My college boy....

His senior year with home school started last week.  Today he went to orientation for his college classes.  Bittersweet...........As the saying goes......."Long days, short years". 

Speaking the truth......

“The person who loves you most will tell you the most truth. One of the greatest distinguishing marks of a false prophet is that he will always tell you what you want to hear, he will never rain on your parade, he will get you clapping, he will get you jumping, he will make you dizzy, he will keep you entertained, and he will present a Christianity to you that will make your church look like a Six Flags over Jesus.
And keep you so entertained you are never addressed with great issues such as these:
Is God working in my life?
Am I growing in holiness?
Have I truly been born again?”
~Paul Washer

 

 

 

"Truth" isn't always popular and most people don't want to hear it.  Today I was thankful for someone that went out on a limb to speak the truth to me.  Sometimes the truth is hard to take but if you find yourself getting defensive it was probably something you needed to hear.  The advice I received from an older, "pioneer" in the home schooling movement was something I might not have wanted to hear, but it definitely made Marc and I reevaluate some things............... and for that I am thankful!

School Days....

Last week we sort of eased back into school.  I love summertime and the laid back days, so this was hard for me!  Here in the south it is still very hot outside and to me "hot" means no school!  However, I knew that it would be wise to get a jump on our academics, so we have begun!

  I didn't have near the free time to clean out and plan for our school year that I had hoped. That is real life though.  I feel like I have lived in that mode for the past several years with my mom's health failing, her death, now my dad having to be cared for and babies thrown into the mix!  God is gracious to me though.  Some days are very long and very hard but I try to remember how fortunate I am that I have the privilege to home school.  I often wonder how much longer we will have that freedom!

 This week we started our first "official" full day of school.  Monday.was.HARD!  I felt like I literally went from one child to the next helping with different things.  Having a first grader to me is the hardest year.  It is such a foundational year and requires a lot from the mom!  It can be monotonous, but there is nothing like those "light bulb" moments when they get something new!  If I thought I was going to get a minute "breather" something else would come up like..........a poopy diaper, washing machine "singing" to me that the load is done, baby needing to be nursed, or something much bigger like my teenage son running out the front door to chase the three year old that decided he would take a walk down to the road.  (He claimed that "Buddy -the lab- was going in the road, but Matt said Buddy was behind Myles.)   Yes, the days are FULL!

 Our schedule today looked like this..........Up and out the door to run at 7:00 (and I am NOT a morning person!)  While I was running the children were all getting animal chores done, milking done, breakfast eaten etc.  McKenzie left the house to go babysit about the time that I was finishing my run.  I showered, nursed the baby, mopped the floors, started laundry, threw something in the crock pot for supper tonight (I sure do love that thing!),did a math lesson with Malachi..... and then it was time to head to town for piano lessons!  I dropped the girls off and then headed to Wal-Mart (my least favorite place!)  I picked the girls up, dropped a library book off, swung by the bank to make a deposit for my dad and then headed home.  The kids unloaded groceries while I nursed Macheus and then it was back to the books.  I taught Malachi's Language lesson and did Reading with him.  Madeline attempted to lay Myles down for his nap after she fed him lunch but he didn't cooperate, so that was an interruption for me.  Once I got him settled and finished up with Malachi it was on to Mariah.  Thankfully, she can do most things on her own.  We went over her school work for the day.  Meanwhile, McKenzie gets home and takes Matthew into town and drops him off at work.  When she got back home she taught Mariah and Malachi their science lesson.  I am SO thankful that she has agreed to teach that subject this year.  She is using Apologia and is making it much more fun than I would have! 
Madeline is drowning in her school work (welcome to high school!)  Myles is bouncing off the walls and Macheus is playing sweetly on a quilt.  There were probably fifty other things done today that I left out......... but you get the idea.  Life is BUSY!   There is school work to grade with Madeline, laundry to put away, dinner to eat and clean up after, my dad's laundry to wash this evening, and on and on and on.
I was grumbling on the inside yesterday afternoon when a song came on from a cd about blessings in life.  I immediately felt ashamed at how ungrateful I am for all of the positive in my life!
Last night McKenzie and I went for a walk and saw our neighbor.  She is going through a lot of the same things we are with aging parents.  We were talking about the new term the "sandwich" generation-  those of us that are taking care of elderly parents while still raising children.  I laughed to myself thinking........" I could be the poster child for the sandwich generation!"  But...... for whatever reason, this is where the Lord has me right now.  I know it is only a season and I will make it through it.  Today..... I will choose to be thankful!

 My "big boy".  I cannot believe he is a senior!  I remember his kindergarten year like it was yesterday.  Makes me sad............  He will be taking college classes this year along with a small load of "home school".  Thankful for the spiritual maturity we are seeing in this kid!  He has grown a lot in the past year.  He takes a stack of gospel tracks with him to work every day.  McKenzie said, "That has got to warm a mama's heart."  Yep, it certainly does!

 Madeline........... a freshman in high school........... REALLY!?!

McKenzie teaching her science class! :o)  So thankful for all of the help she is to me!  I know she won't be here forever, but soaking her up while she is!

Well, I have lots that I need to be doing!  I better run!  I hope all of you that are making the sacrifice to home school your children have a great start to your new year!

Six Months

I can't believe a half of a year has already gone by!  Macheus is a precious little chunk right now!  We all love to squeeze him after his bath because he is so soft and squishy!

 I took him to our photographer that has been taking our babies pictures for almost twenty years!  She thought he looked like McKenzie.... to me it was like seeing Mariah sitting there.  He wore a light blue "john john" that my mom had bought for Myles.  We used a light blue blanket that my mom  bought for Malachi and he had his little lamb that his aunt bought for him.  The pictures turned out beautiful!

 He didn't cooperate with the whole sign thing this month! :o) 

 He sits up pretty well now and if you lay him on his stomach he immediately gets in the crawling position.  He isn't really crawling yet, but he still manages to make his way around the room.

 Still no teeth........

 All of that great sleeping I used to brag about???  Not sure where that baby went!  Praying REALLY hard that he cuts a tooth soon and my good sleeper comes back. :o)

 He still loves to be outside.  We took him on a walk tonight before dark.  He was completely silent the entire time. 

 Myles absolutely adores Macheus and when Myles walks in the room, Macheus lights up.  I hope they will always love each other.

It has been a wonderful and sweet six months!  Wish the time would slow down..........

A girl and her horse........

 McKenzie was always our horse lover.  I remember like it was yesterday when we welcomed our first horse into our family.  McKenzie was 9 years old and Abasha was around seventeen I guess.  I thought she would always love horses.  There have been many other horses that have come and gone over the years.  Some were loved horses that ended with sad stories, and others we were glad to see go!  Marc and I neither one are really "horse people".  We have invested a lot of time and money into horses because it was McKenzie's passion during her childhood and teen years.  I think it filled a huge need in her life during that time and we would do it all again.

Madeline likes horses too, but it isn't her passion.  We kind of wondered if maybe, just maybe.... we could do away with the whole horse thing.  When your feed bill is more than your grocery bill for the week it IS kind of disheartening!

Then there is Mariah............

 Mariah loves horses every  bit as much as McKenzie did.  McKenzie took riding lessons from the time she was six years old.  Mariah......... hasn't had the first lesson.  She has grown up around horses though and doesn't know life without them.

 When she was six years old she was kicked by one (one of those horses we were glad to see go!)  It was a very scary experience and one that landed her in the hospital for a few days with a ruptured spleen.  You would think that she would never want to get near them again.  When a girl loves horses that much, it doesn't seem like they have much fear of them.  It wasn't long after that when she was riding one of our older horses and fell off. (Later she told us that she hit him with a crop, which made him take off. He wasn't the kind of horse that needed encouragement to go!)  That time she got away with just a broken arm.  Thankfully it has been years now with no horse accidents!

 Now that she is old enough to saddle up on her own, she is out there all the time.  She and Candy are making lots of memories this summer.

I watch her ride and wonder if she will always love horses or if it will be a passing phase.  Who knows......... but for now I am soaking up these days of a girl and her horse.

A Sunny Attitude

I was taking pictures of this little angel..........

 when I told Malachi we needed to work on some of his schooling.

 I wanted to take a picture of the two little boys together and this was what took place.

 So..........it was time for an attitude adjustment! :o)

 What better way than to make him do some work.

 He was slowly getting better.............

                       until he couldn't help but laugh.

 Marc called and I let Myles answer the phone.  (He loves to talk on the phone!)  He quickly told daddy that "Malachi has an attitude!" :o)  (I know the picture is blurry, I just thought it was funny!)

"A merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones."  Proverbs 17:22

Memories............. Pt 2

                                                             Jump, Mariah!

                                              She spoils her little brothers!

                               We were blessed with beautiful weather!

 We have taken pictures of the kids (in birth order) on this bench for years.  It has been fun to watch them grow! :o)

                                       Putting Macheus in his "spot"!