Watercolors. (And an update.)

Everyone, look!  Right above these words.  The title of this post does not say What's going on with Isaac?

(!!!!)

I will briefly update you at the end of this post, but hooray for something different.

First up, watercolors:

I recently picked up the above book at the library, and it has inspired us to do more watercolor painting. A few nights ago the girls and I painted while Mark read aloud before bedtime:

Ella (14)

Audra (7)

mine

(And yes, I see flaws everywhere in my painting.  But you know what?  I'm practicing.  And I enjoy it, and surely I'll get better, right?  ;))

* * *

Thank you all for your prayers, comments, emails, and cards!  (Isaac has gotten lots of mail over the past few weeks and he's loving that.)  He is doing so much better.  I see progress every day.  He is getting stronger and is more active and seems almost entirely back to his normal self.  Praise God.  

A few nights ago I was feeling tearfully discouraged- just feeling overwhelmed by all that has taken place over the past couple of months, and also wanting to get to the cause of why this all happened, but not knowing what to do next.  It all felt so much bigger than me.  (For example: Do we continue to press for a rheumatology appointment?  Do I eliminate foods from his diet?  (If so, which ones?)  Do we get him in to an allergist and find out what foods he may be allergic to?  Do we try to find a second opinion?  Or do we just wait and see?) 

So Mark and I did this: we prayed.  We asked God to give us wisdom and peace and to bring direction and clarity in our next steps. We thanked Him for what He has done; for how He has answered so many prayers, and we asked Him to continue to lead us as He has so faithfully.  And we entrusted Isaac over to Him all over again.  And He truly flooded us with peace and took away my anxiety about all of it.

For this week I am watching him, and listening well when I ask him how he's doing.  Specifically I've been asking about joint pain (still some: fingers and knees), hives (no rash, but still an itchy feeling some nights), and stomach issues (diarrhea has gone, still mucous).  And I decided to do the one thing that felt manageable to me this week, and that is to be mindful of what he's eating at each meal.  I also met with a friend-who-is-a-doctor to get another opinion, and we talked it all through and I felt really good after that conversation.  That counsel was a confirmation to us that we can wait and watch.  So we are operating under the assumption that Isaac had a viral infection that his body reacted to mightily and that he is still getting well (hence the lingering symptoms.)  But: the symptoms are fading, and he is so much better than he was, and each day seems better than the day before.  So that's really good news.  And if there is something else going on, we'll wait for that to present itself and act when it does.  For now, we rest.

And we've eased back into school this week, three days only, and are enjoying routine and life together.  I am so thankful.

Thank you, kind friends, for walking this road with us, for showing up to read and to offer prayers on our behalf; for your thoughtfulness and for your thoughts and opinions.  I treasure each of you.

~Stacy

Mid-year Morning Time Review

[morning time schedule from our first week of school]

Today is Mark’s day off, which means he does school with the kids, and I get to leave the house and have time away all by myself.  As I was getting ready to go, he was reading to them from the Bible-- a long portion, covering the Easter Story.  I made myself breakfast and lingered a bit in the kitchen, listening to their questions and discussion.  It was so hard for me not to sit down and participate. I truly love our morning times together. 

This is week 21 of our 36-week school year, and I was thinking recently how on any given day, we may only do a little bit, one verse of a hymn, one poem, one verse from the Bible, etc.... but that a little bit each day adds up to a whole lot.  Here's a list of the material we’ve covered during our morning times together throughout these first 21 weeks:
*I've marked review items with a star

Hymns:
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Great is Thy Faithfulness
How Great Thou Art
Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty
What a Friend We Have in Jesus
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
Blessed Assurance

Scripture memorized:
Psalm 19*
Psalm 33:5*
Psalm 105
Proverbs 15:28
Proverbs 18:21
Luke 2:1-20
Luke 6:45

Other memory work:
Books of the Old Testament*
Family Ways

Poems memorized:
If (Rudyard Kipling)
Nine o’clock Bell* (Eleanor Farjeon)
The Mist and All (Dixie Willson)
Who Has Seen the Wind?* (Christina Rossetti)
Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)
The Eagle* (Alfred, Lord Tennyson)
February Twilight (Sara Teasdale)

The Children’s Hour* (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)
The Lake Isle of Innisfree (William Butler Yeats)
Written in March* (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)

Picture Study:
George Seurat (5 works of art)
Claude Monet (several works; he's one of my favorites!)
...and we spent a couple of weeks reviewing previous years’ artists

Composer Study:
Sergei Rachmaninoff (6 works)
Johannes Brahms (6 works)

Shakespeare:
The Taming of the Shrew (we also watched a video of this one)
A Winter’s Tale
King Lear
...using either Lamb or Nesbit
We also read this book aloud: Shakespeare: His Work and His World

Plutarch:
Marcus Crassus
(This was our first foray into Plutarch, using Anne White’s study guide, and the kids-- especially my boys-- have really enjoyed the readings and discussion.)

Science:
Pagoo (read-aloud)
Nature Study
various experiments

Geography:
-some readings from Home Geography (Long)

Map Work:
-freehand drawings of the continents & oceans
-13 colonies
-Europe (spanning several weeks)

Art:
-drawing lessons using this book: Drawing Textbook
-various nature study drawings
-still-life drawings: setting up objects on the ottoman in the center of the living room and everyone circles around with their sketch books and draws what they see
-our own painted reproductions of our favorites from Monet & Seurat

Grammar:
-lessons from Simply Grammar & First Language Lessons (skipping around those books, where we needed brushing up)
-a smattering of Grammar Worksheets from this site.
-(Most of our grammar is learned through reading and dictation.)


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