Biographies, Football, Homework and a Praying Mantis

So today starts out like most others; get Gage off to school, laundry, cook breakfast, clean the kitchen, then head to the front porch with a cup of coffee, my Bible and my 4 young boys. We open the Word to Proverbs 8. We discuss who will read what verses and who will go first, second, third, etc. Sounds like a peaceful beginning to my day, doesn't it? Then it starts... Caleb running back and forth across the porch while squealing, Jonah whining that he can't read without his glasses (The ones that we don't have yet.) and Chase and Noah are waiting for us to actually begin. I often wonder if I should just let them read independently instead. We muster through the chaos and focus in on one verse; Proverbs 18:7 "A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul." We discuss our mouths and what we say and how it affects us and everyone around us. We think about how what comes out of our mouths is a reflection of what is in our hearts. We recite the verse three times and vow to work on our mouths for the day. Just one day at a time.

I spend the next little bit getting them to the table. We are saturating ourselves in history for the month of September. We are studying the Middle Ages. It has been such a history lesson for me! The beginning of the Muslim faith and how it "took over" so many countries and cities and kingdoms. I have to stop and think about how this cycle in history hasn't stopped since it started over 1000 years ago. Sharing with my children and using it as a path to help them understand 9/11 and why we are at war and why we must continue to fight for our freedom to worship the ONE TRUE GOD, our savior Jesus Christ! Yesterday we learned about Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan, and Marco Polo's travels on the Silk Road. Today I gave each child a project to do. Chase - Write a report on Genghis Khan. I gave him a specific format to write it in. This will be a test grade for him. Noah and Jonah - Make a "wanted poster" for Marco Polo. They will do that together. Then each one will make a travel brochure to visit one of the many places Marco Polo explored. Now for Caleb - Write simple sentences about Knights. Answers to questions like, Who were they? How did you become a knight? What did they wear? Sounds like an easy assignment for a third grader, right? This was a gruelling assignment according to Caleb. He worked on it with my help for 1 hour at the football field tonight.

Which leads me to football...Three nights a week my husband and I sit at a 2 hour football practice. Watching, cheering, learning. Noah had a fantastic practice tonight. He plays the position of 3 back. This is his 5th year playing football. He lives for football. I've never seen another child to love it and live it like my Noah: 24/7/365. This year as a 3 back, his dream of running the ball comes true. This is what he has always wanted, a big dream come true. We watched as he held onto that ball as tight as he could and barrelled through boys twice his size. GO NOAH! This is Jonah's 4th year playing football. He is strong and focused. Tonight Jonah was on the other side of the field. We couldn't see him from where we were sitting. Missed most of his action, but when we were talking with the coach after practice, he bragged on Jonah and how hard he was hitting. He told Jonah that he is only a few hits away from being the team's # 1 hitter! GO JONAH!

So, we get home, pile in the house and head to the table. The kids eat like they have been starved for days! (So does Philip.) We clean the kitchen and Daddy is off to say bedtime prayers. I am just beginning to feel like my long day is finally going to be peaceful, when my oldest says, "Mom, I need to stay up real late tonight so I can finish all my homework for tomorrow so that I can go to the Homecoming Game tomorrow night!" SO much for peace and quiet, but Praise the Lord he wants to do homework!

So now, I settle down to my chair, ready to be a happy blogger. I am typing and focused and enjoying myself and out of nowhere flies an insect of some sort. It is large and buzzing around my head. Finally it lands on my screen. It's a praying mantis! What an interesting creature. Well, what kind of homescooling mom would I be if I didn't "catch" it to show my pupils in the morning. This one didn't want to be caught. It flew in my hair, back and forth across the room and tried to hide in my kitchen curtain. After at least 5 attempts, I GOT HIM! I put him in a small mason jar on the table next to me and got right back to my typing. Just as I am about to be done, my Caleb tiptoes downstairs and sneaks up behind me to say he has a "snuffy" nose. It takes only a millisecond for him to spot the unusual creature in the jar. He picks it up and stares at it with amazement. (Guess he's never seen one.) As he enjoys the praying mantis, I attempt to finish my blog. Then I hear the door shut. What was that? It opens and in comes Caleb with an empty jar. So much for science tomorrow. He is proud of the good deed he has done and so am I!