Rose Cottage

National Adoption Month!

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:52:00 +0000

November is National Adoption Month! There is some great info at AdoptUSKids on how you can help. Did you know it would take less than one percent of the U.S. population to provide a forever family for every child in foster care available for adoption? Even if you don't feel called to foster or adopt (or maybe just not right now), there are still ways you can help! The biggest way: spread the word about the need!

I love the Perfect Parent campaign, with this slogan: "You don't have to be perfect to be a perfect parent. Because kids in foster care don't need perfection. They need you."

I just finished reading a book called Adopting the Hurt Child, and admittedly, it can seem pretty overwhelming reading about all the potential issues kids can have, depending on how traumatic a childhood they experienced. But with patience and prayer, I believe every issue can be overcome. I underlined this in the book:

Is the effort worth it? Only if you want to save a child's life by providing him with a life worth living.

With that in mind, I want to do a couple of things here this month.

First of all, I'm highlighting a few of my posts about adoption. This way, you don't have to scroll through a zillion or so posts to read our story, refresh your memory about it, or see why we wanted to do this in the first place:

This one is from way back in April 2008: Why Adoption?
Some of my "deep thoughts" from a year or more ago:
Pricking My Heart and Adopted Through Christ
Meeting Lindsey: Info meeting and the 1st time we met her
Saying Goodbye (and why I'm so thankful to her foster family)
Very recently, I posted a video of our testimony at church.

Secondly, I'd love to do a question-and-answer thing.
Do you have questions about adopting from foster care? Questions about adopting a teen? I'm not an expert, but I can speak from my own experience, and I can probably find the answer if I don't know it. So please ask me questions! You can send them to me in email or leave them as a comment on this post, and I will do a separate post to answer them.

Alright now, start shooting me some adoption questions!!!
Ready, set, GO...

Voting begins today!

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:40:00 +0000

Today voting begins for the 2009 Homeschool Blog Awards! Take a few minutes to go vote for your favorite blogs -- it'll be a great way to encourage those who encourage others!

(I'm not on there, but who knows... maybe next year!)

Praise from Botswana!

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:55:00 +0000

I have had the opportunity to correspond via email with a few of the people we met in Botswana. This is one of the times I love technology (because there are quite a few times I don't love technology!)!

Most of the people at the marriage conference came as couples, but there were a few individuals. who attended. One of those individuals was an Ethiopian gentleman at our table. Though he didn't specifically say that he and his wife were separated, we got that impression, and we knew that she and the children were here in the States for an undetermined amount of time.

A couple of months ago, I sent an email to this gentleman to let him know some specific things I was praying for him, and he responded saying,

"...I knew that GOD is responding fast as you are praying to me and my family. I trust GOD, every thing will be good as it is all His will but on His time and I will not be tired waiting for the time of GOD... AMEN!"

Today I received this email from the same gentlemen (keep in mind that English is not his first language, so forgive him for a little bit of odd wording):

"Praise GOD, our GOD is so close, Our prayer was heared and responce came, My family is all back home with peace and LOVE. The miracle of GOD that splited the meditranean has opened a way to bring my family back together. This is my witness on responce of heared prayer, which you participated in a lot.
Thank you
The friend you prayed for at Gaborone, Botswana
GOD is Great!"

God hears every one of our prayers, no matter where we are. Isn't great to realize that we can have an impact on the lives of people on the other side of the world? I feel rejuvenated about the power of prayer, and wanted to share this with you all! So keep on praying!

Weekly Wrap-Up (2 weeks!)

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:48:00 +0000

I didn't do a weekly wrap-up last week, so this will be a two-in-one. This one will lack a whole lot of how-we-did-its, and just touch on some of what we've done. I love to do posts that might help other homeschoolers, but sometimes I just want to keep up with what we've done. This post is mostly one of the latter.

I am seriously re-evaluating some things about our homeschool, and plan to spend some serious time praying about some specifics. Lindsey will be at a sort of caffeinated teen retreat called D-NOW (Disciple Now) this weekend, and Kathryn will be at her dad's, so I'm going to use that time to focus on listening to God on what He wants me to do/change. I'll be sure to blog about it -- later.

Last week, we studied France. Some of the things we took note of in our study: the Louvre museum, the thought of eating frog legs and snails, the 300+ types of cheeses they make there, and the Eiffel tower. Did you know that the Eiffel tower has 2.5 million rivets, 1652 steps, is 984 feet tall, and grows by six inches in the summer when the metal expands. Kathryn has added it to her list of Places I Want To Go -- she's been adding to it as we study different countries. I can't wait to see how long the list is by the end of our school year!

This week, we "visited" Germany. We were amused by some of the funny-sounding names of towns, like Worms, Frankfurt, and Hamburg. Kathryn wants to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, and thought it was cool that I could actually remember the fall of the Berlin Wall.

For one of her free reading books last week, Kathryn read Where the Red Fern Grows. I couldn't remember how long it had been since I read it, so I re-read it -- and cried like a baby. I am such a sap when it comes to books about dogs or horses.

In Biology, we finished up Unit One: The Basics, and reviewed a bit. Kathryn thought at first that she didn't know the answers to the questions I was asking, but when she stopped and thought, she knew them all. Hurray for retaining information! I am enjoying this Christian Kids Explore Biology book. This week we moved into Unit Two: Plants. So far we've diagrammed a plant, explored some plants in our garden, and learned about photosynthesis. She is itching to make the terrarium suggested for this week's hands-on project, so I'm going to have to rummage for the necessary supplies.

Kathryn read about outer space in her "News Current" magazine, and has decided that Saturn would not be somewhere fun to visit, due to the crazy storms, terrible temperatures, and lack of air that humans can safely breathe. She also learned about how Mars has been explored, and about craters on the south pole of the moon that have temperatures of -397 ℉! I love that amidst all this great current event and scientific info, the writers of the magazine remind us, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1)

Lindsey had a light school week, since she had no classes on Tuesday due to the local elections. She is ecstatic about D-NOW (Disciple Now) this weekend because she's been hearing about it from friends in her small group. It is THE big event for the youth at our church, and talked about all year long. The theme this year is Crazy Love, which should be great. God used that book to speak volumes to me! And for a costume contest part of the event, Lindsey and friends will be dressing up as Frostys (as in, the chocolate ice-creamy milkshake from Wendy's). Can't wait to see that -- and yes, there will be photos!

When I was at the homeschool moms' support group meeting on Tuesday night, Ken taught the girls to play "Heart and Soul" in parts on the piano. Lindsey plays the middle part, and Kathryn can play the high part and the low part -- not at the same time, of course! Sometimes he'll play with them, or sometimes he'll play the bass (hanging on the wall in this photo) while they are on the piano. While this is not exactly perfect piano form (you'll notice if you look at their hands), it's still music, and it's still fun!

The weather was gorgeous this week, but we still didn't get outdoors as much as I would've liked. However, we did find time for appreciating the roses that are still blooming, noticing a little inch-worm on a gerber daisy, watching butterflies that Kathryn hopes are the grandchildren of the ones we raised, and doing a bit of kite flying. We also finally did a nature study!

I'm really looking forward to my time of re-assessing things this weekend, and just spending some good time with God. One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is that we have the freedom to change things ANY time throughout the school year.

Nature Study: Bracket Fungi

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Finally! An official nature study! Hurray!

While playing outside yesterday, we noticed some weirdly interesting mushrooms on the side of an old pine tree stump. We poked and prodded them, and were surprised at how hard and tough they were! I came inside later to research exactly what they are, and it appears that they are turkey tail mushrooms -- but I'm not sure they are "true" turkey tail mushrooms, so we won't be boiling them to make tea, crushing them into powder, or even chewing them as we stroll through the woods, like one eminent herbalogist likes to do. True turkey tail mushrooms are said to be fantastic for all sorts of health woes: tumors, cancer, HIV, malaria, and more! If all that is indeed true, then we need to be doing some serious mushroom farming!

Today we went back out and pulled one of these off, which was more difficult than you'd think.We brought it inside to study more closely, using our magnifying glass.
Lacy the WonderDog wanted to study it, too. {hee hee}
This study goes along with Outdoor Hour Challenge #41: Flowerless Plants. In the Handbook of Nature Study, we learned that these are considered saprophytes, which are a type of fungus that feeds on dead or decaying matter, rather than being a true parasite that steals nutrients from a living plant. Some varieties of bracket fungus, however, grow on living trees and are very harmful. There is no way to rid a tree of this fungus once it takes hold.

We're so out of practice with nature studies and our nature journal, that Kathryn is a little resistant to doing journal entries. I think it's because she's too much of a perfectionist with her drawing, so that's something we'll have to work on. For today, I printed out a photo of our fungi so she could paste that on her page and just write a few sentences about it.

I hope to be posting about many more nature studies as we try to get back into the habit of doing them!

A Rose

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:57:00 +0000

May I just say that I am in l-o-v-e with roses that still bloom in November?

Like this one...

Love-love-love it!

Homeschool Support Groups

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:19:00 +0000

Oftentimes, I think we as homeschool moms don't place much value on things like support groups. But they are SO important! My church has a great homeschool support group, and I'm so blessed by it. We have meetings once a month; the main focus is offering encouragement and reminding us why we do what we do. Occasionally, our meetings take the form of a couples' dinner, or a holiday party, but always include prayer and encouragement. Various members coordinate group field trips throughout the year for anyone who wants to participate. There are mentoring meetings, too, where more experienced homeschoolers share with newer homeschool moms needing guidance from others who have "been there and done that." Once a year, we have a homeschool moms' retreat. I went last year and was greatly blessed by it -- but this year I have conflicts with the chosen weekend, so I'll have to miss it.

Last night's monthly meeting blessed my socks off. Jeannie Fulbright was our speaker, and she shared exactly what I needed to hear. Isn't it neat how God does that? (I'll have a separate post on her specific message, but the point of this post is to emphasis the importance of support groups.)

Even back in Charlotte Mason's day, there were support groups for parents and teachers. (Karen Andreola's A Charlotte Mason Companion offers more about all this in chapter 47.) Charlotte's magazine Parents' Review provided a great deal of information. The groups became known as the Parents' National Education Union (PNEU), and local chapters popped up all over the United Kingdom, and helped start schools that used the CM method. Teachers for these schools were trained based on Charlotte's philosophy of teaching; this college was nicknamed "The House of the Holy Spirit." I love that, because doesn't that just sum up the essense of teaching our kids? We're to seek God's will for them, and dedicate ourselves to teaching them "in the way they should go." (Prov. 22:6)

I love what Karen Andreola says in regards to homeschool support groups:

I remind you that there is nothing so potent or powerful as a good idea. It is my intention for each mother to leave the meeting strengthened with an idea of Charlotte's clutched under her arm. A good homeschool can only run well on good ideas.

Really, this applies to all homeschoolers, not just those of us who love the CM philosophy. Last night's meeting was evidence of that. A good homeschool needs to run on good ideas, and good ideas often come in the form of encouragement from other homeschool moms -- and always (even if indirectly) from the Holy Spirit.

I strongly encourage you to find a support group in your area, but choose carefully. Look for one that meets your needs: do you want a group that has lots of events/field trips for the kids, or would you benefit more from the support/encouragement of other moms? You also want to make sure that their beliefs and homeschool philosophy match yours. Our group has a few CM'ers, but regardless of how we school, we all have the same basic beliefs and the same ultimate goal: to raise children that love the Lord. If you can't find a group that is a perfect fit, why not start your own? It doesn't have to be elaborate -- just a few like-minded homeschoolers sharing ideas and encouragment. Either way, you'll be blessed by it!

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:59:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't been posting every time a new CM Carnival ready! I'll try to do better, so it's easier to keep up with for my blog followers.

Cynthia at Our Journey Westward is hosting this time. I'm making a big mug of tea right now so I can start reading all the entries!

One Thing

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:04:00 +0000

One of the passages I pondered during my Bible time this morning was Philippians 1:27-30. This gives us yet another reminder that the true Christian life will have struggles -- not might have, but will have. That's not what the Americanized version of the gospel tends to teach, but it's the Truth.

But it's actually the very first bit of this passage that hits me most:

"Just one thing: live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ..."

This one thing should flavor all that I do. I'm reminded of something I read in Crazy Love: how we live our days is how we live our lives. So how am I living my days? Is it with this one thing clearly in focus? Am I living this day, today, in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ?

Rosie the Riveter (Psst: it's me!)

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:37:00 +0000

When we're bored, we don't watch TV. Sometimes, we dance in the living room -- like when Ken was teaching Lindsey to swing-dance a few minutes ago. :)

And sometimes, we play with pictures. Like re-creating the Rosie the Riveter poster.
Or our interpretation of it, anyway...

Why I'm such a slacker lately...

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:27:00 +0000

Wow. It's Thursday, and I haven't blogged this week. I've hardly blogged at all lately! Why?

I'm having a little trouble figuring out when to blog these days. I used to type up my blog posts in the evening, after Kathryn was in bed. But that was before Lindsey joined the family. Now we're all making an effort not to be on the computer after supper-time, so we can keep that as (mostly) technology-free family time. So with blogging, as with many other things, I've got to re-adjust how I do it.

Another excuse: I've had very little energy; post-crud asthma is not fun.

And we've been busier than usual. A little of what we've been up to:
We had the opportunity to be judges for the photography division of an elementary school PTA-sponsored art contest. FUN! We finished up our scoring early this week.

We've been blessed with a few portrait sessions recently, we've had a few meetings with 2010 brides, and we've had a lot of photo editing, as well as updating our website and business blog. (All without being on the computer in the evenings = tough!) We're very thankful for every bit of business we have!

Two Saturdays ago, I had a continuing education class for Stephen Ministry, and after dropping me off, Ken drove Lindsey out (about an hour and a half away) to her little brother's house to celebrate his 9th birthday. That afternoon I spent a little while shopping with my mom, while Ken put new shocks and brake pads on the Durango, and then went to pick Lindsey back up. Yes, my day was more fun than Ken's, but he's such a good husband and father! Ken really is my super-man!
Lindsey with her little brother.
On Wednesday of this week, Lindsey was super-excited to be the first one to drop a pumpkin from a cherry picker thirty feet in the air for some goofy youth-group thing. (Her youth minister and I had a funny twitter conversation about this whole thing.) Ken and Kathryn went to watch, and of course, Ken took photos. {grin} You can see how excited Lindsey was, and Ken's posted the results of the pumpkin drop on his blog.

Preparing for the pumpkin drop!
I volunteered to host a ladies get-together for our Sunday school class, but I had to cancel because I've felt so yucky. (Sorry ladies -- I'll do it soon!!!)

Then, of course, there's all the usual things like school and housework and such. I have been very much a slacker in the exercise department, too. I hope to change that as soon as I can breathe properly again!

OH! I almost forgot to mention this big news: we have a court date in December for Lindsey's adoption! We're all thrilled that we'll have that done and official before Christmas, before the end of the year, and before Lindsey's birthday! AND we updated our family photo (see my sidebar).

So, that's why I'm such a slacker. Hang in there with me, though. I have no shortage of things to blog about, just lacking the time and energy to do much of it. Even if no one read my blog, I'd still keep blogging because it's such a great way to keep up with what we do, when we do it, how I feel about it, and so on. I can't even count how many times I've referred to my blog to find out when we did something! It's like scrapbooking, only more interactive, and more detailed. I ♥ blogging!

Weekly Wrap-Up

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Like I said in my previous post, I've felt crummy all week. So we didn't do any cool cultural evenings. We didn't get outdoors to do any cool nature studies. But we did do the essentials, and that's yet another reason I'm so grateful that we are able to homeschool.

This week, Kathryn and I visited Spain and Portugal. One of the things we do as part of our Winter Promise "Children Around the World" lessons each week is add stickers to our Travel With Me maps for the country (or countries) we are visiting. The countries are all labeled in red. Water forms are labeled in blue. Major land forms are labeled in green. You can see our little "travel guide" children, and other stickers of things such as the Flamenco Dancer and The Running of the Bulls for this week, or Tulip Farms and Windmills in The Netherlands, a sheep to represent wool in the United Kingdom, and a potato to represent the Potato Famine in Ireland. Kathryn really enjoys adding the stickers, and the map is displayed at her eye-level in our school room all the time. When we finish Europe, we'll have a new map for a new continent.

Each week we have a few cool websites to visit, for things like a virtual sight-seeing tour of each country, or something extra like when she explored old Spanish galleons online. Some weeks we have additional "cultural experiences" books to read, like this week's Find Out About Spain, which was full of all sorts of fun facts. Kathryn was fascinated by bull fights (and felt sorry for the bulls!), and I was astounded when she read to me about an annual food fight festival held on the last Wednesday of August each year in the Valencia region of Spain; this festival celebrates the harvest, and is known as La Tomatina.

Kathryn really is learning so much about geography already -- and so am I! This makes it more fun, and we don't have memorize a bunch of boring facts or learn everything all at once. Our globe is getting used more often this year, too!

Kathryn chose our memory verse for the week: Philippians 4:6. We've continued working on Studying God's Word Book D, and she told me she likes the activities in this book better than in the previous ones. In her Prayer and Personal Involvement Journal we're learning about basic needs we all have, like a safe place to live. Part of this week's study referred to things like having shelter after a natural disaster (like a tsunami) or in a war-torn country. I hope this will help us all begin to have a greater appreciation of how greatly we are blessed. The other part of this week's lesson was about Foster Care. I think, because of all we've talked about for the nearly two years we've been going through the process of adoption (getting approved & all that), that Kathryn has a better understanding of this than the average 9-year-old. But I'm very glad this topic is covered!

Lindsey missed classes on Tuesday because she wasn't feeling well, either. She made up her work, and felt good enough to go to choir practice and youth group Wednesday night. On Thursday, she went on a field trip with a group from school to see the play Julius Caesar at Oglethorpe University in Atlanta. She was most impressed by the fake blood used in the stabbing scene, and that was the first question she asked when they had a question-and-answer time with the actors after the play. {grin}

Lindsey was very impressed with herself in knowing much of her Physical Science stuff before looking it up. She said she felt smart. I hope this sort of thing, as well as last week's excellent grade on her English essay, etc., will begin to build her confidence in her ability to learn. I don't think she's had a lot of positive experiences/feedback in school in previous years. We just found out that she'll be having yet another new English teacher; I'm disappointed about this because she was really doing well with the interim teacher (who I though would be the teacher for the remainder of the year).

Last week was Lindsey's first Sunday helping lead worship in Kid's Church, and she loved it. This week will be her first choir performance at church. Kathryn had another Brownie meeting this week; I wasn't crazy about the Halloween crafts they did (we don't do Halloween), but the crafts did give me some ideas for crafts here at home. The acorns painted to look like pumpkins were cute, though!

Stop by to see Kris for more of this week's "Weekly Wrap-Up" participants.

I've Been Lazy...

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:02:00 +0000

I have felt yucky all week.

Just a generic, unspecific virus, I think. Not bad enough to be the flu, but certainly worse than a cold. Tuesday all I did was sleep and take Advil for feverish aches and pains. Wednesday I felt better, but overdid it, so by evening I felt yucky again. So Thursday I was a lazy bum (between loads of laundry).

Lindsey felt yucky, too, and I did take her to the doctor on Wednesday to make sure she didn't have strep since she complained that her throat really hurt. (She didn't; doctor's verdict was an unspecific virus.)

All this to explain why I have been a lazy blogger this week. We did, however, get one important thing accomplished this week: we got the adoption release papers notarized and sent to our lawyer so she can file them. By Monday we should know when our court date will be for the finalization of her adoption. And she picked (with our input!) a new middle name: Elise, which means "pledged to God."

By the way, my retro photo-clip art comes from this cool site: Tack-o-rama.
It's cheesy-goodness is right up my alley! LOVE it!

Look -- It's Me!

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 21:25:00 +0000

Deanna at the Frugal Homeschooler featured me on her blog, HERE! She'd be happy to feature you, too. Check out the "Common Bond" section of her blog by clicking. Click on this nifty little button:

Weekly Wrap-Up

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:03:00 +0000

The rain -- and more rain -- has kept us indoors most of the week, but last Sunday was gorgeous, and we started the week with an unexpected nature study of a strange creature we identified as a tussock moth caterpillar. (See it here.)

We're trying to be more intentional about studying the Bible. Lindsey and I haven't quite worked out the best way to help her make this a habit yet, but we're working on it. Kathryn is using Studying God's Word Book D, and she has been reading The Child's Story Bible on her own. We read it together in her kindergarten year, and both loved it; I learned quite a bit from it myself! It was Kathryn's idea to begin re-reading it, and I think it helps her see the Bible as all inter-related more easily than reading a verse here or there in her "regular" Bible.

This week in "Children Around the World," we visited Northern Europe: we saw the Alps in Switzerland (it's easy to find great photos online) and enjoyed some Swiss chocolate (Lindt = yum!); we took a sight-seeing tour of Norway (here); and we toured a tulip garden in the Netherlands, which reminded us of the gorgeous tulips we saw when we visited Biltmore Estate in the spring (Yes, of course I included a tulip photo in that post!).

Kathryn is enjoying reading Mandy, by Julie Andrews, and eagerly anticipates however many chapters I tell her she's allowed for the day. I love having such excitement about good books!

In math, Kathryn is still doing great about finishing a lesson each day in Horizons 3. She's been learning to calculate perimeter and area, had been doing more with division, fractions, and multiplication, doing more word problems, and continuing to review other skills.

For handwriting this week, Kathryn finished up her thank-you notes for birthday gifts she received. For current events, she read in GWN: News Current about modern farms in the United States, and about some of the many challenges they face. Though I don't require Lindsey to read this (yet!), she did pick it up this week and read much of it, too.

Lindsey is still hanging in there with her classes, though she still does NOT love school. We were very proud that she worked hard on an English essay on themes in The Call of the Wild, using MLA formatting. She didn't procrastinate about doing it, and earned a very good grade on it! Way to go, Lindsey!

Lots of online stuff for Lindsey: Her new Spanish teacher has set up a website where they practice vocabulary and take quizzes. Not sure how well I like it, but the concept is great. Her American History teacher has a class blog where he posts something, and the students must all go comment on it for part of a class participation grade. Another neat concept.

Lindsey and Ken have started a new daily photo challenge to improve their photography and learn more about their cameras. They must read a page in their camera manuals each day (Lindsey is using my D40, since I've upgraded), and take a photo every day, then do a blog post about it. I'm sure Lindsey would love for you to visit her blog and see how she's doing with it so far. :)

Nature Study: Tussock Moth

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:29:00 +0000

"About us on every side are myriads of tiny creatures that commonly pass unnoticed, and even when we observe them, we usually think them unworthy of serious consideration. But all life is linked together in such a way that no part of the chain is unimportant... The abundance of insects makes it easy to study them. They can be found where-ever man can live, and at all seasons."

~ Anna Botsford Comstock

We've been lacking in our nature studies so far this school year, but on Sunday a little impromptu nature study showed up as I was pruning my roses. I found this weird insect on a leaf...

We poked and prodded it, looked at it with a magnifying glass, took pictures of it, and Kathryn decided to put in her "bug catcher" so we could see what it was doing later. Here she and Lindsey are having a good look.

Ken looked up our strange critter on What's That Bug, and identified it as a tussock moth caterpillar, called that because of the tufts -- or tussocks -- of irritating hairs on it's body. Ours is a mature caterpillar that will soon weave a cocoon. After emerging from her cocoon, the wingless, fat, and hairy female moth waits for a male to fly to her. Once they've mated, the female will lays eggs on the cocoon, and then her life cycle is done. We all decided we're happy not to be tussock moths!

I'm hoping this little study will jump-start us into MORE nature studies!

Sleepy WonderDog...

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:57:00 +0000

We have quite possibly the cutest dog ever. Now that she has finally stopped shredding things, we finally bought her a new cozy bed. She loves it!
She looks like a little deer when she's curled up asleep.

Lacy is a rescue mutt we found on PetFinder. October is Adopt-A-Shelter-Dog Month, and we encourage you to do so! We think rescue mutts make the BEST pets!

We love WonderDog!

Weekly Report

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:06:00 +0000

Kathryn had a bit of a cold the first part of the week, and Lindsey had no classes this week, so we took things a little easy. We did quite a bit of reading, reorganized closets, and spent time sitting on the back porch enjoying the cooler weather. We all love fall!

Lindsey worked on a report for English class, but had no other assignments on her off week. Both girls updated their blogs. Kathryn did a few Horizons math lessons, and played some multiplication games on the computer. We talked about the book she just finished on George Mueller (Father to the Fatherless), and I may have her try writing down a bit of her narration.

This week in Biology, Kathryn and I learned about the biosphere and what ecology is. She's getting better at finding the definition of her vocabulary words in context.

She also finished up the travel journal pages for Ireland. Thursday evening, I made Irish Stew, from our Usborne "Little Round the World Cookbook," but used beef instead of lamb, as called for in the original recipe. Lindsey said it is her new favorite meal. I am a little bit in love with the Rachel Ray enameled blue cast iron stew pot my mom gave me. (Thanks, Mom!)

After supper, we played "hot potato" with one of Ken's juggling balls. This weekend I plan to make another suggested recipe, Irish Cinnamon Apple Cake. If it comes out tasty, I'll be sure to share the recipe.

Kathryn is enjoying her Brownie meetings, and I think she feels all official with her little sash. She's working on more patches.

Lindsey has joined a team to help lead worship in Kid's Church, so she'll be on stage dancing and singing as the K-3rd grade kids worship. Next Sunday is her first weekend, and Kathryn has been helping her practice. This would really be fun to do a few days every week (if we're not too lazy!); it helps Lindsey learn the routines, it would be great exercise, and it's a fun way to worship God, too!

Hope your week has been great!

Video from last Sunday's testimony

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:33:00 +0000

Several friends and family have said they'd like to see a video of the testimony we shared on Sunday, and the wonderful folks at church made us a copy on DVD. After much tinkering, we figured out how to get it on YouTube so we could more easily share it with anyone who wasn't able to see it in person.

So those of you who only know me in blogland now get to hear me talk and see me in motion. It's soooo weird to watch myself on video -- do I really look like that?
I guess so!

Here are a few things you should know before you watch:

The sound is a teensy bit off from the video, so Ken and I made cheesy kung-fu movie jokes when we first watched this video. Hopefully YOU are more mature than we are and can ignore this. ;)
Due to YouTube time limitations, we have edited the video to make it shorter. Plus, we didn't ask permission to post the testimony from the other lady who shared, so we edited her part out.
There's a little music before we come up, then a bit more before we come back up, so I hope you'll watch the whole thing. :)

OK, on with the show...

If for some reason the video won't work for you, try clicking this link to see it on YouTube.

Matthew's Wedding

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:40:00 +0000

We ventured down to Jacksonville Beach for my cousin Matthew's wedding the last weekend in September. He and I grew up together, and when I was little, I even told people that he was my little brother -- and they believed me! So when Matthew announced his engagement to a great girl named Monica, we immediately started making plans to be there, and offered our photography services as a wedding gift for my honorary brother.

Ken caught this photo when I stopped to give Matthew a quick hug while he was hanging out in anticipation of the wedding ceremony.

Lindsey and Kathryn enjoyed the day. Lindsey helped pin on corsages and boutonnières, and kept Monica hidden 'til it was time to walk down the aisle. Kathryn took her job as flower girl very seriously, and l-o-v-e-d it. Both girls liked feeling helpful, and hanging out with Monica and the girls before the ceremony was pretty doggone amusing at times. {grin}

After the ceremony, Matt and Monica had allotted extra time for photos before they needed to be at the reception. So much fun! I just have to share one of my very favorite shots (if you'd like to see more, check out a few wedding/reception photos, and day-after at-the-beach photos!)...

After photos by the church, we went to nearby Friendship Fountain for some photos, and took a few by the St John's river as well. Kathryn and Lindsey tagging along, even though they were hot and tired and hungry. Sometimes they got to act as assistants, holding a flash or reflector. I caught this shot as we were all walking back to the car to head to the reception, both of them helping hold Monica's dress, and loving having a part in a romantic day. Our girls are so immersed in weddings that they are both going to have their wedding planned about twenty different ways before they ever meet their future husbands. Look out, guys! {grin}

Kathryn has always loved Matthew, but after he and Monica asked if she'd be their flower girl, they earned extra-special points. I've always thought it was funny -- and kind of neat -- that somehow Kathryn managed to inherit (if that's possible) Matthew's funny ear-fidgeting habit; he always did this weird thing with his ear when he was sleepy, and Kathryn always did nearly the same thing.

Once we'd all eaten, the girls hit the dance floor. Lindsey and Kathryn both danced nearly non-stop for the entire reception! Needless to say, they both went to sleep that night as soon as their heads hit the pillow! Here's Kathryn dancing with her cousin Cullen. You may have seen him in some of our field trip posts and such, since he's family, but also a homeschool friend!

When we were little, Matthew and Shannon and I were the Three-Musketeer cousins. Maybe because we were all close in age, and the older cousins were too cool to play with us. (Jonnia!) Anyway, we spent a great deal of time together, and every Christmas, there was at least one photo taken of the three of us sitting on the same couch in my grandmother's house. We haven't done that photo recently, so it was time for an updated version:

Ken and I love to dance, and we did get out on the dance floor a time or two. It cracked me up that after we'd finished a swing dance, my uncle Bill came up and said, "I didn't know you two taught dance lessons! You're good!" But we're not the only ones in the family who know how to dance. He and my aunt Culline (Matthew's parents) really know how to cut a rug, too!

There were quite a few family members Lindsey hadn't met before this Florida trip. After the rehearsal dinner Friday night, she told us she thought she'd feel funny meeting all these new people, but said they were all goofy enough that she felt like she fit right in. I know that everyone in my family means well and that they have good hearts, but it made me all warm and fuzzy inside to see how they accepted Lindsey as if she'd always been part of the family. I love my big crazy clan of relatives.

Lindsey danced with my dad (her Granpa), with Matthew, and with Monica's littlest son Devin. When she danced with Ken, she cried "like a baby" (her words). She told me that was because she'd never had a dad to do things like that with her. I told her it would not be the last time she'd dance with her Dad. She said it probably wouldn't be the last time she cried while she danced, either.

My uncle Bill taught her the two-step, Texas-style.

Lindsey mentioned that we needed to get a photo of Granpa with her and Kathryn. So this is the first photo of my dad with BOTH girls.

I'm so blessed to have been able to spend this special time with family, to see my cousin Matt say his wedding vows, and to make such wonderful memories with our daughters.

He's Always Been Faithful

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:11:00 +0000

Today at church, in the midst of a praise service program titled "Age to Age," we were blessed with the opportunity to share a bit of our story about adopting Lindsey. Incorporating many of the great old hymns, and narrated between songs by one of our associate pastors, this program was a big celebration of how mighty and holy and faithful God is. The choir and orchestra gave a chill-bump inspiring performance, and I can't imagine that anyone left there without feeling God's presence.

In the middle of the song, "He's Always Been Faithful," we shared an ad-libbed version of this, with Ken and I each telling part of the story:

God laid this idea on my heart years ago, but for a long time, I forgot about it. But He never forgot, and eventually brought the idea back to the surface. After I introduced the idea to Ken, we prayed about it, and both felt the Lord leading us to adopt an older child. We didn't know specifics, other than this would not be a baby, and that we would adopt through the foster care system.

The approval process was painfully slow. Our paperwork was misplaced, and it was months before we even knew about it. We were very frustrated, but we knew God had a plan, and felt that this must be because the child He'd chosen to add to our family was not yet available or ready to be adopted.

We met a young little brother and sister we hoped to adopt, and we were disappointed when their caseworker chose another family for them. God used that situation to teach us some things, and to make us really examine our hearts about why we were doing this.

We prayed that we would know when the right child came along, and that God would show us this by cutting through the red tape and making the process relatively speedy and easy. He did!

Our caseworker sent us a flyer for a 14-year-old girl named Lindsey. Her caseworker felt that we'd be a good match based on the fact that Lindsey wanted a Christian family, involved in their church; we have a younger daughter, and she loved kids. She is interested in photography, and we are professional photographers.

We met with our caseworker to review Lindsey's file, and teleconferenced with Lindsey's caseworker at that meeting. Just two days later, we met Lindsey for the first time. Friends from here at our church, and from Lindsey's church were praying that the meeting went well, and that there would be excitement but not awkwardness. We couldn't have imagined that a meeting like that could be anything but awkward, but both caseworkers said it was the best, most comfortable first meeting they had ever seen. Kathryn and Lindsey hit it off right away, sharing a chair and whispering like they were already sisters.

The next week, we went out to Lindsey's foster home and spent the day. The next visit, originally planned as a day visit, turned into a weekend. The following visit, planned as a long weekend, became a week, then forever. She only went back to her foster home to collect her things and say goodbye. We signed the necessary papers and moved her in. This was not the usual timeframe, but was the Lord doing exactly what we'd asked, making things as quick and easy as possible. Lindsey's caseworker said it's suppose to be hard to place a teen for adoption, but that wasn't the case here.

At Lindsey's age, she had to give consent to be adopted. That was a hard decision to come to, but God put her exactly where she needed to be. She came to know Christ in the church she attended with her foster parents, and the pastor's wife, who was herself adopted at age 12, helped Lindsey make that difficult decision. God always has a plan, even when we can't see it.

People have asked why we would want to do this? We've been asked why we would take on someone else's problem? The answer is because of God's command in James 1:27, and because this is a picture of what God did for us in adopting us as sons and daughters, making us co-heirs with Christ. We all—including Lindsey and our other kids—know without a doubt that God is in this. He has worked out so many challenges and so many details. He is in the BIG things and the little things! We know, as with anything in this life, that this may not always be easy, but God will not leave us. He has always been faithful, and He will continue to be faithful.

As much as I try not to, I still care what people think of me. I was happy that today was a good hair day. I was glad we didn't say "um" at least one-hundred times as we talked. I was thrilled I didn't trip up the stairs to the stage. But beyond all that superficial junk, what I really hope is that people there heard God in our story. That it glorified Him. That maybe they are challenged to something a little scary, if it's something He wants them to do.

I have more news to share, another example of God's faithfulness: After we got home from rehearsal on Wednesday night, we got word from Lindsey's caseworker that he would be getting what he calls the "Let's get this train rolling" paperwork signed to move forward with the finalization of Lindsey's adoption. Her caseworker came to the service today (wearing a tie with a train on it!) and gave us a copy of that paperwork. We will give this release to our lawyer to move forward with requesting a court date, etc. Based on the "norm," this is about 3 months sooner than expected, so we are delighted. It is yet another example of things going more smoothly and more quickly than the norm. God has always been faithful, and He always will.

Catching Up

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:54:00 +0000

I have sooooo much blogging to catch up on, but a) we were out of town part of last week/weekend, and b) I spend part of this week re-designing our photography blog and doing a bit of updating there. I think I'm finally satisfied with the design -- hurray! (Psst! Go check it out!!!)

So the week before last, Lindsey had a square dance at her school, and Ken did photography for the evening. (I stayed home; it was not a good day for me, and it was an easy/small enough job for just one of us.) He did some family photos, as well as some action shots of the dancing, but my favorites were the ones when the kids came to pose all goofy-like. There were bandana-masked bandits, cattle-wranglers, damsels in distress, and general silliness. This one is Lindsey with a few of her friends. (The backdrop was just part of the decorations for the event.)
Since we knew we'd be out town one of the days Lindsey is usually in class, we got her assignments ahead of time, and I was proud of her for getting everything done before we left. Kathryn and I did an abbreviated "trip" to Ireland, and she was delighted to see signs for Dublin (in this case, Georgia) along the way to Florida. We thought about stopping to take her photo with one of those signs, but there wasn't a good, safe place to do so. Would've been pretty funny, though. {grin}

We did stop for lunch in Savannah. Ken has been there before, but the girls and I had not. We drove around a little, filled our bellies, and then walked a few blocks on River Street 'til we reached the waving girl statue, then turned around to head back. We loved the trolleys, and the old cobblestone roads. We saw what is believed to be the oldest bell in Georgia. This little detour to Savannah was definitely a history lesson, as well as a nice diversion and a chance to stretch our legs thoroughly before climbing back in the car for several more hours.
The girls l-o-v-e-d our hotel room, with bunk beds behind a little L-shaped wall. Kathryn had never slept on a bunk bed before, and I think that was one of the highlights of the trip for her. The desk clerk Mike was the nicest hotel employee we have ever met; he even baked us cookies, ready just about the time we'd gotten settled into our room!

That evening (Thursday), we had dinner with an old friend of mine, who I hadn't seen in probably about twenty years! This is us, back in the old days (I'm the short one): It was so great to catch up, and to meet her family. She's engaged to a great guy named David, and we had a blast doing their engagement photos Sunday morning, right before we hit the road to come home.

The main reason we went to Florida was for my cousin Matthew's wedding. But that'll be a whole other post in itself. (Soon, I hope!) We did not even think to bring swimsuits; it was nearly October, for goodness sake! But the girls played in the ocean some anyway, with pants rolled up, just to say they've had their feet in the Atlantic (a first for both of them, since we usually go to the Gulf).
Kathryn's birthday was on Monday, but we already celebrated earlier this month. She spent the rest of this week at her daddy's house. Lindsey didn't have a heavy load of schoolwork this week, so she and I spent some time just hanging out. I'm trying to be sure to spend some one-on-one time with both the girls--this being a parent to more than one daughter is still new, but I like it.

That about catches us up for this week, other than posting about the wedding -- soon!

I was a fool

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 14:37:00 +0000

It still amazes me that something written such a l-o-n-g time ago is so relevant to me and my life. When I read Psalm 107 this morning, I copied part of it down in my journal. This passage could easily be written with my name substituted in here, like this:

[Jamie] sat in darkness and gloom... because [she] rebelled against God's commands and despised the counsel of the Most High. [She] stumbled, and there was no one to help. Then [she] cried out to the LORD in [her] trouble; He saved [her]... He brought [her] out of darkness and gloom and broke [her] chains apart.

It seems harsh to say I "despised the counsel of the Most High," but I did my own thing and valued my own so-called wisdom more highly than His, so that's exactly what I did. That hit me hard today; the Word really does cut like a sword (Hebrews 4:12).

It wasn't until I was desperate--until my variety of wisdom had proven itself worthless and void--that I called on the Lord. In His great mercy, He saved me. He broke the chains of darkness, and freed me from the sin that entangled my life. It still took years before I began to fully realize the scope of what He did then. It blows my mind.

The Psalm continues on. I don't even have to substitute my name. "Fool" suited me quite well for many years:

"Fools suffered affliction because of their rebellious ways and their sins... Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble; He saved them from their distress. He sent His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His faithful love and His wonderful works for the human race. Let them... announce His works with shouts of joy."

I was a fool who rebelled against God. He sent His word--Jesus Christ--and healed me. So now I give thanks to the Lord for His faithful love, and I ask Him to help me be bold in announcing His works with shouts of joy!

Crazy in Love...

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 13:28:00 +0000

Have you ever been in love?

Maybe you weren't as corny as this couple, but I'd venture a guess that most of us have, at some point in our lives, acted like goofballs because of how we felt about that special someone. Maybe it was sacrificing sleep to spend a little extra time together, or spending a ridiculous amount of time on the phone just to hear your true love's voice. Maybe it was spending extravagant sums of money to lavish gifts upon your loved one. Or maybe just feeling all swoon-ish when they're near.

I like country music, but haven't listened to it much lately. On the way to Florida, however, we kept losing radio channels and having to find new ones, and we listened to a good bit of country. A song I liked came on; it's about how this fellow is acting because he is head-over-heels in love:

What a beautiful mess!
What a beautiful mess I'm in.
Spendin' all my time with you,
There's nothin' else I'd rather do.
What a sweet addiction that I'm caught up in.
'Cause I can't get enough,
Can't stop the hunger for your love.
What a beautiful, what a beautiful mess I'm in.

I've been reading the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and I've been challenged by what God is showing me through it. Every chapter leaves me with a lot to think about, but one particular thing I'm spending a great deal of time thinking about what it means to be in love with Christ. As I listened to that country song, I remembered when Ken and I were newly in love, then I started thinking that being in love with Christ should be that way, too. Do I have a hunger for Him, for His love? Do I crave more and more time with Him? Would I really rather be with Him than do anything else?

Ponder this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there? (Quoted from John Piper)

If we are truly in love with Christ, that would NOT be enough. I guess the thing to really think about is whether we do what we do out of a feeling of obligation, or maybe out of a desire to get something in return for our good works. Or is it truly because of a passionate love for Christ?

I want to be consumed with Christ. I want to love passionately, and that means not only loving God that way, but loving others that way, too. I can't claim to love God, but refuse to love the people He created, even the annoying, hard-to-get-along-with people.
I want to love hard.

Kathryn's 9th Birthday

jamiescottage@gmail.com ({ jamie }) — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:21:00 +0000

Today is Kathryn's 9th birthday!

This weekend, we were in Florida for my cousin Matthew's wedding, (more about that later!) and Kathryn was their flower girl. Maybe I am a bit biased, but isn't she pretty? She loved the whole experience, and danced her feet off at their reception (see Ken's post here). She couldn't have had a better birthday present! As she explained to me last night, even if she lost all her other presents, she couldn't lose this one because it was a living present and she would always remember it. I will, too. {sappy smile}