Memorial Service, and an Ariana quote

So today was the memorial for our friend who passed away. Let me tell you, it was amazing. Sure we were all grieving, and we all cried some, but it had so much hope, so much joy that he is in heaven now, it was wonderful. My brother-in-law/pastor D spoke during the service, and he got to actually give the entire gospel, which was totally amazing, since nearly all the friends and relatives there were not believers. God is so good!! And to see how his family has grown through this, it was so neat to be there and support them and see this!!

I'll tell you something, today, all day long, has felt like Sunday, not Saturday. Why? Well, we dressed up; we went to a church (not our usual church, but a church); we heard D preach; I hung out with my sisters, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew...you see what I mean? It feels like a Sunday. And of course, all the more so because I'm a little anxious about Monday.

Monday. Oh boy. Fear and trepidation.

Nah, not really.

ummmm.....sort of.......

Why I'm more anxious this semester than usual, I have no idea. I'm taking an advanced English class (there's some of the anxiety), and an intermediate algebra class (there's the majority of the anxiety)... plus voice class again, and this really cool class called Servsafe, it gives you your federal safe food handling certificate. In case, you know, I want to work for a restaurant, guest ranch, hotel, summer camp, etc. etc.

I keep working on giving that anxiety over to the Lord...again, and again, and again...and it's getting better...and then I start thinking about the English...and the math -- AAAAHHHH!!! And I'm anxious all over again.

Math, by the way, has NEVER been my strong point. EVER. Nor science, because it's based on math. English, grammar, writing, reading...you betcha. Loved that stuff. Math? No thank you.

My poor mother home educated me through many years of math, I don't know how she did it...and then we got to pre-algebra. That's when things got nasty. We had been using a curriculum called Singapore Math (yep, it really was out of Singapore -- all the word problems had names like Xiang and Cho and Ling) for about two or three years up till then, and it was fine until then. But when we hit pre-algebra, the book just didn't explain it well enough, and my dear mama just didn't remember the stuff herself and couldn't teach it to me... I got to where I would open my book, stare at an equation, and burst into tears. Something wasn't working.

A friend in our church's homeschool group told us about Chalk Dust Math...and that has been a blessing EVER.SINCE. Chalk Dust Math actually is both a textbook and a video series, and in the videos, a very nice gentleman named Dana Mosely works problems on a blackboard with chalk. He not only works sample problems to the type of equation or formula you are learning in this lesson, he usually actually either shows how the formula was created, or at the very least, goes step by step through a proof of the formula. He always says that he doesn't want you to just memorize a formula, but to actually understand it.

Hmmm, I didn't start this post to be an advertisement... LOL!! Anyway, I know I have several home educated readers... I would love to get some comments on what curriculum has worked for your family and what hasn't, etc. etc. :)

So today at the reception for the memorial service, we were in this snazzy yacht club (this is southern California, after all). My sisters, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew were with my mom and I in a room that was basically a separate dining room that had been turned into overflow seating for the reception (way more people showed up than were expected!!). We were done eating for the most part, and I was sitting on the floor with Micah crawling around (yes, he is certainly at the crawling stage now!!), and Ariana was running circles around me while she finished her quiches and egg rolls bite by bite. Meanwhile, she starts talking to me.

Now, Ariana is 26, nearly 27 months old now, and the words that she has been saying for a long time are now starting to come together into logical connections and small, 2-5 word sentences. Out of the clear blue, while she's running around Micah and I and my bro.-in-law D is feeding her bites and my sisters, M and C, and my mom are sitting at the table chatting and watching, Ariana starts saying, "Micah a man, Micah a man". Apparently she has never really noticed the difference between boys and girls, but now she's starting to figure this out. So pretty soon I had her saying, "Micah a boy, Iyana a girl" (she calls herself Iyana instead of the whole Ariana). This was a momentous concept, one that took some thinking about and much repeating. She keeps running in circles, and between bites saying "Iyana a girl, Mmmicah a boy!" The adults are looking on and smiling at this.

Then I asked, "What's Daddy?" That she knew, immediately she said, "Daddy a man!" I asked, "What's Mommy?" She stopped, looked at me, looked at M, looked back at me, and asked, "Mommy a man?" She had such a quizzically blank look on her face, it was ADORABLE!! I said, "No, Mommy is a woman."

You should have seen her face. She looked like this was revelation from heaven. Her eyes got really big, her face had this look of awe, and she repeated in a wondering voice, "Mommy a WOMAN!" By now all the adults are laughing hysterically at the look on her face! M goes, "Yes, baby, Mommy is a woman." Ariana repeated several times, "Mommy a woman, Mommy a WOMAN!" Finally, I asked, "What's CG?" (CG is her name for my mom, it stands for California Grandma, since she already has a Grandma living in Florida and a Grandmama living in Virginia) She looked at me, looked at my mom, and declared, "CG a man!" We all busted out laughing, it was so adorable. My mom immediately said, "No honey, CG is a woman!" D was laughing so hard, but he stopped and seriously said, "Ariana, CG is a woman, just like Mommy! Daddy is a man!" It was so cute. Just telling it to you does not do it justice, I have the CUTEST niece EVER!! I love that baby!! I love Micah and Jeremiah too -- ooooh I love my niece and nephews, I love being Aunt B!!!

Well, that's enough rambling for now... lol :)