Today was a good day. It wasn’t spectacular or anything out of the ordinary, but it was a good day. Yesterday was good, too, for that matter.

Yesterday started out good, because I had finally lost a bit of weight. I was down two pounds. It might have actually been Thursday that I found out I had lost the weight, but I was still happy about it yesterday morning. I took the kids to school, and then took a quick shower, got me and Abby Jo dressed, and jumped in the car. I drove a couple of hours to Lebanon, TN where I met up with Amy Jo and her younger sister, Julie. Julie lives in Texas, and she had flown to Kentucky to greet Amy’s husband, Joel, when he got home from a year in Afghanistan. So, anyway, I met them in Lebanon, and we went to a few outlet stores and then went to this great little Japanese restaurant. It was fantastic. It didn’t look like much when we got there, but the food was great and the prices were really good. I had some hibachi chicken and yummy sushi. As soon as we finished eating, I had to turn around and drive home, because I had to be back in Harriman to pick the kids up from school at three. I was only with them for two hours, but those two hours did me a world of good. Hanging out with Amy always cheers me up, and this was no exception. It lifted my spirits considerably.

Yesterday evening, I loaded up the kids and went to the gym, even though I was really tired already. I had a pretty good workout, and then took the kids to Chik-fil-a. They were all hungry, and really enjoyed their food. They were also on their best behavior because I told them I would take them swimming the next day if they were really good until then. Swimming really motivates them. We stopped at the library and picked up an audio book we had on hold. We are listening to “Lemony Snickett’s Series of Unfortunate Events”, and the kids were really excited to get started on “Book the Second”. It really is a great story, and the kids are all enthralled. Every time they have to go with me to the gym, it’s a forty minute drive there and a forty minute drive home. So, the audio books really help. So far, besides the first Lemony Snickett book, we have listened to “Runaway Ralph”, “Ralph S. Mouse”, and “Holes”. We really enjoyed “Holes”.

Today, I slept in. I didn’t sleep very well last night, and having two kids in the bed with me didn’t help. Abby started off the night in bed with me, but she has a cold and, after she fell asleep, she was making all manner of noises because she couldn’t breathe well. Sometime during the night, Owen came and got in bed with us, saying he had a bad dream. I kept waking up, and struggling to get back into a good sleep. Needless to say, when they started waking up a little before eight this morning, I was not ready to get up. I banished them from my room, and stayed in bed for a long time. I laid around and talked on the phone for most of the morning, and eventually made myself some breakfast around lunchtime. The kids were all playing and doing their own things throughout the house. I had to take Kyra to basketball practice at one, and, for once, the other kids were not stressing me out. The promise of going to the pool if they were good worked wonders.

So, this evening, I loaded them up and took them to the gym to swim. Most people seem to think it is a bad idea to take four kids nine and under swimming by yourself, especially when only two of them can swim, but it’s really not bad.  They are always good, and Owen and Abby don’t wander far from the steps unless they have hold of me. There is no childcare on Saturday evenings, so I couldn’t work out like I normally would. Instead, I would give Abby to Kyra, every few minutes, and swim a couple laps. If my level of fatigue is any indication, I got a pretty good workout.  The rest of the time, I played games with the kids, and pulled Abby and Owen around the pool. Abby’s great in the pool. She doesn’t freak out over anything. Even if she goes under and gets a mouthful of water, she just spits it out and says, “I don’t want to do that anymore.” Owen, on the other hand, freaks out and screams like a crazy if you so much as suggest that you might have him do anything other than cling to you with his entire body.

After we got out of the pool, we were toweling off and I felt a hand on my shoulder. This older lady who had been swimming laps with her husband while we were in the pool was giving me a literal pat on the back, telling me I was doing a good job. She told me that usually when they come to swim laps in the pool, if there are little kids in the pool, too, they make it really difficult to swim. She said my kids were very sweet, and I was doing a great job with them. This went on for at least a full minute. It got a bit awkward for me, but I still appreciated her kind words.

Chris had come to work out after work, but, since the gym closed at eight, he only got in a run and had to leave when we did. He took us all to Outback, and we had an absolutely delicious meal. The kids all went to bed when we got home without any fussing or dilly dallying around.

Now, here I sit. Telling you guys all the details of two pretty ordinary days. With the exception of meeting up with my friends yesterday, it’s all just normal stuff. I have to take notice, though, that this is a pretty good life. I am blessed. Even when I’m struggling through emotionally dark days, my family and friends are a constant light. I am blessed, and I am thankful for ordinary happy in my days.

I want to have a bit of a discussion here if anyone is game. My nine year old daughter is a voracious reader, and I want to do everything I can to encourage that. So far, we’ve not had very many issues with her or Elijah wanting to read books that I don’t want them to read.
The only instances of that have been “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” books and “Big Nate”. I told them I don’t want them to read them. Not because they’re “bad” books, but because I don’t like the name-calling in them. Kids my kids’ ages are already prone to name-calling and making fun of each other, and I don’t want to reinforce that by reading books that seem to put an emphasis on calling people “morons” etc. I just don’t like rude kids. At all. So, that’s just a small thing, and I think I’m probably in the minority with it. I don’t like the “gross out” books that appeal to boys, but I wouldn’t tell Elijah he couldn’t read one if gross was the only issue. I can handle gross a lot better than rude. I would rather him read something with a little more substance, but I don’t want to put so many rules on reading that it takes the excitement out of it.
Another thing that hasn’t come up yet but that I have already made my mind up about is “Harry Potter”, “Twilight”, and other books about witchcraft, vampires, etc. I’m not into that. I don’t like it. I don’t want my kids to have a positive opinion of such things. I believe witchcraft is both real and wrong. I don’t want it glamorized for my kids. There will probably be a time when I lift that restriction and let my (older) children make their own choices about that genre of books, but it won’t be anytime soon.
So, besides rude and witchcraft, I’ve pretty much let them read whatever appeals to them. I’ve felt like those few restraints were pretty reasonable for nine and seven year olds. However, the other day, I came upon this quote by C.S. Lewis:

“I am a product [...of] endless books. My father bought all the books he read and never got rid of any of them. There were books in the study, books in the drawing room, books in the cloakroom, books (two deep) in the great bookcase on the landing, books in a bedroom, books piled as high as my shoulder in the cistern attic, books of all kinds reflecting every transient stage of my parents’ interest, books readable and unreadable, books suitable for a child and books most emphatically not. Nothing was forbidden me. In the seemingly endless rainy afternoons I took volume after volume from the shelves. I had always the same certainty of finding a book that was new to me as a man who walks into a field has of finding a new blade of grass.”

This quote has really got me thinking. If a man like C.S. Lewis is the product of unrestricted access to any book he cared to read…well, I wouldn’t mind one of my children being the next C.S. Lewis. At the same time, I don’t think C.S. Lewis was wading through piles of asinine children’s books in his father’s library. Also, it was his father’s library and not the public library that he mentions, so I guess that implies a sort of screening of the books. Only the books his parents were okay with made it into the home, right?

So what do you guys think? I know that my readers come from lots of different places and viewpoints. What is important to you in regards to what your children read? Is it carefully pre-screened at your house or anything goes? Are there any topics that are taboo? Is there an age you have in your mind where you will give the kids the reins in the book selection process? Please share. I really want to get lots of comments and lots of points of view.

We’ve had a lot of busy days around here lately. I thought I’d give a little update.

First of all, things have really improved between Chris and I, and we have taken divorce off of the table. I thank you all for your prayers, and I hope you will continue to pray for us. God has really worked in my heart and has changed my mind, and, I can assure you, that took an act of divine intervention. We are still living separately right now while we work on our issues, but we are definitely staying married. Again, my heartfelt thanks for your prayers on our behalf!

Okay, on with the family updates…

The boys’ football season ended on Saturday. They both won their bowl games…Owen’s team won the Silver Bowl, and Elijah’s team won the Bronze Bowl. They both got nice looking medals. The boys had completely opposite feelings about the end of the season. Owen was not into the whole thing since about the second week. After his game was over Saturday, he told me, “I finally got out of it!” I think he may be more cut out to be a mascot than a football player. He is only five, though. Hopefully, he will be more into it later on. Elijah, on the other hand, has steadily progressed in his playing abilities all season, and has developed a deep love for playing football. His coaches couldn’t get him to talk to them at all, but they told Chris and I several times how impressed they were with his improvements, his listening, and his heart. He went from playing about four or five plays a game at the beginning of the season to playing the entire game on offense and a good portion of the game on defense. His team didn’t win a lot of games this season, so, when they won their bowl game and got a huge trophy and individual medals, I was expecting Elijah to be all smiles. He didn’t look happy at all, though. I was confused at first, but then I realized what was wrong. He told me that he was sad that football season was over. He spent the rest of the afternoon breaking my heart. Every time I looked at him, he had tears in his eyes. I felt so sorry for him! So…two totally different reactions to it, but the boys are finished for the year. I can’t say that I’m not totally relieved. I was not a fan of practices three times a week and games on Saturday.

The kids are all loving school. They have all adjusted nicely, and have all made friends. Owen had been on a field trip, and won the highly esteemed “first to ride on a real school bus” distinction. Kyra won first place in a speech competition, sang in a Veteran’s Day program, and has a field trip to the Cumberland County Playhouse coming up next week. Elijah is the only one with anything negative to say about school, and that is because he is convinced they are holding him back. He was a grade ahead in math in homeschool, and was learning multiplication. He is in second grade, though, and they aren’t doing multiplication in second grade in public school. This rubs him the wrong way. Other than that, he likes school.

Kyra has had a horrible cough for about a week. I took her to the doctor yesterday. He said he didn’t think she had pneumonia but that her lungs sounded “junky”. He put her on some medicine, and told us to bring her back if she gets worse. She sounds just terrible. Hopefully, the medicine will get it under control. I always get nervous with her, because she’s prone to respiratory problems (croup, pneumonia, etc.). Chris was at the doctor yesterday, as well. He has cellulitis in his leg. It’s causing him a lot of pain and discomfort and keeping him from work right now, but it should get better soon.

Abby Jo and I are enjoying all our free time while the kids are in school. She misses the kids and often gets mad at me when I bring her home after dropping them off. She thinks she should get to go somewhere every day, too. Apparently, home is boring. I am enjoying the boring, though. I’ve been going to the gym, taking Abby to storytime at the library, and going out for lunch. It’s nice.

That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading.

I am so proud of Kyra! She told me she was working on a speech in science class this week, and that it was about the mockingbird. I thought this was a class thing. When I picked her up from school on Thursday, however, she was bursting with excitement and told me that she had one first place in the speech contest. Turns out, it was a 4H speech competition, and she tied for first place in her class. This means that she gets to move on to a countywide competition next month. I was so proud of her. Her first full week of public school, and she is totally kicking butt! This girl is confident and brave and very smart, and I am so proud!

Abby Jo, to me, on the kids’ first day of school: “We’re going to miss our children, Mommy.”

Yes, indeed.

Today was the kids’ first day of public school. There should be a picture here of the three of them, but I forgot to take it. I intended to. I had thought about it. I just forgot because they were rushing me so much. They were so excited, and could not wait to get there!

I had been worried about Elijah not adjusting well. He is so very shy and quiet. Yesterday, though, I took them to be tested to make sure they were where they should be, and, after he finished his tests, he kept saying, “I hope we can start tomorrow! Do you think we can start tomorrow?” I told him I didn’t know, but I didn’t really think they would. They did, though, and the kids couldn’t have been happier about it.

I need to stop this narrative right here, though, and brag shamelessly. While the kids were testing, I was mentally biting my fingernails in nervousness. If they didn’t test well, it would be my fault for not being a better teacher. So, when Owen tested right where he should be, I breathed a sigh of relief. When Elijah tested right where he should be, I heaved a huge sigh of relief. Then, when they told me that Kyra reads at an eighth grade level, I took a bow. My little smartypants tested into the accelerated reading AND math classes. I was so proud of her. Alright…end brag.

So, anyway, after their testing was over yesterday, we met their teachers and saw where their classrooms are. Then, we had to go to Walmart and spend a ton of money on school supplies, backpacks, and lunchboxes. While the kids were at Awana last night, Abby and I went back to Walmart and bought lunch stuff. Starting school minus back to school sales is expensive!

This morning, the kids practically leaped out of bed when I woke them up (two or three hours earlier than they woke up for homeschool). Elijah sleeps on the top bunk in the boy’s room, and he sat up and swung himself over the bed before he had really opened his eyes. He was grinning from the moment he woke up. They were dressed in about two minutes, and helped me pack their lunches. Then, they took turns saying, “Is it time to leave yet? Can we just go ahead and go?” for the next thirty minutes. Fun times.

When I picked them up from school today, they were all still happy. I was so glad. I worried off and on all day about how they were doing. At one point, I actually prayed that no one (not going to name any shy kids here) would pee their pants because they were too shy to ask to go to the restroom. I made each one of them give me a play by play of their day. Kyra loved everything and made a “favorite friend” first thing this morning. She was stoked because her and her friend, Cheyenne, are in every class together. Elijah loved math and said he already knew twelve boys from football. He also said he made a new friend, a boy who was funny but Elijah didn’t remember his name. Owen reported that his teacher got mad when he was too loud, he liked recess and technology lab, and that there were five pretty girls in his class.

So, all in all, a great day. The kids all went to bed tonight by nine with no protesting. They were anxious to go to bed so that it would be time for school again. We’ll see how long that lasts…

Tomorrow, I’ll try to get a picture. Thank you all for your prayers for their transition. So far, so good!

I asked Abby, “Do you know you’re pretty?”
Abby: “Yeah.”
Me: “How do you know?”
Abby: “I just jumped…and then I was pretty.”

Well, summer vacation is over at the Harmon house. Monday was our first day back to school, and I will call our first week back a major success. There’s nothing like brand new school supplies to get kids back in the mood for learning. This year, I have three in school. Kyra is in fourth grade, Elijah is in second grade, and Owen is in kindergarten. Abby Jo is the odd man out, so we have been doing some “preschool” activities, too.

We start our day with devotions. I’ve not always been faithful to do this in the past, but I’m going to try really hard to keep this a part of our school day this year. I read a devotion to the kids…something short and sweet with a daily Bible verse from a book of kids’ devotions. After that, we share prayer requests, and then we pray together. The kids each take one of the prayer requests and pray for it. After we pray, we sing a few songs together, and then we get down to business.

For those of you interested in such things, Kyra and Elijah are both using A.C.E. curriculum. This is Elijah’s first year doing PACEs (the name of the workbooks they do…it stands for Packet of Accelerated Christian Education). Kyra is not a huge fan of doing PACEs only, so, as a concession, we are trying something different this year. On Mondays, they do pacework for all five subjects (Math, English, Social Studies, Science, and Word Building…WB is similar to spelling). On Tuesday and Thursday, they do Math, English, and Word Building pacework, and do extra reading. Extra reading is usually a biography, but not always. Kyra is reading about Clara Barton right now, and Elijah is reading about King Tut. On Wednesday and Friday, they do Social Studies and Science pacework, and we do extra things related to these subjects. We are going to be watching the documentary, America: The Story of Us together, and, after that, we will watch other historical documentaries about subjects like US Presidents, the Trail of Tears, etc.  The extra reading and documentaries add a little extra entertainment factor to learning, and it breaks up the monotony of doing only PACEs.

We are pretty relaxed about kindergarten around here. Elijah was my first homeschooled kindergartener, and I feel like I did a pretty good job with him. He tested into third grade Math and Word Building this year, even though he is a second grader. He’s a whiz at addition and subtraction, and he will be learning multiplication this year. He’s also a great reader. I was rather surprised at how much he had improved his reading skills since last school year. The kids are avid readers, and he has been reading all summer. However, he has not read out loud to me. When we started school on Monday, I was shocked at how he was reading right over words I expected to be hard for him (words like “available” and “courageous”) without hesitation. I didn’t use any curriculum for him in kindergarten or first grade. I taught him to read using a book called “Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons”. It was hghly recommended to me by several ladies at church. It worked great for us. For first grade, I just printed off math sheets from the internet, spelling words from the internet, used flash cards, and had him read lots of books. Math and Reading were my focus, and it has really paid off.

So, all that said, I am following the same path this year with Owen. We are using the same “Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons” book, and he is doing great with it so far. We started on Monday, and he’s already reading some easy words, such as “ram”, “eat”, “me”, etc. I got a workbook from Walmart that has general “kindergarten basics” that he really enjoys doing, and I have flash cards that we are working on numbers and counting. He’s different from Elijah in that Elijah was counting to 400 when he started kindergarten, and Owen struggles to count to 20 without forgetting 12. Each kid is different, though, and I know that. Owen is happy and eager to learn. I have a feeling he will be reading pretty well before Christmas. He’s picking it up pretty effortlessly. Time will tell how he does with math, but I’m hoping he doesn’t take after Kyra. She can do math well when she doesn’t tell herself she can’t. Then we have lots of tears and drama. I much prefer he pattern himself after Elijah in the mathematics department.

So, that is our basic homeschooling plan. Chris is back in school this semester trying to get his M.Div. I am the only Harmon not currently pursuing my education, but I’m already considering cutting my “year off” down to a “semester off”. I’m not sure yet. I’m still deciding on what school to go to for my bachelors degree.

We’re not all work and no play, though. We have already had our first field trip. On Friday, after the kids did their Social Studies and Science, we took off for some more science fun at Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. I’ll leave you with a few photos from that.

Owen as a deep sea diver.

This was a neat exhibit. The kids had to stick their hands in to feel what was inside, then (I think) they pushed a button to illuminate the box while they peeked through a hole.

In case you have no idea what this picture is about, I am pointing up at the giant turtle skeleton hanging from the ceiling.

Kyra, Owen, and Abby Jo inside of an aquarium.

Elijah cracked me up!

Penguins!

The Penguins were my favorite!

At least my eldest has mastered the art of looking at the camera.

I like to cuddle penguins.

I never said he wasn’t crazy. But, at least he’s cute, too.

My sweet, silly girls chillin’ with the penguin.

He’s still working on boundaries.

Leaving Kroger, I opened a soda that I had just purchased, took a drink, and then passed it back to Kyra. She said, “Ugh. I don’t want this chewing gum anymore.”
“Well, I don’t want it.” I told her. “Find something to do with it.”

In a moment, I heard, “Thanks, Abby. I can always count on you. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve chewed it!”

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