Wednesdays with Words (Les Miserables)

I am sharing a portion from  Les Miserables about the difference Cosette made in Valjean's life.

Valjean was teaching her to read and it sometimes occurred to him, as he listened to her spell out the words, that when he had taught himself to read in prison it had been with the idea of putting it to nefarious use. Instead of which, he was passing it on to a child. This brought a singularly gentle smile to his lips, and it led into wide fields of speculations. He had a sense that it was a foreordained, that he was serving the purpose of a Being higher than man. To teach Cosette to read, to help her to be happy, this was becoming the mainspring of his life. He talked to her about her mother and taught her to say her prayers. She called him 'father', never any other name. 

 ________________________

This is a personal opinion, but to be wholly frank we must say that we can see no certainty that Jean Valjean, at the point he had reached when he came to love Cosette, would have been able to continue on the path of virtue without that moral support. He had been confronted by new aspects of the malice of men and the sufferings of society, limited aspects depicting any one side of the truth--the lot of women summed up in Fantine, public authority embodied in Javert. He had been sent back to prison, this time for a good deed. Renewed bitterness had assailed him, disgust and weariness, to the point that even the sacred memory of the bishop was perhaps at moments eclipsed. It must certainly have been reborn later, luminous and triumphant, but at that state it was greatly diminished. Who can be sure the Jean Valjean had not been on the verge of losing heart and giving up the struggle? In loving he recovered his strength. But the truth is that he was no less vulnerable than Cosette. He protected her and she sustained him. Thanks to him she could go forward into life, and thanks to her he could continue virtuous. He was the child's support and she his mainstay. Sublime, unfathomable marvel of the balance of destiny! 

My sufferings in this world may not compare to Valjean's, but I do know that how I react to the situations in my life are being watched by my children and I have to stop and make the choice to react and do the right thing. I personally can't attribute this to the  'balance of destiny', but rather through the 'sublime, unfathomable' ways of God!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Birthday Celebration & Valentine Fun

 

1. Birthday dinner at Famous Dave's. 2. Blowing out the candles. 

3. New Seahawks Superbowl Shirt.  4. Making Valentines. 

5. Chantry's Valentine cards (tutorial here.) 6. Delani's Valentine cards 

(tutorial here.) 7. & 8. Bulletin boards made at co-op. 

9. Daddy got the girls a rose for Valentine's Day.

Monday was Shade's birthday. This was also the first day of life resuming to normal after our big snowstorm. He didn't have the easiest day driving around in the snow with his recycle truck. I needed to send some book orders, but had to travel up to the Portland area to get the books. A little before noon it finally warmed up enough for the snow to start to turn slushy.

I packed up the kids and myself in our little Ford Focus and we headed up to the Portland area. The good thing was we were able to to out to Famous Dave's for Shade's birthday dinner. After dinner I had to sneak off to get his birthday present since the snow had kept me from getting it earlier.

We had a normal week for homeschool, though Monday was shortened a little. The kid's had a Valentine's Party at their co-op and we spent time making Valentine's cards for Chantry and Delani. I found some great tutorial on Pinterest and we had a great time making them. The big kid's didn't do a Valentine's exchange which was okay with them. Chantry and Delani also made cute bulletin boards to hang in their room and it was also how they brought their Valentine's home.

We actually were all home together for Valentine's Day. We bought pizza, had chocolate chip cookie pizza and ice cream. The kid's received books, candy, and a Valentine's Day card especially created for them by mom (who made them at the last minute!). I received some roses and on Monday, Shade and I will go celebrate together.

Besides fighting a chest cold and allergies I think it was a very productive and fun week!

Valentine's Day 2014

I will readily admit that Valentine's Day is one of my favorite holidays after Christmas. For the past 7 years or more I have been making my family handmade Valentine's Day cards. This year was no exception, except I waited until the last minute to make them (come to think of it, that isn't an exception either.) Everyone received their own handmade card, bag of M & M's, and a book (except dad.) Following is a picture of the finished cards and books received:

Delani:

 

Chantry:

 

Destini:

 

Caleb:

 

Shade:

Grandparents:

 

 

All the cards are my own design (sorry, I didn't write down the name and company for the paper), except for Caleb's and Chantry's which I found their printables on Pinterest.

Wednesdays with Words (Les Miserables)

So I felt brave enough to tackle this immense book. It has been a slow beginning, but I am persevering on. I loved this little observation I came across:

A doll is among the most pressing needs as well as the most charming instincts of feminine childhood. To care for it, adorn it, dress and undress it, give it lessons, scold it a little, put it to bed and sing it to sleep, pretend that the object is a living person--all the future of the woman resides in this. Dreaming and murmuring, tendling, cossetting, sewing small garments, the child grows into girlhood, from girlhood into womanhood, from womanhood into wifehood, and the first baby is the successor of the last doll. A little girl without a doll  is nearly as deprived and quite as unnatural as a woman without a child. So Cosette made her sword into a doll.

The Homeschool Mother's Journal - Snow Edition

 

What a week! We have had a crazy week. Schoolwork was worked on, but I don't know how focused anyone was. Here is a quick run down:

1. Super Bowl Sunday and our team, the Seahawks are playing, right? I come in from running a quick errand Sunday and find Caleb dressed in Broncos colors!? He even owns a Seahawks' tie!! Needless to say I told him he could show team spirit and wear his Seahawks' tie to church and I didn't think the Lord would be offended. The Seahawks stomped the Broncos which made from some happy kids.

2. Last Friday morning my husband and flew to Arkansas to preach for a friend and be with him for his special services. On Monday, he called to say that United had cancelled his flight due to weather. They said that they didn't have any more available flights and he would have to wait until Tuesday. I looked at the weather forecast for Tuesday and told him he HAD to get out of there since I didn't think his chances of leaving on Tuesday looked good either.

United kept insisting they didn't have anything until they were asked for a refund of his ticket since a ticket could be bought on Frontier that would have him in Portland by Monday night. Amazingly, United all of sudden found a flight on Delta and so he flew from Little Rock to Detroit and then finally home to Portland. My kids were pretty ecstatic, especially since they thought he might not make it home on Monday.

3. Tuesday I had check the weather forecast which claimed that they was no precipitation in the forecast and conditions were going to dry for the next six hours. Then I walked out the door and saw this:  huge, and I mean huge snowflakes. I should have known then we were going to be in for quite a week since...

4.  by Thursday the snow finally started to fall. It took a while for it to fall on our side of town but by Thursday night it was starting to accumulate. By Friday it was really building up. My husband had to go to work Friday morning and ended up with his recycle truck in the ditch. Then on the way home he said cars were spinning out on all sides of him and said it was only the Lord that kept him safe. Thank you, Jesus! (Shade and Chantry are trying to catch the snowflakes in their mouth.)

5 & 6. The only thing to do now was to stay in the house. I got real domesticated by doing a bunch of sewing and baking an apple pie.

7. Yesterday, Shade, Delani, and Chantry went out and built a snowman (or is that a snowblob, it wasn't good snow for making snowmen). Delani has been in 7th heaven with all this snow.

8 & 9. We measured the snow in our backyard--9 1/2" and you can see from our car that it is pretty deep.
    

Reading Journal: The Sacred Search by Gary Thomas

 

Book Description:

What if you stopped looking for a “soul mate” and started looking for a “sole mate”—someone who will live out with you the great purpose of God? What if dating isn’t about finding “the one” but making a wise choice so you can better serve the One who loves you most? What if God didn’t design relationships to make you happy but to make you holy?

In The Sacred Search, Gary Thomas will transform the way you look at romantic relationships. Whether you are single, dating, or engaged, Gary’s unique perspective on dating will prepare you for a satisfying, spiritually enriching marriage even before you walk down the aisle. As Gary reminds us, a good marriage is not something you find—it’s something you make.

My thoughts:
When I saw the subtitle to The Sacred Search: What If It's Not about Who You Marry, But Why? by Gary Thomas I knew I had to read this book. I am sure we all have had people in our lives that have gotten married and the whole time you are standing there scratching you head trying to figure out what they could be thinking.

Gary Thomas' answers the questions of "Why get married?" with Matthew 6:33--"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (NKJV). He points out that when a husband and wife lives are centered around a commitment to Christ then they are more likely to have a fulfilling marriage.

Throughout the book he address many topics such as:

• Infatuation
• Questions to ask
• Waiting for the right person
• Sexual desire, premarital sex, porn, and more
• Cultural conditioning
• Styles of marriage
• Your spirituality
• Tips for making a marriage
• Compatibility
• Who Would Jesus Date?
• Mercy marriages

This was an insightful read and there were moments that my thinking was challenged at times (in a good way.) I believe one reason why I was drawn to this book is that my own marriage really reflects the message of this book. Through all the good and the bad our commitment to God has been at the center of our marriage.

If you are desiring to get married or are engaged, I highly recommend adding this book to your list and working through study questions which are included at the end of each chapter. I don't think you'll regret it at all. Highly recommended!

The Homeschool Mother's Journal (January 31)

While everyone is experiencing weird weather, here in Oregon we have been immune to it. Even though our temperatures are in the fifties, it has been warm enough that there are things starting to bud and bloom since my eyes, throat, and nose have been letting me know. They say a cold spell is coming and I'll gladly welcome it just so I don't have to suffer with allergies from January-July.

Other than that everything has been pretty normal around here. Here is what has been happening:

1. We started up our Shakespeare reading again. We will be reading through Hamlet.
2. I found all my kids watching Disney's Aladdin during their lunch "break." I had to remind them that school wasn't over yet. It was hard since they were having so much fun.
3. Roasted broccoli--I have wanted to try this for awhile and it was very good. I used frozen broccoli and lined the sheet with parchment paper which helped soak up the liquid.
4. Caleb and Destini attempted their hand at glass etching this week. This is Caleb's project. His jar says "Seahawks."
5. It was game week at co-op. I oversaw the kids playing Pictionary. Caleb and Destini had to draw against each other.
6. While the teens were playing Pictionary, Chantry and Delani were learning about Antarctica and painted snowmen on a glass votive. Delani was especially proud of her votive and made sure we burned the little candle in the jar.
7. Spelling - Somehow we forgot Destini's spelling test last week and had to make up for it this week. The problem was that this week's lesson was review and she had 50 words on her test instead of 25. Between the two tests I had to read 75 words. Reminder to self: Don't forget giving spelling tests!
8. Delani did her own hair and was so proud of herself!
9. Destini helped make these Rolo Pretzel candies and I decorated them in Seahawks colors to show our team spirit.