A letter to "Grama"

Last week my sister's mother-in-law brought over gifts for the kids. She gave them each a new bathing suit and a pair of goggles. They were ecstatic! For his writing lesson today I had Owen write a thank you note. He was very frustrated by my spelling of the word "grandma." He insisted that it did not have an "n" or a "d." He kept sounding out the word to prove his point. I tried to explain to him that you can hear the "n" and "d" sounds in the word but he thought I was sounding it out incorrectly. "Mama, it's pronounced gramma, not graNDma!" He reluctantly spelled it the correct way only to write it his way underneath. He's a thinker!

Understanding the Real Easter Story

Earlier today I was telling my children the true story of Easter using Resurrection Eggs. Each egg from the dozen contains an item related to the story to help the child connect the story together. The eggs contain the following:

- a donkey to symbolize Jesus riding into the city.

- silver coins to represent the money Judas received for betraying Jesus.

- a cup to represent the last supper.

- praying hands to symbolize Jesus praying in Gethsemane.

- a leather whip to remind us of the beating Jesus received.

- a crown of thorns to recall the way the soldiers mocked him.

- nails in the cross to picture the punishment Jesus took on our behalf.

- a die to represent how the soldiers gambled for his clothes.

- a spear to remind us that His side was pierced for our sins.

- a linen cloth symbolizing how Joseph cared for Jesus' body to give Him a proper burial.

- a stone to picture the stone that was rolled in front of Jesus' tomb and was then rolled away.

- and lastly, the final egg is EMPTY, reminding us that Jesus did not stay dead. Jesus came back to life and He is alive today!

As I read the Bible to my kids and tell the resurrection story they take turns opening up the little plastic egg and sharing how the item inside fits into the story. I used these eggs for the first time last year and haven't referred to them since last Easter. To my delight, Owen remembered the entire story and was thrilled to have me use them again today. I plan to use them to teach my little preschoolers at church this Easter Sunday. If you've never used Resurrection eggs, considering picking up a set. I got mine at Hobby Lobby for $10.

I love seeing the excitement on their little faces when the last egg is empty after just moments before seeing the sadness on their faces when explaining to them that Jesus was killed. Throughout the story I asked, "Since Jesus has all the power, why didn't he stop the soldiers from killing him?" Owen replied, "Because our sin had to be punished. He took the punishment for us!" I LOVE seeing the light bulb go on in his head and pray that it draws his heart to Christ. To help him understand I began our lesson today by pretending that Aubrey needed to be disciplined because she had disobeyed. But instead of disciplining her, Owen stood up and offered to be punished in her place. They both thought that was silly but it seemed to help them understand that this is, in fact, what Jesus did for us when He died on the cross.

I asked Owen how his Daddy would feel if he (Owen) had to be punished for the sin of someone else. He replied, "OH, boy! That was be Daddy's worst day EVER!" I then said, "And how would you feel if like Jesus you had to be separated from your Father?" He quickly answered, "That would be my worst day ever!"

Thank you, Lord, for helping Owen to understand!

The Wizard of Oz

Shortly after Christmas I decided it was time to pick up another chapter book for Owen and I to read together. We've now completed seven. Having never read The Wizard of Oz before, I thought it would be a fun classic for us to go through together. We read the original, written by Frank L. Baum in 1900. It was really neat to see my son enjoy a book that is over a century old! I didn't realize how different the book was from the movie. Did you know that in the original story, the special shoes are not ruby red, but silver? I had no idea! Owen had never seen the movie before so none of the differences bothered him, but it also required him to really use his imagination. I thought some of the imagery would be difficult. Winged monkeys, munchkins, witches, a tin woodman and a talking scarecrow are just a few of the things we read that Owen has never before heard of. But to my delight he loved reading through the book.

At one point in the story when Dorothy was confronted by the wicked witch Owen put his hands over his eyes and buried his face into the back of the couch and said, "Mama! This is so frightening!"

At that moment I remembered how scared I was of the witch the first time I saw the movie. I wrongly assumed that the book wouldn't be as scary as the movie.

So I asked him, "Owen, would you like me to stop reading? We don't have to finish."

He quickly answered, "I'm scared, but I just HAVE to know what happens next!" So we continued on and completed this 200 page classic. He loved it so much that we finished the book in 6 days. He wanted to hear the story again - and he did. We checked out the story on audio and he heard every word a second time. I love that he loves books!

Before Owen sees a movie I try to read the book to him first, if there is one. Since we completed the book he got to see the movie, which he thoroughly enjoyed after he got past the fact that it's quite a bit different from the the book. And for a little "field trip" we also went to see The Wizard of Oz live. There were three performances over the weekend and they all sold out. I'm so glad we were able to get tickets because Owen loved it! I was really impressed with the show too.

Waiting for the show to start!

Owen (in mid blink) with his cousin Brooklyn

Me, Owen and Brookie

We went with Aunt Kimmy and Brooklyn!

Every so often I try to do something special with just Owen. I am the one he spends his days with so it's up to me to do the majority of the schooling and disciplining. I think it's important for us to have these special date nights every once in a while. It was an extra special treat to have my sister and niece join us. After the show we went out to dinner and even got dessert. The kids had a great time!

Owen Lifts the Couch

We have been studying machines in science class. The first machine we learned about was the lever. I explained to Owen how it worked and what it was used for and we looked at pictures together. We then decided to make one of our own. To demonstrate how useful a lever is we had Owen try to pick up the couch on his own, which he could not do. Then Ben rigged up a lever. And with no trouble at all Owen lifted the couch.

Gotta love hands-on learning!

Our School Year So Far

We are 9 weeks into our school year and I just can't believe how much Owen has learned. And even though I'm not officially schooling Aubrey she has picked up on so much! Because I don't want to forget . . .

Aubrey has learned:

- The pledge of allegiance (and she looks so darn cute with her hand on her heart while she recites it).

- The days of the week

- The months of the year (she does get the last couple months confused)

- The hymns, "I have Decided to Follow Jesus," "Take My Life," and "Trust and Obey." She's learned many other songs too.

- She has hidden these two verses in heart - "My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings." (Proverbs 4:20) and "Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls." (Hebrews 13:17). She may know other verses too because I have to admit, I didn't intentionally teach her these verses. She picked up on them while I was teaching Owen and then all of the sudden we started hearing her recite them word for word. Who knows what other things she has hidden!

- She has also learned some of the states of our country.

We've done a lot of work in 9 weeks so I obviously can't remember it all, but here's some of what Owen has learned and is doing:

- He's learned 9 verses (they are usually 13-15 words long)

- He's learned the following character qualities that coincide with the verses: forgiveness, faith, attentiveness, honesty, patience, obedience, orderliness, generosity and thankfulness.

- He is writing so nicely. I'm super pleased with how neat his letters are! We are working on writing numbers too.

- He's learned several hymns.

- He can do a little bit of adding.

- We've completed three chapter books so far: Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and My Father's Dragon. We are in our fourth chapter book called Elmer and the Dragon. It is book 2 of a 3 book series.

- He's learned all kinds of fun things in science. We've studied snow, wind, rain, thunder, lightning, seasons, animals, plants and earth. Sometimes I wonder if we are doing too much for his age. And I'm certain he's not remembering it all. But then he'll surprise me and pull out facts he's learned. For example, yesterday it started to snow and he began to explain to me how the snow formed in the sky and how and why it began to fall. We learned about snow the first week or two of school but he remembered it. Kids are capable of learning so much. Their minds amaze me!

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST -

- He is starting to read! This is probably the thing we are most excited about. He's sounding out words and beginning to read simple words like sad, mad, eat, meat, read, am, ram, me, etc. Yesterday he read the sentence "See me eat." It is SO FUN to teach him and see him learn! And now on my wish list . . . Bob Books. Does anyone else have these and recommend them?