Author Archives: Blue-and-Green-Together

Our Homeschool Day

Posted on by under children, homeschool

First official day of school. Fall, 2013.

We started officially homeschooling this past September. Last year we had a  “letter of the week” and more informal activities and games.  My main focus at that time was developing a routine that would work for family life and school.

After breakfast, we do a few chores.

Clearing the table and emptying the dishwasher.

If I have some extra work to do around the house, the kids will play a game (or goof off, or fight) while they wait for me.

Playing Enchanted Forest, one of their favorite games.

Today we have lots and lots of snow in Michigan, and extreme cold temperatures.  My husband’s work was cancelled so he took some pictures today and also worked with the kids on their Math.

We start our day by singing the hymn of the week and having prayer time.  This was my daughter’s prayer request today:

I pray that mom would be nice and not yell, and that school would be easy.

(Keeping it honest, folks! Ha!)  Our hymn of the week is “The Power of the Cross by Keith & Kristyn Getty. We listen to it on a CD and sing along.  The kids usually snuggle up, but especially on days like this when it was fifty-eight degrees in our family room.

Morning hymn and prayer time.

Morning hymn and prayer time.

 

After our hymn and prayer time, I like to work with each child individually.  One child spends a half hour watching  “The Letter People” DVD while I work with the other child.  We use the original Letter People.  A friend told me I could buy a DVD with all the episodes on Ebay.    The video quality is poor, but the kids don’t mind a bit, and I am enjoying this walk down memory lane.

The Letter People

The Letter People

Near the dining room table we have a crate of supplies and curriculum.  Today we worked with my daughter first.  At this part of the day my goal is to work with them individually on  reading, writing and math.  Other subjects  are covered with both of them together.

Greta with her curriculum.

Greta with her curriculum.

It was a snow day, so Dad covered Math.

It was a snow day, so Dad covered Math.

Enjoying Dad's Math class.

Enjoying Dad’s Math class.

Micah's copy work for the day. We also made use of a few sight words he is memorizing.

Micah’s copy work for the day. We also made use of a few sight words he is memorizing.

I save our favorite part of home school for the end.  This is sometimes done right after our other work, or other days, after lunch in the early afternoon.  We have been using  Five in a Row (FIAR) to cover many other areas of learning such as geography, science, history and art.  The same picture book is read five days in a row.  In our case, we normally have four days, as we are in home school co-op on Fridays.  With all the snow this month, we haven’t been able to go to the library to borrow our next FIAR book.  However, we are applying the principles we’ve learned in FIAR to Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Today we read the chapter about sugar snow.  The next chapter is about the dance at Grandpa’s, and it includes the story of Grandma making maple syrup candy.  I had real maple syrup in the house, and there was certainly plenty of fresh snow, so we tried it.

Maple Syrup Candy

Maple Syrup Candy

Maple Syrup Candy

Maple Syrup Candy

Making Maple Syrup Candy

Making Maple Syrup Candy

The normal time frame for  formal schooling  is a total of  two hours per day (max.).  I expect that will increase as they get older and have longer attention spans. There are other times of learning throughout the day.  We read the Bible together at supper time.  The kids work on their AWANA verses before going to bed.  They help me with cooking and other things around the house as well.  In the afternoon we always have a quiet time for a half hour, more or less where we each go in our own rooms and take a little rest.  Micah usually builds something with his Legos to show me, and Greta likes to play with her stuffed animals or sometimes color.  The quiet time gives us a  little break from one another and some space to ourselves.  In the summer the kids spend much of their days outdoors, but that has been impossible this winter.  I let them play the Wii and our family likes board games.  Sometimes they watch some PBS kids shows or Netflix on our Roku.

Hope you enjoyed a look at our home school day!

Me and my 1.9 children

Posted on by under children, grace, infertility

The post below called “Why Most Families have 2 Children”, though written 3 years ago circulated through my news feed several times recently:

http://mychildiloveyou.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-most-families-have-2-children.html

As of this writing, there have been nearly 700 comments on that post.  It struck a nerve with people. Many saw it as positive and others found it upsetting. I’ve read it a few times in the past weeks since it came to my attention.  Let me say, first off, that I think that the author has a good heart.  It is apparent that she meant well and wanted to be an encouragement.  Based on reading several of her other posts, she is a loving, caring and devout mother.  I think she wanted to encourage moms to see their children as a blessing, and to embrace their fertility, and to not be afraid to have a large family if that is possible in their situation.

At the same time, for me, it stung.  This was perhaps the part that hurt the most:

Do not misunderstand my words that mothers of two children have nothing to teach us. That is not what I am saying. What I am saying that with any job, usually the person whom has been there the longest and has the most experience is pretty wise. 

I hate to use this trite, overused phrase, but….I feel judged.  Me, with my  1.9 children.  Me, the girl who boldly proclaimed in high school, “I want to get married and have 10 kids”.  The same girl who went through eight years of infertility in my first marriage.  Who went on to re-marry, was blessed with  two children in her late thirties, and then lost our third baby in a miscarriage.  The same person who is now in her forties with  health issues that make pregnancy a little scary.

When you are in a church and/or home school community such as I live in, children are generally considered a tremendous blessing and “the more the merrier”.    Indeed, the mamas with large families are often wise and revered, and they often have good counsel for those of us with younger children, or who are just getting started.

Sometimes I’ve wondered:  How does this community look upon a mama like me, who has “only 2”?  As my great aunt said sweetly after our second was born “Now you have a millionaire family!”  I wondered about that expression until I looked it up. It meant that we had what is considered “the perfect family”, a boy and a girl.

When I go to home schooling events  or a new church and meet people for the first time, we inevitably have those “How many kids do you have/what ages, etc.?” conversations.  You will likely see my cheeks blush when I reply “two”, and sometimes I say “only two”, in an apologetic manner.  While nothing further is usually said, I always  long to explain to people that we didn’t stop there intentionally.

My husband’s favorite verse to quote to me is this:

Proverbs 29:25

Proverbs 29:25

Really, when it boils down, this is a pride issue for me.  I’m worrying too much about what other people think (even strangers!). At the same time, I consider myself immensely blessed by God to have this millionaire family.   Having  two children makes me feel rich in life. There were many years when I thought that I would never have babies. I treasure the gift of motherhood, perhaps in a way that I never would have if I had been granted my “dream” family of ten, right out of high school.   The years of my adulthood that I spent childless were full of  growing, learning and life circumstances that I carry into mothering now. I am utterly grateful to God that I have the opportunity to raise a son and a daughter.

My 1.9 children

My 1.9 children

It is most likely that I will never be a mother to ten children.  God is Sovereign.  His will is good and right and perfect.  He worked my crazy life according to His plan and used infertility, divorce,  circumstances, and even my own sin to draw me closer to Him, to humble me and help me to rely on His grace for everything.  No need to blush or apologize for my 1.9.

The faith of Eda Stek

Posted on by under children, family history, grace, Grace and Truth, heaven, Iowa

Back then, they called her a mongoloid.  This is now considered a derogatory term, but it was the norm when Eda was a child growing up in Iowa.  Eda Stek  was one of eleven children, born in 1903.  Her parents were John and Henrietta (De Wild) Stek.  She was a considered a special member of the family, having what  we would now call Down’s Syndrome.

Eda Stek

Eda was short, sturdy and round.  She always wore a dress (with corset) and sturdy black old lady shoes.  She didn’t speak very clearly but her family could understand her.  It took Eda a long time, but she learned to write.  She would write Bible verses or short, simple letters.  When Eda’s mother was on her death bed, she made her other children promise to take care of their sister, and they kept their promise.   In those days, the only alternative for Eda in Iowa would have been a poorhouse.

When she stayed with her sister Nellie’s family, she  had her own room in the large farmhouse full of children.  Eda was given the room above the stove to help keep her warm.  She could be heard at night calling out for another sister, Marie who was a favorite of Eda.  But when she was at Marie’s, she would call out for Nellie.

Eda was terrified of storms.  Sometimes her nephews would tease her about that.

Mainly, Eda helped.  She fed chickens and helped her sister Nellie with  many household chores to her ability.

A great-niece recalled how much Eda loved children.  One day when her great-nieces arrived for a visit, Eda (by then in her fifties) was waiting.  She was so excited to see them, that she jumped up and down, cheering “Goody! Goody! Goody!”.  She filled her scrap books with magazine and calender pictures of children, animals and nature, and she would give the scrapbooks as gifts.

A scrapbook for Mary and Joanne, made by Eda.

A scrapbook for Mary and Joanne, made by Eda.

  

A page from Eda's scrapbook

A page from Eda’s scrapbook

Eda moved around frequently. Census records show that in 1930 she was living with her sister, Jennie and in 1940, she was staying with her brother, William and his family.  She might spend a couple of years with one family, and perhaps 6 months with another, but her siblings kept their promise to their mother, and Eda was spared having to live her life in a poorhouse.

When asked what she remembered about Eda, an  acquaintance from  church remarked,

I remember her most for her child-like faith.

A page from Eda's scrapbook.

A page from Eda’s scrapbook.

All these family stories tell us a little bit about Eda.  But there is one  special story my grandma told me about her when I was seven years old.  I have never forgotten it.   This story has encouraged my faith in God, and my hope of heaven for many, many years.

For the last five years of her life, Eda resided in  the Pleasant  Park Nursing Home of Oskaloosa, Iowa.  She became more and more unresponsive.  A minister who visited Eda  before she passed away told me that he read the Bible and prayed for her, but she did not respond very well.  Eda’s days were drawing to a close.

On December 20, 1979,  after weeks of being bed-ridden and not speaking, Eda suddenly, amazingly sat up in her bed.  Looking up, seeing something nobody else in the room could see, she exclaimed with delight, loudly and clearly,

MAMA!  PAPA!  Pretty Pretty Pretty!  

Eda sunk back into her pillow and died, moments later.

Child-like faith

Child-like faith

Special thanks to Rev. Carl Klompien, Mrs. Delmar VanKooten, Mr. Leo Nikkel, Mary Vlietstra, Joanne Vlietstra, Esther Uramkin, April Hoeksema and Ava Davidson (Pella Chronicle).

GraceTruth-600x800

Sweet Freedom in America

Posted on by under Uncategorized

 I have pondered what it cost for my great-grandparents to leave their homeland, the Netherlands,  in the late 1800’s/early 1900’s to come to the United States.  From my limited research, it appears most Dutch immigrants at that time came to America for economic opportunity,  freedom from high taxes, and to get relief from oppression of a state church.  My great-grandparents left everything familiar and comfortable, knowing  it was likely they would never see their loved ones and homeland again.  I believe they also left the Netherlands  with a sense of adventure,  hoping to make a better life for their children and future generations. The decision could not have been made lightly. They came here, struggled, learned the language, worked hard and made a good life.

I still walk around on the farm that my Frisian great-grandfather started, my grandfather continued, and my dad, uncles, brother, and cousins continue to farm.   I’ve seen their hard work, and their love for the land that they farm. I have watched that farm grow and prosper over years of hard labor and long hours. I have witnessed my own parents and grandparents progress from struggling to prospering in the freedom they have had to work the land, raise the cows, and sell the milk.

On my mom’s side, I have heard  stories about the beloved great grandmother who was sixteen when she immigrated from Groningen along with her two sisters and mother, a relatively young widow. All four women were mourning the loss of their brother and son, Joe.  Joe was the one who encouraged all of them to come to America, but he died of pneumonia two weeks before boarding the boat.    My great-grandmother married a man who had also immigrated from Groningen and they raised ten children.  I have known every one of these great-aunts and great-uncles, seen them prosper after  hearing about the lean years of their childhood, and have heard many of their stories over the years. I was amazed several months ago to hear my great-grandmother’s voice for the first time on a recording by her brother-in-law that we didn’t know existed.  She was singing a hymn in Dutch.

These stories are just one of the reasons that freedom is so precious to me.  I hope for my own children and grandchildren to enjoy the freedom that my great-grandparents were seeking when they came to the United States.  I want  to remember the courage these immigrants had, why they came, and what they were seeking.

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

-Katharine Lee Bates

Oskaloosa, Iowa

Posted on by under Uncategorized

When I was  young, Grandma would tell me stories about growing up in the 1930’s on a farm in the small town of Oskaloosa, Iowa.  I was included in a few of the 450-mile trips with Grandma to visit her mother and other relatives in nearby Pella.  At least once, I saw the actual farm and cornfields where Grandma was raised. Since becoming an adult, I haven’t visited Oskaloosa, but have been amazed at all the little connections I have had with that town over the years.

At age 18 and newly graduated from high school, I left home for the first time and went to live and work at a Christian campground for the summer, eighty miles from home. I was assigned to a trailer with two other young women.  One of them was from Oskaloosa.  My Grandma came to visit one day,  met my roommate, and they enjoyed a conversation about people and places they knew in common.

When I married my first husband five years later and relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, I randomly stopped at a Supercuts in a strip shopping center in Woodstock.  Talking to the hair stylist, it became apparent that we were both “Yankees”. When I asked her where she was from, she replied,

“You’ve probably never heard of it.  I’m from Oskaloosa, Iowa.”

A few years later, I found myself living still further away in Shreveport Louisiana.  We purchased a home and it was quite a change to live in the heat of Louisiana after growing up in the Midwest.  One day I decided to take a little walk and stopped on a corner a few hundred feet away from my house to cross the street.  There was a bright red fire hydrant, and I glanced at it. The words Oskaloosa, Iowa were imprinted  in metal on fire hydrant.   When Grandma visited me in Louisiana, I was able to show her the fire hydrant from her home town.

Years later, my grandmother passed away.  Having moved once again, ninety miles from where I grew up, I took my children to visit our  local  library branch for the first time.  While the children were listening to  story time, I was browsing.  The very first book I picked up was a large children’s picture book which caught my eye.  I opened up to a random page near the middle, and the first line was “We moved to Oskaloosa, Iowa.”   (The title of the book was  The Huckabuck Family)
.

Finally, this fall I attended my first writer’s conference.  I scheduled a short visit with an editor, and we discussed an idea for a book proposal.  Can you guess where she had once lived?

When Grandma told me her Oskaloosa stories, I think she was a little bit homesick. I think she missed her mother. Every time I have had an Oskaloosa connection, it came at a time when I was feeling a little homesick too.  I don’t think these things are coincidence.  I think they are little gifts, blessings from God that have brought me comfort when I was far away from home and missing loved ones.  They remind me of my grandma’s faith that brought her through many years of longing for home.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God… (Ephesians 2:19 ESV)

Writers Write

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Welcome to Blue and Green Together. 

Why blue and green together?  Because perfectly matched hues of sapphire and emerald are my favorite colors when they are put together. 

My sole purpose and intent in writing this blog is to write.  As an author once told me (which someone told him) “Writers Write”.