the brew*crew adventure

Well, I wrote a little update about what our baby girl has been up to lately and need to now update you on our big girl, T's latest accomplishment.

As many of you know, T loves animals, and training them. She's specifically fond of horses, birds and dogs, and even more especially the ponies she rides, her late cockatiel and Samson, our German Shepherd dog, whom she's been "training" for years, and she and her brother's ferrets (one of which she'd also entered into a 4-H show last year).

Something I've really come to admire about T is how she'll get an inspiration, an idea, and will go after it with gusto... whether it's writing a story, creating or researching something, planning a project, or "training and showing" her animals. She keeps her eye on a goal and makes it happen, regardless of discouragement, doubts and sometimes a lot of waiting.

Here she is in 2005 (she was 6 years old, he was 6 months old!)  around the time that she first became interested in training and showing him.

...and another here.

For some time, she's wanted to enter Samson in a local dog show (held just for fun and to raise money for the local humane society) during our city's annual week-long "Fun Festival" celebration. Up until last week though, it hasn't worked out, since for the past couple of years, Fun Fest has been during the same week as the annual week-long Summer Horse Camp that N and T's riding instructor puts together and N and T have attended instead.

However, this year, we were able to attend Fun Fest's Pet Dog Parade, and I do believe the timing was perfect for both T and Samson. She wouldn't have really been big enough to handle his 100+ # self in such a public setting before now (and honestly, we even had our doubts last week, and went into it praying for them both) and Samson probably wouldn't have had the maturity to chill out before this summer. But try and tell T that... the horse camps were a wonderful time in and of themselves, but also offered timely delays.

So, she had been working with him for months now, daily, entirely on her own, and had their routine all worked out. She's been watching dog-training dvd's, and reading some seriously mature books about understanding and training dogs. The big day came last Monday evening... and she was ready, but we wondered... was he? I'm sorry to have to say that even I cautiously discouraged her from going through with it, because I was afraid that Samson wouldn't handle it well (visions of trauma, and her having to endure failure- he gets very protective and growly when we take him to the vet). She assured me that he would do fine, I relented- knowing that he's a good boy, and I'm a bit paranoid- and we entered him into three different categories.

They did quite well together. Chris and I were so proud of T as she took him into the ring all by herself, answered questions asked of her by the channel 10 news man, and of Samson, as he went along so obediently, and played nice. We were all pleasantly surprised (except T, who'd expected it all along) with how well Samson did in such a public setting, surrounded by hundreds of other dogs.

1. Handsomest Male: He tood 2nd place, out of 27 dogs! A dalmation took 1st, over him? Yeah, but YAY Samson and T!
2. Best Costume: Samson and T received an honorable mention in this category. The competition was steep, with extravagant costumes on dogs and owners alike. T was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and Samson was the Big Bad Wolf, naturally, dressed up as Grandma. I thought they were absolutely adorable, T with her red cape that her Aunt Barbara made for her, and Samson with a scarf over his ears, definitely the cutest pair out there!
3. Best Tricks: Samson and T took 2nd place again! She did so good, competing against adults even. She had him sit and lay down by silent command, shake, do high-five/down low, jump up for a treat, and the clincher that made the crowd go "Whoooo...Aaaah" was when she balanced a treat on his nose, and he sat there with it, until she said "okay" at which point he tossed it up into the air and then caught it in his mouth (which she's taught him to do). A little schnauzer jumped through hoops to take 1st place, literally. She belonged to another homeschooling family that are friends of ourss, so it was fun to have them place before us. They deserved it!

As we left the show, N was triumphantly proclaiming, "Homeschoolers dominate!" Once again, T's big dreams and tenacity have paid off, and once again, she has inspired her older brother... along with the rest of our family. N has now already started working with Samson for next year's show, which he's claimed showing rights for.

And speaking of big... I took T shopping for new shoes last week, because only her flip-flops still fit her, and I am fumbling over the fact that she- at 9.5 years old- is now a size 8.5 in women's!  Our little girl is not so little anymore... *sighs* And it's apparent to me that it's not only her feet that are growing... I only hope that my own faith would someday fill her big-sized child-faith-shoes. Once again, she's humbled me... and I am the one who's learning here- from her.

If only I could maintain and apply that same amount of faith that she has in our dog... to believing more in her innate abilities, in her brother's, in our relaxed approach to schooling, and in God's ability to bless my meager efforts to give and guide when and how I am able to in a meaningful way. If only I could dream that big with my husband today, and everyday, to joyfully invite adventure by taking more risks! Truly, to have the faith of a child... 'twould be good. I must remember, as did my determined little big girl, that it simply begins with following through on an inspired vision, the committed work of giving a whole lot of little bits of daily efforts, and then ignoring all the smart big people voices that discourage, "it won't work, you're not ready, etc., etc..."

Some of the most beautiful accomplishments my children have made have been those that they've done of their own accord and inspiration. As they are getting older, I am finding renewed vigor and validation to relax and enjoy this adventure of learning together, all the time!

And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent and become like little children, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

~ Matthew 18.2-4

 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";

~ Matthew 9.29

My prayer today is this:

Lord, help my unbelief, touch my eyes that I may see and believe as a child does... and let not my lack of faith be a stumbling block to others. Help me to inspire and come alongside my children in meaningful ways, that I would never stamp out their sparks of interest, nor squelch their faith to go after big dreams, and stunt potential accomplishments. I know that you can do this... I do not want to get in the way.

**Update** T just wrote about the dog show here over at her blog.

She loves biting into stuff with her four new teeth now, two on top and two on bottom, perfect for munching strawberries and crunching cheerios (which she picks up with her wee little fingers and bites in half to eat). Who knew eating could be so much fun?!

–adjective

excited; disturbed.

This was "Ma-maaaa-ma?! Enough already, I want outta here!"

Yep, that's what she said, I just know it.

Moody Monday Photo Challenge

We fed baby S her first bites of cereal a few weeks ago, a few days before she turned six months old. She was certainly ready, and loved it! Up until this week she's only been eating cereal once a day, but I've just now started feeding her solids in the mornings as well as in the evenings sometimes too... so far she's tried pureed plums, bananas, peaches and even a bit of oat cereal, but mostly just rice cereal.

Home-made Organic Brown Rice Baby Cereal

• To make her baby cereal, I've just been putting organic short grain brown rice (which we order in bulk from here, much cheaper than HFS) through my Wonder Mill, and it comes out very finely ground, basicly as rice flour (which I keep in the freezer).
• Then I pour about 4 oz. (I was only using 2-3 oz. a month ago- she's eating more now) of either expressed mama's milk or baby apple juice into a little pot and then add a heaping Tbsp. of the milled rice flour.
• It starts out very thin, but as the liquid heats up, it thickens very quickly, and in moments I have a perfect little serving of fresh, healthy baby cereal.

Baby S enjoys sitting in her highchair chewing on wet wash rags immensely as well. Oh, and these teething feeder contraptions are ingenius (another one of the wonderful baby inventions that weren't around or I just didn't know about with N and T)! I just pop in a piece of banana or frozen peaches, and there's no chance of her choking on it. She thinks it's great, messy, tasty fun!

I did try out a recipe for teething biscuits the other day, but found that it crumbled a bit too big and she gagged on a piece, which scared me a bit. So, I froze them for later. I figure in another month or so she'll be able to handle them just fine. I altered a recipe that I found here.

Baby's Wholewheat & Rice Flour Banana Breadsticks

• 1/2 cup oil (I used 1/4 c. flax seed oil and 1/4 c. vegetable oil)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (took 2 medium sized bananas)
• 1 and 3/4 cups flour (I used 1 c. ww and 3/4 c. rice flour)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Combine ingredients and stir only until smooth. Pour into a greased loaf pan.
Bake at 350 degrees F for about 1 hour or until firmly set.

Cool, remove from pan, and cut into sticks. Spread sticks out on a cookie sheet and bake at 150 degrees F for 1 hour or longer until the sticks are hard and crunchy. (according to original recipe) **My oven's lowest temp. is 175 degrees F, and it took a few hours of baking for them to get crunch hard at all.** Store in a tightly covered container, freezes well.

he was so small, my first baby... Now, not so much!

On Feb. 26th, N, our eldest child, turned 12 (yeah, I'm a bit behind, I know)...

He is growing up to be such a fine young man, true to his namesake. He's such a great big brother to his two little sisters and blesses his Father and I every day. I am so thankful that the Lord chose to bless us with this most delightful gift of his presence in our lives.

yet, similar... that's what I love about siblings. It's always so fascinating to me to see how different they are from eachother, and yet so alike as to be recognized by strangers as being family. Each child uniquely from the same lineage, and yet their inherited traits from both of the parents endlessy varying in each individual... simply miraculous and wonderful to behold!

This has especially been on my mind lately, since N and I have been studying dna and genetics together this week (and having all sorts of interesting discussion as we read about genetics, cloning, etc.) for his co-op science class.

For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

~ Psalm 139.13-16

PhotoHunt 100 theme: different

Our journey down picture book lane with old and new friends. Here's baby S reading to Bub, Bub reading to baby S, one of her favorites... see how she's grabbing at it? I kid you not when I tell you that she likes to turn the pages and study the pictures intently already! What fun we shall have introducing our baby girl to so many wonderful books. She loves to chew on good literature already, literally!

joyful: adj: experiencing, causing, or showing joy: HAPPY syn see GLAD -- joy.ful.ly

joy. n [ME, fr. OF joie, fr. L gaudia, pl. of gaudium, fr. gaudere to rejoice; akin to Gk gethein to rejoice] 1 a: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of posessing what one desires: DELIGHT b: the expression or exhibition of such emotion: GAIETY 2: a state of happiness or felicity : BLISS 3: a source or cause of delight syn see PLEASURE

~ Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary

THURSDAY CHALLENGE

for fun and learning

"EMOTION" (Happy, Joyful, Contented, Surprised, Fearful, Distressed, Angry,...)

Next Week: FOOD (Cooking, Ingredients, Vegetables, Fruit, Meat, Dairy, Restaurants,...)

Remember these two miracle babies?

Well, here they are about a month (or two?!) ago now... cute as can be!

Babies S & V

Isn't our heavenly Father just amazing? I squeeze this girl and thank Him for her, N and T every day. I can hardly believe that baby V has a tooth already and is already tasting new foods! Baby S has quite a few new tricks lately too... let's see, where to start? She seems to be changing so much every day!

She loves to grab her feet and try to stick them in her mouth, along with everything else. She's gotten very good at picking things up and then retrieving them once she's dropped them. She reaches out to touch everything now. She is noticeably interested in her board books, grabs the pages and turns them (well it seems like she's turning them anyways! and stares intently at the pages. One of her favorite places (besides co-sleeping in our big bed or riding around on my hip) is her bouncer, where she jumps around like a little wild thing. She just smiles and laughs a lot too, we're all totally smitten with her.

I think we need to get little S and V together with L for another photo op soon! Cindy, Susie? ...we could let the bigguns run wild for a couple hours while we have some coffee, gab and watch the babies roll and scoot around on the floor. I'm sure that we could even think up some educational categorization for the time well spent.

----------------
Now playing: John Mayer - Waiting on the World to Change
via FoxyTunes

spun by heaven from silken strands...

of the same gossamer threads God uses to weave the butterflies' wings,

that they may carry with them summer's warmth...

and with golden rays drape autumn's retiring fields...

Yes, she wears a golden crown,

atop her tiny head

like her brother~

I just love this color...

Today Yesterday Tuesday (that's how long it's taken me to get this ONE post written- granted it is long, but that's what happens when things keep piling up that I want to write about) was N and T's last riding lesson of the season, and I am so ready for the break. It's one less place that I'll be taking them each week, until they start their lessons back up in the Spring. Their riding instructor takes the colder months off from teaching, but I'm sure that the kids will still get to go over to her house a few times to ride and visit with her and the ponies and horses that they love so much- just for fun, so long as its not too miserably cold outside. T sure won't be missing the hours of barn chores that they do each week to pay for their lessons, she was beginning to get weary of it, but N sure will. He says that sometimes he enjoys that part as much as riding. I think it's because he likes that one on one down-time with the horses in their stalls, and probably feels like a little man when he's muckin' out stalls and stacking hay bales.

Now that we have one less commitment each week though, we'll soon be adding another, since both N and T will be participating in Upward Basketball this year through a local church. They are so excited, and will begin practicing next month, but practice will be in the evenings and so Chris will be able to bring them sometimes. N is looking forward to trying out for our homeschool group's Junior Varsity basketball team next year. Chris is also considering taking N and T with him to a local gym one night a week, where there's a kung-fu class, taught by a Christian man (also our dog-sitter's husband) that's a friend of a friend, for $1 per night. It's a come when you want type thing, so they could check it out without having to commit. We hear that it's a great, fun way to workout. Also, this particular instructor considers his classes to be a ministry and focuses on teaching character through Scripture and prayer during each lesson.

Besides the above mentioned activities, we have coop classes on Monday and Tuesday mornings, T has tumbling on Thursdays afternoons, AWANAs on Wednesday evenings, and N has guitar practice on Monday afternoons. So, that's not too much, but enough to keep us busy.

So, our weekly scheduled activities look like so:

Mondays:

Coop from 8:45 (assembly) 9-12 for classes, with lunch from 12-1 and clubs from 1-3

N is taking "Marine Biology" first hour (with lots of reading and dissecting), a "K-nex Engineering" class second hour and helping me in the nursery during the third hour (per his request even, I'm the nursery coord. and he has been a big help- of course he had lots of practice with our babysitting endeavors last year).

N and T got to go on one field trip already for his Marine Biology class, to Clinch River, where they have a "snorkeling with the mussels" program. Then N dissected a clam in class. They'll also be dissecting baby turtles and sharks at some point, and have already planned a group field trip to Ripley's Aquarium in January (which we're all excited about, since we haven't been to a big aquarium since N was 6, and T was 3, when we went to SeaWorld).

T is taking a "Recorder/Music theory" class first hour, "Knitting" during the second hour and "Art" during the third hour. She and N then both stay for drama club after lunch (with baby S and I hanging around too), and then I take N to his guitar lesson while T stays for 4-H club, and rides home with a friend.

We are so proud of T, who this last week gave a speech in front of her peers because she was running for the job of reporter for 4-H. She was so excited, and wrote her entire speech on her own, and then asked me if she could type it up herself, which she did. She said that she was so nervous to give it (naturally), but she sure didn't appear to be once she got up in front of everyone. Here is what she wrote and said:

The reason I want to be the reporter for 4-H is because I like to write, and because I think that I would be good for the job. I also think that it would be a fun job to do. I'm thinking about being a reporter when I grow up, so this would be good experience. Please vote for me.

And vote for her they did, so she got the job! Whhooo-Hooo! So, she will be writing reports about what their 4-H club is doing, meetings, events and such and then submitting her reports to the county 4-H office to be published in the local 4-H newsletter/paper. She thinks that's really cool, and so do I. It's quite a job for an 8 year old to have, don't you think? She said that I could be her editor.

Tuesdays:

Coop from 9:45 (assembly) 10-12 for classes

N is taking "Logic & Critical Thinking Skills" during the first hour, and "Weather & Geology" during the second hour.

T is taking "Art" during the first hour, which will change to "Spanish" during the second trimester, and "Intro. to Chemistry" during the second hour, which will change to "Electricity & Magnets" during the second semester.

I just sit in the nursery with baby S and gab with the other Moms. After coop, I was taking the kids straight to their riding lessons (where they'd spend 4 hours at the barn), but since we're done with riding until next Spring, we've gotten our Tuesday afternoons back to just be home, which we need, so that's good.

T says that her Chemistry class is her favorite. They do lots of experiments, and she's enjoyed learning all about molecules, atoms and such... She's been so inspired in her class that she's brought home experiments to do, and asked Chris to set her up "a laboratory" in the garage, which he did... And she's spent hours out there "experimenting" with various slime recipes, until she found the perfect one (even looked them up on redzee herself, but soon got frustrated with not having all of the right ingredients listed in the various recipes she found, so she made up her own). She brought her final invention/concoction to her teacher, who was quite impressed, and said that she liked T's recipe better than her own. I must say that her slime did turn out really great.

I was glad when she moved her stuff from off our dining room table, onto her own table in her "lab"...

And I just had to laugh when I opened the fridge to find this:

She was trying to see if different temps. effected the way her slime congealed.

But, I think that her greatest triumph was that after a few days of her disappearing into her lab, and a few instances of N's looking around and asking, "Where's Tab?", he eventually joined her in her "scientific work". Hah! She told me excitedly, "Bub did think what I was doing was a dumb idea, but now he's in there mixing up his own slime like crazy and he even thinks its really fun!" She made a believer out of him. This girl gets inspired and runs with it, she has so much initiative and determination, she reminds me a lot of her Dad.

Her recipe:

Easy Slime

• 1 cup of elmer's glue
• 1.5 cups of water

Mix the water and glue together really good, until the glue is almost totally dissolved into the water.

• Then add about .5-1 cup of Borax, until it looks slimy and good.
• Add whatever color of food coloring you want

Mix all those together. Then pour the goo onto a cookie sheet and let it sit until it looks and feels like slime.

She was very excited to be able to attend "Chemistry Day with fourth graders", an educational event she went to yesterday, hosted by a local chemical company, in honor of its being National Chemistry week this week. When I picked her up, she was bubbling over with excitement as she told me of all the fascinating experiments, displays and fun time she'd had. She was also glad to have run into many of her homeschooling friends which were also there. She told me, "I think this was the best day of my life!" Yeah, I think the girl likes science. Did I mention that she also would now like to be a Chemist when she grows up... so let's see, so far that's a missionary, writer, artist (she's thinking of writing and illustrating her own books), horse-training large-animal veterinarian, reporter- Chemist. *exhale* She says that she wouldn't mind being a Mom, but probably won't be, because she doesn't plan to get married. Okay, fine with us says Chris and I. Meanwhile though, she sure is good with her baby sis, and is getting plenty of Mommy-practice in, just in case.

So, between the two coops we meet with, and extracurricular/field-trip type stuff, N and T both have been getting LOTS of science experience this year, independent of me, and in very engaging/hands-on ways, which has been so nice. Well, besides my running them around here and there in the truck, but that, I can handle. Tomorrow we're going to a visit a local Natural History Museum and fossil site. It should be interesting to see the fossils and to imagine what creatures roamed around in our own back yard so many years ago... And next Friday we're going to the local Hands On Museum.

Wednesdays:

Wednesdays, we're home and free to do whatever we want to. T has AWANAs on Wed. evenings.

Thursdays:

T has tumbling on Thurs. afternoons, and that's it, we're free besides that. Thursday is usually when I do our grocery shopping as well (at two different stores).

Fridays:

Free as well, I'd like to get back into our tradition of having a weekly Shabbat dinner. It's sort of fallen to the way-side since baby S has been born, time to get that back in place. I miss it, think we all do.

So, that's our weeks, and I do hope to find a workable routine soon for the kids and I here at home, to fit into our days/times that we're home. I don't know though, a lot of learning sure is happening naturally around here, with the kids pursuing their own interests. As in years past, we've been unschooling by default... Things that I'd like to be more consistent about getting done around here (in no particular order):

Daily Goals:

• Bible study & prayer/journal time together in the mornings (kids and I, we're not awake when Chris leaves for work).
• I NEED to make time to exercise (the extra baby weight just doesn't fall away like it did when I was in my 20's *sighs*) and quit eating sweets.
• Laundry folded and PUT AWAY. *ahem* 'nuff said.
• History and Literature Read-aloud time with the kids. I'm missing that a lot, but finding it hard to do with baby S.
• Math (we've been doing it sporadically when we can, need to be more consistent) with all of our various resources.
• Reading & Narrations more regularly. Currently sporadic spontaneous oral narrations are given- need to do more written narrations, and plan to start dictation with both N and T as well. (We're following AO's Language Arts Scope & Sequence.)
• Our AVKO spelling, because they do enjoy it so much, and are actually frustrated with me for not doing it more. I think that it's like a competitive game to them. Just plain copywork has served them well for plenty of spelling practice over the years.
• Read and work through Simply Grammar and Writing Strands 3 together.
• Nature Journaling together.

Something good, baby S has been sleeping really well lately, for 5, 6 and even a couple of 7 hour stretches at night, followed by waking up for a quick nursing and going right back down to sleep for another 3-4 hours. She's definitely got her nights and days figured out, and I'm enjoying getting my sleep again. I have been having some seriously weird dreams though, which is nothing really unusual for me I guess, but last night I had one of those anxiety dreams that I have every now and then... part of it was that I had an English class that I was supposed to be at, with a lady teacher, and I'd not been in class in for three weeks, and hadn't found out what work I was supposed to have done, so I was so scared to show up to class without my work or a good excuse. On the way to class I stopped in the bathroom and found that I'd started my monthly. My first thought was "oh no, that means I could be ovulating anytime, which means I could have another baby anytime... but I'm not ready for another baby yet! I have so much to do, and I'm so behind!" LOL Um, yeah, that dream's interpretation is pretty clear... so much to do, so little time... feeling pressure (inward and outward) to get more done with my time here at home, but life is good, all the time. Believe me, you don't want to hear about my other recent stress/angst dreams. Regardless of all there is to do though, these days are fleeting, and I'm determinedly taking the time to enjoy every moment of sweet Baby S, my N and T.