A slower week..

Today I am thankful for a slower week.  I do not thrive on busyness.  I quickly become irritable and stressed.  Our church is currently doing a sermon series called "Weird" and we are reading a book by the same title.  I am learning many things in this series, one of them is God's will for my time.  God has given me all the time I need to do everything He would have me do.  It feels so good to slow down.  I am grateful the soccer season is coming to a close, no more rushing around on Saturday mornings.  I am incredibly grateful that God has given me a heart that is open to hearing His voice.  At times I would think that there was something weird about me because I have a strong passion for staying home as a wife and mother, which means living a more humble lifestyle.  Am I lazy?  No, I don't think so.  I truly believe this is what the Lord has called me to do.  I may be "weird," but I hope I am weird in a "God way."

Timmy was home this week and we got to spend a lot of time together as a family.  Timmy was super duper helpful around the house, allowing me to spend lots of time working on projects and of course do school with Jamie.

Sunday was my birthday.  I am now 34 years old.  I'm feeling pretty good about it.  I am exceedingly grateful for my life.  We went to church (Timmy flew in from NY and met us.)  Then we came home and had pancakes before we took off to pick apples and pumpkins.  For dinner we ordered delicious Italian take out.  My parents stopped by.  And we generally just laid about.

Monday was co-op as usual.  At recess a group of mothers and I notice some kids sitting in a circle singing a song.  We soon realized they were singing the "timeline" song.  The timeline, is the timeline of the entire history of the world.  Currently we are up to John the Baptist.  I just loved that the children had chosen to sit and sing that song in their free time.  Being a public school teacher for 5+ years I have spent plenty of time observing children on the playground.  I have heard kids singing inappropriate songs for sure, never something like this.  I know there is going to come a time when something is going to happen in our homeschooling life that I am NOT going to like, but for now I am treasuring theses fantastic moments.

Tuesday we had our Harvest Party at the Gaeng house.  I LOVE tradition, I mean super love it.  We have had the same group of families come to our home to celebrate God's provision in the harvest for three years now.  Everyone brought a snack to share, the kiddos made fall crafts, harvested tomatoes from our garden and generally ran around like crazy people.  The Denny's were the last to leave, which I love.  Hanging out with that family is something I can easily do for 10 straight hours.

Wednesday  Timmy worked around the house while Jamie and I did school.  We continued with blends, spent a good bit of time on Spanish, did Bible and calendar and reviewed memory work using the trifold board for the first time.  The trifold board (which I got from Half-a-Hundred Acre Wood) ended up being a FANTASTIC from of review throughout the week.  Since it is pretty huge and sits right in our dining Jamie was attracted to often and reviewed his memory without prompting.  He even asks to listen to the CC memory work tutorials online.  

Wednesday afternoon we headed to a nearby trail and had a really beautiful fall walk.  Since I had to take Dendrology in college I can identify a variety of trees with out a book.  We observed  tulip poplars, sassafras, beech and a variety of oak trees.  I pointed the identifying features out to Jamie as we walked along.  Science... check!!!

Making words with initial blends using the Sing Spell Read and Write curriculum.

Looking for invertebrates in the forest!

Thursday was gymnastics  morning and then Jimmy came home with us so Jamie had a full day of play.  I believe this to be of the utmost importance at this age.  The boys played and played and played... outside, inside and in every room in the house.  I watched from afar as they pitched and batted to one another (the Orioles vs Yankees.)  It was wonderful.  I plan to steal Jimmy so he can't go to kindergarten next year.

Healthy yumminess.  

Friday Jamie and I went to the grocery store, bank and library.  We also checked off things on his "Dailies" chart.... I felt I needed to create a simple chart of necessary things Jamie must accomplish each day.  As he completes each task he puts a smiley face on the chart.  There is no reward for "earning" smiley faces.  I am always trying to set him up to be intrinsically motivated.  He seems to just simply enjoy most of his "dailies" and the ones he does not we work through.  So here is Jamie's list of must-dos...

Doing a job to earn money.

Bible, calendar, memory work, listening to read alouds (usually science based), reading independently, piano, Story of the World and chores.  He also has the option to do "jobs" to earn money.  The jobs are not required, but are on the Daily chart to remind him of the option.  He does like to do jobs though.  When he earns his money he must distribute it into three different banks in his room... a tithing bank, savings bank and spending bank.  We are teaching the 10-10-80 principal.  I am praying this will become second nature to him as he grows.  It will make his life that much easier as he enters adulthood. I wish I had learned this long ago.    

  

Friday night we headed to "free gym" at gymnastics and then to Bible Study.  It was fantastic as usual.  Jamie and I stayed about a half hour after everyone else had left.  I am beyond blessed by my new friendships.

Saturday Jamie had his soccer game and on the way decided that he did indeed like soccer and would like to play again next season.  He will change his mind 13 times between now and then.  After soccer we headed to Target where he used his own money to buy a new star wars toy. (Before we went to the store Jamie had to count out his money to see how much he had.  He is really learning money this way.) Then we headed to Pop Pop and Ga Ga's.


My life is blessed.