Sickness

We've been thinking about having a cold over here for a while now and this morning it really hit us.  Full on pajamas on the sofa and lots of sleeping.  And we had to go to the church, the children and I, to switch all the Christmas decorations around to winter ones (blue and silver, mostly).  But I think children need to get out of the house anyway, even if they're sick.  The endless energy must go somewhere.

Sick time means chicken soup and blankets.  It means hot lemon and honey and warm baths and clean sheets on all the beds.  It is comfort and sleeping.  And hopefully it means getting better quickly.

I suck at blogging

Sigh.  And again.  I just cannot seem to recover from that blogging slump that started up when I discovered I was pregnant with the baby.  Ahem; the baby is now 19 months old and not really a baby, actually.  More like a tornado of energy and destruction.  Well, bear with me anyway friends.

So we're holding on through the winter and it isn't quite as bad as it was last year because this year the really cold weather didn't even start until January, compared to last winter when it started sometime in November and was still going strong into April.  That almost killed my will to live.  This year is better - I don't mind the winter from January thing.

Right now we're in the home stretch to achieve our big ministry goal - David's ordination.  If you've been following us through the journey then you'll know this is several years in the coming and we've worked our buns off for it.  Both of us.  All of us, actually, the children included.  We've all had to deal with David's extended absences because of required classes being held far away from home.  We've had to shoulder a lot of responsibility to get work done, as well as the financial strain of paying for seven courses last year and three this year, not to mention the travel. Last November he had to drive twelve hours just to GET to class.  That's a lot of gas.  And now we're down to the final push.  If the district board of ministerial development approves him this spring then he will be ordained at district conference this summer and all of our hard work will be worth it.

I'm incredibly excited about this but also treading really cautiously because we're not there yet.  David still has to finish the three courses this year (he has just over two months to finish all three courses, one of which can take some students up to six months to finish regularly) and then there is a final week away from us, this time in Michigan state for the in class work for two of the courses, and then receiving our date for the DBMD and taking some of our precious vacation time to travel (plus praying the old car will make it) to wherever that is and hopefully the final class grades will be in by then and the meeting goes smoothly and everything is approved.  Then there's the actual ordination, which after everything we've been through the past few years feels like the easy part.

At least we have everything paid for.  So there's that.

Christmas and The New Year and Learning Notes

Oh my word there are only, what, three days until Christmas?  Ack!  It hits me every single year like this, no matter how well I've planned and how many decisions I've made.  This year we've simplified about as much as you can and still have three young children in the house and not feel like you're 'ruining the holiday' for them.  We have a tiny tree and a few other decorations out, but not the stained glass or the lovely beeswax nativity.  We didn't put the gifts under the tree, nor did we go overboard with purchasing a lot of stuff, but what we did get was well thought out and is already wrapped.  All I need to do is stuff the stockings and that element of the day will be finished.  We're doing Christmas Day lunch over at the church again this year - I'm cooking a huge turkey and stuffing and peas and mashed potatoes and the congregation is bringing side dishes and desserts.  The food is ready is go, and my part in it is pretty simple, so there's not much to think about there.  This year the church decided on a Christmas concert, which was last Saturday, and I sang and did fairly well, both in the choir and acapella with my son.  And now all that's left in terms of services is Christmas Eve, where I sing again in the choir but I'm confident with the songs.

So you can see that it's all pretty streamlined, but I'm still overwhelmed.

I have been feeling pretty unhappy with how our homeschooling is going, so that's something.  Although when I look back I can see real progress.  The boy started out really not able to reliably name the letters of the alphabet, and now he can remember them all, and probably about 50% of the sounds as well.  He can do basic addition and can tell time and his writing is legible.  His art has gotten really cute and lovely as well.  I know he's not even six years old and I'm trying to be patient, but I'm looking forward to next year when he's in grade one and I can start a curriculum.

And David is finished his last course for the year!  That's an exciting one.  He has three courses left to go, one in January and then two more in March, before he can get ordained, and it's all working out and I am relieved so much about that.

week alone

So the week before last my husband had to head off to New York state to do course work towards ordination, and it was a hard slog for us at home.  A five year old, a three year old, a one year old, and little ole' me.  Needless to say, home schooling took a bit of a back burner for the week.  We did read some of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and a fantastic little book called Maybe Later and we did some art study, which we're all LOVING.  Here's how we do it:  I have a big coffee table book of full colour works of art and a little bit of info about the artist.  We pick one and then the children work with watercolours to reproduce it while we talk about it.  We might discuss what different colours there are, or aspects of the picture or what it depicts.  I bought good quality brushes at the beginning of the school year, and lovely art books and I don't regret it, but I stuck with just your basic set of children's watercolours and that has also worked well.  When we're done this set I might upgrade us to the set with more colour options but I don't think I'm going to worry about getting a better brand.  Sometimes while we work we listen to music - this is when I like to play a piece of classical music that they otherwise wouldn't sit and listen to.  Again, I'm thinking next year I might combine seatwork with an audiobook such as Story of the World.  Lots of options here.

I don't remember if I mentioned that we have backed off of intentional reading practice with the boy.  He's clearly ready for something, but I just would feel so much better if he had a completely firm grasp of the alphabet first.  And surprisingly enough as soon as we stopped working on it suddenly he's progressed wonderfully.  Ah, the relaxed approach.

We also hung up our wall map that we just got and spent a lot of time looking at it.

Anyway, the week was long and the weather was not very good so we were stuck inside a lot.  I had borrowed or bought a whole bunch of movies for the children because I was anticipating needing some help but we discovered that the boy is really sensitive right now.  Practically every movie was too scary or too sad so we ended up just watching the Andy Griffith show.

And when daddy came home there was great excitement.

Gourds

I live in the country, as I'm sure I've mentioned before.  In the middle of nowhere.  And when you move to a place such as the one where I live you sort of show up, look around, and then a part of your brain says "Is that it?"

I have learned through doing this for years now, moving and strange new places, that it is never it.

If you ask people, they will never tell you all the weird, hidden, fantastic places you can go and the incredibly interesting people you will meet and the fairs no one has heard of and such - and I'm assuming this is because to them these things are not cool, they are just the same old things that have always existed and the same old people who have always been there.  There's nothing interesting in them.

And because of this I've learned that you need to have patience when you arrive.  People are going to tell you about the touristy stuff first.  After a while though you're going to start to hear about the interesting things - and that's how I heard about the gourds.  The librarian mentioned them in an offhand way, just off to pick up some gourds.  Oh, where do you get gourds?  I wanted to know.  And she told me about a place down one back road where a farmer grew all sorts of amazing gourds and left them for people to take for a donation.  She came back with all sorts of gourds, all different kinds.

Now, what an interesting thing, eh?  And who would have known that that existed - it's not the sort of thing anyone would tell you when you arrived in a new place.  They don't tell you that there is a wonderful spot to get crabapples or a place you can watch them shear sheep or a lovely beach no one goes to.  I've learned to love moving to a new place because of this; I'm never bored and I always know that when I arrive there will be exciting things.

Fall Nonsense

It's been very cold in the mornings here the past week or so.  I like to keep the thermostat set very low all the time, but first thing in the morning I get up and turn the heat up to luxurious, extravagant heights - soccer team and organic food heights, and then I sit around in my pajamas and feel the air temperature rise up to what I imagine other people's houses feel like.  This only really works if I get up before everyone else does which fortunately hasn't been much of a problem lately because I've been up before five most days.  Was it Simcha Fisher who wrote the 'early morning worries' post?  The one about lying in bed thinking "Oh Lord, there's so much rhubarb".  Hahaha.  Yes.  Oh, Lord, there is indeed flowing from your merciful hands a wealth of rhubarb.  Please reign in the rhubarb slightly.  Sincerely, your humble servant.

Anyway, I apparently also wrote a post about this, looking back, although I can't find it.

We're in the thick of fall insanity over here - especially in regards to David going to school.  He's off to New York State soon to do some courses towards ordination and then back and then two more via a distance program and then a bit of a break and then two more through the same program, another through a different program, and then rounding of the school year with the final two in Michigan State.  New York State is first, though - I have to get through that without dying.  I deeply, deeply dislike the times I solo parent.

We're about halfway through running the Alpha program at the church, and I have stepped away from Bible study because the children are attending Awana on the same night, so we're pretty busy.  Once Alpha is done, the first rush of courses should also be done, and it will be Christmas.  Mustn't let the stress overtake the season of Advent, I tell myself, heaping yet more pressure on my head.  Mustn't flail about.

Homeschooling Update

So homeschool, I have figured out, is like everything else in life; it never looks like what you think it will before you start.  I don't know what exactly I imagined it would be like to homeschool but knowing myself I think I probably had perfection as my goal.  Wonderfully behaved children and the perfect curriculum and so forth.  Obviously that isn't reality and our school looks nothing like that (although I'm still searching for the perfect curriculum).  And I think I'm okay with this.  Sometimes I get all worked up about it and what we aren't doing and the things we aren't learning and the field trips we aren't taking, but you can't do it all and you can't join it all and eventually choices are made.

We're learning phonics, albeit at the slowest pace known to man.  We aren't intentionally doing math because we're living math all the time.  We're reading a lot and playing a lot and going to playgroup and also Awana.  We're doing puzzles and games and art.  It's pretty relaxed but I think it's just enough for us right now and I'm trying to keep track of what we accomplish every day and when I look back I'm actually pleased.