I want more days like today

It was such a nice, calm, loving day. I so want more of these days.

The devotion today was entitled “Do a grouch a favor day.” We can chose to be grouchy or not and we can help a grouchy person by being a positive person. Then it asked us to list all the good things in our life and to thank God for those blessings.

Today for reading JD read his “Boy No More” book independently. I reread the Purpose Driven Life from yesterday and took notes. Looks like two different days when you look at yesterday’s interpretation and today’s. We were created in the image of God. We are intellectual, relational, and have moral conscious. To assist us in developing our Christ-like characteristics we should follow four readings from the bible.
1. The beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5:1-12),
2. The fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23),
3. Paul’s great chapter on love (1 Corinthians 13),
4. Peter’s list of characteristics of an effective and productive life (2 Peter 1:5-8).
The thing about being sanctified is the second we hear to do something from God we should do it. Don’t wait until we are brave enough or powerful enough. God knows what’s best. Our responsibilities to becoming more like Christ are letting go of old ways, change the way we think, and develop new Godly habits. Some people think that by isolating themselves they will become more Godly. This is not the case. Only in dealing with people, circumstances, and environments can we grow and mature. I know before I home schooled JD I would ask myself and half heartedly God “What career path should I take?” The truth is God can use me anywhere doing anything. What’s important is that whatever I do I need to do it with a Christ-like manner. After all I will only be taking my characteristics not my career into eternity. (With all my “supply” background, I still think I will be in charge of the manna distribution for the AM shift - smile)

Today was the final day of fractions, decimals, and percentages! The lesson took different recipes and increase one ingredient and asked up to increase another so the ratio of flour to sugar was brought up by the same amount. **Pray for me, Algebra tomorrow.**

We finished identifying the individual states last week. So we started a new study. We’re now placing the state capitals in those states. During the flashcard “game” we did not do good. But by the end of the month we’ll have them down. I also had him pick three more states to find facts on. Today JD picked: Colorado, Oregon, and West Virginia.

Language arts and email/snail mail were sort of combined today. First we did a lesson on writing a “convincing letter.” Jonathan’s letter was somewhat convincing. First, the lesson re-taught him webbing. That is to take the main idea “new video game” and write it in the center of the paper. Then , draw three lines off of the main idea. These will be the main reasons. He came up with: happy, loving, and obedient. Lastly, he gave three more supporting reasons for the main reasons. We followed what the example said on the lesson and this is what he came up with.

Dear Mommy and Daddy 16 Feb 2010
I would really like a new video game and I have three really good reasons why. First, it would make me very happy to have a new video game. Second, I would be more loving. Lastly, I would be more obedient. If I got a new video game I would be so happy. It would be a lot of fun for me. I probably wouldn’t get bored. It would occupy my time. I would be the most loving kid ever. I would give you so many hugs. I would do more things with both of you. I think I would be less grouchy. I would be more obedient. I would wake up on time. I would try to stay positive. I would go to bed on time. And I would brush my teeth when told. So you see having a new video game would make me very happy. I would be more loving. And I would be more obedient.
Love, Jonathan

I dictated the letter for him from his web drawing and printed it out. I then changed the font to white for key words and sentences and printed that. I cut out those key words and sentences from the first print and had him paste them in the letter that I had whited out to practice sequencing without all the writing. He performed this independently until completion.

GREAT NEWS! I received a “teachers bonus” today! (Because as you know this job only pays in hugs and kisses.) I think this particular lesson made him think that if this well thought out letter wasn’t convincing enough that he could make up some points by…get this…washing our lunch dishes…WITHOUT BEING TOLD! (Those aliens snuck in again! Ok, where’s my son? What have you done with him?) As I was busy cutting words I could hear the dishes moving from the dishwasher to the cabinets and the silverware into the drawer. (Did you ever read the fable about the Shoemaker and the Elves? I thought the “dishes elves” were in my kitchen. I didn’t dare get up to look at them or even speak to them for fear that I would scare them off. I mean after all I can use all the help I can get around here. **Jeff helps, thanks babe) Ok, get off the floor and back into your chair because it gets 100% better. He came over while I was still cutting words and said, “I washed the dishes for you.” I said, “Yeah I heard you over there. So you did our lunch dishes?” He said, “Yep and I put the away the dishes in the dishwasher.” I said, “Well thank you very much. I appreciate that.” (Get your tissue.) Then he said, “I didn’t want to wait until Mother’s Day to give you your present.” (Seriously! How did he say that without even cracking a smile? It’s what February? Mom’s day is in May. That’s 1, 2, 3, 4 months away!) Days like yesterday get completely erased from my growing mind by day’s like today.

Today in science we completed the coins experiment. Remember we had a dime and a penny in water, vinegar, and salt water? Today we looked at them, recorded observations, dried them off and looked closely at them to see which one looked cleaner. That’s when we noticed the coins in vinegar underwent some significant changes. The dime looked like a “play coin” and the penny had a hole right in front of Lincoln’s face. So this prompted JD to say, “We should put it back in the vinegar and put another penny in it too to see if it erodes too.” (My little scientist.) He does well with these thought processes. Now if I can just continue to keep his attention he might just be a famous scientist.



We had a “Fractions, decimals, and percentages are finally over” party! I bought 6 cupcakes and had the lady at Food Lion write two fractions, two percentages, and two decimals on them. (I think she thought I was crazy.) She said, “You want me to spell “fraction” and “percent” on a cupcake. It won’t fit.” I said, “No, just write ¼, %, and 0.99.” (Dah!) Jeff was able to participate in our party. We had soda, chips, and cupcakes to celebrate our long hard journey with Fractions! Then we promptly went outside and had a small bonfire and burned out “no fractions” sign.