Merry Christmas

I have plans to snuggle in this week, as the weather has finally turned cold enough to use blankets, and work our way through the holiday book basket. I am going to be taking an internet break to do some of my own personal reading and reflecting. I will be back in this little spot on the 31st! May the Lord bless each of you!

Read-Alouds

Miss Molly I knew you would ask!!! What are we reading? We are reading books from Sonlight Year 5. We are not necessarily a Sonlight "family". When we lived outside the USA, it was such a blessing to get everything in one box. Now that we are here, I enjoy picking and choosing and following the kids interests more. But Year 5 I knew we had to do. I want all the kids around 10ish-12ish to read through the books put togetehr in this very special year. Year 5 is not so much a study of a history of a place but the study of people groups. We are at the very beginning of Year 5 (yes, I know that technically we are halfway through the school year. Don't ask!). I think with all the tangents and further exploration we are doing it could take us three years to finish this. We are reading the classic The Island of the Blue Dolphins. I loved this book as a young girl. I thought it would be adventurous, romantic and a little scary to be left all alone on an island. It has been such a delight to watch my children's reactions to this personal favorite.



We are also reading Torches of Joy, which I alluded to here. It is the story of John and Helen Dekker, missionaries to Papua New Guinea.



We are using the book 100 Gateway Cities of the 10/40 Window, as a prayer guide. It has been fascinating plotting the different cities on our map and fun to do further research on the Internet.What did homeschoolers do before Google? And we recently threw in Mosque by David Macauly. I love this man's books. I also do a mini-read aloud with the littles. We snuggle under the covers on my bed and are (believe it or not Miss Molly) reading through Milly-Molly-Mandy!



Well, there you have it. I am off to bed now, as it is late, because I spent too much time fooling around with that header!!!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!!!

She is twelve. I may not be able to finish this post due to an electrical malfunction of my keyboard. I am not sure how well it can stand up to the amount of tears that might be shed on it. My baby girl L1 turned twelve today. I surprised her with a special trip out to lunch with her bestest friend. After lunch she spent the afternoon at her gal pal's house and then came home and spent an insane amount of time playing Howrse. She was thoroughly pleased with her day. What can I say about her? She is a mixture of sweetness, delight and a dash of tomboyness and a sharp tongue. Her first love in life at the moment (and I suspect will continue for quite some time) is horses.



She spends hours visiting our neighborhood wild mustang Adam. They have become rather close. He will come running for the fence when he sees her approaching. She has also been blessed with riding lessons. This past month she has begun jumping. L1 loves it. Her only thought is of going higher and faster. I admit to not watching most of the time.



When she can't get near a horse, she spends her time building elaborate jumps for the family dog. That dumb dog will not sit for me but will run any crazy course L1 dreams up.





My crazy girl, I love you. I love the way you make me laugh, your encouraging words and the joy you bring to my every day. Oh, I pray we will be friends one day. The best of friends. And the ironing out of you becoming you,drives us closer, not farther,apart! Happy birthday!

Back to "Normal" Chaos

The chaos of the craft fair is over. All our bits and bobs are sitting patiently on a wee table to find new homes. We are getting back to normal business around here, which means back to read-alouds!



Read-alouds are every one's favorite part of our home school adventure. The sad thing is, they are the first to get bumped when the schedule gets tight. Everyone continues squeezing in their own personal reading and the littles (what I call my non-fluent readers) always manage to find someone to read to them. It is settling down and ALL of us sharing the same story that goes. This weekend I providentially came across an audio download titled "A Less Hurried Approach to Homeschooling" by the Bluedorns.



It has some extremely practical points on the nitty-gritty of how to do read-alouds with a bunch of kids. I found it inspriing and encouraging. Please, no one create an image in their head with children snuggled beside me,others at my feet, listening quietly with rapt attention. It has never happened. Everyone is allowed to do pretty much what they want as long as they remain quiet doing it.



There are lots of interruptions, questions about the story, which I welcome and then questions about what is for lunch, which I do not welcome! The littles will often play with my hair, draw, puzzles or play quietly with small toys. The older kids draw, crochet or work on some other handiwork project. When we are in a pinch for time and still want to get read-alouds done, the kids will fold laundry while I read. Today, we made play-doh. (It doubled as math!!)



Everyone settled down with their still warm play-doh and I curled up in the rocking chair for a rather pleasant read-aloud time.It is nice to resume familiar routines.

Sneak Peek

**lil' bibs**




**lil' totes**

Bella

This afternoon, my mom and I went to the theatre to view the movie Bella. It was a sensory feast. I was captured with the colors and sounds of New York. They spoke quite a bit of Spanish throughout the movie, this tickled me. I want to take my sister to see it and ask her if she recognizes any of the places. I am curious to know whether she thinks it gave an accurate glimpse into New York City life. The story line is brilliant.They captured the feelings and reactions of a young woman who has discovered an unplanned pregnancy with great clarity. I found tears welling up in my eyes as I remembered the process of finding out I was pregnant with L1. The sadness of life plans averted and changed, not willingly by the participants of life but by an unforeseen hand, struck a deep cord within me. Those changed plans may seem a disaster at first but this movie ends with hope. The sweet hope of a Love bigger than ourselves . I feel as if I am babbling on now. I am not a movie critic and most of the time not a very good writer. My words can not do this movie, this small bit of beauty and hope, any justice. Please, go and see it for yourself.

**I tried to embed the trailer but it did not work. Please, head over here and watch it. I will conquer this whole embedding thing. I will!!!***

Birthday Goodness!

I would love you to meet Annie. She was the final birthday gift I received this year. I am over-the-moon thrilled to have her live in my house. Sadly, my house is not as cute as her acorn abode.I am eagerly looking forward to learning more about her and have enjoyed imagining what adventures lie ahead of her. I have also enjoyed the thought of being able to gloat and say," Well, yes, I have an original Annie. One of the first ones ever created!" Te-he! NOW, that does sound like fun,huh? Oh, dear sweet friend, keep creating!!!