This is my confession.

I am only posting this on my blog, and not facebook, because I know only my dearest friends and family members who love me the most read it (not true, but I like to pretend).

If one more friend of mine on facebook decides to become an independent sales rep of something or other and also decides to post frequent sales pitches,

I am going to throw a big temper tantrum.  lol.  I don't know.   But anyway, it's just annoying.  I've already hidden many from my home page.  Sorry, but I can't take all that advertising when we. don't. have. any. money.

Is this how our grandparents felt about Kirby Sales People?

My buddy

I think I have been subconsciously putting off this post because it pains me a little to write it.  I can't believe a year has passed.  I can't believe 13 months ago, I did not know this little guy.  13 months ago, we had not yet been blessed with his cute little grin, his sweet little body sitting quietly in my lap, his chubby fingers holding on to me tightly like a little koala, his precious giggles and loud, sometime obnoxious yells, drumming, and slamming.  Josiah is our buddy.  He actually responds to the word Buddy better than he responds to the word Josiah.  :)

 Josiah is 22 pounds and all boy.  Aside from his efforts to put skirts and necklaces over his head, anyway.  He does things that Maryn could never figure out.  He's played with cars since he was so tiny.  He figured out those pull and let go cars months ago, and quickly learned how to hop onto his Spiderman car and make it go.  Our cute little Cheerios game I used to play with Maryn, wrapping them in wax paper and trying to let her figure out how to get them out?  She loved that-the twisting and pulling.  Josiah just tears through it, eats the paper if he has to.  Snack traps?  Forget it!  He reaches in, gets as many goodies in his fist as possible, and pulls it all out.

 With a girl, you figure, oh she'll learn that's yucky if she puts it in her mouth enough times.  Not so with Mr. Josiah.  He loves sticks, grass, and his favorite--sweet gum tree seed pods.  Mmmh Mmmh, and he never learns that they are yucky.  They are yum.  Anything dirty and disgusting...is yummy.

 He is the ladies man of the nursery, wooing every nursery worker and girl baby.  He is my handsome little fella.  I love him to pieces.

 And so does everyone else!

He's not walking yet, but everything else he's doing "on time" I believe.  He's even saying Maryn, we think.  He calls her Na-Na, and if he really tries he can sometimes get out a Na-Nin.  Other words he says are Mama, Dada, banana, and ball, but he does repeat a lot of words if we say them enough times.  I think he said Grandma and Grandpa when we were in Tennessee.  He is quite a jabber jaws despite having a big sister to do the talking for him.

Maryn and Josiah have really been playing together.  She loves to "be the babysitter" and have him in her room with her.  It's really very sweet.  She's getting better at sharing with him, and with others.

We love you, Josiah.

Kites, Wind and Weather: Day One

This week, we are finally doing our Kites, Wind and Weather theme that my aunt Cathy sent to us many months ago, intending it for spring of course.  Well, we were a little slow about buying a kite and other things we wanted for these lessons.  But we finally found a kite at Walgreens for $1.00 and tried flying it on Saturday.  We got our money's worth, that's for sure.

Well, the kite didn't really work, but I guess kites are not that appropriate for 2-3 year olds.  Daddy didn't have much success with it either.  But I think Maryn does get the idea of what wind is, kite or no kite!

Here's what our schedule looks like most school days (Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

First things first...

I set out our pattern block/tangram things for Maryn to do while I got myself ready and sorted out and breakfast on the table, Josiah changed and such.  These types of table activities keep her busy first thing and she's always excited about what she's going to find on our table on school day mornings.

Bible and Breakfast

I like to do our Bible story reading during breakfast, while the kids' little hands are occupied and they are sitting relatively quietly.  We don't have a set thing we do for Bible time, but it usually is a story out of the book The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes by Kenneth N. Taylor, The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd Jones, a Bible Story pamphlet we got from Maryn's or Josiah's Sunday School class, or now AWANA Cubbies stuff.  Today, we practiced the Cubbies verse of the week (While we were sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8), and we read a few stories about Jesus' death and resurrection in The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes.  I like this Bible story book better for Maryn's age over the Jesus Storybook Bible.

Alphabet Practice

Today, we practiced the few letters I know Maryn needs to practice:  X, Z, T, G, Q, b, d, and j.  I put those letter magnets on our magnet/white board you see above, and we sorted them out and put them into The Leap Frog thing to hear their sounds.  We sorted them into our ABC garden.  My aunt Cathy made us these little flower cups:

The flowers are laminated, so I just wrote the letters we wanted to practice on them, and Maryn sorted her magnets into the corresponding cups.  Cathy also sent us picture cards to go into the cups (apple for a, bear for b, etc.), but today I just wanted to focus on letter recognition.  Maryn is surprisingly good at knowing words for letters but still gets some letters and sounds mixed up, so we focused on that today.  It's more fun and easy for her anyway!  She is still two, after all.

Then, we got out the shaving cream!  I stuck Maryn in Josiah's high chair and let her spread a bunch of Barbasol shaving cream all over the tray, and then she made letters and pictures in it.  I gave her WAY too much shaving cream, and it created quite a mess.  :)


Fine Motor Skills: Tear and Glue 

I think Maryn has finally gotten the hang of tearing.  Tearing paper is surprisingly difficult for most preschoolers, but is really good for their fine motor skills.  Maryn tore up enough blue paper to make a "cloud" and colored a kite for a very beautiful picture.


Math:  Kite and Number Matching

This was a worksheet we did with a sheet protector and dry erase marker.  She had to match the kite with 5 hearts on it to the number 5, the kite with 8 stars on it to the number 8, and so on.  She was great at this with numbers 1-5!  Which is great progress from just a few months ago.

Kite Painting and Paint Mixing

Maryn loves to mix paint colors.  Today, I decided to show her what happens when we mix white into our paint.  I put black, purple, red, green, and blue in small dishes and added a bit of white to each one.

She really had no idea what might happen, since we've only mixed primary colors to make secondary colors.  She was thrilled especially that red and white makes....PINK!  We used the beautiful colors she made to paint a "kite," for decoration only, not for flying.

Here's the artist washing out her paintbrushes.  She also helped sweep the floor, make lunch, and wash the dishes.  That's one great thing I foresee with homeschooling:  real life, practical skills!

Music, Dance, Large Motor

Then we went back to Maryn's room for some music time.  We got out her instruments and used those, our bodies, and toys--whatever we could find--to make "weather sounds."  We made rain sounds, thunder, lightning, and wind.  While we made the sounds, we acted like trees in the weather.  Like trees blowing in a light breeze, in a windy storm, in a tornado, or a hurricane.  It was great fun!  Then we danced and listened to some other music.

Science Experiment


We made a windsock puppet to take outside and dance in the wind.   This was a great, great age appropriate thing to do with Maryn (better than a regular windsock or kite) because she could move with it and "Dance with the Wind" (a book title we also read today).  We just colored a double sided fish on card stock, stapled the two sides together around an old broken wand, glued crepe paper and ribbon to the ends, and went outside to dance and play.  Fun!

Books We Read

We read a few books throughout the day.  We read The Wind Blew, a great classic by Pat Hutchins.

We also read Word Bird's Rainy Day Dance, Clifford Keeps Cool, Raindrops, and It's Raining, It's Pouring by Kin Eagle.

How long did all this take?


One great thing about homeschooling is that you get a lot more done in less time.  We honestly did everything on our list before lunch, with time to spare.  And we even fit in time to do other things I didn't post here.  I was able to leave Maryn to do her painting and coloring on her own, so the house even stayed clean.  Josiah even got some learning in, too, and lots of play!  But he took a nap around 10:30, until 1:30.  So we had a great school day.  If Josiah had not been cooperative, that's okay, because we can always finish after lunch, or even after dinner!  I love it.  And Maryn loves it too.  She's always begging for more.

So now you know what a school day kind of looks like for us.  I can't post every school day because that would take forever.  But there it is.  Happy Back to School!!!

Oh mon Dieu, aidez moi.

"Daughter of Liberty! whose knife
    So busy chops the threads of life,
And frees from cumbrous clay the spirit..."
-Hymn to the Guillotine

If you are having a difficult time with your three year old, a great remedy is to volunteer to teach a whole class of 3 year olds for at least two hours each week, late in the evening.

Yes, John and I have now been teaching a small class of three year olds for two weeks and I am feeling very, very blessed with my two children.

My blog has one main purpose and that is to record my life's happenings, mostly for the benefit of our own family.  I try not to complain about my children or embarrass them too much, so I know that to many of you, it may seem like I brag on them a lot.  Well, let me tell you that it's not always daisies and roses around here.  Just the other day I considered placing an ad for a full time babysitter.  Full time meaning 6:30 am until 9:30 pm.  And  about once a day I feel like placing my head in a guillotine.

Our AWANA Cubbies class is complete chaos.  I have prided myself in my great classroom management skills for many years.  But in Cubbies, there's just far too much to do and far too little time to do it.  All 11 children are newly potty trained and either obsessed with going potty every 5 minutes and washing their hands for 5 minutes each time afterward, or afraid to go when they need to go, or just can't go because the aforementioned children are on the potty all the time...  Add 6 little boys who want to do nothing but launch crayons across the room, and you've got yourself a mess.  That's our Cubbies class.  Sit in a chair?  No.  Sit on the carpet?  No.  Color?  No.  Glue?  No.  Walk in a line?  No.

They dump, they spit, they pee everywhere but in the potty, they spin, they jump, they throw, they whine, and they have one speed:  RUN.

What a blessing it was to bring home our sweet, precious children.  Two of them.  Two sweetlings I don't know how I ever complain about.  ;-)

I've been trying to run errands, kids in tow, by myself.  This is kind of a new concept for us, because of our one car deal.  We usually kind of traded off or did it all together or John did errand type stuff on his way home from work.  Well, John needs to study and I need to get out more, so here we are...running errands...every mom's joy in life.

I am seriously amazed at how well my children function on these errands.  Today, we went grocery shopping, to the library and to the mall.  Not one fit or  meltdown.  Friday, we went to the playground, the library and Target.  Again, not a single fit, accident, or any issues at all.

I was really starting to feel hopeless, worthless and terrible about Maryn's behavior around friends.  It's no news to me that sharing, for two and three year olds, is next to impossible.  Well, we are surrounded by lots and lots of children.  We can't get Maryn's bike out for five minutes without some kid wanting to ride it or stealing off with it.  And of course, it works in reverse.  Maryn wants to play with every kid's toy, ride every other kids' scooters and tricycles, eat everyone's snacks, etc.  I'm not complaining...it's great for all of us!  But some days, you know, I feel like I have a demon-possessed child.  Who will never learn to share.  Who will always covet, envy, steal, hate, hurt, etc.

I was just studying James the other day and felt so convicted by his words about envy, jealousy, and covetousness, which are throughout the chapter.  I see these sins in my daughter and I hate them, probably because I know how powerful they are in my own life.

I could try to wrap up this post very nicely, but that is all I will say for now.  I am tired.

Peace be with you :)  Truly.

Bradd and Alicia are gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am sad.

Back to School!

 Someone is becoming more of a troublemaker! He got into the cupboard and pulled out the Sam's Club size baking soda.

 Maryn and I made this decoupage box for Josiah's new big boy room early one morning, before we even ate breakfast.

 I love this picture above, simply because my sweetie pie Maryn is actually smiling so cute.  Josiah and I look like we're a bit possessed, but since it's usually the other way around, I just had to post it anyway.  ;-)

We were on our way to church in this picture, and Maryn got moved up to a new class.  She loved it, and woke up very excited.  John and I have been attending a "new class" for the last 6 months or so and we are enjoying it very much.  It's just a small group, and while the teacher isn't Dr. Moore, and there aren't famous people everywhere, the people are real, they know and love our kids, and we are getting to know all of them.

 John has gone back to school.  He is taking one class on Mondays and one class on Fridays.  On Tuesday, I almost has a meltdown.  This semester is going to be tough.  Please pray for us.  Above, you see how Maryn feels about it.  Here you see John sitting at his desk (see his desk light?) and he is about to be swallowed by a big fish (the stripey thing).

 I'm trying not to be such a lazy fatty, so here we were taking a walk Monday morning.  It was 65 degrees and the kiddos were "freezing" so I went up and grabbed them some blankets.  I walked about 1/4 of a mile and thought I might die.

Maryn and I have been getting along much better lately.  One thing that brings us together is being partners in crime as we stick bath foamies all over her little brother.  We giggle and giggle and giggle as he tries to find them, spinning around like a little doggy chasing his tail.  Oh, they are so cute.

Maryn, Josiah and I are doing school on Mondays and Fridays just like daddy.  I put new crayons and scissors in a "new" backpack for her, and she woke up on Monday so excited to open it and play school.  We painted, played Hi-Ho Cherry-O, did a fun craft with foil, yarn and markers, laced buttons, played some file folder games (Big and Small), read Not a Box, and did two worksheets.  I put the worksheets in a plastic sheet so we can reuse them.  One showed how to draw a kite step by step, and one was choosing which picture was "bigger."

We have been practicing saying things like, "Mommy is big.  Daddy is bigger."  This is a part of language that is hard to learn, and I remember that from teaching second language learners.  My daughter is a language learner as well, and this is a difficult concept.  She kept wanting to say, "Mommy is big.  Daddy is big."  Or, she wants to sort her Care Bears by size but puts any Care Bear wearing a diaper in the "small" pile, because if they wear a diaper, they must be "little."  Interesting to see!

Having her do the step-by-step kite was interesting too, because of her perception at this age.  She wanted to make the  lines that were supposed to be on the kite, on top of the kite.  And the crossing of two lines is difficult at this age.  So it was just interesting to see how her mind is developing.

What did Josiah do all day while we had school?  He played!  He just loves to play, play, play.  And normally, he does not get into the baking soda!  :)

He loves me :)

John:  I had CRAZY dreams last night.  

Amanda:  I had a dream that I had to be in a "comedy of errors" play, and I had to dress up like a mime and chase a tennis ball around a stage. 

John:  (blank stare)

Good parenting advice straight from the Word. Surprise, surprise.

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
-Ephesians 6:4

"Know this, my beloved brothers:  let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger, for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.  Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls."
-James 1:19-21


Very little good comes from the anger of man.  Yet so often in parenting, anger spills out onto our children and where does it get us?  It only produces pained little hearts and guilt and shame for the parents.  So how can we change?  We must remember the grace and mercy God has on us.  We deserve Hell, we deserve to experience the evil of the spiritual world that is all around us, yet God protects us from so much.  Even if you are not a believer, He has blessed you.  But the only way we can truly know and share His love are if we receive His forgiveness.  And as we believers, we still have filth in our lives, don't we?  We must put away all filth and wickedness, and receive the implanted word, which is able to save our soul (produce righteousness, sanctify us continually).

What "filth" can you get rid of in your life?

In my daughter, I know that watching more than an hour or so of television a day affects her behavior and her moods.  I wonder if television  has that affect on me?  I know Facebook produces great struggles in my heart at times (envy, frustration, anger, gossip).  Television and Facebook are not bad things, but for everyone these and other things can be stumbling blocks.

James says to put away all filthiness.  This means, take off your dirty clothes.  And don't touch the dirt again.  You don't take off your dirty clothes and then try to save the dirt and put it back on your body, do you?  After one of John's 10 mile runs, he removes his smelly, sweaty clothes and puts them away (hopefully straight into the washer!).  He doesn't put them back on after his shower.

What can I put away today?  What filth do I need to take off so that God can do His work in me?

But we must remember, the most important point of all of this is that, ff we want to change our kids, we have to relinquish control.  And realize God is the only one who can change hearts.

Really.

nobody does it like we do it :)

We packed Sunday morning.

Drove the 20 minutes to church.  I worked in the 4 year old class.  John went to worship.  Then we went to Sunday school.

We left church, drove 5 minutes to Arby's.  Used coupons.  Ate lunch.

And drove 4.5 hours to Townsend, Tennessee.  Stopped once at a gas station to use the restroom and buy Cheetos.  :)

And today we drove back.  Stopped once.  Chick-fil-a.  Kids eat free day.

Got home at 2:30.  John left for work.

Played, watched a movie with Maryn, made dinner (baked ziti, garlic bread, cucumbers), unpacked, cleaned.

And you know, sometimes I ask myself why do I do the things that I do.  And I think, I want to be at the end of my life and have God smile down at me and say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

But the truth is, He is going to smile down at me and say, "Well done good and faithful servant."

Because Jesus has done it all for me, and nothing else I can do can make his sacrifice better.  It is knowing that truth every moment that could get me through my days so much easier.

But I forget.  I always forget.



I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

(Psalm 34 ESV)

Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus

I just began the book Give Them Grace:  Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus by Elyse Fitzpatrick.  I am only in the first chapter, and I already feel a definite change in my own heart towards parenting, but also in my life and attitude towards everything and everyone.

I appreciate this book because I am naturally a very pharisaical person, meaning I like rules.  I like to be obedient because a.)  It makes me feel like people like me.  b.)  It makes me feel good about myself.  c.)  I feel reassured about my salvation and my worthiness before God.  All these reasons are ridiculous, immature and false.  I know this deep inside, but I so often fall off the track, you could say, back into my rule-following, not because I love Jesus, but because I love myself.

I just completed another book called Womanly Dominion by Mark Chanski, which is a good book at its core, I believe...but not the sort of book a pharisaical person such as myself needs.  Chanski writes in one chapter that a mother of young children can expect to have a messy, chaotic house, for example.  But in another chapter he writes that as a housewife, I should create a tranquil environment for my husband to come home to after work, that I should make manly breakfasts for him and not "let myself go."  I know Chanski wrote some of these as suggestions or examples and he certainly understands that there are days and seasons of life where things just don't go very smoothly, but I would not suggest the book Womanly Dominion to any mother of young children.  Perhaps before children or long after they are grown.  ;-)

Nancy Leigh DeMoss writes much better books for women, I find, because she gives it to you straight yet she is usually very practical and realistic.  For example, in the book Lies Women Believe, she says a wife needs to find out what is important to her husband.  John doesn't want manly breakfasts, and even if he did, it just isn't going to happen for him more than once a month because he wakes up at 3:30 am.  Or he runs early in the morning and can't tolerate pancakes for breakfast.  I do try to make our home tranquil around the time of his arrival, but he doesn't typically have a meltdown if things are insane and so why would I stress myself and resent him for a little standard someone made up?  Sigh.

Anyway, back to Elyse Fitzpatrick's book, Give Them Grace.  It's just so good.  The title is a little goofy (Dazzle your kids?  What?), but I'm literally highlighting almost every word of it so far.  Here are a few of my favorite quotes.

"At the deepest level of what we do as parents, we should hear the heartbeat of a loving, grace-giving Father who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters.  If this is not the message that your children hear from you, if the message you send them on a daily basis is about being good so that you won't be disappointed, then the gospel needs to transform your parenting, too."

"Yes, we are commanded to teach the Word, prayer, and worship to our children, but their acquiescence to these things won't save them.  Only the righteous life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ saves them."

"The law of God, although beneficial and beautiful, cannot advance us on our way to righteousness because we cannot obey it.  Although the law demands perfection in only two areas (love God with all your heart, soul and might and love your neighbor, Matthew 22:36-40), none of us, no, none of us fully complies.

We can never fully obey these commands.  We always love ourselves more than we love God or others.  We are always erecting idols in our hearts and worshiping and serving them.  We are always focused on what we want and how we might get it than we are on loving him and laying down our life for others.  The law does show us the right way to live, but none of us obeys it.  Not for one millisecond.

"Even though our children cannot and will not obey God's law, we need to teach it to them again and again.  And when they tell us that they can't love God or others in this way, we are not to argue with them.  We are to agree with them and tell them of their need for a Savior.

The law of God also hinders our advance toward righteousness because, in our pride, we think that if we just try hard enough, we'll be able to obey it.  We read the promises of life for obedience and thing that means that we can do it.  The promises of life for obedience are not meant to build our self-confidence.  They're meant to make us long for obedience and then, when we fail again, they're meant to crush us and drive us to Christ."

Please go get the book for yourself before I get sued for copyright infringement!  I bought it for our Kindle for 7.99.  It's well worth it, if you have kids or not.

Good ideas!

Something FUN to do!
http://nurturestore.co.uk/create-a-song-bag-to-boost-language-and-maths-skills

sweetie pies

 Sibling sweetness.

But sometimes, I find myself saying, "Please just go play by yourself!"

 And Josiah is very happy playing by himself.  But he loves his sister, and wants to do what she does.  She is not as thrilled about this arrangement.

But sometimes we manage to find a way to include everyone.  Even Bosco (the baby doll).  Here we were in our "car" on the way to "Kroger" and the "Book Store."

We also go for slow walks as Maryn rides her tricycle around the block (very slow walks).

We eat popsicles.

We play bubbles.

We play hide and go seek in the house as a family.

Have you played hide and seek lately, as an adult?  It's actually pretty fun.

And the latest family favorite,

we pretend like Maryn is once again our burrito baby.

We used to call  Maryn our burrito baby because she loved to be wrapped super tight as a newborn.  She loves this game.  We love it too :)  Josiah was our enchilada baby.  Hopefully, we don't have more than four or five children or else we may run out of Mexican entrees to nickname them after.  But so far we've considered naming our next baby chimichanga or tamale.  Haha :-)

Josiah turns one soon.  He will be a year old on Friday.  Is that hard to believe?  He is my little sunshine.  He loves to play cars, ball, push things, move furniture around, stand up on his own (no steps yet though), and make lots of noise any way he can.  He is strong, silly and smart.  He repeats a great many words but so far his main words are Mama and ball.  He loves to make sound effects (vroom, vroom).  He makes and copies a lot of signs, but doesn't usually do them on his own without any prompting, except milk, waving bye bye or hello and sometimes "more."  He was definitely saying and signing "bubbles" today, which was so cute.

He got his first bloody nose today.

His favorite foods are macaroni and cheese and popsicles.  And ice cream and anything sweet or sugary, of course.  He's surprisingly more into green veggies than any other veggies.  He especially loves any food he can feed to himself.

He isn't crazy about sippy cups.  But he likes the straw type sippy cups so I guess we'll need to start getting some more of those as we break him of bottles.

And that's the update on my almost-one-year-old.