Cleaning up for Tea

Mr. T has a sweeper! It is a wonderful Bissel sweeper and because the handle came in sections, I could just leave one off and it's the perfect length for him. The biggest bonus is that he thinks it's fun, so when I make him clean up a mess he made, he still enjoys it. It is so neat to see him taking initiative and cleaning up when he sees a mess, even if he didn't make it. I hope that we never have to assign "chores" and that he always views helping out the family as a joyful way to serve.

Mr. T got a new ceramic tea set for his birthday. The old one had seen better days and had lost a few pieces (which is why I purchased it hodge podge from thrift store to begin with, but it lasted from Mr. T's 18 month tea discovery till his 3rd birthday) over the year and a half we had it.

He picked out his own cup and saucer. I love the colors of the Fiesta Ware. It is a very happy colored tea set and very sturdy. I am also very fond of Mr. T's big boy haircut, but I wonder where my little boy has gone.

And here he is focusing to make sure the tea pours into the cup, and only into the cup. There was a little spillage, but his coordination has gotten very good. And when we were finished he took his cup and saucer and pot all over to the dishwasher. I think we will be learning about tea sandwiches and making some scones for tea this week. I love how he has really begun to enjoy serving and how easily please and thank you come. I am so proud of the little gentleman and the big helper he is becoming! What is your favorite special time each week with your little ones?

And so he doesn't feel left out, Mr. F has been exploring quite a lot now that he is crawling and trying to pull up!

We are linked up here:

The Home Dairy

 We made cheese! Mozzarella cheese! And it was so yummy and super easy! Mr. T even helped. He helped eat it, too, but there's no surprise there. He's already eating like a teenager :/ Anyway, we had a lot of fun making this easy cheese so I can't wait till we try a more difficult cheese like cheddar!

We used The Home Dairy by Ashley English which is a super fun book to have and even more fun to use!

Mr. T loves to stir, so he stirred the citric acid powder and rennett into the milk as it was heating. 

See? The book is gorgeous on top of being full of yummy things to make!

We have curds!

Kneading the heated curds into a beautiful ball of cheese!

Mom and Mr. T with our mondo mozzarella ball! (Please excuse the housecleaning attire and lack of make up. I'm sure even Martha has her off days ;)

The Georgia Aquarium - A pictorial field trip

We got to go to the Georgia Aquarium with some wonderful friends of ours! We saw the Frogs exhibit and had a blast! And we saw Dolphin Tales for the first time and the giggles and claps and absolute awe it brought to Mr. T's face made me tear up. He is such a joy and  I am so very blessed to be experiencing this wonderful life with him, and soon his little brother, that I am overwhelmed by God's amazing grace. Here are some of the cool things we saw. I hope you enjoy them!

Hi mom!

Elephant nose fishies.

Priceless face :)

Checking out the shark tank with our HS3 buddies.

Shrimp! Yummy!

Lagerhead Sea Turtle.

Very BIG frog!

Monkey frog

Tomato frogs

You could almost pet this guy he was so cute!

Sea Dragon!

Spider Crab

My buddy and me :)

Farm Unit Field Trip - Berry Picking at Lone Oak Farm

The beauty of homeschooling a toddler is that it isn't so much like school. And if you keep the learning fun and follow their lead, as they progress through grades the fun won't end and they will have a wonderful education. So today we tried something new to use with our Farm Unit. We went berry picking at Lone Oak Farm in Grantville. And Mr. T had a blast! It was fun, but I would not recommend berry picking regularly for women who are 30 weeks pregnant. It's a little bit back breaking, but it was so nice to watch Mr. T light up and pick out the berries and squish one or two before he figured out the right way to get them off the stem.

You can tell he was having fun! And he picked better shoes than mommy, who wore her tennis shoes (but did thankfully remember to grab a pair of sandals in "case" my shoes got muddy, which they did!). He went up and down the rows and carried his little bucket and was thrilled for about 25 minutes. That's a pretty good while for a 27 month old who was the only person there besides Mommy.

Mr. Independent just kept on going all the way to the end of the row!He was having a big time exploring.

And as soon as I got a few berries washed off, Mr. T began to eat them. Much like Sal, he tried to eat them while we were picking them, but the sand and dirt deterred him a little.

Success! These are delicious berries! All 2.25 pounds Mr. T picked. And tonight as of Mr. T's bedtime, he's eaten over half of them. I'll have to snack on them or I may not get anymore after he gets up tomorrow! Where have you field tripped to lately?

How Homeschooling is Changing My Heart

Have you ever seen joy? The kind of delight that can only come from learning something new from God? Observing something wonderful and precious and full of perfect design? When I slow down and watch my child learn (which I don't do nearly often enough) I am given the opportunity to see pure joy in action. Perhaps this is why we are told "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is His reward." Psalm 127:3.

I remember thinking homeschooled children were so over protected, and I wondered about the "social" aspect of it until I saw how busy and how many friends my sweet friend Ms. H's little ones had. Over the last 3 years I have learned that there is a huge difference between being too sheltered and being kept safe and "trained up in the way they should go" (Proverbs 22:6) before sending these gifts out into the world. I can look back and see certain points where God was working on my heart now, but at the time I was oblivious. As is usually the case. I find that on the days where I turn it all over to God to let Him lead me in this adventure I have a basket full of tender mercies and fruit of the Spirit. I'm working on having more of those, and thankful for His grace for all the days I fall short.

One of the most surprising things (to me, anyway) is that I'm becoming a better wife and friend and mom the more I get into the servant and teacher mentality I need to bring glory to God in our homeschooling. I am learning to listen to the little nudging to put whatever down and sit with my husband or email a friend. I will get the kitchen cleaned but that "bur" on the deck at the feeder is so important to Mr. T that I need to see it, too. Keeping up with the laundry is a joy when I think about the blessing of the clothes, but more so the ones getting the clothes dirty. And while it takes three times as long to get the laundry folded and put away, it is much more fun when Mr. T is having an Elvis dance party while I work on my chores.

So while Mr. T is learning his number and letters and all about horses and cows, I am learning about patience, gentleness, self-control, serving others above myself and looking for God in the small things. And this is just the beginning. I cannot wait to see what each new day brings , both the good and the bad, the clean and the messy, the peanut butter kisses and the yogurt covered couch. It is all part of the reward I get simply for being my Father's child. How amazing is that? Joy in action.