Happy Mother's Day!

Had to share this with you moms.  Get your kleenex ready.

As we go about our day, we do not know the future of our children. We could be raising a future olympic champion or a doctor who finds a cure for the rarest of diseases.  We could be raising the next Leader God uses to bring our nation to their knees in repentance. Most of us are raising up children of whom the world will never know their name or what they will accomplish. We do not know.  But whatever our children do become, what a joy it is to know God will use us in their lives to accomplish whatever it is he has planned for them.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!




 

A Year Later

What a difference a year makes!  I can't believe it has been a whole year since Charlie was born. Here is my post I wrote after he was born.  The Lord was really working on me then.

So, here we are a year later and of course the Lord is still working on me in so many ways.  When Charlie was born, my big life lesson was on surrendering.  Surrendering my plans for our family to move out to our own home.  Surrendering my plans for the pregnancy. (using a doctor instead of a midwife like in the past). Surrendering my plans for my children. Surrendering my plans for the birth. My plans weren't bad...they just didn't match up with the Lord's plans.

I can truly say I have given up my plans.  WooHoo!  None of them were working out anyway. :)  I am trusting the Lord that his plans are way better than anything I could come up with.  They always are.  Though the inbetween time is extremely difficult!

Where am I a year later?  I have my good days and my bad days just like every other normal person.  I have my days when I could swear the Lord is standing right next to me walking me through my day & then I have days where I can't feel him at all and I feel as though he has dumped me off on a deserted island & forgotten about me.

I admit, I have enjoyed using Charlie as an excuse to stay out of touch with people.  I know that sounds horrible, especially is you know me in real life.  3 years ago I was extremely busy in ministry and homeschool world and just life as a mom of a giant family.  Now, I love the fact that my busyness all comes from my kids.  No more outside groups pulling for my attention.  It took me a really long time to become comfortable with that, but I am now.  And now that I really like not doing anything except be a mom & wife, God says, "I have something for you to do."  I said, "NOOO!!!"  He said, "YES!" and he wouldn't quit talking to me until I...yep, you guessed it.  I had to surrender! ugh!

So, JoyMoms was born.  I'm still writing on the book, but since I am a mom first I am writing slowly.  But the Lord keeps talking to me about other ways to minister to moms besides just writing.  I'm listening and waiting. In the mean time, I am posting as often as I can on JoyMoms.com what the Lord has taught me and is teaching me about His joy.

Today, as we celebrate Charlie's birthday I celebrate more than just his precious life.

 I celebrate a God who will not leave me alone! 

 I celebrate a husband who has stuck with me through my hormonal craziness & spiritual depression.  

I celebrate parents & in-laws who still very graciously sacrifice so much so our family can stay together.

 I celebrate my kids who are still learning to just roll with the flow and be patient while we wait for God to provide what we need so we can live in our own house again. 

 I celebrate friends who continue to pray for me and hold me accountable.

Jude 24,25 has become my verse for this year.  It is God who keeps me from stumbling and he deserves all glory for everything in my life.  This verse is called the doxology of the book of Jude & I think it is a perfect doxology for my life.

Here is my Charlie.  He is the joy of our family.  We can't imagine our lives with out him and even though we all thought it was a crazy time for God to give us a baby we are so thrilled he is here.  God knew we needed Charlie now!

When to Start Homeschooling

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I get asked quite often what curriculum I use for my little kids, younger than kindergarten age.  I never give the answer that is expected. 
I don’t use curriculum until they are older…much older. 1st grade older.
What?  You don’t start teaching them when they are 2? 
Yes & No.
I don’t do anything formal with my kids before they are 6 years old unless they are really showing signs of being able to learn to read. My youngest daughter was totally ready & was doing a lot of school work around 5 years old.  She was reading very well by six.
I am what you call a “Relaxed Homeschooler”.  I wasn’t always like this, but over the years I have learned a lot and realized my kids will learn when they are ready and that is when I pounce!
Raymond & Dorthy Moore became my heroes early in my homeschooling career.  They founded the Moore Foundation in order to help parents better educate their children. When I was so frustrated because my 5 year old still couldn’t read or even count to 20 a friend told me about the Moore’s and since this was in 1996 and I didn’t have internet I read their books.  I was so encouraged to learn that it was ok if my child wasn’t reading by 5 & they gave me permission to slow down and work at her pace.  Thanks to the Moore’s I learned most kids (boys especially) are not truly ready to learn to read & write until they are closer to 8 years old.  Unbelievable I know, especially in a day when parents feel like their 3 year olds should be reading. (If your 3 year old can read that is wonderful…I never had one of those kinds of kids.)
So, this blog post is really to show you what I do with my younger kids & links will be provided so you don’t have to search it out yourself.

Babies. I don’t allow baby talk to my babies.  We talk in complete sentences. We start teaching baby sign language as soon as possible. I don’t worry about them signing back to me, I just like it when they know what I’m signing to them.  In their own time, they will start signing back.  Charlie is almost one and he is just now beginning to start signing back to me.  Baby sign language is a great start to their language development!  http://www.babysignlanguage.com/ is a great site to use. In addition to sign language we read.  We read as much as Charlie will let us read to him.  He has his favorite board books he will sit for.  Gradually we are working towards longer books as his attention span grows.  But don’t think my 1 year old boy will sit for a long time.  Usually 5 minutes is his max…if that long!

Toddlers.  Keep reading!  And sing!  A toddler will often sit longer while you read if you sing what you are reading.  You may feel silly, but they will love it!  And the best thing is your toddler doesn’t care how off key you sing!  With our toddlers, we play because that is how they learn.  As we play we are counting, saying our colors, letter sounds animal names, etc…  As we drive down the road we are pointing out the cows that say “mooooo” and the horses that say “neigh”.  Simple stuff.  We don’t have iPads so our kids are learning the old fashioned way.
Toddlers are very kinesthetic and need to touch to learn so I try to have activities that nurture that need to touch.  Since it has been a long time since I had a toddler I am looking for new idea’s & of course Pinterest has been a huge help.  I have pinned several blogs & sites that feature some neat idea’s for Charlie when he get’s a little older.  Check out my Pinterest board, Toddler Play. 
Another great site for Toddlers is called Totally Tots. Click on the picture below to check out that site.

For my toddlers, no curriculum needed…just my time, a few household supplies and my willingness to let him be messy.

Preschool.  This is when it can get really fun because your baby isn’t a baby any more.  They are capable of sitting longer while you read, following directions better and helping around the house.  Chores should always be included in a child’s day. It is just as important as the academic education. Make the jobs simple.  Pick up toys, clothes, help make their bed.  They can learn to help unload the dishwasher and clean off the table after a meal.  I love how my toddlers don’t see the chores as work, they see it as fun and helping mom.
My favorite all time homeschooling site for Preschool is Homeschool Creations.  It is chocked full of idea’s and printable activities for your preschooler.

You will be on this site for days.  Get your printer ready, she is has a ton of stuff that your preschooler will love. Her activities cover learning phonics, counting, shapes,etc…
And don’t forget to check out my long list of homeschool freebies which includes a lot of websites for the younger ones too.

Keep it simple.  There is no need to go buy expensive curriculum for your younger kids.  They can learn everything they need to get ready to start school without formal curriculum.  Make the right stuff available to them & let them go!
Keep it natural.  Did you set aside time everyday to teach your baby how to walk?  No, they learned that naturally and you helped.  Learning happens naturally with the help of the parents. Keep playing, that is how they will learn.  If they learn as the play they will love it.  If you make them sit at the table and require them to spend 1 hour everyday practicing phonic sounds they will eventually not love it anymore and grow to hate it.
Whether you homeschool your kids or not, you will always be their greatest teacher. Your teaching began the day they were born and it will continue until you die.  So, while they are little, nurture that desire to learn and it will flourish!

Always Be Prepared

Last month was the 3^rd time we had to take Charlie to the ER since January 1^st.  Never have we been to the ER so many times with one child. Poor little Charlie,  he has had a very sick winter with RSV, stomach bug, respiratory infection and whatever else a baby can catch this time of year.  Last month, he dislocated his elbow.  HOW?  I have no clue, but he did. Actually I did it, but don’t know how.   So, needless to say I am learning some new things thanks to all of these trips to the ER.

1.       Always take a shower before bed, never think you can take it the next morning.  Every time I decided to shower the next morning we ended up taking a sick baby to the ER before I could shower.  Thank goodness for pony tail holders, baseball caps & perfume.

2.       Keep snacks & a water bottle in the diaper bag.  2 of the 3 times we went to the ER during a meal time.  Thank goodness today I had some trail mix stuck away in the bag because Scott & I were hungry & there were no vending machines in sight.  Plus who wants to pay $3.00 for a tiny bag of pretzels?

3.       Keep a journal at home.  On our first ER trip Charlie had RSV. When my baby was gasping for air and the nurse was asking me when I last took his temperature, how high his fever was and when he last had Ibuprophen I couldn’t remember a thing. If I had written it down and brought it with me it would have made things much easier.   I write stuff down now just in case I have to tell it to the Pediatrician or ER doctor.  Plus it really makes me look like I’m on top of things. J

4.       Be patient.   It is so easy to want to demand quick treatment when your baby has been sick.  You are tired from staying up all night and all you want is for your child to be ok.  ER trip #2 we sat in a waiting room for 3 hours on Martin Luther King Jr birthday with hundreds of other sick people, tempers were flaring.  It was a long wait, especially when you have a sick child.  The staff was working as fast and as efficiently as they could.  We knew that & waited, even though I really wanted to stomp my feet & yell, “Hey do you even care my baby is sick?”.  When we were finally taken to a room, we waited some more.  It was getting old, but getting upset about it would not help our sick baby any at all. 

5.       Be prepared to shine for Jesus.  Even when you are the patient (or your child is) we can shine for Jesus by the way we respond to others or speak to them.  Every time we have been in the ER the Lord gave us opportunities to talk about Him with others.  Scripture says to always be prepared.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. “ 1 Peter 3:15

When Christ rules your heart and mind others notice even if they don’t really know what they are noticing.  Do others see something different in you?  Do they see a hope and joy they rarely see? 

Our family has been through a lot in the past 2 years and is still going through it.  I will never forget when someone asked my oldest daughter how she could be so upbeat and joyful when our family was experiencing such a difficult time.  Without missing a beat she responded with, “It has to be the Lord carrying me through this because this is the hardest thing we have even been through and yet I know he has our backs.”  I love that!  My 20 yr old daughter, in the midst of difficult days, was living out the joy of the Lord & her hope was grounded in Him and others noticed.

Are you prepared? 

Do others notice a hope in you they don’t have?

Do you know someone who has that hope that you want?

Sweet Mom, Jesus is the author of the faith that makes that hope & joy possible.  I pray you know him as personal friend and Savior and learn to choose His hope and joy.  It is there for the taking.