Too Long Gone....

It's been too long since I've collected my thoughts and analyzed where I am in this hectic life.  We've had several weeks of family visiting which has been rich and deep.  My babies turned one on September 1 and are such joys in our home.  My older kiddos are nearing five...my how fast life moves!!  

Classical Conversations continues to amaze me at the amount of information A&J are able to understand and retain.  Did I ever imagine my 4 year olds could tell me the capital of Vermont (or all the states and their capitals for that matter), what the verb principal parts are, recite latin parts of speech, when and what the purchase of Louisiana involved, or which bones make up the axial skeleton.  I've birthed geniuses, ha!  No, just an amazing academic program that we are so fortunate to belong.  Thank you Leigh Bortins!  Looking forward to watching more of my kids excitement and hunger for learning! 

Teaching by Example

I cannot believe my babies, Allie and Abby, are one year old today!  They are too precious for words.  The Lord blessed our lives with 4 beautiful children, but sometimes in the day to day grind I forget what that means....harried and tired and trying to pursue order in a chaotic household I frantically place my children in bed, kisses goodnight and lights out.  Ahhhh, to breathe a moment and concentrate on getting organized for school a little voice whispers behind me, "momma, momma".  My immediate response is not so good, stern and pointed, "what are you doing down here Joshie?"  His response, "mommy, we forgot to pray."  Leave it to a child to bring to light the more important things in this life.  Upstairs we go to kneel by the bed and hear my 4 year old thank Jesus for our family and friends and the beautiful world that He created.  We must be doing something right....thank you for reminding me of what matters most in this life!

Lady Bug Luck, or Not?

Sitting at the computer I was unexpectantly interrupted from very important things (surfing the net) by a flurry of excitement.  A ladybug had landed in Ashley's hand and she and Joshua were passing their little friend back and forth.  "Mommy, mommy she likes us."  Good luck for all today, I hope!  What was that nursery rhyme?  'Lady bug, lady bug fly away home, your house is on fire and your kids are gonna burn.'  Yeah, no, don't think I'll be teaching my kids that....who came up with that one????????  That ladybug didn't have such good luck!!!!!!

Quiet Solitude....

I love this time of night when life settles down and there is absolute stillness.  It's in the quiet I am able to reflect on the day....of my good mommy moments and my not so good moments.  It is here in the quiet that I seek to evaluate how I measured up on the mommy meter.  Today was a good day....so proud of my kiddos for their a-m-a-z-i-n-g ability to give a presentation to their peers with such ease at the age of four!  Thank you classical conversations.  However, as the day faded into evening my mommy meter dropped a few digits ;-(  I was probably a bit too hard on Joshua for failing to be attentive to Coach Nikki's instruction  at soccer practice.  I'll have another go at it this Thursday- more support and less reprimand from mommy!  That said, the day rounded out okay as we finished another Magic Treehouse book....thank you Mary Pope Osborne for your talent in writing children's literature.  Tucking in A&J, rocking my sweet babies with their trusting eyes and precious smiles and kissing my husband goodnight, I cannot smile enough....despite all the stresses and struggles....life is overwhelmingly good!

Going Deeper

"Taking our Thoughts Captive"

This is my first post of many to help maintain a certain sense of sanity in the craziness of day to day activities as we venture into our first year of homeschooling.  I was especially inspired today as Mike continued his series on "Going Deeper in our Walk with Christ".  Training ourselves to have a mind of praise, a mind of patience, a mind of peace and a mind of purity according to Philipians 4:4-9 will be my personal goal over the next several weeks.  Prayerfully clinging to truths from Isaiah 26:3 that I "will keep in perfect peace [she] whose mind is steadfast, because [she] trusts in you."