4-H Fashion Revue

I had a conversation with a mom whose three daughters are in public school. She wishes to homeschool but her husband does not agree that it is the best for their family. She describes herself as a "traditional" mom and is troubled by the attitudes her daughters are exposed to and imitate.

We also discussed extra-curricular activities. She said there is pressure to participate in everything that comes along. You don't want your children to miss any opportunity to broaden their horizons. She has decided to cut back and be discerning in choosing what activities to do. I came to the same point with my girls. It was getting too stressful and we were running ourselves ragged trying to keep up driving them here and there every evening. Also, financially we could not keep up with it all. But we did find one great organization! 4-H!

On my other blog I described how we found our niche in 4-H two years ago. My girls enjoy sewing and this is the second outfit Arielle has made. Every Saturday morning she spends three hours with a volunteer who teaches her to sew. This year she had Mrs. Martha, a dear elderly woman with a gentle and kind spirit who patiently taught her. I am so grateful to Martha for caring for my daughter!

The season ended with a fashion show. What fun it was to watch all the girls cross the stage in the clothing they created. Once again, Arielle won a ribbon and is eligible for the regional revue. But the winning is not what is important. Arielle learned perseverance and patience, to stick with the sometimes tedious steps of garment construction. She enjoyed the fellowship of other girls sewing alongside her. She learned from the example of Mrs. Martha.

The 4-H adventure doesn't end here. In July we will work on organizing the fabric sale that helps to fund the sewing projects so parents only pay $12 for a whole year of 4-H. (What a bargain when compared to other activities.) Then in August the girls will have their projects on display at the 4-H County Fair. For anyone also at a crossroads in deciding on outside activities, we highly recommend 4-H.

Moms' Day Out

Every year for two full days I attend our local homeschool conference. It's a struggle to arrange care for the girls and coordinate everyone's schedule but once again it all worked out so I could go. My friend and I drove through the countryside early in the morning full of excitement. What would God reveal to us? How could we make our homeschools better? How can we better connect with our children and build our relationships with them--so much more important than any academic learning that takes place.

We didn't have a plan of approach to the conference because both of us had been so rattled by the earlier week's events. (And it is certainly better to come prepared.) For me, I had spent many hours on the dreaded PORTFOLIO, an end-of-the-year state requirement. But that's a topic for another day. So spur of the moment, we chose the lectures we would attend. We made good choices!

We heard Ginger Plowman, Tammy Duby and Susan Kemmerer. Each of these godly women imparted a wealth of wisdom on a variety of topics. Here are some of the gems we took home:

• Good advice on training our children in righteousness--getting to the heart of their behavior with thoughtful questions to help them understand their motives and make better decisions.
• Good advice on practical matters for moms--how to keep our homes in order and have time to cook healthy meals.
• Relief from guilt--that our homes are not orderly and spotless, that some people are just disorganized when it comes to keeping house. Unless you're just plain lazy, it's not a sin, just differences in personalities. Disorganized people are project-driven rather than time-driven.
• Relief from guilt--that we might we leaving gaps in our children's education. We can't teach everything. No one can, not even public or private schools. We need to get serious before God and seek his will for our particular children. Then we choose the gaps we will leave. Our goal is to grow life-long learners. If we leave a gap that our child later on desires to learn, she will be equipped to pursue that interest on her own.
• LAPBOOKS! Wow! What a great idea! I kept hearing this word but could not get a picture in my mind of what they were. Now I know. Tammy Duby had a mini-workshop and all of us moms created one in an hour. What fun we had! My girls will love this. To top it off, someone was giving away an old set of encyclopedias and I hauled them out to the car. They will provide many pictures to cut out and add to our lapbooks.

My friend and I came home refreshed, inspired, and encouraged. I am grateful to God that he has allowed me the privilege of teaching my children at home. Yes, it is exhausting work at times. But it is the work God has called me to do and he will give me everything I need to do it. I'm ready to begin the new school year tomorrow!

Slow Learner--Me!

I believe God chooses our children. Each one is exactly right for us, to challenge us, to teach us life lessons, and to bless us with joy. We are just the right mom for that particular child too, the one to help her on her journey to become the person God created her to be.

Arielle has always been so easy to teach. We have the same learning style. We're detail-oriented, logical, and goal-driven. If I want to explain a concept to her, I tell her in a way that makes sense to me and she understands. Liana is so different. She is challenging me to change my teaching style to suit her unique needs. Gradually I've learned not to try to mold her to my vision of who she should be, but rather allow her to be who she is. Isn't that what homeschooling is all about?

I'm learning to leave behind my straight and narrow road with the clear goal in sight and let her take the wandering path and trust that it will lead to the same outcome. Liana does her work better if she's allowed 20 minutes of poetry reading before we begin each morning. She hates her phonics reader but doesn't complain about reading books on bamboo flutes or Egypt or John James Audubon--her latest interest. That sparked her desire to learn bird calls and now she wants to study birds next year. Well, that wasn't on my agenda for science, but I think we should pursue it. Maybe she is ready to move beyond excavating the terra cotta warriors for awhile.

I'm dense sometimes, and most veteran homeschooling moms already know these things. But maybe it's not too late for me or for Liana. And maybe Arielle would enjoy an adventure of her own along the way.

Poetry

Liana is in love. We read the poem "The Lamplighter" by Robert Louis Stevenson awhile back . She was so captivated by the picture it created and the rhythm of it that she promptly memorized it. Since then we have come across several of Stevenson's works in our reading. Liana has been asking for a whole book of just his poems.

I was in Barnes and Noble and came upon a display of poetry books for children. I didn't know but April is National Poetry month. Arielle and I were never poetry fans. When she was younger we had books of poems that were part of her curriculum. We would dutifully read them and she would do a thumbs-up if she liked it and thumbs-down if she did not. Most were thumbs-down. They just didn't grab her and she would say, "I don't get it." I usually agreed.

I glanced over the display of books of various poets looking for Liana's favorite. There it was! I skimmed through it and although I did not see "The Lamplighter" I saw another one that Liana enjoys--"Where Go the Boats?"--and was pleased with the beautiful illustrations in the book that I knew she would love.

My purchase was a success. The book has a little bio of Robert Louis Stevenson in the beginning and Liana and I read about his frequent illnesses as a child and his great imagination as he lay in bed unable to play outside. Liana is mesmerized by the imagery in his poems. This is a child who several years ago couldn't sit still long enough to hear a whole story but now never wants me to stop reading Stevenson. She notes from time to time that she is just like him. Yes, Liana is always imagining, always thinking of something other than what is readily seen and at hand. One day after reading, Liana closed her book and held it tight to her chest with a faraway look on her face. She's found her soul-mate.

When at home at last I sit
And am very tired of it,
I have just to shut my eyes
To go sailing through the skies--
To go sailing far away
To the pleasant land of Play...
(RLS from "The Little Land")

Joy

"When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy." Matthew 2:10.

Lord, thank you for our church and for dedicated teachers, sacrificially give their time to teach my children. Thank you for friends and family. Thank you for filling our lives with joy.

For the past few months the girls have been practicing for the Christmas musical at church. This will be their third program and they just love singing and performing. The children's choir director believes any child who wants a solo speaking or singing part should have one, so even if it is only one line in a song, that child gets his or her moment of glory. I've seen my girls blossom on the stage from shy and fearful to bold and confident. Last year Arielle said she would never sing alone, but this season she sang her solo part beautifully.

Fred and I sat watching the show surrounded by friends and family--my new friend Colleen's 10-year old daughter who was adopted from Ukraine only a few months ago was also in the choir. My old friend Bonnie came with her daughters, one of them lived her first year of life in the crib next to Liana's at the orphanage in China. I hope Liana and Sara will be forever friends. Behind me sat my dear friend Connie whose Chinese daughter was also in the musical. Connie and her family will soon travel to Russia to adopt their 13-year old son, Sergei.

All of us here are bound by our commitment and call to adoption. I look at each of these precious children on stage and think what wondrous gifts of joy they are to us. Thanks be to God for sending his Son to this earth as a little child. We celebrate our Savior's birth tonight! But we also praise God for these children he brought into our lives.

Preparing for the Future

"Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." Ephesians 4:14,15

Lord, just as we do our best to prepare our children academically for life ahead, we need to prepare them spiritually. Only you know what lies ahead in our uncertain world. Please give us wisdom today.

We're reading a biography of Hudson Taylor. I've found the girls are greatly inspired by stories of missionaries like Amy Carmichael, Gladys Aylward, and George Mueller. The stories are exciting, people living on the edge, trusting wholeheartedly on God's mercy and provision.

We read that Hudson Taylor decided he needed to toughen up before he went to China so he did strenuous exercises outside in the cold. He got rid of his bed and slept on bare boards. He gave away all material things that were not essential. Most of us who adopted from China stayed in luxury hotels, but I readily remember the poverty we saw. Imagine what it was like in the 1800's. Hudson Taylor prepared.

I don't know God's plans for my children when they become adults. We offer opportunity to our kids when they are little, not knowing their talents, interests, and gifts. We want them to have new experiences and explore the world. We give them ballet, gymnastics, or horseback riding. Maybe sports or music and art lessons. The list can go on and on. As homeschooling moms, we teach our kids to read and do math and prepare for careers. We teach them how to learn so they can pursue their own interests later in life. But how do we prepare them to walk with God in such a violent, ungodly society?

Today when I left my girls at church for choir practice, I felt I had to talk with them about what to do if they saw or heard someone shoot a gun. (This right after the Colorado shootings.) How do we teach them caution without instilling fear in them? Maybe we have much to learn from the missionaries.

What's cooking tonight...

Crock-Pot Zesty Beef Soup

1# stew meat, diced

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots)

1 bag frozen corn

1/2 bag frozen french-cut green beans

4 cups Spicy V-8 (or regular)

14 1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. dried basil

1/4 tsp. pepper

In a skillet brown the beef, onions and garlic in a little oil. Combine this in the crock-pot with all the other ingredients. Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high for 5 hours.

Home School Perks

"Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might." Ecclesiates 9:10.

Lord, help us to be confident to do what you have called us to do, not to compare with others, and certainly never to judge the choices others' make for their own children.

When the girls get into discussions with other children who attend public school, sometimes Arielle and Liana feel a little deprived. They don't get to play with other kids at recess, they have no assemblies or class parties or art shows. They also work through many days that public school kids have off--government holidays and teacher in-service days. So I give them this--no school on birthdays! The girls love this, of course.

On Arielle's birthday we had a special breakfast and trip to the mall for Christmas shopping. Occasionally people will ask them, "No school today?" We just say no. We live in a metropolitan area with many public and private schools, so there has never been an issue. Nor should there be anyway. We fully comply with state law.

What's cooking tonight...

Chinese Pork Wraps

3 T. water

2 T. soy sauce

1 T. cornstarch

1 tsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. minced garlic

1# boneless pork chops or tenderloin, sliced bite-size

3 cups slaw mix (carrots and cabbage)

hoisin sauce

flour tortillas

Wrap tortillas and heat in 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Saute pork in a little oil until cooked through. Combine water, soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, sugar and garlic in a small bowl. When pork is done, stir in this sauce and cook until bubbly. Add slaw mix and cook a couple more minutes. Spread the warm tortilla with hoisin sauce, add meat and wrap.