Life in the Big City

Today was one of those days that just turned out pretty great! We decided to visit the church where Hal and I were married, Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Atlanta. Our favorite pastor, Pastor Weber, has been the interim pastor there for the past year and we just now decided to pay him a visit. In addition to seeing Pastor Weber, we also enjoyed the wonderful worship experience and the joy of being in an old cathedral with a tremendous pipe organ.

After church we decided to try out a restaurant in midtown, Einsteins, which turned out to be a terrific find for us! It was quite eclectic and, living in Sharpsburg, GA, it is good to get to the "big city" and see what that's like. Now, Hal will tell you this is nothing new for him since he works downtown every day. I used to go to grad school downtown and of course lived more in town when we were first married. The kids, however, never really get to experience Atlanta, so it was fun to spend the day there.

We capped off the day with a visit to Trader Joe's. I must say I was underwhelmed by the Trader Joe's experience today! It was crowded and it seemed like a lot of the people there were in a bad mood! The best thing to come out of it was several gourmet pizzas, some cool chocolate chip cookie dunking sticks, and some frozen veggies that looked really good to me.

Once home I decided to spend some time on the homeschool schedule for the week. I am making a detailed schedule for Anna and when I looked at it I really see how much we accomplish in a week! She is check off each task as she completes it, and Hal will check her schedule at night to see that she has accomplished her work for the day. I want to provide accountability similar to public school, but I don't want us to get bogged down by it. I'll let you know how this works. I went to a great site called Chart Jungle to get the schedule form.

We are looking forward to a productive week, and getting to see my sister-in-law and some of my nieces and nephew later in the week. They are here showing their Chows at a dog show in Atlanta and hopefully we will get to go to the show and swim in the indoor pool at their hotel! My brother can't make it - he is the chaplain onboard the USS George W Bush and will be at sea.

Multiplication, Music and More

Look at this poor little doggie.... this is our very tolerant guy, Gizmo. Anna did this to him with a little bit of free (and unsupervised) time she had yesterday! He looked completely dejected when I opened the door to Anna's room and saw him decked out all ready for Mardi Gras! I had to laugh and then take some pictures. Children are so creative!

Now, on to today......

Wednesdays are always the busiest day in our week. After getting Grant to school Anna and I homeschool for the rest of the morning, and then she goes to a homeschool PE class at Home Plate . I love to see her running and having fun with other children... I was worried (unnecessarily so) that she would have a problem with socialization once we began to homeschool. This is perhaps the biggest MYTH about homeschooling there is.

We made a trip to the Peachtree City Library and stocked up on resources for the next week and then headed to church for our Wednesday evening Music and the Master. Right now the children are preparing to go to the Chorister's Guild Festival in Atlanta in February. I am particularly excited about this because a fellow classmate of mine from Southern Methodist University is going to be the guest conductor. If you are a parent, check out his website. He was a talented and creative young man when I first met him, and now he is publishing his own music and working in a large church in Ft. Worth. My kids love his song "Brainfreeze"!

Ahhhh.... on to the multiplication section of this post. Why is it that I never enjoyed math and now I'm afraid my daughter is falling into the same trap? We are working on our times tables now and I'm trying to jazz it up a little to make it more fun. I ordered a CD called "Multiplication Mountain" by Hap Palmer and I'll let you know what it's like.

I must go start the chocolate chip pancakes and sausage we are having for dinner (notice this is not a blog about nutrition!)..... I hope you took some time today to thank God for your blessings and then help someone in need.