It's a Mini-Postapalooza!!!

Ever figure out what you're going to blog about and then you read your daily blogs only to decide you have something to say about what you read? And then you think of something else you want to blog about, but nothing is really long enough for one big, good post?

Yeah, welcome to my mini-postapalooza. It is too a word because I like it.

Counting My Blessings
I have so many things to be thankful for. My husband and daughters, my parents, my sisters, our church that we can drive to every week with no fear, the fact that God made it possible for me to come home and homeschool our girls, the laundry that is going right now because we have a working washer and dryer and clothes to wear and wash, the dirty dishes in the kitchen because we have food to eat, the furniture we have to sit on, the books we have to read, really simple things. We take so much for granted. I have been abundantly blessed. God deserves all the praise! May I teach my daughters to be thankful.

Whining? Already?
Yesterday Sweetheart was complaining that her little sister got to "just play all day" while she had to do schoolwork. Now mind you, what we were doing was fun and neat and she did enjoy it. It's just that she couldn't run down to Grandma and Grandpa's house right then and her sister could. It just wasn't fair. And she just didn't feel like reading that day, she wanted to play with her dollhouse. And whine, whine, whine. I just couldn't believe it!!! Not because she's not allowed to be in the mood to play instead of work---but because the alternative should be so fresh in her memory!!! Would you rather be sitting in class all day, away from home with no breaks, having more homework to do when you get home, etc. etc.? No, she admitted. Being home was much better.
But how often do I complain and whine, when I have been offered the gift of salvation? Don't I remember what I was saved from? And how I do not deserve God's grace? What do I have to whine about? Don't I remember the alternative I was facing?

Back to My Senses
Thanks to God and Grafted Branch (or God speaking through Grafted Branch!?), I came to my senses last weekend. I took a break on Friday to re-think our schedule and lessons. I could sit here and explain my thinking when I took the path I did. It was well-thought out, after all. I had good reasons. But planning to homeschool and actually homeschooling are 2 very different things. After I got a taste those first 2 short weeks, it occurred to me that things weren't working out the way I had them pictured in my head. (Does anything?) So I spent the weekend praying and mulling over G.B.'s comment on my blog and have felt such joy and peace about homeschooling now. I want to always refer to it as: home(schooling) because home is much more important and schooling happens within that context.
Having said all that, I have a tub of teaching stuff that is HUGE! (And I gave a LOT away already.) My husband drug it in the house for me last night. Therein lies all manner of fun stuff for us to discover together. Stuff they apparently don't even use in schools anymore. Sweetheart asked me Sunday what we were going to learn about this week and I told her, "Johnny Appleseed." "Who is that? Was he important, Mommy?" "Um, you've never heard of Johnny Appleseed?" "No."

How do you attend Kindergarten and first grade (2 times!) and NEVER even hear about Johnny Appleseed? (Not that knowing about him is the pinnacle of knowledge...) Oh, I know how. Because after you finish worksheet #17, it's time for worksheet #18. That's how. I think we are on a better road now.

Feeling Behind
I have never been much of a homemaker. I've told you that before. But lately I am intrigued by this idea of having time to make your home lovely. It's so true that you CAN keep up with housework and work full-time. It can be done. But there just never seems to be time to do anything special for your family. The basics (food, clothing, cleaning) suck all your extra time away in a hurry. I want to learn how to "make" my home--not just clean it. I want to have time to do little special things for my husband and children. After 14 years of marriage and 8 years of parenting--I'm just now having these thoughts? OK, so I'm a little behind. I'm reading the book Homemaking right now and I am struck by the perfect clarity of the ideas that completely fit my life even though they were written about 100 years before we even got married!!! I am really trying to re-think how I approach this thing called my life!

I guess that's all for now. I so enjoy reading all of your blogs (for those who have one!) and I appreciate you stopping by mine. What encouragement to know there are Christian women out there to lean on and learn from!

Have a great day! (And by the way....I thought my hair was dark!?)