The Life and Times of the Watters Family

learning

While the rest of Bellingham was taking spring break this week, we didn’t. We leave for Disneyland in six weeks and I want to be mostly done with school when we get back so we chose to not take a break this week. We have a lot going on right now and I imagine the next several weeks will just fly by. Spring sports season is a bit crazy for our family. Caleb has 1 soccer practice and 1 game each week and Sean has 2 baseball practices and 2 games each week. The boys both have games on Saturdays but that pretty much means we have something sports related every day of the week except Sunday (well, except for Sunday, the 20th when we’ll play a make-up soccer game). It is so much fun to watch them play and see them learn and improve in their athletic abilities.

The boys have accomplished so much in school this year! I am really thrilled at how far they have come and how excited they both continue to be about learning. Sean is finding Math to be a bit more difficult lately but I think it’s good. We changed Math curriculum a few weeks ago to give him something more challenging. He is now working on more complicated multiplication and division. We learned about ancient Greece in History this week and about how the Olympics came to be. Last Sunday the boys picked out some new books (thanks Grandma Terri) and they have been reading like crazy all week. Caleb is getting ready to take his standardized test on Monday (homeschoolers over the age of eight are required to take them each year). We have been practicing test taking skills and doing fill in the bubble practice tests. Sean will take his tests starting Monday, April 28th

A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place started on Wednesday. The homework is extensive and amazing. As always, I am really looking forward to where God and I will go together on this journey. Every Bible study I have done over the last few years has represented a new season and a new journey with God. It still amazes me that He pursues me and continues to reveal Himself in new, mind-blowing, and awesome ways. I am praying that God will open my mind and my heart to let His truth take root in my life through this study.

I have one week left of my training at WCPC. I can’t believe how fast these 6 weeks have gone by. The training has been very thorough but I wouldn’t say I feel like I am absolutely prepared. I am glad that we will be partnering with a more experienced counselor for several weeks. The Walk for Life is about a month away and I will be sharing information and encouraging women in my Bible study to get involved one way or another in a couple weeks. I am thankful for this opportunity and also humbled. I know this is where God wants me to be serving but I also feel inadequate. And the truth is, I am. I can’t succeed at anything without God’s help. My options are to rely completely on Him and give Him credit for it all or rely on myself and hold myself responsible for the success or failure that results. It seems like an clear and simple choice but I can’t seem to consistently figure this out.

I read this today and found it to be so exactly what I needed to hear. Here’s the portion that really spoke to me:

“Will-powered faith is the worst kind of faith. A relationship with God that is rooted in our ability or strength is doomed to fail for two reasons. First, a will-powered faith will result in self-loathing. We make commitments, try our hardest, give it our all, and fail. So we try again…and fail. And the only person we have to blame is ourselves. Some of us suffer from a spiritual depression because we have lived in a cycle between trying and failing for so long. Second, if our will-powered faith doesn’t end in self-loathing it is because it ended in self-righteousness. We make commitments, try our hardest, and we succeed. We congratulate ourselves on a job well done. Then we look around and notice that other people are not experiencing the same success we are. Why don’t they try as hard as me? Maybe they are just not as godly. Self-loathing or self-righteousness—God hates both.” Curtis Jones, LPM Blog

I definitely can relate to the self-loathing side of things. I struggle to honestly asses myself. I am highly critical and extend very little grace to myself. When I have operated at that critical level for a long period of time, I then justify giving myself a break by getting in a rebellious and entitled space– which is neither healthy or helpful spiritually or otherwise. I try too hard and then I just stop trying. I don’t know how to not operate by my own will-power. I feel weak and aimless. It’s a struggle for me to understand that my worth comes not from what I do (how I love, how I serve, how I spend my time, how I fail, how I disappoint) but from the one and only fact that I am a child of God in whom He delights and dearly loves. Continually I ask God to teach me how to rest in Him, to trust Him and to teach me how to have genuine faith, not “will-powered faith”. One day I hope to say that I have learned this lesson and then I can move on to the many other lessons on the list that need some attention.

I need to express my deepest gratitude to God for putting Cam in my life. Cam is supremely patient and at times the most selfless person I have ever known. Even in the midst of conflict with me (when I am being totally unreasonable) he can put aside his hurt feelings and reach out to me with words of encouragement and good counsel. I am blessed beyond measure to share life with Cam and I am sorry for everyday that I forget that fact. God has taught me so much through him. The relationship Cam and I share provides safety and stability and as a result I am much more responsive and receptive to God’s loving pursuit. So, thank you God for loving me so much that not only did you send your Son for my salvation but you sent Cameron to love me and save my heart.

improv show

The Crazy Rabid Squirrels’ (Sean & Caleb’s improv group)

7:00 p.m (doors open at 6:30)

Wednesday, January 23rd 2008

At Melody Hall and The Second Story Theatre

4071 Home Road (behind Jerry Chambers)

$5.00 admission

Pirates

Today is national “Talk Like A Pirate” day. Sean and Caleb dressed as pirates and went to Pirate Beach (aka Watters Beach) to learn science with a pirate who looked an awful lot like Grandpa Michael. They had a blast! I am bummed that I didn’t have my camera to capture the memory. Sean and Caleb built this sign and had the idea to paint it for an art project. They have such amazing imaginations. Notice the shadow in the 3rd picture- it was Sean’s idea.

woods coffee @ boulevard

Campus #2 for home education. After a great first week of school the boys and I headed down to Woods Coffee with our work for the day. This new coffee shop is beautiful! The design and location are a winning combo. Boulevard has always been one of my favorite Bellingham parks.

We are sitting in the lofted area that overlooks the bay. Currently, Caleb is reading a National Geographic Kids Magazine while sitting in an oversized, comfy leather chair and Sean is brainstorming and developing more of his comic book story. The free wireless makes blogging while I sit here with them possible. I love the energy all around us and the boys are enjoying their hot cocoa treat and the new atmosphere. We’ll definitely be coming back here!

routine, school, boys

We started school on Monday and, so far, it’s been great. Getting into a routine feels good but also rather unfamiliar. I am appreciating it more than I thought I would and it is definitely been positive for our family. This week is exceptionally busy yet we aren’t feeling stressed or frustrated. The boys have 2 soccer practices each this week, and they began improv classes last night.

The boys are doing really well. We implemented job charts this week, and it has been such a huge help. Before I even see them in the morning, they have completed most, if not all, of their chores! It’s so nice not needing to give reminders about what they ought to do. This morning after breakfast Caleb unloaded the dishwasher completely on his own without being asked and it’s not even one of his regular jobs!

I love reading with the boys. It has always been one of my favorite things to do with them. We are currently reading Little House in the Big Woods (during school) and Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows (in the evenings with Cam). Sean just started The Box Car Children series and Caleb is reading The Magic Treehouse series. I ordered The One The Only Magnificent Me from Amazon the other day (I have to admit that the main reason I bought it was because the lead singer from Jars of Clay wrote it), it’s more of a picture book with a inspirational message. I thought the boys might think it was too young for them but they really loved it. The illustrations are fun and the message is positive.

I feel like we are off to a great start and we are establishing a routine that works for us.

A couple funny stories:

Yesterday afternoon, Sara and Aliza came by for a visit. The boys were discussing why some little girls are hard to be with. Caleb said, “It’s because they have too much testestcolostrum!” Sara and I laughed so hard! He was combining the words testosterone, estrogen and colostrum. The funniest part about that is that he added colostrum to it! He doesn’t even know what colostrum means but has heard it mentioned in the last couple weeks. I had to write it down so I wouldn’t forget. I had an instant messaging window open on my computer so I sent it to Cam. His reply practically made us pee our pants! He wrote back, “What does it mean? Breastmilk for body builders?”.

Today at snack I offered Caleb a banana with his chocolate milk and he wrinkled up his nose and said, “It has a brown spot on it”, to which I replied, “Be thankful you don’t have to eat food out of garbage cans!”. Caleb came back with, “Why would anyone have to do that?” Sean interjected, “Because they are homeless!”. Caleb then indignantly asks, “Why don’t they just get some money?”, to which Sean rather sarcastically replied, “What do you expect them to do, MORTGAGE THE SIDEWALK?!”

I can’t imagine missing stuff like this! I’m thankful to be home with them — even when I feel like they are both more capable at math than I am (Sean had to remind me what congruent meant when we were working on math the other day).

Am I crazy?

I am considering home education for the boys, again. I re-read much of A Well Trained Mind this week and it really resonates with me. The Classical Education approach that this book recommends makes so much sense. It breaks down the different stages of learning (Grammar, Logic, Rhetoric) to teach what their brains are truly capable understanding at each given stage. For the boys to get the kind of education we want for them (well rounded academically with individual thought and artistic expression), we will have to teach them ourselves. We don’t feel like they are challenged enough and they certainly don’t get the kind of one on one attention that we could provide at home. In addition, Sean and Caleb have so many activities they would like to participate but we just can’t have them running around like crazy in the afternoons and evenings after being at school for 5 1/2 hours a day. The good news is, I already have most of the resources I would need for this next school year (2nd and 3rd grades) and I know exactly what else I would use that I don’t currently have. The more research I do, the more I am leaning toward this decision. Now I just have to stop and pray. If I am not crazy now, I could very well be after a few weeks of having the boys with me 24/7.

Today be “National Talk Like a Pirate Day”

Bet you didn’t know that?!

Sean’s very awesome teacher, Mr. Lingbloom, has spent the last week teaching every subject with a pirate theme that culminated with today when they were permitted to dress like pirates for school. Sean had the best time! Caleb was quite disappointed that he didn’t get to participate (I let him wear cut off jeans, a piratey kind of shirt and he kept an eye patch in his pocket for recess). I love it when educators make learning fun!

Sean says thanks to Grandpa Mike for the “hook-ups” on the pirate garb and books.

Updates To The "About" Page

Cam has been encouraging me to participate more in the development of this site so I have been working with him to update the “about” page. The photos and text were two years old. When you have little kids a lot of changes take place in that time span. This last year has been full of developmental milestones for both the boys. After reading The Well-Trained Mind last spring we decided to home school our boys.

They started school this last fall, Sean in first grade and Caleb in Kindergarten. It has been so rewarding for me and feels like such a privilege to be able to watch them absorb new concepts and ideas like little sponges. They are so eager and enthusiastic about learning. There have definitely been challenging moments throughout the year, but overall it has been my absolute pleasure to participate in their education in such a primary way. The idea of home schooling is somewhat daunting before you begin to investigate what resources and curriculums are available. The Well-Trained Mind suggests a lot of really good curriculum options.

Now that I think about it, it’s about time to start looking ahead to next fall and what curriculum we will choose for Sean for the second grade. At some point I’ll post what we have covered this year and my impressions of the curriculum we chose, as well as what we decide to use for next year.