Saturday, February 16, 2013

Why I Love Texas

Today Becca and I had the opportunity to go on a date with our usual chaperone Jeremiah, so we decided to head to one of the local state parks, Brazos Bend in the hope I would see an alligator and that we could spend time together and walk around a bit. Obviously the alligator was at the top of the priority list, just kidding :)

The Lord did not disappoint and here are some photos from the iPod

As I looked upon the creature, I thought if the scripture from Job 41:

"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord? Can you put a rope in his nose or pierce his jaw with a hook? Will he make many pleas to you? Will he speak to you soft words? Will he make a covenant with you to take him for your servant forever? Will you play with him as with a bird, or will you put him on a leash for your girls? Will traders bargain over him? Will they divide him up among the merchants? Can you fill his skin with harpoons or his head with fishing spears? Lay your hands on him; remember the battle—you will not do it again! Behold, the hope of a man is false; he is laid low even at the sight of him. No one is so fierce that he dares to stir him up. Who then is he who can stand before me? Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine. "I will not keep silence concerning his limbs, or his mighty strength, or his goodly frame. Who can strip off his outer garment? Who would come near him with a bridle? Who can open the doors of his face? Around his teeth is terror. His back is made of rows of shields, shut up closely as with a seal. One is so near to another that no air can come between them. They are joined one to another; they clasp each other and cannot be separated. His sneezings flash forth light, and his eyes are like the eyelids of the dawn. Out of his mouth go flaming torches; sparks of fire leap forth. Out of his nostrils comes forth smoke, as from a boiling pot and burning rushes. His breath kindles coals, and a flame comes forth from his mouth. In his neck abides strength, and terror dances before him. The folds of his flesh stick together, firmly cast on him and immovable. His heart is hard as a stone, hard as the lower millstone. When he raises himself up the mighty are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves. Though the sword reaches him, it does not avail, nor the spear, the dart, or the javelin. He counts iron as straw, and bronze as rotten wood. The arrow cannot make him flee; for him sling stones are turned to stubble. Clubs are counted as stubble; he laughs at the rattle of javelins. His underparts are like sharp potsherds; he spreads himself like a threshing sledge on the mire. He makes the deep boil like a pot; he makes the sea like a pot of ointment. Behind him he leaves a shining wake; one would think the deep to be white-haired. On earth there is not his like, a creature without fear. He sees everything that is high; he is king over all the sons of pride." (Job 41:1-34 ESV)

We serve an awesome God that creates awesome creatures like the alligator that are still awesome in our post fall waiting for the second coming of Jesus state, if then that is how things are now, then how great and glorious when we shall see Him face to face!!!

Praise The Lord!



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Veggies!



This afternoon the kids and I planted some seeds for our very first vegetable garden.  Today's starter seeds included a variety of tomatoes and peppers (both sweet and spicy) and some broccoli (the kids' favorite veggie).  In about a month we'll be transplanting these seedlings and planting a host of other vegetables.  And, if we don't completely botch the whole experiment, we should have some garden-fresh goodness on our dinner plates in a few months.

For now I'm just trying to convince the kids that the seeds haven't grown yet.  They keep checking our little pallet and shouting to each other, "Look what we growed!"  Perhaps we'll work on some grammar while we're at it...  ;)

What are your favorite veggies to grow and/or eat?

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Fitness Thoughts

Well, since we've moved to Texas in the craziness of packing and preparing and arranging everything we ended up both forgoing our fitness and exercise routines and putting on quite a bit of weight!  I ended up gaining approximately 20 pounds with all of the stress and also not exercising and eating out quite a bit on the way down here and also as we were getting settled, so it was good to find out that my employer has a free gym with free personal training!  Plus I had been itching to get back into running and ever since last year's big 50km hurrah in May, my running has been spiraling downhill until about now.  

As the Lord has taken us through the journey of dealing with ourselves and our self image, we've come to realize that caring for our bodies is a matter of stewardship.  It's not trying to preserve ourselves or to try to make ourselves last longer on this temporary earth, or a matter of vanity or confidence, but really taking care of this frail 'dust-like' body that the Lord has so amazingly brought to life and continues to bring more and more fully alive in Christ Jesus by His breath and Word and Holy spirit in us.  

Plus our bodies are vessels or tools in the hands of our Maker!  He can use us in whatever way, shape or form He desires, and that sometimes means quite literally physically!  Whether that be serving someone by doing some hard manual work, or ministering through physical care, the performing arts or in sports, our bodies and ourselves are clay in His hands to use.  So taking care and good stewardship take on a new importance when we realize that all of us, including our bodies are tools in His Hands for His use, and not our own.  

We truly were bought at a price, the life of our Savior Jesus Christ and we are not our own, we belong to Jesus, and that is a very very great and wondrous and awesome privilege that He calls us His own, so let us then offer ourselves, every part of ourselves, heart, soul, mind and strength to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, for this is our spiritual act of worship!

Amen!

True Confessions from a Fiver-Year-Old


Joshua sweeps the floor every night as part of our dinner time clean up.  Tonight while sweeping he asked us, "Hey, does anyone want to eat some food from the floor?"

"That's gross, Joshua!"

"But Hannah and I do it!"

"Yeah," Hannah said through her laughter.  "We do!"

Ewwww...

Friday, February 8, 2013

Friday Funnies: Joshua




Here are some oldies but goodies from our oldest, Joshua.  Enjoy!

Joshua, in his drill sargeant voice, says to Hannah and Abby, "Did Jesus die on the cross for our sins?!"
"YES!"
"Did Jesus come back to life?!"
"YES!"
"You WILL BE so happy that Jesus died for your sins!"
Singing: "Come and praise Jesus all you little children.  Come, Abby and Hannah [marching into the other room] follow Jesus as the caboose!  Praise Him all you little children!"

Hannah touches the cables on Joshua's suspension bridge, so Joshua says, "No, no!  You disobeyed.  Now you must go to jail!"
And I thought Claude and I were tough!

Our son, Joshua, is planning to make a cross from giant craft sticks so that he can, very literally, take up his cross and follow Jesus.  Kids certainly are concrete, aren't they?

On Perseverance
"But Mommy, I'm sick from persevering!"
It does feel that way sometimes, doesn't it?

Hannah says, "Joshua, you're smelly!  Get off!  You're smelly!"
To which Joshua replies, "Quench not the Spirit, Hannah.  Quench not the Spirit!"

 So, what funny things have happened in your house this week?
 

Homeschool: Toddler School Overview


As promised in this post, here is our toddler/preschool "curriculum".  I have highlighted what Abby (2 years old) is focusing on this year.  Over the next couple of years I will continue to add concepts until she is ready for kindergarten.  Some concepts - shapes, colors, counting out loud, counting objects, etc - we will repeat each year until she is five.

Please keep in mind that this is not exhaustive and if it is at all useful to you, look at it as a tool.  You know your child and his/her capabilities better than I, do move at a pace that makes sense to you.  Many of these concepts are learned in every day life.  I like to "do school" so we have formalized some of the learning simply because that's what we do.  You decide what will be best and remember to have fun!

 At the end of this post you will find a list of project and activity ideas, most of which we have actually done and found to be fun, simple, and effective in reinforcing the basics.  Finally, you can find a list of links to some helpful online resources that I have used regularly over the last few years.

So, without further ado here is our Toddler School format.

Learning Objectives (2 to 4 years old, in preparation for Kindergarten)
Phonics/Reading: Be able to identify some letters by phonetic sound.  Be familiar with books.
Writing/Penmanship: Have practiced using a crayon, marker, or pencil.  Be able to write at least the first name and possibly the last name.
Math: Be able to count out loud from 1-20.  Be able to count objects from 1-10 and from 1-20 if possible.  Be able to sort objects by size and by color.
Readiness Skills: Be able to identify a range of shapes and colors.  Have practiced using scissors and glue.



September
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds

Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing

Math
Counting out loud 1-5

Readiness Skills
Color: Red
Shape: Circle
October
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds

Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing

Math
Counting out loud 1-5

Readiness Skills
Color: Yellow
Shape: Square
November
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters A, B
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing

Math
Counting out loud 1-10

Readiness Skills
Color: Blue
Shape: Triangle
December
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters C, D, E, F
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing

Math
Counting out loud 1-10

Readiness Skills
Color: Green
Shape: Star
January
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters G, H, I, J
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing; Tracing name
Tracing straight lines (horizontal)
Math
Counting out loud 1-20
Counting Objects 1-5
Readiness Skills
Color: Purple
Shape: Rectangle
February
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters K, L, M, N
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing; Tracing name
Tracing straight lines (vertical & horizontal)
Math
Counting out loud 1-20
Counting objects 1-5
Readiness Skills
Color: Pink
Shape: Heart
March
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters O, P, Q, R
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing; Tracing name
Tracing circles (counterclockwise)
Math
Counting objects 1-10
Size
Readiness Skills
Color: Brown
Shapes: Cross, Octagon
April
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters S, T, U, V
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing; Tracing name
Tracing zig-zags
Math
Counting objects 1-10
Size and comparison
Readiness Skills
Color: Orange
Shapes: Octagon, Arrow, Diamond
May
Phonics/Reading
Read-alouds
Letters W, X, Y, Z
Writing/Penmanship
Coloring and drawing; Tracing name
Tracing lines (all) and shapes (various)
Math
Sorting by size and color
Counting objects 1-20 (if able)
Readiness Skills
Colors: Black, White
Shapes: Diamond, Crescent


Bible, Social Studies, Science and Health, Music, and Arts and Crafts will be covered with the older kids.

Activity and Craft Ideas

Color or Shape Collage
Shape Play - bangles (circles), blocks (squares or rectangles), etc.
All One Color - coloring with several shades of one color
Colored Play Dough
Apple Prints
Colored Pasta - necklaces, art, etc.
Colored Rice Art
Do-A-Dot Painting
Finger Painting
Color or Shape Scavenger Hunt - take photos if you like and make it into a collage
Dress Yourself in the Color of the Month

Online Resources
Pardon all of my own Pinterest boards here.  There are quite a few pins that lead to blogs that are infinitely more helpful than this blog...hopefully you'll find something worthwhile.
tlsbooks.com/
dltk.com/
enchantedlearning.com/
http://pinterest.com/mamachew315/  For the most useful pins, check the boards for Toddlers, Preschool, and Keeping the Kids Busy.