In an effort to get the younger two more involved in our home school mornings, I've introduced water paints and play dough this past week! I must say it was a hit, now the problem is keeping PJ's eyes on his lessons! Calvin and Adele enjoy it immensely. I am also trying to make a more concerted effort to teach Calvin his letters and sounds and to work on his drawing skills (they are lacking or maybe PJ is just really good?!). It's been fun and good for all of us. I continue to enjoy the library and have gotten out so many good books, I don't even know if we will have time to read them all. Two, especially are good, if you're interested. One is Black Ships Before Troy by Rosemary Sutcliff based on The Illiad and the other is The Odyssey adapted by Geraldine McCaughrean. Both have beautiful illustrations. If you are not into teaching your children Greek mythology, then do not read these books...but they are classic works. We've only gotten to page 10 on the first book...we'll see how far we get!

PJ started Math U See yesterday. We received it in the mail last Friday. He exclaimed, "I LOVE this, I could do this all day!" I thought, "YES! This is how it should be!" Praise God. And Calvin also enjoyed playing with the blocks...and Adele desperately wanted to be playing too, but I just don't trust her with those unit pieces yet!

One major reason that we home school is so that we have a major influence over the spiritual upbringing of our children.

In the past few weeks and months I have noticed a hard heart in Calvin toward things of the Lord. So, we've been praying for him and with him, pleading with God to make the lights go on in his dear little head. The exciting part of all this is that we see God at work. For two nights in a row now, Calvin has prayed during our family devotion time (where as before the last two nights, he rarely would pray). And, these prayers he offers aren't just, "Thank you Lord for this day, amen." They are really heartfelt and precious. He thanks God for his toys, his family and He asks God to protect our cat, Simba, as he climbs the trees in the back yard. I am just amazed at the work of the Spirit in Calvin's heart. It's beautiful to behold...I pray that God would make all our children strong in Him, His Word and that He would use them to bring His salvation to many. I've also seen growth in PJ in the last few weeks. Now, I know I am a mom speaking here, but I really see a spiritual sensibility in PJ that, again, I know is of God. I thank Him for this. PJ has a very tender heart (like his daddy) and is easy to talk to about what God's Word says. Just yesterday he was having some problems obeying and being respectful towards me. I pulled him aside and opened the Word. It always amazes me that when I open God's Word and show PJ what it says how it takes effect immediately. I remind him that the words I am about to read, are not mine but they are God's words...He gave them to us to know how to live rightly before Him. I don't know why I don't do this more...and I am hoping to get more disciplined myself so that when I correct a child, it's done based on God's Word and what it says...not just my whims. All that to say, I thank God for His work in the lives of my children and in my life.

On another note, last Saturday we spent the day with Paul's first cousins and our kids 1st cousins at the beach! It was great. We had such a wonderful time together...and I was so impressed by Paul's cousins, Laura and Billy (pictured in the back left and right). They are two of the sweetest young adults I have ever met. I was most impressed by how they played with all their cousins and seemed to really, genuinely enjoy it. This is another prayer of mine, that when my children are older, they will invest in the lives of younger children and take the time to play and be silly with them. It's important and these children will probably never forget the hours they spent with Laura and Billy! So, a big THANK YOU to them.

So, this is the news from our corner of the world. Until next time...