Silas - Not your average Joe

I wrote this when I couldn't sleep early the morning of Silas' birthday.
 
     In a few short hours, my firstborn son will be waking up and we will be celebrating his seventh birthday here in Branson, Missouri. Silver Dollar City is his very favorite place. He loves the shows, the shops, the rides, and the demonstrations. Seven. This is huge to him, by the way. Silas seems to think this is the year of all years. He thinks now that he will be seven that many new doors have opened for him, that many things will change. We'll see, I guess. Anyway, today, a post for Silas...

     The best words to describe Silas would be old soul. If he could sip coffee in a donut shop at six in the morning while swapping stories from days of old with a bunch of old men, he'd be in paradise. Here's a photo that definitely depicts that.

 
     One thing that Matt and I admire about Silas is that he is very confident in who he is. He has a mind of his own, and is not swayed by his peers. He likes what he likes, and while caring about others, he doesn't care what others think he should think or do.
     What does he like? I'm glad you asked. Well, he likes fishing, and it's something he talks about constantly. He has a tackle box for bass fishing and one for trout, and now wants some for cat and crappie fishing. He "studies" effective fishing strategies, and he knows all the parts of a fish and can recognize many different types. He wants to be a professional fisherman when he grows up, and have several boats in different colors.

      He wants to be a "picker" when he grows up too. Ha! He loves all kinds of stuff (even things we call junk), so this isn't surprising. How many seven year olds do you know that aspire to be a picker? Of course, he also wants to be a missionary and witness to pirates. When I told him that sounded dangerous since pirates are mean, he responded, "Well, that's why it's so important that I tell them about Jesus. They need a savior." Can't argue with that!

     Silas likes tools and building things. We get him a lot of little kits from Lowe's that he can build, but he also likes to invent things of his own. He loves to help his dad build things and do outside projects too. Here is a picture of him with his real tools he got for Christmas last year.

 He really likes to shoot his BB gun and he's pretty good. This is a picture of his reaction when he got it last year. He was not expecting it!

 

He loves to try new foods and has pretty sophisticated taste.
                                   

     Silas likes to cook, especially his own recipes.This is a love he also shares with his dad, although  I have to say that I like his dad's inventions better. Here's my little cook.

 That's true when talking about food anyway. But Silas has pretty good inventions for other things. His wheels are ALWAYS turning! This is what he came up with for fall festival one year. His dad helped him make it a reality. Yep, he's a wall!

  

 

     He REALLY likes soccer and has a real talent for it! And he can run extremely fast.

 

      My little guy has just recently started drawing quite a bit. Here is the first real picture he ever drew.

 

 He likes Rescue Heroes and old shows like Andy Griffith and I Love Lucy. Facing the Giants is currently his favorite movie. He likes musicals a lot (Annie Get Your Gun, Sound of Music, Yankee Doodle etc.). We all do around here. He really likes shows on how to rebuild cars, but since we only use our TV to watch videos, he can only do that when we are visiting a hotel. So every time we go out of town, that's what he expects to watch.  He collects bugs, rocks, seashells, seeds, leaves, and clothes hanger sizing tabs (a weird one, I know).
     Silas has also met the girl he says he wants to marry. He's known for a few years now. He wants seventeen kids too. I hope he's cleared that with her! He's looking at land (not wanting to pay too much, you know), and has a running list of features he wants for his home. Good grief! Here is Silas and sweet little Emily.

Then

And Now

     He loves to learn everything about anything. He has such a passion for learning.That is with the exception of reading, but that is because it is difficult for him. He is making huge improvements though, and when he gets really good at it, I know he will love it because that is a tool he will be able to use to learn even more. I feel so blessed that he is a lover of learning. Here he is at a family field trip to the Museum of Discovery.

     Most importantly, though, my Silas is a lover of God. For this, I am the most grateful. He loves to sing about the Lord and to the Lord. Silas cares about what God thinks of his decisions and what God wants for his life. He is a prayer warrior. Silas prays often about everything. I am just so blessed. Here is a picture of him at a restaurant on our way to the beach. I was handing out food to my other kiddos and turned to see this. Silas saying the blessing before their breakfast.

Well, that's Silas. We are so proud of him and the person he is becoming! I pray that Matt and I will raise him up in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, and that he will grow be exactly who the Lord desires for him to be.


   

Hold the pickles. Hold the Lettuce. Hold the Bag Out of the Window?

I wrote this while I was pregnant and never posted it. I guess I thought it sounded grouchy and didn't want people to think I was just being hormonal. Now that my newest little guy is six weeks old, I am still probably hormonal, but have decided to post it anyway. So here it is. Please don't feel that I'm always a grouch.

  It is no secret that customer service these days is not what it was just a decade ago. While many can shrug their shoulders and go on, I find this very difficult. Now, before I go any further, I will say that when I'm pregnant, I am way less tolerant. Pregnant or not, though, I still think this is a huge problem. I know that there are some exceptional people in every business place, but I shouldn't have to hope that a certain person is working on the day I need to visit that business.
     You may remember the commercials. I remember one where employees of a major retailer were making themselves available around the store asking people if they needed assistance. "Can I help you find anything?" "How are you today?" I remember going to that store as a young child and finding that to be true. Everywhere we turned someone would ask if they could help us with anything. Now I can go to that same store and have to search half the store before I find an employee, then chase them across the next half of the store to get their attention. Then when I ask them to help me find something, they act inconvenienced. Instead of taking me there, they point me in the general direction. If I do want someone to go out of their way to help me, I have to go in a store where employees get commission. People apparently are only courteous if their paycheck depends on it. I feel like one's paycheck should depend on it, commission or not.
     When I drive through a fast food restaurant (with the exception of one), the people taking my order are often rude and have forgotten all manners. Then many times when I drive up, I can go through one and even two windows without even having a word spoken to me. As a matter of fact, at two different restaurants, before I've even pulled up to the second window, I've seen someone dangling my food outside. I wouldn't even have to stop! Heaven forbid I ask for condiments!!
     This is a big deal. You never know what the person you are being rude to is going through. One day, several years back, I'd just been to the doctor and found out my baby no longer had a heartbeat. Later that day, I had to run inside a local drug store to pick up a few small items, and the cashier was on his cell phone the whole time. I couldn't even ask him a question, though I'd attempted to several times. I still remember that after all these years. He didn't know what I was going through. But by paying attention to me and helping me with my question and treating me like I was a somebody, he might not have sent me out of the store bawling.
     Anyhow, I would be happy to see people skills being taught as a part of the training process after being hired on somewhere (because apparently they weren't taught at home). I really wish that employers would take extra efforts in their hiring process, and try to hire kind and courteous people.
    
    
  

What's In A Name

    Our Bible Curriculum this year covers all of the names for Jesus and their meanings. So during the first week of school, the parents were to write a letter about why we chose our child's name. I decided to do this for my two oldest, and will do this for the other little ones when they get older. Choosing a name is a huge deal to me, so I thought this was a great idea and wanted to make it into something extra special. I found a really cool website, and ordered the boys bracelets with their names and Bible verses engraved on them. The Bible verses went along with their names as I explained in their letters.
     On the day we presented the boys with their letters and bracelets, they were very excited. We did it on a Sunday morning, and they got to wear their bracelets to church.


     Here is Silas' letter.

Here is Camden's letter.

Here are their bracelets.

 This was a really good activity suggested by My Father's World, because it set the stage for the year. It helped the boys to understand how important they are as individuals to God and to us. It also helps them to see that all of the names Jesus is called by have special meanings that show us who He is and what He is able to do.



School's Out For The Summer.....NOT!!!

     Right around the time school was out, I brought home Silas' curriculum for the next school year. This is the second year now that you would have thought it was Christmas in our house when I brought it in! Silas looked all through the box, and had me read the back of all of our read aloud books for the year. Then out came the question that I'd started to guess was coming.
     "Mom, can we start school tomorrow?" I explained that we had just finished and needed a break. He looked so pitiful. I then started thinking that with a new baby coming it may not be a bad idea. If I needed to take some time off, I wouldn't get too far off schedule. Plus, why not do school while he's enthusiastic about it and take a break when he's not? So, two weeks later, we started school. Of course, with summer camps, trips, and VBS we only got in a few scattered weeks. That's summer for you! It just made him more excited about all of it. Now we are back into the groove of our regular school year. At least until baby comes, that is.
     This is my third year of official homeschooling. (I say "official", because don't we all teach our children at home from birth?) Each year, I love it more and more. I am so glad that the Lord led us down this path, even though I sometimes have fears about me failing the kids in some way (that probably needs to be a whole different blog post). But, I am learning and growing in my teaching and confidence. So, I am just as excited, and maybe even more sometimes, each morning when it's time to start! I think that it is important for kids to see their parents' love and enthusiasm for learning. It definitely seems to rub off on mine. Having a curriculum that fits both the parents and children is definitely a must. I am so glad we have found our match. This is the stuff we get to dive into this year. Of course, the language and math are not pictured, but I'm really excited about those as well.

I Spy Something New

      As many of you know, my husband and I are expecting again. We always try to announce our pregnancies in a creative way to add to the excitement. So... I asked a friend, who does some awesome things with a camera and a computer, to help us out.  Did she ever deliver! Thanks a million, Jessica!
      Since we already had our first ever family beach trip booked for the end of the summer, I wanted to do something with that. Our family dressed in beach appropriate attire (with a partially deflated beach ball tucked under my shirt), and had Jessica take our picture in front of our fireplace. Then she went home and did her magic, and transported us to the beach. We then showed the picture to family and told them we were toying with the idea of having a picture taken similar to this at  the beach, and wanted to know what they thought.
 Then we posted the picture on Facebook with a similar type comment. The reactions were fun. One friend said she liked it, but might go with a different color scheme. She missed the message I was trying to get across! I appreciated her sincere willingness to help though. Ha! My brother thought it was a picture from another pregnancy, but kept counting until he figured it out. We certainly got some fun reactions. Here's the pic...

I'm hoping to replicate this picture when we are at the beach, but we'll see. I imagine I'll be bigger than this now that I think about it. This is the size I am now. I'll be 30 and 31 weeks while I'm there!

Fabulous 4-H

     A few months back we let Silas join our local 4-H club. It has been wonderful for him! I'd always thought this club was just for children who wanted to show their farm animals at the fair. I discovered that simply wasn't true. You name it, and they probably have it. A child has pick of many topics to explore: photography, forestry, sewing, oral presentations, shooting, cooking, gardening, debate, pet care, bicycle safety, modeling, raising livestock...there are literally hundreds of things included. Silas has done fish identification, bait casting, oral presentations, and is about to begin growing his own pumpkins and watermelons. He's only been in this club for a few months!
     He loves working hard so that he can earn his ribbons. Until you're nine, you only get a participation ribbon. After that, a child can actually place in competitions. Silas hasn't been bothered by it though. He works just as hard as his older club members. I would even venture to say he is more dedicated than some. This club is all about helping and teaching kids to be hardworking, respectful, and responsible adults when they grow up. I believe that this is a solid program, and I highly recommend it. It is not time consuming, and children can prepare and practice everything from home. There is one meeting per month and there are usually a few hours set aside every now and then for the club members to come and present their stuff that they have studied, practiced, or put together.
     Recently, Silas prepared and presented an oral presentation that he had put together on the water cycle. He developed a huge interest in this topic during one of our homeschool units that we were studying. Considering that he is only six years old, and that this was his first presentation, I feel like he did a great job. Shortly afterwards, he was asked to give his presentation again at our county's Cattleman Association dinner/meeting. In the video you can tell that he is extremely nervous (though he handled dropping his visuals well), but he did great. He only forgot to present a couple of...um...minor details. You can hear his grandma and baby sister in the background, but I think you can still hear him....

Oh, and check out that eye contact!



 



Our Calling to Homeschool: How It All Began

     When Silas was almost three, my husband and I started thinking very seriously about where he would go to school. We didn't live in the school district that we wanted to send him to, and moving wouldn't work for us at the time. So, we looked into a private school. I interviewed someone at that school and loved it. I just knew it was right for us. Upon seeing the price tag though, I knew that it was NOT in our budget. Still, I thought this was God's will. So, I knew He would provide a way. We prayed for about two years, but that door never opened.
     Then I decided to homeschool Silas just for preschool. I really enjoyed it! After a while, I started thinking about what it would be like to homeschool all the way through. I had mentioned it to Matt, and he wasn't keen on the idea. He thought it sounded weird. We didn't know anyone who had homeschooled. I began to really pray about it, and by the end of that school year things changed. Matt had seen how much Silas had learned and enjoyed it. Together, after much discussion and research, we decided to give it another year.
     Although the curriculum we had used for Silas was a really strong one, it moved a little too fast for us. Plus, the workload was a bit heavy. So, we went on a search for one that fit our family the best. I wanted one that gave us time to do more than just math and grammar, and still have time for other things in the afternoon. Boy did I find one! 
     At a homeschool conference, a very sweet acquaintance passed by at a booth that I was visiting. She sat down with me for over half an hour and told me about this curriculum that she had used with her children. She showed me through the books and told me of her family's experiences with it. I was sold and will always be thankful that she took the time to tell me how the Lord had blessed her family with this curriculum. The Word of God is woven into every subject, and most everything is hands on. We love that! .
     After using this for a couple of months, we all decided that homeschooling would be permanent in our family. Every single member of the family was getting involved in the projects and experiments. We were all learning so much.
     That was the point everything hit me. I became thankful that we didn't live in our preferred school district. I became thankful that we couldn't afford private school. And I became thankful that God knew the plans he had for us. He had brought us to this point through circumstances that I had viewed as obstacles. I was SO wrong, and I am SO glad that I was.
     I know that God has different plans and gives different convictions to people in all areas: careers, amount of children, which church to attend, what area to serve, etc. What I love is how He says that if we delight in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts. He has changed so many of my desires. I love that! I think about how miserable it would be if God didn't line up my desires to match His. I want to please God in every part of my life. Right now, I see that my place here in our home, with all our little ones, and with us homeschooling them, is right where God wants me. It is His desire for me, and so it is my desire.






And now for some pictures....

This is Camden using M&Ms to do his counting and colors. He loves all of the candy counting books! The Reese's Pieces Counting by Fives book is his favorite.

My boys are making bird feeders while learning about birds. We will go into much more detail on birds next year .

This is Silas doing an experiment on things that mixed with water and stayed together, and things that could be separated again. Plus, he learned the proper terminology. Yes, I know he's not wearing a shirt. We homeschool. We don't have to be properly dressed in our classroom. We'll work on modesty another day. Ha!

Here they are studying electricity. Their good ol' Dad leads most of the experiments! By the way, you see Camden learning right here along Silas. He's learning what he can at his level of cognition. I love this! He feels included. Plus, when it's his turn to learn it, he will be way ahead of the game.

We used frozen corndog bites to work with Camden with his alphabet. Then we baked them and ate them. We can often be found using food to teach or reinforce. Yum!

I'm beyond glad that I get to be a part of all this!