Anticoo

Chalk this up to another kid story that I just want to remember.

Sarah was looking up her vocabulary words yesterday and comes to me and says, "I do not understand the definition of anticoo." I was thinking "Wow, never heard of that word." I asked her what the dictionary said and when she told me the definition I realized she meant antique. She just knew I was wrong. She even waited until dinner and brought it up to her father (In Sarah's eyes he knows EVERYTHING.) When he told her I was right she decided the English phonetic system is just messed up. I had to agree.

A Child's Perspective

The other night we had to take Micah to the hospital. He had a really bad cold, fever, was projectile vomiting and struggling to get a good breath. I was concerned about RSV and he seemed to be frightened from having such a hard time breathing. It was late so and I did not want to wait through the night. He is fine. He has a viral infection and after a few days of rest and antibiotics, just in case, he is finally turning the corner. Fast forward to today. I went to church with Isaac and Sarah while Bruce stayed home with the younger three. I have received several phone calls this afternoon from parents of my children's friends. The whole having trouble breathing and projectile vomiting is evidently weighing heavy on Sarah. The story is Micah kept throwing up everything in his body and stopped breathing several times. And you may be wondering how does this rumor spread so quickly. Well, it is Lancaster county and there was a church lunch, which we skipped, and I guess we were the topic of conversation.

Al Mohler on Christians and Adoption

Despite the situation we have found ourselves in, we are still pro-adoption. And even if the end result is not what we hope for, we would still consider doing it again. We have made some mistakes and would maybe do things differently,and I can not say we would jump right back in, but we still serve a sovereign God. We are in the middle of His plan and He will see us through. I keep telling everyone I really am okay. I am obviously distracted and nervous but I have one thing to hold on to. In the end even if Micah has to be raised in a situation which we believe to be unfit, it is still ordained by God. Micah will still be in the palm of His hands and He will carry us all through this. You see, in the end, I know we will be okay, devastated, but okay. It is this in between time that kills you. I wanted to say all of this as an encouragement to those of you who look at us and say, "That is why I would never adopt or that is why I would never adopt domestically." Those comments hurt us just as much as what we are going through now. We do not look at families who have terminally ill children and say, "That is why I will never have children." God does not gaurantee us time with our biological children. It is really no different. God places children in the homes He chooses, for the allotted time that He chooses. We may raise Micah and see him get married and start his own family, and we may not. But either way it is still God's plan.

Al Mohler had something interesting to say about Christians and adoption.

Memory Work

With the stress in our life right now there are some things that suffer. One of those things are the extras that happen in a school day. My creative juices are just not flowing right now. My thoughts are too occupied with our court hearing and the thought of possibly having to hand over our son. We are getting in the core things, but things like Art, Science experiments, and memory work are suffering. My husband sat down with me last night and went through lesson plans and really took a load off by giving me the freedom to just cover the basics for the next month. Having his support in that helps my anxiety level. He also came up with what I thought was a great idea and I wanted to share it with those of you who still have children in the grammar stage. He suggested making memory work flashcards and storing them in an over the door pocket shoe holder. He even said I could buy as many flashcards as I could find so I did not have to make them all. He thinks they can do a lot of their memory work on their own this way. I just tell them which cards to pull out and they quiz each other. I am sure this is not a new idea and others are already doing it, but it sounded good to me and I thought I would share.

Need Some Encouragement Today?

Doug and Nancy Wilson have some words I needed to hear today. I thought you may find them helpful and encouraging as well.

Doug says...
Grace deals with sin. Indulgence does not. Law would like to, but cannot. To cover up for its impotence, law in a father can deliver yet another disapproving lecture. And the son concludes that if he is going to be hanged for a thief no matter what he does, he might as well steal something.

Check out the whole thing here.

Nancy says......
Feeling blue? Overwhelmed? Tired? Here’s a little remedy that just might help. Straight out of the Bible too: In all things give thanks.

Check out the whole thing here.

Online Classes

Most people who have never seen an online class can not wrap their minds around how it works. Now that my son is taking a couple I thought I could go through it from a teacher and student perspective. First, from a teacher. I am loving it. The personalities of these young children are ringing right through their voices. It is so much fun when a 9 year old is so excited about the lesson or the book we are reading that you can hear the laughter in their voices. I have to say I have a great group of kids. They seem to love the subject matter and what 9 to 11 year old is not going to sit on the edge of their seats to wait for their turn to talk on the microphone or type in the chat box. As much as I am enjoying this, it is a lot of work. More work than I was prepared for. This is the first year VP offered classes for this age group. I do not think anyone was prepared. Not only do I have to study and be prepared, I have to create a power point visual for almost every point I am making. I think I will lose them quickly if I do not have something different for them to look at on the screen every few minutes. It is great that it is on line though, because I can bring in anything from the Internet. In that way I feel like my son, at least, is learning more than he would from me if I were not teaching the class. I know from past experience I would not do all of the fun internet research I am doing now and I certainly was not making up all of the games and visuals that he is getting from this class. So, while it is a lot of work, I am having fun and learning a lot. I also keep thinking that if I can get through this year, next year will be a breeze. The work will already be done. Now I just have to remember to back it all up in case my computer crashes. There has been talk of me teaching another class. You all will have to remind me of the word no when it comes time for commitment.:)

From a student perspective. Isaac is loving it. I think he thinks this puts him a little closer to being a teenager. Isaac is also into anything having to do with the computer. I switched him to Math U See this year and he pays much more attention to Steve Demme on the DVD lesson than to me. I have found this to be true for his on line classes as well. A good on line teacher will have constant class interaction to keep their attention. He loves it when they will tell the students who are not talking to just type in the answer. It keeps them busy, helps them practice their typing skills, and lets the teacher know they are getting it. He is always listening to make sure he does not miss his chance to talk or type. If he is having an off day, no problem, the classes are being recorded. We can go back and listen again.It is also another person to be accountable to besides me. He has homework after every class and he knows it has to be done. There are no excuses. It also keeps me on my toes. We can not get behind in Grammar, Latin, or History.

Yes, we are loving it. I kind of feel like we are having the best of both worlds. I love that we are home together and that we are doing most of the teaching. But, I also love that we are getting some help from those who are more specialized in the subject matter than I am. With the number of small children I have and the craziness of our life, it is great to have quality help.

This Week's Menu

In the name of getting back to routine, I am doing menu planning again. I actually like to menu plan. I like to think that when I get home from the grocery store I do not have to go back for another week because I planned so well. It never works that way, though. It seems no matter how much I buy we ALWAYS run out of milk and bread. I have also started trying to cook and freeze meals. Since I started teaching online, the dinner hour sneaks up on me and we have to order out or have a late dinner. Well, with the thought of all of the legal bills we are acquiring right now, my husband has put a ban on ANY unnecessary spending. Thus, the frozen meals. Every other Friday afternoon I try to put 3 meals in the freezer. I look at what meat is on sale and then find recipes to go with that. So, anyway, here is my menu for the next week. Or until Thursday. That is my shopping day.

Saturday- Pork Chops, Apples,and Sour Kraut in the crock pot, mashed potatoes, green beans.--This is a great fall meal and very Lancastrian. I had never heard of it until we moved here.
Sunday- Barbecued sandwiches (Freezer Meal)
Monday-Marinated Grilled Chicken
Tuesday-Pot Roast
Wednesday-Black Beans and Rice (Freezer Meal)
Thursday- Ham loaf (Freezer Meal) Another Lancastrian dish.

Bed-time Stories

So, I am teaching an on line history class this year. It is Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Reformation. I am having a lot of fun preparing. It is only two days a week, but the prep has been outrageous. Part of the reason is I have some very bright students. I am getting emails asking theological questions pertaining to that time period that I know I did not think about until I was an adult. I am learning a lot, though. But, that is not what this post is about. We are reading Beowulf in the class. The regular literature and the historical lit are a little much for Isaac(Who is taking the class.). So, I have let him listen to Beowulf on CD. A friend asked how his insomnia was coming. I told her it was better. He was listening to Beowulf in bed and it helped his mind calm down enough to fall asleep. I thought nothing of it, but she laughed at us. The thought of Beowulf being calm enough to put someone to sleep was strange to her. I wonder what she would say if she knew that my husband told stories from the Wanderings of Odysseus as our bed-time stories? I think we might be weird.

Routine

I am a person who loves routine. The problem I find myself having is that I constantly am thinking, "When this is done we will get back to our routine." I am always wishing away our time for the sake of things getting back to normal. Though I wish we were not in the situation we are in right now, I am feeling the need to get on with life. I think my trouble in doing this is somehow wrapped up in my inability to give all of this stress to God. When I look back over the last several years there is always something. I am coming to the reality that I am wasting mine and my children's lives waiting for things to "return to normal." My oldest is struggling with something right now. It is pretty serious and we are losing a lot of sleep. I am home from church because he was a wake until 2 am with insomnia. He could not shake all of the thoughts going through his head. My prayer for him is that he would see the beauty in the life God has given him, give his anxiety over, and move on. As I prayed this over him in the middle of the night I immediately realized what a horrible example I have been to him. Could his anxiety stem from watching me deal with the stress in our life? So, my prayer for myself is the same as mine for him. I need to realize we live in a fallen world, which means there is always going to be stress and heartache. I need to give mine to God and get back to our "routine" even in the midst of trials. I have to stop waiting for everything to "get back to normal." This is the normal God has given us for now. So, my goal for each day is to seek God's help in not living in fear of what may happen in the next few months, but instead be thankful for what I have that day and continue in our routines.

Giveaway

There is a great giveaway going on here.I have been wanting a Skirty for Sarah.

Bad News

I have been avoiding writing this post because I do not know what to say. Our adoption is being contested. For reasons that I can not go into in such a public forum, it is necessary to give this a good fight. We need wisdom and God's guidance. We are trying to make the right choices and not ones based on emotions. We also are praying that everyone involved will see what is best for Micah. Please pray for us as we try to function as a normal family with this cloud hanging over us. We do not have a court date yet, but think it will be in November. I know people set up blogs for things like this to keep friends and family up to date on what is going on. I do not feel comfortable with that. I will more than likely not blog about it other than asking for prayer from time to time. It is just too public. Maybe I am being silly, but I do not think you can be too careful when you are fighting for your child. Thank you for the support you all have already given us.

From the Mouth of Babes

We are a very open and honest family. Maybe too much so. We are usually pretty forth coming about things our family needs to pray for.(We keep it age appropriate, of course.)So, there is this person who is the thorn in our flesh right now. Things are happening that make it impossible to hide it from the kids. Sarah's prayer today really struck me. She said, "Thank you Jesus for ______. Please help him/her to stop doing _____ so he/she can love you." We have prayed for protection, for God's will, etc. but never that God would change this person. Again, I am wishing for the innocence that my children have.

Zach's First Day

Sometimes I blog things about my children that I just want to keep on record and remember. I realize you may not see these things as being funny or cute, but you will just have to bare with me. This is one of those times. Just stop reading if you want.

We were waiting a year to start Zach in Kindergarten. He has a November birthday and will not be 5 until then. Well, he started to teach himself his letters. We decided to start even if we had to spread it out over two years. Sarah and Isaac have been doing a few things for the past 2 weeks, but today was the official start of everything. Zach, was so excited. He kept knocking on the bathroom door this morning while I was in the shower. He wanted to know if he had to wait for me or could he just start. Well, after 2 papers he was tired. His 3rd and final color sheet of the day was too much. It was very messy. I told him he could do better. He wanted me to "grade"it. I do not grade any of their papers yet. We just do it until it is correct. I am not sure where he got this. Anyway, I wrote the word messy and put a sad face. I immediately felt guilty and thought he was tired and I should have stopped before that paper. Well, he started laughing. He said that was a really funny looking face and he likes it when I am silly with him at school. I do not think he gets it. He in no way, shape, or form realized that work was not acceptable. Wouldn't it be great to be that naive again?

Another Zach story: At the end of the day his father asked if he felt any smarter after his first day of Kindergarten. His reply, " Nah, it will be a while before she teaches me anything I don't already know."