(And All My) Work Be Praise

Or, we love Do-a-Dot markers. By Levi: tracing worksheets from Over the Big Moon .  (Dot-marking the Os was his idea.) By Owen: dot-marker worksheets from Homeschool Creations . (Coloring the entire envelope was his idea.) (The bottom left heart was done by Levi, who was very proud of his red-pink pattern.) By Owen: letter sorting by Homeschool Creations . I discovered through some other worksheet activities that Owen has no concept of patterns whatsoever, so now I have an idea of something we can be practicing through play in the future. I've been doing school rather haphazardly lately, so it's good to have a definable goal for him! We made valentines to send to my parents, but I didn't get any pictures taken of the action. The ideas came from here (Levi and Owen) and here (Silas). And here they are on my parents' mantel: From Levi and Owen: handprints connected with an accordion that says "I love you THIS MUCH." From Si...

Books: Um, none. I tried to read Harry the Dirty Dog a few times, but nobody wanted to. We read plenty of books, just not any dog-related stories! Crafts:   Dot Dd , doghouse D Food: doughnuts  Bible story: Jesus calls the disciples It was a happy accident that we had d oughnuts in the house on Monday morning, leftover from the youth group Super Bowl party the night before (at which Isaac pulls out the deep fryer and makes interesting food). We had them for a morning snack every day until they were gone. It was also a fortunate coincidence that my mom bought Do-a-Dot markers for Owen for Christmas. This was the second time we've used them, and they are a HUGE hit. D otting Dd s! The next day, the boys asked to paint, so I printed off the template for this d oghouse craft and pulled out the watercolors. Simple. Easy.  Dog in the doghouse! Levi made his own dog from an upside-down heart. I drew the face on, one element at a time, on...

We're having a rough time with obedience in our house these days. I'm not sure if it's the new baby, or the endless hours trapped inside by snow and cold, or everyone hitting a developmental issue at the same time, or all of the above. Whatever the case, my two big boys and myself have all been a mess of frustration and yelling and overall grumpiness. Isaac and I have talked once or twice in the past week about rewarding positive behavior, but I have to be honest: the thought of keeping track of their good decisions on top of their bad decisions seemed totally overwhelming to me. Never mind that my main goal in mothering these little sheep should be, well, the shepherding of their souls, following through on yet another thing seemed impossible. But mothering is sort of about doing the impossible, you know? And after yesterday, something  had to be done. So this morning, when Levi went to put his shoes on the first time I asked, without any whining or complaint, I took s...

THE Christmas picture. (Pre-Toby, obviously.) It's probably pretty obvious why the title is in quotation marks. It's not Christmas, this is not a letter, and 2013 is long gone. I've never actually written a Christmas letter before, and it was nothing short of miraculous that we got New Year's cards/birth announcements out in the month of January. Even so, I don't often document what my kids are doing (beyond the short Facebook status), and I wanted to take a minute to capture them right now (even if only for my own benefit!). Without further ado, ten things each about my three oldest sons: Levi 1. 4 and a half years old, 38" tall, 33 pounds. 2. He spends most of his days building "gauges." Gas gauges, thermometers, speedometers, tachometers, gauges to show how strong the heater vent is blowing, to show how much power his "computer" has left, to show how long the dryer will be on, and always, always, clocks. He builds them out of blo...

Did you know I was an English literature major in college? I love to read. I love to study books, sure, and my lit classes were some of my favorites (much more than my music classes, actually), but I mostly just love the act of reading. I fly through books for the pure enjoyment of it, rarely remembering too much of what I've read, but never terribly concerned about that fact. However. I think I've probably read three good works of literature in the last five years. I hear about people who make time to read and I think -- when? how is that even possible? And don't give me the "I always bring a book so I can read when I'm waiting at the doctor's office or while I'm picking my kids up from gymnastics" line. We don't go to the doctor that often (and when we do, I'm managing my brood of toddlers). We don't do extra curricular activities yet, except for Levi's piano lessons, and that doesn't involve waiting (and, again, DOES involve ...

After a rather discouraging weekend, in which I yelled at my kids and snapped at my husband and let myself believe the lie that my immediate circumstances will never change (my house will never be clean, my children will never obey, I will never sleep again, etc. etc.), this Getty hymn was everything I needed to hear this morning: Holy spirit, living breath of God Breathe new life into my willing soul Bring the presence of the risen Lord To renew my heart and make me whole . . .  Give me faith for what I cannot see . . .  May your joy be seen in all I do Love enough to cover every sin In each thought and deed and attitude Kindness to the greatest and the least Gentleness that sows the path of peace Turn my striving into works of grace . . .  Breath of God, show Christ in all I do.