Good Post on Homeschooling, er, Parenting actually

My (Renee) Dad ran across a wonderful article on parenting, specifically homeschooling, but any parent could pan for gold in this excellent post. It's long, but please take the time to read it.

Here is an excerpt that rang within my own spirit:

Typically, when we belittle others who don't measure up to our standards, we will also imagine others are judging us. Consequently, we will find ourselves frequently being defensive. We assume that others will think lowly of us for some perceived inadequacy, so we offer unsolicited explanations and clarifications for us or our children. For example, let's say we walked past a TV at Sears and saw something of interest - when we tell others what we saw, we are careful to clarify that we saw it at Sears and weren't watching a TV at home. If we live under fear of judgment, not only will we tend to be on the defensive, but whenever we are in a public setting where our children might be "watched," we will put pressure on them.

Please read the whole thing, it's good!

We have a bird bath!

Thanks DirecTV!

Trip to Washington State

At the end of August we had the blessing of being able to spend five days with my (Joel's) extended family in Washington State. My Grandparents, Uncle, Aunt and her husband and three of my cousins, live either at or nearby a Free Methodist Camp called Warm Beach Camp in the Peugeot Sound north of Seattle. It was my grandparent's sixtieth anniversary. My parents drove down from Alberta with my sister JoAnne and her three boys: Kaleb (nearly four), and identical twins Caius and Lucas (2). Unfortunately her husband Shane wasn't able to come. My brother Jeff and his wife Mandy also drove down from British Colombia.

PREPARATIONS FOR THE TRIP

Hudson tries on his West Coast shades.

Rachel talks with Nana about how people will look like 'dots' from the airplane.

FAMILY

Grandma Ann meets Hudson for the first time.

Cousin Caleb. All the cousins had a blast together.

Lucas and Caius. Or Caius and Lucas.

Great Grandma Ann with Rachel Ann.

My parents with Hudson.

We stayed at the campground at Warm Beach. We had all 138 sites to ourselves, which was great with seven little kids running around. And one Daddy running around!

The twins get a ride in my uncle Jack's tricycle. Jack has been on Maintenance staff at Warm Beach for 26 years now. It was really good to see him.

It'd been a couple years since we'd seen Jeff and Mandy. Here we were stopping to meet some of the camp's horses and enjoy the abundant blackberries.

For once we were not out-numbered by kids!

Sitting around the campfire with my Grandparents.

Mini-golf with my cousin Tim.

THE BEACH

We spent an afternoon on the beach on the south end of Camano Island where my grandparents used to live. It wasn't open ocean (we had Whidby Island and the Olympic Pennisula between us yet), but we got to smell the ocean, find clam and crab shells and see the tide come in.

WILDLIFE

Prior to the trip I had built the kids' excitement for seeing the native west coast slug.

And we were not disappointed.

Well, Renee was.

SUMMARY

Hudson's thoughts on flying after 3 1/2 hours.

All in all, the kids did very well with all the driving, catching shuttles, flying, more driving, and camping (in a very nice camper , thank God and Aunt Margie). God gave us much grace in it all. We may not travel again for a long time, but it was worth it. To spend time with my family and see my Grandma and my Grandpa who had had a stroke since I'd seen him last. I actually had a hard time not crying as we said goodbye and walked away. He for one I look forward to standing with in heaven in a lineage of faith, praising Jesus together.

Summer! (a long post-beware!)

I tried to compile some highlights of the last couple months of summer. We've been busy, enjoying summer and letting the house get dirty.

So...here we go!:

To start I'll begin with Canada Day. Below are a few pictures and a video. Our friends did a great job summarizing the terrific event so I will direct you There.

The Toonie Toss!:

T-ball has wrapped up for the season. All the kids were rewarded medals, you should've seen the boys' and girls' faces! They had looks of surprise and delight. Below is the 'Moose' team, Joshua is on the right. Joshua and his team did really well. It was enjoyable seeing them improve after each week and getting the hang of dropping the bat and running to first base. Or letting the other team get the ball after being hit. So many details I take for granted I see Josh and his teammates learning. Like everyone in the outfield running for the one ball.

During games the girls and Hudson tried to keep cool:

At the end of July I turned 30! Joel took me out (no kids, not even Hudson came along!) on a picnic. We had these giant sandwiches with sprouts, avocado, tomato and Brie, yum! We also had chocolate milk and pistachios. This was my first time ever trying a pistachio. They are tasty! Then we hiked along the shore for awhile, discovering different wild flowers and recognizing familiar ones. On the way home we stopped and picked black-eyed susans. The night of my birthday Joel made a raspberry fluff pie. Thank you Joel for such a special birthday!

On a different note Hudson has started blowing raspberries. He looks so funny! Of course the moment he sees the camera Hudson stops whatever he is doing, but we try anyway. Here, Joel has a success:

And another one!:

This summer we've also enjoyed some Strawberry and Saskatoon (Juneberry/Serviceberry) picking. I love when the freezer starts filling up and all the empty jars slowly become full again.

We've been to the lake (a nice warm one with a small beach) a few times to go swimming. Joshua and Rachel are enjoying learning how to swim as Joel finds opportunity to teach them. Madelynn is getting braver about the sand between her toes and the muddy water each time we go.

I'm not sure how this is happening but we are also making it down to the big lake to throw rocks and wade a little.

For those interested...

The garden is doing well. The pole beans are wanting longer poles, which I stubbornly refuse. I want some blossoms not more leaves!! I don't know anything about pole beans... Bush beans next year for sure. :)

The peas will be harvested any day now. The lettuce is still doing well, we love to eat fresh salads around here! Even Madelynn will eat a leaf or two, provided it has Poppyseed Dressing. Beets, Tomatoes, Carrots, Squash, Broccoli, Potatoes, Onions and Green Onions are all doing well. The Cucumbers and Watermelon seem to be intimidated by the squash and are having a difficult time finding their groove. They are growing, but I think they must be self-conscious or something; very slow.

The strawberry plants are putting out runners everywhere (and they need hoeing. When??) The raspberries are done producing as far as I can tell (Are they everbearing, I don't remember?), Madelynn had the last raspberry. Next year there should be lots more, raspberries are weeds!

I finally got around to making some ice cream. One of our family's favorites: with fresh strawberry sauce. Joel's vote is fresh raspberry sauce, I agree. Strawberries are almost just as good.

So does anyone else get nervous about noises outside? With all the thunderstorms, the girls look around nervously as a truck comes roaring up the street. "Is that thunder?" Rachel asks. "Thunder?" Madelynn pipes in. I think they are starting to understand now... No, it's not thunder, look at the sky... No it's not thunder it's just a door slamming.... No it's not thunder it's just some kids playing.

That's all so far. We hope you are enjoying summer also!!

Quote for the Week