Kalysa-She is SO silly!

Kalysa was doing the army crawl across the kitchen floor-ya know, on her belly and using her arms to pull her along. She even had the sound effects to go with it that told me she was really doing some serious work there so I asked her what she was doing...

Kalysa:I'm pretending.
Me:pretending what?
Kalysa:Pretending that I am climbing up a wall!
Me:Of course-why didn't I think of that!?


And then when she sees me on the computer at my blog she asks me to scroll down so she can look at the entire page and then dances off singing...
"WE'RE FAMOUS! WE'RE FAMOUS!
WE ARE ON MAMA'S BLOG!
WE'RE FAMOUS! WE'RE FAMOUS!
WE ARE ON THE COMPUTER!"

I always thought I was destined for Fame-only I was kinda expecting that the FORTUNE would come with it!????!

God is The Answer!!

I am soooo glad that God is always first for my kids! They remind me (more often than I would like to admit) to think of God first. They really are living their lives with a Biblical world view. The girls can not remember a time in their lives that God was not a the center of things. Kenyon was about 7 when my life changed and we really started trying to live for God instead of for ourselves. He may have some memories of our life before but his world view was not developed yet. Well since kids are kids, and kids say the funniest things, this Biblical world view has offered many humorous situations (like this one). I just thought I would share a few more...

One of the best ones is actually ongoing. It happens anytime we are playing a game (like Trivial Pursuit) or when I am asking questions in school. Anytime they don't know the answer they say "GOD!" They know with this one they can never be wrong because God is always the answer.

Today Keslee was drawing pictures for a book she decided to make and I heard this...

Kalysa:What are you making Kes?
Keslee:I am making a book.
Kalysa:What picture are you drawing?
Keslee:It is a boat.
Kalysa:OH! You are making a boat. Is it Jonah's boat or Noah's boat?

I just love the fact that those are the boats she would think of first. I mean what else could it be if not Jonah's or Noah's? I know that I have/am/will fail so often in the God given course I have in raising my kids for Him but it is the little things like this that God sends me for encouragement. It just says to me "You are getting somewhere! Keep it Up! You may fail but I will never fail you nor forsake you. You can finish this course for My Glory!" So I try another day and with His grace get a little closer to the mark that He has set for our family.

A Little Fun In the Sun!

The kids have been waiting for summer. Even though May is almost over, we are just now beginning to have some real summer weather. We had about 2 weeks of nothing but rain at the first of the month so now the sticky-humid-heat has arrived. Personally I prefer cooler weather. It always seems so much easier to add more covers in the winter and get warm. There is really only so much you can take off in the summer to cool off. I know when I was a child I always anxiously waited for the summer to arrive so we could get outside but somewhere in the growing up process, my preference has changed. My guess is that a big factor in my attitude change is....

THEY DON'T REALLY MAKE SLIP-N-SLIDES FOR ADULTS!

I can not even imagine now, at thirty-blahblah years old, running as fast as I can and then all of a sudden plopping myself from the standing position to land on my stomach on to a thin layer of wet plastic covering the HARD ground and calling that fun?! Were we nuts???

I mean I love to go swimming and I agree that being wet is the only way to go when the thermometer starts climbing up into the 90*s or 100*s. I am all for the pool and I will even run through the sprinkler but throwing myself onto the earth on purpose. I don't like to trip and fall-how is this different?

And for those of you that agree and choose not to hit face first, you can try it the way Kalysa does-RUN AT FULL SPEED THEN JUMP INTO THE AIR AND LAND ON YOUR KNEES!! It hurts me even to watch!

Then again-you can always land on your hiney before hitting your back...

or how 'bout shoulder first and sliding in on your side?


Oh well-it is all in the name of a little fun in the sun! I think I will leave the plopping, dropping, sitting, hitting, sliding, gliding, slipping wetness to the kids-I'm going back to the air conditioning!

The kids all say "THANKS AUNT KACY AND UNCLE CHUCK FOR KESLEE'S BIRTHDAY PRESENT!!!" even though they had to wait over a month to get to use it.

A Substitute Teacher

Last week we had a substitute teacher. Mom had some vacation time that she had to take so she came to school and conducted shop class and horticulture. Grandma and Kenyon drew and cut out pieces for a bird house.

You know this was right up Kenyon's alley!! He would do just about anything to get to use some power tools. He did a great job on his first time with a circular saw! He even stayed on the lines and cut each piece pretty straight.

My drill would not work-the rechargeable battery pack will no longer recharge-so they hammered holes in a circle with a pick and then knocked it out for the bird's doorway. Kenyon then had to take a file to even it out and get rid of some of the splinters. The result was not a perfectly round hole but I am sure it will be more than sufficient for the birds.

They used some epoxy to glue all the sides together and help seal the cracks and then nailed it all together.

I was VERY impressed with the end result! I thought it was terrific-especially since this was Kenyon's first time working with the power tools.

I think Kenyon was pretty pleased with it as well.

Doesn't he look so proud of himself?!?

So while grandma and Kenyon were working on the bird house, grandma was also showing the girls some tips on gardening. They dug some holes around the porch and planted some flowers and pulled weeds and planted flowers in our flower bed.

They even found a little friend...

See the little frog? He was doing his best at trying to blend in with his surroundings

Keslee wanted to keep the little guy but I finally talked her into letting him stay in the flower bed and eat the bugs.



Kenyon thought he had found the first inhabitant for his new house....

They caught an injured bird in the back yard. I am not sure if the dogs injured him or if because he was injured, the dogs could get to him but the kids saved him from becoming a chew toy. Kenyon named him Bob and insisted on trying to nurse him back to health. I convinced him not to put him in the new bird house(there would be no way to get a hurt bird out.) Remember trying to get your money out of the piggy banks that did not have any opening besides the coin slot...that was the image that kept playing in my head only with my son shaking this big wooden bird house trying to get a bird out of a 2 inch hole! So we agreed he could stay in a box in Kenyon's room for the night. The kids gathered some grass and leaves and twigs from the yard and made Bob a little nest in the bottom of a box, made sure he had a worm and some bread crumbs, and settled him in for the night.

After seeing how much fun Kenyon had with grandma in shop class, Jacinta wanted to make a bird house as well. Hers is quite a bit smaller but she got most of it finished before we finally stopped school for supper time. She still needs to make her doorway and add a bottom. Then of course there is painting for both of them.

All in all it was a great day with a substitute teacher!! I am not sure who enjoyed it more....

the kids getting to do something different and spending the day with grandma?

grandma not having to go to work but spending a whole day with grand kids?

or mom-I pretty much had a day off and just got to observe!! : )

I would have to call it a 3 way tie!!

oh yeah! I am sorry to report that Bob did not make it through the night-boy am I glad Kenyon did not shove him in that bird house!!

Just call me the Cow Whisperer

Every morning, mom and I do a rural paper route. We have lots of dirt roads and farms. We get to see lots of God's creatures out and about between 4am and 6am. There are the wild opossum, raccoon, skunks, rabbits, coyotes, and deer(as a matter of fact mom hit one this morning-she is ok the car is ok and the deer ran off so he is probably ok). Then there are the regulars we see in the same places everyday-cats, dogs, horses, cows, llama, goats, turkey and sheep. Maybe it is because of the solitude-just me and the animals out on a dark country road-or maybe I am just a little crazy but you kinda form a relationship with animals you see everyday. I often talk to the turkeys and they always talk back! There are several dogs that seem to be waiting so we can race down the road and I always encourage them and try to let them win sometimes. The sheep don't pay much attention but I at least say hi when they are near the fence. I would hate them to think that I was rude! Well today, as I was going down a dirt road, I noticed a group of cows out beside the road. One-obviously their leader-was standing right in the middle of the road just watching me. He did not move at all as I pulled up to him and so I had to stop. There were 12 all together and I had my window down so naturally I said "What are you doing out here? You get back in that fence RIGHT NOW! HURRY UP! GET BACK IN THERE! YOU KNOW YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN THE ROAD! ALL OF YOU, GET BACK IN THAT FENCE!" The leader of the pack looked at me and then looked at his posse and turned around. They all followed suit and every one of those cows walked right over the cattle guard(lot of good that thing is doin!) and right back in the fence! I wanted to make sure they were not just trying to play me since some of them stopped just inside the gate and turned to look at me, so I added "ALL THE WAY IN THERE! GET IN THERE AND STAY IN THERE!" So guess what they did? You got it! They turned back around and kept on walkin! I sat there for just a minute just to be sure and they all 12 headed back out into the pasture away from the gate and away from the road. I guess that is what God meant when he said "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" Genesis 1:26

The End Is Near!

Can you feel it? The end is getting nearer and nearer everyday and we are all feeling it. Ok, I could get all theological on ya right now but that is not what I am talking about. What I am talking about is the end of another homeschool year! Spring fever is on the rise and we have all caught the bug! We(as in ME) are having a harder time at wanting to sit down and get school done each day. I could really tell the effects of spring fever when we had a library day today. With 4 library cards to use each visit, we normally come home with around 40 books and a few documentaries and then a cartoon movie(or 2). Well today we came home with only 8 books, 5 documentaries, 2 old movies and 2 cartoon movies. I hope Kenyon (and Jacinta) never have a serious debriefing on facts about Asia or Australia later in life because we are kinda flying through these last continents like never before. We are gonna finish our curriculum for the year and I am very happy about that(even though it may mean cramming 5 weeks worth of learning into 2 weeks). I am pleased with the way our school has gone this year and so I must deam the year a success. Last year I only homeschooled Kenyon and we were doing lots of trial and error(emphasis on the error) trying to see what would work for us. This year I went from homeschooling 1 son to homeschooling 1 son, 2 daughters and a little sister. It very well could have been a recipe for disaster but thanks to the INCREDIBLE GRACE OF GOD, we all know more about the countries and cultures of the whole world than I ever did-even after receiving a public school high school diploma! Both my girls are reading and LOVING IT! Kenyon is still not to fond of reading books that have more than 100 pages but he is getting there. For some reason he feels he has to be able to finish any book he opens before he can close it and more than 100 pages "takes too long". I am trying to get him to realize he can actually use a book mark and start where he leaves off at a later time. I have given him a challenge. If he reads 25 books with 150 pages or more between now and Christmas then he gets $25. He really likes to get money so hopefully he will follow through. We had our homeschool convention a few weeks back and it was just what I needed. It gave me the little extra boost to finish this year off strong and really got me excited for the next year. I know what all I want to get for next year! We are definitely sticking with My Father's World. I love it and am really excited about the next year. Kenyon and Jacinta will be starting on Creation to the Greeks and Keslee and Kalysa will start Adventures in My Father's World. I am also planning on using Math U see for everyone. We all seem to really do great with a more hands on approach so I think it will work well. I got Eagle's Wings Considering God's creation for Keslee's science. It will probably take us a couple of years to get through it since we are starting it in 2nd grade but it looks awesome and I can't wait to start. I thought about getting Kalysa the same but since she will have a month of therapy after her surgery, I decided to wait for now on extra science. I also found an new science that I am planning on using for Kenyon and Jacinta. It is brand new and REALLY teaches a Biblical world view. That was their whole purpose of writing it! It is called Truth in Science and I am SOOO excited about it! I got Personal Help for Boys for Kenyon. It is a Biblical character training workbook that he is just at the right age for. I also picked up a writing workbook for each of them, Kenyon's is cursive and the girls is manuscript. I got them for next year but the kids get just as excited about new school stuff as mama so they couldn't wait. They all have about 20 lessons done already. (another reason I love homeschooling!!! : ) How many public school kids have ever said "PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! Can we do this work now?!? I don't want to wait till next year!! PLEASE MAMA! PLEASE LET US DO EXTRA!!")

Well that is our plan for next year! Now I am just waiting for God to show me how we are gonna purchase it all but I know he will. How 'bout you? Are ya done for this year? Are ya gettin close? Do you have next year all mapped out? Would ya like a chocolate pie?-ok, just checkin to see if you were still listening! But seriously, I would love to hear about your year-this year or next years plan.

HAIKU

In our studies on Asia, we learned about the Haiku. They are the easiest type of poetry around-no rhyming-not even complete sentences-just 3 lines-5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables. I wrote one to use as an example and then Kenyon and Jacinta each wrote one. This is what we came up with.

WEEDS!
Wispy, Feathery
grow unrulely everywhere
weeds, ANNOYING weeds!


Jacinta's Snake
Awesome pear shaped head
long, sleek, elegant body
slithers through the grass.


Kenyon's Tree
Colossal branches
Majestic, Tremendous trunk
leaves blow in the wind.