Today was a school day for us. I almost titled the post “Lite School”, but reentry seemed more appropriate.
We hit the three Rs today along with some games. Reading aloud is helping not only their confidence but their fluency as well.
I found some more pictures from our Christmas season. It was fun to post some happiness. The Prez wanted it noted that the gift of me that keeps on giving is NOT like the dessert of the “month” club. 😀
Now for some more sights.
Saturday Night BINGO at the Country Store down the Road
Watching the Christmas Parade (yes it is called that) in the “Big” City Down the Road Continue reading
The PREZ surprised Momma big-time this year … with an iPad air! Whatsupwiththat!!! What did I get him? Um, myself! 😉 You know the gift that keeps on giving!
Here is the Prez himself (photo taken with that iPad).
Now I can’t get into my MacBook laptop but it is nothing a Genius Bar dude or dudette won’t be able to navigate (iCloud seems to have a steep learning curve for me anyway). So in the meantime I do have some photos that appeared on my iPad from my iPhone? At least they are communicating!
I thought I’d go back and share some sights from the Christmas season at our house. Continue reading
Wow, where did the last month go since I posted?
Life has been busy and blessed and broken.
I look at the following photo taken one day while driving on one of the many country roads we now traverse. I can see far ahead in this particular part of the road, but the VAST majority of this road is curvy and I cannot see around the next curve until I go through it.
Isn’t life like that much of the time? We can see far ahead. But as the following photo shows, a curve is usually not far away. And we have to take it slower and not try to figure out what we’ll do too far in advance.
By the way, my front seat passengers took the photos for me in case anyone is wondering. The Fall leaves here have been magnificent! They are now mostly fallen and the temperatures suggest winter is marching into our area sooner than later.
I love all of the seasons, but I must admit the falling leaves and approach of winter make me long for warmer and sunnier days that I know lay ahead.
I don’t know where life has taken you or your family in the last month, but if like me, you’ve waded through muck and mud and made it through to the other side for today, that is cause for celebration.
I have wrestled literally with the Lord over what I have perceived to be unanswered prayers, one in particular. I have come full circle in wanting to understand why He in fact does forsake His children when His Word says He will not, and in coming full circle I have accepted that my definition and perception of His promise is sometimes vastly different than His providence in my life and in the lives of the ones I love the most. I have also come to accept in this wrestling deep within that I just can’t understand who He is in entirety because He IS the I AM, the God of the universe.
I saw this saying this weekend. On Pinterest I think.
If God was small enough for you to completely understand him, he wouldn’t be big enough for you to completely trust him. Rick Warren
Did you really read that??? That sums up where I’ve been. Maybe you’ve been there too. Today I’m going to choose JOY. Someone told me this past Friday that my face exuded joy, and I was completely dumbfounded. She knows a bit of what our family has been enduring, and she said that Joy is usually seen most in those who are choosing it amidst troubles. Happiness of course is easy to find, but joy is often not. I can’t argue with her thoughts on me, but I really was surprised.
I am hoping, really hoping, to write up some posts that I’ll schedule to show up on here in the next week. They are from the past 6 weeks of learning here in our one-room schoolhouse. I don’t want to forget all we’ve done as life takes twists and turns in the future. I don’t know how long this one-room schoolhouse journey will last, so I want to record the moments. I hope your family is blessed this Thanksgiving week! I know we are!
“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34
Yesterday afternoon I had an unusual (and dreaded) assignment: Christmas Card photo session.
Dum, da, da, dum. And yes, the Prez is doling out skittles in the following photo (more on that later).
I was not the only one dreading it. I base my feelings of dread on past experiences, people. Just eing real and honest here. Maybe some others in the family were dreading it for the same reason. I didn’t ask them their reasons, but I promised them a monetary payment for their time and a bonus for the child who behaved the best. I also had the Prez grab a bag of candy on his way home from work.
Yes, folks, I bribed my own children. It had to be done. I know, some may say this is ridiculous. They should do this (well all but the three-year-old right?) without being paid, and they should show respect and a willing attitude. I mean, the Prez didn’t require candy or bribing. Well … OK, nevermind that.
I thought it would be fun to add some random photos I have taken on regular ‘ole school days the last few weeks.
I have so many photos that haven’t made their way onto the blog. These photos are just us living life together learning and growing on our little mini-farm. I still am amazed and so very thankful we get to live here!
The Prez and three of the boys headed out on a dove hunt. Li’l Bro has a BB gun in tow, while Larry and Mo have their 20-gauge shotguns.
The hunt didn’t yield any birds, but it yielded a successful day of practicing safe gun handling and enjoying the nature surrounding us.
The ladies (our hens) like to graze in the yard as does Mr. Squawks, however they need to stay out of our garden.
A recent skeet shoot-out from the top of our property, in which Momma came in second to Mo, who is 11 years old. As for the Prez … ahem … he missed all but one of his skeets. Momma … well I shot all of mine down but one. 😀
Labor Day for us was another school day. Well a half-day of school anyway. I won’t say my students were excited to hear they wouldn’t get a full holiday last Monday, but they worked hard on studies before lunch and then they worked hard on outdoor life school! Please note no child labor laws were broken … I promise they had fun painting our hen house with the Prez.
I’ve had people ask me how I manage to teach six children with so many different needs and levels of learning taking place. I honestly have been thinking on this for the last couple of days as I’ve worked on putting this on virtual paper.
I do not have a schedule laid out minute by minute. I have tried that, but I’m going to be honest in saying it just doesn’t work. And that stressed this Type-A person out, so I threw it out … literally … one day. Continue reading
