Precious Birthday Treasures

Can I have a "mommy moment" here? My boys each wrote me precious birthday poems that I will cherish for life. I thought I'd share them with you.

I'm so glad he thinks I'm "tidy and neat" cause that's not exactly how I would describe myself. :)

Can there really be anything more dull than a shopping mall to a 6 year old boy? :)

Christmas 2011

I know, I know, it's been a pathetically long time since I've posted. Actually, I've written several times, but haven't posted the results. Most of the times, it just didn't "feel" like the timing was right to post what was spilling from my heart to my fingers on this faithful old laptop. Other times, I'd written, rewritten and then as I hit "publish post" the document was forever lost in cyber-space. Needless to say, I didn't have the heart or the time to start over. So here we are. I do so love to blog, but the phase of life I'm in right now, just doesn't allow for a lot of it. Someday, when my guys are a little bigger and need me a little less in the educational process, I'll be faithfully blogging. Until then, duty call. :)

I hope you all had a marvelous Christmas. We certainly did. Our family and friends spoil us with good gifts that are unnecessary, but certainly appreciated. The Christmas photos and letters are always such a joy to receive as well. This has been my favorite Christmas so far with our boys. While Christmas is always a joy, especially with children, it also affords some pretty intensive training days as a parent. My children did not come into the world thankful, gracious beings. In fact, as "cute" as they were, they were pretty selfish, greedy, and ungrateful. So the last 8 Christmases have been spent in training them to say thank you. Not to open one gift, heave it in a pile and say, "What's next?". To think about the sacrifice someone has made, the hours they have worked and the thoughtfulness they have shown in choosing and then purchasing a gift just for them. We've worked hard to help them experience the joy of giving. The joy of being excited for someone else. You get the picture. So this year was the first year that both of the boys were just thankful, without our prodding. The first year that they both showed as much joy watching the other open a gift as they experienced opening their own gift. The first year that we didn't have to say, but we heard them say things like, "That was so thoughtful of ......to get that for us." It truly is a joy to see your children walk in truth. Don't get me wrong, I know we've got a LONG way to go. Our training years have just begun, but it's nice to sit back occasionally and enjoy the fruit of past efforts before you dive back into the job again.

I will confess there was a little disturbance Christmas day at our house after one particular gift was opened. We now have one Confederate soldier and one Union soldier in our home and never the twain shall meet. Pray for reunification in the Thomas household. :)

One last little tidbit I will leave with you before I rush off to clean my house. I've just recently been exploring the world of Pinterest and I saw an idea that has worked beautifully, well for the last two nights anyway. My dear hubby and I have found ourselves really frustrated with trying to instill in the boys table manners. We feel like most meals we spend saying things like, "Lean over your plate, don't take such big bites, one elbow on the table, don't talk with your mouth full." At the end of a meal we feel as if all we've done is criticize. Well, three days ago on Pinterest I saw an idea I thought worthy of trying. So I went out and bought a pig....a plastic pig that is. We set "Wilber" (terribly original, I know) on the table. If anyone is not using his/her table manners any member of the family is allowed to award that individual the "Wilbur Award". Then the "winner" can watch to see an opportunity to pass the award on to the next "piggy". Whoever has Wilbur at the end of the meal has to clear the table. We have had two evenings with Wilbur as a guest and I will have you know he has yet to be awarded to anyone. It has even been a motivator for Matt and I to be more careful. So Wilbur seems to have brought a solution to our messy mouth issues. Napkins are used, elbows are limited, bites are reasonably sized, and criticism is gone. Wilbur certainly is, SOME PIG!!

New Year's Blessings to you all.

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2011 Fall Recital

Saturday was the boys Fall Recital. I promised grandparents that I'd post the videos, so here is Josiah's:



And Micah's:

Busy Summer

Well, it's been next door to forever since I've posted. Summer is always a busy time, but this one seemed especially busy. It was a good kind of busy mostly, but still busy enough to keep me away from any blogging.

One job I enjoy in the summer is mowing. I mow close to 4 hours a week when the weather is prime for grass growing. While I mow I listen to audio-books, a luxury of which most mothers only dream. I started out the summer listening to A Brave New World, but soon found myself, quite unintentionally, listening to book after book with the French Revolution being a big part of the story. The Scarlet Pimpernel, The Count of Monte Cristo, and now Les Miserables. It only seems like a few books, but the unabridged reading of Monte Cristo alone is over 47 hours of listening. I've so enjoyed all these books. Monte Cristo was fascinating with it's theme of revenge veiled in "righteousness". In the end, however, the lead character realizes that even those who feel they are on a mission from God, must guard against pride. Human beings are subject to error and if they become so self-righteous that they forget they are fallible, they can easily wreak havoc in their world. Of course Les Mis is a story of redemption and self-sacrifice. As Lewis said through Lucy in Narnia, "a good story is a story which reminds her of the forgotten story in the Magician's Book." All "good" stories are the stories that remind us of the great story of Christ and his redemption. Not only have the books I've "read" this summer pointed me to the "Great Story", they also have prepared me for this school year. This year the boys will be studying the 19th Century so I will be thoroughly Napoleoned out before the year is up. :)

We had the joy of hosting some friends this summer as well. Harold, Kayla and their boys came in for a few days while on their deputation. What a blast we all had together. What a joy it was to have a good chat with my dear friend again. Just like old times, with the exception of 6 boys playing in the background. :) Charity and her kiddos also came for a long weekend visit. The kiddos got along splendidly and Charity and I solved the world's problems and laughed quite a bit while we did it. I'm counting on the rest of you to follow Kayla's and Charity's examples and make a visit to the mid-west soon.

We have added another student to our little school this year. She only attends two days a week, but she shows great potential. :) Kenlee is a big hit around here with the boys. I wasn't sure how homeschooling and babysitting would mesh, but with "Little Miss" it's going great. We all enjoy her so much.

That pretty much updates you on our little world. Since I last posted we've lived a lot of life. We've had our share of pain and more than our share of joy. In joy and in sorrow we trust our dear Abba and say to him a clear resounding, "Yes, Daddy!" to all He wills in our lives. I look forward to catching up on all your lives in the next few weeks. What an encouragement reading your blogs is to me.

An Excellent Daddy!

I wanted to dedicate this blog to my good hubby Matt. I knew when I chose to marry Matt that he was a good man of godly character. I knew he would lead our family to Christ, but I had no idea what an amazing daddy he would end up being.

“Why is the sky blue?” I looked in the rear view mirror at the little one strapped in a car seat, the one who asked a million questions that day already. I was about to give the standard answer, “Because God made it that way”, when my husband says, “Well Bub it’s blue because of the earth’s atmosphere.” Then he continued to explain light and color and all things blue. I laughed inwardly. He looked at me when the science lesson was over, “what?” I smiled coyly and said, “Do you think he got that?” He wisely said, “Maybe not, but he will.” That has always been my husband’s approach with our boys. I read Bible story books to the boys, but he pulls out the Bible and they read together and exegete the scriptures. And yes, they do enjoy it. Not so much because they are understanding every word, but because Daddy is amazing. Daddy is on the floor explaining real life stuff to them. Daddy doesn’t have a life of his own and then occasionally joins our world for a few hours before bed, but our world is Daddy’s world and they know it.

As the boys grow older, I am amazed at how much they do understand. Over the years I’ve seen the wisdom of my husband’s approach and now use it myself. You see when you are shaping a little life, there is no down time. Even the common things of life are opportunities to shape their worldview. Is it easy? No. Sometimes we’d rather just say, “Who had it first?” and end the silly spat. But there are much deeper issues in seemingly simple everyday occurrences . Hearts are being molded. One selfishly snatching the toy and the other selfishly demanding to keep it. If we don’t help them to see what the real issues of life are, when will they learn it? Maybe they won’t. Maybe they will be the ones to split the church because someone sat in their pew or maybe they'll just grow up content with not thinking at all, floating through life like an amoeba that simple reacts to what it bumps into.

Teaching them diligently is not a task that comes naturally for most of us human beings. Our flesh wants to be comfortable and getting off the couch at the end of a hard day to answer a lot of questions or deal with disobedience isn’t what comes natural for us. It is a choice that we make with God’s help. For Matt and I it has been and still is a process. We are still learning to choose daily to teach in the moment, but the more we do it the more it becomes as natural as breathing. I thank God for a husband who challenges me to be a better mother and that my boys have a daddy who is willing to be here in body and spirit moment by moment teaching, loving, and pointing us all to Jesus.

Advice for Abigail....and Julia

In a letter to his dear wife, John Adams encourages her to parent their oldest two sons in his absence in this way....

"Take care that they don't go astray. Cultivate their minds, inspire their little hearts, raise their wishes. Fix their attention upon great and glorious objects, root out every little thing, weed out every meanness, make them great and manly. Teach them to scorn injustice, ingratitude, cowardice, and falsehood. Let them revere nothing but religion, morality and liberty."

What a challenge this is for me. It goes far beyond the ideals we as a culture have for our children today. A reckless abandon pursuit of "fun", Sponge Bob, and Grossology are what we offer our young boys. Then we wonder why we end up with "kidadults, as opposed to "great and manly" men. I'm not interested in putting 40 year old heads on my 6 and 8 year old's shoulders, fun is a staple at our house and an occasional game of Super Mario isn't forbidden. However, I think I stand to gain a lot if I reject the commonly accepted standards of our culture for our boys and seek the wisdom of the likes of the original "Adams Family".

Spring Recital 2011

Today was the boys Spring Recital. This was Micah's first recital. He played two songs since the songs were so short. Josiah played Minuet #3.
Hope you enjoy this Papa & Nanny(and Rach). :)



Micah playing Au Claire de la Lune with his teacher.


Micah playing Lightly Row with his teacher.


Josiah playing Minute #3 by Bach

Confessions of a Wimp.

My name is Julia and I am an approval junkie. From as long as I can remember I have liked to be liked. I love waves in the ocean, but not in my life. I will go to great measures to avoid offending people unnecessarily. There I’ve said it. I’m a wimp by nature. Enter public school. Public school can be pretty tough on a girl who looks so completely different from her peers and all the while she’s craving their approval. Now this could be the sad end to my story, but my parents did something right. I have no idea what it was specifically, but no matter how much of an approval junkie I was I had no thought of compromising my values. I wanted approval, but God’s approval seemed to trump that of my peers. Thank God for that. However, I am a pretty creative little creature and so I figured out a way to have the best of both worlds. I was nice. And guess what? If you are nice to people, with only a few exceptions, they don’t really care how you look. And so public school went pretty smoothly for me. I had a few antagonists, but for the most part I was liked. I even won end of the year awards for being “cheery” and “funny” and all kinds of things that made me feel warm and fuzzy.

I was trucking along through life pretty well, but there were a few bumps on my smooth road of being liked. For instance, a few years after college a friend told me that she knew of a few people who “hated” me during college. Imagine my shock and dismay. Who? Me? Hated? Unbearable!! What had a I done? I knew there were a few who seemed a little cold toward me and I promptly ate lunch with them and started my quest of being entered onto their approval lists. She said(and I’ll modify the words here for public consumption), “You were so self absorbed that you didn’t even notice they didn’t like you.” OUCH! The wounds of a friend are faithful. She helped me open my eyes that day. I determined to be more aware of how I affected people, not just so they would like me, but because people matter.

Enter my babies. I didn’t understand the danger of my desire to be liked until one day my kiddos came along. I don’t even remember the specifics of the moment, to be honest I don’t even remember where I was. I just remember somebody wanted me to do or wanted me to let my kiddos go somewhere or do something that in my heart I knew wouldn’t be good for them. I’m not talking danger here folks I just mean, that little part of your brain that kicks in when you know this activity or whatever won’t kill your kid, but it wouldn’t be best. Anyway, the moment came and I felt this incredible pressure to send my kiddo into a situation I didn’t think best. Why, you may ask? Well, I didn’t want to offend the person who was asking. I didn’t want them to think badly of me. All of that went through my brain in a second and with my heart pounding and my stomach churning I smiled kindly and said, “No thanks.” I’m sure I did my dead-level best to smooth it over….that’s what we approval junkies do. But something changed in me that day. I knew that liking to be liked isn’t all bad, but when gaining self approval puts others at risk, well now that gets into the realm of evil. LIGHT BULB MOMENT!!

And so here I am up the road a few years, some time and experience under my belt. I’ve come to the sad conclusion that if you do end up standing up for what is right, some people won’t like you. And guess what? I still hate that feeling. I know it’s just a feeling and trust me I’ve prayed that this thorn in my flesh(being a wimp) would be taken from me. I long to be the kind of person who speaks boldly, one who does the right thing and walks away with shoulders squared and confident step, letting the chips fall where they may. But the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you.” And so I muster all my courage and do what I think is the right thing and limp away with heart pounding, stomach churning knowing full well I won’t sleep that night due to my worrying where the chips are going to fall. I guess my point is, wimp or not I’m accountable to God. Ultimately, it is His approval that I must seek. And whether it’s ever comfortable for me or not, I must love as He loved. That means my love for Julia and approval and all things warm and fuzzy has to be crucified.

Do I go out looking for confrontational situations now? NOPE! Do I seek to be abrasive? Not on your life. I still find myself diplomatically sharing opinions. I read people’s body language like a book to be sure that what is being said is being understood. I like being nice and friendly. I enjoy having lots of friends and knowing they like me too. But I have to keep that all in perspective. And you can just bet if I do or say something that causes waves, that it was done with much thought and prayer and to be honest, an agonizing wrestling match between my flesh and spirit. It’s not easy being a wimp, but by God’s grace I’ll be a wimpy tool in his hands to do with what He wills…no matter how uncomfortable.

Great Family Read Aloud Books!!

Several weeks ago Matt and I attended the Mid-West Homeschool Convention. While we enjoyed the speakers and all the challenging things that we learned, our favorite part of the convention is browsing the vendor hall. After we make all the necessary curriculum purchases we spend hours scouring book shelf after book shelf finding books we want to read, we want our boys to read and books we want to read to our boys. Children are NEVER too old to be read aloud to....in fact, I can just bet you still enjoy hearing a book read aloud.

At convention we ran across a series of books that we thought looked like good books to read aloud as a family. Sadly we only bought one in the series because we wanted to see what they were about before we took the plunge and bought the whole set. Needless to say, half-way through the first book we went to Amazon and ordered the next two books in the series. The author Chuck Black weaves the story of Christ into this allegorical retelling of biblical history from Genesis to Revelations. There are discussion questions in the back for each chapter which make for a wonderful catalysis for conversation. If you use these books as a tool in family devotional times, I guarantee your kids will beg you for just one more chapter.

I just love running across great resources like the Kingdom Series by Chuck Black and I thought I'd pass the word on to you. Enjoy!!