Random Thoughts during a quick break

We brought a praying mantis home from the cottage. It is potentially a really cool thing since we will begin our study of insects next week, the only thing is we have to keep it alive until then (I may have to rearrange weeks to accommodate this amazing find!). Fortunately we had a spare aquarium which is now a miniature nature preserve for Mr. Mantis. We googled "praying mantis" and found out what they like to eat (other insects - yes, there are several in the cage with him, we are still waiting for him to "pounce") and we put a wet sponge in there to be his water source. We shall see how long he survives! We really, really, really need to try and get some flies in there. Not sure how to do that (any ideas?). Flies are often their food of choice.

Here he is clinging to the underside of the cage lid.

Our 7 year old son L told me today that his brother G was "locating" something for him! I got a kick out of that one. Our 2 year old said:

"That's gross" when referring to a poopy diaper (I had to agree with him)

"I had a little bit accident" when he spilled yogurt drink on his tray (this is a couple steps up from that ominous "uh-oh" that mothers of toddlers everywhere dread!)

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He also used the words "actually", "freighter", and "cool" correctly this past weekend! He has always been very verbal but he is making leaps and bounds in his language skills lately. So fun.
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We did a little crash and burn today, probably due to it being post-vacation day. Could have been worse. The 30 minutes I had allotted for math was about an hour short for one of our children. There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth (literally). After a short "nap" (time alone on his bed) he returned to the school table and hunkered down and got it done, but that whole process consumed most of the morning. We did not complete all the language arts I had planned, and we haven't done our science reading yet. I'm thinking that will become the bedtime story tonight.

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We did start Bible Journals this morning which were a big hit and something I am very excited about. I had been praying this summer about what Bible curriculum to use this year (hard to find something that spans all the ages of our kids, but I really want to do this altogether) and the Lord answered by directing me to just use the Bible! Then a wise on-line friend shared how she used Bible journals with her children and I decided to borrow her idea. So we started reading in Mark today and I told the children they could stop me if they needed time to write down something interesting that they heard, or they could draw a picture of what I was reading about. I chose Mark because it reads like a story, is fairly short, and is all about Jesus. The children LOVED starting their very own Bible journals, and my prayer is that this will become a lifelong habit for them. This is 5 year old C's first journal page, drawn mostly by me. All those little things around John the Baptist are supposed to be locusts. The scribbles at the top of the page were C's first attempt at a picture. :-)

Here is 8 year old G's first journal page. He drew his picture in three parts, John catching locusts, John cooking locusts over a fire, and John baptizing people in the Jordan River.

Here is 7 year old L's journal page. John the Baptist is sitting on a big rock cooking locusts over a fire, while many would-be escapees hop around him and a 2-humped camel grazes beside him (we read that his clothes were made from camel's hair). The Jordan River is in the background.

This page is from 10 year old G's journal. It is quite detailed (she loves detail!) and carefully colored. She also copied portions of the Scripture I read onto her page.


If you are someone who knows me and loves me, or if you don't know me but just want to take pity on me, please pray for us as we continue the start of this school year! I have homeschooled long enough to know that each year is different and no matter how much you plan and prepare, you can't always predict how things are going to go. There are just so many variables, and teaching 4 or 5 different grades each year is completely different than teaching the same grade each year to 25 same-age students (which is what I tend to compare it to since that was my previous experience). Prayer really is the best preparation. If I am yielded completely to the Holy Spirit and can alter "my" plans for how He leads and what character training opportunities present themselves every day, then I know my children have the best possible teacher. I am not always that person, but I am striving. And I'm so thankful the Lord fills up what I am lacking!

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After today I'm thinking that we'll just add Bible and math this week and save language arts for next week. What do you think?