First Day of School

About a month ago, I decided that we were going to be starting school a little early this year.  Looking at the calendar, I picked Monday, August 19th as our start date, and assiduously began preparing.  You see, if I start early, I'm never behind.  Right?  ;-)

I will confess that this year, more than any other previous year, my preparations for the start of the year were minimal.  I'm blessed with awesome curriculum from Sonlight, Peace Hill Press, Apologia, and Math U See.  All of it is open and go.  Sonlight provides great books to read for Bible, History, and Read Aloud, along with a super easy to follow weekly schedule.  Peace Hill Press gives Luke super specific writing and grammar instruction.  Apologia is an open and go Astronomy course with handy dandy science journals included.  And Math U See - well it just rocks.

Anyway, I didn't pull out all the stops this year by planning all kinds of extra activities, but I was so pleased with how our first day went and the subsequent days since.  I see this as God's hand in our lives, providing us with exactly what we need to homeschool despite increasing our current ministry roles.  Check it out.

Normally I would have had our school table and school room completely prepped and ready to go the night before school started.  This just did not happen this year.  What with being trained for my new position as a class Children's Supervisor and preparing to train new Children's Leaders, I just did not find the time to do any of this until the morning of August 19th.  As it turns out, the boys don't really care if there are welcome signs or not.  They also don't know the difference between Mommy doing all this at 9pm or Mommy doing all this at 6am.  It's all the same to them.  Here is our table prepped and ready to go about two hours before the start of our first day.

It's hard to believe that this will be our fourth year doing this.  I love how much the boys have grown and learned. I also love how much the Lord has grown me and taught me through this journey.  That could be a whole other post.  I digress.  Here is our traditional First Week of School Sign.

Another First Day Tradition - The Grade Level Sign Picture.  First Grade, huh?  That's nuts.

The Third Grader.  Wow.

At the absolute last moment, and I mean less than twelve hours before our first day of school was slated to begin, Erik and I were able to escape to Fred Meyer together to grab First Day of School goodies.  This is pretty simple.  We like to give the boys something fun and cool on the first day that is also useful in their educational endeavors.  This year we found these cool articulated rulers.  Luke discovered he could do this with his.  Love it.

 It's a tie like the Daddy-Man wears.  Um...adorable.

 Paul follows suit and is equally cute.

The next bit of work is the First Day of School Questionnaire.  This fun little document asks the student to record his name, age, and numerous favorites including their favorite book from the summer and their favorite food (useful to Mommy when planning special meals during the year).

Luke's favorite book was The Happy Hollisters and the Whistle Pig Mystery.  Paul's favorite book was Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes.  If you are unfamiliar with the Happy Hollisters, think 1950's siblings solving mysteries together and saying words like "swell" and "golly".  My Luke loves it.  Mercy Watson, on the other hand, is a pig living with people who think she's a person.  But she's not.  She's all pig.  It's highly hilarious, and Paul adores it.  

For the record, I think my favorite book from the summer was The World According to Humphrey, a tale told from the perspective of a classroom hamster who knows what's important in life.  I was clued into this title because it was on Sonlight's summer reading list.  I was pre-reading it for the boys, and now I'm addicted to the Humphrey series.  Yes, I will be reading them to the boys this year.  They aren't part of a curriculum but they are PERFECT for reading aloud.  Humphrey's narration is so engaging and lends itself to fun voices and lots of expressive reading.  I also remember my teachers reading to me after lunch each day all through elementary school.  Even though I spend about an hour reading subject matter to the boys, including literature, they cannot get enough of this.  Besides, I want an excuse to buy the Humphrey books and read all of them!  ;-)

 Working hard on their questionnaires.  Has anyone noticed that it works perfectly to have one leftie and one rightie?  I sit in the middle and nobody bumps elbows.  Sometimes it's the little details so perfectly orchestrated that remind me of how good God is.

 The teacher with the students

Once we finished our seatwork (the questionnaires, a little handwriting for Paul, some narration for Luke, and a math page for both) we moved on to our History and Read Aloud time for the morning.  This is when things got cool.  The first book for History this year is all about different peoples of the world.  The opening pages highlight all the many cool differences amonst the various cultures of the world.  One of the highlighted differences was currency.  Cue the Holy Spirit inspired moment.  I remembered that we have this rather large shoe box of foreign currency from all over the world in the basement, thanks to Dave and Lynne.  Miraculously, and that's no exaggeration, I was able to quickly find this box and extract it from one of our messiest rooms.  Are you seeing the goodness of God, people?  Because I never should have even remembered this box existed, let alone been able to lay hands on it quickly.  But both happened.  And the boys LOVED the results.  We read about foreign currency being a thing and then they got to touch it and sort it and talk about it and compare it.  Um.  I would love to take credit for this fabulous educational moment, but let's not kid ourselves.  Jesus Christ did this for me.  I've been busy preparing for ministry all summer.  He's going to take care of this homeschool thing for me.  I'll show up.  I'll open the books.  I'll make sure the kids are fed, but Jesus is going to be the one who provides all the cool educational moments this year.  I am grateful.

 The boys, the book and the coins.  So fun.

 This was Paul's favorite coin.  He says it's smooth like chocolate.  Check out the close up below.

It's a 1906 penny from Great Britain, I believe.  There might be some cool coin collecting in the boys' future.

And lastly, remember that last minute trip to Fred Meyer?  I really wanted to present the boys with something special for their first day of school.  I like their first day gifts to be imaginative and cheap.  Guess what Jesus provided?  These masks on clearance for $4 each.  What?!?  That's just awesome.

I'm super excited about this school year, not because I have it all together and feel like I'm really going to conquer the worlds of first and third grade with these boys.  It's more the exact opposite.  I don't have it all together this year.  My ducks are not only not all in a row, I'm thinking some of them have waddled away.  And it's going to be fine.  In fact, it's going to better than fine.  As I depend less on myself and more on the Lord Jesus Christ, He will not only provide what we need, but He will grow us and teach us together.  I love home schooling.

Luke's 8th Birthday Post

This past spring, I knew that this summer was going to be very full, hence the brilliant double birthday party idea first proposed by my brilliant sister.  I'm so glad we did.  Luke's 8th birthday was over two weeks ago.  We totally celebrated, but this is the first chance I've had to blog it.  Here is all that sweet goodness.

First, a flashback.

This is the little man who made me a mom eight years ago.  Blessed?  Yes, I am.

He's only changed a little in eight years.

Luke's birthday began with the building of the traditional Bangsund Birthday Train, followed by a hug from his brother...

...and a gift from his family.

It's Star Wars LEGO.  It was a very popular choice.  All the males in the house were intrigued.

I just love the way the LEGO draws our family together.  Am I crazy?  Perhaps.  But mostly I just feel so happy that my boys and their father have things they love to do together.

Let the building commence!

I know I'm biased, but I love this boy a lot.  He is soft-hearted toward God, sometimes kind to his brother, and occasionally obedient to his parents.  And he's pretty stinkin' patient with me as I attempt to figure this whole parenting thing out.

After a morning of building LEGO and playing with his brother, we headed for birthday lunch at Elmer's, with special guests, Grandma and Grandpa.  I've probably said it before but I like Elmer's.  There are no TVs in the restaurant and the kids' menu has breakfast all day.  It's the perfect place for my people!

Okay, I actually took this next picture a few days before Luke's birthday, but I HAD to include it.  Why?  Take a peek, people.  No booster seat.  Cool and crazy for sure.

Birthday lunch was great.  Luke had waffles and a side of fries, which he dipped in his syrup.  It was his birthday.  I figured it only comes once a year.  This epic meal was followed by...

 More Star Wars LEGO!!!  Good pick, Grandma!

I took this picture because Paul is smitten with this character, Admiral Ackbar, even though he's never seen the films.  Paul doesn't care.  He just knows this guy is cool.  He's right.

The final build of the day and this was one happy eight year old.  Eight?!?  What the...?  How did that happen?

Stay tuned for more posts including our first day of school and other exciting events.

Fourteen Years Blessed

Erik and I are alone at the cabin celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary.  We have spent the day reminiscing about that day, going through all the moments, funny and poignant, difficult and delightful.  No wedding day is perfect, or at least it shouldn't be.  

I love that our wedding day had a few flaws.  It rained and our reception had to be moved indoors at the last moment.  We both just rolled with it.  How like real life marriage was that?  I see these elaborate weddings where the bride (and sometimes the groom) are so very focused on every little aesthetic detail, sometimes to the detriment of their actual relationship.  A wedding should have a few mess-ups, people.  It will help everyone remember the realities of marriage.  It is not a Happily Ever After venture, folks.  Yes, there are amazingly awesome moments to come.  But there are also heartbreaks and disappointments on the horizon.  

What will the Happily Ever After couple do when they face medication trials for uncontrolled seizures and a spouse who has to surrender their license because of those seizures?  In sickness and in health.  Or what about under-employment and the prospect of losing the first house they bought together?  For better or for worse.  As we have faced these and other situations during our marriage, it has not felt like a fairy tale.  There have been definite nightmarish moments.  I know that if we had not been looking to Jesus Christ, focused on Him and trusting Him, one or both of us might have quit.  But that's not what we said fourteen years ago.  Our promises were not just to each other.  They were to the Living God, Yahweh, the creator of the universe and the lover of our souls.  We made a covenant with Him and with each other.  We will stay.  We will love sacrificially so that we see Christ clearer and are able to show others the reality of His love.

We did not actually understand all of this when we said those words, folks.  And I actually don't think we comprehend our vows completely yet.  I know there is more growth, more joy, and yes, more pain to come.  We are simply blessed to be united in our journey.  Our marriage is like our wedding day, imperfect, yet desiring to point to Jesus Christ, our Savior and our God.

Double Birthday Party Goodness

Today was the day.  We celebrated Paul's 6th Birthday and Luke's 8th Birthday with a double birthday party at Bricks 4 Kidz (I despise that z, but there's nothing I can do about it).  It was altogether epic.

Before the pictures, I must give credit publicly to my amazing sister.  When I was in New York in June, I shared with her the higher level of commitment we are being called to in BSF this year.  I mentioned that I wasn't sure how the boys' birthdays were going to work because I knew already that I would have one training the day before Paul's birthday and another the day of Luke's birthday, followed by a third the day afterward.  My incredibly wise sister looked at me and said two words that changed my life forever.  Combine. Them.  WHAT?!?  She went on to describe how smart it would be to pick a date between the boys birthdays (and also between the trainings), rent out a super awesome place, and throw one massive party this year.  It took me three seconds to realize my sister is a complete genius.  I quickly decided to implement her plan.

The second song of praise is for my fabulous husband Erik.  When I shared these thoughts with him over the phone that night, he immediately said, "I have the place."  Done and done.  I didn't really care where we ended up.  And Erik picked a winner.

Bricks 4 Kids (I can't type that "z" again) is an awesome place run by awesome people.  It specializes in LEGO camps and after school activities, but it also throws a pretty sweet party.  For the first hour, the kids just played with massive tubs of LEGO on big tables while the parents sat in comfortable couches on the other side of the sound proof windows enjoying hummus and fresh vegetables, listening to Pandora.  The level of quiet and concentration in that room made me realize the superiority of this place over something like JJ Jump.  Oh. My. Word.  No comparison, people.  Our guests were able to build and create using their imaginations.  They were even supplied with special kits, if desired, to help them complete builds with moving parts.  A plane with motorized propellors, people.  Instead of bruises and sweaty children.  Yep.

The food was served in a separate room on tables I didn't set with pizza I didn't bake or pick up.  Magic.  When it was time for cake, Tommie, Awesome Bricks 4 Kids Man, appeared with a lighter.  I started the singing, and I think that was my only responsibility of the day.  It was hard, but someone had to do it.  Erik recorded that business.  I'll see if I can get it to upload.

The present room came next, with a table for each boy.  We happened upon a fun new tradition.  With two birthday boys and a Mommy who wanted to maintain order, we decided to have each child present their gifts in turn.  It worked PERFECTLY!  Each family had a set of siblings, one of whom had brought a specific gift for the Birthday Boy closest to their age.  Jeffrey gave Paul his gift.  Nathan gave Luke his gift.  And so on, back and forth, until everyone had presented a gift.  The guests LOVED it.  There's something special about handing something to someone and then getting to sit next to them while they open it.  It's more personal.  My favorite moment was when Paul nearly blew the hair off Jeffrey's head with his authentic and excited THANK YOU!

Did I mention that the entire time, Tommie, the aforementioned Man of Awesomeness, was walking around with a really expensive digital camera, snapping close up pics of the guests and the Birthday Boys?  Well, he was.  I took a few shots, but I mostly sat back and enjoyed the party.

And now comes the part that I think is super amazing and awesome.  I don't know how many of you recall Luke's party last year, but it was unique because he decided to raise money for a well in Haiti.  This year I was sad that nothing like this was going to happen.  Still waiting for the well, I've struggled to think about focusing the boys on something new.  Both boys got a fair amount of cash as part of their gifts today.  I want to say that each boy probably got about $20.  That's serious bank in their world, people.  On the way home, I just mentioned in passing that perhaps the Backyard Bible Club they are going to attend this coming week will have an opportunity for them to give to those in need.  They both lit up and Paul actually said, "I'm going to give all my money, mom.  Because I want to give everything to Jesus."  He's serious.  He has his needs and some of his wants provided for.  It is easy for him to give.  I need to be more like my six year old son.

Will we do this again?  Perhaps.  Or maybe next year, we will find a way to combine the parties and raise money for a new well without spending on a rental and still allowing the Mommy the opportunity to enjoy the party.  Hmmm...what would that look like?  We have a whole year to brainstorm, people.  Comment with your ideas!

And now for the pics.

 Totally awesome Ninjago Lego centerpiece

 The food room with Totally Awesome Tommie doing last minute prep...not me.  So cool.

 The Cake - it's dairy-free and those are collectible mini figs on it.  And it looks like someone is turning 86.  LOVE it.

 They like cake, people.

 Free Play Space in front.  Parental Sanity Space behind the glass.

 Sorry about the glare, but I didn't want to interrupt the build.  Paul and a guest build a plane with motorized props.

 Ready to eat!

 Presents!  Paul on this side...

 Luke on this side!  He's holding up a homemade card from a friend.  So cool.

Luke shares another homemade card with the Daddy-Man.  Pretty sweet.

When Tommie gets me the pics he took, I'll probably post a few more.

And as Erik so jubilantly proclaimed as we got in the van to come home, we're done!!  Beautiful.