A Legacy

While nursing yesterday I spoke with Jeramy on the phone while he was at work.  Moriah and Lily were sitting on the floor opposite me waiting patiently for me to finish.  When I hung up the phone Moriah asked me where Daddy was and I told her that he was at work.  Then she said, "When I grow up I'm not going to work."  I was a little curious at first and didn't respond immediately.  Then she quickly said, "I'm going to stay home and breastfeed babies."  Then Lily looked at me and said the same thing.  The conversation then turned to how many babies they were each going to have - how many boys and how many girls.  

This unprompted conversation really gave me a lot of encouragement.  As you can imagine, it is very difficult to stay home and raise four children four years old and younger.  I find it especially difficult because I was raised for a career, not motherhood.  Christ has redeemed me from that misplaced priority and brought me home with my children.  Feminism is antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In the Gospel we find eternality and we raise the next generation with generations ahead in mind.  Feminism and the post-modern worldview of our day tells us to look out only for ourselves in our own lifetime.  The goals of personal peace and affluence die with you.  But God calls us to raise the next generation to love and fear Him so that for generations, people might love and fear Him.  Those expressed goals of my daughters let's me know that, although I fail often to exercise the fruits of the Spirit, there is something honorable and God-glorifying that I'm imparting to my children.

May Christ be praised!

The Girls on Resurrection Sunday

Happy at home, before church

Standing outside G'Wanda's house after church

Just had to run around

Stopped running just long enough to assess the next move

Watching the sisters frolic

Learning to Count with Money

Up until January, I had taught the girls to count past 100 by single digits, to skip counting by 10's and 100's. They were also able to recognize random numbers like 57 or 86. I dropped the math for a while in an effort to focus on their reading and writing ability. Jeramy has begun to teach the girls math and counting with money. They are learning the basic coin denominations and to skip count by 5's using nickels. They really enjoy the hands-on learning and working hard with Daddy.

Girls Dogpile Too

Shiphrah's First Worm

As we have been preparing our two large garden spaces through raking up leaves and tilling the ground, we have found our share of earthworms in the moist soil. Over time Moriah and Lily have both become accustomed to picking up and holding a worm and the other day Shiphrah had an opportunity to do so also.

Jeramy was breaking up the hard clay ground when he found an earthworm. All three girls were nearby and, at that time, Moriah and Lily had not fully overcome their fear to hold one. When the worm was offered for Shiphrah to hold, she gladly held out her hand to accept this unknown gift from her Daddy. Upon taking it in her chubby little hand, she then began to open her mouth and shove the worm inside! It was the funniest thing ever! I guess you had to be there. :-D

Rest assured no worms were actually ingested during this altercation!

Grandma's Girls on the Hearth

The Dentist!

On Friday, 10 February, Moriah and Lily had their very first dentist visit! I had prepared them for about 3 weeks by telling them what the dentist will do and what they will have to do.

The day finally came and I was so impressed with how brave they were and how well they behaved! They didn't kick, cry or scream. They didn't even whine or complain the whole time we were there! I can't believe it!

Moriah went first and sat in the big chair. She opened her mouth wide and followed all the instructions from the hygienist and the dentist. She received a good report. She doesn't have any cavities, but we have to be very diligent in her brushing habits.

Here she is sitting in the big chair!



Here's Moriah getting a routine cleaning from Keyma, the hygienist.



Here is Moriah getting a check up from Dr. Carney, the dentist.

Lily and I were watching close by the whole time. Lily kept asking excitedly when it was going to be her turn! She wasn't scared at all. Finally her turn came and she was just as brave! Lily had a little more cleaning work to be done and sat very quietly while the hygienist thoroughly cleaned her teeth. Neither did Lily have any cavities and both she and Moriah each have 20 teeth.

Lily: sitting in the big chair



Here are Lily and Keyma



Here is Lily with the dentist, Dr. Carney.



Here's Moriah, Lily and Keyma, all with big smiles to remember this first visit.



I was so impressed with their good behavior, I have to be careful not to become too proud about it. :-D

Bananas in Pajamas

Markers on Monday

Our Home Education 2012

This year's focus is on reading, writing and arithmetic. Here they are practicing writing the alphabet.

Last week Moriah read through 3 books by Margaret Hillert using the Dolch words we've been teaching her over the past year and a half. We've added the New England Puritan Primer to our curricula to help her learn the phonetics of the English language. Here is one of the Hillert books based on the story of Goldilocks & the Three Bears we borrowed from the library.

Lily has also been learning the Dolch sight words and has started the Primer also. We pick out new books every three weeks from the library and I'm trying to get her to recognize the words written on the pages.

The girls can easily add when there are pictures of objects. Moriah can also recognize compound numbers like, 35 or 57. I've backed off of this for the past few weeks while focusing on reading and writing. We've continued with the Children's Catechism and, for safety, I'm helping them to memorize their names, address, parent's names, and parent's phone numbers.

When we're not working on reading and writing, they work with puzzles, color in various mediums and do contributory household chores. It has been very exciting to see them as they've grown into this stage and I eagerly look forward to their success as this year progresses.

Spin In A Basket

Here's another reason why we don't buy them toys.

They took turns sitting and spinning each other in this laundry basket for about 15 minutes. They always seem to have so much fun with laundry baskets.

Opening Gifts at G'Wanda's

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I know it's late, but here are a few pix of gift openings at G'Wanda's on Christmas Eve.

After eating a wonderful baked pork stew lunch, we opened gifts. Later we went together to G'Wanda's church for a Christmas Eve service. Then we headed home and opened our immediate family gifts. Then we got in the bed for a big day following.

Christmas Day we went to church, where I played prelude, "Sweet Little Jesus Boy", then afterwards we drove down to Statesboro for the McDonald Christmas gathering (Grandma Jane's family). We had a great time seeing everyone. Then we stayed the night and Jeramy, Shiphrah and I headed home, leaving Moriah and Lily for 4 days with Grandma Jane. Everyone had a great time and we were glad to be reunited the day before New Year's Eve. Shiphrah was so excited to see her sisters again, they had a slumber party in their bedroom for almost 2 hours before finally getting to sleep! We don't need a bigger house! Kids would rather share a room with siblings, at least in our case.

Holiday Pictures

Why We Don't Buy Toys . . .

They did this for 45 minutes!

All the toys they have are given by grandparents and aunts. We can count on one finger the number of toys we've purchased for them. Often I go through their toy baskets and pick out those things that don't work anymore and what they're not playing with. They either get chucked or donated. This helps eliminate clutter too.

Pack 'Em Up

Fuzzy Pink Hat

My Baby Is Four!

Moriah turns 4 years old today!

Happy Birthday!!

She is 4 going on 14! The things she says sometimes sound so adult it's unbelievable!

Here are some reasons why I love my baby!

She helps sanctify me by exposing my sin through direct confrontation or by her mimicking my sin.

She sees a need and takes the initiative to help out.

She is industrious and can do so many things well all by herself.

She is so smart and bright. She can read between 50 and 75 words; she knows at least 45 of the 50 United States including the Oceans; she's on question 32 in the Children's Catechism; she can count to 100 and by 100s to 1,000; and she knows that there's a place for everything and everything has a place.

She's affectionate and loves to give hugs and kisses. I love how she loves her Daddy. At night she always asks to "kiss, hug and snuggle" before falling asleep.

She's a great big sister and is always willing to help them out. She usually helps Lily with her clothing on and off. And she doesn't usually complain when I ask her to help her sisters.

She's usually happy and smiling. I love to hear her squeal in laughter and delight to play well with her sisters. She even reads books to them.

I love you Moriah! Happy Birthday!


We celebrated her birthday on Thursday after the turkey. Pictures to follow.

Horseback Riding!

G'Wanda took the girls to her choir retreat/fellowship and the owners also had two horses: Penny & Fancy. After they got some necessary energy out, they were calm enough to stroll with Moriah & Lily. Here is Lily petting the long face, getting acquainted.

High ho silver, away!

Look! All by herself!

Making the loop.

There's a good little equestrian!

Moriah, doesn't look so confident at first, but after a good petting, she's raring to go.

Look at her now!

All by herself!

Get along little doggies, get along, get along!

And don't forget the horse tire swing by the catfish pond!

My turn!

They had a blast!