Category: Motherhood

Under Construction

When a website is undergoing some kind of change, they say it’s “under construction.”

Something like that is happening here. I am a hesitant blogger (despite my frequent posts) because unlike many bloggers,  I am not here to start a discussion. I’m just here to share. I share to maintain relationships with family and have some personal validation. I have a very small readership. (Bless each of you!) I get a lot of questions about curriculum and activities, so I have tried to share these things here. This may be changing, however.

First, two bits of background information:

A few months ago I found a discussion that asked, “At what point do you stop posting about your children because they are old enough to tell their own stories?” This question has hovered over my head for a while and I can see wisdom in not treading heavily on the experiences of childhood. I have tried to be careful with what I post about the heart-wrenching or embarrassing moments of growing up. There are no posts showing the painful smile after braces or striking out during a baseball game, etc.

This weekend I read a homeschooling discussion and was once again shocked and horrified to read the hatred and mistrust that is directed against parents who educate their own children. Such comments ignore the good and highlight the bad. I have seen homeschooling done very well and I’ve seen it done very poorly. Over the past several days my reaction to the acerbic tone of so many against this movement has been to crawl into a shell and ponder two questions,

“Is the online telling of the education of my children ultimately unfair to them?” (even though I block search engines)

and,

“Do my homeschooling posts serve anyone but myself?”

Since I’m not looking for a discussion, I don’t expect these questions to be answered by my readers, but through prayer. And believe me, that’s enough.

But, if you see fewer posts in the future, or see that I suddenly start posting pictures of decorated corners of my house instead of scenes from the schoolroom you will know that I have decided to protect that aspect of our lives.

Mark’s little red boy

Mark drew his first person yesterday. He started with the legs and feet. Then he did the head and the arms. He used a red pencil, of course.

I taught Mark’s class at church yesterday, but he was the only one who showed up. We had a lovely time, sitting in the sunlight coming in from the window. We molded playdough, sang songs about prayer, and learned the story of Daniel and the lion’s den.

My baby is a big boy. Mine is a sweet kind of ache, though.

Leadership

Timothy, showing his hilarious entertainer side

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

My role as a teacher is less about imparting and more about leading.

And that’s why I have nothing to say this week. I’ve been living the art of leadership. This means I’ve just been too busy studying things I will ask my children to study, organizing, and forming a vision for the upcoming months. My brain has been intensely busy and my hands have lifted many things. None of it shows well on a blog.

Today I had to halt for a little while and rest my aching side. Sometimes the old scar tissue acts up and I spend the day hugging a heating pad. But it’s a small thing.

As I have rested, I’ve been able to see things I wouldn’t normally see in my usual hustle and bustle. I’ve watched some seeds that have (figuratively) sprouted in my children: jobs accomplished, attitudes and emotions  checked, and skills honed. The true test of the training and education I try to provide will manifest itself in the level of self-discipline and love my children learn. I haven’t been disappointed today. There is a long way to go, but I’ve been given a glimpse of some progress today.

Carry on!

I gave Paige and Daniel the assignment to read about our Mayflower ancestors last week. We’re descendants of Mary Chilton and Richard Warren, who were passengers on the Mayflower. Mary was orphaned at age 13 when her parents died within a week of each other after landing at Plymouth. She later married Mr. Warren John Winslow who arrived in Plymouth in 1621.

I have been thinking about those ancestors all day. The Chiltons were Separatists who had fled from persecution in England to live in Holland. Although they were financially better off in Holland and were able to exercise their religion in peace, they were troubled by the worldly influences around them, such as a lax sabbath day observance and also some cultural differences. These parents were concerned about their children. They were concerned that the principles for which they had left their homeland were being watered down in the environment in which they now lived.

Mary’s parents died in what I believe to be a heroic struggle to maintain purity in the next generation.

Paige is writing a report about this young girl, Mary Chilton, who was orphaned in the new land. Will Paige be able to see a pattern in conviction and courage carried through the generations to her own family? I want so much for her and the boys to drink in this heritage of strength and fearlessness. I have seen it in my parents and grandparents: Strength to be different; Strength to stand alone and follow through with what they feel inspired to do. Our ancestors were fearless in being counted with the Separatists, driven from England, and later the Mormons, driven from the eastern United States. I see the same fearless strength today in my parents who are missionaries; and I’ve seen it in my grandparents who have made a difference by their service and faith.

I hope we’re doing enough to see that this courageous pattern is carried on in the next generation. Learning about these ancestors makes my decisions seem easy and my burdens light in comparison. However, this doesn’t mean I believe the battle is of lesser importance. The same enemy fights against good and it’s still the children for whom we struggle to preserve. And the enemy is insidious and permeates our culture so blatantly that I find myself shocked all the time at what I have just seen or heard.

I’m feeling a little more empowered by this new knowledge of our roots. As I said before, I hope Paige feels the same through her study of these ancestors.

Too soon

This photo was taken of me and Mark several months ago, but I’m pretty sure this is what I looked like last night after a very long and strenuous week. Teaching 3 grades, playing violin for the stake choir, putting on a pack meeting, keeping house, and hauling, lifting, and organizing for the art class on Friday wore me completely out.

Plus, I’ve been reading. Oh, do I have to admit what I’ve sunk my straggly extra minutes into? No, I don’t. But it rhymes with,

“Too soon.”

(It was such an indulgence that I should have at least bent the spine on the cheap paperback.)

This Saturday is simply over too soon. Errands, shopping, reading and practicing have devoured my plans to clean this house.

And now I’m off to play violin for a crowd. Wish me well.

What’s cookin?

1978 Sparks

Me, at Grandma Stewart’s in 1978.

This week we spent some time shopping a case lot sale to re-stock the pantry. We also went bargain hunting for produce through a bulk ordering process. When I do a bulk produce order, I don’t choose what I will receive. I just have to take what they give me. It makes life pretty interesting. I now have more vegetables in our refrigerator than I have ever had at one time. I even had 3 persimmons until I gave them away to our Chinese home teacher tonight. What does one do with 9 lemons? I’ve only ever used one at a time.

Our menu this week will include:

  • chiles rellenos
  • enchiladas with tomatillo sauce
  • grilled zucchini and tomatoes with mozzarella cheese
  • cucumbers in pasta salad, drenched in vinegar, and green salad
  • several salads
  • guacamole
  • Fresh green beans
  • homemade pizza
  • lemon bars (to freeze)
  • lemon sour cream pie (to inhale)
  • carrot sticks, carrot stew, carrot cake
  • homemade salsa
  • mashed potatoes
  • bananas, banana splits, banana  bread, dried bananas, bananas flambe, bananas frozen on a stick with chocolate (well, maybe not all of these things)
  • fresh limes (lemon-lime soda with fresh lime juice and lots of ice)
  • zucchini bread using Sister Kunzler’s recipe
  • pomegranates

Sigh, this picture makes me wish I had bought a cherry red cupboard like Grandma’s from an antique store years ago in Austin.

Taking Time

I love showing the world to my children. I love having time to sit in the exhibits at the desert museum so they can work on sketches. I love these little memories from our last trip to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. In other words, I love how they show the world to me.

Desert Museum 038

Timothy bird in treeTimothy duckTimothy hummingbird

Bird painting

Bird painting

This is what I have been working on for a long time. I had to put four babies in the little nest because it’s for my bedroom and thus requires some personal touches. I love the daddy bird, looking back at the family as he ponders taking off to look for more food. I asked Mark which bird was the mommy and he knew… it was the one by the babies. He also knew which bird he wanted to be.

We’re all about taking on roles around here. Watch a movie at our house and you have to “be” a character the whole time. For Cars, I am Miss Sally. For Lady and the Tramp, I am Lady. Mark likes to be the monsters in Scooby Doo.

See? It’s not that hard to project yourself into things. This painting is our family… as birds.

Sweet little chickies!

Bird painting inspiration here.