Family Time is Fun Time

Have I told you how frustrated I was that Bookworm was not required to learn her multiplication tables in 3rd grade here in Oklahoma? I'm especially concerned now that we are considering a move back to Texas where she was learning multiplication in 2nd grade. What if we get there and she is expected to have memorized the fact families for multiplication and division by now? Well, never fear we made multiplication flash cards. We've been very sketchy on working with them.

Yesterday as we were swimming I had inspiration. Since we are in the pool every day, we should make a point to review multiplication at the beginning of each swim session! And, to mix things up a bit, every time she gets one wrong, she gets flipped off of her floaty! She loved it! And, turns out my infrequent quizzing is doing more than I thought. She really only struggled with the 9s. What's up with that? I always thought 9s were easy because all answers add up to 9.

Then, continuing with the fun time is learning time, we created a game where I asked them Bible trivia. If they missed it, they had to try to get away from me on their floats, while I swam after them, and attempted to dunk them. Popcorn did not like this game as much as her sister. Turns out she's never heard of David, Ruth and Naomi, Sampson, or many other fairly common Bible stories. I can tell you one thing, if that girl is gonna "read scripture to her kids in the morning, in the afternoon, and at night," she better be paying better attention at church herself!

We continued our day-o'-fun after dinner. Friday is supposed to be family game night. I gotta confess we haven't had one in a few months. Hopefully we will be more consistent on the routine now. We played Pictureka and Disney Scene It. I made fresh squeezed limeade. We had raspberry sherbet with chocolate sauce for a snack. It was great to hang out as a family and pretend I didn't have dishes to wash or laundry to do. Okay, in reality I pretend that every day when I choose to spend 2 hours swimming with the kids. Then, I come in and I'm tired, so I have to rest. Then, it's time to cook dinner. Then, I go walk with my neighbor, and I'm no good for housework after that. So, in all honesty I have no problem pretending there's no work to be done.

Hey, speaking of avoiding work...I just finished a fantabulous book. It's The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom. It is her autobiography about living in Holland during occupation by Nazi Germany and her work in "God's Underground." It is truly amazing how God worked miracles in her life to enable her and her family to continue His work. Even after being placed in a concentration camp after being betrayed, she and her family continued to trust God and seek His purpose in their imprisonment. Read it. You will love it, I promise.

Well, I gotta go. We're continuing family fun today. We're having my in-laws Brett and Anita and their kids over. Also, Anita's sister Linda and her family are coming for swimming and hot dogs and hamburgers tonight. The kids are pretty excited, and I've decided that I at least need to scrub the bathroom before they come. No point in cleaning floors, everyone will just track in grass and dirt when they all descend. But, I should at least fold our laundry...