Happenings That Have Happened

Joshua and Rachel finished up another few weeks of swimming lessons. Joshua, Level 1 and Rachel, Preschool Aquatics. They both enjoyed it very much and are more comfortable in the water now. Here is a video of Rachel, her first time in the big pool with a life jacket:




For the last few weeks Daddy and the kids came down with some bad colds. So now we are in recovery mode and I am thanking the Lord that I (Renee) did not get any of the sickness. :D
Here is a comical video of Daddy sucking Madelynn's nose. The other two kids hated having their noses sucked when they were babies but not her! If you notice Madelynn's eyes are a little watery, it's due to the cold, not from crying.





The Easter Eve concert was such a blessing. Hopefully you were able to be there or able to watch it on Live Stream. Wow. I'm still thinking about it and remembering how grateful I am to the Lord for Jesus and for His death and resurrection. I am also grateful for what a blessed husband I have, talented and mature in the Lord.
Joel is working on getting a copy of the concert from our church and hopefully putting it here on the blog, we'll see!


You can continue to pray for our housing situation. We are listening to God as to when and where He wants us to go. We do have good favor with our landlords, though. They are letting us stay here until the house sells!

The kids and I have been enjoying the early Spring. Madelynn usually eats at about 11 am so the kids and I have lunch with her and then are able to have some free time before naps at 1 pm. This way we've gone on lots of walks!
The grass is getting greener everyday. It's fun pointing out all the green things to the kids: tulips and chamomile coming up, buds on the bushes, and we even saw bluebells in bloom two days ago!

One last happening that has been on my mind is preparation for homeschool. Yes, we've been homeschooling currently but it has been relaxed and almost experimental. There is so much to figure out! For example, which subjects do I teach with both the kids, and in what order should we do things? Should I read books to them, do Bible, Science, and Geography all together, and then have one on one time with Joshua for his writing and numbers? What do I do with Rachel at this time? And Madelynn? Do I answer the phone during "school hours"? Is printing off worksheets off of the internet the best thing for Rachel, even though she loves it?

That's just one bite of the questions I'm trying to figure out the answers to, I'm really looking forward to when we have curriculum, a schedule and a routine that we are all comfortable with and I am prepared for.

Currently I've been poring over the Sonlight Catalog, trying to decide which curriculum to buy. Praying, writing my ideas down, thinking, letting a few days go by, praying, changing my mind and writing new ideas down, thinking, on and on and on. I think I've finally got it though. I think. I better have figured it out because the Homeschool Conference is less than a week away, and we're hoping to buy the curriculum there. Do I a) buy a curriculum geared for Joshua's age and let Rachel listen in and be on the outside? Or b) do I buy a curriculum that is geared for both Joshua and Rachel's ages and teach them together, buying separate age-specific subjects for Josh?

Well, after weeks of pondering and praying, I have decided on choice b. I'm going to teach Joshua and Rachel together doing History and Culture, Geography, Bible, and Science (Core P4/5 if you want to look at it). Then Rachel will have her own Language Arts (it's as simple as the ABC book by Dr. Seuss, don't worry!!). Joshua will have his own Math, Readers, Language Arts, and Handwriting.

I think that's what I'm going to do. Joel has been very patient with me the last several weeks as I go back and forth on this!!

And, (I think) once we've bought the curriculum and I become familiar with it and map it out over the course of a year, (I think) we'll start right away. No need to wait for September when the kids are so ready and eager to learn!