Joyfully Weary

All of our snow has melted away, but we are still holding out hope for more. Living in Illinois means that most likely the next month or so will be full of dull gray days. Bright white snow just makes the gray more bearable. We are going to continue doing some snow themed activities in our schoolroom in the hopes that nature takes the hint and gifts us with a real snowstorm. Today, we read a couple mitten themed books: The Mitten by Jan Brett and The Little Kittens by Paul Galdone . Both authors are known for retelling classic stories with exquisite illustrations. Jan Brett uses watercolors to create realistic illustrations. Her books also commonly have border art that offers a new vantage point to the story or foreshadows a coming character.  Some other winter themed books by Jan Brett are: The Three Snow Bears and The Hat . Paul Galdone's illustration are usually ink sketches with a watercolor wash. His illustrations are more impish and whimsical, but still are very r...

In years past, we've been working our way through Story of The World by Susan Wise Bauer. This year, however, we are taking a break from world history and studying American history. We joined a co-op and one of the classes the kids are taking is Hands On American History. Originally, I had planned on continuing Story of the World   at home. We are about half-way through Vol 3, early modern history , so in some ways the lesson would coincide. I quickly realized, however, that it wasn't going to work. In class they do a lot of games and skits to make history come alive; but I also wanted to supplement what they were learning with some living books. There just isn't enough time to do the reading for both. For now, we've pressed pause on Story of the World and will probably pick it back up come May when the class ends.  We are just wrapping up our books on the America Revolution and the Founding Fathers; I thought I'd share what we read. Jean Fritz is one ...

Right in the center of our city is the cutest little outdoor skating rink. It's become a tradition for our family to go at least once during the winter...this year, the kids are determined that we are going to go at least SIX times.  This rink is where all of kiddos have taken their 1st spin on the ice. Before kids, Jer and I would come here for a fun inexpensive date. This simple little place holds so many sweet happy memories.  This trip was BabyZ's 1st time on the ice. He could tell that all of siblings were pumped for what was coming, so he also got excited. Unfortunately, I don't think he's quite a fan, yet. The skates didn't quite work they way he thought they should. He took the falls like a champ. He didn't cry at all; he just didn't see the point of why we insisted he keep these ridicules things on his feet. At one point he decided it was better to just to roll around on the ice than to try to walk on it.  Luckil...

I'm pretty sure we are done having kids, which means Little Lady won't ever have a sister. At first this made me really sad; I have three younger sisters and I can't imagine life without them. Little Lady, however, has no desire to have a sister. In fact, she prayed for BabyZ to be a boy...she didn't want to have to share her Daddy with another girl. 😲😂 Jeremy also wanted BabyZ to be boy. He grew up the only boy with three younger sisters, and he thinks he's already dealt with his fair share of sister drama.  I was worried Little Lady would be lonely and crave companionship, but she is pretty good at attracting girl friends. She's also always ready to be "one-of-the-boys" with her brothers. I don't think I have ever seen a sibling relationship as tight as her's with Mini Man; they just compliment each other really well.  The Lord also blessed her with four girl cousins. Two of them who are less than a year younger than her. We don...

Going into the new year I don't have any real resolutions. One of the things I've learned about myself is that, for me, grand expectations can be a killer of joy . Life is full of hiccups and mistakes, and it's amplified with four little kiddos. In 2018, I just want to continue to get better at seeing each day as a fresh start. A new day to love my family and my friends well.  When the night of January 10th or January 3rd comes along an I haven't had my daily quiet time, or worked out, or I've lost my temper and yelled at my kiddos; I'm not going to beat myself up and count the year as failure. Instead, I'm going to thank the LORD for His grace. I'm going to accept His gifts of rest and a new day. Maybe it's different for other people, but for me change doesn't happen with big resolutions. It's happens slowly, almost unnoticed, as each day I choose to focus on the gifts of the LORD. It's only when I choose to focus on the joy of this...