December Highlights

Right now our family is recovering from what will be referred to as "The Christmas Flu". It was a nasty stomach virus that ended up taking the entire clan down. God was merciful though--the night that three kids came down the virus within three hours of each other and spent the night repeatedly throwing up was not the night that Jason was out of town this week. Also, Jason and I did not get sick until after the kids were doing better and as soon as I was somewhat back on my feet, Jason fell ill. And...if there was a week to be down with the barf bug, this was the best week for us. My mom had left last week, Jason's sister had moved out a few days before, and Christmas is next week! So, things could have been a lot worse! Praise the Lord (in all things!!)!



As I said, my mom was here for a visit. We had such a nice time. She didn't feel well but she was quite a trooper. Our house isn't the quietest place but Mom didn't seem to mind. The girls were sweet and helped "take care" of her. And it was nice for our schedule to slow waaaaay down. The only bump in the road was that our water heater went out so we had to make trips to accommodating friends' houses to shower.

My mom got some troubling news from her oncologist the other day. She has been experiencing some terrible pain and her doctor is concerned that the cancer may have spread or that the lining of her lung has filled with cancerous fluid. She has a scan on Dec 29th to see what the story is. One of the things that The Lord has taught me through my mom's cancer battle has been not to be consumed with worry and despair over what might happen. My mom wasn't supposed to live six months even with treatment and here we are 14 months later. When she came out here in May, I was convinced that I would never see her again. So much that I was consumed with sadness when she left. And yet, God gave her enough time and strength to make it to our house six months later. So, I'm not going to get depressed over what this lastest issue could mean. He has helped me replace sadness and worry with joy and thanksgiving.



Chicken news: over the Thanksgiving week Jason and I came up with our great chicken coop idea. We looked at the cost and time of building a coop and were a little surprised at how complicated and expensive it was going to be. Not to mention that neither of us is really all that handy. I joked about just fencing in the bottom of the kids' play scape--wow, what a ghetto idea, right?! My husband recognized a life preserver when he saw one. So, a few days later we had a chicken coop at a minimal cost and managed to avoid any trips to the emergency room!



Lastly, Penny turned 18 months old at the end of November. My biggest wish for Christmas is that time would slow down because I love this season of life.

The Chicken Project

The Chicken Project is moving along with few complications. Who would have guessed that raising baby chicks could be so much fun? Certainly not me. The girls have been begging for chickens for a few years now and all I could see was more work for me and crushed chick corpses strewn about (we have a lot of predators around here: toddlers, cats, etc). Miraculously, everyone is still alive though the cats have made a few attempts on the little nuggets.



The chickies are getting big. They are five weeks old and are starting to look like real live poultry. Recently they spent their first night without the heat lamp on (and I was out there twice in the middle of the night to make sure they weren't too cold--they are dainty little girls you know.)



These little birds make great playmates--they don't have a problem with being driving around the yard as long as they are together. Apparently "safety in numbers" is a strong belief of chickens.



Hopefully The Project continues to go well. The chicks will be ready to go to their permanent home in a few more months. We are probably going to keep two of them--if we can build a coop (Jason and I aren't the handiest of people...we may just chuck the whole keeping-a-few-chickens idea if we can't put a decent coop together. We would have been the worst pioneers.) The thought of fresh eggs is so appealing. Plus, I think it would be neat for the girls to have childhood memories of pet chickens. Since we've said no to ferrets, hamsters, mice, parakeets, countless kittens, snakes, more lizards, monkeys. Pretty much anything you can buy at the pet store or on the black market.

Fall Fun

October might just be the most beautiful month of the year in central Texas. The hot semi-humid weather is whisked away by cold fronts and replaced with sapphire blue skies and crisp dry air.

With the change of weather comes one of my most unfavorite tasks: breaking out the cool weather clothes. Bins upon bins of clothing rise up in stacks through out our living room. Sometimes the family toddler succeeds in prying off a lid and merrily distributes the clothing here and there and everywhere. I have to admit that it is pretty funny to see her tearing out of the living room with an arm full of clothing!

The girls are looking forward to diving into some candy this weekend. Or I guess I could call them "Ariel", "Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer", "Snow White", and "The Butterfly Baby". Jason and I are looking forward to robbing their stash after they are in bed. They are pretty cute little kids and people just can't help but fill up their buckets with tasty treats to rot little teeth (and their parents' teeth).

School update: we began our study of Classical Greece this past week! Life in ancient Athens has been a focal point and the girls are appalled that Greek women were not allowed to do a lot of the things that men were permitted to do. Oh boy is it fun to see the reactions of my girls when it dawns on them that life has not always been the way it is now. Today I told them that we didn't have cel phones when I was kid. They were floored. FLOORED. Then my 6 year asked if taxis were pulled by horses when I was kid. Parenthood is endlessly entertaining :)

4 week update

Jason is watching a creepy apocalyptic movie ("The Road") so I am holed up in another room with classical music blasting through my ear phones. Blog time...:)

We just completed our fourth week of school. We've settled back into the routine nicely. The biggest challenge has been trying to mother the littler two girls. They like to be right where the schooling is going on and while I love them nearby sometimes it's a wee bit distracting. Often times it goes like this:

Me: Ok, Reese, let's read your book."
Reese: "Gus and the---"
Me: Paige, don't draw on the table.
Reese: "bug hut. Gus is a-"
Penny: BAA MAAAAAAAA EEEEEE
Reese: "bug. He lives--"
Me: Penny NO! (pulling Penny off the back of the couch)
Penny (lying on the floor protesting being saved from herself): AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
Paige: Momma I poooooooped. Can you help me wipe?
Me: Reese, just go on reading. I can hear you in the bathroom.
Reese: "Gus is a bug. He lives in a"--MOOOMMM!! Penny took my book!!

And so it goes. And by the way, if you are wondering where the oldest child is in this little story, there is an even chance she is either working independently (what she is supposed to be doing) or has settled into writing one of her many stories of the adventures of The My Little Ponies (what is not supposed to be doing until she is finished her independent work).

Wow, does that sound like I am complaining? I'm really not! Or I'm not trying to. It's not always rainbows and butterflies around here but it's good. These girls won't be 8,6,4,and 1 forever. I'll take having to walk around the pile of books (every single book off the bookcase) and listening to my kids fight over gets to the baby deer this time (why can there be only one baby deer?)over peace and quiet. I am so grateful that The Lord has placed me here with these specific children :)

Well, the creepy movie is still on and it's after midnight. I guess I'll do some lesson planning--I'm sort of trapped by the two foot cord on my headphones.

Great first day of school and then...

Today was our first full day of school. The girls did great. All of them. The baby played happily nearby. The 4 yr old entertained herself by sticking Wikistix all over the bottom of the school table creating an elaborate playground for her Littlest Petshop Pets. Hailey and Reese enjoyed their lessons and had great attitudes. Hailey even played with and read to Penny while I worked with Reese. And most miraculously of all, we stayed on schedule to the minute. I have no idea how that happened and I fully realize that it may not happen again for quite some time!

After lunch all of the good behavior, positive attitudes, and sibling comraderie was sucked out of this place like the last bit of Dr. Pepper in a styrofoam cup. Fighting, whining, complaining, arguing with Mom, COMPLAINING, and MORE WHINING is what our afternoon looked like. It was truly a "Help me, Tom Cruise!" few hours. When Jason called and informed that he was running about 15 minutes late I could have sobbed. Not even an episode of Veggie Tales would calm the crew. And I couldn't throw them out in the yard b/c of the wasp nest near their playscape that I discovered the other day. It's no small victory that I did not yell at anyone or go hide in my closet.

So...hopefully tomorrow will be better. Right now, Jason (MY HERO), is upstairs patiently putting them to bed. I have no idea if they were better behaved for him or not because I have tuned out as best as I am able to. If anyone were to ask me a question right now my answer would be "Huuuuuuuhhhh?" accompanied by a slack jaw.

I hear Jason making his escape so I'm going to crawl over to the couch and try to be some kind of a half decent wife to him since the majority of the afternoon and evening were a bust on the motherhood front.

Back to School

Summer break is just about over with. This week the girls and I had half days of school where we mostly worked with our new curricula. Hailey has a new spelling program (which she loves!). Both girls are having their first official math lessons and drawing lessons (also huge hits). So far...so good :)




I need to get down on my knees and thank God that Reese remembers nearly all of what she learned in her phonics lessons from last year--I did not have her read to me very many times over the summer. Hailey probably helped her more with her reading than I did. Often I would be downstairs after the girls had gone to bed and hear Reese reading to Hailey and Hailey lovingly encouraging/correcting her. This was nothing short of amazing coming from two girls who spend a good portion of their days irritating each other. Moments like that warm a mom's heart.

On Monday we will incorporate our Tapestry of Grace lessons and our science lessons into our day. It is going to be a full load and we will be busier than ever. Hailey will being doing gymnastics once a week and Reese and Paige will have soccer practices and games and then they will have AWANA (except for Penny of course). I'm sweating it a little--all of this running around we will have to be doing. I am no stranger to slammed packed busy days--I have four small children at home, afterall! But I don't like to spend my life rushing around. If I am super busy and running from one thing to the next then I tend to not be as patient, consistent, and availabe. My mothering suffers. We'll see how this semester goes though. "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me..." :)

Regarding summer: too short, too quick!! Can't say it was the best summer we've ever had either. Our sweet old dog, Summer, finally had to be put down. It was definitely her time, which did make it easier, but I miss her more as time goes by. She will always have a special place in my heart--my first big dog and my best dog ever. Probably kind of weird/morbid to have taken this picture but this is the Garrett ladies biding our sweet old girl goodbye.



This summer also had its fair share of family drama. The long and the short of it is that my beloved younger sister and her husband were busted for growing pot in their home. They are facing some very serious charges and I hope and pray that the judge is merciful and recognizes that rehab and probation are what these people need. I'm not going soft--I know they broke the law and they need to face the consequences, etc. These are two very hurting and damaged individuals and I'm not sure prison would do much besides harden them and damage them more.

That's our update. We are looking forward to a blessed fourth year of homeschooling. It blows my mind that I have a third grander and a first grader(and next year Paige joins us a kindergartener!!!) !!

School is out, summer is in!

Last Friday we finished up our school year. What a GREAT year we had!! Rewind to June 2009 and you would find me very nervous about the 2009-2010 school year. It was my first year to teach two children at the same time, we were introducing new curriculum, and we had a brand spanking new baby! Not to mention a rambunctious 3 year old!

Thanks be to God a million times over for giving us a wonderful third year of homeschooling. I can say without pause that it was our best year yet! Of course there were many challenges. And plenty of days where I taught while bouncing Penny on my lap (or nursing her). And most certainly my house is not as neat as I would prefer it to be. And our dinner menu has been very simple (but still shooting for healthy). And we have not been as connected with our friends--this does make me sad but hopefully we can catch up this summer.

I am so pleased with my students' progress! Reese is a reader! Hailey has become more of an independant learner. We have developed good habits (morning bible study being the one I'm most proud that we have maintained). Paige did well entertaining herself either in the playroom or quietely in the school room. And Penny has been a reasonably good sport throughout it all--though she was the worst napper I have EVER had (really--her issues with napping were quite terrible).

I do believe that I've grown as Christian, mother, and teacher as well. I'd like to think I'm more patient. And that I've overcome my perpetual stress out fest over the house not being as neat as I'd like. God has really kicked some selfishness out of me too. I've been impressed even more to see things His way. I try to remember to ask Him what He would like me to do this day--what does He want me to accomplish? I might desperately want to clean out the closet but He might direct me to deal with a heart issue that one of my kids (or myself) is struggling with. Another thing God has revealed to me: when one of my kids acts up, see it as an opportunity to teach and train instead of an annoyance to just deal with.

I could also go on forever about how much I have enjoyed studying the Old Testament with the girls. I am impressed even more that training up these children to love the Lord, serve Him, and keep His commandments is my most important job as a parent. It was amazing to read how God time and time again told the Israelites that if they obeyed Him, He would take care of them. And how if they did not obey Him, He would allow them to be destroyed. God means business. He meant it several thousand years ago and and He still means it today! Imagine if every family in America brought up their children to fear (respect) the Lord? I hope and pray that Jason and I can accomplish that goal with our family(with tons of help from our heavenly Father!!).

Time to get ready to jet off to swimming lessons. :)