Crafting

I really want to be a crafty type but it takes time, supplies, money, and motivation...sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't... I usually have to make a list of things I want to do with the kids, write a supply list and go to Micheals maybe once every 1-2 months...We just don't live anywhere near a good craft shop although I have heard we have a Hobby Lobby coming our way!  Here is a really good fall craft that the kids plus Yang have enjoyed the past three days...all it takes is lots of prety dried bean and lentils, some paper and glue.  Also attached is a Turkey picture of John Daniel's from school...just because I thought it was cute!

Our Thanksgiving.....

John had to work and I'm always a little bummed about it but it seems to always work out.  He does his very best to participate in all the family gatherings even if he shows up a little late or leaves a little early!  He even put together a Thanksgiving Feast for his crew to enjoy at work that night!  Wednesday was a fun, relaxing day..The kids and I went shopping with Yang.  We went to Micheal's to get the supplies to make our very first family Advent Wreath and to Borders to use a really good coupon.  We walked around the mall and came home to make dinner for everyone.  We woke up late on Thanksgiving Day and started cooking.  John slept while the rest of us prepared for dinner.  I was even a really cool mom and pulled out a great Thanksgiving craft to do while I cooked.  Then, Emily and John Daniel went to my parent's house to visit cousins while Molly got a nap and I finished cooking.  I took Yang to Starbucks to use the wireless Internet for about 3 hours.  We enjoyed a BIG Thanksgiving Feast with my side of the family that evening.  John got to come and we all really enjoyed the fellowship and food...even Yang loved the food.  She fit right in and played in the backyard, talked to my family and would retreat to the living room to study now and again.  She even joined in on the Thornton Family Tradition started by my Grandfather and my Mother MANY years ago....Marshmallow FIGHT!  She was throwing marshmallows just like the rest of us!  I had to work on Friday and my parents were such troopers....they kept all FOUR of my "kids" at their house.  My mom helped Yang wash her clothes and they hung out in the backyard and Emily and Yang did hair...I do believe John Daniel had the most fun...my Dad took him to hit golf balls at my dad's favorite "driving range" place and they found an old remote control airplane to fly all around the backyard...he was all smiles when I picked him up!  My Dad even cut off one of his old golf clubs so that John Daniel now has his own club.  Today was John's first day off and we went to Thomasville to have Thanksgiving with his family and celebrate his Dad's birthday with them.  Emily and John Daniel love their cousins so much and they played and played in Grandma Gay's big pasture all day!  The weather was beautiful!  Yang again enjoyed John's mom's cooking!  John, Yang, Molly, and I came back to Tallahassee a little bit earlier than the rest...we dropped Yang off at Starbucks...came home and put Molly down for a nap....and John and I enjoyed the second half of the FSU/UF GAME!  GO NOLES!  It was a very relaxing day!  We are excited for Yang to join us at church tomorrow and to see our Emily light the first Advent Candle in big church.  We start our family Advent study tomorrow in which I've already read...Advent means "coming" and the Advent season typically represents a time of anticipation and looking forward for the Christ to come...we plan to remember at this time the events leading u to the birth of Jesus and celebrate the fact that Jesus has come!  I feel so blessed this Thanksgiving for so much and I feel such a peace about what is to come this holiday season...I leave you with tons of pictures and  Psalm 145...it is a good one for Thanksgiving!  We read it on Thursday along with our If you sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 book....Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Thanksgiving Guest

I received an email via the homeschool loop about three weeks ago that said a Chinese foreign exchange student needed a home for the week of Thanksgiving...her regular host family was going out of town.  Well, something moved in me that day and I immediately wanted to do it.  I have been praying about being more hospitable and sharing our home.  A girl in our S.S. class spoke one Sunday about how her mom always had people over, no matter what holiday, there was always someone extra that needed some loving or didn't have any family, etc.  That struck a chord in my heart and I love the concept.  God has blessed us with food (and over abundance for sure) and a great BIG family that is all here in Tallahassee...so why not share it with someone else.  And I think the fact that we have been "praying around the world" has made me more aware of the people that don't do things like me, act like me, or look like me.  Praying for other countries as truly been an amazing experience in that I no longer feel so isolated in the small town of Tallahassee...I feel like I'm a part of something bigger and I feel privileged....I want my kids to know that everyone doesn't look like us "white Southern Americans"...that everyone is different and beautiful just the way God made them...funny how some people think that us homeschoolers want to isolate our children...but I actually feel like homeschooling has done the opposite for me...it has allowed us to explore things, people, places that we might not have otherwise. 

I was a little concerned, I won't lie...bringing a stranger in the house, not knowing anything about her...John and I sat one night after I mentioned it to him and we discussed..."What if she is a serial killer, what if she is weird, what if she is crazy, what if she won't talk to us...."  I'm serious, all those things went through our minds BUT then we talked about how WE as Christians are way to careful at times...what if we just decided to take some chances every now and then and step out of the box...and we decided to commit to host Yang for 8 days.  Many people do this, why not us?

This meant moving Molly out of her room and into our room for 7 nights.  This meant having the kids use the Master Bath most of the time, this meant driving her to and from school, feeding her meals, and getting her to places where she could use her wireless Internet access. 

The kids were so excited to meet her last Saturday and just meeting her for 10 minutes relieved all of my fears.  She was sweet, polite, and already had all our names down by the time she left! 

She arrived on Monday night and we have enjoyed it ever since.  She keeps her room neat, is very polite, and not a problem at all.  Last night, she and the kids played for four hours.  They sat in the swings playing "I spy" and then built Lego block houses, and colored for the longest time.  Yang is 18 and is of course good at everything!  As I write this, she is playing piano in my living room...it is amazing!  Yang's mom is a physician in China and her Dad is a business man.  In 2005, Yang's mom was a honor apprentice in the United States in Ohio after getting her PhD.  She is an endocrinologist in China now.  In 2005, Yang and her Dad came to America to visit her mom and traveled all over the country.  She has been more places in the United States than I have.  They visited Yosemite, Grand Canyon, California, Texas, New York, Washington DC, and more.  I guess that gave her the bug to come back and her Junior year in high school she entered the foreign exchange program.  She was in Washington State last year and then here in Tallahassee at Maclay School for her Senior year.  She wants to go into Life Science.  She lives about 1 hour by plane from Beijing, China.  She said she came to America because she loves the schools.  She said she has straight A+ grades except a B+ in American history.  She just took the SATs.  She said back in China, they went to school from 7 am until 12 pm, went home to eat lunch and nap, went back to school at 2pm and stayed until 6pm, went home to eat dinner and then went back to school for study hall at 8 until 10 pm.  Wow! 

I asked her what she thought of Americans....she smiled and said, "They are nice, fun, and laid back."  "They also like to do social things and like to do lots of things."  She said that her parents work a lot but America is different.  She said that most people in China are Buddhist.  Her family isn't very religious but she said Buddhism has a strong history there and most people call themselves Buddhist but don't follow all the practices.  She goes to church with her host family which by the way are a retired couple that live in Sommerbrooke...there is certainly more chaos in our home!  She said Americans eat a lot of meat.  She likes my food though...has been back for seconds two nights in a row.  She pet the chickens. She won't sit down at the table until John and I have been seated.  She always says thank you and has asked me many times what she can do for me...I finally let her and Emily clean the kitchen tonight. My sweet Emily has been so hospitable...she jumped right in and has been talking and asking questions...Yang seems to really like Emily and feels comfortable around her.  Emily has taken charge and will ask her things or offer her a snack or drink...they are cute together!  She gave the kids little gifts from China and today Emily bought her a Mood Bracelet at Justice and she is wearing it.  We all had fun shopping today together...Emily got a kick out of taking her to Justice!  So far it has been a real joy having her here.

Molly's "first" artwork.  Created at Bradfordville First Baptist Church.  November 2010

Lap Booking

This is one of those homeschooling terms that I had to learn...and I'm not sure if I yet know exactly what it is but we attempted a Presidential Lap Book!  We have studied the first 16 presidents now for weeks and we know fun facts and what they were liked and disliked for.  It is so funny what Emily remembers.....she said the other day as we were doing the lap book..."Zachary Taylor is the one that ate Cherries and Milk on the Fourth of July, got sick and died 5 days later."  I love her little memory...!!!!  So a lap book is a folder that is made into some sort of visual aid for something you have been studying.  It isn't necessary, but an aid and a tool that is useful for review.  It is also nice for my little artistic student...gets us away from so much worksheeting and writing sometimes and let's her use her artistic side.  Once we finish a unit or a large portion of a book or something, we may continue to do lap books.  She also wrote a paper on Abe Lincoln and now it is being stored in a little pocket inside the lap book!

Like, Like, Like....

Book club was today and this has been one of the best things we have done as new homeschoolers...it keeps us motivated to read really good books, finish them, and then think about how to report on them...so far we have finished three really good books.  Emily has done a great job of orally presented her findings, likes, dislikes, what has interested her, etc.  She usually writes a paragraph or two and reads it up in front of about 8 other kids and their moms.  Yesterday, during school time, we talked about maybe making a list of things that she wanted to speak on, an opening, and a closing...We discussed being able to write on a card things that would trigger her memory so she could talk "ad lib."  She was hilarious practicing at home.  She used her hands to talk, was giggling, and said like, like, like A LOT.  So then I told her to try to quit saying like and to get her thoughts together in her head before she tried to say anything....she was so cute!  She gets the like thing from me I think.  She was trying to really be expressive and interesting!  I was really proud of her seeing as though she is so shy...she did a really good job of "ad libbing" it....AND it was interesting!

Administrative Assistant

that is me....for John and for the entire family!  I think I took the spiritual gifts test way back when I was in college and if I remember right...my spiritual gift was administration....

This is true..I like to be organized, I like quick responses, emailing, filling out forms, my calendar, getting functions organized and planned, etc. 

John has a "new" side job that seems to be taking off...he is now teaching CPR for groups..schools, businesses, churches, etc.  He is sort of moonlighting and getting his own work by word of mouth.  He has done two homeschool groups, a boy scout group, a church, and now Visit Florida office....our deal was this....He told me he didn't mind teaching and using his free time to do this but he was not and could not be in charge of all the corresponding, emailing, scheduling, and communication.  It is so not John..he doesn't like it, takes him forever, and he really isn't organized enough (his brain just doesn't work like that).  And mine does!  I can juggle 5 different email responses, look at my calendar, get paperwork copied, reply to a text, and make a phone call all at once...not really but it is how I thrive!  So far, so good.  I think he likes his secretary!  Basically, he makes the initial contact and then tells the person that his wife handles all communication and scheduling. This includes me getting the materials for Southeastern School of Health Sciences, making arrangements at the businesses, getting a roster made up, emailing students, making sure payments are received, ordering books, getting cards printed, etc.  I created my first Invoice this week for Visit Florida!  Then John just shows up with his equipment and teaches the class...and by the way...I would never be able to stand in front of a group and teach like this...hate, hate, hate that!  I love seeing him teach...I really believe he is good at this...he has a charisma about him when he is in front of a group doing something that he is comfortable with...

I'm sure most women and moms feel like they are the administrative assistant to their families...it is a big job to just keep up with the weekly schedule and then to add shopping, meal planning and cooking, cleaning, teaching the kids, volunteering at John Daniel's school, being on the parent service team, church responsibilities, running John's side business, running errands, and all the other Mommy stuff....no wonder I have had strep throat twice in 3 weeks and my body is in need of some recovery (my mom has given me the take care of yourself lecture at least three times this week)  I feel sometimes so overwhelmed by all my responsibilities....and now primary teacher (which I love by the way)...thank you God I can multi task!  And thank God for days like I had today....we stayed at home and did nothing outside of this house...it was so nice!

Upward Basketball!

John Daniel had a great experience playing Upward Basketball this fall!  It is a great program and he had so much fun!  The whole program is centered around having fun, knowing what is really important (God), and playing as a team.  So now I will brag...John Daniel was actually pretty good.  He was the top scorer on his team...and always seemed to do well controlling the ball and getting it to their side of the court to make a basket.  His coach said he was "talented!"  Funny because we have really never "worked" on it with him other than John and him playing around in the driveway when they are outside.  Now he isn't very aggressive so if someone tried to take the ball from him, they usually got it!  It was fun watching him play a different sport other than soccer.  And he really liked it.  I think he said it was his favorite sport so far. 

Praying for the Nations....

One of the challenges that we read about in the book Radical was to pray for the Nations...nations that didn't know Christ, unreached people, countries where being a Christian or having a Bible was dangerous....This was a strange concept to me...I mean as a Christian I know to pray about "non Christians" and for needy, hungry, oppressed people but to really pray for people and large groups of people was so foreign to me....and the big question for me was this....Do I really care?  I know that sounds terrible...why wouldn't I care about the countries that don't know about Jesus?  But it seems so difficult, just too big for me to grasp...but guess what..God cares, God knows their needs, and it isn't too big for God!  Here is a concept...no really a biblical truth that I realized...those VERY LARGE groups of unreached people need Jesus just like I do.  We have all sinned!  There is NO other way to the cross except through Jesus.  Even though they have never heard the word Jesus....they still need Him in order to go to Heaven....they still need to be rescued!  And the thought that just because they haven't heard the word of God or seen a Bible or heard about Jesus is Not going to get them into Heaven.  The Bible says that everyone Has Knowledge of God...Romans 1:18 and that all People Reject God, All People are Guilty before God, All people are condemned for rejecting God, and God has made a way of Salvation for the Lost!  So whether in America, Europe, Asia, or Africa....this stands true!  It doesn't matter where on this planet we live....we all need Jesus to Rescue us from our sin...so that got me thinking...we have a big responsibility..those of us that know Jesus!  Praying for other Nations is just the beginning!  Christ literally commands the church (that's us) to make the Gospel known to all peoples...!!!!!!  In Revelation it is written that one day every nation, people, tribe and language will be represented around the throne of Christ!  How cool is that!  Meaning that someone will share the Gospel with the most unreached tribe or unreached group of people and one person will believe!  God's plan was to use the Church!  There is a great commission here, a great plan, and a big job...

Honestly, as I sit in the pew at church some Wednesday nights at "prayer meeting" I get frustrated...they list in our church's prayer guide missionaries to pray for, specific countries sometimes, a nation, or a missionary team, etc.  I feel overwhelmed by it and wonder if my little bitty prayers would really work....

So I guess all this is to say, God is so working on me in this area...I have been praying for big Faith and this big Faith can be in many different areas...but one thing has come out of this...I have found and encountered a very BIG GOD that knows all this, understands all things, and is bigger than my little bitty prayers, worries, concerns, and frustrations.  He has laid on my heart a burden to pray for these nations...he has laid on my heart the need to somehow make the Gospel known.  To think that somewhere far from here people get together in small dark rooms to read ONE BIBLE together and hear just ONE VERSE is amazing and I'm saddened that we take this for granted...I mean we must have 10-15 Bibles in our home, there is no fear of reading them or praying or going to church....

As a family we are praying "around the world"...we are using the Operation World website.  This is just a guide to help people pray for the different countries, nations, and people groups.  Each day they send out a New Nation to pray for.  It has been humbling to say the least.  Last week we prayed for the people of Afghanistan, Austria, and Bosnia...the guide gives you updated info on the countries and people, their population, their biggest prayer need, prayers answered, etc.  I first had to really pray for a heart that cared.....I mean I have never really prayed for the people in Afghanistan like this...it was a big stretch and as I said very humbling...

We also have a Mission time in school everyday.  We are reading a book called Hero Tales.  It has stories of the lives of different men and women of faith.  This includes people like Harriet Tubman, Dwight Moody, Martin Luther, John Wesley, etc.  We use the book for reading out loud and copy work but the stories are so encouraging.  Again, they are amazing men and women of faith that did amazing things to further the Kingdom and help those in need...but they are just like you and me...they didn't get any special instructions from God, just the same instruction book that you and I have been gifted with...

As I dropped my big girl off at church today, I noticed on one of the picnic tables a Bible...probably left by one of our young people, it was tattered and looked like it had been rained on..I couldn't help but think about how some nations have NO BIBLE in their language, how some people have to hide to be able to even read the Bible, how some people have been killed trying to share the Bible.......my heart has been changed.  I really do care now...and will continue to pray for now!

Support System

Its crucial....very crucial.  Last week I had a rough week...I had strep throat in the beginning of the week (couldn't even get out of bed one day), was tired from the week before and wasn't getting much accomplished.  I had one of my freak out moments where I felt for a minute (ok maybe more like a day)  like Emily wasn't getting anything out of being homeschooled, my to do list was growing, and the things on our school planner were never getting accomplished....so I called on my good freind.  She calmed me down and told me it was fine and that you will have weeks like that and so on....

I have two friends that are about 100% sure that they are taking there children out of the public school system mid year to homeschool.  Neither of them know anything about homeshooling and where to begin....I told them about my freak out moment and encouraged lots of support persons...one to calm you, two to remind of you of why you are doing this, and three to rejoice with you when things go well.  You know, there are probably weeks that "school" teachers feel the same way about their classroom kids and honestly I know this is what God wants me to do...there are many things that confirm that every week.  Freak out moments are a part of it though I've come to learn....

Blog Share...

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html


This is a post that I read on another blog that I stumbled upon...I liked it!

Roots Up

A nice little find...or maybe not really a find but a friend's find and then she shared it with me.....I bought this book for $8 after my friend told me about it...just another way to do some English and even sort of a foreign language all at the same time....The premise of this book is to know and understand the meaning of the English words and where they came from.  This book is designed to help children know the meaning of English words and what a rich legacy has been held for them throughout many generations...and then put it to use..The author believes that Latin and Classical Greek are vital to the beginning vocabulary development as phonics is to reading..The author believes that we need to teach vocabulary from the beginning as a system of component parts....roots and affixes...that have been handed down to us in a remarkable degree of preservation from the Latin and Greek of ancient times....all quoted from the book of course :)

Basically you begin the lesson by putting the root word on the board/paper and outlining it with the correct color...green for Greek or red for Latin.  For instance we learn what the Greek word Photo means one day....(light) and then the next day we learn what the Greek word graph means (to write or draw)...then she can put them together and know that photograph means a picture drawn by light...they also learn about 4 derivations as well as the definition of each word given each day...Derivatives:  telephoto, photometer, photophilia...and so on...Its all very interesting...and something Emily thinks is fun right now.  Emily makes her own index card with the Greek or Latin word, colors it, and puts the meaning on the back...and files it away in a card holder..

RANT!

Its so bizarre sometimes how things happen and boy do I have a story....my hubby knows, my parents know, and even my brother knows but I basically need to rant and it might not be pretty....I'm a rule follower and well sometimes, especially with the government...it don't get ya very far! 

On my little homeschool loop, a lady whom I don't know personally wrote an email about how the DMV was low on funds and to pay for things and get money they were going years back to files and pulling people out of the blue to revoke or suspend licenses over a point or two on their DLs...something had happen to her friend and her son...basically I thought it was a hoax but she attatched the DMV website and just said, "Go check your DL."  So I was sitting at the computer and decided on a whim...what the heck.  I went to the website and I'm familiar with the DMV website because we usually pay our Tag registration through it so I knew the website was on the up and up.  I typed in my DL# and to my surprise, it said suspended!  Not for points on my license but for "effective insurance cancellation."  John was about to leave for work and I was so stunned, I couldn't even speak and well I'm going to be really sarcastic about the government in this post so you might not want to read on....

Funny thing or not so funny is that on my birthdate (sept) when we tried to pay the yearly tag registration on the little car (which happens to be in my name)...it wouldn't let us do it online because we had just switched insurances.  Our state farm guy had retired and we decided to switch companies...there was NO LAPSE in coverage whatsoever!  So way back in September, John and I went to the tag office and paid the registration, showed proof of insurance for BOTH of our vehicles.  The man behind the glass typed on his computer, made copies, and gave us our little sticker for the car tag.  We went happily along our way.  Then today when I on a whim checked, they have apparently suspended my license for not having proof of insurance on the very vehicle they made us go to the tag office to renew to show proof of insurance.  The van which was renewed way back in August and that we also showed proof of insurance on at the same time....is all up to date and fine in the system as far as I can tell online and so is John's license.  Now how my DL and car insurance go together, I don't know...and how they can suspend someone's license and not tell them...I don't know...oh, and they want $150 for reinstatement....

So now instead of schooling my child on Monday, I will be at the DMV office trying to get all this worked out...

oh and John told me that if I get stopped by a cop over the weekend for whatever reason and they see that my license is suspeneded...they can arrest me...NICE!  Thanks!

I have actually been very nice in this post...in my humble opinion...it could have been a lot worse because I was sure thinking a lot worse!

Fall Festival (aka Halloween)

We had a fun time at our friend's house eating chili and talking and comparing costumes.  Yes, my kids go trick or treating and yes we all dressed up this year but I'm really not a big Halloween girl...I figured maybe once we should go as a theme...it was fun and actually very cheap.  I will not spend tons of money on costumes and I ended up borrowing or making most of them....even sewed a little apron for Emily's costume.  We dressed up as the characters from the Wizard of Oz.  It was a fun night with family and friends...!