A few weeks ago, during Christmas week, I brought the boys into my office for a little fun. They always enjoy hanging out and playing with some of the office toys and running about. Part of the “deal” was that they first do their school work prior to playing. As I was working with them, I discovered that the big meeting room dry erase board (a.k.a. “white board”) was a great resource for doing some teaching of counting and other concepts. So I thought to myself, I should look into getting something like this for Lois to use at home for school!

Unfortunately, the average corporate-quality commercial white board of the size I see at work (classroom-sized) runs in the vicinity of $200-300!  Ouch!

So I went hunting online for ideas for cheaper white boards, and discovered an article that suggested that using “shower tile board” (~$13) from Home Depot could make for a very simple, if somewhat low-end, white board.

Inspired, we went to Home Depot and decided to go shopping. Over the course of a couple weeks, we accumulated a 4′x8′ sheet of tile board (melamine-coated particle board), a thin sheet of plywood for backing, and and a tube of Liquid Nails. For mounting on a wall, I ended up going with a “j-mold” which is typically used for hanging wall-length mirrors. Total cost, approximately $37.00. Sweet.

It has worked out beautifully. Here are photos of us putting it together, with a final photo of the white board in use.

Laying out the white board and plywood to prepare to glue them together:

Matthew helping me to squeeze Liquid Nails adhesive on the back of the tile board for attaching the plywood:

The white board (final size, 7′x4′) mounted on the family/school room wall:

Matthew doing addition on the white board:

After I made a set of pajamas for Matthew earlier this week, I decided to make a matching PJ for his beloved bear because I know it would make my boy happy.  I was a bit surprised at myself for making a PJ for a stuffed bear because I’m a very practical person. I had said in the past that I would not take the time to sew clothing for stuffed animals or dolls because it was simply too impractical.  However, making my boy happy outweighed my practical nature.  As much as Matthew enjoyed matching with his bear, I enjoyed watching him being giddy and happy.

Matthew and his bear in their matching PJ, and a matching pillowcase:

Some have asked how I homeschool the children and how I manage the little ones as I teach the oldest one. To give you a glimpse of our homeschool, here is a photo story of a typical day:

I sit in the middle and to my left is Matthew doing his math:

To my right is Andrew coloring/writing in his preschool book:

The girls are free to play about as long as they don’t interrupt, and here they are sitting nearby playing with each other:

Here are the spelling words for today on the white board (and yes, Matthew knows what the word “repent” means since we just reinforced it during our morning devotion):

Our very loose schedule for each day is as follows:

• Breakfast and clean-up
• Morning devotion
• Play a game or do an exercise
• School time
• Lunch time
• Naps for the little ones and “quiet time” for the oldest which means reading quietly on his own
• Free time after everyone wakes up. On occasion I do a history lesson with the boys at this time.
• Dinner time

Looking at this photo essay of our lives may imply a calm and peaceful day as one would hope, but let me assure you that it almost always goes with many interruptions and foiled plans. The youngest one keeps coming to me while I teach the oldest one. I let her be near me as long as she keeps quiet but once she starts to interrupt, I redirect her to somewhere nearby to play. This eventually worked and she played with her sister for a while. Andrew, on the other hand, becomes distracted in his own little world. Instead of coloring as he’s suppose to be doing, he decides to line up his crayons and create a picture of some sort. Emmaline comes to me from time to time to show off her latest arrangement of her toys.

The question that seems to intrigue most people is: “Don’t they get distracted while they do their school work when the other kids are playing nearby?” The answer is a resounding yes. However, I find that even though they get distracted, they have also learned how to work in this type of environment. They do well despite various interruptions. One of the reasons I want the younger children nearby is so that they can see what their older siblings are doing. Children are extremely perceptive and I don’t want to underestimate their ability to learn new things. I’m very well aware that whatever I teach the oldest child, the younger ones are also learning along albeit at a much lower level or degree.

Matthew is fond of two-piece pajamas and recently requested that I make him a set.  I finally had the time today to do it.  He was very happy and grateful for his new jammies.  It warms my heart that he finds so much joy in picking out the fabric and wearing his newly made pj’s.  For those who are curious, I used Simplicity pattern 8493.

I recently came across an excellent article by Susan Hunt entitled “A Woman’s Seasons.” In this article, Hunt — now a grandmother — shares about her different seasons of raising her three children to her current season of mentoring younger women. Hunt’s perspective on parenting and mentoring come very timely for me. I believe it is very common for someone like me who is so entrenched in the ever-exhausting work of caring for four little ones to think “When will this be over?” or “This too shall pass.” Rather than thinking this way, Hunt encourages us to value each season of life to glorify God:

A woman’s life is not about just enduring diapers and the terrible twos, or the empty-nest, or a room in a nursing home. It is about valuing each season of life as an opportunity to honor the King of kings. It is about drinking deeply of grace and then reflecting that grace to others.

The heart of her article is that as much as we may want to get over the stage of nursing, diapering, potty training, disciplining, etc, we should not bemoan these tasks. Rather, we should consider each stage of life a unique opportunity in which we can use our life circumstances to honor God. Hunt continues:

Ultimately, it is not the life-season or circumstance that matters. It is not so much what I do as who I am. The question is not “What is my role?” but “What is my goal?” Am I becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ? Am I being transformed by the renewing of my mind? Am I loving God with all of my heart, mind, and soul and loving my neighbor as myself? Am I encouraging and equipping younger people to live for God’s glory?

What really caught my eyes was the statement “The question is not ‘What is my role?’ but ‘What is my goal?’” This is an excellent perspective because we are naturally inclined to focus on our present role(s) and lose sight of what ought to be our goal as a mother, wife, or friend. The goal, of course, is to live our lives to the glory of God through our changing life circumstances. As the apostle Paul put it in Philippians 3:13-14:

But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

I pray that God may help those of us, especially those in less “glamorous” roles, not to lose sight of the goal, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that in every moment of “menial” service it may be done to His glory and our holiness and joy.

We have four children: two boys ages 5 and 3, and two girls, one almost 3 and the other 19 months old.

Without a doubt, the boys are infinitely more fidgety and active than the girls (though our older daughter is a very active girl, when asked to sit, she seems to just be better at it).

This is especially so when in church worship services.

So it’s with thankfulness I note that we, as a family, attended a wedding last Saturday. And all our children, including the boys, sat through the entire wedding (1.5 hours including a 40+ minute sermon) without any complaint and minimal motion, and even some attention to the various elements of the ceremony, including gladly singing Before the Throne of God Above and In Christ Alone, two of their favorite songs.

It’s so easy to focus on the negative, as parents.  Either on things we’re not doing perfectly, or ways in which our children falter. But I suspect we do not do justice to ourselves, our children, or most importantly our God when we fail to acknowledge the progress that we’ve made, by God’s mercies and kindness.

So I post this entry to remind myself, my wife, and our readers that though progress in childrearing may seem non-existent or even reversed; that God has answered our efforts with His mercies.  And inasmuch as God is graciously patient toward us in what must from His perspective seem to be glacially slow sanctification… may we have patience and mercies toward our imperfect (!) children as we strive to help them mature and learn the ways of the Lord.

So we bought a play tent from IKEA years ago.

For some reason it came to our older son’s mind a couple of days ago.

And he and his brother requested to play in it, and then to sleep in it.

So we granted their request. And I set up the tent on the queen-sized bed in their room for their comfort, and blankets inside for their warmth.

Cute and funny, these boys, they were so excited. Here are some photos of them slumbering away:

The second night, they didn’t want to have the blanket when they went to bed, so they were just in their pajamas, and thus were discovered later in this amusing position: