Well I never did get around to finishing my thoughts did I? I thought I would've had more time.....hahahahahahahahaha.
If I could sum up ONE major takeaway that I had from attending the Together For Adoption conference was that orphans needs homes. Not orphanages but real homes. With a real dad & a real mom. That became crystal clear to me throughout this conference.
"The Trinity is not an orphanage. When our Triune God set out to redeem us, building an orphanage and placing us in it was not a part of the plan. No, God’s plan of redemption centered on placing us in an existing home. By the grace of the Triune God we are brought into the love of the Father/Son relationship that has always existed. We are placed in the Home of homes. In Ephesians 2:19 Paul tells us that we were once strangers and aliens without hope, but now we are members of the household of God. By making room for us within the love that they eternally share, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit gave us a home and a family. God answered our need by bringing us into His household."
See this article for a much better explanation of the Gospel and adoption!
I walked away from the T4A conference more in awe and grateful for my Abba Father. As I watched videos of orphans throughout the conference, and my heart strings were tugged wanting to take them all into my home. I was struck with the thought that God did not die for me to make me his child when I was an adorable, little, helpless baby peering through a crib. No he died for me when I was the one spitting on that adorable baby in the crib. I was the enemy. That is when he died. Oh the gospel is so much greater then I could ever comprehend!! I don't know what the Lord has for Chris & I and our future. If we'll every play a physical part in the orphan crisis. One thing for certain, is that I pray fervently for the orphans of the worlds to be brought into loving Christian families and I pray for my friends who are adopting children. I drop every thing to be in attendance at those adoption hearings. Just went to another one last week!! I pray for my friends who are seeking to be a go between for those permanent homes as foster parents. Those things I can do in the hear and now. Would you join me this christmas in praying for these things as well?
Friday, December 16, 2011
Friday, November 11, 2011
New Photography Website!
Just wanted to pass on the link to my new website.... it's a major work in progress but I'm happy with it so far :)
Tara d Photography
Tara d Photography
Friday, November 04, 2011
Adoption Part 1
I'm going to do something I haven't done in awhile. Write. With words and not just pictures. If you haven't noticed I don't do this all that often. I mean I try to provide captions and mini stories with my pictures but this is different. I'm going to try to take what's jumbled up in my brain and put it on paper. There's various reasons why I don't take the time to write. One major reason is because it requires thinking. Let's just be honest any "thinking" that goes beyond my normal day I don't seem to have a brain for. I'm up at 6am thinking and planning out the kids school day, I try to get in the word and think/pray about how I'm going to apply the gospel as my plan from thinking the hour prior goes amiss. I school. I think about dinner. Somedays I actually make it. If I can get past the thinking that is. During the afternoons, if my kids are playing well and not fighting, I edit pictures for clients. Lots of thinking going on there. Chris gets home and I try to enter his world of church planting, counseling, administrating and join in with his thinking. Then I pass out shortly there after, or my brain explodes. Not much time for blogging thinking there.
Yet I feel compelled to write recently. I promise you it will be full of grammar errors and spelling mistakes. All my thinking in that arena goes towards grading my fourth graders essay's. Which are pretty much beyond me at this point as is. So consider this an apology for the inevitable.
Two years ago I met a girl named Stacie. She had daughter's around Taylor's age. We were walking around the zoo together with a homeschool group I had recently joined. She had told me a few months prior they were trying to adopt. By looking at her two girls it was fairly clear they weren't adopted. They couldn't look more like their mom. So my mind went to various reasons as to why they would now be adopting. I was wrong on all accounts. They simple felt a call and desire to adopt. It reflects God's heart. Awesome I thought. I prayed alongside them for the right child to be placed in their family. I prayed for this child in utero once they had a placement. I prayed as the birth mom gave birth. Then at last, I rejoiced with them when he was in their home! A few months later was their schedule court date. I had never been to a final adoption hearing before. They were so kind to extend the invitation out to our family. After a some brief visiting in the waiting area their names was called to enter the court. The judge walked into the room, sat at his desk and after the formal introductions he began to ask the girls if they think their daddy & mommy are good daddy's and mommy's. If I was my friend right about then I would be freaking out a little.
"Oh dear God, please don't let them talk about all the times I've spoken harshly"
Something like that. But since my friend probably never does that, they said
"YES!" They are a good mommy & daddy."
Then the judge asked the girls if they would like to have this boy as a brother. They girls enthusiastically said,
"YES! YES!"
Then the judge said something like,
"With the authority granted to me by the states I pronounce Tanner as now officially about of the "tanner" family. (left their real name out).
Tears streamed down my face. Streaming now as I recall this moment. I had never witnessed something so powerful and beautiful! It was truly amazing! Here was this boy, who's mom was unable to care for him. She had a choice. She beautifully choose life. And my friends choose to say, "We will be his family! He will be our son!" Seriously, adoption, and how it reflects the Gospel, has been taking my breath away lately.
Since then, I've attended another hearing for two precious boys and a third is on the way for two sweet little girls. All from our body at Grace! I praise God for these families and how they are caring for the orphans.
This is background to say that when I heard Together for Adoption was coming to Phoenix, I asked Chris if we could consider going. He thought it was a great idea. We weren't quite sure how to swing it financially though. Then life began to get a little busier then normal for Chris and we never pulled the trigger. I saw on facebook that Noel Piper was hosting a contest on her blog for two free registrations. I thought for a minute, couldn't hurt, as I entered my name. What are the chances really? Then I said some sort of prayer. The kind you really shouldn't pray. Like,
"Ok Lord, if you REALLY want us to go to this then you'll let us win".
I might've said a few other things to him. I should've known better. God has a sense of humor. Two days later there was a congratulations e-mail in my inbox from Noel! Chris walks in,
"Hey babe.... remember how we talked about going to t4g? Well... we are now! Ok?"
Yet I feel compelled to write recently. I promise you it will be full of grammar errors and spelling mistakes. All my thinking in that arena goes towards grading my fourth graders essay's. Which are pretty much beyond me at this point as is. So consider this an apology for the inevitable.
Two years ago I met a girl named Stacie. She had daughter's around Taylor's age. We were walking around the zoo together with a homeschool group I had recently joined. She had told me a few months prior they were trying to adopt. By looking at her two girls it was fairly clear they weren't adopted. They couldn't look more like their mom. So my mind went to various reasons as to why they would now be adopting. I was wrong on all accounts. They simple felt a call and desire to adopt. It reflects God's heart. Awesome I thought. I prayed alongside them for the right child to be placed in their family. I prayed for this child in utero once they had a placement. I prayed as the birth mom gave birth. Then at last, I rejoiced with them when he was in their home! A few months later was their schedule court date. I had never been to a final adoption hearing before. They were so kind to extend the invitation out to our family. After a some brief visiting in the waiting area their names was called to enter the court. The judge walked into the room, sat at his desk and after the formal introductions he began to ask the girls if they think their daddy & mommy are good daddy's and mommy's. If I was my friend right about then I would be freaking out a little.
"Oh dear God, please don't let them talk about all the times I've spoken harshly"
Something like that. But since my friend probably never does that, they said
"YES!" They are a good mommy & daddy."
Then the judge asked the girls if they would like to have this boy as a brother. They girls enthusiastically said,
"YES! YES!"
Then the judge said something like,
"With the authority granted to me by the states I pronounce Tanner as now officially about of the "tanner" family. (left their real name out).
Tears streamed down my face. Streaming now as I recall this moment. I had never witnessed something so powerful and beautiful! It was truly amazing! Here was this boy, who's mom was unable to care for him. She had a choice. She beautifully choose life. And my friends choose to say, "We will be his family! He will be our son!" Seriously, adoption, and how it reflects the Gospel, has been taking my breath away lately.
Since then, I've attended another hearing for two precious boys and a third is on the way for two sweet little girls. All from our body at Grace! I praise God for these families and how they are caring for the orphans.
This is background to say that when I heard Together for Adoption was coming to Phoenix, I asked Chris if we could consider going. He thought it was a great idea. We weren't quite sure how to swing it financially though. Then life began to get a little busier then normal for Chris and we never pulled the trigger. I saw on facebook that Noel Piper was hosting a contest on her blog for two free registrations. I thought for a minute, couldn't hurt, as I entered my name. What are the chances really? Then I said some sort of prayer. The kind you really shouldn't pray. Like,
"Ok Lord, if you REALLY want us to go to this then you'll let us win".
I might've said a few other things to him. I should've known better. God has a sense of humor. Two days later there was a congratulations e-mail in my inbox from Noel! Chris walks in,
"Hey babe.... remember how we talked about going to t4g? Well... we are now! Ok?"
Thursday, November 03, 2011
Costumes & Memories I'd Like To Not Relive
Halloween was a eventful night. We joined our neighbors in a Franks on Frank party before tricking treating with them. Within ten minutes of being there Taylor dropped ketchup on her brand new medieval dress, seconds after I told her,
"Honey remember this dress is for our medieval feast in a few weeks PLEASE, I beg you, don't get anything on it!"
After cleaning up the dress my dad choked on a piece of chicken. Like really choked. Like running away choking while Chris runs after him prepared to do the heimlich. He is fine thankfully. Then some guy yelled at Trevor and Trevor ran home crying not wanting to come back out. I am not saying that more then likely he didn't need to be corrected but we typically try to do that without yelling in our household.
Somehow after all that excitement we were able to join our neighbors in some good old fashioned trick or treating. Honestly our kids were on the fence this year with trick or treating. I told them I would buy them a ton of candy myself if they chose not to go. There are quite a few houses in our area that get just a tad into Halloween. Like neon, flashing, orange lights that illuminate scary ghosts faces, into Halloween. Which also, in turn, flash into Taylor's room each night as she try's to go to sleep. Sometimes as late as 11pm. Nice. Like an invisible wire that hangs from the lamppost connected to a house with a demon face floating back and forth in the air, into Halloween. Honestly, I'm not even saying this as a Christian. But I just don't get it. I don't get the fun in celebrating scary evil things. Maybe it's because I've always been a "sensitive soul" but I just plain don't enjoy going through party city to pick out plates for Alexie's 1st party with larger then life-sized demons hanging over my head in each aisle. Stretching out as if to suck me into their world. Call me a party pooper. So when the man dressed as a dead baseball player, with a fake axe, hiding in the corner of a driveway looks at me and I say to him,
" I promise you if you chase after me or ANY of my children I will personally take your axe and...."
Ahem. Just don't blame me ok. And for the record the man with the axe heard me and did not move.
So on that happy note... we were able to met a ton of new neighbors who have just moved in! The kids had a great time dressing up and joining in the fun with their neighbor friends. There were PLENTY of non-scary houses that were able fill their bags up with a disgusting amount of candy.
That's Trevor in the far left corner not letting me take a picture of him.
I won in this picture.
This is just to great to not post. These are some friends of ours, also neighbors! Man what a husband does for his wife. Haha! You guys are awesome.
We'll see what next year holds :)
"Honey remember this dress is for our medieval feast in a few weeks PLEASE, I beg you, don't get anything on it!"
After cleaning up the dress my dad choked on a piece of chicken. Like really choked. Like running away choking while Chris runs after him prepared to do the heimlich. He is fine thankfully. Then some guy yelled at Trevor and Trevor ran home crying not wanting to come back out. I am not saying that more then likely he didn't need to be corrected but we typically try to do that without yelling in our household.
Somehow after all that excitement we were able to join our neighbors in some good old fashioned trick or treating. Honestly our kids were on the fence this year with trick or treating. I told them I would buy them a ton of candy myself if they chose not to go. There are quite a few houses in our area that get just a tad into Halloween. Like neon, flashing, orange lights that illuminate scary ghosts faces, into Halloween. Which also, in turn, flash into Taylor's room each night as she try's to go to sleep. Sometimes as late as 11pm. Nice. Like an invisible wire that hangs from the lamppost connected to a house with a demon face floating back and forth in the air, into Halloween. Honestly, I'm not even saying this as a Christian. But I just don't get it. I don't get the fun in celebrating scary evil things. Maybe it's because I've always been a "sensitive soul" but I just plain don't enjoy going through party city to pick out plates for Alexie's 1st party with larger then life-sized demons hanging over my head in each aisle. Stretching out as if to suck me into their world. Call me a party pooper. So when the man dressed as a dead baseball player, with a fake axe, hiding in the corner of a driveway looks at me and I say to him,
" I promise you if you chase after me or ANY of my children I will personally take your axe and...."
Ahem. Just don't blame me ok. And for the record the man with the axe heard me and did not move.
So on that happy note... we were able to met a ton of new neighbors who have just moved in! The kids had a great time dressing up and joining in the fun with their neighbor friends. There were PLENTY of non-scary houses that were able fill their bags up with a disgusting amount of candy.
That's Trevor in the far left corner not letting me take a picture of him.
I won in this picture.
This is just to great to not post. These are some friends of ours, also neighbors! Man what a husband does for his wife. Haha! You guys are awesome.
We'll see what next year holds :)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Alexie's 1yr Owl Birthday Party
I had so much fun planning for this party. Maybe a little to much. I might've been a little OCD and gone a little overboard. Just a little. After this crazy insane month it was a nice distraction. And hey the first birthday party is way more for the mom then for the kid right :)
Pinterest was of great help in planning this party! So many ideas! I found Alexie's bedding a year and a half ago and I fell in love with the owl's on her quilt. Pottery Barn kids must've started something big because Owl's seem quite popular these days. I decided to stick with her bedroom theme and make it her first birthday party theme as well!
First up decorations! I kept seeing these one year photo banners on etsy and pinterest and just thought they were so cute. Not cute enough to buy, but cute enough to try to make myself :) Chris left town for a few days prior to her party so I took my free nights to put this all together. Again this was fun for me. Therapeutic. I know I'm weird.
I also made little owl pinata bags using my neighbor's different sized circle punches. Thanks so much Suz! Made the process SO much easier! I used pink eyes for the girls bags and Orange for the boys.
I copied these cupcakes straight off of pinterest. I used strawberry frosting to make them pink instead of chocolate. And I just might've ate a ton of the oreo's other halves while I made them...
My friend Ruth made this super cute Owl cake for Alexie! Thanks again Ruth!! Your talent never ceases to amaze me!
Yes I did. I am now one of "those" moms.
An Owl craft.
Pinata time!
I'm not sure when they stopped selling the good ole' fashioned hit the pinata with a bat. But it seems like pinata's these days are "pull strings". I don't get it really. Where's the fun in pulling a string? But it was an owl. It was cute. It worked. Well only sort of worked. Once all the strings were pulled the candy still wasn't falling out effectively. The kids wondered.... NOW can we hit it?
A little Papa D love.
The birthday girl getting ready for cake
She kept trying to go for the lit candle!
Thank you to all the family that came! We are seriously blessed with the best extended family! I am so glad it worked out for so many of you from out of town to make it as well. We had a blast celebrating Alexie with you all!
Pinterest was of great help in planning this party! So many ideas! I found Alexie's bedding a year and a half ago and I fell in love with the owl's on her quilt. Pottery Barn kids must've started something big because Owl's seem quite popular these days. I decided to stick with her bedroom theme and make it her first birthday party theme as well!
First up decorations! I kept seeing these one year photo banners on etsy and pinterest and just thought they were so cute. Not cute enough to buy, but cute enough to try to make myself :) Chris left town for a few days prior to her party so I took my free nights to put this all together. Again this was fun for me. Therapeutic. I know I'm weird.
I also made little owl pinata bags using my neighbor's different sized circle punches. Thanks so much Suz! Made the process SO much easier! I used pink eyes for the girls bags and Orange for the boys.
I copied these cupcakes straight off of pinterest. I used strawberry frosting to make them pink instead of chocolate. And I just might've ate a ton of the oreo's other halves while I made them...
My friend Ruth made this super cute Owl cake for Alexie! Thanks again Ruth!! Your talent never ceases to amaze me!
Yes I did. I am now one of "those" moms.
An Owl craft.
Pinata time!
I'm not sure when they stopped selling the good ole' fashioned hit the pinata with a bat. But it seems like pinata's these days are "pull strings". I don't get it really. Where's the fun in pulling a string? But it was an owl. It was cute. It worked. Well only sort of worked. Once all the strings were pulled the candy still wasn't falling out effectively. The kids wondered.... NOW can we hit it?
A little Papa D love.
The birthday girl getting ready for cake
She kept trying to go for the lit candle!
Thank you to all the family that came! We are seriously blessed with the best extended family! I am so glad it worked out for so many of you from out of town to make it as well. We had a blast celebrating Alexie with you all!
Birthday Morning- Tradition Continues
We started Alexie's first birthday morning as we do every Daukas kid birthday morning. Waking up to balloons. It's a tradition my parents started with my brother and I. I have great memories of waking up and looking around to see if my parents had remembered and sure enough there they were. Balloons.
After we sang "Happy Birthday", Chris lead the kids in praying over Alexie and thanking God for her life. It was so sweet.
Next up... Her owl birthday party!
After we sang "Happy Birthday", Chris lead the kids in praying over Alexie and thanking God for her life. It was so sweet.
Next up... Her owl birthday party!
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Walking
It's official. The week of a step here and there is now full on walking.
Watch out Mama here I come!
Watch out Mama here I come!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Taylor's First Concert
As many of you know Crowder band is finishing up their final tour ever. Chris and I saw them in concert 7 years ago and had so much fun. When I saw Gungor was touring with them I knew we had to try to swing it. It's quite often hard for Chris and I to swing anything that involves a babysitter these days but my parents graciously drove out here so we could go. Taylor LOVES Gungor and Crowder so we thought what better first concert for her to attend? Another family from our church was going and Taylor is friends with the daughter. We knew she'd not only enjoy going with us but it would be a bonus to have a friend there.
We decided to not tell her till we were in the car. Partly not wanting to tempt Trevor. As in typical Taylor fashion she was BEYOND excited. The concert was general admission. Chris and I didn't really have the time to stand in line for an hour but our friends did. They were some of the first in line and got us some floor seat wristbands but we kind of needed to get to get there before the doors open. And when I say we barely made it... I mean like Taylor & I were running, they were the next to walk inside and we were able to squeeze in with them and grab our bands. I'm sure that made everyone around them happy :) But hey it's a christian concert right!?!
The concert came at a perfect time in Chris and I's life. It was definitely one of those "we need to escape life and go see a concert" type night. In all fairness we have many of those nights but this time we actually had a concert to go to. Convenient.
Taylor's new dream is to become a professional singer.... you could see the dreaming in her eyes that night as she saw artists come and go off the stage. Heck you could see the dreaming in my eyes that night as well. I whispered to Chris at one point, "Let's leave this all behind and hit the road to tour." I guess some dreams never die, even once accepted it will never be a reality :)
What an awesome night! Check out Gungor if you haven't already. Crowder was amazing as always but I am eager to see a whole night of Gungor!
We decided to not tell her till we were in the car. Partly not wanting to tempt Trevor. As in typical Taylor fashion she was BEYOND excited. The concert was general admission. Chris and I didn't really have the time to stand in line for an hour but our friends did. They were some of the first in line and got us some floor seat wristbands but we kind of needed to get to get there before the doors open. And when I say we barely made it... I mean like Taylor & I were running, they were the next to walk inside and we were able to squeeze in with them and grab our bands. I'm sure that made everyone around them happy :) But hey it's a christian concert right!?!
The concert came at a perfect time in Chris and I's life. It was definitely one of those "we need to escape life and go see a concert" type night. In all fairness we have many of those nights but this time we actually had a concert to go to. Convenient.
Taylor's new dream is to become a professional singer.... you could see the dreaming in her eyes that night as she saw artists come and go off the stage. Heck you could see the dreaming in my eyes that night as well. I whispered to Chris at one point, "Let's leave this all behind and hit the road to tour." I guess some dreams never die, even once accepted it will never be a reality :)
What an awesome night! Check out Gungor if you haven't already. Crowder was amazing as always but I am eager to see a whole night of Gungor!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
1st Day of School
So I'm a little late for the "first day of school" post. But we did indeed start school. Another year of homeschool. I went into it kicking and screaming... somewhat literally. The result of my tantrum was quite worth it. I figured I usually end up at some point in the year kicking and screaming so might as well get it out of the way in the beginning :) My fit lead me to change my curriculum all together. I have a close friend who is doing Tapestry of Grace with her girls who are Taylor's age. In my mind I was going to wait till Rylee was in first grade to begin such a program but I just wasn't satisfied with what I had. I knew that somehow I had to have T, T & R studying the same subjects as much as possible if I was going to make it through sane. I took a very fast crash course in Tapestry, found the curriculum used, the Lower Grammar books were offered up for me to borrow (PRAISE GOD) and I went ahead and purchased all the upper grammar books for Taylor. Let me just say this was the BEST DECISION EVER! We are on week 8 and loving every minute. It's just so rich! Taylor gets deeper into the subjects with her reading while I stay mostly on the surface with Trevor & Rylee but I don't feel like I have my hands all over the place. Each week, all three kids study the same thing. For instance, we just finished up learning about the vikings and onto the crusaders. I like Tapestry because it takes what I love about the classical approach and using living books approach and combines it all together. Once you learn how to read through the teacher's manual it's really easy to lesson plan for the week. In addition, unbeknownst to me, there are three other families in our church that are doing the same year in Tapestry. We are combining together to do a big medieval feast to celebrate the end of unit 1 in mid-november. Let the costume making begin.
So keeping in first day of school tradition I made pancakes for the kids. I found these awesome pancake molds 75% off at Williams Sonoma and knew they'd make my star wars loving kids happy. Here's what the pictures looks like. Beautiful fluffy pancakes.
My, *ahem*, second attempt at making these. Which took up ALL of my pancake batter. Here kids.... here's one pancake for you all to share. I think Chris was waiting for is this a "laugh it off moment" or is this a "she's going to cry". I wasn't too sure which one it would be myself. I was a little fragile those early days of starting school. Thankfully I had grace to laugh.
Just to keep myself humble... here was my first attempt. Who knew the pancake would get terribly stuck in the mold. Nice. Now you can laugh at me too.
It was ironic how much my pancakes reflect my efforts in homeschooling. I start out with this great, glorious picture of what school will look like. The reality is more like my second picture. A faithful attempt. I'm doing good if I can keep it from looking like the last picture :) It was good for me. Kill all my expectations of what we can accomplish on day one and aim for faithfulness. Looking back at the past couple months I can say that's what we done... faithful. So here are my students.
Reading at a 2nd grade level, Rylee. I love this kid. She's all kindergartner with her ability to still still and focus, or lack there of, but boy once she does is this girl smart. She can read like none of the others have been able to this early on! What a blessing. So basically kindergarten is over for her and everything else this year is extra :) Takes the pressure off of mom.
My math whiz kid, Trevor. Starting the first grade. I'm super pleased with how well his reading skills have progressed! I think he is feeling the challenge of having his younger sister reading so well. Nothing like getting some competition for a boy :) He is super smart in Math! Working on a third grade math book right now. He so impresses me with his ability to remember and work with numbers. Didn't get that from me that's for sure. That's ALL Chris.
And Taylor. The reader, writer, singer, loves mysteries, Taylor. She is eating up her new Tapestry program. Devouring every book given to her.
There they are. My three school beauties. Some days I love them, some days they make me cry... but all in all I wouldn't trade teaching them at home for anything.
After school was over we took them to the Peoria Space Challenger Center. We are studying astronomy this year for science so this was a way to kick it off! Nothing like a field trip on the first day of school.
For those of you who are interested in school type stuff we are using Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 for history/literature/worldview/church history
Apologia Astronomy for Science- LOVE IT!
First Language Lessons for T & R
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for T & R
A Reason for Handwriting for T & R
Taylor is using IEW for writing. They have a Medieval ages writing curriculum that goes nicely with our Tapestry.
Trev & Tay are using Teaching Textbooks for Math and Rylee is using Horizons K
Pictures of our salt map, scrolls, castles, knight drawings, and solar system to come :)
So keeping in first day of school tradition I made pancakes for the kids. I found these awesome pancake molds 75% off at Williams Sonoma and knew they'd make my star wars loving kids happy. Here's what the pictures looks like. Beautiful fluffy pancakes.
My, *ahem*, second attempt at making these. Which took up ALL of my pancake batter. Here kids.... here's one pancake for you all to share. I think Chris was waiting for is this a "laugh it off moment" or is this a "she's going to cry". I wasn't too sure which one it would be myself. I was a little fragile those early days of starting school. Thankfully I had grace to laugh.
Just to keep myself humble... here was my first attempt. Who knew the pancake would get terribly stuck in the mold. Nice. Now you can laugh at me too.
It was ironic how much my pancakes reflect my efforts in homeschooling. I start out with this great, glorious picture of what school will look like. The reality is more like my second picture. A faithful attempt. I'm doing good if I can keep it from looking like the last picture :) It was good for me. Kill all my expectations of what we can accomplish on day one and aim for faithfulness. Looking back at the past couple months I can say that's what we done... faithful. So here are my students.
Reading at a 2nd grade level, Rylee. I love this kid. She's all kindergartner with her ability to still still and focus, or lack there of, but boy once she does is this girl smart. She can read like none of the others have been able to this early on! What a blessing. So basically kindergarten is over for her and everything else this year is extra :) Takes the pressure off of mom.
My math whiz kid, Trevor. Starting the first grade. I'm super pleased with how well his reading skills have progressed! I think he is feeling the challenge of having his younger sister reading so well. Nothing like getting some competition for a boy :) He is super smart in Math! Working on a third grade math book right now. He so impresses me with his ability to remember and work with numbers. Didn't get that from me that's for sure. That's ALL Chris.
And Taylor. The reader, writer, singer, loves mysteries, Taylor. She is eating up her new Tapestry program. Devouring every book given to her.
There they are. My three school beauties. Some days I love them, some days they make me cry... but all in all I wouldn't trade teaching them at home for anything.
After school was over we took them to the Peoria Space Challenger Center. We are studying astronomy this year for science so this was a way to kick it off! Nothing like a field trip on the first day of school.
For those of you who are interested in school type stuff we are using Tapestry of Grace, Year 2 for history/literature/worldview/church history
Apologia Astronomy for Science- LOVE IT!
First Language Lessons for T & R
Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for T & R
A Reason for Handwriting for T & R
Taylor is using IEW for writing. They have a Medieval ages writing curriculum that goes nicely with our Tapestry.
Trev & Tay are using Teaching Textbooks for Math and Rylee is using Horizons K
Pictures of our salt map, scrolls, castles, knight drawings, and solar system to come :)
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Happy Birthday Alexie
Oh my sweet baby Alexie.... how can it be true? How can you be one already?!?! You have brought your mama and family pure joy this year. I tear up thinking about how much love I have in my heart for you. How your very presence has INCREASED my joy for your brother and sisters. Seeing them love on you, make you laugh, care for you makes my heart soar. And oh how you love them!! You love your mama too :) You show it by crying anytime someone tries to take you out of my arms. You are on the verge of walking, a few steps here and there. A whole new world is going to open up to you this year. I praise God that in his goodness, even when I thought we would not have anymore children, he surprised us with you! You are loved.
Happy Birthday Alexie Jane!
Happy Birthday Alexie Jane!
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