Twenty-One

Yes, Jordan turned 21 years old this week. Kind of sad that I'm so old, yet happy for Jordan to celebrate another year of life. Sometimes with all the chaos and difficulties of raising a larger family, I forget to appreciate or notice her accomplishments.

*When she puts her mind to it, she is a very hard worker.
*She started taking classes at the local community college at age 15 and has been there since that time.
*After struggling with a couple of different courses of study, she decided on Criminal Justice.
*In between classes, she heads off to work at a local law firm.
*She has a tender heart.

I am very proud of her, but often fail to say it or show it.




No, those aren't Joy's glass, and Yes, my windows need cleaning.


Our Girls


The Posse




Millie, age 13, interrupting our photo shoot.

Recital

Ivy had her spring piano recital this week. She did great, had her music memorized, and did not flinch. I thought for sure that she would be nervous in front of all the people, but not so. I was nervous for her, but she was all smiles when it was over.

School

Remember when Eva struggled with putting 2 letters together like "ti" just to make a sound?  Well, I have to say I am so proud of her now!  We were reading this today:



Joy did some lacing cards, which she has become quite proficient at:


I'll start serious schooling with Joy in the fall.

And Ivy...well, she still needs to hear and say words correctly. When she tried to spell breakfast for me, I realized that she is just saying it all wrong. She was saying brefess, thus making a mess of the word. See if you can decipher this message:



Did you guess? "I ate pasta, steak, Chinese salad. It tasted very good." I can understand the mistake with pasta sounding like the short "o" and the salad having a short "e". I have even made the mistake of using every instead of very in my younger years. But, I have to say I've never asked for "cow" for dinner. Yes, she's got a long way to go, but she is doing great!

Lost Forever?

Yes, it is soccer season.  Jack's been outside kicking the ball around.  Can you tell?

Can you see it?  Look closely.

Even with this weekend's storms it did not budge.  I don't think we will be getting that ball down.  But, I guess it is better to have a ball stuck in the tree than one of the children.  That actually happened to Seth when he was 7 years old.  I was in the house with the doors closed and did not hear him scream for help.  Apparently, he tied himself to the tree...with my belt.  He was not too happy when he rang the front doorbell after managing to squeeze himself out of the belt.  I thank God for His protection over my children, especially when I'm oblivious to it all.  It is a bad combination when you have a tree, a belt, a risky boy.

Saturday Morning Bums

Moxie and Jordan

Seventeen

Oh, to be 17 years old again? No thank you! My, son, Seth, just celebrated this week. He tests me. He pushes my buttons. He gives me gray hair. He makes me laugh and cry. Had we raised him to age 17 before having other children, he would have been an only child. That said, I love him.



Enjoy Ivy's piano playing for Seth. She was quite pleased with herself.

CO-OP

We participate in a home school co-op on Fridays.  It has been a lot of fun for the children.  Even Seth has seemed to enjoy his classes.  Although it is only 3 hours, all 5 of the children seemed to have learned quite a bit.  Many of the classes are very interesting.  I wish I was a little more creative and could offer to teach something of interest.  I did teach a fallacy class for the 12+ age group.  I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the kids, and I think they enjoyed my class.  Joy's classes were all preschool age.  Every week she showed off some artwork, and we are currently trying to grow her lima bean plant.  Eva took a phonics, PE, and music class.  She brought home some interesting instruments she made.  It looked like lots of fun for her.  She made a guitar, a drum, maracas, and a couple of horns.

Jack took an Early American History class, a WWII class, and an Iditarod class.  Jack chose a musher, and charted the Iditarod dog race online.  He also made a large map of all the check points.  At the last class, everyone participated in an Ikidarod.  Jack was the lead dog on his sled, and his team won the race!

Here is Jack at one of his checkpoints, eating snacks and putting on his "booties".

Ivy took an art class, math class, and science class.  She has brought home a lot of artwork, and continues her drawing throughout the week.  Here is one piece she made for me.

(She's come a long way from when she tried to bolt out the door the day we met.)

And, as I mentioned in previous posts, Seth took a photography class.  He also took a personal finance class and his favorite class, PE.  Ah, boys!

If anyone knows of a great home school site for creative teaching/classes, I'd love to know about it!  I really am lacking in the "creative" field.

And, just for fun...I saw this weird statue nearby.  I have no idea what it means.

Time With Mom

This week, I took the girls to my mother's about 3 hours away.  We left our house on a partly-sunny 50-degree Tuesday morning, went through sleet, snow, rain, and more sun before arriving shortly after noon.  What crazy weather!

While the girls played, memories of an easier life danced around in my mind.  Visions of my mom at my age now seem so clear.  I wish I knew her better when she was in her 40's.  What were her hopes?  Fears?  Passions?  She shared some stories of her childhood, as is common when we are alone together.  She grew up very poor.  She had no modern conveniences as some of her friends.  A blurred television was something she could only hope for.  Indoor plumbing?  Yes, they had running water in the kitchen sink, but had to take the soft path to the outhouse.  Years later, I hiked down that same path at Grandma's, with fear, hoping a snake, mountain lion, or bear would not choose to take a bite out of me.  My mom shared how she would walk to the bottom of the mountain to meet some handsome man, fresh out of the army.  This same man was divorced, not something her father would approve of.  He was a drinker, too, and 9 years older than my mom.  But, he was quite taken with her.  After a 6-month courtship, they married in a courthouse in Virginia.  That wild man was my father in 1963.  Mom and Dad were married 35 years before he died very suddenly one sunny December afternoon.  I had a hard time when I lost my father.  I lived in Illinois at the time.  Jack had just been born 5 weeks earlier, and it was Christmas. My only comfort came from knowing that he loved the Lord with all his heart.   As much as I ached, I cannot imagine what my mom must have experienced.  She had been completely dependent upon my dad.  After his death, she had to learn so many things.  She had never even pumped gas for the car or used an ATM machine.

That was over 12 years ago.  She has accomplished so much in these years.  Fear was her enemy during that first year of losing Dad.  It is so amazing to see her at peace and full of confidence.  This is peace and confidence from the Lord.  He has blessed her in so many ways, taken such good care of my mother.  It was so good just to spend a couple of days by her side, being her daughter.

God Gave Me Weird Kids

We lost Joy today...briefly. Actually, it was about an hour. But after about 45 minutes of wondering where she was, I finally asked Eva. It turns out, she was sleeping in her brothers' closet. It is a good thing I keep such a close eye on my kiddos!