Birthdays -
Summer is big for the Blake girls. Kelly started us off with a Yellow Hello Kitty Tea Party Birthday. Try saying that 10 times fast. She loves yellow, Hello Kitty and Tea pronounced "tee-ah" according t0 her. We had several of her little friends over, and it was the most peaceful quiet birthday party I have ever been to. All girls. They colored Hello Kitty pictures, had a tea party and played with their babies. Then we ate cake and pizza. Boy was that easy. Jason gave Kelly flowers and took her for donuts on her actual birthday. This has become a tradition and it sure does make her feel special. "Just you and me, Dad. Just you and me." She would say to him. Then she would sing him songs in the car and talk his ear off. He loves it.
Next was Keaton's 1 year Birthday. I decided to keep it low key since this is her first birthday and she is still getting the hang of these birthday things. We made cupcakes with help from big brother, and big sister (someone has to lick the bowl). Then we all went to Central Park in Frisco, (no we didn't fly to NY, we are not that weird) and took some cute birthday pictures. She ate cupcakes, yes 2 of them and we finished with some playtime at the park and a good swing under the moonlight. What a joy my 2 girls are to me. Kelly Grace and Keaton Faith. I love em'.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
moose ears and foam crosses
Day 4 rolled around mostly the same as day 3 except we used the wipe board instead of the chalk board. Is it called the wipe board or the white board? It really makes sense for it to be called both in my opinion. Do you know any of those people who make up their own lyrics to songs that they hear on the radio, that sound like the original lyrics? I am one of those people. You know what I am talking about. "We're moving on up, to pizza hut, to that deluxe pizza in the sky." Oh well, let's move on to day 5 before I loose anyone.
So, it is Friday and that usually means a field trip. This Friday Jodi (our field trip expert) had found a Children's home sponsored by a Presbyterian church in Denton, TX. The plan was for us to take our kids to the Children's home and hang out with the teens that were staying at this home. Some were orphans and most were custody of the state. We were all a little nervous about what type of situations we were going to expose our kids to (the oldest kid in our group just turned 6). We knew these kids had been through a lot and might be a ruff crowd. The night before our field trip, I was praying for wisdom to know what to say to my kids and to prepare them for how they should behave. I wanted to head off any uncomfortable questions that might arise during our stay. As I was praying it dawned on me that we are supposed to bless the fatherless and the widows. "Lord, what do I have that I can give them? What do teens like?" I walked straight over to my school cabinet and as I opened the door the first thing I saw was a bag of left over foam crosses with decorative stickers from our VBS. I grabbed that and then I saw some clay magnets with a paint kit that someone had given to us. I stuck those in the bag along with a huge bag of beads and lanyards. Finally I saw these silly blow-up moose ears that were leftover from VBS and I threw those in the bag too. I was so excited but yet a little nervous about my new findings as they seemed more appropriate for elementary age kids and not really high school entertainment. However, that was all that I could think of to give, so it would have to do.
As we arrived at the home the next morning you could tell that all three of us mothers were quite apprehensive about our adventure for the day. We all confessed that we had spent most of the 45 minute drive over there praying for the field trip to go well and for the children to behave appropriately. We all prayed together before we went in and a peaceful spirit fell upon our shoulders. As we walked into the building we met our contact person who guided us through the facility to meet up with the teens. We walked through a beautiful library where the kids would do homework, receive tutoring, and have Internet access. Next we walked outside through a courtyard where we saw 3 little cabins. We were told that each cabin held 8 kids with one "house mom" or "house dad". There were 2 girls cabins and 1 boys cabins. Next we passed by a pool and playground and then we entered the gym where the girls were waiting for us. It turns out the boys had been take on a field trip and around 14 girls ranging from13-17 were there to greet with 3 "house moms". As soon as we walked in, the girls beamed with excitement. "They brought little guys! Babies. Look how cute." 4-5 girls immediately came to each of us and offered to hold our babies, introduced themselves to us and to our kids and immediately began engaging with us and our children. I was so impressed at their initiative and politeness. Most teens would take the safe stance and wait a while before interacting, but these girls were very mature in handling this situation. The director of the facility had each of us introduce ourselves and then asked us if we had any plans for our time with the girls. We figured we could play at the playground and possibly feed the donkeys and we mentioned that we had some art activities. Awkward. Basically we were not sure what to do. We decided to go to the playground first while it was still cool and that would give the kids something to do. Each girl took a child by the hand and walked them to the playground. While the kids were playing the girls took turns pushing then on the swings, chasing then up and down the slide, and holding the babies. We were able to talk with the girls and get to know them in such a natural setting as we all played with the kids. We asked the girls what they die with their days throughout the summer. They told us they swam sometimes when the life guard was around, that they ate breakfast and watched TV. Sometimes they would get to go on outings but that was basically it. We were beginning to see a tiny glimpse of what their life was like.
We all moved into the gym for some water and some romp around time when the girl I was with asked me if we could do some of the art activities. "Sure." I said, and Kelly, Keaton and I began to make the foam crosses with our new friend. After a few minutes everybody was in the room with us making necklaces, crosses, and painting the magnets. Our kids were giving their necklaces to the girls and the girls were giving their crosses to our kids. Everybody was laughing and talking and Keaton even got a Jesus sticker tattooed to her arm. We pulled the moose ears out and everyone from the house moms to the babies got a chuckle as our pictures were taken with the crazy looking antlers. The walls were coming down and we were all starting to share with each other. I connected with one girl who played soccer for a rival club team I used to coach against. She said she couldn't afford to play anymore living there but hoped to play high school soccer. She announced to the group that she was going home next week and one of the house moms gave her a confused look as if to say "your not moving back in." She quickly replied "it is just a visit." They told us they all attended church every Sunday together at the Presbyterian Church. Another girl invited us to the fall festival that the Home puts on each fall for the community. That is right, these kids serve their community by working the fall festival put on by the home and the sponsoring church. I don't know why it should surprise me, these girls had served the 3 of us moms the entire morning by playing with and interacting with our kids. They sat by us at lunch time and helped us feed and watch over our kids. When it was time for us to go we thanked the "house moms" and they confessed that they were not sure how this event was going to play out. "When you called and asked us if you could come we said yes but we have not ever had any one ask us to do this and we didn't really know what to expect." We told them we had been so blessed by our visit and asked if we could come again. They said they would be thrilled if we came again and asked us if we would please come again. As we said our goodbyes the girls didn't want to let our kids go. One girl told me this had made her day and I told her she had made my week. They hugged and squished Keaton a hundred times before we walked out the door and then they all stood outside waving as we walked back across the courtyard to our cars. What an amazing opportunity and what a blessing it had been to visit with these girls. What an incredible experience to minister to the teens alongside my children. It was the perfect ending to my first week of homeschooling and the beginning of wonderful journey of education.
So, it is Friday and that usually means a field trip. This Friday Jodi (our field trip expert) had found a Children's home sponsored by a Presbyterian church in Denton, TX. The plan was for us to take our kids to the Children's home and hang out with the teens that were staying at this home. Some were orphans and most were custody of the state. We were all a little nervous about what type of situations we were going to expose our kids to (the oldest kid in our group just turned 6). We knew these kids had been through a lot and might be a ruff crowd. The night before our field trip, I was praying for wisdom to know what to say to my kids and to prepare them for how they should behave. I wanted to head off any uncomfortable questions that might arise during our stay. As I was praying it dawned on me that we are supposed to bless the fatherless and the widows. "Lord, what do I have that I can give them? What do teens like?" I walked straight over to my school cabinet and as I opened the door the first thing I saw was a bag of left over foam crosses with decorative stickers from our VBS. I grabbed that and then I saw some clay magnets with a paint kit that someone had given to us. I stuck those in the bag along with a huge bag of beads and lanyards. Finally I saw these silly blow-up moose ears that were leftover from VBS and I threw those in the bag too. I was so excited but yet a little nervous about my new findings as they seemed more appropriate for elementary age kids and not really high school entertainment. However, that was all that I could think of to give, so it would have to do.
As we arrived at the home the next morning you could tell that all three of us mothers were quite apprehensive about our adventure for the day. We all confessed that we had spent most of the 45 minute drive over there praying for the field trip to go well and for the children to behave appropriately. We all prayed together before we went in and a peaceful spirit fell upon our shoulders. As we walked into the building we met our contact person who guided us through the facility to meet up with the teens. We walked through a beautiful library where the kids would do homework, receive tutoring, and have Internet access. Next we walked outside through a courtyard where we saw 3 little cabins. We were told that each cabin held 8 kids with one "house mom" or "house dad". There were 2 girls cabins and 1 boys cabins. Next we passed by a pool and playground and then we entered the gym where the girls were waiting for us. It turns out the boys had been take on a field trip and around 14 girls ranging from13-17 were there to greet with 3 "house moms". As soon as we walked in, the girls beamed with excitement. "They brought little guys! Babies. Look how cute." 4-5 girls immediately came to each of us and offered to hold our babies, introduced themselves to us and to our kids and immediately began engaging with us and our children. I was so impressed at their initiative and politeness. Most teens would take the safe stance and wait a while before interacting, but these girls were very mature in handling this situation. The director of the facility had each of us introduce ourselves and then asked us if we had any plans for our time with the girls. We figured we could play at the playground and possibly feed the donkeys and we mentioned that we had some art activities. Awkward. Basically we were not sure what to do. We decided to go to the playground first while it was still cool and that would give the kids something to do. Each girl took a child by the hand and walked them to the playground. While the kids were playing the girls took turns pushing then on the swings, chasing then up and down the slide, and holding the babies. We were able to talk with the girls and get to know them in such a natural setting as we all played with the kids. We asked the girls what they die with their days throughout the summer. They told us they swam sometimes when the life guard was around, that they ate breakfast and watched TV. Sometimes they would get to go on outings but that was basically it. We were beginning to see a tiny glimpse of what their life was like.
We all moved into the gym for some water and some romp around time when the girl I was with asked me if we could do some of the art activities. "Sure." I said, and Kelly, Keaton and I began to make the foam crosses with our new friend. After a few minutes everybody was in the room with us making necklaces, crosses, and painting the magnets. Our kids were giving their necklaces to the girls and the girls were giving their crosses to our kids. Everybody was laughing and talking and Keaton even got a Jesus sticker tattooed to her arm. We pulled the moose ears out and everyone from the house moms to the babies got a chuckle as our pictures were taken with the crazy looking antlers. The walls were coming down and we were all starting to share with each other. I connected with one girl who played soccer for a rival club team I used to coach against. She said she couldn't afford to play anymore living there but hoped to play high school soccer. She announced to the group that she was going home next week and one of the house moms gave her a confused look as if to say "your not moving back in." She quickly replied "it is just a visit." They told us they all attended church every Sunday together at the Presbyterian Church. Another girl invited us to the fall festival that the Home puts on each fall for the community. That is right, these kids serve their community by working the fall festival put on by the home and the sponsoring church. I don't know why it should surprise me, these girls had served the 3 of us moms the entire morning by playing with and interacting with our kids. They sat by us at lunch time and helped us feed and watch over our kids. When it was time for us to go we thanked the "house moms" and they confessed that they were not sure how this event was going to play out. "When you called and asked us if you could come we said yes but we have not ever had any one ask us to do this and we didn't really know what to expect." We told them we had been so blessed by our visit and asked if we could come again. They said they would be thrilled if we came again and asked us if we would please come again. As we said our goodbyes the girls didn't want to let our kids go. One girl told me this had made her day and I told her she had made my week. They hugged and squished Keaton a hundred times before we walked out the door and then they all stood outside waving as we walked back across the courtyard to our cars. What an amazing opportunity and what a blessing it had been to visit with these girls. What an incredible experience to minister to the teens alongside my children. It was the perfect ending to my first week of homeschooling and the beginning of wonderful journey of education.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Handwriting Without Tears
Day 3 of my first week of homeschooling posed some challenges that I didn't quite expect. We started off our day as usual with our Bible reading, memory verse and hymn. No problems, everything was running smoothly. I was thinking, Wow this is pretty easy. I pulled out the handwriting book and Landon tells me that he doesn't want to do it. "Let's just do one page and then we can move on to something else." Nope. "Just one page. It will be quick." I don't want to. "Well, you don't get go choose what you want to do, you need to obey." I don't like writing. Oh great, it was day 3 of homeschooling and he already hates handwriting. I could see him shutting down completely. I could sence some resistance to the workbood yesterday but I had tried to ignore it. This workbook is called Handwriting Without Tears, but I think I was about to be in tears. My brain was thinking hard. What could I do. (Lord please help!) "We don't have to write in the book we can write on the chalk board." Yea! That sounds great Mom!!!! Let's go. (Thank you God) So, we went to our chalkboard and began practicing the letter Q. He wrote more Q's on the chalk board than the workbook would have required him to write. Did I mention that he was jumping up and down and spinning with excitement? Then he said let's write the whole alphabet. "Great!" He didn't t even realize that he was doing school work. He wrote the entire alphabet and then said. Mom teach me how to write my numbers. "OK." I figured we would do 1-10 and he would be done. Nope. He wanted to go all the way to 25 but we stopped at 22 because of space. "That was great Landon." More jumping up and down with a few spins. "Wait, lets count the numbers." So we counted the numbers and practiced number recognition. "Hold on. Let me get the calendar." I introduced the calendar to him and showed him the numbers on the calendar and how they are the same numbers he had just written. I showed him how each number represents a date and each date is a day of the week. We counted the numbers on the calendar and I pointed out the month. There was our math lesson for the day. It was amazing. One thing lead into the other so naturally and he was so engaged in everything we were doing. We were both so excited about our day of learning. Later we did some reading and day 3 had come to a close with yet another lesson. I was going to have to get creative in my teaching approach. Landon was not into workbooks and would require some variety in teaching style. I also learned that I was going to need to go to the Creator for advice on how to be creative in my teaching style. The Lord had already given me some great ideas on moving outside the box. I would have missed out on the explosion of learning that had taken place that day had I not asked God for help in my time of crisis. What a joyful moment Landon and I experienced on that day.
Monday, August 6, 2007
a little hiccup
The morning of homeschooling day 2 started off with a sweet little "hello" coming down the hall. (Kelly's way of finding me in the morning) I gave her a hug and noticed she was having difficulty breathing. I gave her a few puffs of the inhaler and she was still not breathing so well. By 9 o'clock nothing had changed and I called the Dr. It is day 2 of homeschooling and I might as well throw the schedule away.
Proverbs 16:9 In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.
We spent most of the morning getting to and from the Dr and pharmacist. We rushed home, ate, and then headed over to my mom's house in order to get there before Keaton's nap. Truthfully I was a little disappointed that I had not accomplished any school, but I quickly laid down my agenda and accepted God's. I got the girls down for their naps and found that Landon and I had some spare time. He did his handwriting and then read some more of the "Bob" books to me and Nina. I realized that even though the day was totally crazy and completely out of my control God still allowed me time to get some school in. We all know He will provide for us, but do we realize that He will also provide time for us to do the things we need to get done. I have learned my second lesson in this adventure I am on and it is that I don't need to stress over the schedule because God is going to provide time for me to teach my children throughout the day. I just need to rely on Him to show me those teachable moments and to capitalize on them when they come.
Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed!
The Marathon Begins
Day 1
July 30, 1907
It’s 5:25 in the morning my first day of home schooling, and my day has begun. I have a great run with Julie, extra long (6+ miles) and so I am a bit sore and a little tired. We have a good time of prayer and I spend the rest of the drive home praying about my day to come. My plan for the day is to have breakfast and morning chores finished by 9:20 and then start school. I read a little in Job, pray and then…
7:15 and Kelly is awake. 1 up 2 to go. I fix her breakfast and go take a shower. I am so anxious for Landon to get up so we can start the first day of Kindergarten.
7:45 Keaton wakes up. I get her started on a bottle while I begin doing the things that usually fill my morning, getting breakfast ready and cleaned up, putting away dishes, organizing the kitchen, quick check of my e-mail and calendar to schedule my day, diaper changes, and the list of daily tasks goes on and on and on and on and on. You get the point.
9:15 Finally Landon wakes up! I give him a big hug as I greet him on the stairs every morning. I am so excited and ready to get this thing going. He eats breakfast and I send them (Landon and Kelly) upstairs for their morning chores (brush teeth, get dressed, make bed). I want to establish good habits for our daily schedule and have them get their morning chores finished before school starts however, truth be told I am such a morning person that I would rather chunk the chores and start our school day. Nevertheless, I take a breath and send them on their way.
10:00 Finally it is time to start our school day. It works out well because Keaton goes down for a nap at this time.
We go to the couch and read from the Bible together. Landon loves for me to read him the Bible. He always asks me to read more. I am amazed that his attention is so great but I am thrilled because this is what I would hope for. I am thrilled because since he is the oldest he is setting the standard for our Bible time and the other kids will follow suit. We read about Abraham, we talk a little about what they learned and then Kelly brings me the hymnal. She has a difficult time paying attention to the Bible time but she loves the singing time and she loves to sing from the Hymnal. Last week we all went to the piano as I plucked out the notes. They loved it. We all sing a hymn together or actually I sing the hymn and they repeat after me. They are learning. Next we read through the Attributes of God book that we made at our home school group last spring. We turned to the God is Eternal page and learn Jeremiah 10:10 to a little song I made up. “But the Lord is the true God, He is the Living God, the Eternal King. Jeremiah 10:10” Kelly loves this part of school too.
10:30 we start writing. I get Kelly started on a coloring project while Landon works on his Writing book. This will be his most difficult subject this year so I am starting with it 2nd in the day while he is still fresh. We are training him to be right handed although at the present he is ambidextrous and leans more to the left hand. This is a long subject but after much council and debate with Doctors and chiropractors (thanks Brooks) we truly feel this is the best decision. He has not practiced much with his right hand this summer and it has gotten weak.
10:55 we move back to the couch for reading. (we didn’t’ spend the entire 25 min on writing but life happened in the midst of the lesson i.e. Attending to Kelly) I get the activity bags out for Kelly to entertain her while I do the reading lesson with Landon. We go over the vowels and the consonant sounds and I can sense Landon getting anxious. We stop and he does an activity bag with Kelly. I take a spare moment to get some of my chores in the works. (marinate the tenderloin for me and 1 for a friend in need, get a load of laundry started, etc.)
11:30 I look at the math book for a minute and realize I don’t have all of the manipulatives to start math. I am bummed but go to the computer and make a calendar page for future lessons.
11:50 I decide they need to go outside and get some of their energy out. They ride bikes in the front for a few minutes, but a storm is coming, and the rumble is close, so we are quickly forced back inside.
12:10 Keaton wakes up and it is lunch time with all that that entails. Enough said.
Kids have free play after lunch and I work to stay a step ahead of them.
1:30 we do Landon’s training time to help him with his right brain/left brain stuff.
I have 1 on 1 time will Kelly and read her several books.
2:00 I get the girls down for a nap.
I read to Landon and he reads to me 2 “Bob books” to finish our reading lesson.
2:20 I send him to his room for some “down time” and I plop on my bed. I have been up for 9 hours so far and it is only 2:30. I have finished my first day of home schooling! What an exciting/rewarding/full morning I have had. Now I know why April’s advice to me last night was, make sure you get a good night sleep.
July 30, 1907
It’s 5:25 in the morning my first day of home schooling, and my day has begun. I have a great run with Julie, extra long (6+ miles) and so I am a bit sore and a little tired. We have a good time of prayer and I spend the rest of the drive home praying about my day to come. My plan for the day is to have breakfast and morning chores finished by 9:20 and then start school. I read a little in Job, pray and then…
7:15 and Kelly is awake. 1 up 2 to go. I fix her breakfast and go take a shower. I am so anxious for Landon to get up so we can start the first day of Kindergarten.
7:45 Keaton wakes up. I get her started on a bottle while I begin doing the things that usually fill my morning, getting breakfast ready and cleaned up, putting away dishes, organizing the kitchen, quick check of my e-mail and calendar to schedule my day, diaper changes, and the list of daily tasks goes on and on and on and on and on. You get the point.
9:15 Finally Landon wakes up! I give him a big hug as I greet him on the stairs every morning. I am so excited and ready to get this thing going. He eats breakfast and I send them (Landon and Kelly) upstairs for their morning chores (brush teeth, get dressed, make bed). I want to establish good habits for our daily schedule and have them get their morning chores finished before school starts however, truth be told I am such a morning person that I would rather chunk the chores and start our school day. Nevertheless, I take a breath and send them on their way.
10:00 Finally it is time to start our school day. It works out well because Keaton goes down for a nap at this time.
We go to the couch and read from the Bible together. Landon loves for me to read him the Bible. He always asks me to read more. I am amazed that his attention is so great but I am thrilled because this is what I would hope for. I am thrilled because since he is the oldest he is setting the standard for our Bible time and the other kids will follow suit. We read about Abraham, we talk a little about what they learned and then Kelly brings me the hymnal. She has a difficult time paying attention to the Bible time but she loves the singing time and she loves to sing from the Hymnal. Last week we all went to the piano as I plucked out the notes. They loved it. We all sing a hymn together or actually I sing the hymn and they repeat after me. They are learning. Next we read through the Attributes of God book that we made at our home school group last spring. We turned to the God is Eternal page and learn Jeremiah 10:10 to a little song I made up. “But the Lord is the true God, He is the Living God, the Eternal King. Jeremiah 10:10” Kelly loves this part of school too.
10:30 we start writing. I get Kelly started on a coloring project while Landon works on his Writing book. This will be his most difficult subject this year so I am starting with it 2nd in the day while he is still fresh. We are training him to be right handed although at the present he is ambidextrous and leans more to the left hand. This is a long subject but after much council and debate with Doctors and chiropractors (thanks Brooks) we truly feel this is the best decision. He has not practiced much with his right hand this summer and it has gotten weak.
10:55 we move back to the couch for reading. (we didn’t’ spend the entire 25 min on writing but life happened in the midst of the lesson i.e. Attending to Kelly) I get the activity bags out for Kelly to entertain her while I do the reading lesson with Landon. We go over the vowels and the consonant sounds and I can sense Landon getting anxious. We stop and he does an activity bag with Kelly. I take a spare moment to get some of my chores in the works. (marinate the tenderloin for me and 1 for a friend in need, get a load of laundry started, etc.)
11:30 I look at the math book for a minute and realize I don’t have all of the manipulatives to start math. I am bummed but go to the computer and make a calendar page for future lessons.
11:50 I decide they need to go outside and get some of their energy out. They ride bikes in the front for a few minutes, but a storm is coming, and the rumble is close, so we are quickly forced back inside.
12:10 Keaton wakes up and it is lunch time with all that that entails. Enough said.
Kids have free play after lunch and I work to stay a step ahead of them.
1:30 we do Landon’s training time to help him with his right brain/left brain stuff.
I have 1 on 1 time will Kelly and read her several books.
2:00 I get the girls down for a nap.
I read to Landon and he reads to me 2 “Bob books” to finish our reading lesson.
2:20 I send him to his room for some “down time” and I plop on my bed. I have been up for 9 hours so far and it is only 2:30. I have finished my first day of home schooling! What an exciting/rewarding/full morning I have had. Now I know why April’s advice to me last night was, make sure you get a good night sleep.
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