School days...

Well school started back in our district today. This meant back to work for this wonderful man...

I can't tell you how much we enjoy our summers together and especially now that the girls have come along. This summer ended a little differently for me though...no return to work. I have been blessed with such an awesome husband. He has always been caring, devoted, and my best friend. This year he, along with God's provision, is allowing me to stay home to be with my girls. This was a very difficult decision for both of us since we literally cut our income more than in half. Phil has always been an exceptionally hard worker and I admire that in him. Since the decision was made he started his own mowing business to supplement our income. Even with doing extra jobs here and there, we know that it is truly going to take God's provision for us to make it through this year and we have no doubt that He will take care of us. Thanks be to God for providing the way for me to stay home and thank you Phil for allowing me to stay hoome and all your hard work. I love you and your girls miss you now that you're back at work!

So you might be thinking, what do you do all day at home with a two (almost three) year old and four month old? Some probably think it's a day of leisure just lying on the couch watching TV. That could be the case if I wanted it to be I guess, but that's just it...I don't want it to be that way. I wanted to stay home with my girls so I could build even stronger relationships with them, make memories, teach them, train them up in God's ways. We have been off to a good start of that this week!

The days we've been home this week we've got into a routine. (Riley and I are both very routine people and function best when we are on that routine!) We eat breakfast, watch one cartoon while I feed Josie, then play for a bit. Then it's "school time!" Yes, I know she's three but I have seen what a sponge she is at this age so I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to teach her as much as I can. Right now this time consists of alphabet flashcards where she says the letter, sound, and word. It's amazing how good she's gotten! She can recognize all of her letters and knows most every sound and word that goes with the letters! We then practice a bit of writing. Now this has been challenging, more for me I guess! I have to constantly remind myself that she's just a toddler and her fine motor skills are not completely there yet. SOOO, we will keep working on that.

My favorite part of the day is our Bible lesson time. This week we have focused on the story of the creation. We read a story out of her Bible book and then memorized the scripture, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," Genesis 1:1. Again, she's such a sponge! She had it memorized in two tries! She's better at memorizing scripture than I am. Today we made Rice Crispy treat Earths to reemphasize that God made the earth. We made a green and a blue batch of treats then were suppose to smash them together in a ball. They were extremely sticky to begin with so we couldn't do anything but get the stuff stuck to our hands. Finally after it sat for a bit, we created our Earth. Here are some pictures from that little adventure...

As you can see, Riley wants to be involved in every step! I think it could be very easy to get frustrated when she doesn't do things exactly the way I think they should be done but I'm trying hard to just be patient and allow her to explore and make memories with me.

We had a great day together and I am just full of such joy being with my girls. More adventures and memories to come...