Blindness

Our book club book for the month is Out of Darkness the story of Louis Braille.  Obviously, it is a biography of Louis Braille who invented the braille system of using dots to "open the doors of knowledge to all those who cannot see." We are almost done with the book and this morning after reading a couple of chapters, I decided to do a little "project."  I blindfolded the kids where they could not see at all.  First, I had them listen to classical music really loud, trying to remember that Louis couldn't see at all but was a wonderful musician that wrote and played music on the piano all by ear.  I had them listen for low and high sounds, for loud and soft.  They listened for different instruments all while remembering that Louis could not see at all....

Then I gave them tasks...John Daniel had to walk from the living room to the kitchen and get a bottle water out of the fridge and secondly, walk to the bathroom and sit on the toilet like he was going to go.  They died laughing...J.D. also had to feed the dog blindfolded. 

Emily had to walk from the living room to her room and bring me her dolphin pillow and secondly, go to the fridge, get the orange juice out and pour herself a glass of OJ.  Emily also had to find a matching pair of shoes and tie them.

They loved this and had so much fun!  I thought it was a good way to understand what the main character in our book lived day in and day out and why he never gave up in finding a way to read and communicate as a blind person. 

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Go back and read the previous blog post if you couldn't go to the link....I fixed it!  Kat

Helmets, sunscreen, and homeschooling...

I like a lot of what Francis Chan says....this is a You Tube video that was sent out by another homeschooler that I believe follows some of his Bible Study material as well. He is raw, he doesn't mince words, and he makes me think. We are actually using some of his NO PLAN B Bible study materials right now in our SS class at church. I'm also reading this ultra conservative book right now called Keeping Our Children's Hearts and the reason I call it ultra conservative it becuase they shelter, they take a fine tooth comb to all things. They look at ALL aspects of their life and how it will affect their children in the long run. They have no TV and they do not believe in youth group philosophies...but it is what they believe is right according to the Bible...now the reason I even talk of this is because it can be totally confusing...in the following video clip Francis Chan kind of makes "fun" of homeschooling although I know for a fact that he has homeschooled his own children when overseas. But I think the message he is trying to get across is this....like homeschooling, wearing helmets, using sunscreen, joining a church "club", doing a women's bible study, and ministering in the church nursery can all become idols and stem from being fearful, trying to be safe, and wanting everything to just be calm, perfect, easy....he visually tries to explain that doing all of the above are o.k., even good or great but what are we doing that makes a difference? What are we doing to be radical and to live out our faith..in a way, homeschooling is radical in my opinion..we are doing it to be able to shepherd our children so that we can minister to others and step outside our comfort zone and live differently, and have the time to do things as a family that are not "safe"....sometimes I feel so conflicted...I want to homeschool and protect my children but I want to do the radical and live outside the "box"....I don't want to get to Heaven and look up at HIM and my life look like Francis Chan does hanging on the balance beam. More and more though, John and I are being shown different ways to step outside our comfort zone and do things we wouldn't have even thought of 2 years ago. We spent the money that would have gone to a vacation to the Keys on a feeding the hungry event in our community and to go on a Mission Trip with our church. John went and laid sod for 6 hours at a co-workers house this past week (and killed his back) just so he can build a relationship so maybe he can witness. More and more I see God at work and we are figuring out ways to join him..it might not be in Africa right now but He is challenging us in different ways...like the girls that I meet with at Chick-fil-a who challenge me every week! Homeschooling fits our lives and allows us to walk differently...but alongside our children. When someone that I admire, challenges the way I live (even if I know he was just making a joke)...it always gets me thinking and like every other book, video, sermon, etc....I think we have to pray about it and allow God to be the one that convicts us...and not the World.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA_uwWPE6lQ&sns=fb

6 kids!

Things I've learned from having six kids all weekend....first these kids are super duper polite and very easy to substitute parent.  I haven't had to be a referee at all...there has been no fighting, no over the top craziness...mostly just make believe play.  But here are some things I've noticed that have made me really admire the parents of large families....

We went through 7 bananas at breakfast, an entire loaf of bread at lunch, three oven pizzas, almost an entire box of granola bars, an entire carton of ice cream, and a gallon of milk....the food disappears as fast as I can even think of getting it on the table.  I cannot imagine the cost of feeding a large family...especially feeding them in a healthy manner.  Imagine the number of bananas you would have to buy!  Someone is constantly hungry or thirsty.  Speaking of thirsty...the cups for drinks are piling up like crazy and I feel like I've been washing constantly.  I had to just cut them off tonight...NO MORE FOOD!  Kitchen is closed!

The laundry is insane too and I'm not sure how the floor would ever stay clean if you have this many children going in an out all day every day!  I started sweeping up trash and just leaving it in a pile in the corner to vacuum up later knowing that there would be more trash soon. 

Everything takes longer...showers, getting out the door, cleaning up, etc.  We have had to take two cars everywhere we go.  I've emptied the trash twice a day each day.  Did I mention that someone is always thirsty?! 

They have all been awesome and very easy, it is just the logistics of it and the supplies...you need lots of supplies!  We were happy to help some friends and would do it again in a heartbeat....and will be helping another family in two weeks and will again have 6 kids.

I'm going to start stocking up now.

Funnys

We must tell J.D. at least a dozen times a day to use his utensils to eat...I have no idea what comes over him but he would rather eat with his fingers.  Tonight after telling him to use his fork, Emily said, "You know this all started when we went to Medieval Times Theater years ago!" 

Molly is not wanting to use the potty at all.  It may have been the fact that I let her bottom touch the water in the toilet one day last week when I let go of her for a moment and it has ruined her.....well today she went to Nee Naw's in panties.  Mom asked her for hours if she had to go and she wouldn't.  All of the sudden towards the end of their time together, Molly finally went on her potty.  She told us when we came to pick her up.  We were all sooooo excited!  She got candy and praise!  We got back home and we started trying again at our house...Molly says to me, "I use the potty at Nee Naw's, not here!"  Molly also told me tonight as I put her to bed, "I like Nee Naw's birds.  We ran fast to see them in rain."  Apparently, the story is that today as it rained, Molly and Nee Naw sat on the porch watching the rain and some pretty birds taking a bath.  They ran fast in the rain to be silly and see the birds.

John Daniel loves book club...he said he likes to get up and talk.  He also really enjoyed playing with an older friend Ben and his best friend Coop last time our book club met.  He asked me tonight, "How many CCs do we have before book club again?"  CC is our co-op which we go to once every week so that was his way I guess of understanding how long it would be before we got to go to book club again! 

Kids say the "darnedest" things!

Gifts

I sort of, kind of keep up with a blog called Holy Experience...she is a little deep but I like some of her ideas...She gave herself a challenge once upon a time when she was struggling with depression and sadness...to find one thing each day that was a gift.  She challenged herself to find 1000 things that were gifts to be thankful for...blessings from God!  So I printed out her cute little gift booklet, folded it, and gave one to each of the kids and kept one for myself.  During the day, we all write in our "gift" booklet.  It has 7 weeks worth of room to write...so for now our challenge is 49 days.  I told them that they can't duplicate a gift.  The idea is to find little things that are gifts that we sometimes overlook.  Emily's first gift that she wrote down was Mom and Dad.  John Daniel's first entry was Outside.  That boy loves to play outside!  I also gave one to each of the girls I do Bible Study with....and they loved the idea.  This blessing thing is new to most of them...but I can tell God is working on them.  I gave them two scriptures to meditate on.  Proverbs 15:13 that (paraphrased) says that a glad heart makes for a cheerful countenance.  And then James 1:17 that says (paraphrased) Every good and perfect gift is from Him.  I've been getting little texts and emails about their gift booklets and how they are doing....it means a lot to me!  As another friend of mine said, our thoughts have wheels...that either take us to bad places or good places...and they make us react in certain ways.  How wonderful for us to look at our little gift booklet and think about all our blessings..each and everyday!

Jamestown

Emily is taking a writing class this year (and so am I for that matter!)...The name of the class is called Institute for Excellence in Writing...she is already learning so much!  One of the greatest tools the curriculum teaches is how to "dress-up" your writing...making it interesting and easy to read.  She has learned about banned words, "ly" words, who/which clauses, strong verbs and quality adjectives.  She is also learning how to take a paragraph, make a key word outline, and then turn it into her own paragraph by using the "dress-ups" and key words.  This week she read a paragraph on Jamestown.  The following is her own paragraph.....I was impressed! Of course, mommy and daddy read over it and give her ideas and help but the tools she is learning have given her so much confidence.  She even raised her hand last week in class to read her poem from last week on Native Americans...which I may post later!  I'm so happy with this class and I'm learning so much too!


CITY IN THE NEWLY DISCOVERED WORLD


In 1607, Englishmen sailed across the ocean to an unknown world to find riches. They landed in Virginia and named their settlement after King James calling it Jamestown. The landscape around them was swampy wilderness. Men where struggling because they didn't know how to work. Captain John Smith, heroically, helped the settlement survive. No one would have lived without him. Captain John Smith wanted to have peace with the Indians so that he could have food and supplies. Captain Smith, who was the leader of the new settlement, had a rule that stated: "If you don't work, you should not presume to eat." Surprisingly, the men didn't find gold but they found tobacco that could lead them to prosperity. Tons of tobacco was sold to England. The settlers earned money. Jamestown still exists today in VA and is still visited frequently. Jamestown is famously known for being the first city in the newly discovered world.

By Emily Gay

Today

Today we woke up late, snuggled with everyone in our bed.  Daddy fixed our breakfast with eggs from our backyard chickens.  We gathered around the dining room table and read from Exodus 30.  We had prayer time as a family.  There were many things to pray about....John Daniel prayed for his road rash from biking and the hungry people in the world, Emily prayed for all the pregnant mommies we know especially Ms. Becca H. that is at Shands about to give birth to her baby that will immediately have heart surgery. She also prayed for Granny who has been in the hospital. Molly prayed for Jesse Bear and Dora.  Mommy and Daddy prayed for our grandparents, for productivity, for peace, for our friend Mr. Charlie that just found out he has cancer.  The kids started playing while Mommy was cleaning up from breakfast.  Daddy put on one of our favorite artist...a pianist that we just happened upon...David Nuvue.  The kids played house and city and even included Miss Molly.  All was peaceful!  Mommy sat everyone down on the living room floor.  Piano music was playing in the background.  Mommy read from our history text, A Child's story of the United States.  Emily worked on her drawings for her art class.  John Daniel did his grammar seatwork.  Emily copied her chart from her Essentials for the English Language class.  Mommy read, Daddy listened while holding Molly.  Everyone piled in the living room together....for over an hour!  The entire family ate lunch together at the table.  John Daniel and Emily take a break and go to church with Nee Naw to pack food for 200 recipients for the Manna Food pantry at church.  Mommy and Daddy do chores.  Emily goes to art class.  When everyone joins back together, big brother plays with little sister with her boats on the porch while Mommy and Emily do our Math lesson.  Then they switch. Emily did ballet with Molly.  Everyone rests and then we all eat dinner together......this is why I homeschool and this is why I love it!  It doesn't always look like this and it was a light school day but we accomplished much more....family time and worship time!  It was good!

Words

I'm working on my words...using more words for lifting someone up, rather than tear them down.  I have to correct my children...there is no way around it but I don't want the sound of my voice to be a nagging bitter shrill that they hear day in and day out...I want our house to be encouraging, peaceful, and loving....I recieved an email today of encouragement and I know how much it lifted me up!  I want to go throughout the day not only correcting the wrong things they do in love but finding the great things they do as well.  Some of my favorite homeschooling moms have some signs up around their homes that help them remember to praise their children, love them, and give encouraging positive messages....There is a website that has free printables and I played on it tonight.  This lady gives some cute ideas about framing them and using a dry erase marker to write on them each day...here are a few of my favorite!  I'm going to brighten up the dining room and change it up a bit....surprise the kids and rotate them in and out of frames~hoping it brings a smile or two!

These are not my own:  Check out her blog at http://cookingwiths.blogspot.com/search/label/printables

224th Anniversary of the Signing of the United States Constitution!

Our pictures from the events of today :)  The reenactments at the Capitol were awesome...I know that I enjoyed them more than my children but I do know they took away nuggets of information that we can build on later.  The high schoolers (homeschoolers) that performed some of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate and won the state History Fair were awesome!  I was so very impressed! 

Historic Capitol Senate Chamber

Talking to James and Dolley Madison

Benjamin Franklin

Patrick Henry

Lincoln Douglas Debates

Great Day

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!  I am extra excited!

We will get up and do our Bible time as a family and do our Math lesson for the day.  Then, I hope to have time for Emily to finish writing her short essay on Jamestown.  She is learning how to make a key word outline using a pre-written paragraph and turn it into her own words.  This is something I really struggled with in college when writing papers....learning how to take an idea and make it my own without copying!  I also hope to do John Daniel's grammar and english lesson.

Then we will go meet with our monthly book club group to discuss the book Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher Preachers.  Our book club is doing biographies this year and this was a very interesting one.  We just visited a working 1850's town so the kids had a visual timeframe in their minds when reading this book.  I told them that Harriet Beecher Stowe though lived in the North and her home looked much different than the homes in GA in 1850.  They both will do an oral presentation.  John Daniel has drawn a picture of Abe Lincoln and Harriet Beecher Stowe together in his office from when Mrs. Stowe met with the President.  Emily did a more formal book report. 

The book was a little bit strange in the beginning...I could go into it but it had all kinds of new issues in it like water treaments, suidcide, women's rights, ministerial conflict, etc.  It was a little dry but became more interesting later on in my opinion.  I really liked reading about the time where she wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin (which I have on hold at the library now to read myself) and how she felt about the leadership of Abraham Lincoln.  I loved how she called President Lincoln up to meet with him and make sure he was planning on signing the Emancipation Proclamation....President Lincoln said, "So here is the little woman that started this big war!"  Later, Mrs. Stowe's children laughed at President Lincoln's way of speaking and his "country-ness."  I really enjoyed learning more and I feel a little smarter for reading it!

After our book club meeting, we usually all stay and eat lunch....all 16 kids ages 2-13!  Tomorrow we are going to eat and do a little science demo about smooth muscle.  We started learning this week about the muscular system and how the smooth muscle moves food through our intestines.  We will use a ball of clay (food) and a nylon stocking (the smoth muscles of the intestines) to demonstrate what goes on inside of our bodies as we eat....the kids will mold and push the food through the stocking to see how this works! 

After lunch, we will rest and then go up to the Florida Historic Capitol to participate in the Constitution Day Celebration.  The James Madision Institute in celebration of the 224th anniversary of the signing of the United States Constitution is featuring reenactments portraying some of the leading voices in American and Florida History.  There will be a Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry, James and Dolley Madison reenactment demos and a reenactment of the Lincoln-Douglas Debate. The performances are all about 20 minutes long.  We look forward to seeing and hearing them....John and I just finished watching a series called John Adams on Netflix and since we are doing American History with the kids...this fits right in.  Since visiting Washington DC, the kids remember names, buildings, time periods in relation to what they saw and heard in DC...it is neat to see their eyes light up when they remember something....They saw the original Declaration of Independence and US Constitution up close and personal in the National Archives so this is super cool to me! ....and them!  We are loving American History! 

That is our day....

John got asked to go shooting tomorrow with some friends at a gun range...but he texted the guy back, "Can't go...why you ask?  Because us homeschoolers are going to the Capitol to participate in The Constitution Day Celebration and hear Ben Franklin Speak...."  He's so nerdy!

Art and Classical Music!

Lately, John and I have been turning on classical music during the day to do our work, school, and chores...We tell the kids it makes them smarter...!  They actually like it and sometimes Emily will start dancing in the living room.  We rarely ever turn the TV on anymore..sometimes I do at night for noise background when I am hear by myself after the kids go to bed.  The kids haven't watched TV in many days...really cannot remember how many right now.  It is wonderful and I don't feel like we have that distraction o addiction anymore.  One of the cool things about our big nice TV is the wireless Pandora hook up...it comes up on the TV and through the wireless speaker sound system.  This is how we listen to Mozart, Bach, etc.  Funny enough, we have tried to get cable without any luck...the DTV guy couldn't find the satellite through our trees even after we cut some (I think they came out 4 times), the other company (I think our phone service) doesn't do their service out here in the country?!?! (really) and John has something against Comcast...oh well!  If I could I would love an a la cart TV service and pick things like TLC, History Channel, cooking channel, probably sports...

Anyways, at the beginning of the year, Emily told her CC class that she wanted to either be an Art teacher or a Ballet teacher...I can see this and approve with all my heart :)

Her art class is going so well.  Tonight we all sat around the table after dinner clean up, listening to classical music......and we all worked on drawing.  Molly drew her normal pretty scribble, John Daniel worked on his copying a picture by looking at it upside down (something they learned in Co-op today during the art segment) and Emily worked on her art homework sketches of birds....she even taught me a few things.  I ended up sitting there and drawing with them and it was very therapeutic!  I actually really liked it and Emily walked me through all the steps and taught me some new techniques.  Then we all sat in the living room and read two chapters of our latest book. 

Tonight was a good night...especially after using our brains so much today at Co-op...it was good to relax and use a different part of our brain...I loved it!

Some of Emily's bird sketches

And I drew this....I'm proud...I've never been an artist and this is totally out of my comfort zone! 

Birthday~

I was NOT excited about turning 35 and have felt kind of blah about it....but I had a great day...a really great day!  It started off with the birthday song from my family...complete with cards and cake for breakfast!  John headed to bed and then I got to spend a fantastic morning with my kids at horse class.  The weather was beautiful, there was a breeze, we spent it in the country soaking up country smells and fun animals.  We came home and all took a nap!  I like naps!  Then, my fantastic friends found out that John was going to be working tonight and decided to come over, help get dinner, and spend some time with us!  Mr. Josh went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for taco bar.  He was my hero because I really didn't want to go.  We cooked and ate together and then had Tasty Pastry cupcakes!  I am very very very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life!  I received many happy birthday wishes plus cards and texts and phone calls!  My grandmother and grandfather gave me one of the sweetest cards I have...I think I might save it forever.  They told me they were proud of me and she quoted the apostle Paul.  I cried.  A long time friend sent me a card with a picture of me and my kids on the front and a picture of me at a birthday party from elementary school (themed California raisins)...with all my friends from Holy Comforter...and in looking at that picture, I realized I hang out with some of those same people or at least talk to those same wonderful friends on a fairly frequent basis.  Having our friends Rebecca and Josh over was special and so comfortable...we have known each other for SO long and we are so comfortable around each other.  They know my kids, play with my kids, teach my kids, and hang out with my kids.  Josh even had Emily's bonnet on his head tonight and was playing "island" with them...the rug was the island and the hardwood floor was the hot water.  The coolest thing to me is that now I get to play and love on their BABY!  That is right.......Becca and Josh are going to have a baby in April!  I'm not allowed to say it on Facebook but this blog is not quite so public!  I'm almost as excited for them as I am when I found out I was pregnant....I cannot wait for them to experience all the wonderful parts of being a parent....they will be great parents and I know for a fact that because Becca is like a sister to me, I can hold her baby anytime I want...and that is the best present and gift on this 35th birthday...looking at my kids and seeing what a wonderful blessing they are to me and getting to experience another new life in one of my most precious and closest friends! I'm thrilled and I feel much better now that I got to tell someone!  When she told me a couple of days ago I was so excited that I sat down and figured out her due date for her and we signed her up to get weekly emails about her baby...it is the size of a kidney bean right now :)  I love babies and I'm thinking John is pretty happy that I have my mind all wrapped up in someone else's baby right now:)  I have had to refrain from calling them or texting them the past few days about baby stuff...I just think it is such a gift and the most awesome thing in the world!  Congrats to my bestest friends!

Horse Class

I was dreading sitting out in the heat all morning long waiting for the kids to get their turn to ride the horses BUT God worked it all out so perfectly and it was one of the nicest mornings yet!  The best part was the absolutely beautiful weather....so nice and breezy!  They did horse class under the nice big oak tree...seriously, it was so nice!

One of the home school moms had a wonderful unit study prepared on horses...their anatomy, what they eat, etc.  The kids made little books to put in a journal to then add to at another date. They drew and labeled the parts and learned about how to take care of horses.  It was great.  While this was going on they took a group of about 5-6 kids down to spend time riding horses.  It went by really quick and the kids had a blast! 

John Daniel got to ride the Shetland Pony

Molly enjoyed playing with the barn animals...

Emily riding Pilgrim

And they all got to go on a John Deere pulled hayride while they waited as well