10 million miles

What’s on the docket?

{Yes, yes, Vivienne is only just 5, and other children her age are heading off to Kindergarten this year. But we’re plowing ahead into first grade. I know. True educators are mortified. But we do have good reasons, I promise! I realize that I’ve never explained this to the skeptics or the genuinely concerned educators! Here’s why we feel comfortable calling this “first grade”: I’m convinced that God led us to begin her education a year early, and gave us peace to call it “Kindergarten” even though we otherwise actually support the concept of  helping a child to soar academically, while taking good old sweet time to advance through the “grade levels”.  So, although our decision contradicts our educational theories, obedience to the Lord’s leading just seems more important. We cannot begin to know why this may be important for her in the future, but we feel certain that it will be. And, so, we tackled Kindergarten-level work with gusto last year and are moving smoothly into 1st-grade-level work this year, that’s all.}

And so, glorious first grade it is!

Bible: Mighty Acts of God

Five in a Row: If curricula were love letters, FIAR would be the one I’d keep under my pillow. These week-long units are based upon beautiful picture books, and they cover all areas of study. Both of our daughters can engage at different levels. We paint, sculpt, eat, graph, map, cry, pray, and sing our way through lovely-book, after lovely-book.

The Phonics Museum: Grade 1 (We LOVED the K program. But be warned: it’s totally classical education and comes with a big thick workbook.  For all of our hands-on, face-in-the-wind learning we do, we also love a couple of good workbook pages every day. Yes, I actually wrote that: we love workbook pages. And The Phonics Museum has lovely ones.)

First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind

Saxon Math

Usborne First Book of Science,

The Little Hands Nature Book,

The Berenstain Bears’ Big Book of Science and Nature, and

Kid Concoctions, Creations & Contraptions.

(Don’t you want to be in-the-know when we dissect a frog or blow up the kitchen with baking soda? Subscribe today!)

Have you ever read a picture book by Deborah Hopkinson?

I’m telling ya, go to Amazon.com with $20 in hand and you won’t know where to begin.

Hopkinson writes perfect little stories that are based on a moment in history, but explode into a whole universe of dialect, imagery, and good plot.

She always chooses a different artist, so all of the books are unique and enriching.

My favorite? Apples to Oregon: Being the (Slightly) True Narrative of How a Brave Pioneer Father Apples, Peaches, Pears, Plums, Grapes and Cherries (and Children) Across the Plains.  I throw on a nice thick accent and dive right into the adventure of hauling plants across the country.

Viv’s favorite? Fannie in the Kitchen: the Whole Story From Soup to Nuts of How Fannie Farmer Invented Recipes with Precise Measurements.

I can’t answer for the whole collection, but we’ve read a handful so far and don’t plan on stopping any time soon! Join us!

Speaking of resources for our little ones, do you know about Phil Vischer’s newest project? (Q: “Phil Vischer? Who’s that?” A: The guy who created Bob the Tomato, that’s who!)

Anyway, so Phil Vischer’s newest project is called “What’s in the Bible?” and it seems like a fantastic program aimed to increase biblical literacy. Wow!

“What’s in the Bible? is, in a nutshell, an attempt to address declining biblical literacy in the North American church.  VeggieTales was an amazingly effective way to teach individual Bible stories, but not concepts like sin, redemption or God’s grace.  Yet these concepts are the core of a meaningful faith.  Christian colleges report that incoming freshmen – even those from Christian homes – know less about the Bible each year.  And partly as a result of a lack of meaningful knowledge of their faith, 65% of Christian kids are walking away from the church as soon as they leave high school.

So What’s in the Bible? is a new 13-part series that will walk kids all the way through the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Call it “Christianity 101” – a crash course in our faith, presented with the same wit and whimsy as VeggieTales.”

So, if you facebook, fan it. If you twitter, follow it. If you talk, talk about it. Then, when you have a chance, check it out with us!

By the way, our book club just read Me, Myself, and Bob: A True Story about God, Dreams, and Talking Vegetables, Phil Vischer’s autobiographical account of his creation of and experience with Veggie Tales. Fascinating! Truly, a worthwhile read if you ever wonder what happened to Bob the Tomato, or how visionaries seem to rise and fall at alarming velocity, or about the miracle of Christians walking by faith and not sight.

Dear Mitford fans,

You will never believe what came out of my oven yesterday: Esther Bollick’s famous 3-layered orange marmalade cake.

You know how it is. After spending so much time in Mitford, a girl just has to find what the fuss is all about!

So, I report on the fuss. Here’s why they must all love it: A peculiar, yet endearing sour cream frosting compliments the sweet orange marmalade quite well. Not to mention, this must be the moistest cake in town. Add to that the pure love that goes into squeezing fresh orange juice, and drizzling into cake-holes and the artistry of plopping thick frosting all around the tall layers… Besides, it just looks like a force to be reckoned with.

I used the recipe out of my beloved copy of Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook and Kitchen Reader: Recipes from Mitford Cooks, Favorite Tales from Mitford Books.

But, I also found it online for you!

It has worked out so well that my name is “Laura”, making my imaginary transformation into “Laura Ingles Wilder” much more fluid, I believe. I grew up reading, watching, and reliving the prairie-running sweetheart. So, you can imagine my sheer joy that I have now become “Ma”, Vivienne the new “Laura”, and Lia “Carrie”. (We all morph into being “Mary” whenever necessary.)

Several years ago, Ryan bought Season 1 of the television series for me, which we have enjoyed immensely. However, since reading the first two books of the series to Vivienne, I’ve been wishing that the show represented the books more closely. You can imagine my surprise when I glanced over a $5 bin of DVD’s at the Factory Card Outlet a couple of weeks ago and saw THIS:

Yes, Little Half-Pint-of-Cider-Half-Drunk-Up, this is the original pilot for the television series and it is fantastic! Based almost entirely upon Wilder’s second book, Little House on the Prairie, the Pilot reinforced Vivienne’s understanding of the Ingles’ dramatic struggle and admirable endurance in Indian Territory. Of course, after we watched it, I returned to Factory Card Outlet to raid the rest of the DVD stash, but, alas, Pa had been replaced by a ghoul: Boo! So, I didn’t stock pile one for you, but it looks like you can order a copy from Amazon.

When my 12 year old neighbor recommended her favorite book with these words:

“…I had never thought to look at life through the eyes of a porcelain rabbit before…”

I knew I just had to run to the library and read the book immediately.

And that is how Kate DiCamillo’s

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

has secured a tenured position on my “Favorite Books of All Time” list.

I won’t tell you much about the book except that, although it only requires a few hours of your time, it demands your whole heart. And, like me, you’ll be stealing my little friend’s intriguing one-liner:

“…I had never thought to look at life through the eyes of a porcelain rabbit before…”

Lia has recently become an official TOT!

So, we’ve begun doing three Tot Trays together each day. I find that this is a fantastic way for me to take time just for her. Here are some of the trays that she loves right now. Perhaps your favorite Tiny Tot would enjoy similar activities.

Matching colors!

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Lia’s favorite tot tray is in the middle: carefully putting puff balls into a spice container and shaking them out again!

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Putting colorful wooden blocks into cardboard boxes; shaking the box; emptying the box onto the tray.

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Vivienne made this Search Tray out of rice and plastic letters; Lia enjoyed digging her hands into the rice; I, erm, enjoyed vacuuming it all up afterward.

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Hold up one animal; name it; sound it; ask your tot to find the animal’s photo!

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Pulling her sweet birthday cards out of envelopes, opening the cards, feeling the furry sheep and Corduroy’s soft green pants, and, eventually, putting them back into the envelopes!

Enjoying these simple exchanges with Lia is an invaluable way to develop my relationship with her!

Teachable Tuesday is designed to share teaching ideas that specifically connect a child’s heart with God’s. What are you teaching this week?

Every morning, we read one or two stories from The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, a wonderful collection of Bible stories – each of which explains how God was foretelling, anticipating, and promising the arrival and work of Jesus Christ. How wonderful to be reminded that everything is always only about Him.

I haven’t handed in a book report lately, so here’s one for you:

For the past several weeks, I’ve been reading Carolyn Mahaney’s Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother.  Basically, Mahaney applies Titus 2’s first few verses to our maturity as women – as individuals, wives, and mothers. It’s one of those books that I plan to read every year-or-so to keep my heart soft and my perspective clean.

This book has easily become one of my “Road Maps“.

(And at a good time, too. Remember my “I’m 30 Years Old!” plan to focus on being a good wife? Well, apparently God took that plan seriously and He’s been goin’ to town in correcting, encouraging, and strengthening me in this precious area of my life.)

Here are the Top 5 Things that I’m still mulling over:

1.The Good News that I know about Jesus Christ is most powerfully communicated through my behaviors.

“Can you conceive of anything that sets forth the beauty of the gospel jewel more brilliantly than the godly behavior of those who have received it?”

2. Self-control is a grace; a gift.

“Self-control is what we need to guard our hearts against sin. And a well-kept heart will beget joyful feelings – the kind of feelings that God intends for us to have.”

3. The home that I make can inspire others to think about God.

“Lord, help me to build the kind of home where all who enter find it ‘impossible to keep from thinking of God’.”

4. When you think of me, I want you to instantly think of the good that I do.

“Scripture has defined what our reputation is to be. It says that we are to be known for our good works…and this, not to garner attention for ourselves, but to show forth the compelling power of the gospel.” (Check out 1 Timothy 2: 9 – 10, 1 Timothy 5:9)

“In order to achieve a reputation for good works, we must plan good works.”

5. The greatest thing I can do with my life is to deliberately love God and other people with my whole heart.

The last chapter is a brief biographical sketch of Carolyn’s mother, Margaret, who poured her heart into honoring her husband, enjoying her children, and serving her church and neighborhood. Despite the failings, needs, and ingratitude she inevitably met in the people God asked her to live for, Margaret persevered.

Margaret’s story of perpetual joy, service, and love was my favorite part of the book. I found myself praying, “I want to be like that!”

(By the way, Carolyn and her daughters write a fantastic blog called Girl Talk. And, guess what? Carolyn has been posting thoughts on how to “do your husband good and not harm all the days of his life” (Proverbs 31:12). Start reading the first post and catch up on the series.)

“Whoever would be great among you must be your servant… even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26, 28)

Vivienne and I just finished reading aloud the first of The Boxcar Children series. Vivienne adored the drama of four children trying to escape from the selfish bakers, the adventure of building a swimming pool, and the intensity of Violet’s illness (of course). I loved the way the children spoke so kindly to each other, looked out for one another, worked diligently, and enhanced Vivienne’s make-believe: now, she knows how to set up a home with her little wagon, a trip to “the dump”, a handful of black walnuts, and a shovel. If you’re in the market for one, this is a top recommendation for a preschool read-aloud.