Compassion Peru

The boys have a soft spot for South America.  In our journey around the world, they have really been looking forward to this stop.  Why?  Ittiel, their friend and sponsored child through Compassion International lives in Peru.

My husband and I began sponsoring our first child when we were engaged.   He was from Guatemala - a country near and dear to my heart since I had spent part of two summers there.  But when he graduated last year, I really wanted to bring the boys into this process.  So I called Compassion and asked if we could sponsor a boy around their age!  And that is how we 'met' Ittiel!  He is a month older than Xander!  The boys have enjoyed writing and drawing pictures for each other.  In his last letter, Ittiel drew a picture of the two of them playing together! 

I've been inspired by Michelle at Blogging from the Boonies as she writes about ways we can make an impact with the children sponsored thru Compassion.  She has all kinds of ideas on things we can send to them, and tips on how to organize our letters from our sponsored children as well as devise a plan on how to pray for them and strategically write to them.  I must confess that we only wrote our last sponsored child maybe 2 or 3 times a year.  Now our goal is to send Ittiel something once a month.  We are putting our notebook together so we can display his letters as well as keep track of what we are writing him about in order to keep from repeating the same things (another problem I've had in the past).

Keegan is drawing a map for Ittiel!

As we wrapped our time exploring South America and Peru specifically, we sat down and drew some more pictures for him and sent him some fun stickers!

These were our two favorite books:

A Playmate for Puna ~ I picked this up at a used curriculum fair this summer.  I love the artwork in vintage children's books!!!  The boys were enamoured with this story of a Peruvian boy and his llama playmate.  It was a cute 'coming of age' story!  It is amazing how much you can pick up and learn from a story.  Narratives can be a powerful learning tool which is why we spend so much of our day reading and re-reading good books!

Patterns in Peru: An Adventure in Patterning ~ We got in a little bit of math with this one.  The boys loved the story line which included looking for a hidden Incan city using pattern clues.  It was interesting to watch them look for patterns around them and pick up on repeating sequences after reading this book a few times!

And since I can't just leave you all with only two book recommendations, here were some others that were good too!

Carolina's Gift: A Story of Peru ~ beautiful picture book!
The Littlest Llama ~ A delightful read about life in Peru from a llama's perspective!
Love and Roast Chicken: A Trickster Tale from the Andes Mountains ~ Cute tail of a trickster Guinea pig.  I guess it's a good thing the boys didn't realize how easy it would be to get one of these creatures for a pet. 
Discovering El Nino : How Fable and Fact Together Help Explain the Weather ~ I had no idea that the whole El Nino weather patterns had their roots in Peru.  I chose this book because we just had an unusually wet "El Nino" winter last year.  Xander found it interesting, but the two younger boys were bored with the detail.

Rainforest Play

A Lesson in Comparison

As we set sail from Antarctica back up to South America, we went straight for the Amazon rainforest.  Talk about a lesson in comparisons...

After reading about all of the beautiful plants and exciting animals, I decided to try and help the boys get some perspective on how different it is there compared to our desert home.

So we set out to make a wall chart.

The boys liked cutting out one inch sections of blue paper to represent inches of rainfall for our average yearly rainfall chart.

It's always interesting to observe how the kids progress and grow.  This is the first time Keegan has been interested in cutting in straight lines!

Then we set out to place 8 inches of water that our desert home gets on average in a year.  Eight tiny little inches...

Next we glued on some 10 blocks and then individual blue squares to represent the 70-100 inches of rain that the Amazon rainforest averages in a given year.  Talk about stark contrast.

To bring a more balanced perspective in, I think we'll go ahead and add St. Louis average rainfall at approx 38 inches a year which still pales in comparison...

The boys are convinced that a trip to the Amazon is in our future!  The Emerald Green Boas and Sloths are on the top of their 'wish to see' list!

After reading several books about sloths, the boys enjoyed lazily hanging upside down!  While they enjoyed this briefly, they were unable to keep that S.L.O.W. pace for very long. 

Here are links to some of our favorite Rainforest books:

 

We especially enjoyed the pop-up Jungle book that Mima brought for the boys this summer.  Not only did the pop-ups and jungle sounds ignite thier imaginations, it was also cool to compar rainforests in different parts of the world.  We'll definitely be pulling this out again when we get to Asia and Africa!

A Winner and an Award

The winner of the Playsilk Giveaway is comment #23 ~ Stephanie at Caffeinated.

Congrats!!!  I hope you guys enjoy your new silks as much as we do!!!

I also wanted to take the time to acknowledge a blog award given to me by both Olives and Pickles and Little Blossoms!

Little Blossoms is a delightful blog with many wonderful ideas.  I've especially enjoyed her post on weaving frames (beautiful) and her recent post on exploring friction!

Olives and Pickles is full of beautiful crafting ideas, nature play and montessori related activities!  I love the sailing ship her daughter recently made!

The rules for accepting the award:

Rule Number 1: Thank the one's who gave you the gift.  Thanks Little Blossoms and Olives and Pickles.

Rule Number 2: Share seven random things about yourself.

1. I was a total tomboy growing up.
2. I've lost that tomboy touch.  We recently had a Black Widow infestation and I made my husband kill 7 of the 8 that we found.  I even screamed like a girl at one point...
3. I was failing 1st grade and pulled out of school, but went on to graduate summa cum laude from ASU (my 1 credit microbiology lab was my only B). Home education worked for me!
4. I need to be outside or I go crazy.  August is a diffucult month for me because of this.  October through May are AMAZING! 
5. Every time I have to use an egg when I cook, I rearrange the eggs in the crate so it makes an appealing, symmetrical design. When Rich wants to irritate me, he will go in and mess up the ‘order’.
6. Having children has really drawn me closer to God and closer to Rich. It is amazing to see that having more to love increases my love for those I already have!
7. My educational philosophy is a bit Charlotte Mason, Montessori, delight-directed and a whole lot of hands-on unit study! :)

Rule Number 3: Pass the award to 15 bloggers.
I'm an ecclectic person, my list is very ecclectic.  Most of them are education related blogs.

The Forest Room - Love this blog.  We share a love for nature, hands-on learning and a bit of montessori! :)
All Join In - is a wonderful blog with lots of inspiring ideas for playing and learning with your children!
One Hook Wonder ~ A great montessori blog.  I always find lots of inspiration there!
The Wonder Years ~ Wonderful blog with great links!
This Journey ~ I always come away from reading her blog refreshed!
Our Home for His Glory ~ This is my newest find and it is delightful!
Simply Necessary ~ She always makes me think and I LOVE her book recommendations!
Camp Creek Blog ~ Amy at Simply Necessary turned me on to this blog.  Posts are always insightful, interesting and inspiring.  She refers to her approach to education as project-based homeschooling. 
Mustard Seeds ~ I loved her Easter ideas for sharing faith with our children.  She also loves everything vintage! ;)
Scraps of Starlight ~ beautiful and inspiring relaxed approach to learning!
The Write Start ~ nostalgic playful childhood encouragement and a bit of crafty rolled up in one!
Kiara's blog - She always has interesting things to share and I love reading about her adoption related posts.
Overweights of Joy ~ Her goal is to find God in the everyday dance of life.  She does just that and encourages everyone else too!

Mission-Minded, Part 4

Lover of Learning

As I look over all three goals for my family (1-being lovers of God, 2-lovers of others and 3-lovers of learning) it is hard to separate where one stops and the others start.  Really, #2 and #3 are just natural outpourings of #1.

If we truly love God, the natural result is going to be one of loving other people and joyfully exploring His creation. How can we hate someone who is created in the image of God and who is loved by God?  How can we not help but marvel at His beautiful creation or the intricate ways that things work together?

I believe God placed in each of us a desire to know about the world around us! Just look at any young child and you will usually see an eagerness to learn. Our job as parents is to preserve, protect and grow that love of learning.

I think back to my childhood. Learning occurred in a natural, holistic way in our home. Questions were encouraged and resources made available to discover answers. Time was always made to follow down bunny trails. Because of this, we not only received a good education growing up, but we gained something far more valuable – the desire and know-how to continue this journey of learning. It wasn’t about the books or the grades. It was about the thrill of discovery and the excitement of sharing. We didn’t just read about cool things, we DID them! Even when we would watch a movie, we would usually be motivated afterwards to discuss it, research the authenticity of a story and learn more. We never just mind-numbingly watched movies. It was always with the natural motivation to discuss, discern and expand on what we had heard.  Learning was an everyday, all the time occurance!

I would like to extend this love of learning to my boys. My goal is to cultivate their natural curiosity and let that fuel their desire to learn.

During these early years a child’s brain is actually wired differently than an adult’s brain. We think in a linear fashion. Our brains work to find the quickest, most efficient way to solve a problem. Our brains are stream-lined. A child’s brain isn’t wired like that – yet. In these early years they are taking in stimuli from all around. Instead of being product (goal) oriented, they are more process oriented. They need time to enjoy the process of learning, so they can maximize the connections in the brain. The more they are able to do this, the better off they will be in the long-run.

So I work to provide an interesting environment. We read voraciously, talk, run and play. The primary way young children learn is through play. They need concentrated time playing with me, but they also need time to explore and apply what they have learned on their own. Playing pretend really helps them to internalize what they are learning. Two ways that I help make room for this: severely limiting TV/movies and being careful to not “over schedule” them by planning activities (even good one’s) and orchestrating/guiding every moment of their lives.

In my Cultivating Learning page up top, I’ve listed out some of my favorite articles and resources on this dearly beloved topic!

Mission-Minded: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Mission-Minded, Part 3

I’m back to finish where I left off as we talk about mission.  Last time, I talked about my most important goal of raising children who love Jesus. But I also want them to be a:

LOVER of OTHERS

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it:
YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’

Matthew 22:37-39

Jesus said that everything in life hinges on these two commandments.
When I first wrote out my mission statement that first commandment was obvious and made the cut. But for some reason, I didn’t even think about the second.  This last year has been one of reawakened hunger for the Word of God and His presence.  As I've searched the Scriptures, this verse just keeps jumping out time and time again...

Of course, now that my kids are getting a bit older, we actually have to work on what it means, practically, to love one another.

And really, the home is the perfect place to start fleshing this out.  Conflict abounds and there is ample opportunity to learn what it means to sacrificially love someone else. It is encouraging to see lessons that they are learning at home with their brothers being played out as they interact with others. 

Having this in mind really helps put the all too frequent conflict in perspective.  Instead of being annoyed, I'm learning to embrace these opportunities to teach and guide my children.  Talk about a sanity saver...

So there you have it.  Since this is my new addition to the mission, I'm high on ideals and just starting to gather ideas on how to go about implementing this.  I'd love to hear what anyone else is doing to train/demonstrate/model loving others to their children.

We've started with discussions on "who" is our neighbor and of course strong emotions have started to emerge, so we have also started discussions on loving our enemies too! 
Next up: Lovers of Learning

Mission Minded - Part 1, Part 2, Part 4

Birthday-Buddies

When my firstborn arrived 6 years ago I was desperate to retain my own birthday.  Due to interventions that I wish I had never agreed to, he did indeed arrive on his OWN birthday - 8 minutes before sharing one with me.

Over the years another boy joined our birthday week and I've learned a few things:

1) My birthday doesn't mean as much anymore (both because I'm grown-up and because we're pretty much birthday-ed out by the time mine arrives).
2) It doesn't bother me one bit anymore!

I couldn't be more grateful to share in the birthday love with my two oldest boys!  There is something just so special about going out for our free birthday icecream cones together!   Each year, I'm reminded of two of the best birthday gifts I've ever received!  They keep me in stitches and life has been richer since then!

So we end a busy week of celebrating, remembering and being overcome with gratitude!  And I continue on my way to counting 1000 gifts!

356. Built-in birthday buddies.

357. Watching excitement over being a year older.

358. A middle child who repeatedly asked for a dragon cake, not realizing that this really isn't 'my thing'.

359. The internet - always a rich source of step by step directions for things like dragon birthday cakes.
360. Kids that still loved it even though most of the icing melted right off the cake on the way to 'family night' at my parents.
361. A little boy who wants to be a part of the action so badly that he's now walking up to perfect strangers just to announce and demonstrate with two chubby fingers that he's "TWO".
362. Parents who agree to take all three boys, so I can have a birthday night out with my hubby!

363. Yummy free birthday treats!  Salt River bars at Liberty Market rock!

364. A friend who calls just to sing Happy Birthday to me.  Totally made my day. :)
365. Countless games of Ticket to Ride.  ok, ok, I'm pretty addicted! 
366. A brother-in-law who is willing to share his Ticket to Ride game with us for a week, even though he's addicted too!
367. A sister who tells it to me straight and wants to make sure that I'm taking care of myself.
368. A mom who follows up with more of the same.
369. An impromptu offering of lego flowers from my four year old!  A girl loves flowers, no matter how they come!

:sigh: I'm one blessed woman!

Of Birthdays and a Giveaway...

Wow.  I'm tired and feeling a bit brain-dead.  As much as I've wanted to wrap up my series on being mission-minded, I haven't had the time or energy to pull it together. 

Why, you ask?  Well, yesterday wrapped up what I affectionately refer to as 'crazy birthday week'.  In our little family of 5, there are 3 birthdays within a week of each other.  We now have a 4 year old, 6 year old and me - an undisclosed year older.

For Keegan's birthday last week we had the opportunity to all go to a baseball game with Oma and about 100 law students who are wrapping up their summer internships for the Blackstone Fellowship.  The boys loved it, although Keegan was a bit embarrassed when all of the law students (and several surrounding sections) sang Happy Birthday to him!  Embarrassed in the best kind of way of course, since he shyly recounted the story several times the next day.

The flurry of summer baseball inspired the boys to pull out their play silks for some 'take me out to the ballgame' kind of fun. 

I mentioned earlier how much I love play silks.  Play silks are creativity inspiring toys that promote open-ended and imaginative play in a way that 'scripted' toys often times cannot. 

Several years ago, I bought a whole bunch of them and gave my boys a few each year at Christmas and then would wrap up a pair of them for many of the birthday parties we attended.  They were always a huge hit, even if the parents were a bit skeptical on the entertaining value of a piece of silk.   (You can see them in action at our house here, here and here

I would always include a note laying out their many uses to give some initial inspiration.  Some of the ideas included: playing peek-a-boo, a doll blanket, sling, wings, cape, a river, pretend picnic blanket, a turban, pirate's headscarf, skirt, toga, belt, fort, etc...  Maybe I'll have to add baseball diamond to the list!

These 35"x35" silk squares are a perfect toy from birth up till about 10 years old.  They are perfect for peek-a-boo since they are so light and are perfect for all kinds of costumes and forts that can even entertain an older child.  At our family reunion a highschooler even donned a cape and chased Xander around! :)  They range in price from $7-14 depending on where you buy them.  A Toy Garden  is my favorite place to buy them for both quality and price. 

I love these play silks so much, that I've decided to give my last two new silks away to one lucky winner! With gifts on the mind, this seems only natural! There is a lavender purple one and a salmon orange-pink one.    

To enter, simply leave a comment and tell me how you think your child would enjoy playing with them.  If you follow or subscribe to my blog you may leave an extra comment for an additional chance to win.  If you don't have a blog, make sure and leave an email address so I have a way of contacting whoever wins!

This contest will have to be limited to those with a U.S. or Canadian shipping address. 

A winner will be randomly selected next Friday morning, August 20th at 8am, Pacific time.

I'll be back soon with the last two parts in my series on being Mission-Minded.

disclosure: I was not compensated in any way for this review or give-away.  I just like them THAT much and want to share the love...

Mission-Minded, Part 2

Last time I introduced the idea of a mission-statement.  I am a mom on a mission!  Hallelujah.  There is more to life than laundry and pb&j!  You can read Part 1 here.  So here we are with goal #1:

A Love for Jesus

There is absolutely NOTHING in the world more important than knowing Jesus. He’s the only one that can touch our hearts, extend forgiveness and make a way for us to have right standing before God. Without Him, we are destined to a life that is hopeless and an eternity that is nothing but agony.

I mean really, the Creator of the entire universe wants to have relationship with us. Even when we rebelled, He was still relentless in pursuing us and calling us back. WOW.

Not only do I want my children to know about Him, but I really want them to know Him.

As followers of Jesus, we not only get to spend eternity with Him, we can also have relationship with Him here and now. And it is this beautiful relationship with Jesus which I want to pass on – a relationship that guides, directs and influences every other aspect of my life. Nothing would make me happier than to see my children enjoy time with God and follow Him whole-heartedly in whatever direction and calling He gives.

Now I recognize that God is the one that calls and saves, but I believe as parents we play a pivotal role in introducing our children to the glorious Savior. I’m always inspired by the instructions in Deuteronomy 6. This clearly summarizes my charge to first know, love and follow God and then to teach this to my children - to make it a part of our everyday lives.

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:5-9

This everyday approach is what confirms my need to stay home and raise these boys. No one on this earth loves my children more than Rich and I. So I count it a privilege that I can interact with them throughout the day and disciple these little charges that God has blessed us with. I am thankful that I can work to make our relationship with God primary instead of something that happens only on Sundays or even only at a prescribed family devotion time. Instead my goal is to make it such an integral part of our daily lives that it flows out of everything we do.

How does this look?  Different every day. It’s not about a book, curriculum or ‘to-do’.  It's about sharing life and demonstrating how Jesus invades every aspect of it.

That's where the everyday walking, lying down, rising kind of thing comes in.  I get the opportunity to model how to apply and live out the reality of God living in and working through me!

When there is a booboo, we take it to Jesus. Nightmares are an opportunity to go to the One who gives peace. Marveling at God’s beautiful creation on a walk brings us into His presence. Recognizing his goodness to us in everyday blessings brings us closer to the One who gives these blessings!  Even, letting them see me go to Jesus when I mess up or asking my children for forgiveness and asking them to pray for me. 

When I recognize the power of the daily to impact my children for Christ, I learn to embrace whatever comes our way as an opportunity to point my children to Him!

Mission-Minded: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

Mission-Minded

I’m a visionary. Give me a lofty goal to shoot for and I’ll put everything I have into it. Put blinders on me and ask me to just take things one step at a time with no goal and I flounder.

Since I view my role as a parent as one of my primary vocations, I decided that I needed to have a mission statement in place to remind myself of my end goal. Why am I doing what I’m doing? Why is it so important that I stay home with my boys?

Anyone with small children knows, raising them and maintaining your sanity certainly isn’t easy… For those days when the whining never stops, there are unending disputes to settle or I’ve changed my 5th poopy diaper of the day, it’s nice to be able to maintain (or regain) some perspective.

“Without vision, the people perish”

Proverbs 28:19

My mommy brain suffers from this on those REALLY bad days. Ever have one?  You know, the kind of day where you just want to crawl out of your skin and run away. Ok, ok, that maybe a bit melodramatic, but you get my point, right?

So I remind myself of who God has called me to be – both as a person and as a mother to these boys. Reminding myself of the big picture brings me back into balance!

I wrote my first mission statement two years ago and it has been interesting to go back and read my thoughts. I’ve made some tweaks and added a new goal to the bunch, so here you go!

I desire to live holistically, authentically - meaning that I want my core values to play a critical role in every decision that I make. I want to live what I believe instead of merely having a piecemeal/compartmentalized approach to life. This undergirds my goals as a parent and really as a human being.

I have three primary interrelated goals:

1. That my children would have a deep and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ,
2. That they would have a genuine love for other people,
3. That they would be joyful, life-long learners.

I’ll write more about each of these aspects later and give a more detailed explanation on how I hope to build these goals into my everyday life and not just have it be a random thing that I mark off a ‘to-do’ list.

Mission-Minded - Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

There and Back...

We survived our Texas trip.  Here's a rundown of 10 random things about our trip... 

1. Humidity - It wasn't that bad.  I was a total baby about it and we didn't even have the opportunity to pretend we were in the rainforests of South America.  The only obvious links were more bugs and GREEN.  Although it was still interesting to see that our towels, swimsuits, etc didn't just dry like they do here...

2. It was still hot, so we enjoyed the outdoors most in the mornings.

3. Seeing the effects of our study of maps and geography!  They got so excited when we crossed the border from Oklahoma (where we flew to) into Texas (where the family reunion was held)

4.Xander's insisting to everyone he met that Oklahoma looks like a gun.  Can we say A.L.L. B.O.Y

5. Spending time with FAMILY!  There were over 50 of us that were related - somehow!

This was just Rich's grandmothers side of the family...

6. Eight little rugrats ranging from 2-7 years old running around.  The boys loved their new friends!

7. PLAYSILKS!  These are one of the most versatile toys ever and pack so small and light!   They were a hit with the kids.  Princesses and knights were present at each family dinner!  I've blogged in the past about tricks for travelling with little one's.  Playsilks didn't make that list, but they sure are great for a destination with little to no toys available!

8. Swimming and watching my sister-in-law dunk my husband and then getting it dished right back at her!  Gotta love sibling relationships!!!

9. Time to hang out with my wonderful in-laws!

10 Flying without a baby.  After having taken MANY trips with a baby, this was by far the easiest plane trip we've ever had!  Everyone talks, can be reasoned with and uses the bathroom!

So now we are trying to pull ourselves together and get back into a routine here.  They were pretty stretched as far as sleep was concerned, but we are excited to jump back into the swing of things soon...