1,000 Strikes

"I feel like I've done a thousand strikes today," is the phrase Scott and I keep repeating.  The strike-a-thon went very well today.  We had this picture taken of our family right after the class was over.  Later we may get some good pictures of our class performing the 1,000 strikes.

Jonathan is not in old enough yet to be in the class but we let him wear his gi and I told him that he could participate today if he wanted to.  I think he mostly played  in the back of the room.

A mom of one of the kids participating watched Elijah for us so we worked on the strikes.  She is one of those wonderful fearless moms that can comfort a fussy baby. 

Speakimg of a fussy baby...  I better get him ready for bed.  I'll try to post more tomorrow.  Wow, my arms are soar.

Strike-a-thon for the American Cancer Society

My family and I will be participating in a strike-a-thon on Saturday, August 28.  We will be performing 1,000 strikes against cancer.  All donations will be going to support the American Cancer Society.  All those participating will be wearing the names of family and friends that have been affected by cancer.

If you would like to help us support the American Cancer Society please e-mail me at asmile76@gmail.com .  If you have a loved one that you would like us to honor by wearing their name please include their name in your e-mail.

I plan to bring my camera and have someone take a picture of us as we make our strikes against cancer.  I'll post a picture of my family wearing the bands with the names of those we are honoring through this.   

The man mentioned in the poster to the right is a friend of our Sensei.  Our family has several friends and family who have personally been affected by cancer.   We wish to honor them through this Strike-a-thon.

Even if you cannot make a donation toward the cause, please support us with prayers for the families who are still fighting the fight against cancer, and for those families who have lost a loved one to cancer.  Thank you.

All Work and No Play?

I'm letting the kids take a break today.  We went to the park this morning for a homeschool meeting.  When we got home I fed my children lunch and told them they could play in the water after they washed our van. 

The van is nice and clean and the kids are outside splashing around in a kiddy pool.  It was hard getting a good picture with them moving around so much. 

Elijah is growing.  My mom and I bought a play mat (pictured) for him about a month ago.  At that time he had a harder time reaching both the hanging toys and the kicking ball.  Now he is able to reach both at the same time..  He loves to play with this toy.  The only time he gets upset with it is when he wants to chew on the toys and they don't pull off.  But he has sweet siblings who will  help him out and give him toys to chew. 

Believe it or not, letting the kids take a break and play today has given me a little reprieve.  I decided to blog and then I hope to get my lesson plans organized for the month.  It's good to stop every once in a while and take a break.  Tomorrow we'll be getting back to work. 

Math Problems

IJoshua waiting to see if he got the answer correct.

Yesterday, I was grading Joshua's and Ruth's math work. I saw that despite all the drilling on division, Joshua was still not understanding long division.  I had given him many examples on the board.  I even began to wonder if someone else could explain it better than I can.  That is a dangerous worry that goes through many homeschooling moms' heads when faced with what feels like a road block in their child's education.

I always have to stop myself, and realize that if my child were in a classroom setting he would have the same difficulty.  I imagine the teacher would just give him homework and then either he would get behind and fail or bring the work home where I would have to teach it to him anyway.  So as all homeschooling Moms must do, I think of the best way to solve the problem. (Pun intended.)  

I knew that what Joshua needed was to do several problems himself.  I told him that division was a very systematic thing.  What you do to one number you do to the other numbers.   I had him go to the board and I gave him a problem to write down.  He wrote it on the board.  I then told him okay solve the problem.

He started tensing up and getting all worried about it.  I asked him what he was to do first.  He got that part right and then froze.  I asked him, "Okay, Now what do you do?"  

He then made a mistake and I very animatedly had the number he messed up complain, "No! Don't push that big number into me.  It won't fit!!!"  He at first wasn't sure if I was making fun of him or just making math fun.  I was helping him with the numbers talking, he started figuring out what he was doing wrong, and getting tickled at the animated numbers on the board.  At one point he accidently put a number that was suppose to go on top of the line under the numbers, that poor number hollered, "Aaahhh!!! I fell off the table!  Help!" 

Finally, after a few rounds of division he was making less mistakes and the numbers quit talking to him.  He started getting every problem right and he announced the very rewarding words, "Wow! Math is fun! Are there any more problems?"

Those words right there do a homeschooling mom's heart good.  I smiled and said, "See. I knew you could do it."

Roll Over

Elijah is now rolling over to his tummy.  One morning I went to get him out of his bed and he was on his tummy looking around his bed.  Later the same day after I changed his diaper he rolled over onto his tummy again.  That time he was on my bed.  It won't be long and he'll be crawling. 

Church camp was great.  We all discussed before bedtime prayers what our favorite parts of camp was.  The kids agreed that they enjoyed different sermons several of the pastors preached.  It's always a joy to hear your children retell sermons.  There were a few sermons I had to miss because I had to step outside with Elijah, but Friday evening my kids filled me in on all those sermons plus the sermons I didn't miss. 

Of course, the sermons weren't the only part of camp my children enjoyed.  Joshua also enjoyed buying lots of Sodas.  He brought his own money with him so instead of just having the drinks and snacks we bought him, he enjoyed the freedom of buying as much as he wanted.  Then he said he also enjoyed swimming. 

The girls enjoyed swimming also.  Hannah enjoyed having grandparents at camp.  Where her Daddy and I might not give her everything she wants, grandparents love to buy their grandchildren things.  The funny part is that even after camp was over she says now she wants a balloon from the gift shop.  All I can do is shake my head. 

It reminds me of a scene from Veggietales. Bob the Tomato asks Larry the Cucumber, "How much stuff do you need to be happy?" 

Larry replies, "I don't know. How much stuff is there?"

Hopefully she will figure that lesson out as she gets older and we continue to teach her.

Ruth enjoyed the swimming and enjoyed hearing people tell the story of when they were saved.  She also liked singing a special Friday morning before her daddy's devotional.  She sang a song she had written a few years ago entitled, "I Love You, Jesus."

Jonathan said that he enjoyed Wal-mart.  We can only assume he meant the gift shop.  I think favorite is a difficult concept for a two year old.  But I'm pretty sure he enjoyed all the time he got to spend with his Daddy this week.  Scott also mentioned that Jonathan enjoyed watching the boys that dived off the diving board durng swimming.  For Jonathan watching them splash was like getting to watch fireworks.

Scott enjoyed teaching the High School/ College class.  He also enjoyed spending a lot of time with Jonathan.

I enjoyed teaching the third grade class again this year.  I found I had quite a few of the same kids I had last year.  Several of the kids were 10 years old this year which is the age I was when I was saved.  I shared with them my testimony.  At the end of class on Wednesday, I told the students that if they wanted to talk to me they could stay after class was over.  One of the girls from my dorm stayed. I shared with her the same verses we talked about in class.  She then prayed her own prayer asking God to forgive her of her sins.  During testimony time that day, she gave her testimony and I believe from her testimony that she understood what I had shared with her. 

Over all we had a great camp.  The only problem I had at camp was getting stung by a bee.  I had stepped outside with Elijah during one of the services.  I went to sit down in a chair and my arm went down right on a bee.  I'm just glad it was me and not my baby that got stung.