Joyful Heart

I just read this blog entry posted by Carolyn Mahaney.  Encouraging words from a seasoned mom to this mom (and maybe you, too)….

“faithful mothering requires faithful sowing” 

Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Galatians 6:9

Lord Jesus, help me to press on and to be faithful in training and teaching our little ones for Your glory.

Well, it finally happened.  Our oldest child has lost her very first tooth.  In February, we all had dentist appointments and the dental hygienist pointed out that our oldest daughter already had two new front bottom teeth growing behind her front two baby teeth.  This was quite a surprise to all of us, but the dental hygienist reassured us that everything would be fine and that both teeth should be out within a month…We just had to keep reminding her to wiggle her two front teeth every day =) 

So, you would have thought that my husband and I would have been thinking ahead to what our plans would be for when those first teeth finally did decide to come out – but no.  The morning after her first tooth fell out, I was scrambling, searching online in an attempt to find an alternative to the Tooth Fairy.  Yes, I realize that we are bucking tradition and that just about every child in America has or will be visited by the well loved, albeit mysterious Tooth Fairy.  Just like in our discussions of the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, we have decided to be truthful about what we convey to our children regarding the Tooth Fairy.

So, here is our family’s new tradition as our children lose their first baby teeth…

1) Read aloud books about losing teeth and traditions around the world regarding what happens when children lose their teeth.  Here are two great books…
Throw Your Tooth on the Roof: Traditions From Around the World by Selby Beeler (Not every culture has a Tooth Fairy!  In many places around the world, children are visited by mice who take their teeth in exchange for a small coin or gift.  Others throw their tooth on the roof, bury it in the ground, or feed it to animals.  Ask them which they think is the funniest, strangest, or most similar to our family’s tradition.  Read a few entries at a time, locating the countries on a map or globe.)
Little Rabbit’s Loose Tooth by Lucy Bate (This is a sweet story about a rabbit that loses her first tooth and can’t decide if she wants to believe in the tooth fairy, hinting that her mommy and daddy are the real tooth fairies.)

2) Have the child place their tooth in a pocket pillow and hang it outside their door.  (They know the Tooth Fairy is mommy and daddy! Our oldest decided it was best to hang the pillow outside the door so that the “Tooth Mommy” wouldn’t accidentally wake her up in the middle of the night =) )

3) For the very first tooth, they get a special bead charm with 20 beads to represent their 20 baby teeth. They will get to move one bead each time a tooth falls out.  We will also scrapbook this rite of passage with a photo, date, and explanation for how and where their tooth came out.
(The tooth pillow and tooth counting chain were both found at The Silver Penny.)

4) For the other teeth that fall out, they will get either a gold foiled chocolate coin OR a coin from a foreign country to begin an around the world coin collection.  Hopefully, we decide that before the next tooth falls out!

So, there you have it!  Since, our oldest wasn’t too keen on trying to throw her tooth on the roof and hop around our house on one foot while we all laughed, we now have ‘The Tooth Mommy’ and a new family tradition!

Our one year old has really taken to eating table food, much quicker than our other three did.  Often we can barely get it on her tray before she is already going to town on dinner. 

Being a one year old, she doesn’t get everything to her mouth and we have some really nice pocket bibs that catch the food.  When we take the tray off, she squeals a little as she finds the remains that didn’t make it to her mouth and gets another portion.  I have coined this as ‘Happiness in a Bib.’

Tonight we had pizza casserole and she really liked it.  I couldn’t get a bite before her tray was empty and was signing for more.  When we took the tray off this time, the pocket was pretty full and her big brother said, “That’s Happiness!”

and eating it with your hands

Priceless…

Happy 1st Birthday to my baby girl =)

Our two oldest girls are involved in the Book It program this year for the first time.  They kept their sticker charts up to date the first month, placing one sticker on the chart for each book read.  They were motivated and excited to get a pizza prize at the end of the month once they read their required number of books.  Well, I went to fill out their certificates and on the back of each one it said to write in the child’s name, homeschool educator’s name, and the name of the homeschool.  Name of the homeschool? 

Well, let me just say, we tried to come up with something quickly since the girls were waiting for their pizza prize, but it actually took us a week before we thought of the right name.  And the name is… Joyful Heart Academy!  The name, truly, should not have been that difficult to come up with.  I already had developed early childhood/preschool curriculum as my oldest child reached each stage.  The curriculum is also aptly named – Joyful Heart Learning (for 2’s), Joyful Heart Bible and Rhyme (for 3’s), and Joyful Heart Character (for 4’s).

Why ‘Joyful Heart’?  No, the name wasn’t chosen because our home is so full of joy each day (although it should be) =)  However, we do desire our children to know Christ and His Truth, to cherish His Word, to be salt and light in this generation, and to have their hope and anchor firmly planted in Christ.  The joy comes in knowing the Lord and following His commands.  Here are just two of many verses that reflect this in Scripture…

Psalm 19:7-8
The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy,  making wise the simple.
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

Psalm 16:11
You have made known to me the path of life.
You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Here are also a few Scripture based prayers for our children, no matter where they are schooled…

Colossians 1:9b-14
…we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Romans 12:12
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Philippians 1:9-11
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.