I'm back! Excuse the mess!

Well, I've jumped here and there and every where and life has changed so much since 2012.... OH BOY has it. I know I was blogging elsewhere and then took a break but this seems like the most logical place to re-start.

So here we are... living on an acreage. Family of 13, with 9 kids still living at home.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Missing posts???

I've been posting regularly, but have moved to WordPress and the transition included changing my feed address.  So, if you haven't gotten anything from me in a while, you might want to come check out the blog at www.justourthoughts.com and re-sign up for the new RSS feed.

Striving to learn and live God's purposes,

Thinking… On Mother’s Day!

Today is Mother's Day.

 

I hate the sense of entitlement that gives me!  I know I will be fighting it all day.

 

So far this morning is no different than any other day.  I am up with the three youngest.  I have made my own breakfast and coffee.  I have made breakfast for Matty (no one else was interested yet).  I have helped with the TV, DVD player and computers.

 

I am tired and pregnant with another baby.  I would have loved for my husband to get up with the little ones.  I would have loved to stay in bed and been treated like royalty.  You'd think that after 11 years of this, I'd get it.  I'd get that it's not going to happen.  I'd get that my husband just doesn't do that kind of thing and the kids don't really either.

 

We had such a beautiful day yesterday and today should be no different.  But I worry that my entitlement will ruin a good family day!  I am starting not to like these holidays that focus on the individual - Mother's Day, Father's Day, birthdays, Christmas.  I'd way sooner be focused on God and what He's done and is doing.  He's doing great things in my family!

 

Now don’t get me wrong.  I think it’s important to thank our mothers for the work they did to raise us.  I think it is nice and important for me to be recognized for the work that I do in our family.  I do a lot, but it’s MY JOB!  It’s what I’m supposed to do.  It’s what I signed up for when I got married and started having children.

 

So today, as I struggle with a feeling of entitlement (that’s to prevalent in our society today), I will attempt to enjoy a day of family time – playing and working outside, resting and playing inside.  Today I will enjoy my children as I do every other day.  I will enjoy my husband’s day off.  I will thank God that He saw fit to entrust me with the lives of these little children.

 

Education Update

 

When we restarted school after the fire the children would take 3 hours to finish two pages in their math workbooks.  It was torture.  I am happy to report that in the last two days the kids have completed, not only 2 pages of math, but also a page of cursive practice in under an hour!

 

In the next two weeks, while my parents are here (extra hands and all that) I plan to prepare for the addition of another subject, scheduling it to start after Grandpa and Grandma leave.  The book we will be working through is called WriteShop Primary Book B.  (B or 2, I forget right now)  In this course they will learn things like writing a friendly letter, writing poetry, retelling familiar stories, and writing personal narrative.  Some skills included are paragraph formation, rhyming words and using a dictionary.  At the end of each of the ten lessons they will publish the project in a variety of different ways.  I am excited about this course, even though it is quite parent involved; I prefer to allow the children to learn on their own.  This subject doesn’t lend itself well to that at this stage / age.

 

Once we are well established with WriteShop, but well before baby is due to arrive, I plan to add yet another subject to their requirements of the week.  We started Apologia Human Body in late January and I have just received most of the books this week.  I am waiting on one journal that is back ordered.  The girls were really enjoying the lessons we got done and wanted to do more and more each day; I had to hold them back to prevent burn out and information overload!  That’s exciting for me!

 

It won’t be long until I will be teaching from the recliner / couch.  Not that I expect to be on bed rest or anything serious like that.  I just know that I will be slowing down and will need to save my energy for things that need to take my energy – like appointments, and cooking.  My children are all pretty good helpers and for that I am grateful.  They mostly take care of the laundry and dishes now and that helps so much!

 

I plan to carry on through the summer and probably until the end of the year with the subjects we are currently working on and have planned to add.  With a new baby and building a house, I know we can’t handle any more than that.  I’m just hoping it’s not too much.  I might organize it differently, if needed.  The other plan I have in mind is to do “modules” of subjects – one month of math, daily, followed by a month of WriteShop, daily and follow that with a month of Anatomy.  I would keep penmanship (cursive) in the mix through the 3 months.  Anyway, I’m just thinking and planning and trying to remember that we have so much other learning going on this summer that book learning isn’t all there is in life.  We want to do things like fishing and camping; of course there is the house build (when will it start???) and the new baby.  Those are HUGE learning opportunities, too!

 

Keep learning daily!

 

Grandpa and Grandma Arrive

 

So now the count down can stop and the fun can begin!!

 

Have a great week.  I know we will!