The Rest of Life

I don't want anyone to be under the false impression that all I do is sit around my house and brood about the adoption. To be completely honest, I try not to spend too much time thinking about it at all (keeping the mind busy). But also, I have a great and full and wonderful life.


Hey guys, can I take a not-goofy picture of you?

And since everyone everywhere is talking about back-to-school, I thought I would gush about Back-to-Homeschool!

Yep, I said 'gush.'

Why? Because even though it's hard and busy and time-consuming and mentally challenging, I still love it. I love spending time with my kids, helping them learn. I love watching them grown and develop. Although, I would honestly love to let another person focus on all the character training, it is part of my responsibility.

And I love what we learn. We have a full docket this year and I want you to hear about it. I've spent a great deal of time thinking, praying and planning for this year--and you should know. (Part of it is because for some, homeschooling is still not a legitimate form of education. I want you to see that for me, and many others, we take this stuff seriously.)

So this year we're learning:


Olivia at her desk.

• All about the history and geography of the 19th century (read: 1800s--westward expansion, colonialism, slavery and the civil war, industrial revolution). I could go on and on about how much I love history, but, I refrain. . .
• Writing, grammar, spelling, journalling,
• Bible study on Missionaries and the Gospel of John
• Chemistry (at the kid's request--and I'm a bit excited.)
• Art--following the Impressionist and Modern artists of the last two centuries
• Math--all kinds of math. Seriously. Three levels of math. Math that I now have to actually read the teacher's manual in order to know how to conceptually teach it.
• And Kindergarten--who could forget all the fun stories and hands on projects of Kindergarten. I'm thrilled to be in Kindergarten for the 4th time in my life. I'm enjoying it much more now!



Josh at his desk

• P.E.--yep, gotta have that component. You have to learn the rules to games like basketball, soccer. And you have to learn to run laps!
• Oh, and field trips! I'm super excited about all the field trips we have scheduled for this year!

Lest you think it's all about academic work, it's not. It's also about:

• Working and living and being together, A LOT!
• Helping each other out in times of need.
• Learning to work independently.

  

  Katie at her desk

• Life skills--working in the kitchen, personal responsibility for your own stuff, cleaning, laundry, errands, running a household.
• Oh, and fun! We try to have lots of fun together!

Homeschooling has just become part of our lives, how we live and shape our family. And for all the struggle, it has been good. Our family has grown, I've grown (probably me the most of anyone).

And now for the obligatory pictures!

I took this pics on our second day of school. (why not the first you ask--mostly because we hadn't gotten our new back-to-school outfits and we all look sorta sloppy.) As it was, not everyone was particularly thrilled about pictures. (Can you tell?)

3rd Grade

2nd Grade

Kindergarten

School Photo

Finally, a great picture of my goofy kids!

Because you can worship anywhere. . .

I can't dance.

It's sad, but true.

In fact, I've never had the chance to dance. Well, sorta. The conservative school I attended forbid dancing (we got to sit through banquets), I didn't go to concerts, I've never been to a club. And at all the weddings and functions I've attended in my adult life, well, there are always VERY interesting people to talk to!

This is not to say that I don't want to dance. I do! In fact, I have a hard time not responding to music. I think I look a little (or a lot) silly sometimes. For example, when I dropped the kids off at gymnastics this afternoon, there was some music on. And it was fun music. And I pretended to dance to it. And someone commented that it was "nice." And I promptly stopped all pretend dancing.

Honestly, I am moved by music. But by now, I feel I'm too old to dance without looking like an idiot. So I will keep my sweet moves in my head. Unless I am with a group of children who love it when people look silly--then I am in my perfect element.

However, I am becoming more convinced and ready for Heaven in this one way. There, at the foot of the throne of my King, I will be able to throw off the constraints of this world and dance for Him!

What in the world would inspire this?

This weekend, my daughters participated in their annual ballet recital. They dance in the little kid's programs at Hearts in Step Dance. And HIS is unabashedly and unashamedly Christian in its focus and practice. So this weekend, I was invited to dance in the presence of my King. I watched as girls (and one brave boy) danced for Jesus. Some laid their crowns before him, others lifted their arms in praise, a few just stood there and stared into the crowd. It was so sweet and pure. It was a holy time.

In that auditorium, I watched as Olivia danced the proclamation that:

"I am a true princess, a daughter of the King,
I have a royal Purpose, 'cause Jesus is my everything."

I watched Katie and her small class dance to the song Blessings. Their teacher told them that their dance to Blessings was so that they could be a blessing to someone. And these girls took that to heart.

And every year, the program ends with "The Revelation Song" and a stage full of dancers in dresses the color of the rainbow. And the words echoed by the movement transport me to the throne room of God where we will all, one day, proclaim

"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty
Who was and is and is to come.
With all creation I sing
Praise to the King of Kings,
You are my everything
And I will adore you!"

As unexpected as it is, almost every time, I am transported beyond that auditorium, pricked by the presence of the Holy Spirit, and worship. It is a sweet, Holy time.

And my girls are pretty great too!

Fun in this Life

So the past few weeks have actually been a lot of fun here. And it culminated this weekend in three major happenings.

1) The garden is completely planted. In our small space we have strawberries, rhubarb, and onions oregano and chives thriving. The peas and potatoes are coming along. The green beans sure are taking a long time to sprout. But the soup beans look fantastic. I am excited about what I can do with those this fall (Thanks, Meika).

We planted 3 types of tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, green and red peppers, basil and head lettuce seedlings. And I finished by putting in a bunch of carrots (ha, ha).

I can't wait to see what will work and what won't in this garden. Now, if only I could keep the weeds at bay.

And in another Sammy Homemaker moment, I finished another dress for K--it's super cute and maybe I'll get around to posting a picture of that too, but that would mean that I need to take a picture of it first.

2) J finished his soccer season. The level of improvement we've seen in him has been phenomenal. He went from not knowing where the ball was to actually being able kick the ball, in the direction that he wanted it to go. Anyway, here are some cute pictures of him.

3) K had her very precious ballet recital in which she danced to Wonderful, Beautiful Savior (which is now her favorite song). We got to watch lots of super cute dances by all the preschool classes at Hearts in Step. Really, we have 10,000 (a slight exaggeration) super cute pictures of the little princess, but because I know you don't have quite the emotional attachment I do, I'll just show you two. Her outfit is very, very pink, so I called her cotton candy or pink bubblegum. (She preferred cotton candy!)

And 4) And because I feel bad that I have no pictures of OG up here, because frankly she is only two and not yet into these kinds of things, here are two random shots of the little one.

(What kind of mother lets their kids play in the mud like that?)

Look What I did!

I'm a little proud of me, hopefully not in a vain, prideful conceited way, just proud of my accomplishment. What did I do? I made my daughter her Easter dress. As in I sewed, clothing, on a machine! I think I am so cool. (For full disclosure, OG was supposed to have a matching dress, but honestly, I'm not that good! I couldn't get both done in time.)

So here are the progressive pics. I ordered a kit from a cute little etsy shop that gave me everything I needed, including the fabrice already cut out and marked, so all I had to do is follow the instructions and voila, a dress. I haven't worked with my sewing machine in eaons. J & K wiped quite a layer of dust off of it. So in about 5 hours total time, I made a dress with cap sleeves and a cute ruffle!

And finally, my super-cute, slightly relcutant model. Beautiful, don't you think?

Be Aware of Wonder

A second note for today. Lest you think that all my love and pride is for my oldest born, I have such strong emotions for my second born. K is such pure, unadulterated joy! Today we watched Disney's Tinkerbell movie and she was enraptured. Every sight was a wonder, even though she had seen them before. She was captivated by the magic of the faries and the thought of spring. At the end, she just danced: twirling, leaping, running while singing the theme song.

This little one awakens in me such awe and makes me aware of the beautiful things around. Not because I don't know that they are there, but because she encounters beauty with such open emotion and joy. She is thankful for so many little things--and acknowledges how unique and wonderful God has made her. She makes me aware of wonder. She makes me want to give her more things to have wonder and awe for, because in this world it is so easy to forget how beautiful God has really made everything. She makes me want to protect her, so the world does not ruin her innocence or contaminate her joy.

Before she was born, Eric and I adamantly declared that she would not be a girly girl, she would not wear pink and hoped she would be the ultimate tomboy. God, in his glorious wisdom, gave us a girly girl who loves pink and princesses. I'm so glad he did. My life would not be nearly so colorful without her!