As You Wish

the other blog

2011-07-07T19:02:00.000-05:00

I don't write as often as I would like, but I do find the other blog easier. You can go there and read more of my posts.

http://homeschoolblogger.com/tess/

God show me more.

2010-05-05T10:08:00.000-05:00

It’s camping season again. My husband and children absolutely LOVE camping. They enjoy being out in nature, cooking over an open fire, hiking though trails, sleeping under the stars. Well – we have a pop-up camper – so not exactly under the stars – but close. My family truly enjoys the whole experience. And I love them enough to join them on these adventures.

But there is something wrong with me. I suffer from chronic depression due to anxiety disorder. What that means is I can either be in an episode of depression – where I can not make myself DO hardly anything, or a state of anxiety – where I am nervous and frightened of almost everything. The effects of one are that I do nothing but sleep. The other causes me to be an insomniac.

This past weekend, the first camping trip of the year, I was experiencing the anxiety side of my illness. It is an irrational fear. My brain understands that completely – but my body will not respond to even my own pep-talks. This weekend it rained – and at night there was thunder and lightening. In a pop-up camper the sounds of a thunder storm are magnified 100 fold. I couldn’t sleep. I became sick to my stomach. It kept my poor, caring, supportive husband awake as well. It’s very hard to enjoy the miracle of God’s creation when one’s wife is so frightened she is pacing, and shaking, and vomiting. (sorry sweetie)

I spent the weekend reciting Psalm 56:3. “What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.” But then I also asked God to show me more.

Wow. God must truly rejoice at that simply request.

God show me more.

And did He ever. And I began writing this to share all the wonderful scripture He has given to me in the past 3 days – but it just now hit me. Maybe He gave me this affliction for me to ask this one simply question of Him. God show me more.

He led me to a book on my shelf titled Lord I want to Know You. By Kay Arthur.

I found Proverbs 18:10 “The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

Isaiah 50:10 Who is among you that feareth the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God.

And Exodus 4:11 And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?

Then there is Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

And I began to understand a little more. God created me. He molded me and formed me. He will keep me safe. He has a plan for me. It may be that I live a long and healthy life, and all my children outlive me. Or, He may have different plans for me. I could die sitting here at this computer. A horrible accident could kill or maim one of my precious children. But whatever happens – I can rest in him.

God – I pray you continue to show me more of You.

The Lesson

2009-11-11T08:26:00.001-06:00

The Lesson

Then Jesus took his disciples up the mountain and

gathering them around him, he taught them saying:
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek,
Blessed are they who mourn.
Blessed are the merciful.
Blessed are they who thirst for justice.
Blessed are you when persecuted.
Blessed are you when you suffer.
Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great.
Then Simon Peter said,
“Do we have to write this down?”
and Andrew said,
“Do we have to turn it in?”
and James said,
“Does spelling count?”
Philip said,
“Will this be on the test?”
and Bartholomew said,
“What if we don’t know it?”
and John said,
“The other disciples didn’t have to learn this!”
and Matthew said,
“When do we get out of here?”
and Judas said,
“What does this have to do with real life?”
and the other disciples likewise.

Then one of the Pharisees who was present
asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan
and inquired of Jesus
His terminal objectives in the cognitive domain.
And Jesus wept.

Author unknown

Thomas Nelson Book Reviewer

2009-11-09T16:13:00.000-06:00

Keeping Track of God Speak

2009-11-07T07:13:00.003-06:00

In his daily Bible study email, my pastor told me to write down what I believe God is telling me so I can see how to adjust my life to him. This is wonderful advice on so many levels. If I keep track of what I believe God is telling me, I can look back and see if there is a discernible pattern. I can look back at my journal and see how LONG God has been telling me something. If I write it down, I won't have to worry if I am remembering things the right way.

A few years ago we were praying about the possibility of moving. By writing down my questions, my fears, my thoughts, and then writing down things God was showing me, I was able to go back and read to see that God wanted us to stay right here.

Most of the time God speaks to me in small bites - the scripture during a sermon, something a Christian friend says to me, personal bible study material, a song played on K LOVE. By writing down all the "small" things - I can see clearly what God is directing me to do.

Do you keep of journal of your prayers and God's answers? Can you share some of them with me?

Is homeschool easier than public school?

2009-10-07T09:38:00.003-05:00

Not long ago my 11 year old daughter came to me upset because a public schooled friend claimed home school was easier than public school. The first thing that popped out of my mouth was "Well of course it is! Why would we choose to do things the hard way?"
But this was NOT what my 11 year old wanted to hear. I guess she felt insulted by the insinuation. I'm not sure that the public school friend was trying to insult her, or just letting my daughter know that her life was easier because she didn't have to "go to school."

Well - it is. I don't know what else to say. I would love to be able to help my daughter respond to this - because I know it is upsetting her. I just can't tell her that her friend is wrong. But I can certainly list all the reasons her friend is right - and then maybe console her by telling her more than likely the friend is simply jealous of her "easy" lifestyle!
so here we go - a list of reasons why home school is easier than public school;

1. You can sleep when you are tired. Seems simply enough - but if my kids were in PS they would have to catch the bus at 7:10 AM - as it is now - they sleep until much later than that.

2. You can eat when you are hungry. Seems simply enough - but in PS you only get to eat at scheduled times. Personally - I'm enjoying my chips and dip as I type this.

3. You can go to the bathroom when you need to - but kids in PS don't get to do that. I remember how much stress this caused me.

4. You can learn about things that interest you, instead of what some committee of so-called professionals has decided that every single child with a birthday within the same time period must learn. A good example - my daughter is studying digital photography, learning how to sew aprons out of pillow cases, and researching different breeds of dogs because she is trying to convince her parents we need a canine companion. These are all things she would have to do in her "spare time" if she were a PS student. And since they spend 2 hours a day on the bus, 7 hours a day at the school building, and then 2-3 hours a day doing homework - I'm not real certain when that "free" time might happen. Lucky for her the principal at her school counts those topics as educational.

5. If you don't understand something - you have one-on-one tutoring available free of charge. And you can spend as much or as little time on a topic as you need. If you get the math problem the first time - you get to move on to bigger and better things even if the person next to you doesn't understand it. And if you don't understand it - you can spend the next 3 weeks figuring it out without anyone one belittling you or rushing you.

6. If you decide you have no interest in something - you can put it away to come back to later - or never. Why waste precious time memorizing boring stuff?

So - these are just the things I came up with off the top of my head. I would love to hear what others believe are reason home school is easier than public school.

Overheard at my house

2009-09-21T20:30:00.002-05:00

Having boys is so much fun - and never EVER boring. Today I hear Ash and Rayman yelling from the other room as they run towards me - as if- the first one to me automatically wins the fight.

Ash: "MOM!!! He won't stop kicking me just because I won't stop touching him!"

Rayman: "That wasn't kicking! that was just a foot touch - they don't count!"

Now really - what can you say to that kind of logic?

Bible Study Time

2009-09-17T06:56:00.003-05:00

During our morning Bible study, the children and I have been doing a great little book titled Write Upon My Heart: Obedience, published by Keepers of the Faith. I am enjoying this character study. We also have the Cheerfulness book.

But - I read from Jeanie's Journal about reading through the Bible. She hit home when she talked about children knowing all the Bible stories, and reading lots of PARTS of the Bible, but never actually reading all the way THROUGH the Bible. In her newsletter she sent a great little check list to print off to be able to mark off as you read through the New Testament.

Now I just love checklists!!! So I thought this would be great! I gathered all my children to me, and explained what we were doing and why we were changing. Then I turned to Mathew and started reading the introduction, and cheerfully explaining that these were man's words about God's words.

And my 11 yr old slowly raises her hand and gets that "I have something to say" look on her face. I sigh and wonder what is going to interrupt our Bible study time today. And my little scholar says
"Don't you think we should start in Genesis? That is the beginning. Starting in Mathew is like starting half way through the story."

I love my little angel. She makes an excellent point.

So I backed up - and we started at Genesis. We are only on day three. And I don't have a checklist for the Old Testament. But we are enjoying it. And we have had some really good conversations in the short time we have been doing this.

Pray for us that we can follow through and complete this "Assignment"

Resource Review: Exploring Creation with Astronomy

2009-09-14T07:59:00.003-05:00

Resource: Exploring Creation through Astronomy by Jeanie Fulbright

We first explored Astronomy with this resource when my children were 3rd grade, 1st grade and preschool. The 3rd grader devoured the material and thoroughly enjoyed all the activities. The younger two listened to the read aloud lessons - then drew pictures or acted out the things they had learned.

My oldest child loved this so much she ask if we could do the whole book again. So we are! This year my students are 6th grade, 4th grade, 1st grade and newborn.

We have planned out two days a week to do this. We may take longer than one semester to complete it. And that's fine with me - because I don't count semesters anyway.

Each lesson is laid out with a section to read, then a "What do you remember?" part with suggestions for discussion questions. It also includes activities and projects and notebooking ideas. There are lots of suggestions, and no way we could do all of them. So I let my children pick the ones that sound exciting to them. We are creating an Astronomy notebook as a family. Each child contributes to it, with the older children having more detailed and elaborate contributions than the younger.

It is set up so that each lesson can be easily done in about two weeks - depending on the age of the students. We tend to spend a little more time on things - and sometimes skip around. So in my house the 6th grader may be reading about and talking to the younger siblings about lesson 10 (Saturn) while I am reading lesson 3 (Mercury) to them. The 1st grader may be making a model of the solar system, while the 4th grader is building a model space ship out of K'nex that will take them all to Pluto.

It is Christian material - teaching in the very first lesson that God created the universe in 6 days. It is very economical, with each book being about $35 at the time of this writing. You need only one book for all of your students, and most of the activities can be done with items you probably have in your home. (There is a list broken down by lesson in the front of the book.)

We completely love this material, and will move on to the Flying Creatures, Swimming Creatures, and Land Animals soon. It gets four thumbs up from us! (that's one from each child using the material plus Mom.)

My Personal Miracle

2009-09-06T07:01:00.004-05:00

I posted this on my "old" blog - but felt I needed to transfer it here.

A Miracle at My House
God is so amazing and has blessed me so much I could never thank Him enough. A few months ago God gave me a miracle. A miracle so great that I will spend the rest of my life each day in prayer thanking Him for it.
April 1st started out just like any other day. My kids were having a blast playing April Fool’s Day jokes on me and each other. They did fun things like change the cereal boxes – so that the Raisin Bran was in the Honey Comb box. They created fake spiders and creepy crawlies and tried to scare Mom with them. They would laugh hearilty at my fake, and sometimes NOT fake, surprise!

In the afternoon my niece and nephew came over to play. They all went outside. It was a beautiful spring day. The boys decided to toss the football around.
And then it happened. The football landed on top of the patio awning. Jake, my 8 year old, decided he could climb to the top and retrieve it. And the other kids tell me he did fine going up and reaching it, but on the way back down….

On the way back down his foot got caught, and he lost his hold. He fell backwards, his tangled foot causing him to turn upside down so that his head hit the concrete first – 6 feet below.

My daughter came running inside screaming for me. She was talking so fast I could not understand her. When I got to Jake I was scared. He was trying to get up and walk to me, but could not.
I gathered all 6 kids into the van and rushed to the hospital. I have no idea why I didn’t call an ambulance – I was in shock. I couldn’t keep Jake awake while we were driving – he kept slumping over in his seat. The other kids kept talking to him – trying to keep him awake.

At the Emergency room they did a CAT scan of his head and neck – and then came to me with the bad news. He had two skull fractures of the parietal bone with bleeding on the brain. The emergency room doctor said he needed brain surgery and prepared us to be transferred to IU Medical center 3 hours away.

My mind was racing - would we all go? Would only one parent go and one stay home with the other children? How would we decide which parent would be with him? Selfishly I realized that becuase of the baby - I would probably be left behind while my husband accompanied Jake. My heart was being ripped from my chest. But God answered my first cries by finding a neurosurgeon at a local hospital – only 20 minutes away.

By the time I got to the second hospital Jake was not responding to his neurological checks. They were talking to us about brain surgery and a possible neck fracture. They transferred him to the pediatric ICU. Some things that happened in this time are a little fuzzy to me. All I know is that I called someone to start the pray chain, and everyone I knew was praying for my little boy.
The neuro doctor decided to wait on the brain surgery. It was so hard to sit there looking at my precious child all hooked up to all the monitors and machines. But I knew it would have been even harder to watch them wheel him into surgery to open his head and mess with his brain.
I sat in that chair next to his bed and prayed like I have never prayed for anything before. My poor little child, who taught himself to read at age 4, who sometimes annoys his big sister because he answers her math questions faster than she can, who asks questions like ‘do fish have eyelids?’ and ‘how does the I in soldier make a /j/ sound?’ was vomiting and losing control of his bowels and bladder, and unable to wake up.

And I prayed and prayed.
And God heard me – and answered my prayer. God reached down and put his hand on my precious child and healed him. Because the next day…

Jake just woke up. He sat up in the bed and asked if he could play video games.
It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. The doctors were amazed. Everyone who was praying was amazed. It was such a great thing – I think some people don’t believe me when I tell them how bad he was.
I know God granted me a miracle that day. And I will spend the rest of my life thanking Him for it.
God has great things planned for my little man. And I will do my very best to prepare him for whatever God has in mind.

Adventures in Camping

2009-09-01T15:16:00.012-05:00

One of the adventures Mr. Incredible is leading us into this year is camping. We bought a used pop-up, some coolers and folding chairs - and hit the road! We've been to a few camp grounds here in southern Indiana, the latest being Spring Mill Park.

I think this was our favorite so far. Of course, I might have said that with every place we have gone. Maybe I do this because each time we go I feel a little more comfortable and am able to relax. Or it might just be that we were with great friends, and this park has a lot to offer.

The playground was really awesome - surrounded by an almost dry creek bed. It made me long for my own childhood when my siblings and I would dig for crawdads and build forts.

We also got to wade in the creek by the mill. Even though it was 90 degrees that weekend - the creek was freezing! Well it does come from the spring

The kids really enjoyed the Gus Grissom Memorial - they have always been interested in Astronomy and Space travel. They were quite excited to learn we had an astronaut from right here in our own "back yard." And Ash made the announcement that he would be attending Purdue University to earn his engineering degree just like Mr Grissom.

How awesome that family vacations can lead to life goals!

Reasons we Homeschool

2009-08-17T09:08:00.003-05:00

This is our seventh year homeschooling. Each year we reevaluate to be certain our focus is where it needs to be. We have our reasons written out - so that on the days that not a single worksheet or math equation gets done - we know we are still doing the very best for our children.

Reasons We Homeschool
1. So that our children's faith in God and relationship with Jesus Christ will be so strong that when the secular world tempts them, they will easily be able to resist.

2. So that God will be glorified through our family's actions.

3. So that our family relationships will be strong. When our children have questions about any topic, they will feel comfortable coming to their parents for answers.

4. So that our children can explore and excel in their God given talents and gifts.

5. So that each child may have an individualized curriculum that meets the needs of each personality.

6. So that reading and studying God's infallible Word will become a part of their daily routine.

That is my written list, but there are many more reasons that I love, that I simply don't write down.
The freedom and flexibility to change our schedule whenever we deem appropriate. Such as grandma's having surgery and we need to take care of her. A cousin who hasn't started school yet wants to come spend a few days with us. We want to go visit relatives, or just go on an extended weekend trip.
Whenever I get frustrated because we aren't following the lesson plans I have spent so much time writing out, or when a curriculum that I agonized over just isn't working, I look back on my list to remind myself of the real reasons we are doing this. Nowhere on my list is "to finish so many math problems", or "to get through such-and-such curriculum."
If we have spent zero minutes on math or grammar, but have strengthened our family bond, or explored my children's talents, and have glorified God in some way, then we are meeting our goals.

Thank You, God, for introducing me to homeschooling

A Story by Ash

2009-08-10T14:13:00.002-05:00

Here's a sample of what my very creative kids come up with all on their own.

The adventures of Mr. Dragon Miss Cockroach Drill Fist and Hulk Boy

Once upon a time there was a boy named Hulk and he wanted to be a super hero. But his super powered parents would not let him. So he pretended to be one. He called himself Hulk boy. And his brother Drill Fist let Hulk Boy fight him. And Hulk Boy got old enough that his parents let him be a super hero. And he fought and fought and fought so much that he got tired of fighting so he stopped fighting. And started to work out

Cast of Characters

2009-08-10T09:37:00.007-05:00

Cast of Characters

Hi – I’m T. But some days I feel like Elastigirl! Always being stretched to my limits or pulled in a hundred different directions. But with God’s help I somehow manage to pull it all together without killing anyone.

I am married to Mr. Incredible. He is truly my superhero. He’s actually a computer geek, er, I mean IT professional. But he looks like Mr. Incredible to me, and he leads this family on lots of great adventures. We have 4 amazing children together.

Oldest daughter is 11 – going on 25. When I asked her what fictional character would best describe her, she picked Teyla Emmagan, from Stargate Atlantis. My first thought was ‘You just want to kick some hiney like she does.’ But the more I think about it – the more I believe she is right. Both DD11 and Teyla are born to be great leaders, able to make difficult decisions while showing great compassion and empathy. And they can both kick some enemy tushy when needed.

Son #1 is Ash Ketchum, “greatest Pokemon Trainer in the world”. My Ash is 8 year old, but wise beyond his years. I know God has great things planned for this young man. He dreams of becoming a builder and an inventor – and is always telling us about ideas he has to improve the world.

Son #2 is 7 years old. He has requested that he be called Rayman, from the Nintendo game of the same name. He makes me laugh. Rayman, like my son, has his own language, which makes perfect sense to him, but no one else. Rayman has some nifty powers – being able to jump incredible distances, and climb insurmountable surfaces, and destroy things by throwing bolts of energy out of his fists. He can even twirl his ears to fly like a helicopter!! DS started doing all these things by 15 months old!! The professionals call these special powers Sensory Processing Disorder, but we just call him son.

And then there’s Princess Buttercup. The Princess is only 6 months old, but she believes the world revolves around her. And we have done very little to convince her otherwise.

Welcome to our strange and wonderful life.