Yes You Can!

After I posted "Dino Days," I got a couple of questions like, "How do you do that?" and "Where do you get all your ideas?" A lot of my ideas come from:

(Search for it on www.themailbox.com)

Reasons I love this book:
1. It's theme based through the seasons, so it's easy to pick up at any time.
2. It gives easy instructions for each activity.
3. Many of the activities are also literature-based. I just go online, reserve the books about a week in advance, and go pick them up at the library.
4. When you register the book online, you have access to "online extras" you can print off at home to go along with many of the weekly activities.
5. There is a version of this book for Pre-K's and Kindergarteners.
I don't follow the weekly theme-based units to the letter and I don't do them every week, but it is great to open up the book and get some quick ideas.

To all of you out there searching for ways to work with your children at home or supplement their schoolwork, find a local home-schooling resource store or a teaching materials store. In Raleigh, I love the "Teach Me" store off of Spring Forest and Capitol. That's where I purchased my "Day to Day" book for $25 and it's been worth every penny!

Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?

When John Palmer turned two, his great grandmother, Mary Beth Hall, gave him How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight by Jane Yolen. We started reading it to John Palmer and Ellie at bedtime every night and they, actually we all, fell in love. Come to find out, Jane Yolen's Dinosaur series is an ingenious way of introducing little ones to etiquette. Other title include: How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food, Play with Their Friends, Go to School, Clean their Room, etc.

A few weeks later, the Schoch family went on an amazing adventure to Lake Toxaway, North Carolina.

Aron brought Dinosaurs with us and read it to all of the cousins (only 6 at that time). Everyone loved it! Those are some of our favorite memories from that trip.



("They turn out the light." Click!)

Some time after we came home, that book was ripped to pieces by little hands. It was pretty sad until Aron and I realized that we had read it so many times, it was memorized. Yes, we could have easily bought another copy, but it became a new tradition to recite the story as the kids were climbing into their beds. Now, John Palmer and Ellie know it so well that when grandparents or babysitters tuck them in, they can say it too. It's just one of those lovely traditions that I want to remember always. (I do need to get a new copy, however, so I can read it to our own grandchildren one day.)

"Good night, good night, little dinosaur."
The End

New Favorite Book

I read In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson last week. (It took all of 2 or 3 days on Mommy Time-it was so good!) Quite a title-enough to make you at least pick it up and read the notes on the back. There are two things I love about this book:

1. It is written in conversational English (easy to read and understand).

2. It is jam-packed with "Uppercase T" Truth.

I've grown up hearing and reading the Bible, but I never remember the story of Benaiah from 2 Samuel 23:20-21 from which this book is centered. He was a warrior in the time of King David and actually chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day...not a lie. I've never been that close to a lion, but I can tell you, if I ever encountered one like Benaiah did, my first choice would not be to chase it into a dark enclosed space...I think claustrophobia just kicked in...

This book is all about looking at circumstances as opportunities, especially the really scary circumstances that make me so insecure like being a good wife, a good mother, a good friend, a church planter and a business owner.

One area of my life that I am in the process of overcoming is fear. Mark Batterson wrote a whole chapter on our outlook on fear. Here's a great quote from a section entitled "The Fun of Fear":

"If you take a second to reflect on your life, you'll discover that the greatest experiences are often the scariest, and the scariest experiences are often the greatest."

BAM! I love that one because it's true.

Overall, my message to myself and to others is to not miss out on God-ordained opportunities because they look scary or seem overwhelming. Be like Benaiah, a real-life lion chaser...he survived and thrived when "opportunity roared."