He Is Risen!

Farewell March

 

by Jewel

 

I don't know why these kids were here, but we enjoyed them as usual. Kiowa loves to help around the house, especially at Grandma's house!

 

 

Both these kids love the tire swing, even though you can't tell about Flint in this picture. I don't know what his problem is, but I think it probably didn't last long.

 

Kiowa was very impressed with the snake Josh brought home from the creek and simply loves it. Flint wasn't terribly impressed which was surprising especially since he's usually all about stuff like that. Oh well. Give him a couple of years... 

 

Kiowa was so funny. She didn't want to give it back to Josh at first.

 

 

I think this was on a Friday when Levi and Echo closed on their old house. These kids sure love playing at Grandma's house.

 

 

I guess this must have been Wednesday, since we have this sweet little Anya baby. She is absolutely, totally, and completely adooorable.

 

We also had Joelle, and since she had major bed head after her nap, Sarah gave her a super cute water sprout. Even Ben thought it was cute.

 

 

Mom has been having problems with her sewing machine lately, so her newest project is to try to fix it, but I don't know whether or not she was successful.

 

 

Josh got on a chess kick lately, and so he and Jake spent one evening playing chess.

 

Josh is showing how he can climb up door jams, which is actually more than most people around here can do (except for Katie, as we have evidence of in earlier posts).

 

Dad and Mom are remembering how handy it is to have an electrician in the house again. I know this was a Saturday because Dad and Jake didn't have work.  

 

This is the second 2000 piece puzzle we did so far this winter, the first one being the America puzzle. Ben didn't do much on it. He maybe did one piece just to say he helped.

 

We had Jesse & Lucy and Levi & Echo over one night.  Anybody in this family who hasn't held Jason yet has no excuse if they try to complain their way into getting a turn for him first.

 

Kiowa is enthralled with her new cousin, and Flint doesn't quite know what to think of this new little kid who always comes to Grandpa and Grandma's house with Jesse and Lucy now.

 

 I don't really know when this was.

 

In that warm snap, everybody got in the habit of going on jogs and walks, and a lot of times some of us would end up at the lake on the rope swing (funny how that happens).

 

Say goodbye to the last of the three pine trees to the south of the house. Ben got the job of hauling this last one to the south grove and later cutting it apart and burning it. I don't think anybody was sad to see it go, as it tended to block our view, especially from the patio and Dad and Mom's bedroom windows.  

 

A day's work.

 

And that's the end of March.

Staying Home 101

Good morning! My friend Dawn wrote this excellent note and gave me permission to share. It's a short but powerful read. Many similar thoughts have been swirling in my head recently but I never had the chance to do anything with them. And Dawn did this so beautifully I won't try to re-do it.

However, I will add one more point. This from Ruth, not Dawn. Give yourself the gift of QUIET at some point. For 20 years I've homeschooled, and our blessed but loud home can be exhausting. That hour (half hour? two hours?) of quiet every afternoon is so important for me to rest, pray, read, meditate, put my head back together, refill my fuel tank, remind myself of these other ten points, etc. Maybe others don't need this, but I always have and still do. If my tank is empty, I have nothing for anyone else.

Understand here, I don't have this mastered, rather I'm far from it; but, I would have to say that #10 CHOOSE JOY is the most important.
God bless each of you as you invest in your kids!


This from Dawn:  Staying Home 101

Many of you have been abruptly thrown into a new role of homeschooling your children with no chance to pray, plan, or prepare in advance. This is definitely a sink or swim situation!  I’ve compiled a few tips that have been helpful to me during my years of being at home with my children.

1. This is hard. But hard is good because it stretches us, and we grow in ways that aren’t possible when life is easy and predictable. Pray for grace.  You don’t have to do this in your own strength.

2. There’s nothing like having everyone home for an extended period to flush out heart issues in our children and ourselves. This is not a bad thing. While working through these heart issues, offer grace to your family members. They, too, are adjusting to the change.

3. Each day you have at home with your family is a gift. Don’t wish it away. Live each day purposefully and intentionally.  Soon enough this opportunity will be gone, and your calendar will be full again. You might even decide you don’t want to go back to such a hectic schedule.

4. Every new job has a learning curve. This is new for both you and your children; bumps are to be expected. Allow yourself time to learn how to stay home together.  Add your name to the reward chart—your children will love having Mom participate in the challenge! 

5. Any job would be chaotic if no one knew what to expect, or what they should be doing when. Create a schedule and follow it. Set your alarm, get up and get dressed each morning.  Be in work-mode during the week and save ‘Saturday’ mode for the weekend. It won’t take long for your days to fall into a pattern and start running more smoothly. 

6. Don’t expect to do it all yourself. You don’t have to—now you have helpers at home! Train your family to help run the household. Your new job position is Manager.

7. It may feel like every aspect of your homelife needs help NOW. Choose one behavior issue and one household system (laundry, meals, etc.) to work on at a time. Although everything seems to need attention at once, you will accomplish more this way with less overwhelm.

8. Your goals may have to change. Prioritize character training over perfection.  Use daily chores to teach diligence and obedience.  Loving and serving others are great accomplishments! At the end of the day, it is the eternal, not the temporal, that matters.

9. Your well will run dry if you are not drawing from the living waters that God so graciously offers us. Spend time in the Word every day, together with your family as well as alone in your own personal devotions. You will always have time for what you do first.

10. Dear Sister, you are the heart of your home. Choose joy. Your positive attitude, cheerful disposition, creative spirit, and quiet heart will bless your family and cushion your children from the anxiety of the times we are living through. We are making memories—let’s make them good ones!  

I have been spending my days, one day at a time, serving the Lord at home with children for 35 years. Every day has not been easy, but I can assure you that God is faithful in giving us the added grace needed to be with our children around the clock.  You are doing a noble work and making a worthy investment! I am praying for you.  Dawn Herrmann

 

Still More March CatchUp

by Sarah

Last Wednesday I babysat this sweet little girl! We were sitting there listening to music, and Anya was loving it!

And then her eyes slowwwwly started drifting shut....

….and then she was out!

But then after her nap she was absolutely a cheese ball!

Wednesday night we listened to church from home.

 

Friday we headed to Levi and Echo's to help clean before their moving day on Saturday, but then upon hearing that Governor Pritzker was going to make an announcement at noon, they decided to go ahead and move Friday afternoon, because they figured that he would be announcing a lockdown which would prevent them from moving Saturday.

 

 

This little guy was soo cute all day!

 

For lunch we had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

 

And most of us kids ate in the porch. Kiowa was being a little cheese ball for her aunts and uncles!

 

 Saturday Dad did some pruning on the peach trees. Jake moved home also, so there was kind of a big bedroom switch around.

 

 

And, the bag of hash browns spilled everywhere because some stupid manufacturer somewhere made the bag absolutely impossible to open, so when it did finally open, it flew everywhere.

Sunday we had church at home again.

 

 

 And Jesse and Lucy came over so we all got to see sweet little baby Jason!

That night then, Levi and Echo came over for supper and the evening.

 

Flinty is like in love with Ben and it's so cute watching them do things together!

Kiowa and Flint are both huge fans of the hoverboard.

And Legos with Uncle Ben are always fun! Kiowa had a great time wrecking this house after he gave her permission.

Flint was helping give Levi a shoulder massage.

 

Monday, there wasn't much going on besides guitar playing, school, and puzzling.

 

Tuesday Echo and Lucy came over for lunch.

 

And books are always a favorite around here.

 

Wednesday we didn't have any little kiddoes, because a lot of parents have off work, so it was just a stay home and do school - work outside - puzzle type of day.

 

 

On Thursday morning we finished the 2000-piece puzzle that we started on Tuesday. It was actually really fun. But of course, there were lots of hands helping. Mom, Tori, and I were the main ones doing it, with Jewel and Josh helping at random times. And now that it's finished, we are starting another 2000-piece one which will hopefully be as fun as this one was!

 So that's about it from Kaiser household!