{Home} School

It's been awhile since I've given a home school update.

Two of the most surprising things about homeschooling that I didn't see coming are...

~ That I would be learning the most.

~ And two, that I would learn more about the home than the school.

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."    Isaiah 55:9

I will never be able to fully understand the greatness of God or His perfection. I had very little understanding of why He was calling me to be obedient in home schooling. I am humbled each day by His care and attention to the details of my life. He knew I needed home schooling just as much as my children. And by need, I mean my pride needed to be smashed and my rough edges needed smoothing. I know that I still am incapable of seeing the whole picture. But I'm not meant to. Because His ways are higher than mine. 

So I trust. I trust that His ways are oh so perfect. 

I did learn a few things about the school part of home schooling...

- I've learned that I'm not prepping Bella for a college entrance exam everyday when we sit down at the table to do school.

- I've learned that our work will wait for us if we need to finish it the next day.

- I've learned that just because we finish early doesn't mean we need to add more work to the lesson plan.

- I've learned been reminded that she's five years old. That's practically still a baby. :)

- I've learned that I can alter a work page, choose to do half of it, or choose to not do it at all.

- I've learned that having other home school mom friends is a MUST.

- I've learned that the most important things I want to teach her everyday don't lie on the pages of her school books.

And most importantly I think...

- I've learned that more learning happens away from the table than at the table. In the home.

The home. What have I learned about the {home} in home school?

- I've learned that our home is "our place". It's our safe zone. It's where we learn, stretch, grow, play. It's where we hash out arguments, forgiveness... where we extend grace and love to each other. It's a place where we sin. A lot. We say things we shouldn't, do things that aren't nice. It's "our place" where we have to be able to live out life. Together.

- I've learned that it's okay to just be at home. This isn't too hard for me because I am a homebody. Don't misunderstand me though... we have to get OUT of our house daily. Even if it's just a walk around the block. The walls start closing in, and everyone is in each other's way, and the annoyance level is rising for everyone. But what I am saying is that I want our home to feel like the best place in the world to my children. A home is supposed to be enjoyed. To be warm and welcoming. But to also be real. So, we have to be home for it to be our home.

- Sally Clarkson states, "A home is an environment designed by God's own hand, more than sufficient to prepare children for their adult lives. And a mom is exactly the person that her children need." 

For me that's the key: more than sufficient. I find myself looking for others things to fill our time, so we don't have to just be home.  Of course, there is a place for outside activities and of course, fellowship with friends, but I want to fight off the urge to be away from home all the time. 

- I've learned that I must try to submit daily to God's choices for me, so that my home is conducive to spiritual growth. So we can teach each other and learn God's truths through Scripture. So we can openly pray together. To allow it to grow into a place where we see each other's sins, and we choose to love, laugh, cry, forgive, and thrive with each other. Thrive in grace, gratitude, and humility.

My obedience and love for the Lord will affect my children's heritage. And their heritage is built in the home day in and day out. 

And speaking of being in the home day in and day out... my next post is about accepting the limitations of a fallen world within my home. Tough stuff right there. 

"For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."    Genesis 18:19

Oh, January

... I am not sad to see you go.

Does anyone else feel like they've been living in a twilight zone since Christmas? The holidays end, the schedules begin again, the cold sets in, and sickness thrives. I think back on this month, and I'm like, "What just happened?"
I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of February tomorrow. A new month, a sweet holiday, activities already planned, things to look forward to... don't let me down February! :)

This post is very random... random thoughts, random pictures...

I've been re-organizing my boards on Pinterest. That is such a type-A thing to do. But I love it.

Mark is training for a marathon. We are super proud of him. 21 miles that morning. {Also, Jack has taken to not wearing clothes at home. Ever.}

This fella is so unbelievably cute and so incredibly busy. :)

We had an Easter egg hunt the other night. Just because. Well, actually, because we've all been sick and have been quarantined for 7 days. We were going crazy.

Jack loves John Wayne movies. His current favorite is Hondo. And he must be riding his horse when he watches it.

We celebrated my dad's birthday this month. He seriously is the best dad and Pop any of us could ever ask for.

Mini- pancakes. Serve them with a little bowl of syrup for dipping, and your kids will think you just gave them the greatest dinner in the world. True story.

I'm almost ready for Spring. I could use one more really good freeze, so we can have a snuggly, cozy day with movies and hot chocolate.

My littlest man loves books. He gets super excited when he sees them and has them read to him.

One afternoon, Mark and I started looking at Bella's newborn pictures. Mistake. Look how little she was!


Okay, well, this month wasn't so bad. But I'm still looking forward to February. :)

Once upon a time...

... before they started a family, it was just the two of them.

And time spent together was easy. Leisurely. Spontaneous. And then they had little human beings, and the life was sucked out of them time together was harder to come by.

Seeing as 99% of my posts are about kids/being a mom, I realized there's a subject just as important (if not more) as my kids. And that's my marriage. Because it was just the two of us before kids, and it will be just the two of us again after kids.

And if it's already hard to find time together now while the kids are still so young, what are we going to be dealing with when they're older? ... sports, activities, friends... driving them around wishing for a family dinner.

Just as raising kids takes work, being in a compatible, respectful, loving, and understanding marriage takes hard work. And that's ok. If it's too easy, or lifeless, dull, or complacent... maybe we're not working hard enough.

I've written about my mission as a mom... making time for my kids, prioritizing my day, worrying less about my to-do's. I feel such strong motivation to be the mom God wants me to be. But I also feel enormous desire to be the wife God wants me to be. To make enough room in my day for my husband. Because let me be honest. When he walks in the door at 8pm after working a 13 hour shift, the only thing I really want to do is walk into my room, close the door, lay on the bed, and just be still. I'm so tired by that point. And sometimes that is what I do. He's tired too. That's the thing about marriage and kids. You're always tired. Being aware though, that you have to work that much harder to grow your marriage, well... that's half the battle.

Be intentional. Small moments. Small conversations. Small gifts. Small acts. They all add up. They matter. They're important.

I feel like after kids, it's time to date again. Your husband that is. :)

I'm so thankful for examples we've had to observe and learn from... our parents, friends, family... when I see intentional actions to grow a marriage, I try and make mental notes. It hasn't always been easy to feel connected... we fail at times. We go to bed tired and grumpy. We put our kids first. We don't make time. We get too busy.

We are still learning (and will most likely always be learning) how to grow closer, communicate better, serve willingly, sacrifice more, forgive easily, respect deeper, and love stronger... in the midst of life swirling around us. But we must make the time. Because before there were babies, there was just us.

Erika Knox Photography

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Colossians 3:14

Max is 1!

The littlest VW turned one this past weekend. Holy cow. Wasn't it just last Christmas that he was a tiny newborn?! It is hard to watch time pass so quickly, but I also enjoy seeing my kids grow and change. And get cuter by the day. I don't know how it happens, but it does. Max still loves looking and pointing at airplanes, so that is the theme I went with for his birthday. He was showered with love from lots of family... only two aunts and one uncle were missing... pretty good when you consider how big both of our families are. It was a wonderful night.

Some fun facts about Max right now...

~ He is walking... started about one week before his birthday, and he couldn't be happier about it.

~ Loves his blankie... his blankie that he chose is a white thermal blanket that was Bella's when she was a baby. It has a pink embroidered heart and Bella's name on it. I may have to take some bleach to that later.

~ Loves his family. As soon as you get him out of bed, he is scanning the room to see who is around to play with. He doesn't know what to do if Bella and Jack are ever gone.

~ Loves when Mark plays the guitar. Clapping of hands, bouncing, squealing. We have jam sessions in our room every night.

~ He currently has 7 teeth. He eats everything we eat and has transitioned to whole milk. I stopped nursing about a month ago and cried for two weeks about it. I do this with all my kids. I will have some serious issues when I stop nursing my last one.

~ He says dada, mama, and a bunch of other jibber jabber I can't decipher yet. He waves hello and goodbye, claps, dances, sings, nods, is silly on purpose when he has an audience... he is tons of fun.

~ He has started shrieking and throwing fits... it's always such a downer when your sweet baby's sin nature makes it's presence known.

~ He knows way more than we think he does... he knows what he is not supposed to touch (Christmas tree, blue ray player, etc), so he looks back at you to see if you see him before he touches it. When he gets his hand swatted, he sometimes gives out the most pitiful fake cry you've ever heard.

~ His hair is still ginger colored. I love it. I don't want it to go away. Red hair comes from my side of the family. My parents had a blonde, brown, and two strawberry heads... Mark and I now have a blonde, brown, and one strawberry.... very cool.

~ Gives the best open mouth kisses... he isn't stingy at all with them, so we snag them all day long. So so sweet.

~ His favorite place to be is outside. He will stand at the back door and scream to go out. That doesn't get old. :(

~ He's not super into toys right now. He can't be bothered with sitting and playing. He's always on the move stirring up trouble. Grabbing plug-ins, playing in the toilet, eating paper, digging in the trash, emptying drawers, coloring on the walls. No time to play with toys.

~ Speaking of drawing, he loves to be given a crayon and paper. He draws on it. He just started doing it one day.


We love, love, love him!!! Happy Birthday Max Palmer!!!

Days

I've had a few bad challenging days. When you come out on the other side of them, it feels so... what's the word... nice, humbling, refreshing. What's my definition of challenging though? Because everyone's perspective of a difficult day is different. For me it is sick kids, exhaustion, frustration, irritability, self-pity. When one day is rough, and then the next day is the same, and the next, and it doesn't seem to get better. What remains steadfast during these days though?
Our Lord's kindness. His faithfulness. His presence. His love. His Word.
The strength of our faith is tested during "bad" days... our true character is exposed in the hard moments of the day. How did I do this week? I failed sometimes. I pushed through and sought strength above my own at other times. And I read this verse a lot.

"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast."      1 Peter 5:10

I love this. Will Himself restore you. So encouraging. and true. and powerful.

Deep down I know that my days were so incredibly blessed when I compare them to what so many are suffering through in this world. Perspective. It is encouraging and humbling to remember that He cares.

"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."     Lamentations 3:22

As I look back at the week, it is easier to see those compassions and mercies.

My sweet Jack was having trouble breathing last week. It was starting to get really scary. I knew something wasn't right. I met Mark at Cooks with him. Diagnosis: pneumonia.

The mercies we saw were... amazing nurses and doctors, immediate medicine, supportive family, lots of prayers, and a reminder that our boy was going to be just find. We were in a hospital with the sickest of the sick kids. And our boy was not one of them.

A few days later was Halloween. Such a fun day! Costumes, good food, family, and friends.

Science teacher, Aunt Megan, brought dry ice. They loved it.

This little guy has had the worst case of teething any of my children have ever experienced. So sad. This has been his "condition" going on 4 days now.

It's pitiful. We've gone through Tylenol, Motrin, numbing gel, teething tablets... just trying anything to relieve his pain.
So what's the worst part? The fact that is a very healthy baby? Or the fact that he loves me unconditionally and just needs to be held 24/7? Why is it so difficult to have that perspective when you're swimming in exhaustion? Things really aren't as terrible as my mind makes them out to be sometimes.

Mark was gone hunting this weekend, and the Lord really worked on my heart and attitude as I cared for the kids and tried to support him as well. He loves hunting, and the kids and I were really pulling for him to get a deer. For several reasons. One being, it would make him happy. Second, the kids love to be a part of it when he gets home. And third... well, let's just be honest here... if he gets one his first trip out, he doesn't have to keep going. :) A tad selfish, yes. But honest.

Well, he got one!

And we were SO happy. We had been praying for Daddy all weekend. And now our freezer will be full all winter.



It's in the tough days that we grow the most. And while it's not fun, it's worth it. Because we come out more dependent on Christ and less on ourselves.


"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  2 Cor 12:9