Monday, November 26, 2007

How to Make a 9 Year Old Girl Happy!

Sewing!
At Least This 9 Year Old!!!
             
This is not the best picture, but I had to share it  because Alexis absolutely loved making this scarecrow.  I am so proud of her efforts.  I think she did a great job!  This is the 1st time that I let her use the sewing machine mostly unsupervised.  If you can see the details, you can tell this is definitely a 1st for that.  (She actually has used a sewing machine before - our Keeper's girls made wall hanging quilts a few years ago, but it involved straight lines and much supervision.)  The scarecrow is the fruit of a 3 week unit study on Seamstress and Sewing Machines.  (See earlier post.)  Alexis learned all the necessary parts of the machine, and enjoyed her time running it.  We did not get to the hand stitching that I had hoped to work on with her.  Hopefully we will have some time for that during the Christmas holiday.

The Good:  The Best of Sewing Machine Fun for Kids was a wonderful starting point.  I gave my pre-trying out opinion in an earlier post, but I have to say it was a big hit with my sweet daughter.  I photocopied all the allowable sewing practice pages and she went to town using the machine with no thread.  The author has several fun learning activities included in the book as well.  It also includes a few small cute project for students to do.

In Their Own Words:  Betsy Ross - This was an easy reader.  That worked out well because it gave Alexis more time to sew.  An added bonus; since we visited Philadelphia over the summer, her memory was quite fresh of many of the locations mentioned in the book.  

The Bad:  Three weeks went by way too fast.  I felt terrible putting the sewing machine away.  However, we had to get ready for our Thanksgiving guests...

The Ugly:  Well, I would have to say it was reading about Isaac Singer.  I knew that he led a colorful life, but had no idea just how much so until we read a short biography.  Wow!  That is all I can say.  I don't think I'll ever quite look at sewing machines the same...

Anyway- again, it was a fun 3 weeks, and we are now moving onto The Jesse Tree and notebooking our state history!

Friday, November 16, 2007

My Father-in-Law

A Man Who Is Commendable Before The Lord 

One of the biggest blessings our family of 5 has is our extended family.  At this time, my thoughts are especially reflecting on my father-in-law.  You see, he is in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease.  Only the Lord knows for sure, but these upcoming holidays may be the last that he is able to spend in our home.  That is extremely painful to say.  So, it is with a heavy heart that I write a few of my thoughts about how blessed we all are to have him a part of our lives. 

After first meeting my Father-In-Law, I walked away with the impression that he is a man with quiet strength.  He did not speak much, but had a quick wit, and came across as a true gentleman who is extremely devoted to the Lord, my mother-in-law, and his two sons.
 
As time passed, I could plainly see that he is a man who "walks the walk" of his Christian faith.  With so many outstanding qualities, there is much good that can be said about him.  If ever there was a real life hero, he is that to me.  I can not emphasize enough what a gift he has been to us all. 

As a husband, he loves, honors, and cherishes his wife.  They stood united always.  If he disagreed with her in anything, it must have been done it in private – he never disagreed with her in front of us – including (to my knowledge) my husband when growing up.  His love for her was very evident.  They were and still are, best friends.

He led his sons by example to show them how Christ wants us to live. He has given them sound advice, and has been a witness to them on how a man should love his wife.  Whatever situation one of them was in, he was quick to say, "What can I do to help?"  From the time David and I started our family, his parents were always there to celebrate holidays and birthdays with us.  In addition, whenever we needed them, they would travel almost 5 hours to help us out.  When at our home, my father-in-law would just look around and see what needed to be done – then do it.  Hedges trimmed, trees cut back, repairs to the house – he was a tremendous help and support to us. 

I am writing this before Thanksgiving because it is a holiday in which we reflect on what we are thankful for.  The Lord has blessed me with a my father-in-law's son, a wonderful husband and his 3 beautiful grand-children.  I am so thankful that He chose them all to be a part of my life.  Never in my wildest dreams could I have envisioned a life so rich and full as the one I am living.  I can only give the credit for this to my Savior.

What has touched my heart the most about my father in law is that he is a remarkable Granddaddy.  He play wrestled with our son when he was little, played checkers with our middle daughter, and taught all 3 of our children how to play pool on a child sized pool table.  How many grandfathers out there would let their grandchildren clip Legos together in their hair until his head was covered?  He did.  When they were babies he held them when they were sleeping, and strapped them carefully in their car seats to take them to the grocery store.  When they were older, he spoon fed them their dinner when they got fussy, and took them fishing in our back yard.   My children have been given a priceless gift from their grandfather – the gift of his time and loving attention.
           
He was active in his Baptist church as a deacon, and volunteered for numerous charitable events along the way.  All the while he kept a good balance so that he could be attentive to his family’s needs. 
He was a good son and son-in-law.  When I met my husband his parents were in the beginning stages of caring for their parents.   Without reservation or complaint, my father-in-law did everything he could to meet the needs of their parents.  This included 7+ hour trips to North Carolina – sometimes close to 20 per year.  He kept up their finances, combed their hair, trimmed their nails, worked on their houses, and did anything else for them that needed to be done.

There are 2 things I never heard come out of his mouth, a complaint or an unkind word.
 
As I read back over some of what I wrote, I feel a sting of pain in my heart because the reality of Alzheimer’s disease makes it so he physically and mentally can no longer be who he loved to be.  This disease prevents him from continuing to do what he did best, serve others.  For the remainder of his time on earth , my father-in-law’s life will be much different than the one he led up to a few short years ago. I take great comfort in the knowledge that this does not apply spiritually; his soul will forever be the same dignified Christian man.  But for right now, it has changed the dynamics of relationships within the family.  Once this strong vibrant man helped us all, now we help him.  My husband helps with repairs around his house and much more.  He and our older children work in his yard.  My youngest daughter buckles him carefully in the car so we can take him on errands.   My mother-in-law combs his hair, trims his nails, and continues to love him and be his best friend.
 
The biggest blessing I can say that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving season is that my father-in-law’s legacy ~ the gift of giving has been passed on.  Truly that is something to be thankful for.  

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you so much for the opportunity to know this precious son of yours, my father-in-law.  Through the love that he has shown his family, we are able to see a glimpse of how much Your Son loves us.  Through his kindness, we are able to comprehend a glimmer of how much Your Son cares for us.  Through his quiet strength we can better understand how to be more like Your Son.  I thank you Lord for allowing us to be a part of his life as his mind deteriorates from this disease.  Please help us all to be a comfort to him, and help us to honor You by honoring him until you call him home.  In Jesus Name, Amen.
 

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Seamstresses and Sewing Machine Unit Study

It’s Fun-ucational 

We are taking a break from Sonlight through the holidays.  We did this last year, and having some flex time during the busy Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons worked well for us.

So, for a little "fun-ucational" activity, I let Alexis choose whatever she wanted to study about.  She chose Sewing Machines.  She had an ulterior motive.  She is dieing to get at my sewing machine.  From a time-line perspective, this could not have worked out better.  We are right in the thick of the industrial revolution era with Sonlight.

Because Isaac Singer is so "colorful" I decided that it would be a smart idea to add Seamstresses to the mix of studies.  A good read about Betsy Ross may be just the thing to counter the character of Singer.  Also, hand stitching is always a good skill to concentrate on, and may help slow down Alexis’ urge to be at the sewing machine.  One plan I have is to do a comparison on clothing availability in the Revolutionary War vs. clothing in the Civil War.  We will also do a timed test on stitches (machine vs. hand stitching) and then test the 2 products for endurance.

These are books that we are reading now:
I am happy that my 4th grader will enjoy this busy time of year with some fun things to look forward to.  I will add some photos of Alexis sewing and the Lapbook as we progress more into the unit study.