Gifts for Growth

All three kids received many wonderful presents this year for Christmas. A few gifts, however, have captured their creativity and curiosity as they encourage them to develop their minds.

Ben's favorite gift this year is a Snap Circuit set, which allows him to build circuits that perform various functions. So far, he and Josh have built light switches, a musical doorbell, a radio transmitter that acts as a microphone, a "helicopter" launcher, and many others. Ben has learned how to create his own circuits as well. Yesterday, I heard a buzzing sound as he was playing and, concerned, I asked him what he was doing. "I accidentally bypassed the switch," he explained. "I'll fix it." He also surprised me by asking if I had seen the CV capacitor he needed. I had to tell him that I did not even know what a capacitor was!

Hannah has two gifts that she enjoys very much. We gave her a tub of craft supplies - tissue paper, streamers, stickers, feathers, rick-rack, doilies, googly eyes, pom poms, paper, pipe cleaners, and more. Additionally, we gave her a large roll of tape and a bag full of toilet paper rolls I had been saving. She has been cutting and gluing and taping and creating constantly since Christmas morning!

Well, almost constantly... Grandma and PopPop gave her the best gift this year. It is a kit with plastic dinosaur bones encased in stones. Using a chisel and a hammer, she has to chip away at the stones until she can extract all of the bones. When she finishes, she can assemble a complete model of a t-rex skeleton.

Unfortunately, we discovered that the stones fly all over the house when she chisels them, so she has to work on it outside. Grandma stood outside with her in the cold for hours yesterday as Hannah slowly and carefully tapped the tiny rocks off of the bones.

She has revealed a few bones so far, but I think this will be a long term project rather than a short term activity. Though she felt quite disappointed when she discovered that the bones are plastic and not real dinosaur bones, she still loves to work on it, practicing to become a paleontologist someday.

I love giving the kids gifts that encourage their minds and their creativity to grow. They focus so intensely, exploring and learning and experimenting, that I can almost see their little brains working. They each have such individual interests and aptitudes, and I enjoy watching them develop and grow as they get older. I wonder what they will be and how they will continue in their passions when they are adults. For now, though, I am glad to know that these gifts for growth are not only my favorites for them, but their favorites as well.

Holiday Fun

I love Christmas! I revel in the festivities and the lights and the anticipation as much as the kids do, and I delight in the simple and abundant joy that fills the season. We have had plenty of fun in the past couple of weeks.

First, Nana came to visit for a couple of days. "Nana Claus," as we began calling her, filled the tree with presents while Hannah was at school and Ben and Becca were napping. The kids loved having an early Christmas celebration and excitedly unwrapped the special gifts Nana brought for them. Additionally, Nana Claus filled the kids (and us!) with candy and other treats. But, most importantly, she filled our house with love and fun while she visited, and we felt sad to see her leave.

Then, on Monday, Ben had his preschool Christmas field trip to the carousel downtown. Siblings could attend, which greatly pleased Hannah, since her vacation began after school on Friday. We have not ridden the carousel since ballet ended last spring, and I have missed it! Becca's initial wariness of the ride this time surprised me and made me realize that I need to take them more often.

I love seeing their happy faces as they enjoy the ride.

Finally, tonight, we took our first drive of the season to see a lovely lights display at our county fairgrounds.

The display has thousands of lights, and for a few dollars, we drove through the fairgrounds to admire them.

Because we have watched A Charlie Brown Christmas so many times this year, the kids loved the Peanuts display.

But, their favorite part is always the light tunnel, which flashes and changes colors as the cars drive through.

I don't know which I enjoy more - seeing the lights or hearing my kids' excited squeals as we drive past. Fortunately, my parents love the display, too, which gives us a good excuse to go again in a few days when my parents come to visit.

And, really, I think that is why I love Christmas so much. It is a season filled with beauty and joy and abounding with good excuses for merriment and celebration and generosity and fun. In what better way could we celebrate the birthday of the Giver of "every good and perfect gift" than to allow our hearts and our lives to overflow with thankfulness and uncontainable joy? Merry Christmas! It truly is "the most wonderful time of the year."

Dabbling in the Domestic Arts

As part of the holiday celebrations at Hannah's school, the students are learning about gift giving. Each student has a "heart partner" for social studies (the school pairs kindergarteners with first graders), and the kids have to make gifts for their heart partners only using items they already have at home. Well, I had several sheets of red felt left over from making Hannah's lobster costume for Halloween, so we decided to sew a heart pillow for her heart partner.

At first, I did not think that Hannah could handle sewing at her age, but then I remembered Little House on the Prairie and imagined that Laura Ingalls was already sewing quite a bit by the age of six. So, we decided to tackle the project together.

First, I cut out two hearts from the red felt, and, since I had no stuffing in the house, we cut tiny strips of felt to use for the heart's filling. I pinned the whole project together, threaded the needle, and then showed Hannah how to do a simple running stitch - up and down through both layers of fabric. As I suspected, she needed quite a bit of help and her stitches followed a somewhat crooked path along the edge of the fabric, but overall she did a great job.

At first, I alternated with her, sewing a little when she needed a break. By the end, though, she sewed for a good length of time without my help, and when she got tired, I pushed the needle through the correct spot, and she pulled the thread out on the other side. Finally, as we neared completion, she excitedly took the heart and decided to finish all by herself. She really impressed me with her ability and determination, and she got to experience the satisfaction of completing a difficult project.

In attempting this project, I expected that Hannah might get excited about sewing and creating useful items, but I did not anticipate the effect it would have on the other children. Ben and Becca remained glued to our sides as Hannah and I worked, eagerly watching each tiny stitch. I explained to Hannah, to help her understand how to sew, that she should do the running stitch in the same way that she would work the laces through her lacing cards. As a result, the lacing cards have become a new favorite toy in our house. Ben and Becca spent the morning working on this:

"Look!" they exclaimed again and again, "I'm sewing a stop sign pillow! I'm making a stuffed orange!" They enthusiastically practiced, hoping that they, too, would be able to sew someday.

Little did I know, when taking on this school project for Hannah, that it would become a practical lesson in domestic arts, a chance for fine motor development, and an inspiration for all three kids to learn a new skill! Now, if only I could teach them to repair their own clothes... I guess I have to wait a few more years for that!

O Christmas Tree

On Saturday, we made our annual trek to a local Christmas tree farm to cut our Christmas tree. Josh and I have done this together since we were engaged, and our children make this tradition even more fun! A few years ago, we found a new farm after the old nursery stopped allowing people to cut their own trees, and although this farm is a bit farther away from our house, the trees have remained fresh and beautiful much longer. My family always had an artificial tree, so I take extra delight in the festive fragrance of fresh evergreen that fills my home each Christmas season.

After arriving at the farm (which we located much more easily this year with the help of our GPS), we parked near the Douglas firs and began searching for the perfect tree to bring home with us.

Some years, we struggle to find a tree we all love, but this year, we ended up choosing the first tree we saw. We dutifully looked around at other trees, but ultimately, we returned to the first tree that caught our eye.

Of course, we had to have a family photo in front of the tree! First, facing the sun (oops):

And then, with the sun behind the tree - much better!

After all of the required pictures, Josh began cutting down the tree.

This year, he did not even need my help. The tree had some bare space near the trunk at the bottom, which helped, as did the lack of snow on the ground this time. In past years, we have unwittingly timed our tree-cutting with the biggest early snowfall of the season, which makes for lovely pictures, but less than ideal cutting and driving conditions!

Hannah and Ben "helped" Josh drag the tree back to the car, and then I assisted in squeezing the 8-foot Douglas fir into our minivan.

We tied down the back door of the van, paid for our tree, loaded the kids into two separate cars, and began our journey home. We had to stop once on the way home to retie the back so the tree would not fall out while we were driving, but we made good time and got the tree set up before dinner.

We had a wonderful day together as a family, and we hope to decorate the tree soon as well. Finding four working strands of lights has proved to be a more daunting and time-consuming task than getting our tree! But, with Josh on the job, we should have a lovely, decorated tree by this weekend. Only 16 more days until Christmas!

Expectantly Waiting

Wikipedia defines Advent as "a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas." Although we kicked off our Christmas season with a train ride on the Polar Express, we desire our kids to focus mostly on the real reason for our celebration - Jesus' birth. So, as I pondered getting an Advent calendar to help us count down the days until Christmas, I wanted to make sure that they would be expectantly waiting for Jesus, and not presents or Santa. Unfortunately, nearly everything I found was either extremely expensive or poorly made.

Then, yesterday, a friend of mine posted a link to the Advent calendar she created for her family. I instantly loved the idea and decided to make a version of my own for our family this Christmas. Fortunately, I already had a lot of coordinating paper, so I did it almost completely with supplies I had on hand. I only had to purchase double-sided tape and some clothespins.

I began by cutting out 25 four-inch squares of solid colors and 25 three-inch squares of decorative paper. I happened to have paper with leaves on it, but anything festive will do. After laying out the solid-colored papers in the order I desired, I arranged the smaller papers on top of the larger ones. Then, I cut out 25 one-inch squares of various colors, wrote the numbers 1-25 on them, and added one to each set of squares. Using double-sided tape, I put each design together to create a pretty, numbered square - one for each day of Advent.

Then, I typed out 25 different verses, and centered them on 3.5-inch squares in Photoshop. I used Photoshop because I have many decorative fonts available in it, but any word processing program will work as long as the verses fit on the back of the fancy squares already designed. 3.5 inches worked well for me. Then, I printed the verses out on nice cardstock and affixed them, in order, to the back of each numbered square.

I used most of the same verses as my friend, but I did change a couple of them. These are the verses I used for each day:

1. In the sixth month, God sent an angel to Nazareth . . .The angel went to Mary and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:26,28)
2. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus . . .” (Luke 1:30,31)
3. “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:32,33)
4. The angel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35)
5. “For nothing is impossible with God,” said the angel. “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered.”May it be as you have said.” (Luke 1:37.38)
6. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife . . .She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:20,21)
7. All of this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Mary will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” which means, ”God with us.” (Matthew 1:22,23)
8. When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. (Matthew 1:24)
9. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken . . . So Joseph also went up from Nazareth to Bethlehem the town of David. (Luke 2:4)
10. Joseph went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. (Luke 2:5)
11. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room in the inn. (Luke 2:6,7)
12. And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. (Luke 2:8,9)
13. But the angel said to them, ”Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people.” (Luke 2:10)
14. “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. . . You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” said the angel. (Luke 2:11,12)
15. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:13,14)
16. When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2:15)
17. So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. (Luke 2:17)
18. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. (Luke 2:17,18)
19. Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God . . . (Luke 2:19,20)
20. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1,2)
21. They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. (Matthew 2:9)
22. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. . .and presented him with gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:10,11)
23. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
24. Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)
25. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

Finally, I hung string from my curtains in my dining room, and clipped the squares to it with clothespins.

Each day during Advent, we will turn over a square and read the verse.

The kids love it and began begging to do it as soon as they came downstairs this morning. And I am thrilled that they are expectantly waiting for Christ this season... even as they wait for presents as well!

A Christmas Surprise

Last year, we surprised the kids with a trip on the Polar Express. We paid a little extra to become members of the railroad in order to avoid the lottery and buy tickets in advance. This year we decided just to take our chances with the lottery. Then, in early November, we realized that we had forgotten all about the lottery and had missed our chance to purchase tickets. However, out of curiosity, Josh went online to read about it and discovered that we could still get seats on weeknights in early December. We excitedly bought the tickets for December first and began planning for the kids' surprise.

On Tuesday, I let Becca and Ben stay in their pajamas all day and then convinced them that they needed to change into clean pajamas to pick Hannah up at school. We drove through the pick-up line, and I told Hannah that today was "Jammie Day," and she could change into her pajamas as soon as she got home from school. Josh was supposed to come home at 4:00, but he got tied up on a phone call. "Uh, oh," I told the kids, "I was going to go get dinner after Daddy came home, but he's going to be late, so I'm going to have to bring you all in your jammies." I took them all through the drive-thru at McDonald's just as Josh came home from work. When we got back to the house, I called Josh on the cell phone to "convince" him to come drive around with us to look at Christmas lights. He finally agreed, and we began our drive to Cleveland for the train ride, pointing out lights along the highway as we drove. The kids began whining to use the bathroom about 10 minutes from the station, so we told them we were driving to a place where we knew there would be restrooms. As we pulled into the station, Hannah noticed the sign and started screaming in excitement, "It's the Polar Express! We're going on the Polar Express!"

We really enjoyed the train ride, just like last year. We got seats in the dome car this time, so we were a bit more comfortable, and the windows extended across the ceiling as well as the sides, which gave us a lovely view of the full moon as we rode. The kids snuggled up in their blankets in the beginning, while an elf read The Polar Express over the loudspeaker and we followed along in our copy of the book.

Once the train picked up a little speed, the elves brought around hot chocolate (at a much more drinkable temperature than last year) and delicious chocolate chip cookies.

Finally, we reached the "North Pole." The elves handed out paper towels for the kids to wipe the condensation off of the windows as the train slowly moved into the station, full of lights and actors dressed as elves and Christmas characters.

After about fifteen minutes, the train began moving back along the tracks towards the first station.

To help pass the time, the elves led Christmas carols, which Hannah enjoyed very much.

Santa also came around and gave each kid a souvenir sleigh bell to bring home, pausing to autograph our The Polar Express book as well.

Ben mostly just stared out the window, and Becca alternated between snuggling on my lap and bouncing off the walls!

We arrived at the station a little after 9:00pm, and began the long journey home. Becca slept, but Hannah and Ben somehow stayed awake for the whole car ride. Sleepily, the kids trudged up the steps into the house, where they saw our Polar Express train set, which Josh had put together in the living room while the kids and I were out getting dinner. After a few minutes of playing with the train, the kids finally crashed in their beds around midnight! Needless to say, Hannah slept in instead of going to school on Wednesday, but we all enjoyed having a wonderful surprise family outing to kick off our Christmas celebration this year.

Bones and Stones

For Thanksgiving this year, we traveled to visit my dad's family in Pittsburgh, PA. In contrast to our very rustic Thanksgiving last year, we stayed in a hotel with my parents, my brother, and his girlfriend, and we ate our meal in the comfort of my aunt and uncle's home, driving to my grandparent's house for dessert. We had a wonderful time visiting family, many of whom the kids have not seen in a couple of years.

On Saturday, we decided to enjoy Pittsburgh a bit, so we headed across the city to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. What a wonderful museum! I knew they had a great dinosaur exhibit, but I never expected the kids to get so excited about the gems and minerals exhibit. All three kids were completely enthralled with the beautiful rocks and crystals.

Hannah thought they were beautiful and suggested that maybe she would rather be a geologist than an entomologist when she grows up. When we asked Becca about her favorite part of the museum later, she told us, "The rocks. They were pretty and shiny and sparkly and glowy in the dark..." She was adorable!

As I expected, the kids loved the dinosaur exhibit as well. The display had full skeletons of all of the dinosaurs most kids would readily recognize - apatosaurus, diplodocus, triceratops, stegosaurus, and of course, tyrannosaurus rex.

The museum also had many lesser known dinosaurs and another gallery dedicated to Ice Age animals, like mammoths and mastodons.

After viewing all of the wonderful skeletons, we arrived at a section geared entirely towards kids - "Bonehunter's Quarry." Many skeleton replicas lay buried in a waxy clay-like substance. Children first donned a pair of safety goggles and then used a chisel and a paintbrush to carefully excavate the bones. All three kids loved this part - especially Hannah! They definitely learned that uncovering dinosaur bones is a delicate and difficult job, requiring a lot of patience.

We spent the majority of our time in these two sections, but the museum had many more wonderful displays - North American and African animals, birds, Native Americans, Egypt, life in the Polar regions. We did walk through most of the exhibits, but by the end, the kids were tired and ready for lunch. We all had a great time and learned quite a bit, and I think if we go back, we will start on the top floor and work our way down so we can spend more time in some of the displays we missed or rushed through this time.

After a nice lunch, we returned to the hotel for a lazy afternoon. Becca took a nap while Hannah and Ben played with Grandma and PopPop in their hotel room. Well, they played for a little while until they both succumbed to their sleepiness and took a nice long nap on my parents' bed.


Aren't they sweet?

I love museums, and I think I will use this one as a starting point for a long unit on dinosaurs. I have a great book full of dinosaur-themed activities for Ben, and I just finished reading him Dinosaurs Before Dark last month. Now I just need find a way to work some geology into the unit, as well!

Learning "On the Go"

Between sick kids and Josh's MBA class, I have not spent much time doing "formal" school with the kids this month. However, we have spent a great deal of time learning.

I have discovered that Ben enjoys when I read the Magic Tree House books to him, since some of the words are still a little difficult for him to decipher on his own. Plus, he likes asking me constant questions while I read so he can understand the information better. After reading the first book in the series, I skipped ahead to Thanksgiving on Thursday, in order to coordinate with the season. Ben and Becca liked the story, but I think some of it may have been a little over their heads. Additionally, Ben practiced reading The Story of Thanksgiving by Nancy Skarmeas. This is an excellent, simple book that explains clearly why we celebrate Thanksgiving. I only had to help him with a few words, like "Pilgrims" and "Plymouth," the first time through, and he read it perfectly to his preschool class a few days later. I was very proud of him. He is blossoming as a reader, and though he does not read as avidly as Hannah, he definitely enjoys it.

For fun, we have watched our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving DVD multiple times this month as well. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving mostly just makes the kids laugh, but The Mayflower Voyagers is wonderfully educational and has helped the kids understand what the Pilgrims faced in order to settle in the new world. The first time we watched it, they marveled loudly over the length of the journey and expressed sadness about how many of the original settlers died. Now, they impress me with the random facts about the Pilgrims that I often do not even remember from the film.

Through the busyness of this season, I have also discovered the educational value of waiting in the car for Hannah's school dismissal. Just while sitting in the car in the afternoons, Ben has learned how to count by tens and Becca has learned about rhyming words and that "ck" sounds like "k" and not "sk." I often spell a simple c-v-c word, and Becca tells me what it is, or I ask her how to spell a word and she spells it for me. She has become quite good at reading short vowel words and even surprised me today by telling me that "oo" sounds like "ew." I don't even know where she learned that one!

So, in this hectic time of year, I am squeezing education into the extra spaces of my day, by reading and talking and answering an abundance of questions. Looking back, though, I am encouraged to see that my kids are indeed learning, even if that learning does not always resemble "school."

An Overwhelming Gift

You know you are in trouble when:

• Your 4 year old tells you he loves math "more than anything" and eagerly watches instructional videos for a first grade math curriculum, yelling out the answers to all of the teacher's questions.
• Your 6 year old (at the age of 5) read the entire Winnie the Pooh chapter book during nap times and could tell you all about the story.
• Your 4 year old can explain what a chord is and the difference between a major and minor chord and can play many chords on the piano.
• Your 4 year old is also learning to play the classical song he composed by humming it into a microphone.
• Your 2 year old can sound out 3 and 4 letter short-vowel words and read easy reader books.
• Your 6 year old understands how multiplication facts work and can solve single digit problems in her head.
• Your 2 year old wants to know if you (and she) are "real."
• Your 4 year old spends 10 minutes discussing with the dentist how the "suction thing" works and then uses it to suck up a cupful of water.
• Your 2 year old understands how knock, knock jokes work and can successfully retell them, even making up some of her own.
• Your 4 year old asks you why spiral galaxies are made up of stars.
• Your 6 year old (at the age of 4) is asked if she knows what a certain sign means (sign language for "I love you") and she responds in Spanish - "Te amo."
• Your 6 year old can also count to 30 in Spanish.
• Your 2 year old yells out "10" when you ask your older child the answer to 5+5.
• Your 4 year old reads at a first grade level, and your 6 year old reads at a fourth grade level.
• Your 4 year old (at the age of 3) could sing all three verses of the hymn "It is Well" with proper pronunciation and pitch, varying his volume appropriately throughout the song.
• Your 2 year old talks the doctor's ear off while he watches her, wide-eyed, and says she talks like a 5 year old.

I realize that moms have a tendency to overestimate the intelligence of their children. What mother does not want to believe that her child is extraordinarily bright? But, I truly believe that I have three gifted children.

Why does this matter? Shouldn't I just quietly celebrate and keep my "bragging" to myself? Honestly, as a person who excelled in school as a child, I definitely feel the impulse to hide or downplay my kids' abilities in order to avoid the teasing that inevitably comes when a child is different from the norm. However, I am beginning to understand what a challenge giftedness can be. A child who struggles with boredom in school may appear unfocused and unmotivated. A kid who wants to investigate how the world works may do so in dangerous or destructive ways without proper guidance.

Additionally, I constantly wrestle with finding the best educational setting for each kid. Hannah just loves school and all of her friends. She is developing into a little social butterfly! But, she also is not learning much academically, other than Spanish and some science and social studies concepts. In kindergarten, this does not matter as much (and she honestly needed some of the social experiences), but what about in older grades? I want her to be able to learn at a faster pace, delve more deeply into the subjects that capture her interest, and not have her intellectual curiosity stifled by the disapproval of her peers. At the same time, I want to let her be a kid and have fun, without giving her third grade workbooks just because she is capable of completing them.

I think that we may switch back to homeschooling in another year or two for these reasons. When I teach them, I can take them to higher levels while keeping it interesting and exciting at the same time. I can also give them plenty of time for fun and extracurricular activities during the day. Right now, after a full day of kindergarten, Hannah comes home so exhausted that she does not even want to read anymore, and she has no time for other activities she enjoys, like ballet.

Anyway, please excuse this rather introspective blog entry today. My children are such an overwhelming gift sometimes - full of delights and challenges. I pray that I have the wisdom to help them grow, not just intellectually, but also in character and confidence and compassion. I know that they are helping me grow in those areas each and every day!

Bugs at School, Bugs at Home

For those who do not already know, we had some tough educational decisions to make this year. Our elementary school received a low rating on the state report card two years in a row, which qualified Hannah to apply for a voucher to attend the private school of our choice. She would only be eligible this year going into kindergarten, however. Otherwise, she would have to attend the public school for a year before she could apply. As we have no interest in sending her to a failing school, this would be our only year to consider this option.

Before we found out about the vouchers, I had often told my friends that a certain private school in our town (From here on out, let's just call it "Private School" since I'd rather not post my child's elementary school on the internet!) would be the only school that would make me consider not homeschooling. I love the learning style and I had a feeling that Hannah would thrive there. Hannah also seems a little socially immature at times, so I thought that interacting a bit more with other kids her age would be beneficial for her. So, we applied, and she got the last place open in kindergarten. We officially received the voucher in August, and she started school last week.

Of course, I felt nervous about sending her off to full-day kindergarten after having her home with me for almost 6 years. But, we love her teacher so far. (We'll call her "Ms. K.") The evening after the first day of school, I received this email from her:

"Just a note to let you know how much I enjoyed being with Hannah on the first day of Kindergarten! She is just a sweetie! She is also my number one bug finder! I love a girl that loves bugs---since I am not a big fan of the creepy crawly pals! She found all kinds of activities during free choice time! She loved my magnetic picture case! You can switch the picture around and use different magnetic shapes! She loves to investigate! How cool is that! We will work on the bathroom routines so she doesn't spend too much time---although even in there you can hear her singing and being happy! She is a doll and I am just so happy to get to know her! :)"

How could I not love a teacher who has figured out after only one day how much Hannah loves bugs?!

Apparently, Hannah can locate every spider web, earthworm hangout, and wasp nest at the school. They had their first library day on Tuesday, and of course, she brought home a Zoobook magazine about insects. She told me that she loves bugs more than any other animal. In fact, she squealed with delight when I accidentally stumbled across a page that identified the strikingly pretty bug that was crawling up her arm in the garden last month. She begged to see picture after picture of the somewhat uncommon Whitecrossed Seed Bug.

Then, this morning, Hannah got up early for school and was ready to go a bit early. We put her backpack in the car and walked out to the garden to inspect the vegetables for a few minutes. As we turned to head back to the car, something white and dew-drenched caught Hannah's attention.

"Mama," she asked, "is this a spider web?"

I looked at the web and replied, "Yes, and see the cool shape? It's called a Funnel Web Spider, because it makes this web in the shape of a funnel."

Hannah bent down very close to the web to study it in more detail just as a tiny bug snagged itself in the sticky threads. Suddenly, a pretty brown spider, about the size of a lima bean, rushed from the hole to see what had disturbed his web. Hannah jumped up and down and shrieked excitedly, gushing on and on about the amazing spider and how he raced out of his web into her face.

I checked my watch and hurried Hannah to the car so we would not be late. The entire way to school, she chattered about the spider, exclaiming that she would tell her teacher and principal all about it as soon as she got to school.

I am not exactly sure how a child of mine learned to love bugs so wholeheartedly. I do not especially like spiders or bees in my house or too close to me when I am outside, but I do think that they are interesting and often very beautiful. I typically prevent the kids from killing bugs when they are outside in their own habitat, though I do kill most bugs in our home. And, I am the one who purchased the Audubon bug guides in order to learn about the many bugs we have seen, so I guess I would say that I have a healthy appreciation for them. But not like Hannah - I think she is in love! Perhaps she will be an entomologist someday... At the very least, I know she will never be an exterminator!

A Music-Filled Life

As I write this, Ben is running around the room playing Vivaldi's Spring on a trumpet he fashioned out of a rolled-up paper taped together with stickers. Actually, all three kids love music, especially classical music. Hannah can identify many famous classical works just by hearing their rhythm tapped out on the floor, and Becca dances and sways to music like the ballerina she wishes she could be. They all enjoy singing and sing well for their age, but Ben seems to have a musical gift that he feels compelled to express.

We recently had our piano tuned for the first time in several years, and Ben has fallen in love with playing it. Sometimes he begs me to teach him, so he is learning fast and slow, loud and soft, the C Scale, some simple chords, letter names, very basic note reading, a few easy songs, and how to play with different fingers on different keys. I am impressed with how quickly he understands the concepts and memorizes songs I teach him. For example, I taught him "This Little Light of Mine" in about 10 minutes while we were waiting for church to start one day. He also self-corrects, recognizing when he hits a wrong note and trying again until he finds the one that sounds right.

Other times, he just plays, inventing his own songs that actually sound somewhat pretty and that vary based on his mood. Frequently, he ends on a "C," appearing to intrinsically understand that his song sounds resolved when he finishes with that note, as he is playing in a C Scale. He longs to play Josh's trumpet, and though he is capable of playing a note correctly, he lacks the breath support to play well. He also strums on the guitar we bought them, but he does not yet have the coordination or finger strength to play anything that sounds like a song. So, he keeps coming back to the piano, where he experiments and innovates and learns about music bit by bit as he plays.

My sweet, sensitive Ben always has a song in his heart and it just spills out of him all day long. Frequently, I can hear him singing as he plays... or when he is in the car or in his bed or almost anywhere else he goes! I occasionally have to ask him to stop singing in my ear while I am trying to explain something to him. I do not even think he realizes that he is singing sometimes. Though I feel annoyed at times, he reminds me very much of myself. I taught myself how to play basic piano as a kid and I walked around singing at all times. Several years ago, I even stumbled across a tape that I made when I was maybe seven years old. The whole tape was filled with songs that I created as I sang - full of random, silly lyrics that I sang so earnestly. I remember thinking as a child that my songs were just as good as the "real" songs that I learned in school and imagined that I would sing and write music professionally someday.

Even as a mom, music has woven through my life like the delightful choruses in a musical - entertaining and not entirely out of place, though a bit silly for "real life." Josh and I have made up dozens of songs for the kids, telling them how much we love them or how we are going to catch them and tickle them or even that they are making us grumpy and will face punishment if they do not change their behavior. Now that I think about it, I may have learned this somewhere else... I believe that my dad invented a silly song about eating ravioli that the kids still sing whenever I make it for lunch or dinner! So, how could Ben help singing all day long?

As I finish writing this journal, Ben has the mp3 player in the living room set to Pachelbel's Canon while he and Becca play and get into mischief. As much as I enjoy quiet at times, I love having a house filled with music and singing. And someday, I will look around my quiet, empty house and wish for the slightly discordant plinking of piano keys, the silly lyrics of made-up songs, and the happy laughter that comes from my children's precious, music-filled hearts. Hmmm... I think I could write a song about that!

The Chimpette

Josh has a wonderful childhood nickname that his dad still uses whenever he talks to him - "Chimp." This nickname originated from an episode that occurred when he was just a toddler. In his family's house, an elegant staircase ascends from their living room to the second floor, with a railing along the outside edge of the stairs. One day, Josh's mom walked into the living room and discovered Josh hanging from the outside of the railing, up near the living room ceiling. He had climbed all the way up the outside of the staircase. As their house is an older house, the ceilings are easily ten feet high. Needless to say, Josh's mom panicked but quickly got him down.

Becca, our fearless little daredevil, is becoming known as the "Chimpette." After she broke her skull last summer, I thought she might learn to be somewhat afraid of climbing or falling. Instead, she remains a risk taker, eager to prove that she can do anything her older siblings can do.

Earlier this month, we had a picnic in the park in New York to celebrate Josh's dad's 60th birthday. We set up near the playground and socialized while the kids played with their cousins. As I talked with my sister-in-law, I heard Becca yell, "Mama, watch what I can do!" I looked up to see Becca, hanging from the monkey bars, swinging her feet and asking me to help her get down.

Now, we have a Little Tykes playset in our yard that we purchased from a friend.

Becca loves it! Initially, she wanted me to help her on the taller slide, because the first time she tried it, she flew off the bottom a little too quickly for her comfort. Once she figured out how to slow herself down a bit, it is the only slide she uses. Now, half the time, she stops herself and leaps off the bottom.

Did I mention that she also swings at the top a few times before she slides down, too?

Additionally, she does not just climb through the tunnel - she climbs on top of the tunnel and up the back of the playset to get to the slide. Who needs the ladder, right? That's what slides are for...

Ah, little Chimpette... I fear that we will be good friends with our local ER before you are grown and out of the house!

A Little Yeast

Today began as a plan-less day at home, but the kids quickly began bickering and getting into mischief with nothing to do, so I did a quick inventory of my cabinets and then asked, "Who wants to help me bake bread?"

"Me! Me! Me!" they all exclaimed.

I brought them all into the kitchen and then carefully measured the yeast into a tiny cup. I explained to them that yeast is alive and that it "eats" the sugar and creates bubbles that cause the bread to rise. Ben carefully studied the tiny, beige grains and seemed very disappointed when I stirred them into the warm water. When I questioned him, he told me that he was upset because he did not get to see the "bugs" moving! I had to convince him first that the yeast was not "bugs," and second, that living things are not always moving things.

Once I had combined the ingredients in the bowl and added enough flour to make the dough the right consistency, I allowed the kids to take turns helping me mix and knead the dough.

They enjoyed helping very much and patiently stayed with me through the whole kneading process. Finally, I shaped the dough into a nice ball and placed it in an oiled bowl to rise.

While we waited, I opened my Bible to a verse about yeast. I told them that a small amount of yeast mixed through the dough makes the whole thing rise. Similarly, sin in our lives, such as anger or selfishness, is like yeast - even a small amount can have a large effect on who we are and what our lives will be like. I explained that we want to work on becoming pure, meaning without "yeast" in our lives that will keep us from being who God wants us to be.

Two hours later, I lifted the towel and showed the kids the much larger ball of dough. "Wow!" they squealed, amazed at the difference in size.

In the afternoon, I took Ben to get his new glasses frames. When we were driving home, he began talking about the yeast again.

"Do you remember what I said that yeast is like?" I asked him.

"Sin," he replied.

"Yes," I said, "Just like a small amount of yeast can make bread rise, a small amount of sin can affect our whole lives. Do you remember our Bible time the other night, when we were talking about the tongue and said that it was like a small spark?"

"Uh, huh," he answered, "and a small spark can set a whole forest on fire."

"Right, Ben," I said, "and little words or lies that we say can hurt other people a lot or cause big lies to get out of control. That little spark is just like the yeast we were talking about before, how something small can do big things, so we have to be careful about what we say and do."

Ben nodded and agreed with me, and I think he really understood. I try very hard to use everyday activities and examples to teach spiritual lessons, just as Jesus used parables to convey larger spiritual truths. I hope that even if the kids never fall in love with making healthy, local, homemade foods, that they do fall in love with Jesus and His truth and that they learn to live "yeast-free" lives of integrity.

Understanding Food

In a previous post, I wrote about my desire for my kids to know more about their food and its origins. In the past few weeks, we have experimented with food in several exciting ways, and the kids are experiencing the joy of eating food we have produced instead of food bought at a store.

We began by trying a new whole wheat bread recipe. My last recipe turned out quite bland, and the bread was only slightly edible when loaded with jelly or peanut butter. This recipe, however, resulted in two wonderfully light and tasty loaves of whole wheat bread. The kids enjoyed watching the whole process and look forward to helping out more next time, now that I know that the recipe works.

Additionally, I had a bunch of mushy apples and plums that we accidentally froze by turning down the temperature in the fridge drawer too far. I found a delicious recipe for Plum-Apple Butter and made some of that as well. I cut the sugar in half and estimated the amount of apples and plums because I do not have a food scale, and it was very yummy - much better than any apple butter I have purchased at the store. The kids love it with peanut butter on a sandwich instead of jelly.

I also splurged and bought myself supplies for making yogurt, mozzarella and ricotta cheese, and sour cream. I have not attempted the cheese or sour cream yet, mostly because of a lack of ingredients, but I have already made two batches of yogurt. Hannah and Ben love the homemade yogurt, even plain or sweetened just with fruit, like bananas, berries, cherries, or peaches. Becca will eat it in small amounts, but she has never liked yogurt much. She does eat more of my yogurt than she does of store-bought yogurt, but it still is not her favorite food. I made the first batch while the kids were sleeping, but I encouraged them to watch me make the second batch. They were amazed that simply heating milk, adding a small amount of plain yogurt or yogurt culture, and then letting the mixture sit in an insulated container all day resulted in a fresh batch of plain yogurt. I am still learning the best way to culture the yogurt, as my second attempt came out a bit more sour than the first, but I am excited about the health benefits (and cost benefits) of making my own yogurt instead of buying it in the store.

Finally, after a productive trip to the farmers' market, I taught Hannah and Ben about preserving an abundance of food. I began by measuring a bit more than four cups of blueberries into a bowl. Then, I handed Hannah a potato masher and told her to crush the blueberries as much as possible. When she was finished, I gave Ben a turn and then did the last little bit myself. When we had four cups of mashed berries, I combined sugar and pectin in a bowl and then mixed that with the berries. Following the recipe on the back of the pectin, I stirred for the required length of time, poured the mixture into plastic "jars" and allowed it to rest and thicken for 30 minutes. Voila! Freezer jam! The kids love the taste and enjoy eating something that they made on their toast and sandwiches each day. I also found an excellent recipe for freezer pickles, which Hannah and Ben also helped me make and love to eat.

So, now the kids have a bit more understanding of what goes into the jars of food on supermarket shelves, and I have begun having healthier and cheaper options for our family by making a lot of it myself. Amazingly, the recipes are very simple and tastier too! Not bad for a couple of fun and productive summer afternoons...