60 feet

"I keep telling these children that God loves them,

but if no one comes to show them,

how can they ever believe me?"

Moses

Director of 60Feet

It was with that statement that I realized, truly, for the first time, what it means to be Jesus' hands and feet.

The enormity of it.

We were not able to visit the prisons they lock these forgotten children away in.

They waited for us, with the promise of clothing, food and love.

And it breaks my heart that we couldn't be there.

We were told that grown men leave weeping for the fate of these beautiful children.

The conditions are unspeakable.

Children as little as one and a half and three years old.

Imprisoned for no other reason than that they were alone on the streets of Kampala,

with no one to love them.

Beautiful babies.

What if they were mine?

What would I do to reach them?

And is anything less

worthy of being called love?

{thirty}

I thought perhaps if I celebrated my birthday half way around the world no one would notice that I'm old now.

Did it work?

My day will consist of worshiping in a small African village and loving on babies. Not many Americans can say that! I will be missing you all terribly when this is posted, I'm sure, so please remember us in your prayers.

happy birthday, my babies!

I love you and miss you so much!

{Camden & Adah, too!}

Jude {at five}

selfless energetic tender loving kind rambunctious compassionate smart curious

Jude,

You are so full of energy.

It oozes out of every pore of your being.

One of the most infectious people I have ever met.

You can win a crowd within seconds.

You need snuggles from Mama each day,

and I couldn't live without them.

You have many fears in life, but you have become brave in conquering them.

Your voice is one of the sweetest sounds I know

and you smile grows my heart.

I love you so.

Mama

Gwyneth {at five}

out-spoken fun energetic driven spunky giving artistic giggly

Gwyneth,

You are my shadow.

A little go-getter always ready for the next adventure.

Each morning the first thing you ask is

"What do we get to do today, Mom?!"

I love that you dream big and have what it takes to accomplish those dreams.

You insist on justice in all situations,

and nothing upsets you more than unfairness.

You have high ideals and standards for yourself and everyone else, too.

You love life.

You fill our home with life.

And I can't imagine life without my 'Sissy'

I love you more than words can say.

Mama

Where Children Sleep

Eye opening, heart wrenching, discouraging and inspiring.

http://issuu.com/chrisboot/docs/where_children_sleep_by_james_mollison

Math

So far, I love our home school journey.
It is amazing; watching my children learn and discover,
seeing the world through their eyes.

But we do have our moments.
Lest anyone think every day is a walk in the park,
I present to you exhibit A;

Camden...

Sporting the classic "waggoner" pout,
{deemed ever so affectionately by my husband.}
because he didn't want to count/write by twos to 60 in his Math workbook.
"It takes too looooong!" (aka, all of 2 minutes)



Along with all of his wonderful, easy going traits
Camden has received a laid back, pokey, {and yes, LAZY!} spirit.
Something we're working hard on...much to his chagrin.

Thankfully, he's not quite as stubborn as he can be lazy

and Mama knows how to break him.

See that smile he's hiding?

Careful, buddy, a smile might crack that frown you worked so hard to accomplish!

Time to wipe the tears...

And get to work...

And, yes, it really is fun...this learning business!

Geesh!

And all because I wanted to show you how proud I am of this boy!

He finished his first 80 lesson Math workbook last week and is now starting on his second.

I chose Horizons because it was what Sonlight offered in their Newcomer package.

And I have fallen in love with it. It is amazing, the material we are covering this year!

Counting, 1-100

Number recognition, all families to 100

Number writing, all families to 100

Number value

Number after/before/between, to 100

Place value, ones and tens

Addition, single digit to all families without regrouping

Subtraction, single digit from all families without regrouping

Money, recognition and value and use of

Time, digital, analog and written

Calendar, naming, writing and reading days of the week, months and seasons

Number theory, recognition of ordinal numbers, even and odd

Comparisons, of items and quantities

Direction and position

Graphs, read and complete bar graphs and pictographs

Measurement, reading length in inches and centimeters, perimeters in inches

Units of measure, identify and count cup, quart, gallon and liter

Fractions, recognize whole, 1/2, 1/3, and 1/4

Sequence, determine what comes next

And this is Kindergarten!

This is what they have to say about their method:

Using a spiral learning technique, children are first introduced to a concept and then asked to solve related and increasingly difficult problems over the course of several days or weeks. The concept then re-emerges in later exercises for a new concept. This frees up the children's minds and does not overwhelm them with too much information. They feel confident because they get to take steady, measured steps, and as they revisit concepts over time, they continually strengthen and reinforce their existing knowledge base.

And it really works!

Camden instinctively knows what he needs to do next and understands the concepts instantly.

They have even incorporated some reading and writing into the problems and he can virtually read all of the instructions on his own...

For instance, on the calendar, he can not only understand how it works but also read the months and days of the week.

So, if you're looking for a great Math program for your littles...I think I've found one! (;

(p.s. Isn't home schooling the coolest?! I mean, where else can you be spiderman while doing math?)