How to Read a Book? How About a Hundred?! (Okay, Maybe Less...)

I have been excited about the books that Michaela is going to read this year. I am hoping to study history with her from Ancients through the period just before the Reformation (and then I think I'll let Mike take over for that segment). (haha For anyone who doesn't know, he specialized in that period for his Ph.D. and wrote his dissertation on John Calvin.) While it is a LOT of information to cover, I think it's doable. This means that I am a) now an overachiever, b) certifiably insane, or c) making a plan with the hope that we'll get done as much as we can. Or maybe all three?

I found this book online at our library, and it looked promising. I have read the Introduction and a few pages into the first chapter, and I like it so far. I need to read ahead and assign Michaela passages, I think, because it's so huge. It would be overwhelming for her if I stuck it in front of her and said,"Read until you get to the founding of Rome." I would like to use this book to practice outlining. (Yes, Wendy, I am that mean to make her do outlines outside of Essentials! haha)

I have never been good about science with her, but hopefully that can change this school year. I am also excited about the historical fiction/literature selections that we are going to read. Really well-written Young Adult Literature (young adult literature? It seems like it ought to be capitalized. What do you think?) is my favorite.

Speaking of well-written young adult literature (Weird, here it doesn't seem like it should be capitalized!) I discovered Rosemary Sutcliff in my preparations for this year (I think I got her name/works from a list my sister-in-law has) and have been stockpiling her books for Michaela to dig into as we reach the appropriate time in history (closer to 1 AD). The fiction reading isn't a problem for her, but I do need to help her appreciate the stuff that isn't quite as...story-like! The people in history are so fascinating, though; I'm hoping the figures we encounter will do the job of winning her over! From Hatshepsut, the woman who was Pharaoh, to the men and women through whom God reveals the story of humanity and redemption, to the great Greek philosohers, there are enough characters to load her mind with details, twists, and turns, which relate so much about who we are and where we've been as people.

Most of these books are library books, but some we've purchased. Today, I found these books at our library on the "book sale" table...for $.75 a piece! I was happy. I have to remember to check that table out now and then!

I am also reading the books that Christian does his book reports on so that I can help him think through his presentations. He has one report a month. 

So! I have my work cut out for me. I better get back to reading Mr. Adler's How to Read a Book...

He Is Jealous For Me

I have written several posts in my head today. I don't think any of them were related to another. I have all these different things to say, with no one in particular to say them to. I have thoughts racing through my head so much of the time, yet I forget the important stuff. It's frustrating. I truly feel like I am that little cartoon person that is in the middle of a conversation and all of a sudden says,"Oooh! Look, a bird!" 

I will likely be ducking, if it's a bird, but...what was I saying?

I've been singing a song in my head all day that we sang in church, "He is jealous for me..." The chorus goes,"Oh, how he loves us, oh, how he loves us, oh, how he loves us all." It looks ridiculous just written out like that, but in the song it's lovely. Very stick-in-your-headable. I've been thinking about those words all day, what that means that God is jealous for me. What does it mean that he loves like a hurricane (except sometimes in my head the word hurricane inexplicably gets replaced by unicorn, which makes no sense AT ALL and gives you a good look at what my mind is like) or that I bend beneath the weight of his wind and mercy? It feels like that sometimes. This grace, this faithfulness, this redemption, this adoption, this unfathomable love bears down like a great tsunami wave of humbling zeal, and what can we do, what can I do, but bend, bow, lie down to worship and thank him for making us his children.

"He is jealous for me." Oh, that I were worthy of such love. But I guess that's the point...grace isn't about worth. I was talking tonight with a couple, when I went to pick up the kids from choir, and I joked with them about how the folks at church were probably always like,"Oh no, it's the Walkers," because we are...hmmm, well, let's just say there are shenanigans. The woman I was talking with laughed and said,"It's because you're good people!" I laughed too, but I replied,"No, it's because they're good people!" When I thought about it, it came to me: that is the way grace works. We benefit from another's goodness, his ultimate goodness. 

"He is jealous for me." It makes my head spin, and my heart ache. Mixed up in that is my sorrow for worshipping other things (and make no mistake, I have given my affections decidedly to other-than-God), as well as my gratitude that he would still come after me. I want to thank him, one day at a time, for his love.

Because "He is jealous for me."

Words Matter

This afternoon Christian painted an abstract painting on a heavy piece of paper. Some time this evening, Michaela made a comment (that I didn't hear) which hurt his feelings. He got up from the table in the back of our house (we use it for school) and put his painting in the trash can. Michaela stood by the table, looking shocked, and asked,"Christian, what did you just throw away?" 

I asked him the same question. He said it was his painting. She went over to look in the trash can and sure enough, there it was. I looked at her with one of those "mom looks" but I didn't say anything. I could tell that she felt bad about what she had said. She didn't apologize though. She said,"I was just kidding," in a way that seemed to mean,"I wish you hadn't thrown your picture away," but the damage had been done. 

I wish these kids could deep-down get that our words matter. Spoken words can be invisible daggers wounding, bombshells tearing down. Or they can be a balm for the soul, a healing salve that soothes and mends.

Just before bedtime, Christian was asking if there was something he could wear that was like his robe. I gave his robe away a while back because he never wore it and I think it was getting too small anyway. Michaela had her robe on and offered it to him. He said,"No...you'll be cold!" She told him she had a Snuggie, and it was fine if he wore her robe. He put it on. It made me smile, and not just because the robe is bright pink with flowers on it.

This exchange was so different than the one earlier. In hours, they can run the spectrum on how they treat one another. From meanness to kindness. And likely back again. I suppose that is the story of my life too. How often do I snap at them, or Mike, cutting them down with the sharp words that fly out of my mouth? Too often, I'm afraid. I long to be gentle and slow to speak in anger...the opposite is true more than I like for it to be. Hopefully there are the times when I am kind, or patient, or encouraging rather than nasty. Amazingly enough, they always want a hug and a kiss right before or after I turn out their lights. This miracle at the end of each day helps me to take a deep breath, and hope for tomorrow. Hope for more kindness. Less meanness...for each of us.

Our words matter. I pray that I can help the kids make them matter for good. That starts with me making them matter for good. 

The Wild Card

I'm watching the Rangers tonight. If they win, they go on to the playoffs. If they lose, they are done for the year. 

Obviously, I want them to win. They were ahead in their division for almost the entire season and let that lead slip away. Not only that, they lost the division on the final day of the regular season to the division rival who threatened to take it. They did take it.

Like so many other Rangers fans, I want to see them go all the way. But the deeper we get into this game, the more it seems like this might be the end for them. I'll be upset because of how they started this season. I'll be upset because of how they lost Game 6 last year. But I also think maybe an end is what they need. 

When they started the season, all the commentators spoke of the depth on this team. The lineup was the most powerful in baseball, 1-9. The pitching was top-notch. But in June, one of their starters was out for a period of time due to a weird virus and by July they had lost two more of their starters; they had to go get guys to make up for the holes in their rotation. They had problems with their bullpen. There were some injuries to players, which every team faces. As the season went on, they struggled. They managed to win enough games that they stayed on top...until the very end. 

And now here they are, down two in the bottom of the eighth. I am going to be heartbroken (Give me a few days, okay?)

*INTERRUPTION: THE RANGERS NEED A RUN HERE!

if they don't win, but maybe they need the break that a loss would give them. They will regroup. They will continue to build this team. They will be back to the playoffs in years to come. Sometimes, even when we desperately want the win, it's not what's best for us in the long run. I'm trying very hard to think of a practical example of that!! If you can, let me know what it is! 

Then again, they have a runner in scoring position, and the tying run is at bat.

I'm waffling!

Because who am I kidding? I totally want them to win. 

Thanks for listening to me prattle on about baseball. Because, you know, I love this game.

In Which I Praise The Lumberjack's Wife

This is the first thing people would see if they came to the door and knocked, and I actually opened the door and let them in.

You might think this fact would motivate me to keep the back half of our house picked up a little better.

It does not help.

The state of the house does not improve if you go around the corner, either. This is our homeschool environment a lot of the time. (I will say that most of this particular mess was made after Christian got home from school and they were playing.)

I should add housekeeping skills to the curriculum, I'm sure. I might need a book to teach it, though...Housekeeping for Dummies. Not because my students are dummies, but because I am so inept in this area.

This is not entirely true. I can kick my house's behind when I really make an effort, and I did just that before we left for the summer. Isn't it sad that it sat here looking so awesome while no one was home? 

I know my mom is shaking her head right now. I'm sorry, Mom. I'm going to clean it up this weekend.

Moving on. You're going to love this. Michaela wrote up notes for her presentation this past Tuesday. Each student had to share what their favorite animals are and why. She chose bull sharks. (Please note: I have never heard her talk of or express fascination with bull sharks. This girl is so interesting to me. Out of all the animals in the world, she wanted to talk about the sharks that are most likely to attack humans. ??) As you can see, she did some abbreviating. 

Toward the end of her page of notes, "bull shark" was even more abbreviated...

I had a little talk with her. I informed her that "BS" was not an abbreviation that she was allowed to use in general, and especially in talking with other kids (or grown-ups, I guess!).

The things you never imagined you'd get to teach your 11-year-old...

So, to my dear blog friend Taylor, I have no chickens to chase, nor do I have wood to cut, nor do I have bunnies to gender-identify, nor do I can fresh produce, nor do I handle raw meat that my dear husband has killed himself. I hardly touch the meat I buy at the grocery store. We have no pets. I do not garden (see previous post...I kill plants, but my daughter has a green thumb). Therefore, you should feel, EVERY DAY, as though you are the super woman that you are because ALL OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENT! I have a hard time making it to the store (which is seven minutes away) or doing math with Eliana or getting my laundry out of baskets and into closets or drawers. I'm praying that you find joy each day in knowing that you bring joy to a lot of folks around the world, as well as recognizing all that you get done on your homestead. Which is a lot, in case you forgot! 

Now I need to go clean something up...