Hello Family and Friends,
It has been such a long time since I posted I honestly don't know where to start. Let's see...
Michael started kindergarten this year, which is the main reason I haven't posted in so long. I wasn't aware how life would change once a child was in school full time. I was very nervous the whole summer about sending him to public school. I felt like I was throwing him to the wolves. But I joined PTA, SAC (school advisory counsel) and I'm the class mom for Michael's class so I feel like I am somewhat of a presence at his school. His school has been described as having a private school atmosphere, so with all these things considered I am feeling very comfortable about it now. He is doing so well in "big school". He wants to go everyday. And he is learning to read at a phenomenal rate! He is already asking to write sentences and is able to sound out the words he wants to write and gets the correct letter for that particular sound a good amount of the time. I am really impressed. He gets homework every night which I wasn't expecting in kindergarten. Kindergarten is not the same as it was when I was a kid. His teacher was telling me that since "no child left behind" began in Florida, pre-kindergarten(which is government funded) has turned into kindergarten and kindergarten has turned into 1st grade. He loves buying school lunch and wants to do it everyday. I feel like such a bad mom letting him, I know this sounds ridiculous but for some reason if I don't make his lunch I feel like I am not taking good care of him. Daniel reassures me that that is not true and I know intellectually that he is right, but emotionally I can't get over the feeling. I miss him when he is in school all day. Then he come home and has a melt down and I think the school day just isn't long enough! LOL :-) He has been very respectful and kind in school. This is something that we had many conversations about over the summer. With the Godless society of today I don't want my children to think that having respect for adults and being under authority is optional. Once they are trained that this is the way our Heavenly Father has ordained things they are very accepting of it. He is having a hard time grasping why they don't pray for snack and lunch at school even after we have explained it to him, but I guess not understanding why everyone doesn't praise and thank God is a good thing. Michael had his first piano recital last week and he did exceptionally well. We think we might tone piano down a bit like 1 lesson a month and concentrate on other things for a while. I don't want to be one of those family's that is on the go every day with no down time. Michael was in basket ball over the summer and is presently in T-Ball. No one told me how fun children sports were. It is hysterical to watch these little ones play. T-Ball does take up a lot of time though with practice/game every Wednesday and Saturday. But Michael really enjoys it and has been a busy boy this summer.. Over all he is doing very well and I pray for God's continued grace and guidance in raising Michael, Sarah, and Jessica to His glory.
Sarah started pre-kindergarten this year, which is not much different from her 3-year-old preschool class last year. She does go 3 days a week now and is learning more in depth letter and numbers. She is not in any extracurricular activities yet, but this week we are going to check out ballet and gymnastics and see if anything is reasonable and something she would like. She is also interested in starting piano, but I think we will wait a year or 2 before we begin with her. She loves pre-K and is bummed out when it isn't one of her school days. But I enjoy the time at home with her. She loves going to Church and being in Sunday School. She is very interested in the Kingdom-to-come and the emblems (bread and wine) and will talk about them spontaneously throughout the week. She'll say something like, "When Jesus comes back the angels will take care of me, Michael, and Jessica while you and Daddy help with the Kingdom." And then "I know what the wine means...it means Jesus's blood so we can remember how Jesus died for us." It warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes when I hear them talking about Godly things all the time. Now if I could only get them to finish memorizing Psalm 23, they can't seem to get past the 4th verse. Hmm. Overall Sarah is doing very well. She has a fantastic imagination and will go off to her room and play for hours alone. Her room looks like a bomb went off in it when she is done, but you know she had a good time.
Jessica is now 15-months-old and my little hurricane. When she leaves a room, any room, it looks a hurricane just hit. Everything is on the floor or toppled over and now that she knows how to take her diaper off there might even be some water damage! In an attempt to rein her in we have converted our house to Fort Knox. Our bathrooms are gated, the kitchen is gated, pen, crayons, markers are locked away, bookshelves are nailed to the wall and all doors are locked shut. And still she manages to get into things. But she is awesome. She has a fiery temper which requires correction and repoof, but she is also so sweet giving my kisses and back scratches for no reason. She is also very smart, all you have to do is show her something once and she has it down. This has caused some problems for the 2 older kids though. I've been trying to teach them that everything they do Jessica sees and will repeat. For example Michael pushed a kitchen chair up to the the counter 1 time and now Jessica does it every chance she gets and tries to climb onto the kitchen counters. She has developed a love for Sesame Street and watches it everyday. She'll sit on the couch and dance to the songs which is hysterical to watch because as she dances she moves forward and then bops herself off the couch. She hasn't been feeling well for about a week due to canine and 1 year molars coming it on the top and bottom. Michael and Sarah didn't get their 1 year molars until they were 2 so they were able to deal with it very well. Jessica, on the other hand is having a hard time and is miserable. Luckily she is still nursing so that gives her comfort and helps us all sleep at night.
Daniel is busy at work and NOT school! Woo Who! I am so glad he graduated. We have so much more family time now. He leaves work early on Wednesday to take Micheal to T-ball which is great for me because then I get some extra time to cook dinner and do housework. We started doing a new Bible study together. We have been going through the parent workbook of this great book, "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. It is a study that goes through the biblical concepts and principals of child rearing. Right now we are looking at the scripture that identifies the heart issues that inevitably lead to sin. For example Proverbs 12:22 "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight." is a great verse to use to direct children to God's Word when they lie and to show them the alternative, which is pleasing to God.
I have been super busy. On top of school and sport stuff I've been getting our house ready to paint. My mom is coming over tomorrow to help me finally turn Michael's room into a big boy room. We are painting it this fabulous blue and giving it a kind of nautical theme. Then this weekend Daniel and I are going to start the long process of repainting our foyer, living/dinning room, and family room this fantastic greenish-brown. I can't wait! The walls need repainting so badly. I have also finally started losing weight. It only took 15 months for my hormones to finally regulate after having Jesse. But hooray I've lost 5 lbs in 1 week! I have also been riding my bike and bike-trailer with Sarah and Jesse in it to take and pick-up Michael from school 3 days a week. The exercise has been great.
Well, that is all for now. We pray for all of you every night and hope you are all well.
Love,
Dawn
It has been such a long time since I posted I honestly don't know where to start. Let's see...
Michael started kindergarten this year, which is the main reason I haven't posted in so long. I wasn't aware how life would change once a child was in school full time. I was very nervous the whole summer about sending him to public school. I felt like I was throwing him to the wolves. But I joined PTA, SAC (school advisory counsel) and I'm the class mom for Michael's class so I feel like I am somewhat of a presence at his school. His school has been described as having a private school atmosphere, so with all these things considered I am feeling very comfortable about it now. He is doing so well in "big school". He wants to go everyday. And he is learning to read at a phenomenal rate! He is already asking to write sentences and is able to sound out the words he wants to write and gets the correct letter for that particular sound a good amount of the time. I am really impressed. He gets homework every night which I wasn't expecting in kindergarten. Kindergarten is not the same as it was when I was a kid. His teacher was telling me that since "no child left behind" began in Florida, pre-kindergarten(which is government funded) has turned into kindergarten and kindergarten has turned into 1st grade. He loves buying school lunch and wants to do it everyday. I feel like such a bad mom letting him, I know this sounds ridiculous but for some reason if I don't make his lunch I feel like I am not taking good care of him. Daniel reassures me that that is not true and I know intellectually that he is right, but emotionally I can't get over the feeling. I miss him when he is in school all day. Then he come home and has a melt down and I think the school day just isn't long enough! LOL :-) He has been very respectful and kind in school. This is something that we had many conversations about over the summer. With the Godless society of today I don't want my children to think that having respect for adults and being under authority is optional. Once they are trained that this is the way our Heavenly Father has ordained things they are very accepting of it. He is having a hard time grasping why they don't pray for snack and lunch at school even after we have explained it to him, but I guess not understanding why everyone doesn't praise and thank God is a good thing. Michael had his first piano recital last week and he did exceptionally well. We think we might tone piano down a bit like 1 lesson a month and concentrate on other things for a while. I don't want to be one of those family's that is on the go every day with no down time. Michael was in basket ball over the summer and is presently in T-Ball. No one told me how fun children sports were. It is hysterical to watch these little ones play. T-Ball does take up a lot of time though with practice/game every Wednesday and Saturday. But Michael really enjoys it and has been a busy boy this summer.. Over all he is doing very well and I pray for God's continued grace and guidance in raising Michael, Sarah, and Jessica to His glory.
Sarah started pre-kindergarten this year, which is not much different from her 3-year-old preschool class last year. She does go 3 days a week now and is learning more in depth letter and numbers. She is not in any extracurricular activities yet, but this week we are going to check out ballet and gymnastics and see if anything is reasonable and something she would like. She is also interested in starting piano, but I think we will wait a year or 2 before we begin with her. She loves pre-K and is bummed out when it isn't one of her school days. But I enjoy the time at home with her. She loves going to Church and being in Sunday School. She is very interested in the Kingdom-to-come and the emblems (bread and wine) and will talk about them spontaneously throughout the week. She'll say something like, "When Jesus comes back the angels will take care of me, Michael, and Jessica while you and Daddy help with the Kingdom." And then "I know what the wine means...it means Jesus's blood so we can remember how Jesus died for us." It warms my heart and brings tears to my eyes when I hear them talking about Godly things all the time. Now if I could only get them to finish memorizing Psalm 23, they can't seem to get past the 4th verse. Hmm. Overall Sarah is doing very well. She has a fantastic imagination and will go off to her room and play for hours alone. Her room looks like a bomb went off in it when she is done, but you know she had a good time.
Jessica is now 15-months-old and my little hurricane. When she leaves a room, any room, it looks a hurricane just hit. Everything is on the floor or toppled over and now that she knows how to take her diaper off there might even be some water damage! In an attempt to rein her in we have converted our house to Fort Knox. Our bathrooms are gated, the kitchen is gated, pen, crayons, markers are locked away, bookshelves are nailed to the wall and all doors are locked shut. And still she manages to get into things. But she is awesome. She has a fiery temper which requires correction and repoof, but she is also so sweet giving my kisses and back scratches for no reason. She is also very smart, all you have to do is show her something once and she has it down. This has caused some problems for the 2 older kids though. I've been trying to teach them that everything they do Jessica sees and will repeat. For example Michael pushed a kitchen chair up to the the counter 1 time and now Jessica does it every chance she gets and tries to climb onto the kitchen counters. She has developed a love for Sesame Street and watches it everyday. She'll sit on the couch and dance to the songs which is hysterical to watch because as she dances she moves forward and then bops herself off the couch. She hasn't been feeling well for about a week due to canine and 1 year molars coming it on the top and bottom. Michael and Sarah didn't get their 1 year molars until they were 2 so they were able to deal with it very well. Jessica, on the other hand is having a hard time and is miserable. Luckily she is still nursing so that gives her comfort and helps us all sleep at night.
Daniel is busy at work and NOT school! Woo Who! I am so glad he graduated. We have so much more family time now. He leaves work early on Wednesday to take Micheal to T-ball which is great for me because then I get some extra time to cook dinner and do housework. We started doing a new Bible study together. We have been going through the parent workbook of this great book, "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp. It is a study that goes through the biblical concepts and principals of child rearing. Right now we are looking at the scripture that identifies the heart issues that inevitably lead to sin. For example Proverbs 12:22 "Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight." is a great verse to use to direct children to God's Word when they lie and to show them the alternative, which is pleasing to God.
I have been super busy. On top of school and sport stuff I've been getting our house ready to paint. My mom is coming over tomorrow to help me finally turn Michael's room into a big boy room. We are painting it this fabulous blue and giving it a kind of nautical theme. Then this weekend Daniel and I are going to start the long process of repainting our foyer, living/dinning room, and family room this fantastic greenish-brown. I can't wait! The walls need repainting so badly. I have also finally started losing weight. It only took 15 months for my hormones to finally regulate after having Jesse. But hooray I've lost 5 lbs in 1 week! I have also been riding my bike and bike-trailer with Sarah and Jesse in it to take and pick-up Michael from school 3 days a week. The exercise has been great.
Well, that is all for now. We pray for all of you every night and hope you are all well.
Love,
Dawn
posted by Dawn @ 6:32 AM
1 Comments:
At 6:39 PM,
Stacey Kannenberg said…
WOO HOO!! Happy Kindergarten and Pre-Kindergarten!!! I am so glad you are involved in your child's school. Way to go!!!
Smiles- Stacey
www.cedarvalleypublishing.com
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