This Morning...

It was a special morning because one of the two red roses at the front of the sanctuary was for Monkey. Last week, on his way home from AWANA, he asked Jesus into his heart. Our church honors each person who makes that decision with a red rose. After this picture was taken, the prayer team which was already up front, took a moment to pray for our young son - that he will continue to grow in his faith and will serve God for the rest of his life.

Our Week

Our new fall schedule is now upon us. We're starting our seventh week of school and all of our activities have now started up. I love fall and have to admit that I am looking forward to "sweatshirt" weather. The only problem is that fall never last very long around here and the icky, white stuff will be flying before we know it! Here's a brief look at our fall so far:

Sunday mornings we attend church together. Last week all of the kids moved up to their new classes. This morning was particularly exciting because about half way through our Sunday School class the fire alarm went off and everyone had to evacuate the building. I do have to say that the church's evacuation plan worked very well, and everyone (even the kids) got out in a quick and orderly fashion. Our pastor stood on a bench outside and delivered his sermon while the fire department checked the building. After about half an hour, we were allowed back inside. I was on nursery "duty" during the second service and got to hang out with some of my favorite little people. Later this evening, we will be back at church for the girls' dance practice and to pick up the boys from a youth event.

On Mondays, Seely has two college classes that take up most of his day. Last Monday evening was the first BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) of the year for Lily, Mango, and I. This year we are studying the book of John.

Tuesday evenings we take Lily to therapy. Many children who suffered through traumatic and neglectful beginnings need help dealing with those issues and the underlying anxiety they leave in their wake. It is becoming more clear to us and her therapist that Lily will likely continue to face some processing and developmental issues into her teen years, and possibly even adulthood. Early neglect and trauma are very damaging to the brain in ways no one expects or understands until you live with someone who has been through it.

Wednesday's, we have a standing lunch "date" with friends we've known for about 11 years. In the evenings, the boys head off to church. Seely leads a group of AWANA Cubbies (3&4 year olds). Random has his 8th grade boys small group. They both attend a youth "hang out" time after those activities are over. Monkey is in his first year of AWANA Sparks. Last Wednesday evening, on his way home from church, he asked Jesus to be his Saviour in the drive-thru of a local coffee shop!

On Thursday evenings, Seely has his youth group small group, and for the next 6 weeks, I am taking a class at church that concentrates on teaching Christians how to effectively help others through difficult times and crisis' in their lives. We're studying human personality, crisis and grief, trauma, and a variety of other topics all from a Christian perspective. It is different than what I thought it would be, but I am still enjoying it.

Fridays are co-op day. Rather than doing our regular school work at home (like we do Monday - Thursday), we join up with several other families at our church for classes. The younger half are doing some lapbooking and learning about great Christian heroes throughout history. I have the older half and we are traipsing our way through the Friendly Chemistry course. After class, we serve the church (who lets us use the building for free) by restocking the little holders on the backs of the chairs in the sanctuary - making sure they have envelopes, attendence and prayer request forms, and that the pencils are there and sharp. When all is in order, anyone available has lunch together. It is a great way to end the school week.

Our Saturdays are like most people's, I suppose - catch up on sleep and housework, run errands, visits to see DH's mom who is in an assisted living facility, youth activities, an occassional dance practice, etc. etc. etc.

It all makes for a busy week, but we do enjoy what we get to do!

Simple Woman's Daybook

For today....August 24th, 2009

Outside my window... the sun is shining in a beautiful blue sky, but I can already tell the days are getting shorter.

I am thinking...about what I want to do this evening - how much housework vs. how much reading

I am thankful...for the good day of school we had and for a daughter who can laugh at herself

From the learning rooms...We are starting our third week of school, and they are learning about the beginning of the Civil War.

From the kitchen...we had stroganoff tonight with rotini noodles...and the swirly noodles (instead of the normal egg noodles) caused quite the discussion at the dinner table!

I am wearing...a t-shirt, denim shorts, and no socks

I am creating...I actually have something to fill in this blank this time!!! I am cross-stitching a killer whale scene...but who knows how long it will actually take me.

I am going...No where tonight, but tomorrow will be checking on the house of a friend of ours who is out of town. We had lunch with my parents, sister, and niece earlier today.

I am reading... I John Chapter 5....and just finished a book on my Kindle, so need to see what else I have waiting on there for me :-) (I love that machine!)

I am hoping...for an uneventful evening

I am hearing... the dishwasher running with our supper dishes inside, Dr. Quinn playing on the TV, and two boys quietly talking as they build card houses

Around the house...the usual full laundry basket with clothes waiting to be folded, chairs askew at the table from a family dinner, a few school books still laying around

One of my favorite things...a quiet evening at home

A few plans for the rest of the week...lunch out with friends, school, Seely has college orientation on Friday

I've just changed computers, so don't have any photos on this one yet....maybe next time!

Monkey's First Day of School

Today, Monkey began his official schooling as a kindergartner! He was quite diligent about completing his work for the day.

He began with math, which he declared "easy" as it simply involved sorting by shape and color.

Math was followed by some phonics games where he had to match his upper and lower case letters, and practice writing the letter Aa. We are trying out a new phonics program this year. I loved the one I've used in the past, but after having taught through it three times I was very ready for something different.

He worked hard right up until the end, but once the books were away, he started telling me that it was hot in here, and he laid down on a pillow on the floor and stayed there. Those of you who know him in real life know that laying around is NOT something this child does when he is healthy. So the poor little guy has spent the afternoon sitting in the bowl chair and generally looking and feeling miserable. His older brothers have decided that he must be sick of school already.

A Very Special Day

Today was our church picnic and baptismal service. About three weeks ago, both Seely and Random came to us individually and each of them told us they would like to be baptized. This past week, they met with their youth pastors to share their testimony and to talk more in-depthly about what it meant to be baptized. They each decided they were ready to take this step of publicly stating their faith and their desire to truly follow Christ. It was a bit of an emotional day to see them both publicly claiming the faith that we have taught them as their own.

Ten people were baptized today, including two of our sons, and three family friends.
Seely's youth pastor took several moments to speak quiet words of blessing and to pray for him. And then down he went.

Followed by a hug to a man who has meant alot to him.Then it was Random's turn.
His youth pastor also took a few moments for a prayer and some quiet words of blessing.
And then down he went. And back up with a smile.

Just a few minutes later, Seely was accepted into the membership at our church.