Homeschooling Blues

I am having the homeschooling blues....gray skies....not a tulip up in my garden yet (beginning to wonder if the squirrels ate all the bulbs again)...spring cleaning in full swing (is all this washing of walls and windows really necessary?)...and I just want to stop school here for the year (does it really matter if he misses 10 weeks of his sixth grade year?)...pick back up in the fall. I know, I know, what kind of mama am I? Well, a tired one, for sure. And, don't worry...we won't quit here. We will press on..until we have completely finished this year's curriculum. Our family, especially, Jake, has been battling illness since Christmas...and it is almost Easter. Really?? So, I am tired. Jake is sick again. Josh is obviously not feeling well - either that or he caught a bad case of a lousy attitude from his mama....not at all like him. Enough already! I am praising and thanking God that He has blessed me with these two dear children. He has entrusted them to me and is giving me all that I need to train them in His ways. I pray that He will renew my heart and give me a right attitude. May the Lord renew my strength and cause me to rise up above my current circumstances like an eagle.

Our Week in Review

We had a great week! I was starting to feel better (sinus infection & migraines - yuck!!). So, I did something with Jacob that Joshua and I used to do all the time: I painted the bottom of his feet and let him walk across a paper path we had laid out on the kitchen floor. OHHHH...was he thrilled! He loves art time - the messier the better!! My only regret: I didn't take any pictures. We are still working on learning the letter A...and numbers 1-5. Slowly, slowly we will get there!

Joshua completed school this week with a GREAT attitude and in record time! We enjoyed reading Hittite Warrior together and discussing it. He even asked every night if I would come into his room and read an extra chapter before bed. He brought me the book at lunch, at breakfast, at break time..."Mom, do you think you could read an extra chapter to me?" Somewhere in the last week, God has given me my son's heart back. It was so encouraging.

We studied Ephesus and other places in Turkey for Geography. It is so exciting to learn about the places that Paul traveled and see photos of it. We even get on-line and look at extra pictures. Joshua's favorite thing was studying the ten plagues God brought down on Egypt. He said, "Mom, I did not know that every plague was to judge a specific one of their false gods. But they still didn't get it." How exciting to have my big guy understand that God had a purpose for each plague - not just to make the people miserable but to show them the uselessness of their false gods - just like He has a purpose for everything He does in each of our lives! Joshua is reading the Lord of the Rings series for reading. His adventurous heart responds to them. For poetry this week, he did a great painting...without following the directions exactly..something I love about art!!