Charoset, Sewing Lessons, and Girls Night out fun...

It's been a very busy couple of weeks and I am finally starting to feel some semblance of a school schedule. If there's anything I've learned (should say learning) in homeschooling my kids, it's that making myself a slave to some rigid schedule can defeat the purpose entirely. I'm slowly learning to make it my servant and not the other way around. And after all, God is sovereignly orchestrating each little and big event of each day anyway. His plan always turns out so beautifully different than I had imagined it.

The past couple weeks we've been finishing up The Age of the Crusades and the Scattering of the Jews in our Story of the World history book. One day we made Ashkenazi Jewish Charoset . It's a sweet sticky concoction made of apples, walnuts, cinnamon, honey, and sweet wine. The Jewish people eat it as part of Passover meal and it represents the mortar the slaves used between the bricks.


Owen is crushing walnuts. Many of his favorite things went into that bowl so it was ohhhh so difficult to wait until Daddy got home to share it!


Daddy read from the book of Esther that night for our family worship while we feasted. I couldn't help but sneak this little video of Owen while Daddy was praying. He had just shoved in that first bit when he realized Daddy was praying. He knew what the right thing to do was, so...while he watched his big sister shoveling crumbs of matzo and bits of apple in her mouth like a starving maniac, (not to mention his Mother filming the whole thing) he just sat there...chubby hands folded....as reverent as a two year old could...until the final "Amen."

Sewing Lessons! Our friend Juliet McKenzie came to give Gemma a first sewing lesson. Gemma was SO thrilled (as were a few other onlookers).The lovely Juliets
You know how you form opinions of names often early in life and based on people you've known with those names? Well I had never actually known a Juliet and while I thought the name was rather lovely, it hadn't donned on me yet. While pregnant with my number seven and hoping for a girl, I met my friend Juliet McKenzie and that name suddenly began to exude everything sweet, petite, good and lovely- with a bubbly joy, deep love for the Lord, and just the right dose of fiesty! So thankyou (big) Juliet for making the name so beautiful I couldn't resist it, for being an inspiration to me, and truly one of the most fruitful women I know.

Cheap toys Mothers just a little reminder here: Before you throw out the Costco boxes, you might want to consider the fact that it very well could buy you a good hour or two of peace and quiet. (Well...other than all the GIGGLING!) This is my Baby Gang in their "leetle car". Juliet thought she was SO BIG!As a matter of fact...she thinks she is quite big. Every 8 minutes or so around our house, you are likely to here a "thud" and then a loud wail. I haven't had such a climber on my hands since Silas. It was not uncommon to find him as a one year old, in nothing but his skivvies, on top of the fridge hunched over some stolen morsel like Gollum.
Essie decided to teach her how to unload the dishwasher.

Sometimes it's just hard to tell who's having more fun.Essie showing off her handmade apron from Gemma "I'm jiss like you know Gemma!"
And Gemma was more than happy to teach Hannah her new tricks.
Elijah and Silas posing with their cool "Richard the Lionheart" shields and their even cooler "Uncle Richie the Loveable" swords! This is us coloring our maps. The kids LOVE maps! I really absolutely love being able to tie in our history, literature, geography, science and even cooking and sewing in such a fun way.
Essie (4 yrs.) absolutely loves her maps. This day she underlined Jerusalem in red, and then drew purple arrows to illustrate the Diaspora (the scattering of the Jews). She said "Oh hey! Wait a minute...these guys are goin the other way than da Coosades?! Hmmm...dat's weeerd?" I've always just let her color and wouldn't think of not letting her join along with the big kids, but she never ceases to amaze me with what she really does learn. And yes, a few days ago we had colored a Crusades map very similar with arrows going the opposite way into Jerusalem!
Hannah is becoming such a good reader that no one wants to miss out on the stories!
Juliet's biggest dilemma in life is just the long crawl from Hannah to Gemma....to Hannah...back to Gemma.....Oh Hi Mom! Gemma's got everything under control. You can...go.......now
Lucy and Ethel~ It was my dear "Miss" Marjie's birthday and we went out to dinner and celebrated her friendship. This is me force feeding her birthday candy at Starbucks.

Can anyone say most E-L-I-G-I-B-L-E - B-A-C-H-E-L-O-R-E-T-T-E - E-V-E-RRRR!

Rene, April (& baby grub) and Marjie. Thanks again girls. What a fun night!