not here too much…

because I’m busy organizing and brain-storming and researching ideas for our home and our home school and figuring out how to spend good time with ALL of the children, and not just the eldest doing the most “serious” school, and figuring out how to help him discipline himself to focus and work some on his own…

Speaking of… this is what his little creative distracted self can do… how is this for a fabulous piece of impressionistic art? 🙂 “Bridge on Dark Stormy Night”.  Its my new header now… I love the colors… and it might be dark and stormy… BUT it’s not snowy!! 🙂

Some fun stuff we have been learning and making the last couple weeks.

Celtic Chariots… ok… so these weren’t a hit and we didn’t finish them.  It’s not like you learn anything by cutting up a medicine box to make a mini chariot that looks nothing like a chariot anyway.

Frescoes (painting on Plaster of Paris) – like a cave… sort of… whatever. as the monks in India painted.  They had fun! Thad’s (praying mantis) and Keenan’s (tree in wind)

Mosque… I didn’t take a picture because it really wasn’t all that, and it didn’t thrill the kids or myself…

Sand Art – seriously.  SO messy.  But REALLY fun!! 🙂  And I did it too.

Slimy Plastic… this stuff was AWESOME.  This is for the next post… because I want to post all 50 something pictures :).

Lent with kids…

A little heads up for anyone who wants one… this year we are doing a “Lent Tree” with activities for each day.  Here is the link for the website that we got it from… it’s free this week!  Better late than never… we are starting Thursday instead of Wednesday…  It’ll be good to have something to help us look forward to First Fruits… (Easter 🙂 )

CurrClick

We are memorizing Psalm 139, one section at a time, and getting ready to start on the second section.  Its going slow.  BUT again.  Better late slow than never… I don’t usually wait for Thaddeus to have it totally down.  He gets full verses here and there, and since we review what we have already memorized, he’ll get it eventually.  We memorized Psalm 1 in the Fall, and he ha it almost perfect now.

More later with pics of our week of homeschool… its been a busy couple weeks!  And I’m feeling REALLY super-mommish with all the messy activities… sand art even!! 🙂

nesting??

hmmm… of course, renovations are getting some of that done for me.  I have been “playing” with the sun room… rearranged some furniture to make the book end more like a book nook… Its till ugly 🙂  The couch is brown, and brown book cases and ugly green (I secretly like the color, but it needs some other colors with it to show its TRUE loveliness!) and blah walls… but its more living room like now.

Now, my chair corner, which I never get to use ANYWAY, is the new paint/project table corner for the kids.  Where they can get messy and dirty (note to self: must, MUST by some plastic for the floor) and build elaborate or nonelaborate things and leave them out even though it’s dinner time.  Maybe they’ll be inspired by all that beautiful nature outside! 🙂

And I started sorting baby clothes… the new baby’s clothes are in the bottom drawer and I will keep a basket of stuff out in the living room for diaper changes and such so I’m not always running down the hallway in the middle of school work, and such.  now to go through the 3 months and up stuff so its organized and ready to go.  Getting rid of boy things, mostly… Guess we’ll be surprised if its a boy after all! 🙂  I kept the nicest, just in case, and if not I’ll pass it on… surely one of my other 4 friends having babies will need them! 🙂

must go do some more school with Keenan… He’s creating a story tree.

Worship Gathering Feb 8

This evenings gathering was great.  It wasn’t everything I hoped it would be.  (As in there were plenty of ‘sitters’ who weren’t ready to participate in any new ways – such as painting, bowing, kneeling, dancing, flags… whatever)  But there was still a sweet time of worship, and the worship team had a great time together!

Keenan really wanted to paint, so we went and got him from children’s church (which he thinks he might be a little old for 🙂 – and I let him know he is more than welcome to stay up with us!)

He painted… I couldn’t watch him really from where I was, but he was really into it, standing using both hands and arms, tongue out in concentration as he does… towards the end using the paint bottles to splash color all over his work…

I asked him later to tell me about his painting.  (It’s true… I wasn’t sure…)  It looked like a cross underneath a whole lot of paint… a 18 x 18 square which looked purpley browny black… then I realized it was a man… with lots of paint on top splashed with red and smeared in, and then streaks of yellow on top.

His answer: Jesus coming out of hell after freeing all the people.

Well.  Ok then!   He never ceases to amaze me!!

I asked him why he thought to paint that, and he answered: because I felt really happy.

If only I had a copy of it… whoever cleaned the paint table chucked all the paper out!!

Leading worship, Prayer rooms, and …

Warning:  Ramble ahead…

I am supposed to be putting together a worship set for our gathering tomorrow evening… I’m so distracted and unmotivated.  I want to gather… and I want to worship… And I want to pray… but I’m so not interested in this planning part.

Planning is necessary, at least to some extent.  But I think I need a sabbatical.  No planning.  Just time to worship and dig in with no agenda other than getting with God.

So, maybe that is REALLY what my planning sessions should look like.  Worshiping.  Digging into the Word with God. Worshiping. Praying. Worshiping.  And out of that will come  some vague or not-so-vague outline of our music set.

That is pretty much what happens anyway, I just feel guilty about not planning like the worship-leader books, that I don’t read anyway, tell me to do.  I’m worn with planning.  What is the balance here?

How I pray that God will send someone to lead the worship at Souljourn… or rejuvenate my spirit…

so the title of this post: Prayer Rooms… this is where I want to be.  God has given ‘the boys’ clear direction on WHERE it should be… which narrows the search a lot.  Now we wait for the space and the resources and the partners to come alongside us so we can open this for Anchorage.

It cracks me up that our tiny church of 20 – 30 mostly college students or military (moving!) has been given a vision of a 24-7 prayer room.  So not practical and feasible.  So God.

The first Tuesday of every month in our house church is centered on prayer.  This last week was great.

I feel like God has been relatively silent in my life lately.  Could be I’m not hearing.  Could be there is a barrier.  Could be He is silent.  What I realized though, is that it’s fine… because just because He is silent, I will not stop seeking and pursuing.  So if there is a barrier or sin or I’m not listening… there’s bound to be a breakthrough at some point.  And if He is silent, when He does speak, I’ll be listening and ready.

OUTSIDE Journal and stuff

Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL.. absolutely gorgeous… to look at and to feel.  I wish we had been in out more!!  Nap time is quite inconvenient for things like this!

BUT when we out for piano lessons, I walked with Shand and whichever boy was NOT getting a lesson, so we all got some good sunshine and fresh air.  YEAH!

Today is our turn to out to the farm 1 1/2 hours away, to pick up the raw milk and eggs for our co-op… SO we’ll get some fresh air out there, too.

On another note… just wanted to include some pics of the boys… the first… Thad helping out in the bathroom demo.  He absolutely LOVED it!!

And Keenan… he loves our bed.  Is always trying to get away with sleeping in it.  I think its been a bummer for him since Bryan works days, because he doesn’t get to sleep with me when he’s away at night. 🙂  He fell asleep after we got home… and he is just so… BIG!!!

An Independent Toddler

This may be normal… But my 20 month old just finished trying / putting on 3 pairs of pants / skirts… and swept the floor 3 times.  Filled a bag with stuff, threw it over her shoulder and called, “Mom, bye!  Bye mom!!”  Brushed her teeth for the third time this morning (10am) – this time with MY toothbrush, attempted to wash her hands for the second… Put on another CD in the boys room…

That’s what we’ve done  the last hour. 🙂  She amazes me… so smart, so independent, so… advanced ?  Probably not, but wow she seems to be moving right along in the development department.  SO much faster than my preemie boys!!

Here are some pics of her yesterday, helping herself to her very own cranberry sandwich! 🙂  complete with the top piece of bread.  She was a little frustrated when the cranberries kept falling off. LOL

And the award for “fastest butt wiper” goes to…

MYSELF!!

Yes,  it’s true,  apparently, according to my 5 yr old.  As I’m sitting on the tub while Shand has a bath and Thad ‘does his thing’ on the pott… he compliments me… no, he  SHOWERS praise over me for my fast and proficient butt-wiping skills.  “You’re the fastest butt wiper in the ‘whirl-erd) (world)”  “You wipe butts better than anyone that I ever knew!!”

And my heart melts and I offer to wipe his butt for yet another year.  KIDDING!! We ARE still encouraging COMPLETE independence in this area… even when it results in clogged toilets…