Amy Doyle

My great grandmother is named Amy Doyle.  My sister Amy was named after her.  She is someone who is an inspiration to me, though I only know her through the stories my grandmother has written about her.  She didn't live very long, only 36 years.  I am 35 now.  That means I would only live one more year if I were to live to her age.  She must have had a short mission on this earth.  Short and difficult.  She lost her first husband when he went out on a fishing trip and was pinned under a rock.  Nobody found him until he had died.  She was left with a little baby girl named Frankie. She went on to marry my great grandfather, Ferdinand Desoto Graham, and they had my grandmother, Cleo, and her twin sisters, Delia and Dorris. 
I love the way my grandmother describes her.  She was caring, gentle, ambitious. She loved to sew, cook, garden.  I think I would have loved to know her.  She also suffered much.  Living out on a farm was toil enough, but she also suffered from arthritis, "dropsy" or swelling, and a heart condition probably related to the edema.  She would have to go to town  and have her fluids "tapped" to relieve the pressure which my grandma says must have been very painful.
Amy passed away when my Grandma was 11 years old, but her memories of Amy are very vivid.  She gardened, and had beautiful flowers like lilacs, snowballs, tulips and peonies.  She canned fruits and sewed dresses for all her girls- those skills must have passed on from mother to daughter and to grand-daughter for my mother and grandmother also did those things.
Grandma even tells a story of  having to take cod liver oil that was sent home from the school because of her sickly appearance. Amy took compassion on her daughter and threw the bottle of mint-flavored fish oil out.
I also remember my mother telling me that Cleo, her mother, would often sing "Rock of Ages" because it was something Amy would sing.  I too enjoy that song, and find great comfort and strength in the words. 
I am not sure why I needed to write this, but I have had it on my mind.  I feel a closeness to my ancestors when I think about them and read about them.  I want to know them better, and know what life was like for them.

My Stewardship ring

Yesterday I was having a long, but spontaneous talk with Cora about education. She was wondering why education was necessary if all she wanted to be was a mother, or a cook if that didn't pan out. I had to smile a little when she said that. I answered by pulling out my home schooling Master plan and vision-- so excited that someone was actually interested in the "why" of education. We talked a little about having a personal mission from God. I testified to her that I believed that God had sent me to this earth to perform certain things for others and my family, and that I need to prepare for that future. I also need to prepare for the things ahead- in the next life, and to be a celestial person. I know that we progress eternally and eventually will know and understand all things, therefore we should start now and seek to understand the things that God would have us learn.

So then we moved on to the "how" of education. I believe that I personally have been given some insight into how to educate my children through a simple illustration. At a time when I was seeking to know the "hows" of education, I started to think of education in terms of a stewardship. I felt impressed to understand what those stewardships were, and to break them down into certain categories. I came up with seven. They are: FAITH, BROTHERHOOD, BEAUTY, BODY, EARTH, LIBERTY and SCIENCE. At the same time I was figuring these divisions out, I was also studying a little about Celtic knots, and found there was a figure that was a continual and overlapping ring of loops that had seven loops in it, and it had no beginning and no end. I chose this figure to represent our stewardship education, with each loop taking on a different category of stewardship, yet all of them intertwined on a single endless rope. It represents the eternal perspective of education as well as the wholeness and interconnectedness of it.

Each stewardship is broken down into the different pieces that give us education. For example under LIBERTY we learn about history, government and the the things that make us free- such as being able to read, write and use proper grammar. Then I have certain books to read and programs to use at different ages under each category. It is really well thought out and planned. I am really good at the thought and planning, but not so good at the follow through. Therein lies my weakness- yet in the Lord lies my strength.

I still believe that this life is a journey, with lots of bumps and twists and turns. We will get through it and get educated with faith and God on our side.

Celestial Education

I am posting a link to a video I watched today. It is 2 1/2 hours long, but to me it was worth watching, even if you only watch part. It is the latest buzz in my home schooling circle, and really takes all that I have been learning about education and sums it up a lot better than I could. I really enjoyed it, and feel like the principles are worth hearing.

http://www.utahsrepublic.org/education/celestial-education-by-michelle-stone/

Let me know if you watch it. I would love to hear your comments.

Rhythm

I have been thinking about schedules lately. They seem to be a bit non-existent in my house. I have tried for years to make up perfect schedules, but I am the one who does not want to follow them. I get distracted and do something different than planned. It is fun, but I usually regret it later when something does not get done when needed. I have tried making very rigid schedules, and very loose schedules. Neither seem to work. Sometimes I get going on a good schedule and leave the rest of my family behind. Then I get a little sore that they won't stay on my schedule. It is frustrating.

As I have explored into different home schooling philosophies, I have looked a little into Waldorf education. There is something that strikes me as a good thing from their methods. It is living life in a rhythm. There are many different rhythms to life. One rhythm that I seem to keep well is our morning rhythm. I love to read my scriptures in the morning and get that boost to my day. Then we usually have breakfast and take care of our animals, and then do the daily chores.

We have a weekly rhythm. Sundays are of course the Sabbath; Mondays are Family home evening. Fridays we have a fun movie night, and Saturdays are a big work day or big play day.

With having animals and gardens I am learning seasonal rhythms. Spring for planting, autumn to harvest. Summer brings us bounties of the garden, and our meals are full of vegetable goodness. Winter is a time to stay in and be cozy. I make a lot of soup in winter. A lot of my rhythms center around food.

Life has a rhythm too. I recently read a book that talked about tribal cultures, and they went through the role of each tribal member. Youngest children were for practice for the older children, Older children were for examples to the younger. Parents had their duties and responsibilities, and would still look to their elders for guidance. The Grandparents were the teachers of the children and would share histories and pass on the stories of their tribe. It is a beautiful thought.

My goal for my family is to get into some good (you could say celestial) rhythms. I want us to be living our lives purposefully. I really shy away from useless and wasteful practices. Our music, our food, our parties, our school-- I don't want to waste it. Life is much too precious.

Pictures: Just some random photos. Top is a big mushroom I found in our yard. The bottom photo is a picture of our elf shoes-- a bit of a waste of money as Cedric's already have holes.

Tender Mercies and Angels

Last Friday was a most beautiful and warm day. It was one of those days you dream of when the weather is cold and overcast. I had a bit of a camel's hump last week, and was getting to be quite wretched, so it was wonderful to get out and dig in the dirt again. The kids and I played outside all day.

Our school was gardening; P.E. was swinging and digging and running. We dressed in gardening skirts and hats and had a picnic out at the juniper. I even planted out some seedlings using my soil blocker tool that makes little cubes of soil and you just place the seed right in the top and cover with soil. I put them all in a cardboard box and they are growing in my greenhouse. And things are growing in there. I have spinach and lettuces and all sorts of greens. We had a salad today with claytonia in it-- which is an interesting green that the kids thought looked like lily-pads. Think of that, waterlily salad. It sounds like something you would read in a Beatrix Potter book.

Saturday and Sunday were so nourishing to my soul. I felt the feast of General Conference fill my spirit to satiation and arm me against the fiery darts for another week. I loved all the talks. I kept making mental notes that we needed to do this one for Family Home Evening, or I wanted to re-read that one. Then there were some that really touched me. Two in particular. I cannot remember who gave the talks now (because we were listening on the radio, so I didn't have a visual) but they both talked about surgery and guardian angels.

First I need to lay the foundation of why they were so significant to me. The night before Everett's surgery, we gave him a blessing, and I also asked my Dad if he would give me a blessing of comfort. He did, and it was a very powerful blessing. In the words of the prayer he talked about how some things happen in our lives that we don't understand why, but then he asked that the Lord would maybe part the veil a little and let me understand more about Everett and his surgery. The next morning I awoke at 3:30 Am, the last time Everett could eat, and I fed him, then I lay him in bed next to me and just watched him sleep. My thoughts ran the gamut as I considered the possibilities of the day, but I was not sad or afraid. I felt much peace. I was sustained by all the prayers in our behalf.

As I lay there thinking, I considered the times he would be away from me, and when he would be unconscious. I had had earlier thoughts about how I could not be there for him at all some of those times, yet I knew that the Savior could. Then I also I prayed that angels could be round about him to bear him up and as I took hold of that thought I realized that they would not just be any angels, but the angels of my own family. My Grandmother Cleo Hunter, my grandfather Conrad, my cousin Melissa, my grandmother Leona, William V. and Janette Walker, My brother and Sister, Everett's cousins Hanna and Jordan, and others. I felt impressed that these angels would be there for him when I could not.

There were times during his recovery when he was very drugged and looked off into the distance rather that at anything. At one of these times Rich commented that he was "talking to Angels" again. I believe he was.

Then when I was listening to General Conference on Saturday, I distinctly remember I was doing the dishes during the time when a speaker talked about surgery and gave a story of a young girl whose father witnessed her speaking about angels in her room. She asked her father why her grandma was there, and uncle so and so and why there was a man standing next to her father that looked just like him (he had lost a brother many years before.) This talk and another one spoke of the same thing. I was very moved after that experience, and felt a confirmation that Everett was truly watched over and cared for when I could not be there.

Sunny spring days and Angels. What Tender Mercies the Lord gives me!!