Summer Camp

Whew.  Summer.  is.  here.  The sun is blazing and the temperatures are rising to over 100.  But I'm not complaining.  We've had relatively mild summer weather for the past few weeks and I am grateful for that.  In fact, Wednesday felt more like spring -- cool and breezy.  I actually drove with the windows down (something I never do) and the kids loved it.  Annabelle was giggling with delight as her hair blew across her face.  "This is SO FUN!" she exclaimed.  Jacob wore a smile the whole ride. I love that something as simple as riding in the car with the windows down can bring such joy.  It's the little things in life....

The past few weeks have certainly been an adventure for all of us -- a fun-filled, action-packed, busy, busy, busy, but very rewarding adventure.  I am working at our church summer camp...all day, five days a week.  So, Jacob and Annabelle are at summer camp too...all day, five days a week.  I'm not gonna lie.  It's been quite an adjustment for all of us.  But, I think we're starting to settle into the routine.  Annabelle has had to bid farewell to her three hour long afternoon nap.  Now her afternoons are filled with activities.  It's a little tough for her to handle, but she's a trooper.  She typically falls asleep three seconds after I buckle her car seat to go home and doesn't wake up until the next morning.  Jacob's having a blast.  He's made several new friends  who are just as into Star Wars and LEGOS as he is.  ( I have a class of 16, 10 of which are boys.)  Since Tuesdays and Thursdays are beach days at summer camp, we've already been to the beach more times than we usually go all summer long.  We go on a field trip each Wedsneday.  Jacob loves that.  He loves riding on the church bus.  Actually, ALL the kids love riding on the church bus.  Getting there truly is half the fun.

So, our summer is and will continue to be busy.  And I expect this blog will continue to be somewhat neglected. It's not that I don't have anything to write about.  Oh, I could share a million stories.  But finding the time to share those stories is proving to be difficult.  But, I'll do my best to get one in...here and there...along with a few pictures.  :)  Happy Summer!

Chocolate Cake

On most nights at our house, bedtime is usually preceded by storytime.  Sometimes Mommy reads a book.  Sometimes Daddy reads a book.  Sometimes Daddy tires of reading the same books over and over again, so he makes up his own story instead.  Other times, instead of using his own ideas, Daddy turns to classic comedy for inspiration.  Remember Bill Cosby's infamous stand-up routine with the bit about giving his kids chocolate cake for breakfast?  If not, CLICK HERE to refresh your memory.  It is hilarious and not possible to watch without falling into fits of laughter. 

I am not sure why Heath decided to tell the chocolate cake story to our kids that night, but it has become a favorite.  I hear it several times a day now as Jacob and Annabelle tell and retell it to each other, adding their own little touches.  Parts of it remind me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  No matter who is telling or who is listening, the story always ends with a roar of giggles.  

And not to be outdone by her brother..........

Beautiful Silence

Quiet.  My house is quiet.  Yes, that's right.  My.  house.  is.  quiet.  I hear a light, drizzle of rain falling on the roof; birds calling to one another from tree to tree; the quiet hum of our refrigerator.  It's an unusual moment -- one with which I am not very familiar.  I am tempted to turn on some music...to shut out the stillness...to hush the quietness.  But instead, I am learning to enjoy this unfamiliar, yet beautiful, silence. 

Typically, my days are filled with noise -- children laughing, children fighting, children talking, children crying, music, singing, toy pianos, electronic drums, etc... I am used to hearing noise all day long.  It usually doesn't bother me.  In fact, I like a little bit of noise.  I even sleep better with background noise, like the quiet whirring of a fan or the air conditioner.  The only time I really need quiet is when I am trying to study or concentrate on something.  Like the other day, when I needed to put my Bible study lesson together, I needed quiet.  I didn't get it.  I put in my order, but what I received was quiet with a few sides of "Mommy, will you...  Mommy, can you...  Mommy, watch this!"  That's just the way it goes in our house.  And I wouldn't have it any other way.

But right now, I am enjoying these moments. Jacob is away on an overnight trip with his grandparents.  Annabelle is taking a nap.  And I have a few quiet moments all to myself.  All is well.

_______________________________________________

I typed this a couple weeks ago, but forgot about it and never published it.  It's funny to me now.  There hasn't been a moment of silence since.  :) 

Last Wednesday, on the way to church, the kids were being a little more loud than usual.  Annabelle hadn't had a nap, which only added to the hectic nature of our day.  After being in the car for only a couple minutes, I turned the radio down longing for a few peaceful moments.  Jacob immediately shouted, "I can't hear the music!"  We had been listening to the songs he's learning in children's choir, which just happen to be contemporary versions of old hymns.  "Jacob," I said quietly, "I just need a minute of peace.  I haven't had any peace today."  Of course, Jacob had a very quick response.  "But, Mommy, this music is peaceful," he said.  I asked him what made the music peaceful.  He replied, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus is peaceful...the words...and the music..."  Well, perhaps he was partly right, but at that moment, what I really wanted was peace...and quiet. 

 

Easter...a month later

Life is definitely keeping us busy...and causing time to sail a little faster.  I seem to be running here, there, and everywhere these days (both physically and mentally).  I admit, all the busyness can be exhausting, but I guess I'd rather be busy than idle.  As Proverbs 31:27 says, "She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness."

I've been reading Proverbs 31 a lot lately.  While preparing for a Bible study a couple weeks ago, I was drawn to this particular chapter.  The study was on Lydia and I was looking for parallels between her life and the Proverbs 31 verses.  There were several.  It's always amazing how even after reading a scripture passage several times, God has a way of making it seem brand new.  God's word is truly  alive!  As I read verses 10 - 31, I felt a huge twinge of conviction. Is this really what I should be aspiring to?  Really?  Wow.  Yikes.  We're talking about me, here.  This could take several lifetimes.  I just don't think it's possible.  But the more I read, the more I realized it all comes down to verse 30 (perhaps, the most well-known of these verses).  "Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised."  The fact is, my number one priority should be to honor God and draw closer to Him everyday.  To depend on Him for everything. If I can put all my trust in Him and remain within His will, He will take care of the rest and in His time, mold me into the Proverbs 31 woman He wants me to be.  (I certainly can't do it on my own.)  While I recognize and believe this to be true, unfortunately, it is easier said than done.  For it is the busyness of life which causes my prorities to shift...but with God's help, I will do my best to stay on track. 

Well, I had not intended to go into all that, but my mind tends to ramble sometimes.  This post was meant to be about Easter, soooo.....

A couple weeks before Easter, I brought out the resurrection eggs.  Both kids L-O-V-E those eggs...and I love that they L-O-V-E them.  Each day, either during our regular morning Bible time or later in the day (or both) we went through the Easter story.  Jacob and Annabelle split up the eggs evenly and opened them up as the story went on.  First I told them the story, then they usually wanted to tell me the story themselves afterwards -- such a great way to teach them what Easter is all about.

Of course, keeping up the tradition, we dyed eggs.  Nothing fancy.  No all-natural, homemade veggie and fruit dyes this year.  Just good ole Paas.  And it was so much easier.  And the kids were just as happy.

We only dyed one dozen.  That's all they (and I) had the patience for anyway.  Twelve was quite enough.  Jacob wrote on a few with the invisible "magic" wax crayon.  I was slightly dismayed, but not at all surprised, when I pulled his orange egg out of the dye and read the word "poop" which he had written on the side.  "Jacob, really??  Why did you write 'poop' on the side of your Easter egg?" I asked.  He laughed and laughed, then finally said, "I guess 'poop' isn't really an Easter word.  Here, I'll fix it."  He grabbed the sticker sheet, picked out one of a cross and covered up his non-Easter word.  "A cross is better than poop," he said.  "Becase Jesus died on a cross." 

While Jacob was writing "poop" on the side of his egg, Annabelle was dying her pink shirt blue. Thank goodness for OxiClean. It washed that blue dye right out.

Annabelle loves flowers.  Everywhere we go, she picks flowers -- landscaping around buildings, other people's gardens, from the flower stands at the farmer's market, and all other places where she shouldn't be picking them.  It's a little embarrassing.  She picked one from a farmer's market stand once and handed it to me.  "I love you, Mommy," she said, happily.  Then what do I do?  I mean, it was such a sweet gesture, but it was a stolen flower.  I knew she would cry if I threw it to the ground, but I didn't want to walk around holding a flower that I didn't pay for.  I explained to her that she should not pick flowers like that.  Unfortunately, we've had the same conversation several times and it seems she would rather go to time out than to leave the flowers alone.

Given her love of flowers, we sent her a little Easter bouquet.  It arrived just as we were finishing the eggs -- perfect timing.  She loved it...and she could pick these all she wanted.  :)

Easter morning, the kids hurried through their baskets so we could get ready for church.  The Easter Bunny was light on candy this year and the kids didn't seem to mind.  Actually, I think they received just the right amount.  Good job, Easter Bunny!  **wink, wink**

After the baskets, we were off to church to celebrate.

We went out for lunch after church, then headed home.  Annabelle was wired from Easter candy.  Unbeknownst to Heath and I, she had polished off almost an entire chocolate bunny in the car on the way from church to the restaurant.  She had gotten it from church and just couldn't wait to get into that box.  Jacob, as usual, had a little more restraint.  He waited until after lunch to eat his.  With all that chocolate, back yard playtime was absolutely necessary.  Actually, we went for a "family run."  I quickly volunteered to stay with Annabelle.  We ran some and walked some and she had a blast.  Heath ran with Jacob.  He let Jacob set the pace and he ended up running the whole way -- about 1.8 miles!  He was so excited to be running with his Daddy.
 

We ended the day with a load of laundry since Annabelle's beautiful white dress was now striped with cranberry juice and chocolate.  OxiClean to the rescue! 

And that was our Easter -- full of fun and surprises -- all while celebrating and rejoicing in the fact that HE IS RISEN!

Little Fishy

While Jacob took swimming lessons, Annabelle happily waited with me...out of the water.  She only really had one lesson before allergies got the best of her.  With a runny nose, a cough, and then hives, we decided to keep her out of the water.  So, Jacob was able to get private lessons.  It actually worked out better, in my opinion.  When Annabelle started feeling better, her lessons resumed.  I am happy with her progress.  Even though there were usually tears before each lesson, she did fine once she finally got into the water.  She even liked it.  When I picked her up, she was always extremely proud of herself and couldn't wait to tell me everything she did.  She seems to enjoy the water a lot more now.  One of her favorite things to do is practice blowing bubbles in the bathtub, and she likes to show us how she can swim like a fish. 

I am very proud of her for trying her best.  Unfortunately, the local pool isn't offering private lessons anymore and all the group classes are filled.  The next round of classes begins in June, so I'm praying we'll be able to reserve a spot then.  In the meantime, I guess we'll be blowing lots of bubbles in an extra full bathtub! 

Daytrip Edventure

The Memory Master celebration continued when we took a daytrip to Edventure, a children's museum.  The kids had a blast and they wore themselves out.  Both of them fell asleep on the drive home. I was glad for that.  On the two and a half hour trip to the museum, I let Jacob have "control" of the radio.  Can you guess what we listened to ?  Yep.  The Classical Conversations memory work cd's.  On the way home, I declared our car a CC-free zone.  Jacob agreed to my terms and promptly fell asleep, but not before singing the presidents song. Of course, Annabelle sang along.

If you Give a Mouse a Cookie

Planting a garden

If only this cookie was real...

The firetruck and firestation was a favorite for both of them.  Check out Annabelle's form as she "slides" down the pole. 

He did it!!

• The entire timeline of 160 events from creation to modern times
• Twenty-four history sentences about U.S. history, including the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights
•  Twenty-four science questions and answers covering human anatomy, chemistry (including the first twelve elements in the periodic table by number and mass), and origins
• Skip counting through the fifteens, plus squares and cubes, conversions, and math laws
• All fifty states and their capitals, plus seventy physical features on the U.S. map
• Twenty-four definitions or lists from English grammar
• Latin vocabulary lists and John 1:1-7 in Latin and English
• The forty-four U.S. presidents

Pretty impressive list of information, right?  Even more impressive, Jacob knows it all.  Five year old Jacob.  He knows the answer to every single question.  He can tell you the 160 timeline events without missing a beat.  Ask him to recite John 1:1-7 in Latin, and he'll happily do it.  Ask him about catastrophism.  He'll fill you in.  Ask him to name the parts of the digestive system, and he'll give you a list.  He can show you Puget Sound, Death Valley, the Sonoran Desert, and the Red River on the U.S. map.  He can skip count the thirteens and tell you about the associative laws for addition and multiplication.  The child is a marvel.  There is no other word.

A few weeks ago, Jacob was officially named a Memory Master and I couldn't be more proud.  :)  In Classical Conversations, the ultimate challenge for each student is to become a Memory Master.  To be a Memory Master, the student must demonstrate that he/she has mastered all the information learned during the year.  He recited all the information to me, then a few days later, Heath quized him on everything.  A few days later, he recited all the information to his tutor, then the CC director, who officially named him a Memory Master.  Yay!!

During the last couple weeks leading up to his final review, I was a wreck.  I had that same anxious feeling I used to get before a big college exam.  Jacob seemed unfazed about the whole thing.  He knew all the information and learning it was fun for him.  He loves listening to his CC cd's and loves reading through the history sentences, etc...  Evenso, I felt compelled to make him review a lot more than usual.  I probably got on his nerves.

The thing is, learning is fun for him.  He loves it.  He loves CC.  The week before he became a Memory Master, if we were in the car, you can bet we were listening to that CC cd.  After it was all over, I was never so happy to listen to something else; however, Jacob and I had differing opinions.  He still wanted to listen to the CC cd.  Even now, several weeks later, he asks to listen to it and begs me to quiz him on all the information.  He just can't get enough.

Heath and I are super proud of him for earning the Memory Master title.  After quizzing him one night, Heath walked up to me with a look of amazement.  "I feel inferior to my five year old," he said. "He knows more than I do."

The night after the Memory Master testing, we went out for a celebratory meal.  Jacob chose the restaurant -- Sonic.  "Sonic is a good place for celebrating, " he said. 

We also rewarded him with (what else?) LEGOS.  He got to choose whatever he wanted from the LEGO store when we went to Virginia a few days later.  It was a happy day indeed.  Congratulations Memory Master Jacob!  You did it!! 

building minifigures at the LEGO store

Ready to build!!