Meet Rolly

While our friends are on a trip to Europe, we have the honor of watching their sweet dog Rolly (pronounced "Raleigh") for three weeks. We have a soft spot for golden retrievers because in our early married years our first "child" was a golden. Rolly invokes wonderful memories of him.

Rolly has the classic golden temperament--mellow, happy and patient with children. In the short time he's been with our family he's endeared himself to us with his affectionate ways. He loves to lay his head on the closest lap he can find. He eagerly eats up any attention he gets, and when your hand momentarily stops scratching him his nose will gently nudge you back into servanthood.


Rolly is a BIG, happy guy.


Even though Rolly is about 30% bigger, Shadow
makes it clear that she is still Alpha Dog.


Rolly loves to follow Elizabeth around for head scruffs,
and she is happy to oblige.

He is with us for one more week. We are plotting how to tell his former owners that they can't have him back. :-)

"A righteous man regards the life of his animal..." Proverbs 12:10a

Giorno di Festa

What kind of field trip goes along with a reading of Papa Piccolo? Why, a gondola ride, amico mio!

One recent Monday morning, we embarked on an imaginary visit to Venice. We began by listening to the head gondolier read the delightful book, Guido's Gondola, a story of rat gondolier who trades his gondola for a cruise ship and learns the lesson that bigger is not necessarily better.



After teaching us the proper pronunciation of the word gondola (gon' da la), our gondolier explained how the various parts of the boat worked together. Our group was then divided into four gondolas.

Here is our little love boat.



The ride was thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable, especially when the gondoliers took turns serenading us with Italian love songs. My favorite song was the rendition of That's Amore.



Some of the gondolas were powered by motors, but one of them was powered the old fashioned way: by gondolier.



The gondolier told us that it is customary to kiss your partner each time your gondola goes under a bridge. As we glided under the bridge, Elizabeth couldn't pass up the opportunity to kiss her little brother.



That's Amore!

"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35

More Wedding Photos

(Unfortunately, the one photo someone took of our entire family turned out blurry. I'm thankful I did get a few shots of the kids!)












"This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

The Ring Bearer

Last December at a family Christmas gathering, Alan's cousin Bryan announced that he and his lovely fiancee Betty were engaged. They asked Jonathan if he would be their ring bearer. He was not sure he was up for the task, but we encouraged him to accept the honor.

Over the months Jonathan went through a mixture of emotions and misgivings about the rite of passage.

Eight months ago: "I don't know if I want to be a ring bearer."

Six months ago: "Why does a wedding have to have a ring bearer?"

Four months ago: "What if I drop the pillow?"

Two months ago: "Will I have to talk?"

One month ago: "Will everyone be looking at me?"

Two weeks ago: "Why do I have to wear a tuxedo?"

The night before: "Dear Lord, please help me to remember what I'm supposed to do."

Yesterday was The Big Day. We got up early and by God's grace were able to get showered, dressed, out of the house and to the hotel in record time.

There were some pre-wedding jitters yet Jonathan seemed happy to be a part of the wedding joviality. He beamed every time someone told him how handsome he looked in his tux.


Can this really be my little boy?

The big moment arrived amidst familiar strains of music. Jonathan needn't have worried. He rose to the occasion and was one of the finest ring bearers we've ever seen. :-)


Patient: Waiting for the bridal procession.


Contemplative: Hmmm....I might have to get married one day.

(The bride's veil kept fluttering in the wind..so lovely!)


Cheerful: This is not as bad as I thought.


Relieved: Whew, it's over! I did it!

Later that night, as we reflected on the beauty of the entire day, I asked Jonathan what was his favorite part of the wedding. To my surprise, he replied, "I liked being the ring bearer." I asked him why.

"I felt very special."

"Yes, it was very special to be the ring bearer."

At that moment, his face radiated with such warmth and joy and delight that I wish I could have bottled it up to save it for a rainy day.

Then when he was grown up and no longer living at home, I could take out the elixir every now and then and savor the memory of the day I saw a glimpse of the heart of my boy on the verge of turning into a man.

"My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice..." Proverbs 23:15

Oceans of Blessings

Last Friday, we joined a group of friends on an interesting field trip to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point.

The night before, we read Very Last First Time, a story about an Inuit girl who follows village tradition and walks on the bottom of the sea to gather mussels for dinner. It's one of our favorite Five in a Row books.

We also discussed one of our favorite Holling C. Holling books about an industrious little hermit crab, Pagoo.

The next morning at the Ocean Institute, the kids sat enraptured as they listened to Eric Carle's A House for a Hermit Crab. After watching a short video on hermit crabs, it was time for hands-on experience.


Jonathan stayed remarkably still in hopes that the hermit crab would emerge.


His patience was rewarded.


The kids used underwater magnifying cameras to study more hermit crabs.


Hermit crab shells were sorted according to size.


Don't be deceived by good looks...this guy is poisonous.


The incomparable experience of touching a starfish.

We were also able to admire moonjellies, a lobster weighing over 50 lbs., sea urchins (can anyone say "uni sushi"?) and many more of God's marvelous ocean creatures.

An altogether lovely day of learning!

"So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind...and God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:21

Homeschooling Resources

Caroline, a homeschool mom from the UK, tagged me with this list. I don't participate in most memes but this one interested me as I am in the planning mode as we start our new school year.

One homeschool book you have enjoyed:

Just one? Okay, how about two.

Teaching the Trivium by Harvey & Laurie Bluedorn. It's an excellent guide to the classical education approach from a Christian worldview.

Managers of Their Homes by Steve & Teri Maxwell. A very practical and inspiring guide to time management and organization, written by parents of eight children. I pull this out and read it every year!

One resource you would not be without:

My Bible.

One resource you wish you had never bought:

Quartermile Math. I thought it would be an enjoyable way to drill math facts but it was not a big hit here. We've gotten better better results with Math Facts in a Flash.

One resource you enjoyed last year:

Galloping the Globe, a wonderful literature-based unit study on world geography. We had a lot of fun reading great books and learning about different cultures. (Read about our adventures "traveling" around the world by clicking the different countries on the sidebar.)

One resource you would like to buy

A good telescope from Orion Telescopes & Binoculars.

One resource you wish existed:

More books by Ruth Beechick. She's brilliant.

One homeschool catalog you enjoy reading:

Now that the Elijah Company no longer publishes a paper catalog, the runner ups for my favorite homeschool catalog would be a three-way tie between Timberdoodle, Rainbow Resource and Veritas Press.

One homeschool website you use regularly:

The Well Trained Mind boards.

If you're a homeschooler and haven't done this meme yet, consider yourself tagged and post your blog link in the comments. Looking forward to reading your responses!

"All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." Isaiah 54:13