Tuesday, October 28, 2008

A School Day At Our House

A good friend of mine wrote on her blog about one of her days homeschooling and I enjoyed her story so much I thought I would share how our days go around here. So here it goes...

6:58am Ethan wakes up hungry. I am really tired from staying up past midnight the night before with Jacob, and Ethan woke up 3 times during the night. I grab him and nurse him while still laying in my bed. Jacob is already up had breakfast and is in the shower.
7:15 I iron Jacob's shirt for him and wake up the rest of the kids who are still sleeping. I change Brendan and Ethan's diapers and get Ethan dressed. Then grab cereal out for the kids to start eating.
7:30 Jacob leaves for work and I throw a load of laundry in the wash, get dressed, and then join the kids for cereal. When we are done I send Karissa in to take a shower while I do the breakfast dishes and dinner dishes from the night before. Then dress Brendan; have the other kids get dressed and have them work on picking up the floors that are still messy from the day before. Aleigha comes out of her room wearing shorts and a tank top (apparently she doesn't know it is 43 degrees outside) so I send her back to her room to change.
8:40We are finally all at the table ready to start school(40 min. later than I like). We pray, do a Bible study, and then work on the kids memory verses. When we are done with that I start doing Arithmetic with Karissa while Austin starts on his Arithmetic Quiz he has, and Tyler and Aleigha work on writing.
9:05 Karissa starts her Arithmetic page, while I move on to Arithmetic with Tyler. Austin is now working on his penmanship. Aleigha and Brendan decide to fight over a bag of marbles that didn't get put away. The bag rips and now there are about 60 marbles all over the living room floor. I have a talk with them about fighting and then have them pick them all up. Ethan needs his diaper changed again and then I get back to school with Tyler.
9:15Ethan is hungry again so I feed him oatmeal while doing story problems with Austin and quickly review dividing fractions.
9:25 Time for me to check Austin's Quiz (100% A+ YEAH!) and check over Tyler's handwriting page.
9:30 I give Tyler his Arithmetic test and Oral Arithemetic test, and discover I did the wrong lesson with him earlier today. Oh well. (Tyler gets 100% on both of his tests too!)
9:45Now I start working on numbers with Aleigha. Brendan starts shouting "GUYS WATCH!" as he runs down the hallway as fast as he can pushing Aleigha's baby doll stroller and saying he is mowing the lawn.
9:55 Ethan is tired and ready for his nap so I go sit in the living room and rock him to sleep. I lay him down then change Brendan's diaper. Brendan then asks me to read him a book so he, Aleigha, and I snuggle in the rocking chair and read "Green Eggs and Ham" while the other kids work on some of their seatwork pages.
10:05Time to check over Austin's arithmetic page for today and the last couple of days (I am behind). I read Tyler his story problems for his test.
10:35 Brendan decides Ethan has slept long enough now so he wakes him up.
10:45 I give the kids a break from school, check our e-mails, and print some coloring pages off for Brendan and Aleigha.
11:05 I have Brendan and Aleigha work on their coloring pages while Austin and I start health. 2 min. later Brendan tells me he is done coloring and wants to watch a movie. I make him wait a few min. and tell him to go color some more of his picture.
11:15 I turn on a movie for Brendan and Aleigha then work on language with Austin.
11:30 Ethan needs changed again. Then it is time for spelling with Karissa. After that she recites her poetry to me. When we finish I do spelling and poetry with Tyler, and then poetry with Austin.
12:00 We take a break for lunch. Ethan is being a little fussy so I have Karissa hold him for me while I make toasted ham and cheese sandwiches. When Austin finds out what I am making for lunch he says that I am the best mom in the world and Tyler quickly agrees (they must be getting tired of peanut butter and jelly). Karissa then asks me why the butter goes on the outside of the sandwich instead of the inside. I explain to her it is so the bread won't stick to the pan and so that the sandwich gets nicely browned. To which she says "you mean nicely black" (ok so I got distracted). During lunch I notice that my daughters haven't had their hair brushed and realize I haven't brushed mine either. After we eat I fix our hair and Karissa starts to wash the dishes without being asked :). I then spend some time playing with Ethan.
1:00I get Ethan layed down for another nap and have Brendan and Aleigha have quiet time for 20min. I work on science and spelling with Austin while Karissa and Tyler do more of their seatwork. Austin gets done for the day.
1:40 Ethan wakes up and I nurse him while Tyler reads me a book; then we do science togther.
Ethan falls back to sleep so I lay him down again and he gets woke up again 20min. later by Aleigha and Brendan jumping on to the couch to read a book.
2:15 I change both the little guys diapers again and lay Brendan down for his nap. I then start working on phonics with Tyler.
2:25 Jacob calls me at his lunch and I spend the next 20 min. talking to him. Then back to school with Tyler and we finish his school for the day. Aleigha and I do her phonics, and she is now done as well.
3:05 Karissa and I do her language and then science together, she is now done too and heads outside to play with the other kids.
3:20 Brendan wakes up cranky so I check Karissa's arithmetic book with Ethan in one arm and Brendan in the other.
3:30 Brendan still wants to snuggle so we read a book about police cars and then "Good Night Moon". Then he tells me he is hungry again so we go to have saltines with peanut butter. After I butter a few of them Ethan decides he is hungry too so I have Austin finish buttering crackers while I feed Ethan his carrots.
3:40 I check Karissa's language, and her and Tyler's seatwork books and finish school at 3:58pm.

This blog ended up being a lot longer than I thought so as to not bore you with the rest of my day I think I will finish it up here. So that is how a school day in our house goes (at least that day (: ).

Friday, October 17, 2008

Wow Pictures

These were sent to me as "National Geographic BEST pictures for the year" by email. I have no idea of their true source but WOW these are awesome.






What are we teaching these kids?

Yesterday, I was working with our 4 year old daughter Aleigha on her letter sounds. She already knows the vowel sounds, so we have started working on the consonants. When I pointed to the letter M and asked, "What does this letter say?" With out missing a beat she replied, "McDonald's."

-Angie

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

He who has found a wife has found a good thing!

The book of Proverbs contains countless bits of wisdom. Among those a declaration about finding a wife which proves amazingly correct in my case. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the LORD.” Proverbs 18:22

I found my wife in a parking lot while cruising town in High School. At that time almost everyone would spend the weekend nights cruising up and down the two main streets in our small town. Usually the different “clicks” would find a parking lot somewhere along the route to gather. OK I am older now (not old but older) I can freely admit this practice was a waste of time and quite frankly silly but such is life. Well this night ended up not being a waste but rather the beginning to almost everything good in my life (especially as it led to my salvation). This night through friends of friends I met Angie and we seemed to hit it off right off the bat (I even let her drive my truck 1960 Ford pickup with 3 on the tree). And it is clear she must have recently received a head injury, although to this day she will not admit it, because she thought I was funny. The Lord used this as the beginning to a long (at least until the Lord returns) and happy life.

I am truly blessed. Proverbs 31 goes on to explain the virtues of a good wife. These characteristics  I see clearly in my wife and I have therefore obtained favor.

Proverbs 31

V10 “The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her” My heart finds rest within my wife. There is a safety unexplainable.

V13-14 “She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.”  Well I have never seen her seek Wool but she is great at crocheting J. Actually this verse talks about the dedication to take care of her family. These days it is about what you can get for your family. That concept is wrong according to the Bible rather the concept here is what you can give to your family. Angie is truly selfless in her dedication to me and the kids.

Verse 15 through 19 speak of unwavering dedication, a quality which my wife clearly exhibits’.

I am truly honored by her demeanor as in v23.

V 26-31 “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”

Her own works praise her in the gates. How true that is over the years she has poured into her family and we both reap the benefits daily as we see our children doing well.

Another important virtue is humility. Case in point she would kill me if she knew I was writing this post about her. She is not one to "toot her own horn" as the expression goes. And as I talk with her I believe she thinks she is not who she wants to be as a mother or wife, however I am hard-pressed to think of her insufficiencies. As I think about the Joy I have in my life I am naturally drawn to the gift the Lord gave me in my helpmeet. She is definitely my completer. In fact we enjoy playing games together and I have told her more than once she is my completer in that way as well. I am the winner, she is the looserJ.

This post is not a rant to tell you my wife is better than yours or you (although she is) but an opportunity to encourage you to take joy in your life. Think about your helpmeet. Think about the blessings and joy she brings to your life. Choose this day to see her through the eyes of the Lord and give thanks for her. If you are the “her”, put your family first (after God) and invest in the one work that will give you true praise from your family and the Lord.

-Jacob

Tuesday, October 7, 2008


As we were looking for a photo for our profile, I came across this one that I created with photo editing software. I enjoy playing around with images and while people think we are nuts for having 6 kids at least we don't have this many.
-Jacob 

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