June Days

June is probably one of my favorite times of the year - maybe because it's my birthday month as my family is reminded of on June 1st. But now is represents the time of year when we bask in the accomplishments of the school year that comes to a close. The weather provides us endless opportunities to lounge in the backyard, play at the park, go on nature walks to feed the birds and squirrels and take family bike rides or walks. Fresh air and Vitamin D - what a combination! The picture above is Zanna picking strawberries at our local berry farm. She was finding some good ones to put in her basket but when I'd look next they'd be gone having fallen on the ground unnoticed. Will was not impressed by the whole objective as he doesn't even like strawberries. He just stood in the hot sun whining. I've realized the hard way that maybe we're not cut out for this - we're more of a stop by a roadside stand and buy baskets of already picked berries kind of family. Oh, well. I guess it's my job to provide different experiences for my kids and some they'll love and some not so much!
Will had his violin end of year music recital and did a lovely job. It's exciting to hear how far he's come. I'm so impressed with his confidence in performing in front of anyone, his musical ear to hear when he's in or out of tune and his enjoyment of the instrument that has brought me so much joy in my own life. I'm so thankful we share this passion together!
We finished school early in the month, wrapping things up with a newspaper unit, our study of the human body and our American history ending the year with the expansion out west. To celebrate our final day, I had planned a fun outing to a local town's festival. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned and Will made for himself a pretty lousy last day where he missed out on our outing and stayed in the church office to finish the school work he didn't want to do at home. Overall, we had an awesome year - by far our best. But the last 3 weeks were rough and my patience was tested over and over again. I was under the impression that I would be teaching my children and that my children were to be the learners. But I have taken many lessons for myself this year - the major one being that I have more weaknesses than I ever realized. On my own, I am hopeless - and the depressing thing is, I know there are more weaknesses to discover. I have been humbled!! I have found myself depending more on the Lord this year for patience, wisdom, strength and self-control to just name a few. But the difference in this year from past years is that I thought Will was the one that needed to learn these things and that HE was the one with "the problem". So this teacher has also realized she's a student. I'm exhausted - thanks goodness for summer break!!

Family pictures

A friend of mine was kind enough to use our family as practice for her love of photography and new business. Despite the cold of the day, I think she managed to capture some precious family moments!

Marriage, Homemaking and Parenting

Back to my love affair with books. I'm up to marriage. Now I'm sure you're thinking, when you're married to such a perfect guy like Wayne, why on earth would you have to read books on marriage? Of course I totally agree with you and Wayne is quite wonderful. And I'm grateful to be able to say that our marriage has improved through these long 12 years of wedded bliss. However, the beginning had quite a few rocky moments I'd like to forget about but they also made us stronger. And like any good relationship, we have to work at it. So the following books have helped me/us in some way.

The 5 Love Languages - Gary Chapman - we read this together years ago and even went through the study guide in the back. I'm thankful he was willing to do this because we really learned alot about each other that even now we still reap the benefits from.

Creative Counterpart - Linda Dillow - this one I could probably stand to read again but I remember it giving me some clarity back in the early days of parenthood when I was trying to balance God, husband, child, home, church, self, etc.

The Power of a Praying Wife - Stormie OMaritian - while I didn't always agree with her Biblical beliefs on prayer, I certainly appreciated it opening my eyes to what I could be praying for in the key areas of his life. I like to think of myself as my husband's personal "prayer warrior":)

Fearlessly Feminine - Jani Ortlund - not just about marriage but God's plan for womanhood in general. A book I studied on the phone with my Mom (I have a good phone plan)

The following books are homemaking and stay-at-home mom encourgement -

The Hidden Art of Homemaking - Edith Schaeffer - a classic!! Written by the widow of the late Christian philosopher Francis Schaeffer. The back cover says "I would define 'hidden art' as the art found in the ordinary areas of everyday life. Each person has, I believe, some talent which is unfulfilled in some hidden area of his being - a talent which could be expressed and developed."

The Stay at Home Mom - Donna Otto

Celebrate Home - Angie Peters

Every book I've read by Sally Clarkson -

The Mom Walk

Seasons of a Mother's Heart - my personal favorite (I think)

The Mission of Motherhood

The Ministry of Motherhood

This author is a mentor to me. She also has the benefit of perspective as her children are getting to the age of moving out but all these thoughts and experiences are still fresh in her mind.

And now we get to parenting. I have a read many, many, many books hoping to find the "right way" to parent. Guess what I've discovered? There's no such thing. No matter what I do it will be by the grace of God these kids survive in one piece and end up on the "other side" with me for eternity. I pray alot. Having said that, there have been some insights into parenting that I have found helpful through various resources and here are some of them.

What to Expect the First Year - has to be my first parenting book. Gave me something to go by and some expectation of what is "normal" (whatever that is)

Bringing up Boys - Dobson - because now that I had a boy what was I going to do with him?

The New Dare to Discipline - Dobson - good advise

My favorite books when the kids were really little were the books my Mom gave to me from when I was little - so from the 70's. This read with the assumption that the Mom stayed at home, Dad worked and things were pretty "traditional". This was good for me because so were we! I especially loved the pictures depicting what a day in the life of an infant, 1 year old, 2 year old, etc could look like. Hey, I needed all the help I could get. Yes, some of the info was outdated but I referred to these often.

Boundaries for Kids - Cloud and Townsend - very good. They also have more "Boundaries" books available for all ages in case you have an issue - ha! Really useful read with good examples.

The 5 Love Languages of Children - Chapman and Campbell - yes, they have one for parents too. Another good read. While I may feel I'm showing love to my children in a certain way they may not be getting their needs met. Interesting.

Loving Our Kids on Purpose - Danny Silk - has changed our parenting 10fold. I'm not kidding. A friend passed the CD's on to us as her copyright allowed the sharing of it to 10 friends. Wayne and I downloaded it to our iPod. Parenting works best when we're on the same page! This guy is great to listen to and his ideas work. Bottom line. It's hard to implement sometimes because it is different in many ways from what we were doing before and how we were raised so it's good for me to listen to again every so often. Highly recommended.

Parenting with Love and Logic - Cline and Fay - I am currently reading. This book is actually what inspired the previous book mentioned so the ideas are similar.

Gotta go - speaking of parenting, my daughter is throwing a hissy fit.

Happy Mother's Day, Birthday, Ascension

May is Will's birthday month. He turned 10!!! I can't believe it. My parent's came for the occasion. In past years, my mom has helped me plan, prep and carry out some sort of themed birthday fest for Will and friends. But this year was different. He had the choice of party or more expensive LEGO than he normally gets and as you can see from the picture - he wholeheartedly chose the LEGO. Whatever floats your boat, son. He also wanted a DQ cake so I was even off the hook for baking. Mom and I kept looking at each other on the days leading up to the big day thinking that we should be doing something to prepare. Other than wrapping gifts, making the requested beef enchilladas and his choice of breakfast (breakfast sandwhiches, BTW) that was all that was asked of me! Will had a great day and had completed the LEGO by morning (he took a sleeping break).
Ten days ago on Thursday we celebrated Ascension - the time in the church year when Jesus returned to heaven to prepare a place for believers in Christ. We celebrated by having a picnic outside (you can see in the picture my children eating their hotdogs and contemplating their great commission :) For dessert we had strawberries on a cloud - otherwise known as Cool Whip.

And finally, we celebrated Mother's Day - albeit a bit late but better late than never. Last fall, Mom and I had gone to the movies to see "Julie and Julia". I got her the DVD for her birthday in April and so for Mother's Day I took her to Le Cordon Bleu for a three course lunch. Yes, this is the same renowned culinary arts cooking school known so well in France and all over the world. It is the only one in North American. And it was fantastic!! What a treat - when can I go again?

Out of Town and Mother's Day

We'd been looking forward to a change of scenery for a long time. Last week we accompanied Wayne to Syracuse, NY for a Pastor's Conference. We went a day early and stayed at a resort with an indoor water park. It was lots of fun and the kids had a blast!
After our family getaway, we checked into the hotel that the other pastors were staying at (funny, no water park there!) and while Wayne was in meetings, I dragged the kids shopping. I had been having a "Target twitch" for months so one of our stops was to roam up and down the aisles of this wonderful place. We also (uh, I also) enjoyed going to the outlet mall and stocking up on the clothing deals for the kids. We don't have much for outlet malls here and it amazes me how cheap you can find things there. Let's just say the visit was a success and we'll leave it at that!
It's funny, the longer I'm gone from the States the more foreign it seems to me. This time we were especially struck my how difficult it was to eat well in restaurants. I even tried ordering a cobb salad and had trouble finding the lettuce that was hiding under 3 different types of meat and processed cheese. Our family usually just drinks water with most meals but most places made it more expensive to drink tap water and tried luring us with cheaper prices by ordering a value meal with a gigantic pop. As much as we complain about how green and healthy it is here (sometimes seems to be in the extreme) I guess it's rubbing off on us and now it seems weird not to have a separate path for bike's, bring your own bags to the grocery store and fill up that annoying green bin that's sure to stink up the joint come mid August. Anyway, when we came home I made a massive stir-fry loaded with veggies and made some whole wheat bread!

Mother's Day was lovely - how blessed I am to be called Mother! I received several homemade gifts made in cooking class and Sunday school. I also received a charm for my Pandora charm bracelet. I was treated to a Tim Horton's breakfast in the morning before my Pastor husband rushed out the door. What more could I ask for?

It's not just about me?! and children's fun fiction

Growing up, I had altogether too much American history so much so that I was unaware of the rest of the world. Part of this was due to the fact that we kept moving around and I would just miss geography. Don't get me wrong, I knew my states and capitals like the back of my hand. I studied my community and the state I lived in. I even went so far as to do a state report on another state I had never even been to! (how's that for exotic) But the bigger issue was that it just wasn't a priority in the curriculum. My family used to tease me about my lack of geographical knowledge. I didn't know if Europe was a country or a continent. Seriously.

As I entered adulthood with such a gaping whole in my learning , I suddenly found myself married to a man from another country. Then I found myself moving to this strange country north of the border that growing up I would cheer for in the Olympics if the US team wasn't doing so well. Yikes. I was really ignorant.

I am determined not to less this happen to my children. I want them to see the world God created - not just focus on a little corner. I want them to be exposed to other cultures, foods and religion in an environment where we can talk, learn and pray for people we may never meet. I want to them to see people that look and sound different from us as souls Christ came to save. And so I journey with my children all over the world (including North America!) through books.

Window on the World - a look at 92 unevangelized countries and peoples of the world. Included color photos, a story, interesting facts, maps and suggested prayers

What the World Eats - 25 families, 21 countries, 525 meals - photos taken of what families in various parts of the world eat in a week, how much it costs, where it comes from, challenges and stories. Amazing.

Material World - same idea as above except the homes people live in representing 30 countries

American Indian Prayer Guide - Historical and contemporary stories on the indigenous people of North, South, and Central America

Gladys Aylward:the adventure of a lifetime and And the Word Came with Power were biographies I read aloud

Same kind of Different as me - for adults; I recently read this and it moved me very much. It's a true story of two men - a modern day slave from the southern US and a rich Texan art dealer. Read with a box of kleenex. highly recommended!

Now onto Children's fun fiction

There is so much I don't think I could even put a dent in it. I will mention up front here that there's a lot of "twaddle" out there for children. By that I mean, well, crap. Dumbed down, abridged, poor quality, no substance, weak story line, underdeveloped characters. It doesn't have to be like this! Because there's also endearing characters we fall in love with, beautiful story lines, rich vocabulary - whole, living books. These are the ones we cherish the most and line our own bookshelves (which I beginning to think I need to get more of).

A great reference for me in finding all the good stuff is a book (of course) "Books Children Love - a guide to the best children's literature". Divided into genres, ages, reading levels, etc. Very helpful. Personal favorites for our family

Beatrix Potter - the complete tales

The complete Winnie the pooh

James Herriot's treasury for children

The Little House series

Virginia Lee Burton stories - great for boys!

Holly Hobbie books (toot and puddle)

Robert McCloskey books - Boston anyone?!!

C.S. Lewis - Narnia series

Charlotte's Web (Will: why are you crying mommy?)

The Secret World of Og (Will never laughed so hard!)

The Railway Children

The Boxcar Children

Ginger Pye

Jan Brett books

Johnny Tremain

Yes, I could go on but I think you get the idea. When we first made the decision not to put Will in junior kindergarten, I had no idea what our plan was. But the one thing I kept hearing and reading was to read, read, read with you kids. I figured that I could do and it would buy me some time. Even now that Will can read on his own, it does not replace the read aloud time we have snuggling on the couch or up in the play structure. He doesn't have to concentrate so much on reading and can enjoy hearing the story read to him as he's introduced to vocabulary and ideas above his reading level. And it's just plain fun! Yep, I'm definitely going to need more bookshelves!

Books, books and more books!

Hi, my name is Rachel and I am addicted to books.

There, I said it.

The kids and I were at the area bookstore last night (you know the one with the coffee shop conveniently attached?) and I felt downright giddy being surrounded by so many good reads. Granted, I was stuck in the kids' section but I still get excited. I think the written word is amazing - it transcends time, culture, language; communicates stories, lives, thoughts, ideas. It must be amazing for the Lord himself to choose this medium to carry His very words In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 WOW! Out of all the languages of all the world at all times he specifically choose Hebrew and Greek as the original languages of His written word for good reasons. Those that study these languages are amazed at how specific and precise these are. IE - our English language has one lousy word for "love". So I love my husband and children and I also "love" my Dairy Queen blizzard? Crazy but true in different ways. Deuteronomy goes on to say Fix these words of mine in you hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Deut 11:18. Matthew says that His words will NEVER pass away. His words have the power to change hearts and minds and to strengthen our very faith!

So as you can probably figure out, the Bible (love my Concordia self-study NIV)is my regular read and one I read to my children most often.

So when I'm not reading the Bible I like to read books about the Bible - people mentioned, specific doctrines, commentaries, history. Usually published by Northwestern Publishing House and sometimes by Concordia Publishing. My favorites worth noting would include the People's Bible series on the books of the Bible and teachings. I think it's interesting to read a Lutheran looks at series on other denominations, their history and teachings and how it differs from what we believe. I've read "The Fire and the Staff" twice now to see clearly how our doctrine affects our worship practices and how a change in worship practices can change doctrine (scary if not Biblical based). I LOVED the "Spirituality of the Cross" by Vieth and have highlighted the heck out of that one. "The Theology of the Cross" was one heavy read and I caught about half of it if I were to be honest. But the part that I got was amazing and I'll probably pick it back up in the future to attempt the other half! Awhile back I read "Connecting Sinai to Calvary - A guide to the Old Testament" by Jeske. Really helped me with the connection between the Hebrew lifestyle and my Savior. "Gospel Motivation - more than Jesus died for my sins" by Koester is a good one too. I'm currently reading the classic "Orthodoxy" by G.K. Chesterton.

Hang with me - I'm going to have to do this in several different posts by genres or I'll confuse myself.

Next genre would be the spiritual growth of my children. After all, as their mother my mission field starts in the home. Jesus commanded me and all believers to "GO and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." Matthew 28:19, 20. Since their baptism as babies we've continued to nurture their spiritual growth through the means of grace - the Gospel in Word and Sacrament. Over the years as they grow developmentally we've adjusted the age appropriate levels that we do this but we try not to "dumb it down" too much. I think children retain and understand far more than we give them credit for. Abridged versions of Bible stories worked well early on. We mainly used the NPH Sunday School materials here at home and we could do two lessons over 4 days with a hymn study on Friday. BTW - the hymns in our hymnal are sooooooooooo good in their content. It's not about the "catchy" tune always but the spiritual truths and teachings that are taught through song. Even as babies, toddlers and preschoolers we've used the "Little Visits" devotions from NPH. Now with Will we are in our 2nd year with the Concordia Sunday School program and LOVE it! There's so much content that it takes us almost all week (at least 3 days anyway) to cover it all. It also follows the church year which I love because it ties it in to what is happening on Sunday - don't you just LOVE Good Shepherd Sunday?!!!!! We got to do it all week!! And on Fridays Daddy teaches the catechism (love the well-used pages of my blue Luther's Catechism). And no more abridged Bible stories - we got rid of that as soon as we could. Will received his first personal Bible a year and a half ago at Christmas with larger print that's easier to read. He also memorizes alot.

Stay tuned for more diverse genres (if anyone out there cares, because really I'm having a blast reminiscing about my books)!!!