Following Foundations 4/17/09

I have noticed a pattern with our cars. Well, that is if you can statistically call two incidents a pattern. Last August, my husband wrecked the car. It was only by the grace of God that he wasn’t killed. He hydroplaned on the interstate, went across four lanes of traffic, slammed the rear end of the car into the concrete barrier at about 50 mph, and then went back across four lanes of traffic and stopped in the ditch. He was never hit by another car and walked away from it with only some soreness for a few days. Well, the car was totalled, or as my son says, “Daddy broke the car.” I included a picture for effect. Well, what happened right after we got the insurance money? The van blows a head gasket. Bye, bye insurance money. Praise the Lord that we were able to get another car (Buick Century Wagon) for next to nothing. Now that was a true blessing, but it’s not the point I’m trying to make at the moment. My point is that one wrecked car payed for repairs on another one. Well, this week, I got stuck at the museum with the kids. The car wouldn’t start, and we couldn’t even jump it. We were 30 minutes from home. We had AAA tow the car to our mechanic. We weren’t sure at the time if it was the battery or not, but we weren’t in the best circumstances to be figuring out things with three kids in the car. Well, it turned out that it was just the battery. In and of itself, that is a good thing. However, a 34 mile towing fee, plus a mechanic checking things out and replacing the battery made for a very expensive battery. But never fear! Why was I not in the van anyway? Well, the van was on that day in the body shop being fixed after someone rear-ended me a month ago. A man from our church owns a body shop and he was able to fix it for much less than what we got from the insurance company. And now you see how this works. We now had the extra money to pay for the expensive battery in the car. It’s probably not how I would have had things work, but the Lord knows what He’s doing. And we even came out a couple hundred in the black!

EG (4 yrs):

We finished week 32 of Sonlight’s p4/5. I can’t believe we only have four weeks left! We started Why do Tigers Have Stripes? this week. She loves these Usborne books. This one is in the same series as What’s Under the Sea?, which we read earlier this year. It was a big hit, too. In her reading, she finished Father Bear Comes Home, Put Me in the Zoo and The Cat in the Hat. She’s zipping right along! She completed a lapbook on butterflies this week (from Homeschoolshare.com). Last week was our first week doing a lapbook, and I had little clue as to what I was doing. This week we did a lapbook with an extension. Look at us go! We’re moving up in the lapbooking world (grin)! I included several pictures. We memorized 1 John 1.9 this week which says “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” We also started Proverbs 21.2 which says “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the heart.” We memorized question 57 of the Baptist Catechism which asks “What is forbidden in the second commandment?”

She got her hair cut this week. I was only planning on having my own hair cut. As I was leaving the house, she decided that her hair was just “a little too long” and she wanted to go, too.

AZ (2 yrs):

This week AZ worked on the letter C and completed a C page for his alphabet notebook. When he wasn’t working on the letter C, playing Starfall, or sleeping, he was usually butting heads with me. We so need a vacation.  Guess what? We’re taking one next week!  Today he took an extra-long afternoon nap. His sister kept wanting to wake him up so they could play together (doesn’t that sound sweet?….we do have some of these moments). Not a chance, Honey! That boy is going to sleep until he wakes up! I need some peace and quiet. I’m sure I’ve probably been chanting in my sleep “Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Children….” Uggh. AZ did finally get Psalm 1.6 memorized well enough for us to progress. We’re now working on Isaiah 30.15 which says “In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” Now that’s a verse I need to be chanting to myself!

In one of his better moments this week, he told me that I’d better not run with my coffee. Only walk. And then he pointed at me and said “You ‘member that!”

SA (11 months):

Well, the baby had his first Easter. He eyed the chocolate in his siblings baskets and wondered why he wasn’t considered old enough for his own chocolate bunny. Did he really need another sippy cup? Aren’t there 45 of them in the kitchen cabinet? He started the morning with a bad attitude about his Easter outfit, but eventually decided to make the best of it. He thought it was curious that during the Easter egg hunt, his parents were wearing fleece pullovers (aka “woobies” in our family) and his sister was wearing a sweater, all the while he was sitting in the prickly grass in a pair of shorts. Keeping his left leg raised for 45 minutes was all he could muster in the form of a protest. After all, it’s hard not to smile when you get to chew on plastic.

Me:

Let’s see. I quoted Ephesians 6:1 repeatedly to my 2 year old. I got my hair cut (it was desperately needed). I had a guitar lesson. I’m still not done with my first Mel Bay book. I have three tunes to work on. It’s all those darn eighth notes that are slowing me down! I’ll probably just pass out into a lifeless heap on the floor when I see sixteenth notes. Some things just hurt my brain. I do have every intention of going guitar shopping next week if I have an opportunity. I want to upgrade from my pawnshop-find from 10 years ago.

There won’t be a Following Foundations report for next week since we’ll be on vacation. I’ll hit the highlights with the report for the week following. Happy vacation to me!