How does your garden grow?

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The children have started themselves a garden. They each have their own little section, which they help dig, plant, water, and weed. They have in their gardens, marigolds, corn, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, and sunflower seeds. This has been a great learning experience for them, and I include it as extracurricular in their homeschooling. Of course I don’t call it schooling with them, they just see it as outside fun, but they are definitely learning whether they realize it or not.

In this first picture, Joshua is holding a worm he found. He has really good eyes for those types of things, I would have never seen it but as he was shoveling the dirt, he stopped. I asked him what was wrong and he said “I found an earthworm!” He had to watch for a few seconds before continuing to dig.

Ruth saw these blossoms on our lemon tree. She also found a bug and wouldn’t go close to the blossom until Joshua removed it. I decided removing insects from plant leaves was a good job for Joshua. Although I think Hannah might like helping him at times.

Hannah and Ruth have a flower garden. The center attraction being “Hannah’s” Roses. Ruth has other items she’s planted so we let Hannah claim the roses. Each morning since we’ve planted them, Hannah has come into the kitchen announcing that another of her roses is big now. We clipped a couple to put in a vase inside. Plants that grow fast are great for younger children.

And last but not least, Jonathan loves to help with digging. He saw everyone else getting to use the shovels. Scott let him have a turn with the smaller sharp shooter shovel. He loves to be like his brother and sisters.

Scott even has his section of the yard for gardening. His garden is a little more practical. He has a box of strawberries, different herbs and spices, some tomatoes, potatoes, squash, and bell pepper. He also has two fig bushes, two blueberry bushes, two pear trees, and a lemon tree. I’m sure there are some others that I’m missing.

As far as my garden grows, I consider my family my garden. Everything I do with and for my children is helping them to grow and mature into well nourished little plants. The more they learn and grow the better fruit they will bare. I love my little garden.
But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
(2 Peter 3:18)

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A Flat Tire…

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I walked out the door to see Scott pulling the jack out from the shed we have behind the house. We were about to go into town but we had a flat tire. I had the camera planning to take some pictures of the kids at the park but we had to go to a tire place. So instead of taking pictures of the kids at the park, I took a picture of Jonathan “helping” change a flat tire.

There are people in this world that would get upset, if this had happened to them. But we see these things that happen to us as opportunities from God. Maybe the people at the tire place needed to meet Scott. Maybe one of the kids could have been hurt at the park. We may never know what all the purposes are, but God knows and he is taking care of us.


They didn’t find the leak in the tire, even after airing it up and testing it with water and soap. Scott thinks that when the air was added to it, it may have closed the leak up for a while. So we may have another flat tire in a few days. Maybe the people at the tire place need another visit.

Life isn’t a card game that things just happen to us by chance. God has a reason for everything. He is so good to take care of us. Knowing this makes life worth living. We know we are here for a purpose. Even a flat tire can’t stop us from fulfilling His purposes.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
(Romans 8:28)

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I Forgot!

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Poor Jonathan had the best surprise look so he gets his picture put on here for my forgetfulness.

The time changed today! Why do they make the time change be on a Saturday night? Thankfully Scott automatically goes to the church about an hour early anyway, but I was late.

I woke up at 8:30 this morning. Scott fixed breakfast while I put some clothes in the dryer to dewrinkle. I sat down to eat a quick bite looking at the clock in the kitchen thinking, “Hey, I actually have time for breakfast this morning.” I don’t always manage to get breakfast Sundays. I usually get myself dressed and find clothes for Jonathan while the kids are eating.

So I’m sitting at the table with a bite of pancake in my mouth, when Scott asks me from the living room, “Why does this clock say 10:00? Was the time change this weekend?”

I panicked, just a little. I hurried the kids to get their shoes on. I still had to get dressed, and I had to get Jonathan dressed. But I made it to church only a half hour late. Which if the time hadn’t changed, means I would have been there about an half hour early. I had actually planned to be at the church 10 minutes early. Everyone was good humored about it, so I didn’t feel too bad. Now, I know that I can get everyone ready for church in just an hour if I have too.

At least we didn’t lose any sleep over the time change.

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)

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Writing for Children

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This picture shows a common sight around our house, the kids reading. I’m so glad that they have finally gotten that joy of reading. The better they read the more they will be able to learn on their own.

Scott and I took our kids to the Keepers of the Faith meeting today. Joshua’s group is actually called the Contenders of the Faith. I went to the girls class and watched them make flower arrangements. Scott got to help the boys make bird houses. Everyone had a lot of fun.

I stayed up late last night working on my assignment for the Institute of Children’s Literature. I was so tired last night that nothing sounded good. I was afraid that I would never get the story to turn out well. Then Scott suggested I get some sleep and work on it some more today.

He was right. I got some sleep and worked on it a little before we left for the Keepers of the Faith meeting. When we got back home, the kids were all wanting to play outside and Scott was working in the garden. I got the story finished! It’s such a good feeling when you finally get it done. Especially when you have someone read it and they react to it, exactly how you expect. Now that my story is finished, I’m going to print it and try it out on my best critics, my young’uns.

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
(1 Corinthians 15:58)

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Dog Ears

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This morning Hannah showed me her doll and told me that it was a boy doll. I told her that I thought it was a girl doll because of her dog ears. Hannah said that it was a boy with dog ears. Which I told her that boys don’t wear dog ears. She then informed me that dogs are boys. I, of course corrected her by telling her that some dogs were girls, too. At that moment I didn’t catch the logic she was actually trying to impart to me.

She told me, “Well, Ms. Lauwa has a horse and it’s a boy, and it has dog ears. Well, actually it has horsey ears, but it looks like doggy ears.”

Then I understood her meaning. Since boy dogs have dog ears, why can’t boy people have dog ears too? I’m not sure how that argument would hold up in a Logic and Argumentation class in Seminary but it works for her. It’s hard to argue with a 3 year old.

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Fun on a Ranch

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Scott and the kids had a good day over at the neighbors’ ranch. They all got to ride Jinglebob. Scott even rode the horse. They all had fun and came home all excited about it. Scott brought me some of the pictures they took. I thought this posed picture of the kids and Scott was cute. They not only rode horses but they helped plant potatoes and cleaned out a horse trailer while they were there. They really had fun.

Jonathan was taking a nap, so I decided to stay home with him and get some work done while he slept.

Below I have a video of Ruth riding JingleBob. She is really getting good at riding. I’m already looking forward to our next visit over there.

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Mother – Daughter Tea

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Today, Ruth and I went to a Mother-Daughter tea. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the skit and the presentation brought by a Mother and her 19 year old daughter. It was so inspiring. The whole theme was that our daughters need to trust God and wait what God has in store for them.

This is a message that I want so badly to get out to the young girls out there. Just like the mother said to us mothers, these girls need to learn to trust God and make the right decisions while they are very young, so that when they reach the age where they must make their own decisions then they will be able to make the right ones.

Another lesson in the skit that I found very good, was that when our daughters do get to be older and teenagers that we need to give them the chance to make their own decisions. We should be there to help them and guide them as best we can but they will have to decide for themselves whether they will follow God or not when they are older. They cannot just go to heaven on our faith in God but they need to trust Him and make the right decisions to follow Him for themselves.

Ruth also got something good from the skit. She said that the girl in the skit made the right decision not to go to the party that the other girls were going to. When I asked her why, she said that there might be bad people at the party and they might do bad things there. If Scott and I keep working with our children, with God’s help I know they will grow up to make the right decisions.

I was so inspired by the whole event, I came home all excited and jabbery. I practically talked Scott’s ear off. At least I didn’t overload him with the details on what everyone was wearing or what all the different tea sets looked like. All I know is that I feel more than ever that I need to get serious about my writing.

I want so badly to have an influence on children, not just my children but all children. I want to help them while they are young and before they make life-changing decisions. The decisions these kids make in their youth can affect their lives for the good or the bad. They need to be reached before they take the wrong path. It’s so much harder to take the right path after going down the wrong one. If these children can be directed down the right path before they get off it, they can live a life led by God and walk forever in His care. They will be ready for the good things that God has in store for them.

I’m not very good at speaking, however, I love to write. I believe the way the Lord would have me reach out to young people and to help them is through the words I write on paper. David said in Psalm 45:1 “…My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” For me, my pen is the tongue of a ready speaker. Take my pen, Lord, I’ll write for You.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)

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Nobody Knows Noses?

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Yesterday, Jonathan learned a new game. We ask him, “Where’s Ruth’s nose?” and he will go over to Ruth and point to her nose. Then we ask him, “Where’s Joshua’s nose?” and he will point to Joshua’s nose. Then after being asked he will point to Hannah’s nose, my nose, Daddy’s nose. He will even point to his nose.

This would be a more age appropriate lesson for Ruth to teach Jonathan, instead of trying to get him to learn his numbers. I’m looking forward to him saying, “Nose” when we ask him. Right now he is just content to point.

He did say, “Mama,” for Banana yesterday. The “a” is the short sound not the normal sound you would use for mama. So he is beginning to say some real words.

I got in an order of new math books yesterday, that I am very excited about. They are called “Practical Mathmatics” by Strayer-Upton. It is a Three book series covering 3rd through 8th grade. Now when I say 8th grade this is back in the days when you learned a lot by the time you were in the 8th grade. This set of books were first copyrighted in 1928. These are wonderful text books to have and I will be able to reuse them with Hannah and Jonathan. I only ordered one set for Joshua and Ruth to share, but I plan on buying another set. They are that good. They don’t have a lot of fancy bells and whistles. They are simply practical, which I like. I plan to start them from the first book on Monday. If you are homeschooling or know someone who is, these are an excellent set to look into.

This is the website where I ordered the Math books.
http://www.keepersofthefaith.com/Catalog/Math_Books_73.asp

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Tea for Two…

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It’s amazing how well our children are able to play together. This picture shows Ruth and Jonathan having pretend tea together. They just turned to smile at me while I took their picture but I had gotten this second picture as well showing Jonathan actually pouring the tea into Ruth’s cup. It was so cute to watch.

Ruth has been doing a good job helping with Jonathan. Jonathan has been wanting to have a “lesson” also, while Hannah is learning. So Ruth has taken it upon herself to teach Jonathan his numbers.

Joshua and Hannah are doing well with their lessons. Hannah has learned the letter F today. She has been really bragging to everyone about how Joshua is her teacher. She considers it a really special honor that he teaches her. Kind of like she has her own private tutor, that no one else has. It is really sweet and I praise him for how well he works with her.

The only problem Hannah has now is telling Ruth that she’s not her teacher. So I explained to Hannah that Ruth is Joshua’s assistant. She can teach Hannah things too. There seems to be a misunderstanding with Hannah as to who a teacher is. I’ve tried to explain to her that anyone that knows something more than someone else can teach what they know. I think she thinks you have to be big to be a teacher. Little does she know how much she teaches Jonathan.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
(Proverbs 22:6)

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Shave and a Haircut … 2 Bits!

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I cut Scott’s and the kids hair today. No, I didn’t get two bits for it. But I did think about it. This picture shows them all after their haircuts.

I started with Hannah’s hair. It is hard to get her bangs straight, since she doesn’t sit still very well. I used to try keeping a hair band in her hair and I hoped that she would eventually have her hair long enough to stay behind her ears, but the hair band would get lost and her hair wasn’t staying out of her face at all. So out came the scissors. It’s nice seeing her eyes.

After Hannah’s hair cut, I cute Joshua’s. His is the easiest hair to cut. I just use the razor with a fairly short guide and shave it all over the same length.

Then I cut Scott’s hair. His is the most stressful. He likes his hair a certain way, but he’s not sure what that way is. I know that he doesn’t want it sticking up anywhere. He has very straight hair and it has specific calic spots. Which makes his hair rather difficult to work with. It turned out pretty good though and he seemed pleased with it. He’s definitely pleased with the price, he doesn’t complain nearly as much after I cut his hair, than with someone professional that he has to pay.

After Scott’s hair, I cut Jonathan’s hair. This was his first real haircut. We had tried to cut his hair before while he was asleep but it wasn’t a very good one. This time I took him to the bathroom and stood him in front of the bathroom mirror. I showed him the electric hair shaver that I was going to use. I turned it on for him and let him hold it. I wanted him to get used to the sound and not be afraid of it. Then I turned it off and brushed his hair with the comb of the razor. Then I showed it to him again and turned it on for him again. Once he was used to it, he started playing with some of the combs I had set on the counter top. That was when I started cutting his hair. He didn’t mind at all. I kept talking real cheerfully with him about how pretty his hair looked. I think hearing me praising his haircut and having seen that the razor wasn’t going to hurt him, he wasn’t scared and didn’t mind.

Scott took Ruth with him to a Mission Rally today. I chose to stay home with the younger two kids and Scott gave Joshua and Ruth the choice to stay with me or to go with him. It was going to be a pretty long evening, since Scott was going early to play some music with another man from the church there. I didn’t know what there would be for Hannah and Jonathan to do. They would get bored and 4 hours of trying to keep them out of trouble sounded tiring. Ruth brought her mandolin along. She also brought her book with her in case she got tired of playing and wanted to read. She had a good time.

Our kids are growing up so fast. God has richly blessed me with a wonderful family.

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