Paper Dolls

For those of you with little girls who are learning to cut, these paper dolls are adorable and fun...and FREE!! Enjoy!
Click HERE.

A Day In The Life

I've had a few friends ask me how my day usually goes, mainly because they are considering homeschooling. I sat down and thought about it finally. Now, listen--before I do this, please understand that this is a typical day...some days are better, some are worse, just like everyone else's life.
7:30ish: Get up and run, because my husband is awesome and makes sure that if the kids wake before I'm done, they aren't screaming for me. I love him.
8:30ish: Hopefully the kids have eaten and are dressed. If not, I work on that. If so, we start our school work. This may be changing in the future, as I think that I would rather have play time in the morning and school work while Payge is sleeping. I think this will build camaraderie in them, even more-so than now. Plus, I think (think being the key word here, it's not proven) that my kids' creative time is morning, so we should do projects and such or just free play with imagination at work during this time.
What school is to us:

• About 15-20 minutes of Saxon Math 1. Sometimes Chayce participates, sometimes she doesn't. I don't force her to, as she's just four, but there are some lessons she is present for that she just gets.
• While Zac is working on his daily review sheet (a sheet of math problems to work out that we do before introducing the new topic for the day), Chayce and I read through her McGuffey Primer. (for a free copy of McGuffey on the Gutenberg project, click here)
  
• 10 minutes of First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind. We've been covering nouns for the past 40 lessons, and are now onto pronouns.
• 10 minutes of hand writing instruction. At first this was individual letters, we are now starting on spelling words and rules in a notebook. We use both Handwriting Without Tears and Spelling Power.
  
• We then embark on our history journey. I never know how long this will take because sometimes the kids really get into a lesson and we start looking more things up and just keep going, and sometimes they are bored out of their minds! We are using The Story of the World by Susan Wise Bauer.

Then if we have time, we play...but like I said, this will be changing--well, no, we'll still be playing after we are done. Just at a different hour. ha!
Lunch around 12:30. The baby naps from 1:30-3:30 on average.
We play more, and clean up, make dinner and say hi to Stephen by 5:30. It really does fly by. Which is another reason to move the school part, so we have more time for loud play, as the quiet play during nap time just isn't, well...it isn't as gratifying as running around and yelling, you know?

As for cleaning up, I do have a system, but it is a mish-mash of a few systems that I have read about over the past few years, so I don't really know which system to give credit to. There are many good ones, I'll tell you that much, just pick one and stick to it. As for my schedule, I suppose I'll give credit to me, since I typed it and put it into a binder for myself.

After dinner, we may read more stories, play more, take baths, visit somewhere, or just each do our own thing. Then bedtime, and we start it all over again the next day. Whew!

Eavesdropping

I have a confession to make: I'm not always nice being patient is a skill I'm still working on. I talk about this with my husband regularly, because I feel honesty is the best policy, and I'm really trying to be an amazing parent. I mean, God sent them here not only for them to be raised, but for me to learn something as well, and so I better work on learning, don't you think? Well, obviously, our son has overheard some of the conversations Stephen and I have had, here's why I think so...

This morning, me: "Ug! I really want to be mad right now. I want to jump up and down and yell, but I'm not going to. BUT, I want you to know that I want to."
(Might I add, in my defense here, that Chayce had just used my stage make-up kit (that is sweat proof--hence, water proof) to create a mural on her bedroom wall, while I was trying to teach Zac math, which for some reason he was having a hard time concentrating on because he'd rather eat, but he'd eaten twice already and it was only 10 am!)

Zac (to me): "Wow, Mom. Just think of how much we're teaching you right now. Oh, and you handled today much better than the other day, so we are definitely giving you enough practice."

AAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK!! I really think they are out to get me.

Just so you're warned, before the side effects start

see more Funny Graphs

Life Is Good

Wow. I know, it's not Thanksgiving yet, but shouldn't every day be? We've been down with the goobery sniffles, but I can't complain.

Chayce read her first full sentence yesterday! It was so wonderful to sit and listen to her read me a short story. Even better? The camaraderie of my children--Zac was quick to tell her how awesome she did, and that he's so glad that now they can read together. I felt like my heart would pop!

Stephen has been in Atlanta, but the awesome news is, he is ahead of schedule and gets to come home early tonight!

I was cleaning the play room, when Payge came and plopped onto my lap (I was sorting, so I was sitting). I felt so peaceful and was almost excited that I remembered to take time to snuggle her rather than tell her to wait til I was done. Definitely an answer to a prayer I've been praying for awhile--that I'll remember to put them before the chores.

That we have some interviews coming up. We're excited, but I don't know what to think...wow, it seems like it's going slow, but then--is life going to hit me fast and furious soon? Eeek!

God is good. I know he's listening. What is even more exciting is when you know that your spouse is listening, too, and praying for you. I am amazed at the times when I am praying about a trial, and my husband will come to me and say, "I was praying for you, and I just felt as though you needed X,Y, or Z." (which, might I add, is what I had asked for in my prayer) Now THAT my friends, is what marriage is all about. That and spousely cuteness.

And a funny:
Zachary came in and asked me what cuff links were, as it had been in a song we heard. Chayce was sitting and listening to my explanation, and then said, "Wait a minute...then what are duck-links?" (ducklings).

Glasses too

I want to wear glasses like Zach!













Or sunglasses, like dad!











Zachary and Chayce at the neighborhood Arts Cafe














Payge being dramatic after lunch on our way to Indianapolis to see the twitch doctor.













Chayce in leaves.











Walking home from the park while mommy was running in Indy.

An experiment

This video has the interesting title "It's hard to be God." Before you watch the video, be ready for an experiment. Before 30 seconds has passed, ask yourself what role the fallen character will play in relation to the title. Remember your answer, watch the video, then read on below.




I'm guessing most of you did not judge the "fallen" character well based on dress and attitude. But he was sent to do God's work. How often do we reject a potential messenger because they do not appear as we expected?

There are several other interesting points about the video. First, the fallen character only changed aspects of the situation. He never forced anyone to behave in an ideal way. Second, saving lives (and souls) is messy. The potential side effects of one solution are hard to anticipate* and we must humbly try again and again. This process of repetitive influence without violating individual choice is a good approach to family, friendships, work relations, and politics.




*Brief rant: We should use this fact to give ourselves and our leaders (religious, political, or otherwise) a bit of a break. No one has THE solution. We only have A solution. And any solution we implement WILL CAUSE the next set of problems. Here is where I won't give (political) leaders a break - when will they have the humility to acknowledge that they are creating problems as fast as solutions and to stop encouraging constituents to idealize policy to the point of protecting policy beyond its usefulness. Let's free ourselves from the left/right dogmatism encouraged by the depublicans and remocrats.

Inspiring on a Sunday

A Missionary's Vision

After marriage God called me to the mission field -

A little bundle needing all my care,
A disciple in touch with my life, obedient to all he hears.
Then came some more all in a row.
Everywhere I went, six little arrows in tow.
God had to call me again to His mission field.
I answered, "To China, to Africa, to Israel, oh where?"
His voice was clear, soft and gentle. My ministry arranged -
"My child, you are to polish our arrows,
Preparing them for My call to spread my
Words of life for other nations to see."
"Lord," I cried, "Loneliness surrounds my soul,
No other woman stands with me answering your call.
The sacrifice is great."
Women give way to another's voice, pulling them away
from their home, far from the quiver."
Once more I pleaded, "May I go too, Lord, I feel the call
To share with the lost, Life giving words,
To feed the hungry a satisfying meal."
"My child," Jesus replied, "You share with your
children salvation and truth.
Feed them meals under your roof.
Discipline them, train them and then lie down in peace,
For sacrificial love have you given to make the world right.
Arise in the morning, open My book,
Teach them into My eyes they must look."
"Yes, Lord, I replied, "But should I serve you in a more obvious way?"
"Child, my sweet child," God spoke once more.
I anointed you to do this work - the high calling of Motherhood.
To show our children the need for my love."
"Lord,", I sought out, still not fully convinced,
"Should I sew for those in thread barren clothes, a Dorcas, a Martha?"
"Sit at my feet, my child, listen to me.
Your daughter needs dresses, your sons warm shirts,
The button of your husband's coat still lies on the table.
Pick up your mantle, the rod of Aaron.
Lead my women back to their home.
"Yes, Lord." Filled and content, I took my position in God's mission field.
Hungry faces graced my bedside.
Clothed in God's mantle, children at my side,
I prepared breakfast.

----Paula Muller of Brodnax, Va

I Saw The Twitch Doctor...

Today was our big day. We drove to Indianapolis yesterday to go to Riley's Children's Hospital. It was a great trip, and we learned a lot. Mainly that Zac has a tic disorder, where his tics will change and come and go over time. For example, a nose twitch for a few weeks, lips for a few weeks, sometimes a combination, then perhaps it'll move to another area. We'll keep watching him over time, because if it starts compounding then they consider it Tourette's Syndrome. The interesting part was when they started asking about family history, they had to interview me in the same way they had interviewed Zac, due to the syndrome being genetic, in order to figure out what Zac had. Since I'd never been diagnosed by a neurologist for anything, he had to start from the beginning. It was as though we got two doctors appointments for the price of one (I am a budget shopper!). After outlining most of my adolescence and young adult years (which aren't over yet. ha ha), it was determined that I already have full on Tourette's. If you ever wondered the difference between tics and Tourette's, it is that those with Tourette's have multiple physical twitches as well as vocal, but the vocal doesn't have to be words, it can be clearing the throat, swallowing uncontrollably, or even sniffing. Good to know.

Anyhow, the trip itself was so much fun because of our kids. A few memorable moments for us...

Chayce getting off the carousel at the Indy Children's Museum saying, "Good horse. Yeah, you did good."

Payge, walking UP the slide and DOWN the stairs at the children's museum. She did this for a full 15 minutes.

Zac, calling the doctor his twitch doctor, which led to us singing, "I Saw The Witch Doctor" as a family.

Payge, getting a diaper out and insisting it was called a butt. Oops! I suppose I should be more clear with her when I say it's time for a new one... Did I mention this was during Zac's exam?

In Riley, Zac saying "Look! A child adapting table." Me, looking around confused until I see the baby changing table, and he says to me, "It was supposed to be funny, Mom."

The doctor asked Zac what he had learned in school lately. Zac talked about the mummification project. The doc asked if the chicken was dead when we got it. Zac replied, "Yeah, it came in a two-pack." The doctor almost fell over laughing.

Tueller Update!

Wow, what a fall this has been! We sure have enjoyed ourselves in the warmer weather we've had recently. Here's my so-far report on how things are going with school/home/life for the new school year. I wasn't going to put this up here, but then I started reading my past posts, and realized I loved having this report from prior times on the blog. Then, when I decide to print it as a book, it's all together. Very simple scrapbooking. My kind of record keeping.

Here is what each of us is up to:

Stephen: Finishing his dissertation, writing papers and working on mathematical equations. Hopefully, by this time next year, we'll be settled into a different home with a different occupation. We're excited that it really could be anywhere, since we haven't heard anything back from anyone, our view is that the sky is the limit (yes, we like to be optimistic, it serves us well). Stephen also was put into the Young Men's presidency at church. I thought perhaps it'd be a break compared to Elder's Quorum, but it's about the same. I'm really glad there are youth programs like this, though, as I think about my children becoming teens. I hope they find an adult that is a good example to them. I know that I was blessed by having great YW leaders when I was younger.

Jillian: Homeschooling the children, keeping house, and taking on the world. Sometimes I wish I were a more active world-taker-oner, but for now, it'll have to be via my very opinionated presence. At this point in time, family comes first, and it's wonderful to watch the children grow and develop their personalities. Also, still running for fun in the mornings, even after that half-marathon in October. I really thought at the end of that that I would not want to run again, but I couldn't wait to start. Some say I'm sadistic. I say I'm having fun. I'm also enjoying being in two different book groups, working on the enrichment committee at church (hmm, wait, what do I call my calling now that we aren't to call it enrichment?), and being a part of a fun group of women who also homeschool. Life is good.

Zachary: Just finished his art class, is now in a jazz-dance class. Today was his first one, and he had a blast. It literally wore him out (didn't know that was possible) so I'm making sure he sticks with this! ha! For his schooling, he's working on Saxon Math for first graders, First Language lessons (he is LOVING practicing memorization and recitation. He must be mine, I love that kind of stuff, too.), A Child's History of the World where we were covering Ancient Egypt, but now we are onto Mesopotamia, and today studied the story of Gilgamesh. We're having fun with the activities that go along with the lessons. Also, we have started using Usborne's Animal Encyclopedia to do projects for science. This week is his neurological test to see what causes his twitches. While we're there, we're going to explore the Children's Museum in Indianapolis.

Chayce: Is taking a ballet class. She is excited that her first recital is Nov. 30th. I will be posting video and/or photos that day. For school, she is still working on counting, we discussed balances (scales) and played with them, she has started McGuffy reader/primer, and loves being read to as well. She participates in the projects that Zac is working on, but is also teaching herself different ways to draw using the "Yes, I Can Draw...." series that I scored at the library sale. We are also listening to different kinds of music, and just learned the song/score of Peter and the Wolf, which we will be attending live (all five of us) on Wednesday!!

Payge: Loves to be read to. Is a mess-maker BUT, also a cleaner-upper. She really enjoys working with Mommy to clean up rooms, and will put things in their places for me as she sings, "Teeeemwork!" (or eeeee---erk is more like it). She's getting so tall! She tries really hard to do everything that Chayce does. If Chayce is drawing, so is Payge, if Chayce has out her dolls, so does Payge. This morning, Payge uttered her first full audible sentence, and it was (yelling at the top of her lungs...)"CHAYCE! GET UP NOW!! " She really wanted Chayce to come play, and it was about 8 AM and Payge had been up since 6, so she was ready for some company. Once Chayce came out of her room, Payge started clapping and yelling, "YAY!"

Now, a few photos...

Yes, Mother, I have a screwdriver. What of it?

Hiding in the curtains. I know Mom tells me not to, but aren't I sweet?

Playing outside.

What is that?

Cute.

What a handsome fella!

Some footage of our wagon rides. It's only 1.5 minutes long.

Zac's Art Class

Zachary took a 7 week art class and had his first ever art show on Halloween. The art was tastefully displayed with name plates each had made themselves (Zac's is below in the photo by his sculptures). His art teachers provided wonderful refreshments such as breads with dipping oils, blueberry bread and hot cider--oh, and the ever popular chocolate chip cookie (what is art without a cookie? Am I right?) It was fun to see the children of all ages that had worked together each Saturday show off all their hard work. The class was mixed ages, with wonderful teachers from another homeschooling family (their teenage daughters) that lives close to us. Zac had a great time, and learned a lot, as they not only played with the different mediums, but discussed artists as well. If you live in South Bend, and these girls offer another class, I highly recommend them!

The sculpture collection. There is a glazed plate (the indent is his hand, and the whole thing is leveled with glaze), the cup, the owl shaped bank (which the glaze filled in the slot, so it is now for looks only. We live & learn.) Oh, and the Wonder Pets flyboat. (OK, who doesn't love the Wonder Pet's song? I love hearing it, and I LOVE when Payge tries to sing, "What's gonna work? Team work!" but it sounds more like, "uh-uh-uh-uh-eeee--er").

Zac's candle collection. The 'Z', 'A' & the turquoise one are meant for outside. He dug the shapes in sand, poured in the wax, added wicks, and let it set. Then dug them up. The sand will fall apart when the candle wax melts. Two in jars (Halloween themed), and two "free form" wax candles.

Oh, I should turn this one. Eh, turn your head.
These are some of Zac's paintings. At least the ones up at the art show. Others he'd brought home, and we didn't bring them back that night.

Agony!

A long time ago, in a kingdom far away--as in, about 2002 in Moscow, ID, a group of students got together and made a music video to the song Agony from Into The Woods. Of course, right? I mean, what else do college students do with their time? Anyhow, these wonderful friends of mine finally got this video onto YouTube, where it belongs!

A Tale of Two Chickens

Our kitchen smelled of blood and alcohol today. Gross, I know. What a way to start a post. See, about 6 weeks ago, we bought two chickens. Whole, but clean. One chicken we buttered and baked, roasting to golden perfection, eating it for dinner for two glorious nights. The other...

We MUMMIFIED.

Yes, you read that right. We mummified our chicken. See, we've been studying ancient Eqypt, and I just didn't feel that the children grasped the time and effort that went into making a living thing NOT decompose. So, we bought the chicken, mixed together salt, baking powder, and baking soda. This composition mimics the acidic and drying salts the Egyptians used to pull moisture out of the human body. It took many months (about six) to completely dehydrate the human body this way. The chicken took six weeks.

Sitting in salt, at three weeks. You have to change the salt mixture every week (every day at first) as it pulls the moisture from the chicken. Sorry, there's not a weekly update.

Dumping out the bag with chicken and salt in it.

A close up of the chicken. You can see the skin has become stiff and yellowed. The muscles underneath are firm and red. Like jerky, but not as appealing since it's also been rubbed in isopropyl alcohol to kill some bacteria. The Egyptians used fine wines for their kings, but see, I'd rather spend less on my chicken friend here. He isn't a pharaoh that I know of. In fact, He is probably a She. I should probably mention we didn't go all the way and wrap this chicken in linen. Why? I didn't want to. Simple as that. Plus, the real science behind the project is watching the salt do its work. Oh, and people kept asking me what I'd do with it after all that work...I threw it away! Sometimes the process is more important than the end result--kind of like life in general. Now that I'm starting to wax philosophical, I'll bit you adieu.

Perspective

Praying for perspective is a scary thing to do. I wish I would have known that prior to the attempt. I suppose I should have known, it's like praying for patience, which I still don't have the courage to do. I suppose I should just do it and hopefully get it over with, but, like with bungee jumping, I'm just not ready for it.

I've been running late a lot lately, usually do to things beyond my control--like a temper tantrum (OK, sometimes my own and I should control that), a child unwilling to put her clothing on, or events like this AFTER everyone is dressed:



Yes, that is body cream. Nice and thick. So, bath round 2 had to occur before leaving the house that morning. At least I was in a good enough mood to take pictures. Parenting has definitely given me a different perspective on life. I've had to learn to let my children make choices, even when they negatively effect the rest of the family. That's hard to do. Like when one child refused to leave behind a game they were playing, so we all missed the bus, which meant no library trip. The other two were devastated, and we parents were also disappointed. Of course, that child was upset, too. Their choice had made us all sad. I suppose I could have stepped in and said I'd drive us there, but the lesson wouldn't have been as poignant. Ahh, parenting.

However, the most important lesson for me came while driving. I was sitting at a red light, first in line. I'm not usually one to jump the gun, but I do like to get going again. As I was sitting at the light, it turned green, and I completely had a stupor of thought. I was supposed to be going forward, but it was like I forgot I was the one driving for a second. Right as I realized I could go, a car coming from the other direction zoomed quickly past, running the red light. It would have creamed us had I gone when the light turned green. I was grateful for the pause in thought, for the inability to move for a few seconds. Ever since then, I've been wondering...how many times, when things have gone wrong, and set me back, has it been for a good cause--maybe even saving my life? How many amazing blessings have been given to my family that I don't even realize have occurred? Blessings in disguise?

You do get what you pray for, even if in unexpected ways.