Goddesses, Pupas, and Faithful Friends

The end of the school year is on the horizon. I'm really hoping that we can finish up our work by the first week of June. Right now we are studying ancient Greece with Tapestry of Grace. We've enjoyed spanakopita ("spinach squares") and will make a constellarium next week. There are so many cool websites on ancient Greece. Hailey and I have loved checking them out. We've read the kids' version of "Jason and the Argonauts" which the three older girls enjoyed immensely. We are also learning a bit about Greek mythology--the PG stuff at least :) Jason and I honeymooned in Athens so Greece has been of particular interest to me since our visit in 1996. The picture on this post is not mine but it could have been had our camera been working on our trip. One of the great tragedies of my life...broken camera in Greece. What a shame.

For science we are learning all about insects. My girls have had a lasting obsession with creepy crawly things so we've sort of had an ongoing study of bugs for the past five years or so. We are learning lots of new things though! And right now we have many containers lying around our house containing insects in their different stages of development. I think we currently have every stage except for the pupa and that should change any day now when our fat caterpillar decides to grow up :)

One thing I'm not cool with is strolling into my kitchen and finding dozens of inch worms spreading out from a container. One of the girls had apparently found a few eggs on a plant that contained a litter of inch worms. We'll never know what they grow up to be b/c I ordered them out the backdoor. I do have my limits.

Sad news: our 14 year old lab's days are numbered. Looks like the old girl has a mass in her abdomen. Breaks my heart. We've had that dog since before we had the kids. I've cried many tears into Summer's fur over the years. She's always been so patient. Content just to sit next to you. She's the best dog I've ever had. It's not hitting me yet--I'm not going there until I have to. We'll just enjoy her during her time left. We will always remember The Big Yellow Beetle :*)

To Challenge or Accept?

One of the neatest aspects of parenthood is getting a front row seat to your child's ever developing personality. I really like my children--of course, I love them but I also really like them as people. The younger two are just plain cute and entertaining as babies and preschoolers are. The older two, however, are constantly surprising me with their uniqueness.

Jason and I are getting a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses--the former being extremely exciting and the latter being downright frightening! I see character issues in them that keep me on my knees praying for them (I guess that's a good place to be--on my knees before the Lord :)) But sometimes I feel like I'm holding my breath--like I'm watching a movie and hoping with all my heart for a good ending! Will this child mature out of her laziness? Or despite her training will she grow up undisciplined and unmotivated??? One child has a tendency to blame everyone else for what goes wrong in her life (from a spilled glass of water to not being able to finish her sentence). Will she grow up never taking responsibility for her own mistakes??? AAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH! It's enough to make me bite my already too short nails to the quick!!!

No matter their flaws, I want my children to know how much we love them. And that we love them not for what they do but for who they are. They are precious gifts from The Lord and to be treated as such. They are not to be molded into what Jason and I desire them to be but into what The Lord designed for them to be.

So that brings to my dilemma. Is it my job as a parent to iron out these little wrinkles that they come with? How do you decide what needs to be "fixed" and what needs to be accepted? One of my kids is extremely helpless when it comes to age appropriate tasks. If pressed, she will make a pathetic effort. And then when I lovingly correct her she falls apart. Now, I believe that she needs to work on recieving correction and she also needs to persevere (and for Pete's sake...quite whining and complaining!!). But I also do not want her to feel like she can't do anything right and all that comes with that. I want to expect excellence from my children but when does that turn into creating children who "perform" well but have many grievious attitudes hidden in their hearts?????

We want our kids to grow up to be functioning members of God's family. They need discipline--desperately. They need to be taught integrity. So many valuable character traits to impress upon them and really, so little time (the years whizz by--I know this). They need to see these character traits modeled in their parents' lives.

Anyway, I'm just typing what is on my mind. I'm really needing some guidance and wisdom from The Lord on this issue. He's the Master Parent :) The kids are asleep now so I think I'll go upstairs and check on everybody. I love to see their sleeping faces :)