Wednesday, July 02, 2008

Miscellaneous

We've had two days of coolness here--in the 60s and 70s in the mornings--and it has been just lovely. The boys said that they needed their jackets because it was "cold." :) Not quite, but it is refreshing after consistent upper 90s.

Joe and I are doing a bit of life review and questioning right now, mainly focusing on our children and our family devotion times. It is the strong desire of our hearts to raise worshipers of the one true God and even at their young ages they are developing habits that will either cripple or carry them for a lifetime. I want them to truly "taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34). We want our times of family devotions to be authentic and to speak to where we are as a family.

We are also getting really excited about our trip to Virginia to see family from July 18th-28th. With 4 days on the road, it will be a long trip, but we can hardly wait to see everyone. Joseph is hoping to have his first tooth out by then since his cousin Ginna pulled her first tooth out this past week. (Fortunately, he does have one ready to come out--otherwise I think he'd try to pull one anyway.)

We are also down to the wire with choosing a curriculum for next year. Daily I go back and forth between Veritas and Sonlight. I feel like we "should" use Veritas because it is classical and just what people use, but Sonlight just looks like such a good curriculum--well laid out, fun to use, and literature based. We'll see where we end up when we finally hit the order button.

And finally, the mailman just brought a Land's End box to my door that I have been patiently (read: I walk to the mailbox at least twice a day to look for it) waiting for. I splurged last week and spent 1/3 of my birthday money savings that I have been hoarding saving for 2 years now. At the good suggestion of 2 friends, I ordered a much needed bathing suit. I also got 3 pairs of shoes and a cover-up. Yay for new clothes!

Will and Joseph have been patiently waiting for me to read them a book, so that is all for now.

6 comments:

calli said...

Yay! I am so glad you are coming to VA. Maybe the Curtises will see you again this summer. I know my boys would really love that. It also sounds like we could have a great discussion on curriculum. . .

Anonymous said...

It's great that you are so prayerfully considering your curriculum options. FWIW, I think Sonlight Curriculum does a great job of helping families bond as they learn together...the books are are fabulous, the Instructor's Guide schedules things for you, and many families tell me their kids actually like learning--and the parents like teaching--for the first time! But I'm obviously biased :).
Blessings as you continue the search for the best fit for your family. I pray you find just the right thing.

Luke Holzmann said...

Hallie,

I'll also throw in my biased vote for Sonlight too [smile]. I really loved the books... even if they weren't officially "classical".

Okay, I'll stop "plugging" now. May God give you the wisdom to chose and the grace needed to go with that choice, whatever it is.

~Luke

Katie said...

I came by the blog today and was pleasantly surprised by new posts!

I have no wisdom about Sonlight versus Veritas, but surely the curriculum matters less than who is teaching it! ;)

I know you were such a blessing to those two little ones for six weeks.

Wish I were going to be in VA the same time you are!

Hallie Holland said...

I know that I'll change my mind about curriculum too once I actually start using something.

Most people seem to switch around some after they get into it and learn more about what works and what doesn't.

Hallie Holland said...

Katie--we'll have to try to work on that for next summer, okay?