So what have we been up to?
BSF started back up for the year
BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) started in September. I love BSF because it really encourages me to get into the Word. It's also so good for the kids. When Balian hears the word "Bible" he now says "Twoo Wud", because he is learning that the Bible is God's True Word. Today he brought me a bible, and I said "Balian, do you have a Bible?" He nodded yes and said "Twoo Wud." I said "Yes, it is God's True Word. What are you reading about?" Without hesitation he said "Jesus...on cross." I love it! (Of course, I know this is more than just BSF - I just love to see them soaking in everything. It's such an important time for teaching and molding!)
I'm really at this wrestling point right now. Just wrestling with God's Word about something specific...that just so happened to be what we studied the very first lesson of BSF (coincidence? Not likely...) However, my wrestling wasn't finished after studying that lesson...and although it caused me to dig even deeper in God's Word for the Truth, it caused me to get frustrated with the BSF study, because the conclusion that they came to for the answer didn't line up with what I was seeing in scripture. I know this is totally ok, because well...I'm still wrestling. I've never been one to take man's word for it. I've always been the student that sunday school teachers hate to have. I ask a million questions - ask Why? and Where do you find that? over and over... Because of this, I'm confident that I will continue to learn a lot this year, even if it is simply because the BSF study causes me to dig deeper into the Word - which is always a good thing. In the meantime, I'm still wrestling :)
We started a new home school curriculum with Bella
As I was doing my own thing with Bella during the summer, and as I was gearing up for what I was going to do with her this year for school, I was realizing more and more how ahead she was with her academics. Up to this point, I've just been going at her pace - challenging her with something new once she had a concept down. I started looking at some math games, etc. at a Teacher Aids store and was looking at all the Pre-K stuff and saying "seriously...Bella is way beyond this." Even with some Kindergarten stuff, it seemed really easy. So then I started looking up what a kid needs to know before and after Kindergarten, and I realized that she is definitely ready academically for Kindergarten...if not something more advanced. I decided to go with Kindergarten, mainly because I didn't want to push her too hard - I wanted to make sure it was fun for her, but not too easy as well. So I started looking at curricula, and decided on My Father's World. Some stuff still seems a bit easy for her, but I like the way the curriculum is set up, and it just seemed like a logical flow with good activities, and everything kinda spelled out for me (definitely a good thing). It doesn't take all that long to do, so there's time left to do other activities with her that I want to do...and I'm able to easily incorporate the curriculum into our "circle time" and all that. So far I really like it, and I'm able to include Balian in a lot of our activities as well, which is always a plus :)
I got Salmonella...or at least something like it
As everybody was leaving our house after celebrating Balian's birthday, I started feeling really bad. A couple days later, still not totally over this stuff, we hear about the Listeria outbreak. Nope, hadn't had any cantaloupe, but the symptoms were pretty much exactly the same. They also seemed just like the symptoms that Bella had when she had Salmonella when she was like 15 months old. Two words. Not. Cool. Amazingly enough, I was able to stay hydrated enough that I was able to continue breastfeeding throughout being sick. On my worst day, Neil would bring me Isaiah to feed him, and when I was done feeding him, I would just give him right back, roll over, and go back to sleep. I know that it's pretty much impossible to go throughout life without being exposed to something like this. Our immune systems can handle a lot. My immune system just must have been down for some reason. I'm always SUPER careful when I cook - I separate contaminated stuff from the stuff that isn't - I wash my hands about a million times - I wipe down counters like crazy - you name it. Just a fluke thing. Took about a week to get over, and probably another week to really be back to normal. Not exactly the best way to lose those last 5 lbs. of pregnancy weight, but oh, well...
I've been trying to use my time more wisely
Do you ever have those realizations of how much time you're wasting doing something that ultimately doesn't matter? That was me. I mean really...I say I don't have time to get such-and-such done...but then I'm wasting time on Facebook? It was really much worse than even that. There's so much more than the time factor as well. Looking for others' approval. Spending more time online than in the Word. I just really felt convicted about a LOT. So that's why I took a break. It was much needed. Good time with Jesus. Lots of time devoted to other things I had been neglecting. I'm praying what I have learned continues to guide my actions and my thoughts.
Balian turned 2 and Isaiah is 7 months...keep your eye out for more on these later! :)
