School wise: Part 1 - Matthew

This month has flown by in a flurry of college applications, scholarship interviews, and travel. There has been the excitement of the World Book contest for Matthew and the anticipation of possibly starting to play spring soccer with a local club for Joel. And well, yes, we've managed to keep on schooling.

Since I have been rather distracted this month from the routine of homeschooling by helping Andrew with college applications, travel with him to the scholarship weekend, and spending time with my dear friend, Teresa, whose mother died recently, I have been especially thankful for boys who need little outside prompting to get their school work done.

I thought you might enjoy getting a flavor of what's happening around here, school wise, by hearing a bit about what each of the boys is doing. I'll start, for no particular reason except that he's in the middle around here now and hardly ever goes first, with Matthew.

M is plugging away at Algebra II, American History, Biology, and Greek. We do French and Music together, and American Literature with my nephew. He's also taking a Composition class with a wonderful teacher and a group of high school home schoolers. Here are a few specifics. He is...

-reading A History of the American People by Paul Johnson (an Ambleside Online selection)
watching lots of history documentaries courtesy of the local library
studying for the SAT American History subject test in May

-reading Biology and discussing it with me - lately we've been immersed in the study of cellular respiration. (I assured him that this is the hardest part of high school biology and once he understands the Kreb's cycle and electron transport, the rest is cake! At least that's how I feel about it. But I must say, I am enjoying this review and refresher. He's keeping me sharp on things I learned a LONG time ago!) He's studying for the SAT subject test in Biology, too.

-plugging away in Algebra II (thankfully Coty is the math teacher around here).

-working on Greek verb forms using Essentials of New Testament Greek (again, thankfully, Coty is the teacher/mentor here!)

-reading selections from Poe and getting ready to start Red Badge of Courage.. Writing dialogue in his composition class.

-listening to French stories and memorizing vocabulary - not his favorite.

-learning about the concerto and listening to Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1 in B flat minor. Patrick Kavanaugh says, "If you haven't heard this classic masterpiece, don't admit it to anyone. Just slip out quietly tonight and head to the record store." A little dated, yes...you don't have to slip out, just head to you favorite music download site and search for this beautiful concerto. We're going to become quite familiar with it in the next few weeks.

-doing a bit of drawing with more coming next month after I make a trip to the art supply store. We're using Draw Today.

I think we do plenty of "head" stuff and think we need to begin a hands-on work project. Yes, there's always the sinkhole wall project that we need to tackle, but I'm thinking more of little household repair projects that would help him learn some useful life skills - like fixing the attic drop-down stairs that are broken, putting the trim back on the screen porch sections that were re-screened, painting the upstairs hallway...

I'm also always wondering, because of Charlotte Mason's emphasis on this, about handicrafts for boys. I'm still mulling over ideas Amber has shared with me and hoping for more time in February to search out resources to help us with wood carving, leather work, or some other handicraft that will be more up their alley than my personal favorite, knitting. I'm always open to ideas if you have some to share about boys and handicrafts.

Lastly, on the list of things we need to do more is nature study - walks outside, drawing and journaling CM style, and just enjoying the woods around us. We used to take a lot more hikes than we do now. Time to change that and just get outside!

For fun, Matthew's always thinking about making movies and then making them, learning a monologue for a studio theater class audition next week, and playing games of all sorts, inside and out, with Coty and the boys (5 Crowns, Dutch Blitz, Knock-Out, soccer, football, etc.).

He's also learning to drive and drove all the way from here to my parents house in SC on Tuesday. I only leaned away from the trucks in the right lane as we passed them a few times. Whew, it takes steely nerves and patience to teach boys to drive...but really, he's pretty good.

OK, that's Matthew, my very sweet, funny, quirky, getting taller by the minute, creative, thoughtful, kind, quick-to-hug-his-mom 15 year old.

Tomorrow, Joel...

Kenya

all hell breaking loose
settling scores
vendettas that date back generations
out of control
depressed, frustrated, frightened
ethnic enmity
chaos of post election violence

These are phrases I heard on the radio this morning describing the horror of ethnic violence that is raging in Kenya, a country we love. Our hearts are heavy as we continue to hear stories of murders, burnings, riots, and more.

Coty and I lived in Nairobi from 1981-1984. Our first child was born there. We went back the summers of 1987 and 1988 to Egerton University and returned again to Nairobi for an academic year in 1991-92. We have many friends there. We have friends that work in Kibera, the scene of the worst violence in Nairobi. We are grieving to see the country being plunged into ethnic fighting following the election debacle.

The BBC online news service is a good way to keep up with current events in Kenya and other African countries. The East African Standard/Online Edition and allAfrica.com:Kenya are more sources for news about Kenya. This is the news for today. We have been in the places mentioned in these new reports - Kibera, Naivasha, Nakuru, Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, and the Rift Valley. We have ridden the train upcountry over tracks that are being ripped up by rioters. I can hardly believe that these things are happening.

I know that those of us who read from afar cannot truly grasp the reality of the situation. We are prone to err in either of two extremes. We may blow isolated events out of proportion and assume that things are much worse than they are or we may minimize the actual severity of the situation. After viewing this photo essay, in which the backgrounds of these violent events are so familiar, and the video news clip below, we weep and pray. Please pray with us for the peaceful resolution of this terrible situation. Pray that ethnic tensions and violent actions will not lead to genocide.



If you know anything about the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and how the West failed to respond, you will be haunted by the prospect that this could happen in Kenya. Archbishop Kolini, the head of the Anglican Church in Rwanda has said, “When UN Troops were asked to help Rwanda at the time of the genocide, instead of helping, the world abandoned us."

Lord God, you are sovereign over the affairs of the nations. Restrain the evil and bring peace to Kenya...and if we in the west are called to respond, do not let us turn our backs this time.

You can vote more than once...

Continuing to do my part, as requested by sweet Matthew, to encourage you all to vote for his World Book video contest entry. You can vote for more than once, he tells me. In fact, you can vote numerous times each day if after you vote you simply close your browser, reopen it, and go back to this site,check Misinformed again, then scroll down and click CAST VOTE.

Thanks, all of you. I thank you...Matthew thanks you.

He's better!

Thanks to those of you who expressed concern and were praying for Andrew. He is so much better. Both illnesses have run their courses quickly. He is no longer contagious and is well enough to take off on his exciting northeastern trip tomorrow. He goes to New York and Boston to visit a friend, a brother, and a college. Hopefully, he'll get to see a sister and a brother-in-law, too! What a trip!

Vote for Matthew's Video!

Misinformed, in the sidebar now.

"If it walks like a duck...

and quacks like a duck...it's a duck."

That's what Dr. Jack said yesterday after examining the mysterious rash covering Andrew's torso, face, head, and hands. He should have said chicken...if it looks like a chicken...pox, that is, it is chicken pox. Yes, Andrew, poor Andrew, has the chicken pox. And to add insult to injury, he also has strep throat. I can hear your collective moans of sympathy. Thank you.

Andrew and I traveled to Covenant College for scholarship weekend this past Thursday through Sunday. Fortunately, he didn't get sick til after all the scholarship interviews and activities were done. I'm thankful for God's timing in that! On Saturday afternoon he had a very sore throat and then Sunday morning, he broke out in bumps all over his torso. Cepacol lozenges only helped temporarily and Benadryl didn't do a thing. We drove home Sunday afternoon and a rather miserable Andrew slept most of the six hour trip. When he awoke Monday morning feeling worse, with the rash spreading, I called the doc.

I was pretty shocked when Dr. Jack diagnosed chicken pox since the kids have been vaccinated. Somehow, when they were young, no one ever got the chicken pox. Then as they got older we did the responsible thing and had them vaccinated. Turns out they now say that one dose of the varicella vaccine, which is what they were giving when my kids got the shot, isn't enough to give you immunity. And two probably really isn't either. The only way to really be immune is to get the chicken pox. Then your body really knows how to recognize the virus and fight it. Sooo, any of you with little kids want to come over and expose them so you can go ahead and get it over with? Just kidding. You don't want to be around Andrew now because you might get strep too!

We would certainly appreciate your prayers for our young man. He'll be laying low this week, hoping to recover by Friday when he is supposed to fly to New York to visit Rob and then on to Gordon to visit Jonathan and do an admissions visit there. He is on meds for both chicken pox and strep and I'm off to the grocery store this morning to get ingredients to make healthy comfort food.

And by the way, the scholarship interviews went very well. Andrew enjoyed the whole process. I think it's pretty great the way Covenant turns what could be a very stressful situation into an enjoyable learning experience and a fun time to meet a lot of interesting people. We will hear about the scholarship by early February.

Meanwhile, it's oatmeal baths and Aveeno lotion! And prayers that Matthew and Joel don't start quacking like ducks, um...breaking out, I mean.

Vote for Matthew's Video!

The excitement around here is palpable.

Drum roll, please.............

The results were posted today and Matthew is a finalist!!!!! A couple of months ago he entered a short video in this contest sponsored by World Book Encyclopedia and promoted by his favorite comedy duo, Rhett and Link.



The finalists' videos are posted on the World Book website. Go here to watch and vote for your favorite. Of course, we hope you'll choose Matthew's video, Misinformed. Voting ends January 31 and winners will be announced in early February. Thanks, everybody!


Just so you know...this post will stay at the top of the blog for awhile so more folks can see it. Just doin' my part to further Matthew's film-making aspirations! Check below for new posts.

Knitting

I do love to knit. I was taught by a Japanese friend about ten years ago but I didn't do much with my knitting for a lot of years. My knitting endeavors are encouraged by...

-my mom who is still working on a knitted afgan started years ago and who gave me my first Manos Del Uraguay yarn before I even learned to knit. She also gave me my grandmother's knitting bag, Christmas before last, with several balls of yarn leftover from baby projects my grandmother had made, as well as her handwritten baby jacket pattern.



-a friend here in NC who is a wonderful knitter, who knows lots more than I do, and who is an encourager who has helped elevate my knitting to a new plateau.

-another creative friend who helped me learn to felt, thus expanding my knitting in new directions. This year for Christmas, I made a felted hat, a felted bag, and several felted mats and potholders. It was fun, fun, fun!



I received several beautiful knitting books for Christmas. They are inspiring me to branch out and learn some new techniques, play with color more, and try some different yarns.

This first book is "eye candy" - full of color and wonderful designs. I have referred to Kristin's blog, Getting Stitched on the Farm in the past and am very happy to own an autographed copy of her new book (thanks, sweetheart!).





This next book has some wonderful scarves. I want to try some new designs and these patterns are quite inspiring. One goal this year - learn to do cables.






Finally, I loooove this book! Very lovely wraps, shawls, ponchos, capelets and more. Can't wait to try some of these when I finish my current project.





And here is the current project. It's a simple feather and fan rectangular shawl knitted with 100% linen yarn. The yarn feels a bit stiff to the touch now but will soften and drape beautifully with repeated washings. While knitting this, I think of Karen Blixen in Out of Africa, the Bennett girls in Pride and Prejudice, and the two sisters in Babbette's Feast. Why, pray tell? Because they all wore lovely shawls and I think this one will be just like something they would throw over their shoulders.




(There you have it, Tonia...who asked what knitting project I had going on!)

Last full day

It is a glorious morning. The sun is bright, the air is cool, the birds are flitting back and forth from the holly to the crape myrtle to the feeder. I got up early and spent time reading my Bible and then started re-reading Knowing God by J.I Packer, which I had read eons ago. The boys are up and working on their school work and the smell of whole grain bread toasting is wafting in here to my desk.

It is the last full day of break for Jonathan. He heads back to Gordon tomorrow morning for his final semester in college and I am a bit sad. Before he got home, I had thought about the fact that he may never be at home for this long of a stretch again. He graduates in May and then will probably go abroad for a year or so. After that, graduate school, more work abroad, marriage??? The Lord knows his path. I do not. But, it may well be that he will never spend four weeks of vacation at home again. He realized this fact about ten days ago and came and told me and gave me a big hug. I had a tears pooling in my eyes.

Mostly though, I am profoundly thankful for the last four weeks. We have laughed and cried and talked late at night. I have taken him to the oral surgeon to have his wisdom teeth extracted, the dermatologist to have a cyst removed from his forehead, and today to the eye doctor to see if he needs glasses. (He goes off our insurance in May so this has been the break to take care of medical issues!) He has enjoyed our family friends and they have gotten to know him better. He has played ping-pong with his brothers and put his music on my computer. I am honored when he says, "Oh, Mommy, you'll like this one." He's had his turn on the dish-washing rotation and taken out the trash. He's been a son and brother at home. We have loved it.

He, of course, continues to be a son and brother at school...but it's different. We don't get to hear his quick witted comments or insightful observations during our morning reading. Joel won't get tackled, tickled, or wrestled to the floor. Matthew will not have anyone to play guitar with. Andrew will not hear the constant song of "come to Gordon, come to Gordon," when he thinks about his college decision. Coty will miss conversations about politics and international affairs. I will miss terribly the frequent hugs. We will all miss the good natured teasing to which we are subjected when J is home.

Jonathan and I talked the other day about why I scold and fuss, why I am critical at times and why I worry. (Not that those are good things, mind you. They are just what I sometimes do) As a mother, I want the very, very best for my children. First I want them to love and follow God. Then I want their lives to be purposeful, meaningful, happy, and as pain-free as possible. I want them to do well and to avoid the pitfalls I fell into. I want them to be wise and discerning; to live happily ever after. When I'm not thinking very clearly, I act as though my scolding, criticism, and worry will accomplish those goals. I forget, in my protective mother-love, that it doesn't really work that way.

I forget that it is by falling in and climbing out of pitfalls that we learn to walk in a more discerning way. It is by enduring trials that we learn perseverance. It is pain that presses us into God and makes us wiser. Hard things are necessary for growth and strength. And no fussing or worrying on my part will change that. When I am thinking clearly, I know that my children will go through plenty of their own struggles, their share of pain, and their own hard trials. I can advise and counsel, encourage and listen. But more important than anything else, I can pray. And I can love and keep a home for my children always to come back to - for a few days or longer.

Tomorrow I will not be tripping over guitar cases. Joel will get his bedroom back. We will not glance over at the sofa and see Jonathan reading. He'll be back at school in the weeks ahead, writing a senior honors thesis, finishing his final classes, enjoying his last semester living with the three others of the Fantastic Four - the guys he got to know freshman year, who decided way back then to live together senior year. He'll be mailing off internship applications and probably raising support for a summer missions trip to India. Oh boy, I'm going to miss him. But it has been a great four weeks and I am a very thankful mother.

Marmalade

I love marmalade. Not the sweet kind. Oh, no! I love the real, tangy, sort of bitter, slivers of peel in it, eat on an English muffin with a cup of strong, fragrant Kenyan black tea kind of marmalade. The kind I had in Europe years ago, the kind you have to buy in a specialty shop or at least a nicer grocery store. I get it in my stocking every year for Christmas. This year I got two jars because I bought one to put in my stocking myself, just in case the guys forgot. I didn't want to be disappointed on Christmas morning when it was time for breakfast and we were all spreading the jam we got in out stockings on our fresh Christmas morning bread. You know, Erin wasn't here for Christmas and she's usually the one who buys my marmalade, so I just figured to be safe I'd get it to put in my stocking, just in case. But I needn't have worried. The guys did remember so I got two jars. And yes, they know I bought my own marmalade and gave it to myself for Christmas. Sometimes when you live with a husband and five sons, you just have to do that.

Anyway today, I got a third one. My friend, Lori, who knows I love marmalade gave me a late Christmas present and hooray, she gave me a jar of marmalade, just like she did last year. There is something wonderful to be said for consistency in gift giving. I used to give my dad soap-on-a-rope every year for Christmas. I think one time he said he liked it, so for the next ten years or so, he got soap-on-a-rope. He always seemed happy, if not surprised. And that's how I feel about marmalade. I don't mind if I'm not surprised. Marmalade, as a gift, will always make me happy.

But now I have a decision to make. Do I put my new jar of marmalade away for a couple of months, since I've been enjoying good marmalade since Christmas? You know, when you really enjoy something, you don't want it all the time. If you do have it all the time, it doesn't seem quite as special. So, I have to decide whether or not to put my marmalade away and save it for later. Hmmmm??? I'll probably put it away, maybe in an odd place, maybe in the bin with my summer clothes, and then try and forget about it so that a couple of months from now when I pull out the shorts and tank tops, I'll find it and it will be a fun surprise.

If you're still with me and haven't tired of marmalade, maybe you will enjoy this post on Yarnstorm with lovely pictures of marmalade socks. I like the socks, though I don't wear orange and I'd break my ankle in such shoes. Still, fun to look at.

If I ever have an orange tabby cat, I will name it Marmalade. But I'm partial to gray tabbies, and Madison, the greatest cat in the world, is still with us. So, that may never happen.

OK, nighty night. Maybe I'll contemplate writing something more serious tomorrow after I've had my coffee and bagel with...marmalade.

Farm life fix

It's true. I am a farm girl wanna-be. That is why when I hear the cows lowing in the field behind the woods, I get happy. That is why when I have dirt under my fingernails and overalls on, I am comfortable. That is why, since I don't live on a farm, I like to read about and look at pictures of things agricultural. That is why today I particularly enjoyed these two items online:

Sunday lambing by Kristin Nicholas, which has wonderful pictures of the birth of a lamb on her sheep farm not far from where we used to live in Massachusetts.

And this video, which is my dear daughter riding Apollo, a gorgeous Percheron/Thoroughbred cross that she and her husband, Luke, helped to train. Apollo is now for sale but he'll go fast. Scroll down this page to the first horse on the Sales list to read more about Apollo.



That's the farm life fix for today. Tomorrow I'm putting on my overalls and planting seeds in the garden! In January???!!!! Yep. Gotta love North Carolina!

An Alphabet of Grace

I am about to finish The Summer of the Great Grandmother by Madeline L'Engle. I read the following yesterday morning. (Mado was Madeline L'Engle's great-grandmother).

"Did Mado ever have the sudden, intemperate rages which sometimes hit me, and which are produced by what seems completely inadequate cause?

She surely had reason for rage and resentment, and yet these are qualities which are never mentioned in regard to her. If they were there, she kept them to herself and healed them in her own way, with prayer. I have her battered Bible, which Mother had rebound for me. It was much read, much marked, and there are stains which came, I think, through private tears. Perhaps through it she will teach me an alphabet of grace. She had that spontaneous quality of aliveness which illuminates people who have already done a lot of their dying, and I think I am beginning to understand the truth of that."

The Terrible Trivium Monster

Our breakfast chapter book right now is The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Matthew, in particular, loves this book and has read it several times, but we'd never read it aloud til now. Nuggets of truth (and LOTS of puns) are sprinkled throughout the humorous story of Milo, on his travels through Dictionopolis, Digitopolis, and other lands on his quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason.

Here's an example of one such nugget from yesterday's reading. Milo and Tock are laboring to move a pile of sand from one place to another with tweezers, empty a well with an eye dropper, and dig a hole through a granite cliff with a needle when they recognize Terrible Trivium, the demon of petty tasks and worthless jobs, ogre of wasted effort, and monster of habit. When Milo objects to the unimportant job he has been spending hours doing, the monster replied,

"If you only do the easy and useless jobs, you'll never have to worry about the important ones which are so difficult. You just won't have the time. For there's always something to do to keep you from what you really should be doing..."

What are the piles of sand, endless wells, and granite walls I need to avoid today? What about you?

For thoughts on doing the important things - those of a mother with young children but applicable to folks in other life stations - read Ann's post, New Ways.

Recount and praise

Desiring to start 2008 off right, I sat down early Tuesday morning with my Bible and journal. It was quiet. I went to Isaiah where I have been reading for the last two weeks and the morning's portion included this verse, "I will recount the steadfast love of the Lord, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord has granted us..." Isaiah 63:7

And then I spent a very precious hour and a half recounting. I started in 1982, the year my marriage was faltering, the year God showed me the depth of my sin and then in His mercy, restored my marriage and opened my eyes to the joy of my salvation. I wrote and wrote and wrote in my journal, remembering people and events I haven't thought about in a very long time. I only got as far as 1988, but I was overwhelmed with gratitude for the steadfast love of the Lord, his great goodness, the abundance of his steadfast love.

I recounted being spared from death on a curving mountainside road in Kenya as a bus came barreling straight toward our car. In a split second, Coty thought, "I am about to die with my wife, baby, and parents," and then swerved, missing the trees lining the side of the road and keeping control of the car on the dirt road as the bus roared by, perhaps two inches from our car. God's mercy.

I recounted Coty coming home from a trip to Pakistan. Turning on the radio the next morning, we heard that the very next PanAm flight out of Karachi after the one he had been on had been boarded by hijackers. Pakistani soldiers stormed the plane on the runway, killing 19 people. Coty could have easily been on that flight. Instead, he was safe at home with Erin, baby Jonathan, and me. God's great mercy.

I recounted births - one in Nairobi and two at home in Virginia. Oh, how gracious God has been to us in giving us these children. Three more were born after we moved in 1989 but I didn't get that far in my recounting yet! Gifts all.

I recounted Bonnie, sitting at the table with me, sharing tea and biscuits and life; Pam, hiking in the Ngong Hills with me, our families knit together as we shared sweet times in Bible study together; Steve and Erika teaching us and praying with us; Suzanne helping me as a new homeschooling mother...and many more people who lived out Christ's life before me. And I thought over and over about our families and their unfailing support and lavish expressions of love over the years. Grace upon grace.

There was more, much more. I only got through 1988. So I am still writing.

If you haven't sat down for awhile and thought about what God has done in your life, the blessings you have, the multitude of things for which to rejoice no matter what your circumstances, may I commend to you the practice of recounting. Carve out a space of time when it is quiet, when you can write free flow and unhurried. If you take time to focus on God's steadfast love and goodness in large and small ways down the years, I predict that you will be amazed and humbled. If you are tempted to complaint and self-pity as I am at times, after such recounting you will be wearing, as I wear today, a "garment of praise instead of a faint spirit," you will be "called [an] oak of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE may be glorified." from Isaiah 61:9