Dearest Husband

Anna also wrote letters to her future husband.  Since she loves to write, I wasn't surprised  that she had written several letters over the years.  She recently shared a book of letters with me.  The first one she saved is from 2003.  She was 15.  Several  more were written in her book through 2005. 

The first thing I noted was the heading.  Anna wrote her letters to "Dearest Husband".  Being the passionate, romantic she was (and is, still), her many letters were full of hopes of the future, the things she was currently learning and even books she was reading.

Excerpts:

2003 "It's hard to write you and not get excited about someday meeting you face to face.  I know someday you'll read these letters and I just pray that God is preparing you just as He is preparing me. "

2004"....I just have to be careful I'm not getting too anxious for you, but remember to just pray for your safety and purity..."

2005. "In Proverbs 31:12 it says that the wife brings good, not harm all the days of her life.  This means that even before I meet you, I should be honoring you with my emotions and most definately my thougths.  I'm  also learing about the sacrifices and unconditional love of Jesus, and how someday I will be able to pour that love out into our marriage. I pray for you, love.  I  pray patience and strength for your fierce heart."

God already knew.

While Anna was dreaming and writing to her Dearest Husband, he (Cody Light),  was entering the Marine Corps in 2003.  In 2004, when she often mentioned praying for his safety, he was in Iraq.  He was there until May, 2005, while she was praying for his patience and strength.

He came back to Oklahoma City in December, 2008 and visited Lifechurch, Northwest Campus, where Anna is on staff.

2005 "How I think of the day we will meet.  Will I know it is you?  Have I already met you, even now as I write you this letter?

No. She didn't know.   In fact, she called him Caleb for several weeks!

Anna and Cody were married on August, 7, 2009.

Isaiah 64:4  For since the world began,
      no ear has heard,
   and no eye has seen a God like you,
      who works for those who wait for him!

Did you write letters to your husband-to-be?  Share your story.

Gardening with Kids

I went online to the library website and reserved a bunch of books both fiction and non-fiction on kids gardening.  My boys have a lot of experience with gardening, but the books got them even more excited.



We had fun picking the lettuce that is now ready in addition to our swiss chard and spinach.  Lettuce is an easy and fast grower that can be done in pots or in the ground (needs lots of sun) that kids can enjoy watching, picking and eating.





My kids' main interest in the garden is, "What can we eat?"  Currently asparagus is about the only semi-clean vegetable that is producing in our garden.  They chomped down on that and were asking for more!







A few weeks ago my boys planted carrot seeds.  Kaden is checking them out to see if they're ready yet.  Not yet, but soon!  How exciting for them to see that their seeds are growing though.  Most of their friends think carrots come in bags from the store called baby carrots!

Bush beans are another great seed to plant that kids love to pick (and of course, my kids eat them raw in the garden).  Another favorite are pepper or tomato plants that can be bought at nurseries right now.  (Good producers that kids love to pick).  Again all of these things can be planted in pots, in your flower beds, or a small plot you pick in your yard as long as they get sun most of the day.

Kids can also get into digging in the dirt, watering, hoeing and picking weeds.  Gardening is a great education tool and a good way to spend quality time with your kids while producing something to eat for your family!



~Erin

What Do You Think?

Apart from regular school subjects, what things do you think are important to teach your children to prepare them for life?

Or, what things do you wish you had known more about when you became an adult?

Tell us.

Robin

Our Thanksgiving Unit Study

After my last blog done on unit studies I had a few people ask me exactly how I went about planning and carrying out the theme.  In this look at our Thanksgiving unit I will go into a little more detail about how I planned it.



First I picked a theme - hmm . . . Thanksgiving (don't ask me how I decided on that one!)  ;-)  This unit was particularly fun because I had a friend that was doing the same study so we bounced ideas off of each other.



I started with reserving books at the library on that theme.



Next I opened a new folder on my internet "my favorites" menu under "school" and called it  "Thanksgiving".



I typed in several different searches such as, "Thanksgiving crafts, Indian crafts, Thanksgiving activities, Mayflower online games, Thanksgiving songs, Thanksgiving video clips, pilgrim coloring pages, Thanksgiving snacks . . . you get the drift.



I selected activities, crafts and online work that is appropriate for the ages of my boys - and of course things I feel comfortable doing.  (I'm not real artsy so I need easy crafts that have lots of pictures showing me how to do it.)



I remain flexible with each of our school days and don't push too much at once.  If we never end up doing something I had planned that's totally OK!  My main intent on doing things with my kids is to develop a love of learning in them and if they (or myself) aren't having fun, then it's just not worth doing.



Here is how our unit went:



We read books about the Mayflower journey and the first Thanksgiving.



We watched this video clip (thanks Donna!)



We made Indian headdresses and vests

We went on a field trip to the Museum of the Great Plains with our friends

We made a map of the Mayflower and a mini Mayflower

We still plan to make turkey pine cones



And will take these yummy snacks to our Thanksgiving Day Dinner (thanks Donna!)





Hope this gives you some great last-minute ideas to do with your kiddos, or gets you on your way to doing your own unit study.



What Thanksgiving craft do you most remember making when you were a child?







Erin

Learn to Learn

At my job (The Northwest Campus of LifeChurch.tv) I'm known to my co-workers as The Swiss Army Knife. Anytime something needs to get done, whether it's running the video switcher, leading things from stage, riding around on the lift, or simply un-jamming the copy machine, I'm right there in the thick of it.



It's not because I'm super smart, or have several skills in my tool belt. It's simply because I've learned how to learn.



I'm a lover of knowledge. Anytime I get the chance I try to learn something new. Usually if I don't know how to do something, I won't pass it off to someone who does. Instead, my attitude is "I will figure it out."



This attitude has been born out of my years of homeschooling. If I ever got a wrong answer on a test or lesson, I was able to go back and figure out why it was wrong. It was more important for us to understand the work, than to have a great score or grade. It was more important to learn than to pass.



 Have you learned how to learn?







Anna

The B-I-B-L-E

We have a God crisis over here at the Simms' household.  In our nightly prayers my littlest guy (3) has been wanting to pray to Santa as well as God!  Yes, this truly is the season for little ones to be worried that Santa knows everything on their list, but we teach that Santa is pretend in our family.



Somehow in all the madness of our culture with super heroes, fairy tales and imaginations galore it is more and more a challenge to teach our children that God is real.  Unless we are diligent and creative and pray A LOT we are not going to be able to direct our kids to learning about God and His Word with all the distractions of our media-frenzied world.



Reading the Bible is a daily part of our school day.  With a 5 and 3 year old this can be quite interesting though.  We have read Bible stories, memorized a few scriptures with hand motions and all.  We have little devotional books that teach character qualities.  We even reenacted David and Goliath, and as seen below we "put on" the fruits of the spirit.

Talking about God is part of our everyday, but I desire for my kids to really have The Word within them.  These few things listed above only take me so far.



How do you teach your children The Word?  Do you have any advice for a mother with young children that you wish you had done with your children or can you think of things you wish your parents had done with you?



Teaching A-B-C's and 1-2-3's are important, but getting the B-I-B-L-E in them is at the top of my list!







Erin

Staying in Focus

In a devotional this week, I read this statement by Oswald Chambers:



"...sin is not wrong doing, it is wrong being, deliberate and emphatic independence of God."



Now, this may not be any new information for you, but it has been great help in explaining some things to my boys this week, and has brought some renewed clarity in my thinking.



It's not about what we do or don't do; it's about where we stand.



This distinction helps me to know that I don't teach my boys to focus on staying away from pornography, drugs, alcohol, swearing, deceit, sexual promiscuity, etc., although we do talk about those things.



Instead, it reminds me to focus their attention on the connection they have with God.  On the relationship that is severed by sin.  The choice of deliberate independence of God and the resulting consequences.



In the past, I think I directed my kid's focus too much on what not to do, rather than on having a relationship with a loving, living Christ.



I hope this truth will bring the same clarity to your own thoughts!



Make sense?



Do you read "My Utmost for His Highest"?





Robin

Spring Break Trips #3

The next spring break trip we took with Kody and Jacob was to Nashville, Tennessee.

Dirk had discovered the Parthenon on PBS', "This Old House", and really wanted to visit this place. Plus, Kody, our newly developing guitarist was interested in visiting the Gibson factory.

Those interests, combined with the anticipation of seeing some new territory, sent us off for a five day trip.

The first stop was at The Parthenon. This is an exact replica of the actual Parthenon in Athens. It was built for the 1897 Tennessee Exposition (which later became the World’s Fair). The building houses a 42-foot replica of the goddess Athena (outstanding!). This is also the location of the Nashville Art Museum. This was an amazing museum!

The Gibson Factory, (which is in Opry Mills Mall) is the location of Gibson’s handmade mandolins, guitars and banjos. I could have watched these craftsmen for hours. We spent quite a long time here, and Kody came home with a new Epiphone Masterbuilt acoustic electric guitar!

Another visit was to the Gruhn Guitar store, an old store near downtown, which is almost a museum itself. The walls were filled with every type, color and age of guitar. We walked downtown where live music filtered from each small restaurant and bar, and then trekked across the walking bridge spanning the Cumberland River. We drove around the Music City area recognizing the names of many recording studios.

We got another hotel with an indoor pool! Is this Nashville, or what?! A swimming pool shaped like a guitar!

It was a great trip with lots of good memories. The boys still talk of it often.

And yeah…make backup copies of your photo files! I couldn’t find the ones from this trip…(the pool pic was on Kody’s myspace…)
I think they’re on a laptop that crashed about a year ago! Ugh!!

Ever been to Nashville? What did you do and see?

Spring Break Trips #2

The next Spring Break trip we took with Kody and Jacob was to some nearby Civil War battlefields.

For a couple of years, we had read and studied everything we could find on the Civil War. One of our favorite book series was Lee Roddy’s Between Two Flags.

We headed to northern Arkansas and visited two battlefields. The first was Pea Ridge National Military Park in Garfield, and the other was Prairie Grove, in….Prairie Grove! Both these battlefields have good museums with lots of swords and other weapons (which most boys really like!) and lots of areas to explore. Pea Ridge has a driving tour with locations to stop and see the cannons, and authentically dressed tour guides offering answers to questions and plenty of information.

Again, we stayed at a hotel with an indoor pool.

Going to actual locations of the battles made the trip exciting and fun and increased the boys’ interest even more. They were having “school” without even realizing it!

Do you remember an interest you had as a kid? Were you able to experience and learn more about it? Is it still an interest today?

Spring Break Trips #1

As I mentioned on Friday, this week I will share some spring break trips we took in the past few years with our boys (before they got old enough to leave us for mission trips!) Our youngest boys have gotten many more privileges than their older siblings! In fact, they've been known to be called "spoiled". (Hey, having older parents must have some perks!) Taking two kids somewhere is quite a lot easier and less expensive than taking 7! This was the beginning of our semi-educational spring break trips.
===================================
A few years ago, when our youngest boys were 10 and 8, we took a spring break trip all the way to ……Norman, Oklahoma! Our other kids had already married, were working, or were away on mission trips. So, Dirk and I took our youngest to see the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History. We also got a hotel with an indoor swimming pool since the boys love to swim and spent two nights in that faraway place!

Kody and Jacob already knew more about dinosaurs, Smilodons, Pterosaurs and the various eras than I would ever know (or care to know…). Dirk is quite a history fanatic, and absolutely loves museums, and even though this was a trip only to Norman, we built it up and the boys anticipated a great time.

And they weren’t disappointed.

While the Museum of Natural History is decidedly evolutionary in theory, the exhibits are outstanding. (This also presented an opportunity to discuss the differing view-points of many scientists and individuals) Most of the skeletons were discovered in Oklahoma and the museum has great displays of various Oklahoma areas including the birds, animals and plants of those habitats. A hands-on Discovery Room is a favorite with kids.

Besides the museum, we enjoyed eating out, a few Norman parks and some good quality time together all for under $200.

Do you like museums? Do you have some Oklahoma museums to recommend?

Teaching Ideas #3

Addition Through 20

There are a few tricks that are helpful when teaching addition to 20. Here are a few that helped all my children.

*When adding 9’s to a number up to 10, go back one from that number and say “teen”.

Example: 9 + 4 (go back one number --say "three-teen", or 13"

*When adding 8’s to a number up to 10, go back two from that number and say “teen”.

Example: 8 + 6 (go back to 5, go back to 4, say "four-teen", 14)

*Memorize the doubles

*Learn “doubles plus one” (ex. 6 + 7 is the same as 6 + 6 + 1)

Start slow, work on one trick at a time and master it before moving on to another. Soon, your child will have addition up to 20 memorized.

Have any additional tricks for addition through 20?

Teaching Ideas #2

Report Night

A fun thing we did for a few years when the kids were young was to have a weekly “report night”. This was an evening that we looked forward to and prepared for. Each child was responsible to bring a book report, a chart from a science lesson they had learned, a poem they had memorized, or even a skit or song they had rehearsed together.

They were very creative in their ideas. We shared many laughs.

This gave them opportunity to stand alone in front of an “audience” and to also learn respect for the “performer”.

Let me know if you try this, or do something similar in your own family. It is a fun memory!

Teaching Ideas #1

Newspaper School

One year I had the Daily Oklahoman deliver a newspaper for each child in our family every weekday morning. The Oklahoman offered a school-rate and honored that rate for our Meadows Lifeschool. While this project required quite a lot of quick, daily preparation on my part, it was a great learning time for us all.

I would go over the newspaper while the children were doing other activities. Since I was teaching five levels of academics at the time, I would decide what we would read together, and then assign varying projects according to each child’s ability. For the youngest, I might have them circle a certain alphabet “letter of the day” or find all the verbs, nouns, etc.. For others, an editorial, with instructions to look up any words they didn’t understand and tell, in writing, whether they agreed or disagreed with the writer’s point of view.

I remember one of my upper level kids doing a report on Iraq (a country just becoming more news-worthy at that time). We followed the stock market, (with Dirk's help) each child having a small portfolio of his own. We would read the paper for 30-45 minutes, then meet together to share our discoveries.

Some days, I was overwhelmed and the newspapers would remain tightly wrapped in a rubberband. Most days, we enjoyed keeping up with current events and sharing funny or touching stories we would read.

It was a fun time. Maybe I need to try it again with my two boys.

What are some fun teaching activities you do with your children?