Christmas!! Yes, it is still Christmas!! :)

Journal #23

(Do I really only have 23 "journal" posts for the year?  And was my last one really in August?!?!  Oh well, you get what you get, don't throw a fit :)

Out My Window:

Snow, glorious snow.  I believe we have a high today of seven degrees.  As cold as that sounds, everyone in this house is pretty happy as we have had such a mellow winter so far, it was freaking me out and disappointing the children.

Clothing Myself In:

Jeans (that used to be too big and now just fit. . . I find it difficult to have patience with my body after having a baby :(  ), an M.S. Bike-a-thon t-shirt and a pair of the hubby's wool socks (hey, I need to see if I got him a decent pair for Christmas, you know :)

Around the House:

It is still Christmas!!  Did I mention that yet??  Well I feel like I need to shout it, because it makes me happy and so many people don't believe me and I think they are just missing out.  Here is our Jesus, resting oh so comfortably on the strings of the children's good deeds in Advent.

I thought it would not be so difficult to find space for our Christmas toys this year since they were mostly legos or kinex, both of which we already have large tubs to contain.  However, I seem to have overlooked how both of these types of toys vomit all over the room - and into the next - and then get broken and pieces end up everywhere!!  I will let them out a few more days and then make them pick them up soon - for my sanity.  The funny thing is that the kids seem to "get" my moods (or maybe they feel the same) and often comply easily enough on picking them all up for a bit.

I just moved the couch, about a half hour ago - so it sticks out into the living room.  Mostly I did it because I have a rope hanging from an old hook (long story) that the kids can climb and they were climbing/jumping off the couch (which is not allowed, btw)  on said rope.  So I moved the couch out almost ninety degrees to "compensate."  We shall see how long it lasts. . . or if it solves the problem.

Also, cleaning. . . is it just me, or does anyone else ever wonder WHERE DOES ALL THIS DIRT COME FROM!!  Seriously, I miss one day of sweeping and I have PILES!!  I really need to teach my kids to sweep better so they can deal with it.  (Although I was kind-of hoping their sweeping skills would simply improve with time/practice - unassisted practice that is!)

The Baby:

She is six-months-now.  She is quite unique from the other children in that she is considerably smaller for her age.  She was in the 5oth percentile (for everything, head, weight, and length) at her last check-up (and will go in for her six-month-check next week).  All the other children were either in the 90s or off the charts as babies, seriously.  She seems to be developing a little slower, too. . . but it is probably not a big deal - nothing to be concerned over anyhow.  She can roll around, but does not do it much.  She is not crazy about being on her tummy and will often roll on her back as quickly as possible.  She is quite content to lay on her back and bat at her hanging toys, or put them in her mouth.  She is not scooting or locomoting much at all.  Perhaps that is because everyone comes to her??  She does not sit up or pull up or anything crazy like that.  She will stand a bit if you hold her hands, but would not get in such a position on her own.

She still likes to suck her thumb.  I think I would rather have her take a pacifier as then I could decide when she could have it!  But she does what she does.

I had a breast infection several weeks back and I have been concerned about my milk production since.  About three or four weeks ago, I finally got it back up to were I am not really "worried" about her getting enough milk but I still notice that she is considerably less satisfied on one side.  And who wants to have lopsided boobs?!?!  Generally, though, I think her increased fussiness lately has to do with her attempt to get teeth maybe??  And/or the insanity of the holidays (as she does not rest well away from HER crib).

The Kids:

They have enjoyed the holidays and extended family fun.  They are happy with their toys and generally loving this season.  I only wish I could spend more time playing with them, but the call of housework and "projects" is too strong to resist right now as they are otherwise occupied.

Crafting:

I finally am almost caught up putting pictures in albums.  (And I was about three years behind, so this is huge, people!!)  Hopefully I can stay on top of this now that I am caught up and have a good system going.  The kids and I really enjoy looking at these albums.

Some day I am going to pick up my knitting needles again but they will have to wait until my arms are empty of Zipporah as she has made it clear that when she nurses, I am not to be engaged elsewhere!!

Reading:

I actually finished a book the other day.  It has probably been about a year since that happened.  In case you were curious, it was Little Women.  And I don't think I have ever read it before, even though it seemed familiar (I must have come across the title in school at some point).   In any case, I enjoyed it and finished it and now I am starting Emma by Jane Austin.  Yay for old classics.

And to add to the excitement, shortly after finishing Little Women, I also finished Getting the Marriage Conversation Right.  It is a short book about how to promote and defend traditional marriage in non-religious terms and I highly recommend it for all.  Very clear.  Easy to read.  And it made me think.  I am considering getting some more copies to pass out to some of my friends.

And my current reading consists of two books by the same author, Katy Bowman, over similar stuff.  Alignment Matters and Every Woman's Guide to Foot Pain.  I started the Alignment Matters book a while back and enjoyed it, but got busy and put it down.  Now I am seeing how some of this stuff REALLY makes sense, so I read more and picked up the book on foot pain, not because I have foot pain necessarily, but because it is considered her "introduction book" to what she is about - even though the book is really about foot pain, it is more than that, too.  In any case, she has some notions that really blow my mind.  I joined a facebook group about alignment and restorative exercise and am finding much fruit in the practices and ideas.  This will most likely be its own blog post in the future.  Oh and if you want to check her out on your own, she has a blog.

Bringing Me Joy:

*Zipporah!  As much as she has been so fussy and difficult to deal with over the past few months, she is truly a treasure I love.  When she smiles and coos or falls asleep on me. . . well, let's just say those are moments I find deep contentment.

*My husband.  He has been showing signs of maturity (shhh don't tell him) and beginning to really step up his care of the kids and offering to help me - even in tasks he thinks are somewhat a waste of time.  It is really sweet.

*Getting fresh flowers.  Today I took all six children with me to the store because we had been gone and needed EVERYTHING.  As I was leaving, the florist handed me a bouquet saying that I deserved one for bringing my whole family out in the cold.

General pictures to share:

This was shortly after our first extended family Christmas.

Rebekah braided Miriam's hair.  So sweet, right? :)

Christmas!

Rebekah was Mary, Samuel was the "blue" wise man,  Paul was the shepherd with the brown "hat." (on the end).  They all did great in the Christmas pageant during the children's Mass at church.

Samuel helped Zipporah open her Christmas gift.  She was enthralled, especially with the paper.

Zipporah's Godparents got her an ornament.  I think she approves :)

"The Kids" (and me, as I was trying to keep Zipporah happy) at Gordie's extended family Christmas.

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas. . .

As a child I do not remember celebrating Santa.  There were not "gifts from Santa."  My father certainly never dressed up as Santa.  I was never told to "be good because Santa is watching" or any of that kind of thing.  St. Nicholas came on December 6th and sometimes he put candy or small toys in my shoes and sometimes he brought a wrapped present in the morning.  But, Christmas was about Jesus.  We had an advent wreath and we faithfully lit the candles and said our prayers and then Jesus was born on Christmas and we got gifts from Mom and Dad and extended family, etc.  That was that.

(Odd Side Note: Although this is how I remember things, a while back as I was going through some of my childhood items, in a scrapbook my mom had kept, I came across an article in the local newspaper that I had written and guess what it was about?  It was a letter I had written to Santa!!!  I think I was in the fifth grade.  I asked for world peace.  How noble is that?   In any case I do not remember writing the letter and I certainly do not remember ever believing in Santa so perhaps we had to write such a letter for class or something, that is my only guess.)

I now have children and as the oldest two were getting old enough to pay attention to such things (somewhere between 2 and 4 - possibly one was 2 and the other 4 or something like that), I calmly sat them down and explained that Santa was not real and that what "the world" considered Santa was actually a glorification of St. Nicholas.  I explained the story of St. Nicholas - leaving candy in the children's shoes and throwing money in windows for the poor girls' dowries. I proceeded to give them small gifts, and/or to celebrate the feast of Saint Nicholas.  (I know one year for whatever reason I did not have gifts ready - I think maybe we had been sick - so I made a special dessert and we sang "Happy Birthday" to St. Nicholas.)  That was all fine and dandy.

It was the next year, I believe, when she was in Kindergarten, that Rebekah asked me before each gift was opened, who it was from.  I answered her truthfully that it was from Mom and Dad or Grandma or Aunt whoever, etc.  That year I had gotten a bit overzealous in my shopping and decided to bless the children with ADDITIONAL gifts on Epiphany (I called them "Kings Gifts").  So not only had they gotten Christmas presents from Mom and Dad and all their extended family, they got ANOTHER gift in January to celebrate the arrival of the three wise men.

About a week later as I was taking down our Christmas decorations (which normally happens for us on the Baptism of the Lord) Rebekah made a comment.  She said, in a mournful serious tone, "Santa did not bring us any gifts.  We must have been bad."  And my heart broke for her, but what could I do?  It was too late for Santa to come and I had already explained that he was not going to come anyhow.  How could she not "get it"?!?!

So another year or two passed and she no longer asked me about Santa, but then I overheard her tell someone, "Mom does not believe in Santa, but we (as in her and her siblings) know he is real."

Another year or two passed and now we are up to this year, this very evening, I believe she has finally reasoned out how her understanding of Santa (which I would argue is different from my attempts to make him a displaced St. Nicholas) fits in with the real reason for this season, the birth of Jesus.  Tonight she was eating dinner with the rest of the children at the table.  From the kitchen, I overheard her say,

"the one gift Santa can give God is his heart.  He lets God use him as an instrument of peace."

All I can say to that is "well-said, dear daughter, well-said."

7 Quick Takes - Advent

Advent Sweetness

This morning I was reflecting on Advent and feeling a little guilty that I have not taken the time to really prepare my heart.  But then I realized, Advent is not over yet!  There is still time!  Time to refill my lamp and/or get some more oil because the Bridegroom is not here yet.  So this morning, amidst the regular insanity of life here at "The Green Turtle Dojo" (our homeschool name) I sought out the "sweetness factors" of my life.

1. Miriam and Rebekah showering together in the morning.  Rebekah has started showering more, partly because she is getting older and mostly because she has long hair.  In any case, Miriam likes to be in the shower with her older siblings.  It makes my heart happy to see how joyfully Rebekah lets Miriam shower with her.  And it reaffirms my desire to homeschool as we would probably not have time for this if Rebekah had to be at school by 8am!  

2.  Paul's enthusiasm is really amazing.  He LOVES to talk. . . ALL - THE - TIME!!  But his enthusiasm really makes it adorable (except when I am grumpy or in a hurry, then I do not find it adorable because I am too busy being upset, but I digress. . . ) and I am often in awe of how he seems to have an endless river of excitement and enthusiasm.  It makes me think of how Jesus says we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven unless we become like little children.  Perhaps we can take a lesson or two from Paul.

3.  I love that my children are growing to love Scripture.  This morning Rebekah was reading Sacred Scripture for our Jesse Tree.  At one point, she says, "That is all I'm supposed to read, but I'm going to read more because this is such a good story."  (It was David and Goliath.) 

4.  Zipporah is growing in her ability to interact with us.  We are now affectionately calling her "the little dinosaur," as she has started doing this little grunt/growl thing.  I will try to catch it on video, but trust me - it is really cute!

5.  This morning as the children, noticing that Baby Jesus' manger was still rather sparse, were tripping over each other looking for good deeds to do in order to put some more padding down for the little king.

6. Amidst the good deed search from the previous point, the children asked what Zipporah might do to participate.  I told them every time she smiles they could put in a piece of yarn for her.  And that brought on the smile-fest of the morning for sure as each child would kneel before her and cheerfully command, "Smile Zipporah!!" with their biggest smiles to show her how.  She complied, of course, and  I am sure Baby Jesus will find this "hay" to be the most soft and cozy!

7. Samuel received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time yesterday and we as a family (those of us old enough) also were able to receive this Sacrament.  No matter how often I receive the Sacrament or Reconciliation, it NEVER GETS OLD to me.  Such a blessing we have for the Sacrament of Healing and Forgiveness.

Samuel and Zipporah

Happy Birthday, Samuel!

Today is the birthday, I wonder for who?  We know it's for someone who's right in this room.  So look all around you for somebody who, is smiling and laughing, my goodness it's you!  Happy Birthday, Samuel, from all of us to you.  Happy Birthday, Samuel, from Daddy and Mommy, too!  We congratulate you, and pray good-luck follows, too.  Happy Birthday, Samuel, may all of your good dreams come true!

(My music teacher had us sing this song to "the birthday kid" after we say Happy Birthday.  Of course, today is NOT Samuel's birthday.  But we got the month right :)

1) Samuel reminds me most of myself.  He is a little OCD, a little socially awkward (and will probably shoot me later when he discovers I mentioned this here), a little crazy, and just a lot like me.  I honestly can remember acting/feeling/thinking/saying, as a kid, the same stuff he does now.  Seriously.

2) He really likes pumpkin goodies, like cookies, cake, bread, etc.  He is also a stickler for peanut butter cookies.

3) Samuel is an amazing student.  He is quite smart and catches on quickly.  He is also fairly driven (that minor OCD for the win) and will buckle-down and get his work done!

4) Math is Samuel's favorite school subject and he was actually a year ahead in Math until this year as we are doing the virtual school and I was not sure how to tell them about his amazing math skills, or even if they would care so much.

5) Samuel is quite athletic (which is not so much like me - must get that from his father).  He does rolls in Aikido like most people walk across the room - so graceful and quick.  He is also really fast - and he knows it!

6)  He is so good to his sisters!  He likes to play with his brothers. . . well, especially Jacob and sometimes Paul, but Samuel seems to always have a tender spot for his sisters.  Since Rebekah is older, she is always "fun" but he often sings to Zipporah and gently pats her head, or helps Miriam put on her shoes or take off her bib, etc.

7)  Samuel loves to sing.  He may be a little off on pitch or melody, but he sure belts out those tunes and seems to genuinely enjoy doing so.

Happy Birthday, dear Samuel!  May God continue to form you into a virtuous and joyful young man.

Advent 2014

Happy New Church Year!!!  

Advent is here again, hooray!  Time to start over.  Time to prepare for Christ to come.  Time to be watchful and ready.  Such a great time of year - kinda like Lent, but a little less harsh.

If you are curious what we have done in the past, you can read all about our previous Advents here.

TRADITIONAL:  We are doing a lot of the same stuff as these past years, including: The Traditional Advent Wreath, The Story of Christmas Book (with an ornament and reading for each day in December),  and The Jesse Tree (a lot like the Story of Christmas book - ornaments for each day that have symbols from the Scripture stories they represent).  I'm short on time so I won't go into a lot of detail on things we have previously done.  We also have our outdoor Nativity scene up.  Unfortunately none of the characters (Mary, Jesus, and Joseph) work this year and I'm too lazy to check the bulbs and fuses, but I did put lights around them so you can see they are there.

NEW:  The one new item this year is a manger for baby Jesus.  We are going to soften the bed for baby Jesus (with cut up pieces of string) by our good deeds and sacrifices.  Then on Christmas we will put our "big" baby Jesus in his bed.  This is my first year for this because I just found a "big" baby Jesus and bed that I could afford this year.

The "manger" for Jesus is in the middle and I am going to keep the string in the blue bowel beside it, until we put it in piece by piece through our acts of charity and sacrifice.  On a side note, notice how sad my Advent wreath looks without candles :(  I did find ONE after this picture, so I guess that gives me exactly a week to get more!

PRAYER:  I'm thinking of possibly doing some Liturgy of the Hours with the older kids this year.  Night Prayer is nice and short, but kind of dark and dreary, so maybe we will try Morning Prayer or Daytime Prayer.

MUSIC:  Since my son Samuel has proven he REALLY likes singing and music can be quite holy I am also hoping to add more singing - at least a song or two (a "hymn" or two - not Old MacDonald or some such - hah) with the children each day of Advent.  Perhaps we can keep this up during the Christmas Season and on to Ordinary Time, and perhaps it can encourage me to get better at playing the piano!!  (Ok, let's not get crazy - hopeful, but not crazy :)

GIFT:  I was also going to wrap up 25 books and have the kids unwrap one for each day in December, but it is the night before December 1st and I have to wrap the books so. . . I'm guessing this probably won't happen this year.  But maybe next year.  (Note: Supposedly you are supposed to give your kids 25 NEW books for this, but I figure have a TON of books we have barely read - and some really good ones, too! - so why not just wrap up the ones we have?  I imagine it would be almost as special as the kids really care more about me reading them the story, I am sure, than the actual book itself being new or old.)

CRAFT:  We also have some crafts I picked up from Oriental Trading that I was thinking of giving a try.  Nothing too spectacular, just a sticker nativity and an Advent candle craft.  I know, why waste the money on something I could probably do better from scratch?  Well, I will tell you why - because this way I might ACTUALLY DO THEM!!  I often shy from crafts because of all the prep work involved.  The prep work is done for me and the crafts were CHEAP.  Plus since they come by the dozen we can do them this year and next!!

So, there ya have it.  Sorry I cannot take time to be more exciting about all this.  Well, let me rephrase that.  I AM EXCITED about ADVENT!!  But I am once again up against the wire (as Advent is HERE!!) and I'm exhausted from being sick for a long while and then just finishing up Thanksgiving celebrations today.  So I do not have a lot of time to put lots of fun links and pictures into this post.  But something is better than nothing.  So here is something.

Jacob turned six back in August. . .

I believe I mentioned that I missed a few of my children's (Rebekah in July and Jacob in August) "birthday" posts because I was recovering from having a baby in June.  Well, I finally got Rebekah's post in back in October and now we are nearing the end of the year and the next child's birthday (Samuel) so I better get on this! 

Later in life, Jacob, when you read this, do not think it is because I love you any less that it has taken me almost an entire three extra months to post about you for your birthday!!

Without further ado, I will go into a list of random facts about Jacob (as lists are so my thing).

1) Jacob lost his first tooth today!!

2) Jacob likes to play by himself.  He will join the group sometimes, but he is often completely content if left to his own devices.

3) His toy of choice is blocks.  He likes wooden blocks and cardboard blocks.  He likes magnet blocks.  He likes mega-blocks and duplos, and OF COURSE he likes regular legos.

4) As clearly shown though his love of blocks, Jacob tends to think like an engineer.

5) Jacob likes Ninja Turtles and Spiderman.

6) He is. . . a bit stubborn at times.  (read: understatement here)

7) Jacob loves turtles.  

8) Even though he has a tough-little-boy exterior, Jacob is deeply sensitive and dislikes stories with lots of violence (like fairy tales where someone gets eaten - don't ask how I know this, it is a long story).

9) Jacob tends to be the quiet one when we are out and about, but he talks my ear off at home when no one else is around.

10) Jacob has very grippy toes and likes to use them when he climbs ropes or chains on the swing set.

My dearest Jacob, I do apologize for taking so long to post about you and all your amazing little quirks, but do know that I thank God for the wonderful little boy you are and pray that you will grown into a strong and virtuous man who seeks the Lord with all his heart!

7 Quick Takes: Zipporah Update, 4-months-old

1) At her check-up a few days ago the doctor walked in and asked, "Is she going to be your petite one?!?!"  Because our doctor was as shocked as I was to discover Zipporah is only in the 50th percentile for height and weight!!  Coming from a family of GIANT babies (Jacob coming in at 11lbs was off the chart until age 2 and all the rest have been mid to high 90th percentile) this was quite surprising!  But I must say I LOVE IT!!  It is so great to have such a light little lady to carry around!  I feel stronger than ever but thankful I only have 14lbs of Zipporah love to tote around with me.  

2) She does not mind tummy time much now.  She gets up WAY HIGH and arches her body perfectly to prepare for the crawl.  Plus she "hangs out" in that position for quite a while before finally giving in and either rolling over to her back or just resting her head down on the ground.

3) Zipporah LOVES to watch the world around her!  She seems so happy to interact with her brothers and sisters (even Miriam who gently kisses her head. . . and then tries to touch her eyes :)

4) She has started sucking her thumb (or possibly thumbs - I don't think she specifically just does one - although she does only do one at a time).  It is not an all-the-time thing, but usually after I put her in her crib when she is almost asleep she will find it and settle.  (Cue the Alleluia chorus as there is nothing like the feeling of doom when the baby cries before you even reach the door of her room, after trying to lay her down for a nap.)  Unfortunately this has led to a red nose and face sometimes (even when I try to keep her nails super-short), but such is life.

5) Zipporah does not have a giant smile yet, but I still enjoy how her face lights up when I talk to her - especially her eyes.

6) She really likes the moby wrap now.  When she was smaller I had trouble getting it to fit quite right.  But now that there is a little more to her she fits wonderfully and it is oh so comfortable!  God bless the maker of the moby :)

7) Zipporah has been sleeping quite well for being so young and small.  Although her bedtime is not set in stone (as our family schedule simply does not permit such things), she can fall asleep as early as 6:30pm (although usually it ends up being 7 or 8pm, depending on our evening activities) and will generally sleep until 8 or 9am the next morning.  She is really a "considerate" baby.  Sometimes she wakes up and just lays in her crib or chatters quietly and calmly to herself for a while - or until she falls back asleep on her own.

Zipporah Marie you are such a blessing in so many ways!  I am so grateful for your presence in our family.

7 Quick Takes - some of my most random thoughts/experiences for today

1) Nothing gets the blood flowing like your seven-year-old hollering, "Mom, there is a spider in my room!  IT IS A BROWN RECLUSE!!"  Although I suppose it "could" have been a brown recluse, he was telling me he could tell because of the green dot on the back. . . ummm, last I checked BR spiders had that fiddle thing.  Anyhow, this one was so small, it was either a baby (eek!!) or one of those regular little spiders (you know the ones).  I'm banking on it being the second choice and am praying there is not a nest of BR spiders tucked into my children's room this evening.  I am so tired of spiders right now.

2) I am 3.5 months postpartum and if you were to draw me on a comic strip, I would look like I was glowing because of all the hair I am shedding.  I am CONSTANTLY losing hair and it is EVERYWHERE - on my clothes, on the floor, in the food, on the toys, wrapped in the baby's hand.  I am almost ready to shave my head. . . but then I remember a woman with six kids who homeschools and drives a van like mine does NOT need another reason for people to stare in her general direction.

3) Miriam's latest phrase is "HELP MEEUM!!"  She gets so flustered sometimes (most of the time) when she cannot do something, so she runs around frantically to either me or one of the older children crying for help.  It is quite annoying to me to have my "inner zen" attacked (I just want to scream "CALM DOWN" every time I hear her - which as we all know would be a little counter productive.) by her frantic tone.  Yet, often the fix is so quick and she immediately calms.  Even just addressing her problem, even if I do not give her what she wants, is enough for her to stop her intense wail of a cry for help.

4) I vacuumed the rug today and Rebekah asked who was coming over.  I'm fairly certain my kids believe that if we did not have house guests we would never clean.  But perhaps a little bit of me believes that, too. . . 

5) I keep my calendar in an excel file (I make it up myself and have been using/adapting the same file for the past five years or so) and I think it might have become corrupted (oh no!!) as it will no longer print or register that any page exists for printing.  It is the weirdest problem I have EVER had with a computer file.  In any case, I saved it as a different version (at the hubby's suggestion) and was able to print the October page so crisis averted. . . for now.

6) Zipporah  is taking after her big sister Rebekah in her sleeping habits.  She sleeps like crazy (10-12 hours a night, often going to bed as early as 6:30pm if I let her).  She naps great, too.  Yes, I am aware that by sharing this with everyone it will cease to be true, but honestly I'm amazed by her right now!!  She is such a great addition to the family.  Everyone loves her.  (And yes, I probably would/will still love her when she starts teething and decides sleep is for the weak and crying is much better.)

7) And to combine two of my previous topics for this final point. . . my shedding hairs seem to always fall on the backs of my arms. . . which is also (oddly enough) were I have been finding spiders, either crawling on me (eek!) or bites.  So now, every few minutes (it seems - probably more like three or four times a day in reality) I am frantically looking at the backs of my arms to double-check that it is in fact my hair tickling me and not a spider!! 

Rebekah's 9th Birthday

So back in June, our newest family member decided to join us outside the womb (with a little assistance,of course).  And in the midst of recovering and learning to take care of six children, I missed blogging about my oldest daughter's 9th birthday, which was in July.  Since this is my blog and I make up the rules, I have decided it is ok to blog about it now. . . in October and she is lucky she is getting  a post at all.

We were at Grandpa and Grandma's house the day before Rebekah's actual birthday, planning to come home that day.  But Uncle Erik (prompted, no doubt by his two daughters) spontaneously asked if Rebekah would like to stay with him for a few days.  As much as we tried to say no (Rebekah is my NUMBER ONE helper around the house!!) we were unable to convince her that coming back home with her family would be as fun as staying with her cousins.  The catch is that with her gone, we did not exactly celebrate her birthday without here back at home.  Then she got back into town on the same day as Zipporah's baptism.  And while we had a cake for both of them, letting them share the day of celebration, overall, Rebekah's birthday was largely underplayed.

But she did not complain. . . because generally she just does not do that.  So I will continue with a "birthday post of sorts," in this spirit of gratitude for the amazing young woman Rebekah is becoming.

Reason #1 that Rebekah is amazing:

She has such a sweet soul.  I have quite a collection of holy cards and they seem to keep growing (charities love to send that kind of stuff).  I usually give them to Rebekah to use as bookmarks.  After going through a basket of "stuff" (you know, that "stuff' that collects everywhere like plaque and is just difficult to keep up with!! - but I digress) I gave her a fairly large pile of cards.  I expected her to put them in her desk.  But later I discovered she had concluded there were too many for her desk.  So instead, she took some sticky tack and put the religious pictures up ALL OVER the house.  Seriously, they were EVERYWHERE: Below the car key hook, on the front door, on the dryer, on the bathroom mirror, below the crucifix in my bedroom, even on the OUTSIDE part of the back door.  You could barely walk two steps without encountering one.  It was very sweet.  In the picture below you can see one by our holy water font.

Reason #2 that Rebekah is so amazing:

She gently leads us all toward holiness.  The other morning I noticed the little note beside the holy water font (as shown in the picture above).  She wanted to remind us to use the holy water.  This font and her sign are beside the doorway to the kitchen.  A doorway everyone walks through multiple times during the day.  A well-thought-out plan, there, Rebekah!

Reason #3 that Rebekah is so amazing:

She has a heartfelt generosity that knows no bounds.  A while back we were over playing with our neighbors in the late afternoon and dinnertime was approaching.  I commented on what we were having for dinner (as I believe it was in the crockpot or the oven - whatever the case, it was almost ready for us to eat) and our neighbors said they had not started dinner yet so it would be a while before they ate.  Unbeknownst to me, Rebekah slipped back into our house at this point and made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the neighbors, so they would not have to wait so long for dinner!  Then, about ten minutes later I gathered our crew and started heading back to our house.  Out came Rebekah with the sandwiches that she proudly presented to our neighbors.

Rebekah, you are certainly one of the greatest gifts I have received!  Such a wonderful big sister and role model for us all.  I thank God for the young lady you are becoming and pray He will continue to bless you, today, forever ago on your actual birthday,  and always!

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.  

(Ephesians 1:16)

Our Online School Experience. . . so far

As I mentioned in a previous post, the children are "attending" an online public school.  To give a little history, all of the older three children have attended a public preschool.  The oldest, Rebekah, also attended a Catholic school for two years.  For the past two years we have homeschooled on our own (with an eclectic approach).  Now, with three in school we are giving the virtual school a try.  So without further ado. . . 

Pros:

1) CHEAP!!  It is $97 per kid, and that includes everything.  They even send a computer if you need one, no extra charge.

2) All the planning is DONE.  No serious prep work required.  Sometimes you need to print things or gather materials (such as for science experiments), but they have it all laid out for you under "advance prep" for "tomorrow" or "the week" and for all your children or just one.

3) Lots of computer work and that keeps the kids interested.  Each lesson is "recorded" online.  

Some of them will read something along the lines of, "This lesson is 'offline' so gather materials (which they have a link to, so you can see what they look like and print them if you want - or go find them in your workbooks/textbooks/teacher's manuals) and follow the activity guide."  Then you click to the next screen and mark the lesson complete.

Other lessons will have some information that the students read through and a question or two to answer on the computer (and then it will tell them if their answer is right, etc), with each screen.  With the younger ones it has lots of games and simple instructions, for example, "Click the object that is a square" - or "Sort all the shapes into the correct bins."  I REALLY like the online work for vocabulary words.  They are hearing the words pronounced correctly and the definitions, often while seeing pictures to reinforce.  It is handy for phonics games, for Jacob, also.

They also have links to games during the lesson.  There is a math game about germs that the kids really like.  They do math problems to get the goop to flow and neutralize the germs.  There are also spelling games.  These are played online and I have saved the links to them, so we can pull them out whenever we want (not just when the link comes up in a lesson) and Samuel especially likes those.  He asks to play them on weekends and in his free time.

4) I like the vocabulary words chosen so far and I am glad they are teaching to learn definitions from the context, but also having them check in the dictionary to be sure.

5) The online classes (in blackboard) are enjoyable and I think Rebekah learns some from them.  I like her learning some from another adult (besides me) and I like to see her interacting with other kids she does not know (even though it is in the virtual world).  (Only Rebekah does these - two per week, one in reading and one in math - because they do 3rd grade and up in them, I believe.)

6) Our "Education Specialists" (aka "teachers") are very friendly and helpful.  (In case you were curious, my title is "learning coach" which I think fits well.)  Plus, it helps to be held accountable to someone else.  They talk with me and each student about twice a month, unless we have problems, questions, etc., as they are available anytime (within reason).

7) Having our workload set for us gives me a sense of what "the real world" expects us to be accomplishing in a given day, week, month, etc.  If nothing else it is helping me get a picture in my head of how our time should be/could be spent in a given day.

Cons:

(I would like to preface here, that I do not claim to be an expert.  I could have misunderstood or flat-out "missed" some of the instructions or I could be doing some things "the hard way," without realizing it!  I am not perfect, so some of these cons could potentially just be "user error." )

1) The lessons are repetitive and often have less content than I would expect.  Imagine the homework they send home from school when your child is sick.  Now imagine your child being sick every day of the year.  That is basically how virtual school goes.  In my experience, homeschool curriculum can be more in-depth as the student is more focused and one-on-one learning is so effective.  But these lessons could be picked up and taught to 20 kids pretty easily.  I'm not faulting them for it.  They are most likely written by a school teacher.  But, as I said, from my experience, school done at home does not need to be structured quite the same way and having one child do repeated activities that were meant to be spread about over a larger class, can be tedious and boring at times.

For example, Samuel needed to count from 1 to 500.  They had him practicing little snip-its of counting from here or there (count from 99 to 155 and count from 345 to 389, etc).  Then they had an animated kid counting (on the computer) and Samuel listening - to different parts.  For the 40 minutes he spent listening and doing his worksheets for this lesson, I should have just had him count to me from 1 to 500 (as I figured he probably could) and been done in 5 minutes.

2) It is a lot of computer work.  Now, I would not say it is too much, but if you are wanting to be basically "unplugged," this is not the path for you.  Plus, the lessons are all online on their server.  The other day, their server was down. . . that was a little frustrating.  But our education specialist said that happens maybe once a year, if that.

3) Some of the content is not what I would pick.  For example, Jacob is reading fairy tales for his Kindergarten literature.  The first one we read was Goldilocks.  In this version, the wolf eats the grandma and then the girl.  Then the hunter hears him snoring and sees them in his throat, so pulls them out and the wolf runs away.  When we got to the part about the wolf eating the grandma, Jacob said, "I don't like this story. Can we stop now?"  He was so distraught!  Then after we finished the story he said, "Wolves don't REALLY eat people do they?"  My answer, "well, not normally people IN CABINS."  Of all the literature in the world, are you telling me they could not find some that would not give my Kindergarten nightmares about wolves eating people?!?!  Sheesh.

4) Although the materials are plentiful, they are a bit confusing!  Rebekah has about six different books she works from for her Language Arts.  Two of them are writing books.  One is solely grammar, but there is grammar in her "Language Skills" book also!  She also has a literature book, a spelling book, and a vocabulary book!!  It is rather confusing many days to figure out what book she is supposed to be in - and even what page to be on!  (As she skips around some, too.)  It does not seem very systematic to me.

5) Obviously, there is no religion course since this is a "public school" so I am trying to supplement that on the side myself.  I suppose that keeps it separate so they realize that studying the Catholic faith and the Bible are not really just school subjects, but at the same time, I do think they should be spending time each day putting their heart and soul into understanding our faith and studying Scripture.  In my head it is perhaps the most important "subject" of all.

* Obviously I will have much more to say about this by the end of the year, but I wanted to get my thoughts out now while I am thinking about them.  I am quite curious to see how long it will take us to finish and if we will end up working through the summer or if we end up finishing early.  Although there is a progress page online that shows where we are, it is difficult for me to get a sense of how fast we are really moving and to anticipate if we will be able to keep that pace, or what other distractions, etc will come up along the way.