Following directions

Today, I sat with Joshie and we wrote a letter. He just turned 4 years old last week. I was thinking that I would share thoughts related to teaching reading with the Bible, because this is definitely laying groundwork for that, but not only that.

We are viewing reading instruction as a collection of many skills besides just sounding out words, so when we have him write, we try to keep that fact in view. Part of the skills employed are character related: in fact, on our best days, we consider all training just opportunities for learning character -- that is how the Lord even trains us as parents! Amen? (What I mean is, on our worst days, we get overwhelmed with A, B, C and operate in our own strength and waste opportunities. : ( )

So along with reading and writing, we work on following directions, obedience (very similar) and humility. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That sure goes against the wisdom of the world. And the partner of wisdom is humility, not self esteem.

When pride cometh, then cometh shame:

but with the lowly is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:2

Anyway, today he wrote a two page letter to Auntie Soozie. I wrote it down with him, for him, of course. I kind of cued him in as to what we'd be talking about. I wrote it down in a permanent marker, but I am thinking a thick highlighter pen would have worked better for this purpose. He traced it in a green colored pencil, which isn't the easiest to write dark lines with. Oh well.

I took this video after he was on page 2 and he was really picking up steam. This was a really good session with him, which doesn't always happen, but makes for some good illustrations which I will bring up after the viewer views it. (Actually, it would not be unusual to have him write just a one page letter, but this one just evolved into a 2 pager, and that turned out to be just about right for today. I think it takes discernment to know how much is too much, without being directed by the child. We want them challenged, not overwhelmed.)

Be warned, this video it might invoke some nausea as my video skills are not the best. But it is very sweet to me!

So, again, this is the part where he is picking up steam, with very little encouragement from me. We started off much smaller and less accurate.

Okay, so here are a few things:

Joshie can kind of imitate some letters (drawing them). In the past, I was of the opinion of its no big deal about how he makes the shape at this age, just that he makes it. But now it seems wiser to really work on the obedience/following direction angle. Not with the goal of perfect penmanship at age 4!! So, what he does is not the benchmark for every 4 or 5 year old, and some 3 year olds may do much better than he. This is what takes discernment and a proper mindset for me as mom. The goal is obedience, not penmanship perfection.

How we do it: After the letters are written out by me, I sit him nearby. I use a regular pencil and demonstrate how to properly trace the letter (that is, indicating where to begin, what direction to go, etc.). We use Getty-Dubay Italic series, so that is what he is copying (although my example letters are not as accurate as some of the other children's penmanship). I found it interesting that by page 2, he is remembering the way to form the letters much better and correcting himself if he does it wrong at first. (Believe me, he was corrected plenty on the first page, but by page 2, he is really nailing them!)

With Joshie we are needing to work on following directions, doing what he is told. So, I am not stopping to "praise" him every time he does it right. I know some curriculums will push that, positive reinforcement, and I am not at all saying I don't show affection or happiness. But we want to convey that obedience and following directions is expected, even if you are writing a letter.

We want to train our children to follow directions, not follow praise, because in the real world, you don't get praised all the time for doing right. That can even mess up our hearts. We want our "well done" to be in heaven.

As we worked on the writing, we were talking about what each sentence conveyed, talking about big letters versus little letters, the period, etc. Some of it over his head, no doubt, but just kind of planting seeds.

What is neat is that while laying the groundwork for teaching reading, we are doing something useful and something that contributes to his overall training. In a school setting, you pretty much have to keep hitting that hammer on the nail over and over, but at home, in real life, you can make so much more of the opportunities. Praise the Lord.

Words with impact

Our family has recently been learning the song "El Shaddai." This afternoon while Joshie was being rocked, he began to softly sing the song to himself...

"...To the outcast on her knees,
You were the God Who really sees,
And dynamite will set Your children free."

"Where do we make fire?"

Joshie is 2 years old, and we include him in our chores as much as possible. A good, helpful, easy, physical job that he enjoys is switching laundry loads. This is really great for Mommy because it reduces the bending over! Oh the loads I did myself until I discovered that the little guys LOVE to do it!

Anyway, on this occasion, he was playing with the button that caused the light inside the dryer to go out when the door was closed. To distract him, I pointed out the decal near the button. The decal cautions users to not put anything soaked in flammable liquids in the dryer. Or you know what will happen.

This prompted Joshie, who associated the decal's warning with the light switch button, to give an impromptu sermon on the evils of pushing the button. He knows this would be bad, because the dryer is not where we are supposed to "make fire!"

Abi added subtitles, but I don't think they are necessary. His very last line is so sweet! Enjoy!

Joshie goes shopping!

A delegation of Kleins went shopping at Walmart today. It has been pouring rain much of the day, and inside there was much bustle among the shoppers. The children all know we are not shopping on "Black Friday." That is why we thought we'd go today and avoid the crowds -- wrongo!

We took five shopping carts (two were for people-transport and outerwear). We actually didn't need that many for cargo, as it turned out. We took our time, since we hoped to stock up for the weekend.

Abi jotted down some cute comments on various Walmart products by our littlest shopper, Joshie, 2 years and 3 mos.

Pink Bath Pouf...
"That's a fishy. That's a pink fishy.
When I take a bath, I wear that."


Hand soap bottles...
"Those are tiny soaps for me!"

Oral-B circular floss container...
"That's a tiny wheel."

Toothpaste...
"That's for brushing your toofies."

Garnier shampoo and conditioner...
"That's paint."

Sewing Machine...
"That's for Mogan!"

Picture of a Killer Whale...
"That's a penguin...?"

Dishwasher detergent squares...
"That's nummy!"
(Abi corrected that one.)

AXE deodorant pack...
"That's for boys, who use the vacuum."

Dove soap gift collection...
"That's for girls. It's a person." (meaning purse)

Nectarine-scented Dove body bars...
"Is that orange juice?"

Corn husks (for making tamales) ...
"That's spaghetti."

Baubles on a Christmas tree...
"Those are apples."

===

We are enjoying a week with Dave off work and hope to cook some enchiladas tomorrow. We are staying home, as a few of us have colds, so it will just be the 15 of us. We have so much for which to be THANKFUL!

"Just wait until they're teenagers!"

As we began having children, we would often hear that ominous phrase, usually prefaced by a comment on how sweet our baby looked. "They look so sweet now," the onlooker would grant us, "but just wait until they're a teenager!"

The unspoken continuation of the thought was: then they'd become ungrateful, deceitful, aloof, disrespectful and lazy.

At some point, we calculated that for the next 20 years or so, we'll have about six "teenagers" with us. So we realized we needed a strategy to deal with teenagers.

The strategy was simple and practical: denial.

We decided years ago to not refer to our young adults as teenagers. "Teenager" is a new term crafted by those who have profited from creating a subculture with its own dress and hairstyles, music, entertainment, church programs, and speech. Rather than having a goal of being an adult, the goal of this subculture is to extend childhood.

From the Bible, we see young adulthood as a time of training for bigger and better things. After all...

"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things."
1 Cor 13:11

"But don't they need to break away and be independent?"

We find that this thought is just fed by the non-Biblical idea that people need pride in themselves. Self confidence and self esteem. (Like the world doesn't have enough of that already?) We have observed that the biggest problem people have with young adults, and people in general, is PRIDE. The Bible has nothing good to say about pride! Pride is in fact the enemy of learning anything worth learning! The humble receive instruction, but the prideful think they know it all already...sound familiar?

As parents, we find we need to give up our pride! What regret we have of reactions and words born out of pride. Ug. As new parents, we eventually realized we were ignorant of the wealth of instruction to PARENTS found in the Bible! Likewise, for the good of our children, we need to point them to God's wealth of instruction in his Word, much given as warnings to young people (the Book of Proverbs). And when you take a look in the book, there is no doubt: pride is like cancer! Cut it out!

So anything aimed at instilling pride in our children, in their abilities, their income, appearance, potential, etc. we want to steer away from it like the plague. We sure haven't got perfect discernment and we have had regrets. The Bible says God resists the proud and that is not the boat in which we wish to be. We feel there is a real difference between feeding our children's pride versus helping them recognize that the skills and experience and knowledge and opportunities they are now gathering demonstrates God is preparing them for his service.

But back to the independence idea: We feel that, especially for those of our children who will eventually marry and have a family, gaining the feeling of "independence" can often contribute to planting selfish ways of doing things. How many parents struggle with frustration because they feel "tied down" to family responsibilities? Where does that begin? Probably from independence!

On the contrary, if a goal for our young adults is real responsibility, it seems you can't beat living at home as a young adult: learning to put others before oneself and other real Christian virtues, the real world context of a family, with increasing real responsibilities, the experience of being depended on and depending on others, the inconveniences, and stomach viruses, and just operating in a real home, preferably one with a very high person to bathroom ratio.

And further, if we follow the world's wisdom of "letting them find their way" aren't we rather just leaving them at the mercy of others who desire to influence them for evil, for self-profit (merchandisers on TV for example). How much better is God's plan...

"My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck."
Proverbs 1:8,9

So, responsibility - YES.
Independence - doing it my way - NO.

We are happily discovering God has a plan for people of all ages, even young adults. It is definitely a demanding time for all of us, primarily because of the importance of us as parents being real godly examples, and because the human tendency in ourselves and our children towards pride is real. We do feel God has given us ample opportunities to show our children a better way.

So, that is why when a stranger sees our baby and warns "Just wait until they're teenagers," it doesn't strike our hearts with fear and foreboding. Yes, parenting is always a challenge, but we are trusting that God will help us guide each one into fruitful service for Christ, which is the only thing that will last!


How wonderful that the Lord Jesus gave for us all, young and old, the example of humbling himself and being a servant.

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,
but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:28

Our website contains a new pdf with some articles on this subject which we have found helpful. It's called "Training our Children for Leadership" and asks the question, "Are we training our children to be servants?".

Random recent photos

Here are some photos in the order that they got uploaded, just to make things fun.


Joshie loves to toddle all over, and you can see the backside of his first haircut!



Here are some of the children doing a leaf journey...a favorite fall activity...hauling leaves to our compost bin using a tarp.


After cutting all the big boys' hair one evening, I sat down to rest a while. As I watched shaggy Joshie toddle by, I realized it was time. I sat him on my lap and powered up the clippers. He absolutely loved it! He got all cuddly with me! It was so precious!


Later we will post a sequence, but this is basically our old bus chassis. Today we finished scrapping it, dropping off the last load at the metal recycler...with NO accidents, praise the Lord! This was such a blessing for us, that the kids could get this done, as we are trying to sell the house, and the "broken down bus in the backyard" look does not aid in making your home attractive to buyers.

You may be wondering how we got these beams into the back of the bus to haul...


Our wonderful neighbor again came through with the lending of his acetylene torch. Solomon took to it like a fish riding a bike! It was waaaaay faster that the reciprocating saw we used for most of the bus!


In case I confused you by mentioning how we got the chunks of old bus into the back of the bus, I will remind you that we, until recently, have been a two bus family!


Here are pieces of the walls of the old bus. They were disassembled largely by popping screws off the panels. This was a great job for the younger kids, with earplugs!


Oh yeah, here is that cutie pie again, enjoying the leaves!


Here is the last of our trees to turn and shed leaves. By the time you read this, the leaves will all be gone on a leaf journey...

We hope to post more thematically organized photos soon...including those of our new source of Swiss Rolls!

The Egg-noggeration

Sarah made and hung her famous birthday Bible verse signs all over the house.  She embellished them with artwork cut from the cereal box...



Specially appointed guardians guarded the specially mixed Cheerio/Honey Nut Cheerio blend for the morning festivities.

We had a special celebration on Joshua Arthur's first birthday, August 27.

Unknown many, including Joshie, we have worked up the following trivia for him. It goes like this:

1. Joshie is the president of the country of Penguinlandia.
2. It is the only country in Antarctica.
3. The penguins are his constituents.
4. He is financing road construction by selling icebergs to north African countries on Ebay.
5. He is offering discounted citizenships to friends and family.
6. The national anthem of Penguilandia goes like this:

You've got a friend,
in Penguinlandia His name is Sven, 
in Penguinlandia You've got a friend, 
in Penguinlandia
It's the only country 
in 
Ant-
arc-
tica!!!!!

Immediately after he woke up he started saying "Wow, wow, wow..." but that was before he saw the decorations that his big siblings had created the night before...




We found an adorable "penguin suit" at Goodwill last spring, but rarely have had opportunity to use it, until now.




Here he is, greeting his constituents, with his handcrocheted penguin bath body scrub (???) we found at Goodwill.  Though he looks like he knows what is up, he is normally just a very happy baby boy.



What to wear to the Egg-noggeration? Penguin suits!



Fitting in with the constituents.

One of his first acts after the egg-nogeration was to eat cake.  Joshie enjoyed his carrot cake (Mommy picked that flavor).  His gifts were all penguin-based, but he finds it easier to say "duck", in two syllables:

du ----- ck!

We are so thankful for our littlest blessing!

Enjoying our littlest blessing -- 6 months old

Ya gotta love 'em
Ya gotta clean 'em
Ya gotta pick the weeds that grow in between 'em
They're the best kind of toes
They taste like Cheerios
Those are the toes that I like!


He's doing important baby things!
He's doing important baby things!

He's doing
he's doing
he's chewing
he's chewing
important baby things

He's saying
he's saying
he's playing
he's playing
important

BABY THINGS!!!!!!


He's all excited 'bout something
but he don't know what that something is

He's all excited 'bout something
but he don't know what that something is

Maybe he's going to go to the store
Maybe he's going to play on the floor
Maybe he'll tell a story that will bore you
But he don't know what that something is!!!!


He's just a baby
but he don't know why
He's just a baby
Please don't make him cry
He's just a baby and he's got that look in his eye
He's just a baby
but he don't know why

He's just a baby and he's got that look in his eye
he's just a baby and he don't know why!!!!!



Thanks to Sarah for the sweet photos!

Five months and 2 teeth later!

Here's Joshie!


He can sit for seconds at a time!


He also enjoys laying around the house.


Toes... the natural snack!


Time for work!


Here he is with his "home business".

Joshie hits the big 0-4!

When he's not gumming his fists or drooling, he enjoys playing with his toes and rolling over. Giggling, cooing and chatting takes up a good part of his day. Most any attention generates a smile. There has probably never been a baby who has been kissed this much by four months of age. We are so thankful for this little boy!

Heat wave!

Today, we are having something new: above freezing temps! For the next 48 hours, we will be doing some major thawing around here. So, in addition to playing, we need to groom our walks and clean up the duck pen. Dave helped transport some fresh hay to the duck pen.


Susanna made this baby snow man for Joshie. It has a baby carrot nose. Giddy was determined to tell us all that he kissed this snow-baby, just as he kisses Joshie every day. Up until now, efforts for snowmanship have been in vain, as it was dry and stuck together like salt crystals. But today, you could create the traditional snow man, or in our case, the traditional Ramahuma...

This fall, we decided it would be smart to run electricity out to the driveway so we could plug in the bus without needing a bunch of extension cords connecting to the shop. So we dug and laid cable and then Dave, who is a genius in his spare time, said "Hey, what about putting in a lamp post?" Wow. Did we need a lamp post! So, we did so, and have been so thankful for this much needed light in our otherwise dark driveway! It had really been difficult and even dangerous without it.

Ben wired the light and it has a sensor so it automatically goes on at night.


We played into twilight, and Hannah and I chipped away at the compacted snow on our path, which is turning to slush. We are expecting freezing temps Saturday night, so any standing water will turn to sheet ice.


Joshua was out surveying the snowy backyard. This was his first leisure time in the snow. At 4 months tomorrow, he felt it was brisk. We suited him up in one of his two snow suits. Wish they made something this cozy for parents!


He was really fascinated by all the frosty scenery! He's so sweet! Thank you Lord Jesus for this new blessing!

Hand-me-downs & new blankie

Here is Joshua (3.5 mos) wearing an outfit that we received when our oldest was still in the tummy! It was a baby shower gift from Auntie Dawnel - 1988 or 89, I believe!


Here's the tail -- so cute!


Here's Joshie kicking back on his custom-made, baby blankie from Grandma Penny! All of our 13 have been blessed with their own, handmade baby blankies!


Can't think of a caption for this one....

Joshie is 3 months old!

...and then some! He is looking to be a thumbsucker, like eleven of his older siblings. He chuckles and smiles and tries to sit up. Last night during our family prayer time, I peeked and saw him turn his head to see whoever was praying out loud!

Giddy up!

Gideon attained four years of age last week! This adorable shirt arrived from cousins Jami and Jessi and Auntie Jana and Uncle Jimmy. "Giddy" is Giddy's official nickname, and the reason is obvious, isn't it?


Abi is a fine cake decorator, as she gets lots of practice. Giddy requisitioned a GREEN cake.


A few days later, Joshie attained two months of age! Abi intends to take a monthly photo of Joshua for his first year. He has really started smiling of late, but Abi couldn't get him to smile for this picture. His face seems to say, "So, the 2 month olds apparently do not get a cake."



This useful little broom was greatly enjoyed by the birthday boy. He's had several whisk brooms, which usually get lost quick, but this was a "big boy broom". Woo woo!


The "leaf journeys" have begun. Giddy enjoyed the leaf scoops (click on the picture to see Noah holding them). The kids made several trips to the compost pile, greatly increasing its height, and allowing them to hide within the pile, to surprise Daddy by staging a re-enactment of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens. They were (not even) motionless, under the leaves, when a collaborating sibling led Daddy out to see the tremendous amount of leaves they had gathered...then ka-blooy!!


This is one of sweet baby Joshie's first smiles to be captured on digital media. It is so fun to play with him and coax a smile out of him. He actually caused a short traffic jam at Walmart: the lady in front of us at the checkout was enjoying watching Abi and Sarah playing with him, and the cashier had to inform her it was her turn to put her groceries on the conveyor belt!

Welcome to the family, Joshua Arthur!

I asked the children to record this song and for Abi to make me this video for my birthday last week. Hope you enjoy it. It makes me cry. We are so blessed!

Thanks Abi!!!

Today ends Dave's and my "birthday week," eight days in which we are both the same age. My beloved hit the big 4-3 today! Happy birthday, Honey-Dave! He and Zak are currently driving home from Minneapolis. Tomorrow, Dave leaves for a week in St. Louis, starting his new job.

Days with Joshie

Happy Birthday Auntie Karen!!!!

I was going to try to organize these and narrate and make it a story, but, as they say, "time is of the smell" ...so these are pretty much just in the order I uploaded them... here goes...


One of the strangest comments we have ever heard (and fortunately, it has been pretty rare) since Zak (our oldest) was born-- in regard to our having a new baby -- was "Oh, now he/she will never get to be the only child..."

Oh well.


Joanna and her new little brother.


The kids enjoyed a cool, sunny day to take out most of our garden after our first frost. Abi and Sarah supervised, so Mommy could work on things inside.


Sarah had fun replacing half of our basement steps...


Wow! Good job, Sarah!


Gideon (3.99 yrs) is showing Joshie the ropes. Good job, Joshie!



Noah is a live wire, but will stop in his tracks to hold his precious new baby brother! Joshua is very peaceful generally has adapted nicely to his lot as being a lap warmer.


Zak and Sammy are replacing missing bolts on this wonderful and very needed stepstool.


Our long-awaited fall hike on Thursday. Dave's last day with his former client was Wednesday, and this was also the mid-point of our birthday week (we are the same age for 8 days - 42 this year!). We made up zip lock bags of trail mix to eat on the trail, hence the name.


Sammy pauses to find the cheese crackers in his bag. He and Gideon are always begging Mommy to tell them stories of when she went backpacking with her dad (now Grandpa Bill). They have fairly memorized all the fun things we'd pack in our packs (such as instant chocolate pudding, Planter's peanut bars, and sierra cups), the various adventures with getting rained out, hiding our food from the bears, the tick in my ear, and the squirrel Grandpa shot "because he was asking for it."


A fellow hiker offered to snap this picture of all of us. On the East Bluff trail at Devil's Lake, Baraboo, Wisconsin.


Rebekah savors her turn holding baby Joshua Arthur, 6 weeks old.


Everyone loves Joshua's new expressions. This one looks like he's just been asked "How does it feel to have 12 older siblings?" (It's kind of like being asked, "What's it like having blue eyes?")


Gideon is giving Zak some wood working advice. The snowman p.j.s do add an aura of authority, I say.

Here is a photo of part of Devil's Lake, which does not draw attention to its algae-green color. The lake, which I think is natural, is nearly a perfect rectangle. We are on the east bluff, which is comprised of a bunch of rocks. In fact, just about any noticeable change in elevation in Wisconsin can probably be attributed to a pile of rocks.


Hannah and Joanna in front of a big rock.


We are nearing the peak leaf color change time of year. Once the leaves fall, you can really make out the big piles of rocks of which these bluffs are made.


Susanna and Noah pause for a photo on the trail.


Solomon and Ben stop to lend a hand.