Rawhide, Homeschooling & Big Families

This past weekend was busy, but fun. Friday night we had my parents here for dinner. It was good to see my mom "back in the saddle" again after a long recovery. She even donned Joel's cowboy hat and sang her theme song, "Rawhide." It was really great to see mom laughing and up to her old goofy self again.

Saturday, Matt's parents watched the kids all day so that Matt and I could have our annual homeschool planning day. We made final decisions on curriculum for this year, ordered what we still needed (I LOVE online ordering) and talked about scheduling, character issues and tweaking family worship time. We'll see how the new year goes. Grace's Algebra should be arriving within the next day or two. She's going to be sooo excited.
Sunday we went to church. Joel actually made it through the service without having to be taken out and disciplined for bad behavior. He got a prize when he got home. Yes, I do resort to bribing my kids at times. It's a nice little weapon to have in my parenting arsenal. Joel has also decided he's done with diapers and he's been doing a phenomenal job keeping his big boy pants clean, probably because I give him a Hershey's kiss every time he successfully uses the potty. I'm telling you, bribery works.

Sunday night we traveled out of town for the monthly family worship we've been attending. This time one of the families hosted the event at their farm. It was a gorgeous setting, worshipping God smack dab in the middle of His amazing creation. Afterwards, the parents mingled while the kids played. The farm was a kid's dream--tire swing, huge tree house and plenty of kids to play with (most, but not all of the families have a lot of kids). When we got in the van to go home, Lydia said, "That was fun and yummy!" (we always have snacks during the fellowship time). We traveled home listening to hymns and watching the fiery red sunset the Lord provided for our enjoyment.