First Day of School Photos

Here you go!  The long anticipated first day of school photos.

Sandra commemorates most everything with art in some form or fashion.  Good to know where we are with spelling...  ;)

 Second grade Sandra!  (Picture in front of the door is a tradition.)

Here's another "First Day of School" tradition - going out for ice cream!  Since this was also Eric's first day back, we celebrated both at Rita's.  And let me tell you that their blizzard-like Blendini gives Dairy Queen a run for their money!

We're starting week three and I'd say "so far, so good!"

One Week Down...

We made it through our first week!  Granted, we still have a few things to add to the schedule, but overall I'd say it was a shining success.  Praise the Lord, right?!

One thing that has become evident been reconfirmed is that I really like order in my life/household.  I also like to feel productive...realizing that feeling productive and being productive are sometimes two very different things.  Dare I say that these "good" things are idols in my life?  I might as well...because the truth is that they are.  I like to make lists and I like to check things off because then I feel productive, purposeful.  With homeschooling, I'd say this has gone fairly well.  I've been able to check off the things on our lesson plans and move right along.  However, it's really hard to feel productive when you spend the majority of your day doing the menial things you do every other day...including "just playing" or "just being" with your kids, as the case may be.  (I probably do not have to tell you this, as you may experience this very thing yourself.)  I told Eric that I should probably add things like "play with the kids" or "read to the kids" to my to-do list so that I'll feel like I get more done in a day.  Disclaimer: I believe that whether or not they're on a list, these are the important things that really count.  But maybe I would do those things with a better attitude if they were part of my task list.  And I'd really feel like I was knocking it out if I added things like change the diapers, do the laundry, make the meals, clean up the kitchen, clean up the messes, smile like you mean it.

Not sure I'd be able to check off that last one, though.  Why do these things so often feel taxing, burdensome or frustrating?  Why can't they feel like the joy and the privilege that they truly are?  I'm working on that.  Or maybe I should say the Holy Spirit is.  Praying often for Spirit-filled parenting and homemaking.

And that was a tangent, I guess.  This blog might be full of them.  Obviously it won't be limited to homeschooling.  :)  Going to try to get some pictures up soon, as I usually find myself drawn to blogs with more pictures and less text.  Oops.

Kardia - A Definition

So here is how the KJV New Testament Greek Lexicon defines the word kardia:

the heart

1. that organ in the animal body which is the centre of the circulation of the blood, and hence was regarded as the seat of physical life
2. denotes the centre of all physical and spiritual life
3. the vigour and sense of physical life
4. the centre and seat of spiritual life
   1. the soul or mind, as it is the fountain and seat of the thoughts, passions, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, endeavours
   2. of the understanding, the faculty and seat of the intelligence
   3. of the will and character
   4. of the soul so far as it is affected and stirred in a bad way or good, or of the soul as the seat of the sensibilities, affections, emotions, desires, appetites, passions
5. of the middle or central or inmost part of anything, even though inanimate

Sorry.  That was kind of long.  But from that definition, maybe you can gather why we have chosen to name our homeschool Kardia Academy.  (In NC, naming your school is a requirement.)  I call this blog The Kardia Experiment for several reasons.  I'll just leave you to speculate those...though if I have the tenacity to keep this up, I'm sure they'll unfold over time.

Today was our first day of school!  Sandra was beside herself with excitement.  Honestly, she has been thrilled about the prospect of homeschooling since we told her back in June that we'd decided to give it a shot.  And over the past couple months, the Lord has been faithful to build the excitement in my heart, as well.  To say that I've come to homeschooling reluctantly might not do it justice.  But I have to say that today was great.  A wonderful beginning.  An answer to many prayers.  Here are a couple of my favorite quotes.

Sandra: If I have a question, do I have to raise my hand?
Me: No...and you don't have to call me Mrs. Zufall, either.  ;)

We didn't do a full-blown schedule, as we're kind of easing in this week and next.  So we did school from about 1:00-2:30.
Me: Okay, we're done for today!
Sandra: What?!  That's all I have to do for homeschool?