Just Another Day

 It's easier to remember the "special" days, holidays, and vacations... But someday I figure we'll want to see pictures from a regular old day.  Like when Ezra picks up a book and actually sits quietly reading while the bigger kids do school (Ok, so that's not exactly typical, but it was sweet!).

And Naomi is excited to make all of us lunch all by herself with a recipe from her cookbook.

 

Here Johnathan takes a break from school to jump on and off the trampoline... One of our best school investments!



 

This picture shows Ezra at his usual active play... He told me the animals were getting ready to eat Wendy, poor girl.  Wendy is 3-year-old Ezra's favorite character these days.  He even has a special high-pitched voice he uses just for her!

Abby doesn't like being left out of school, and she is starting to phase out her morning nap.  So I've had to get creative to find activities she can do that hold her attention for more than a minute and don't involve emptying bookshelves, dumping out pencil cups, or banging on keyboards!  She loves sitting in her booster and poking pom poms through the holes in this yogurt container.

Now here's a little extra detail that tells you a bit about MY days.  I finished this post and clicked over to my list of posts, where, lo and behold, I discovered I had saved another post with almost the same title about a month ago.  Turns out, I had already crafted one with the same pictures, but had saved it unfinished.  I find that kind of thing happening a lot lately... Like when I got everything ready for dinner a few weeks ago, then turned around and realized I had already put a different meal in the crock pot early that morning!  Whew!  It's a whirlwind around here and I often feel like I'm almost but not quite keeping up.  But at least we'll have the pictures and stories to remember this crazy season of life!

First Day of School

 We are back to school, and the first grader and third grader are hard at work!

 

Ezra did some painting today.  As he gleefully swirled every color of paint on the paper, he happily declared, "This is a nightmare!"  

Abby sampled some of Ezra's paint and discovered that it does not taste good.

 

A good day overall, and we'll be back at it in the morning!

Silly Girl

If anyone leaves the bathroom door open, Abby makes a beeline for it!  Her current fascination is with the sink.  This is to my great relief, given that her previous obsession was splashing and tasting water in the toilet.  She can play in the sink any day!

Ready for School

 

Ahh, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils!  After several rearrangements, multiple clean-outs, and lots of UPS deliveries, the schoolroom is ready to go.  So I took some pictures so I can remember what it looked like before we mess it all up in the process of frenetic learning! 

 

Ready to teach

 

Ready to read

 

Ready to play

Ready to learn

Ready to grow!

For What Did I Work?

 

It had to be done eventually, so after 9 years and 2 moves, I finally tackled the project:  Weed through seven boxes of files that I accumulated during my 5 years of teaching 5th grade.  I remember carefully loading them into the storage boxes during my final days of teaching, my growing pregnant belly bumping into them while baby Naomi bumped around inside me.  I worked really hard to fill those two big filing cabinets full of worksheets, units, and resources.  I worked really hard to organize them, labeling them according to the state standards to I could easily cross-reference them with my lesson plans.  And I didn't want all that hard work to go to waste in case I went back into the classroom. 

 

Nine years later, going through them folder by folder, I realized that, in the ever-changing field of teaching, a lot of the stuff wouldn't be so useful anymore anyway.  So now, I have two shelves of the best stuff in my little filing cabinet.

 

 

 

And all of this (below) is now gone. 

 

I feel lighter, somehow!  Its also a little sobering to think about how much of my work is so temporal.  Though in the past the book of Eccesiastes seemed somewhat depressing to me ("Meaningless, meaningless, everything is meaningless!") I've taken encouragement from it more and more lately.  Though by nature much of our work in this life is "vanity" (or a vapor, taken literally),  God's gifts of joy and pleasure in that work bring Him glory.  So I'm glad that He gave me a job doing something I enjoy, both then and now.  Teaching (and organizing stuff!) definitely brings me pleasure, and I'm thankful I get the opportunity to do both every day!

I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, for anything taken from it.  God has done it, so that people fear before Him.  Ecclesiastes 3:14

Just Playing

 

Out for a little morning stroll around campus, enjoying the cooler temperatures before the August sun begins to sizzle.

Going to the Chapel

 

Going to the chapel and we're

Gonna do piano practice!

Naomi and Johnathan have started piano lessons this school year.  Since we only have a keyboard at home, we have been borrowing use of the piano next door in the chapel occasionally so they can practice with the "real thing" too!

Chocolate-Covered Cuteness

I think Ezra enjoyed his chocolate-covered banana!

Mama Cardinal

It's been two years since we had a cardinal nest in our rosebush, so I was excited to see this mama sitting on the nest she built.  Maybe it was one of the babies I scooped back into the nest in the same bush two years ago... I have no idea what the life cycle of a cardinal is!  Unfortunately, this one left after about a week, so I guess the eggs didn't make it.

Do It Myself!

 

Abby is 14 months old.  She is reveling in all her independent skills - walking, feeding, dumping laundry or trash cans, splashing in the toilet, exploring cabinets, and expressing herself.  When she's done with her meal, she'll wave her hands in the air and declare, "Dit down!"

Summer Mornings

 In the middle of summer, morning is the only time we want to be outside for very long.  So I try to shoo the kids out the door first thing in the morning to get some fresh air, sunshine, and exercise.
 

 

Some days, though, they just want to sit under the tree and read.  I'm good with that!

 

Sensory Summer Part 4

 

Next activity:  Moon Dough.  This idea came from http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2013/06/summer-boredom-busters-moon-dough.html.  We made a "big kid" version with baby oil, but the "little kid" version contained vegetable oil, because Abby is sure to taste it!

Fun, messy, and great for softening your hands!

Sensory Summer Part 3

This activity was a hit with the kids and kept them busy for several hours.  With some squeeze bottles, pitchers, milk jugs, Dixie cups, and colored water, they mixed their imaginary drink recipes to their hearts content.  With a little intentionality, your can work in art, science, and math - color mixing, measurement, and money.  It was also good occupational therapy practice for pouring heavy containers!

 

 I ordered a cup of the intriguing-sounding "Seaweed Mix".  Naomi wrote up my receipt....

Mmm... refreshing!  Next time I'll try the "Shushy"... whatever that is!