Some Favorite Moments

*watching Madelyn play with nativity magnets and tell stories to herself
*watching Gracie's creativity take over when I gave her a jounraling activity
*watching Aubrey make connections as she played with a toy
*working on a poem (song in my head) for my grandparents

A Favorite

One of my favorite things...plugging in our pretty sparkly Christmas tree in the morning when it is still dark outside and turning on Christmas music...and then doing it all over again in the evening right before Jim gets home. I love the warm feeling that it gives our house!

Thankful

*God's grace
*Jim's patience and help during sleepless nights
*my beautiful daughters
*handwritten cards
*music
*doctors and medicine, especially to help Madelyn's bulging infected ear.
*beds
*for my parents who took me to church when I was a kid
*for Jim's parents for raising a hardworking man
*that we didn't have to rush around on Veteran's Day trying to get to school
*for Bethany who keeps things lighthearted and knows what I mean when I say Laura likes elephants

Photography

Photography is...
*the sparkle in someone's eyes
*cute little baby feet
*little hands holding a praying mantis
*a daddy helping his toddler put on her shoes
*a mommy holding her newborn
*messy hands carving pumpkins
*playing in a mud puddle
*a couple holding hands
*a glimpse into a beautiful life!

Refining

My time in Arizona can be summed up in one word--refining. God has been refining me since we got here. I have not felt like myself, whoever that is, in four years. But I have learned some important valuable lessons that I may have never learned otherwise.

1. Do not take family for granted.
2. If you are going to move 1700 miles away from family, you will need the Lord more than ever.
3. I am a midwestern girl at heart and always will be. IL is my home here on earth.

Waiting on the Lord and I know he is in motion even if I can't see it right now!

"See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction."
Isaiah 48:10

I'm Ready

*to have healthy kids
*for Aubrey to sleep in her own room
* to move to IL and be close to family again
*to teach kindergarten or have more time to write
*to feel like I'm thriving for God instead of just surviving

Thoughts I'm (trying) to give over to Jesus...

*swim lessons
*school supplies
*school starting
*getting through all the red tape of trying to get Gracie's medicine to the school
*lack of parking at the school
*meeting her teacher on Friday
*Madelyn's birthday and making sure she isn't overlooked as we get Gracie off to school
*writing
*tiredness
*worrying about what's wrong with Madelyn's stomach
*Jim's job and wondering if we will move

Realizations
*I am addicted to my pretty purple laptop and teacher blogs
*Lord-willing, I DO want to go back to teaching when Aubrey is older. I am interested in teaching 2nd, 4th, or 6th grade reading. In the meantime, I will spend my free time reading books for professional development and developing the curriculum and organization that would be perfect for my classroom.
*I want to continue writing children's books and finish the middle-grade book I started
*I am going to try to find an agent
*This blog and my Jesus Calling book are keeping me sane right now

Favorite Moments
*the girls finally entertaining themselves by doing puzzles without fighting
*watching Aubrey crawl all over the house
*listening to Aubrey hum as she crawls
*reading Jane Austen
*watching Home Improvement with Jim
*baking lemon sugar cookies...yum!
*reading The Duchess Bakes a Cake. I think it's my new favorite children's book.
*taking pictures of the girls helping Jim clean some truck parts
*reading about art and poetry books and math journals

Favorite Vacation Moments

*being thankful for our time with family in IL
*looking at land and dreaming about one day living in IL again
*loved being close enough to Bethany's house to watch Bunheads with her
*seeing Rachel and her family at Cracker Barrel on her birthday
*driving by our old house. It will always hold a special place in my heart.
*seeing cornfields and full green trees. The river even looked pretty to me.
*celebrating our ninth anniversary by going to Old Chicago (with Aubrey)
*spending a lot of time in the children's section of Barnes and Noble
*Madelyn saying, "It's too windy to fly the friz." (frisbees)
*eating at China Village
*giving my mom the story I wrote about her rocking chair, hoping to publish it one day
*so thankful to be home (even if home is AZ right now)

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

*making cereal and banana chocolate chip muffins
*eating a banana chocolate chip muffin...yum!
*working on a story
*reading blogs about motherhood on Proverbs 31 ministries
*the storms in the afternoon
*being so thankful for my girls
*being thankful that the washing machine worked

*reading library books with the girls. Madelyn's favorite is Ella the Elegant Elephant.
*the way the girls drew pictures at the table without a fight breaking out
*watching Aubrey continue to work on crawling
*working on ideas for a future classroom (even though I have no idea if I'll ever actually go back to teaching so I am probably wasting my time)
*listening to the thunder

Favorite Moments and Thoughts

*hearing the girls sing enthusiastically when we got home from church..."my heart will sing, no other name, Jesus, Jesus..."
*that we made it to church and made it through the sermon without any major meltdowns from the kids
*reading a book about writing and getting inspired
*creating a few scrapbook pages for how I would like to decorate our next home, especially excited about our future library/learning room
*listening to the girls play Cupcake Wars after watching the show
*deciding I do need to teach in some way, probably Sunday School
*watching Home Improvement with Jim
*getting Roxaboxen in the mail and reading it to the girls
*creating question webs about gemstones and seahorses
*watching the clouds roll in as the monsoon starts
*reading teacher blogs and getting ideas for the girls--a Fancy Nancy word wall and dot cards for number sense
*hearing that all of Madelyn's blood tests came back normal--Thank you, God! I'm glad her tummy is feeling better and she is eating better again
*seeing a chocolate ice cream mustache on Madelyn
*finding a cute suitcase for Madelyn
*watching Aubrey learn to crawl--she's almost there!
*listening to Gracie read
*enjoying the quiet as I sit here and type this

At thirty-one-years old, I find that some days I'm no different than my middle school self. Finding your niche as a stay-at-home mom is a lot like finding your niche in middle school. Will the other moms like me? What groups am I going to join? Why wasn't I invited to the mom gathering? Is there a world outside of my own problems?

I have been reading a book called The Drama Years by Haley Kilpatrick. It's all about the topsy-turvy middle school years. It was written by a girl who started a foundation when she was fifteen called Girl Talk. Ten years later, it is still going strong. It is a mentoring program for middle school girls that allows the girls to talk in a safe environment about all the ups and downs of middle school. The author offers up three ideas to help "downplay the drama" during those years.

1.) An anchor activity--getting involved in an activity that she chooses and is good at helps her build self-confidence and allows her to release some stress. Examples are dance, sports, music, art, etc.
2.) A Helping Hand--volunteering on a regular basis allows her to see the world outside of her circle and help those in need.
3.) An Adopted Older Sister--Someone who has just been through those years will be able to listen and offer advice in a way that parents often can't.

So, as my girls head toward those middle school years, I am going to keep those ideas in mind. And then I started thinking that as a stay-at-home mom, I need these three things in place, too! It is so easy to be focused on my husband and kids and forget to take care of myself. Right now, I have two of the three ideas in place in my life, but they happen very sporadically. How would I feel if they were happening on a regular basis? I think I would be a lot more content.

My Anchor Activity--Writing. I absolutely love to write stories, poems, letters, and blog posts. I often don't set aside the time to do it.
A Helping Hand--I am still thinking about what this could be for me. Having a baby at home and no set babysitter, it is hard to leave the house by myself. Maybe joining the Prayer Ministry at church would be a good option. I am also going to join the PTO at Gracie's new school.
An Adopted Older Sister--I have a great mentor that I meet with.

Future Ideas
starting a Bible study for middle school girls
having a mother-daughter book club at our house during the summer
teaching Sunday School

As I navigate the world of being a stay-at-home mom, I am going to keep referring back to these three ideas. If I have them all in place, I think I will be a lot happier woman!

Some Reflections

*Our San Diego trip was filled with fun, cold weather, beautiful scenery, whining children, lots of pee on the baby carseat and stroller, BIG marshmallows, Swiss Family Robinson movie, sand, bubbles, a bouncing ball, flowers, trees, and sea creatures.
*Memorable moments from Sea World--freezing weather with drizzle, a dolphin show, a shamu show (both of which Aubrey did not enjoy and ended up falling asleep in my arms after crying for awhile), a 2 month old porcupine, a baby tortoise
*Memorable moments from the San Diego Botanic Gardens (I LOVED this place!)--beautiful flowers, trees, fruit from different continents, a view of the ocean, a children's garden with a tree house that stressed me out, an art area for the girls, setting up for a wedding (what a great place to get married!)
*Beach day--Lots of sand!!! Aubrey did a face-plant in the sand and didn't like it, Madelyn pretended to be a sea turtle, and Gracie picked up every shell on the beach and brought them home

Wednesday, May 30, Gracie learned how to put her hair in a ponytail all by herself!
The girls pretended to be Fancy Nancy and created art for an art exhibit that they want to have.

Five in a Row for Summer

We will be continuuing our Five in a Row curriculum through the summer, and I'm so excited! It gives us a chance to continue reading and learning together but in a very casual way. Here are the books we will be reading soon.

Albert
Miss Rumphius
When I Was Young in the Mountains
Harold and the Purple Crayon

And we are going to be doing author studies. First up, Cynthia Rylant, one of our favorites!

I am very passionate about education. I think that's why I am having such a hard time knowing what to do with my own children when it comes to educating them. What I am realizing is that there is no best way to educate them. There is only God's way. Jim and I love teaching the girls. We are always doing some sort of project with them, reading chapter books at night, looking up some question we have. I thought homeschooling would be perfect. But being at home all day is hard for Gracie. And there are days it's hard for me too. It affects her attitude when she is not able to be around others, observing and interacting. And I think God is calling me to put them in school, but I have been ignoring the calling until now. We enrolled Madelyn in Shepherd's Fold, the preschool Gracie went to. And since Madelyn is going to school, Gracie wants to go too. It turns out that we are in the boundaries for the new elementary school that is being built. I am praying it is a good fit for Gracie.

2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline." I am letting go of my fears and sending them to school. Gracie would make an excellent teacher some day. She has the perfect personality for it and loves to learn. 

I will still be using my homeschooling curriculum with them, especially during the summer. It is full of picture book suggestions and ideas. They can delight themselves in learning what they would like to learn as they make their way through the summer. When school starts, I will continue reading the Bible with them, memorizing scripture with them, teaching them the truth about history, learning science from Jonathan Park, and choosing wonderful books for them to read and listen to. I am also going to make sure Gracie continues learning art techniques and Madelyn continues learning about animals and the body.

And everyday when I drop them off at their schools, I will whisper to each girl "you are a beautiful wonderful child of God".  I pray they know that, act like it, and won't let anyone tell them differently.

Baby Moses story
duck coloring page
went to Michael's and got paint and scrapbooks
read The Hungry Duckling and Make Way for Ducklings
Basic skills--read library books, calendar, 100 chart, making sentences Monday and poem, Madelyn practiced writing "D", copywork for Gracie
wrote a birthday poem, rhyming words
Starfall
started painting the bird feeder Jim made

made dinosaur fossils and pretended to be paleontologists as we dug for them in the sand
filled a glass bottle with dirt and water, shook it, and watched the layers settle
drew an apatosaurus and a stegosaurus
days of the week puzzle
number sequences
read library books
made cards
played dinosaur computer games
listened to Jonathan Park
practiced writing names

new verse--Exodus 20:11
dinosaur coloring page
read D is for Dinosaur
made a newspaper page about dinosaurs and used a drawing book to draw apatosaurus
read many dinosaur books
Making Sentences and parts of speech poem
wrote name, phone number, birthday
reviewed two-vowel words--pain, coat, each

verse, God and Me books
created desert dioramas
read about the saguaro cactus
water experiments--a sponge soaks up the most water, wax paper soaks up no water!
copywork
language lessons
desert maze
math computer game

heard a carndinal this morning and went to investigate
the girls observed other things outside with binoculars and magnifying glass
made a journal entry
read Matthew 6 and talked about God taking care of the birds and us
Language Lessons
sentence about hummingbirds
painted
sequence worksheet
read Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies and Lizards for Lunch

colored a desert page
reviewed verse
read about God making animals
calendar, straws, 100 chart
read Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies
made a tortilla food map of Arizona
Gracie made the map key
the girls used some of the leftover Twizzlers (our "rivers) to pretend they had their own cooking show
made patterns with checkers and chess pieces, journaled a pattern
read in Language Lessons, read aloud a poem
copied our verse
made a javelina page in book
read Lizards for Lunch

Desert Week!

"God makes all things possible." Matthew 19:26
story of Lazarus
read Coyote and the Laughing Butterflies and Way Out in the Desert
read about roadrunners--We saw one in our backyard this weekend!
making a book about desert animals, wrote a fact about a roadrunner
read in reader
calendar, 100 chart
workbook page
parts of speech poem--noun and verb
making sentences
copywork and cursive
listened to Sid the Science Kid songs--ants, teeth

verse, song
calendar
Truman
made own schedule, showed 11:00 on clock
read glow-in-the-dark constellation book, talked about what a star is
made own constellations with dark construction paper and a pushpin, used a flashlight to shine constellations on the wall (they loved this!)
watered the plants and saw that M's plant has two little sprouts
Language Lessons, reading, picture study
listened to chicka chicka boom boom and Schoolhouse Rock songs
wrote a thank you letter
published ant paper by gluing it onto a placemat and drawig a picnic scene
watched a Dora that I had recorded yesterday and it was about constellations! I believe that's the Holy Spirit guided us to constellations!
watched a Curious George about ants

I found a middle-grade book at the library called Love, Aubrey. I checked it out so I can read it. I love reading middle-grade books and started writing my own several years ago. I am wondering if I should start writing again...

read Bible
reviewed verse
read Truman's Aunt Farm
talked about stamps
counted out 45 pennies
looked at images of stamps online
printed some out
created own stamps, decorated an envelope
read some of High Five magazine
Language Lessons, reading and poem
storytime at library
designed own quilt
read all of our library books
read a cute book called The Kiss Box
made a special kiss box
read about the rainforest, stamped our passport
finished writing the Hey, Little Ant paper

read Bible
walk, found ants carrying things
read Truman's Aunt Farm
studied illustrations and learned more techniques for making facial features, drew faces of the family
handwriting, cursive
read reader on couch
read Disney stories
started writing Hey, Little Ant persuasive paper on a paper plate
read about dinosaurs and planned for a dinosaur unit
Gracie made a firefighter hat

discussed different names of God and Jesus
read The Road to Emmaus
took a walk
made nametags for Jesus and put them in Bible journals
read Truman's Aunt Farm
discussed Truman's character traits (orderly, responsible)
wrote a letter to an aunt
talked about the word earring (compound word, 'ea' and 'ing')
Gracie read her reader in my lap
looked at birthday albums
helped me with Aubrey's baby album
read facts about ants
will create an ant section on their poster boards

April 5th--evening
We let all five of our butterflies go!

Friday, April 6th
Spent the day in Phoenix. We went to the Sea Life Aquarium. Got to touch a live starfish, see a sea turtle, sharks, interesting blood shrimp, and many other creatures.

Today
read more of Easter story, practiced verse
went to the lake, gathered seeds, watched ants
read Truman's Aunt Farm, talked about homonyms, made little flipbooks of homonyms (mail/male, aunt/ant, pear/pair)
Gracie and Madelyn decided to make their own lacing cards
copywork Jesus is Risen!
calendar, 100 chart
Gracie read her reader in the tent
read-aloud Hey, Little Ant and talked about whether or not the ant should get squished, completed a four-square planner for a persuasive paper to NOT squish the ant. Reasons--it feeds the baby ants (M) and it is God's creation (G)
put away Easter books and filled baskets with new books

our fifth butterfly emerged
colored and cut a puzzle picture
copywork
reader
read The Salamander Room
nature scavenger hunt in backyard--saw a spark in Gracie's eyes! She created her own list and drew a picture of our backyard
blew bubbles and talked about how the bubbles looked like they had a "skin" that stretched
water experiment to show how water bulges over the rim of a glass before overflowing
played with water and coins, discovered seeds float and coins sink
played a number guessing game

Exciting Day!

We watched our fourth butterfly as it emerged from its chrysalis! It was awesome to watch it.
Gracie's tooth fell out during lunch.
"Mom, there's something crunchy in my sunbutter, like a seed or something. Why is there blood all over my sandwich?" She's lucky she didn't swallow her tooth!

I never thought learning about salamanders would lead to learning about the rainforest, but here is how our day went.

reviewed verse/songs
amphibian life-cycle coloring page
looked in amphibian book to find out the color of a tadpole
read The Salamander Room, Jungle Life (Gracie's suggestion), and Magic Schoolbus Spiders (Madelyn's suggestion)
verse copywork, cursive, read from reader, calendar, straws, 100 chart
used watercolors and fingerpaint to paint a salamander
talked about the food chain
wrote a letter to the toothfairy
read The Little Rabbit
looked up info about the jungle/rainforest--Do butterflies, ants, and salamanders live there?
Yes, they do! And so many other animals, too!
created a lapbook about the rainforest layers and where they are found
found rainforests on the globe

reviewed verse and songs
ballet coloring page
watched Curious George (saw a real salamander in his environment and learned about tadpoles)
read The Salamander Room
made a list of all the things found in the boy's salamander room
created our own diorama salamander room using grass, dew, leaves, rose petals, rocks, drawings and set Madelyn's colored lizards inside it
read from reader
picture study
updated nature notebook to show two butterflies have emerged
looked at images of the spotted salamander

Introduced an Easter song using felt pieces
Madelyn played with the felt pieces
learned a new verse
remembered I had a butterfly song about the life-cycle
colored and filled in an April calendar
read The Salamander Room
read a few facts about amphibians
counted the critters in The Salamander Room using tally marks
read from reader
handwriting, cursive
looked at pictures of salamanders and printed off a drawing, put it in journal
found out salamanders do live in Arizona
made play-doh salamanders
read the Easter story, drew and wrote about Jesus in Bible journals
listened to Jonathan Park and looked up the Aucilla River
added a straw to our place-value cups, added another number to 100 chart and calendar
raed a butterfly poem by Emily Dickinson on a site I found, rememered I had an Emily Dickinson poetry book so we read several of her nature poems
two butterflies emerged from their chrysalises, gave them sugar water on tissue and watched them drink

reviewed verse--Gracie said it on her own.
sang What a Friend We Have in Jesus, girls are starting to sing it own their own
made play-doh butterflies
went to the lake to see our tree, compared it in winter and spring
leaf rubbings and journal entry (handwriting, spelling)
looked up the origin of the word butterfly
read the Tower of Babel
Gracie and I read Has Anyone Seen My Emily Greene? aloud to Madelyn (reading practice)
animal classification with butterfly and cardinal
practiced calendar and math songs in car
looked at painted lady images and printed out for butterfly scrapbook page (butterfly life-cycle)
colored a butterfly

reviewed verse/song
read Ecclesiastes 3
Bible journal page
moved chrysalises to butterfly garden net, drew picture in nature notebook
read Little Bear's Wish, drew picture
read-aloud The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Chrysanthemum
saw a male cardinal in our tree, which is unusual, and listened to him sing, drew a picture of him and used invented spelling to spell 'cardinal' (crnl)
listened to Jonathan Park and talked about the Tower of Babel and why people look different today and speak different languages
used game pieces from The Very Hungry Caterpillar game to do math--Madelyn counted and sorted and showed which pile had more, Gracie created AB and ABC patterns and drew her own ABB pattern, answered questions about What is your favorite fruit? graph
Madelyn practiced tracing her name
Gracie is also working on her end-of-unit project--she chose to do a scrapbook page that will include the life-cycle of a caterpillar/butterfly

I am truly enjoying our new delight-directed days! Sometimes I feel a though we have accomplished nothing during our day, and then I sit down and write out all the things that have happened. Learning truly does take place without me always realizing it!

reviewed song and verse
The Very Hungry Caterpillar coloring page
handwriting and cursive practice--Gulf Fritillary butterfly
played at a friend's house and helped out with a one-year-old
Gracie read outside to me--Max's Chocolate Chicken and a baby book from a friend
read aloud The Very Hungry Caterpillar
read facts about the painted lady butterfly
fingerpainted a painted lady butterfly and wrote a fact using own spelling--they taste with their feet!
added another straw to our place value cups and wrote down the number 54
added today's date to our special green calendar
listened to Jonathan Park and talked a little about fossils
played in the hose in swimming suits

Another Delight-Directed Day

Today we had visitors and a lot of play time, inside and out. The weather is just beautiful! Here's how today has unfolded so far.

reviewed our verse/song
caterpillar coloring page
added another drawing to nature notebook to show two more caterpillars turning into chrysalises
Madelyn played with money
Gracie read from her reader and decided to read to us from Max's Chocolate Chicken as well
Gracie practiced handwriting and cursive
each of the girls created pictures for our visitors (drawing, handwriting)
Gracie took a poll of our visitors' favorite food for a graph she is using in math
Madelyn found a plant/rainforest book that I am thinking of using later this spring
read Sugar Cookies: Sweet Little Lessons on Love
made Arizona flags because AZ has the most types of butterflies
looked at images of AZ butterflies
used watercolors to paint a gulf fritillary, an AZ butterfly
Gracie added a Noah's Ark page to her Bible journal
read The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Delight-Directed Learning

I made a wonderful discovery over our spring break! I noticed that our best and most enjoyable learning experiences come when I have not planned anything. I did not really need to question why. I knew. We are more relaxed and able to follow what delights us on those days. But the learning still takes place. I am able to guide and encourage the girls on those days as they explore a topic together. Days like that leave us all more content at the end of the day. I have decided that needs to be our approach everyday. The girls and I (since I know what they need to learn) decide on a topic or book to study. We brainstorm every question or idea that we would like to explore. And this is where the delight-directed idea comes in. If Gracie is interested in the art of a certain period, she is free to explore that more in-depth. If Madelyn would rather explore the food or clothing of that same period, she is free to explore that. I teach them how to research on their own, how to document their learning in their journals, etc. At the end of a topic, they get to choose a project to share what they've learned. That project will be shown to a family member as closure for the topic. Math will be a separate workbook. Reading will still be done in the readers I have right now, but I am also encouraging Gracie to read magazines, newspapers, picture books, etc.

Here's what we did today.

Learned a new verse and song

danced to the song

read the Creation story in the Bible

played with coins (sorting, reviewed names and amounts)

cleaned pennies with vinegar and salt, journaled about experiment (also counted as handwriting)

listened to Madelyn "read" The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Busy Spider

practiced beginning sounds with Madelyn using game pieces from The Very Hungry Caterpillar game, the girls also "played" the game on their own

updated nature notebook to show that our caterpillars turned into chrysalises

completed a Venn Diagram (in the shape of a caterpillar) on the two books

Gracie read to us from her reader

read a caterpillar poem

listened to Jonathan Park during our Listening Lunch

created a Bible journal and Gracie made a Jesus and his disciples page, Madelyn practiced her name

read Amelia Bedelia to Madelyn

looked at images of other chrysalises

And only a few of those things were planned.

Excited to let the Holy Spirit guide us!

Health

We are once again trying to make decisions about one of our children's health. Madelyn has had nose and chest colds just about every other week since last fall. She has also been yawning all day long like she isn't getting enough oxygen. I believe it has affected her behavior and made her irritable. She has always been a mouth-breather and breathed loudly when sleeping. She used to snore a lot as a baby. Her tonsils are very large, and I wonder about her adenoids. Her pediatrician thinks it might be asthma and told us to give her Gracie's rescue inhaler three times a day for a week to see if that helps. This medicine is not fun because it makes the heart race. Gracie calls it her "jittery" medicine. There is no doubt in my mind that Gracie has asthma. But Madelyn, we have our doubts. After doing research, the frequent chest colds could indeed be asthma. I decided to go ahead and give her one puff of the medicine to see if that would take away the yawns and shortness of breath. It doesn't seem to have helped. We are leaning more towards asking to be referred to an ENT. I want the poor girl to stop getting sick and have enough breath.

I feel like my faith in doctors (our doctor) has been lost. I so often have to be my children's doctor myself and rely on my own research and intuition as to what might be going on in my children's bodies. With all of the health issues my children have had, I wonder what God is trying to teach me. Does he want me to take all of this knowledge I'm gaining and use it to become a nurse? I have always had an interest in the body's functions and how it all works together. I took many of these courses in college and enjoyed them, but I don't think becoming a nurse or doctor is the answer. Does he want me to draw closer to him and look to him as the Great Physician? That is more likely. One of my recent devotionals said "come to me for understanding." Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

So I am praying for wisdom as we try to discover what is going on with Madelyn, if anything. Wisdom to know if we should change pediatricians, wisdom as to whether or not we should go to an ENT doctor, wisdom as we make decisions for these little ones that God has entrusted us with.

Homeschooling Update and Book Recommendations

Whew! Homeschooling has been such a whirlwind since we started in January! I finally feel like we have a good routine in place. We absolutely cannot go by the clock at this point in our lives because having a preschooler and baby in the house makes for many interruptions. I heard one homeschooler say once "when there's poop, there's poop, and school stops!" That is absolutely true!

Gracie is learning so much and makes my job of teaching her so easy. If there is one thing I wish could be different, it would be for us to find a co-op group. The one we were supposed to be a part of is temporarily cancelled. And because of illness, we haven't left the house much! But in spite of that, the girls have been playing together well (for the most part). We are reading and learning together, and that was my original vision!

I have been stressing over what curriculum to use for first grade. I love pouring over curriculum and would even love to write my own someday. But one day that was particularly hard for me as I was agonizing over what decisions to make, Jesus spoke. I was given a book recently that has been so amazing at reaching me right where I am. It is called Jesus Calling by Sarah Young. The passage that helped me on that day said, "I am leading you, step by step, through your life. Hold my hand in trusting dependence...I will show you the next step forward, and the one after that, and the one after that. Relax and enjoy the journey." Wow! Jesus is good. It brought me immediate comfort and reminded me that I don't have to have everything planned out from here to high school graduation! It is amazing how God opens up their little minds to learn and helps all the pieces fall into place.

Another book recommendation is called God's Guest List by Debbie Macomber. It is all about having your eyes wide open to the people God brings into our lives. You never know who God may put on the list or why, so you best give people your attention! You never know how they may help you or how you may help them. Thanks, Mom, for sending me the book!

Some Favorite Moments

Gracie

*seeing her wiggle her first loose tooth!

*watching her write cursive

*seeing how excited she is to take in some Valentine's Day cards to her K class tomorrow

*Gracie was looking at a picture of Jim and me from our honeymoon. In one of the pictures I was sitting on Jim's lap .

Gracie: "Dad, did that hurt you?"

Jim: "No."

Gracie: "I bet it would hurt now!"

Thanks so much, Gracie!

Madelyn

*Madelyn looked at the honeymoon pictures, too. She saw one of Jim lounging on a chair and smiling.

Madelyn: "Where am I in this picture?"

Jim: "You weren't born yet."

Madelyn: "Where is Gracie?"

Jim: "We didn't have any kids yet."

Madelyn: "Is that why you're smiling?"

Kids are so funny!

*She put her stuffed puppy dog in the blue Bumbo seat and sat him next to Lily so he could look out the front door with her.

Aubrey

*she discovered her right arm

*blows spit bubbles

*has starting laughing but gets the hiccups everytime

*she loves to talk to us

*finally got held by her big sisters!

Soul Surfer

Finally watched Soul Surfer last night after many friends recommended that we watch it. I cried through the entire movie imagining what struggles Aubrey might have. I don"t know why she was born with one arm, but God has plans for her. Jeremiah 29:11