Comming Full Circle....

Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories. ~John Wilmot


I love that quote....I love the wisdom in those words.

It is funny to me how we THINK we know everything....

When I was young....I THOUGHT I knew what was good for me.
I thought I was making GOOD decisions.
I thought that how I felt THEN was how I would always feel.

How naive.
How sad is THAT?
So prideful that I couldn't see past MYSELF.
So silly to think that I was "grown".

Making big girl decisions...with a little girl's mind.

Thinking that I KNEW who I would be....in the future.

LOL

I remember being pregnant with Zeek and thinking things like, "I will never spank my kids!".

or

"I am going to be a CALM parent...never yell, or get upset."

or

"MY kid will never play with swords or fight!"

When I look back I can't help but laugh at my NAIVE self.

What a kook...thinking I knew ANYTHING about ANYTHING really.

Not because I was young....lots of people go thru their lives and make GREAT DECISIONS at a young age. That is GREAT...but not MY STORY.

I was prideful and was USED to thinking I KNEW something.

I was USED to THINKING I was right..THINKING that I understood things.

I remember when Zeek was VERY YOUNG(under 1 year)...we met a family who had a couple of boys.

They were nice, sweet kids (about 6 and 9 or so)
but
they were playing some card "game".
Something with dragons and spell cards and points.

And I remember thinking to myself, "I would NEVER let my kids play with something that was about DRAGONS and SPELLS!!!! NEVER ...no way! Those are things of the devil! Uh-Uh...No Way!!!"


You see...there it was again...my PRIDEFUL SELF who CONTINUED to think that she knows ALL THINGS!"

LOL

I was so judgemental...without even knowing I was being judgemental.

I had JUST been saved about 2 years before and was still "SORE" from my former life.

I WAS going to be DIFFERENT.
I WAS going to please H.I.M.
Come fire or rain....I WOULD be different.
I WOULD make up for it.

I guess somewhere along the way I decided that in order to "make-up" for all things "former"....I would need to "set fire" to all things "not holy".

I thought that in order to "repent"...I needed to "purify" my life.

So...for MY KIDS- there would be NO DRAGONS, NO SWORDS, and NO SPELL CARDS.

see what I mean...Naive.

I know.

Stop laughing.

Well....Life is a journey and it comes full circle.

As I grew in my faith...I realized that Dragons, spell cards, and swords....have NO POWER over me or my kids.

As long as I teach them that the devil comes in all sizes and shapes...and that he can only come in when there is a door left open.

They have to know about caution in life....no matter what they have in front of them.No matter the situation.

As long as they are living for THE KINGDOM....then they are PROTECTED BY GOD!

No spell cards, swords, or dragons will harm them.

EVER.

Oh and BTW:
Today---My boys LOVE their YuGiOh cards....and all the swords,sell cards and dragons that come with them.

See.....FULL CIRCLE.

Amazing.

Creative "play".....

Homeschooling can LOOK like many different things.

Some start at the crack of dawn....
Others in the afternoon.

Some stick to a schedule....
Others have NO SCHEDULE.

Some don't stray too far from the public school cirriculum...
Others make a POINT to STAY FAR from it.

The kiy is to really TUNE IN to your kids and figure out what works.

They are all different...
all special, with their own quirks and learning styles.

So...
you have to pay CLOSE ATTENTION.

I have learned that for ME....LIFE SCHOOL works.

I try to look for the learning opportunities in EVERYTHING.

I try and always HELP them to be creative and USE their minds....
no matter the situation.

One thing that I have learned about my kids is that they LOVE puzzles,games,etc.

Puzzles are one thing that will keep them OCCUPIED.

So...
I thought I would pass it along.

These puzzles are AWESOME!!!! (Sorry for the BAD pics!)

Camel feet and GOD!

This year I started using a new cirriculum called My Fathers World.

It is an amazing program that lets you homeschool MULTI-AGE children...easily.

Which means you teach Science, history, bible study, and geography ALL together.

A little like "Little House on the Prarie"....for each of those subjects-taking it to different levels for different ages.

The core subjects are done individually.

An AMAZING program ...especially for a family with "stair-step kids".

The first year you spend on Geography instead of history.

Which I think is a GREAT idea...I can't tell you how much I have learned this year!!! (I think we all know VERY LITTLE geography...be honest.)

The last few weeks we have been on the continent of ASIA...in the country of Saudi Arabia.( See you had NO IDEA what continent Saudi Arabia was on. LOL)



Which means we study ALL THINGS desert, camel,drought,sand,and heat.

Today, after coloring our map sheets and talking about the traditional dress of the Saudi Arabians.....we talked about camels.

We talked about the body of a camel and why GOD made him this magnificent way.

Perfect skin for the DESERT SUN.

3 rows of eyelashes...perfectly placed to keep out the sand.

Perfect pads on their "knees" ......already callused - from birth.

Humps on their backs ...perfectly situated to carry water and LOADS.

and

Wide, padded feet ...perfectly made to balance and NOT SINK in the desert sand.

So...to prove this point and add a visual...we did an experiment.





We got out 2 bowls and filled both with salt- to mimic the sand of the desert.



Then, talked about a camels feet and why they DON'T sink..



We talked about how because God made their feet WIDE they take up more surface area ..then if they were NOT SO WIDE.



Then we observed what would happen when you placed a smaller "foot" in the "sand".



As opposed to a WIDE, THICK "foot".



It was a fun, easy experiment which gave us the opportunity to discuss not only surface area, but also GOD'S INFINITE WISDOM.



Awesome....

Wordless Weekend.........

Sometimes....

I get SOOOOOOOO busy on the weekends(I work Friday and saturdays NIGHTS at a bar from 8PM-3AM) that I can't seem to get to blogging.

or

I am TOOO tired to write at all.

THAT happened this weekend.

So ..It isa Monday and I decided to post our weekend in PICTURES.
































Fun, Fun, Fun!!!!

Teach Haiti .... Please.

Don't you love it when you have people in your life that TRULY affect you????

Don't you love it when you have a friend that is doing GREAT THINGS?

Don't you love it when YOU can copy THEM????

I do!!!!

I have a friend like that.

Her name is Heather
.

She is amazing and is doing great things with her life.

She is a mother of 4 BOYS who moved to Haiti last year.

Her family is doing AMAZING things for the Kingdom.

I mean, SERIOUSLY....

Being a mother of 4 ANYTHINGS is hard enough....then throw in HAITI.

AMAZING.

I am always inspired by her RESOURCEFULNESS.

Yesteray she posted THIS about a read-a-thon her kids were doing in school.

Kinda like a "jump-rope-for-heart"...where you PLEDGE to donate a certain amount per 1/2 hour or hour....remember those????

FUN!

Well the read-a thon is just like THAT ...but with reading instead of jumping rope.

And the cause is AMAZING!!!

100 % of the donations go to a grassroots organization called Teach Haiti.

The Hendrick's boys said THIS about Teach Haiti:

"Teach Haiti is a organization founded by Miss Miquette Denie. She helps kids who are poor in Haiti go to school so the kids can learn new stuff. It costs 350 dollars U.S. for a kid to go to school for a whole year. We don't know what it would be like if we couldn't go to school. So even if we read a million minutes it will be worth it for other kids to get to go to school. The way you can help is by donating money to sponcer us. The ways you can do it is you can donate a certin amount of money for every 15 min. or just flat out. We hope this year we will make the most money for the readathon."

Sweet, sweet generous souls.

I mean really...how could we NOT get involved????

Sooooooooooooooooo..........

We have decided to have a READ-A-THON in the Vallone academy.

Monday, Feb.21- Monday, Feb. 28

The kids will READ, READ, READ as much as possible.

For the kids of Haiti....who CAN'T!!!

THIS is where YOU come in:

You can donate a flat rate or you can donate per 15 minutes.

WHATEVER you want....ANYTHING HELPS.

We will donate 100 % of the proceeds to Teach Haiti.

So please...WON'T YOU HELP a child get an education?????

PLEASE.

Leave me a message and I will getback to you...

THANKS.

The RULES...

I have learned a few things on this crazy parenthood journey.

I remember days, before kids, that I thought things like,
"I will NEVER spank MY kids!"

or

"I will ALWAYS be patient and NOT YELL!"

WOW...my how things have CHANGED.

4 kids and 10 years later...it is safe to say I have CHANGED MY TUNE.

Over time I learned that I do not have the answers...

I cannot truly parent these kids without help.

I cannot shepeard their hearts in the right direction....if I don't KNOW the rules of the "game".

Luckily ...there IS a manual.

and

There ARE RULES.

They are all neatly tucked into 1 book....the Bible.

Early on, I quickly learned that I would NEED some sort of knowledge.

A knowledge that goes FAR beyond, "I will NEVER...." and "I will ALWAYS.....".

I would need a WISDOM that goes WAY beyond anything I was capable of.

SO .....

I turned to GOD....and his book.

I learned that patience and LOVE were going to be required.

It would be REQUIRED reading.......forever.

And believe me...over the years I CANNOT tell you how MANY times I have had to use

Phillipians 2:14
14 Do everything without grumbling or arguing,



We use it DAILY around here...seriously we START school off by reciting this TOGETHER.

EVERY DAY.

And I use it when Malachi is FREAKING OUT.

I have found that there is NOTHING like a warm bath and Phil 2:14.

It works wonders....

It calms the mind and the spirit.

Quickly.

Over time I have learned that SOMETIMES- RULES DO help....

A LOVE story......Finally.

Once upon a a time there was a girl....a princess

She dreamed of true love....

She SEARCHED for true love.

From the time she was little she GAVE pieces of her heart away.

To many...

Asking NOTHING in return....

She was always looking, searching, giving.

Never realizing she was WORTHY....of MUCH more.

Her Father and Mother tried to tell her, teach her, that she was a GEM...but ALAS..
She didn't hear that.

She gave a pieces to wizards, trolls, goblins, and giants.

Passing the pieces to them as if they were candy.

Sweet, sugary bits of herself....LOST along the way.

And, all along she had no idea that it was fruitless.

Ignorning that the things she was GIVING AWAY were PRICELESS.

She happily just skipped along thru her life .....IGNORANTLY.

She grew up and THOUGHT she found love ....several times.

But to no avail.....they were wolves in sheeps clothing.

Always willing to LET her BE herself instead of helping her SEE herself.

Always LOOKING at her for the OUTSIDE, never helping her search WITHIN.

She was BLISSFULLY IGNORANT...not ever knowing the difference.

Then one day in her life....there arrived a KING.

He was noble and honorable and really LOOKED at her.

He TRULY loved her.

He taught her about LOVE, and LIFE and introduced her to GOD.

He LOVED her and HONORED her....and taught her that all those pieces she had GIVEN AWAY effortlessly....were WORTHY.

SHE was worthy.

He showed her that all those things GIVEN away .....could be GROWN in her heart.

So she spent her time after that growing back all the pieces that she had lost.

She planted and sowed...she tended to her heart and learned to LOVE.

THEN- before long....

Where those empty spots were....there were now FLOWERS.

All grown with LOVE and LIGHT....

All different and brilliant ...in their own ways.

All LOVING grown into a beautiful garden of a family.

All pieces of heart ...RECOVERED.

GOD had grown in her - TRUE LOVE.

Finally. <3

Homeschool...homestead stylee

School CAN come in all kinds of ways.

School CAN be on Saturday.

School CAN be unknowingly FUN.

THAT is what happened on Saturday when we announced that it would be a "animal chore day".

Which consist of cleaning ALL the animals cages/habitats.

ALL...which include: dogs,cats,guinea pigs,chickens, fish, and turtles.



You can IMAGINE their "excitement"!!!!! LOL

They tend to NOT WANT to help...but they are FORCED.

A rite of passage I believe.

I'll be DARNED if I will have LAZY kids.

So....
THEY WORK.

ANd soon enough we were surprised with a "secret school" lesson....
Daddy found some lizard eggs in the chicken coop.

AWESOME!!!



We RELOCATED them into their own habitat so that they could continue on their JOURNEY without being CHICKEN SNACKS.













LIFE SCHOOL ...at it's finest!!!!





So is life on the Rasta Homestead...
Blessed.

CNY...and socialization.

One of the MOST FREQUENTLY asked questions I get as a homeschooling Mom is, "How do they get socialization? How do they get to spend time with other kids?"

We-fortunately have 4 kids to start with...so they have each other
AND they have a HUGE friend and family base to lean on....

BUT-

We also have an AMAZING homeschool co-op.

We meet every Friday and share all kinds of things...

knowledge
information
fellowship

and most of all....the kids get to "socialize" and have regular classes, just like "regular" kids.

We also get to spend time and learn about things that other kids might miss out on...in "regular" school.

Like...
Chinese New Year!!!!

We had a GREAT celebration last Friday complete with Chinese food, chinese decorations, A dragon dance, Chinese crafts, and LOTS of fun...

with LOTS of other kids.

It is ALWAYS a blessing to sit back and look around at people who may mot be JUST like you....but are on the SAME PATH.







What a blessing!!!!