And Abraham Went Out . . .

Just Checking In . . . 

The weather outside . . . 
is absolutely wonderful.  September has arrived and its beautiful. I'm soaking it all in every moment possible.

One of my favorite things . . .
Parfery's Glen. This is our new favorite spot around here. As Greenbluff and Bowl and Pitcher is to Spokane, Parfery's Glen is to Baraboo.  It's simply magical.

In the kitchen . . . 
I found a new meal for the Shepherd repertoire. Wahooee!  It fits all the requirements for a new favorite.  Every liked it; no prodding required. It's inexpensive, tasty, healthy and easy to make.  I used some beautiful kale from the farmer's market.  Full of nutritious goodness! Makes my nerdy heart sing!

The kids and I are reading . . . 
We're about half-way done with "Alice" and its growing on us.  The boys are a bit flabbergasted at its absurdity sometimes but they like it overall.  There's a reason why its genre is "literary nonsense." We are also reading a few books about apples to go along with our "Outdoor Secrets" lessons.

On my nightstand . . . 
Still plugging along on "Peter the Great."  Fascinating history. I also need to get back to another book on my nightstand that is education-related, "Drawing with Children."  I do love what it has to say, so really I'd like to run with it.  It's "Charlotte Mason" in that the author believes that learning to draw well is part of a well-rounded education.  Drawing is not just for a few who can draw well; everyone can do it if only they are taught to see things correctly.  This will be a tough hurdle for me, personally to overcome but I'm motivated, so we'll see.  Just gotta put down "Peter the Great" and pick it back up.

Family Verse . . .
Still working on Philippians 4:8. I"m so grateful for Scripture memory.  This verse is already reaping beautiful rewards in our family.  Yeah!  Even Nutmeg was quoting it this morning. Children are amazing!  So cute to hear her little toddler voice say "whatever is honorable."

God is good . . . 
He gave me a darn good man.  Sure, my man is rough around the edges in some ways but you know, he's got a heart of gold.  I mean it.  The past couple of weeks I've been spent when it comes to parenting.  I get to the end of the day and feel so discouraged.  I wonder how I could possibly be getting this so wrong and begging the Lord to show me the way.  Last night Doug took a look at my exhausted face and instantly came up with a plan.  He made up this creative accountability game/system for the boys.  The boys work on it all day and at dinner-time, we discuss "Attitude Initiative."  It's really motivated my little men and made me a much happier mamma at the end of the day. So thankful for a hubbie who cares so much!

On my heart in and in my prayers . . . 
Various friends in tough places. Brand new friends, old friends, and even older friends. All kinds of heart-heavy burdens.  And God is biggest enough for all of it.

Learning all the time . . . 
Learning, what a joy! Math is continuing to give the boys and I a great sense of satisfaction.  I guess that I feel that as boys I want them to start out with a solid mathematical base but also to find some genuine pleasure working with numbers as well. Who knows? One of them could very well turn out to have a math/science inclination and I'd like them to have the tools to start out well if that is the case.  Not that math isn't important for girls as well. Duh.

Anywho . . . Singapore has this unit on "Number Bonds." Number bonds are basically how you split up numbers into parts. Singapore math is big into mental math and problem solving, so this "part-whole" is a foundational concept for the Singapore math series.  So, before moving on, the boys need to have all the number bonds for 1-10 memorized.  When I learned this, I freaked out just a little bit.  I freaked out more the next two days when I followed the lessons and pushed through ALL the suggested activities.  Um yeah, we were NOT having too much fun!

Anywho (again) . . . I reminded myself that I'm not working for my textbooks or manuals, they are working for me!  So we have set aside the textbook for the week and we're using all our "math toys" to see what the number bonds look like in real life and then we are writing them on paper.  Each day, each boy chooses whatever "math toy" he wants to use and goes at it.  Oh man, oh man! THIS is why I love homeschooling!  Give them the right tools, steer them a bit, stand back, and watch those little sponges soak it all up. Wahoo!

Plans for the rest of the week . . . 
Our first nature group with a group of Charlotte Mason-loving families. Oh yeah! Soccer game for Mr. Basil on Saturday.  An autumn-themed craft and hopefully I can locate where the good apples are to be found so that I can make some applesauce and a few other goodies.

Have a blessed week!  All my love!!