Category Archives: Rachel

Homeschooling, Rachel

Forgotten Math

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When our children were very young, Kathy and I decided to homeschool them. “It’ll be great,” Kathy enthused. “I’ll handle English and History, and you can teach Math and Science.”

Fast-forward twelve years, and I think I’ve taught a handful of science lessons and have engaged in only sporadic, drive-by math tutoring. As a homeschooling Dad, I’m a washout — Kathy has had to carry the full weight of pretty much all the schooling for all five kids. Even our recent discovery of IXL fails to redeem me.

Now that the kids are older, math tutoring is accompanied by a certain amount of terror: how can I tutor if I don’t remember how to solve the problems, myself? It has been more years than I would care to admit since I was in Algebra I or II, and I only learned it so well the first time. Contrary to what math teachers may say, a lot of mathematics learning is never used again in real life. It is often a ticket to other learning, and certainly some fields are more math-intensive than others, but I think I’ve avoided all but the simplest math ever since I was out of school, even though I’m a programmer by trade. That is, after all, what computers are for.

It has been a long time since I solved a quadratic equation.

The other day, Kathy asked me to help Rachel prepare for her upcoming Math test. Even with the answer key, nothing was making sense to her, so I reluctantly stepped in. Rachel is an excellent student: tenacious and stubborn and diligent. For some reason, she has very low confidence in Math, even though she consistently receives grades in the low 90′s. I am determined that she conquer this self-perception problem — I don’t insist that she enjoy math, but (for all the work she puts into it) I really want her to enjoy the rewards of proficiency.

[Parenthetically, the kids tend to avoid me as a math teacher. I usually have to re-discover whatever mathematic principle they are studying, and it takes quite a while -- they'd rather have a quick-fix (or better yet, just have me give them the answer).]

Rachel has recently entered the Federal Math-Witness Protection Program.

But Rachel is really taking her math seriously, these days — so she swallowed her reluctance and cheerfully bore my ponderous tutoring. At one point, we found ourselves united in our anger toward the suspension bridge word problems. “If that stupid cable company delivers one more cable to our bridge without labeling it, heads will roll,” we agreed.

Father-daughter bonding, or fodder for future therapy? Only time will tell.

Tim

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Grandparents, Kathy, Rachel

Michigan Memories

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“Come and spend a week in Michigan,” my mom proposed hopefully early in February. “When do the kids have their winter break?”

It just so happened the week-long break of the kids online classes fell on the one year anniversary of my father’s death from cancer.

Isn’t God so kind when He tenderly places one or two “just so happened” in your path. Not only was it the week off from The Potters School, it was also winter break for Daniel and Joshua’s NJROTC classes.

Deep breath – gathering with family, reliving memories of Dad, laughing, crying, a new house for Mom, more memories, and an anniversary full of “Firsts”.

Standing outside Mamie's new condo

“I’ll come,” I promised, “shall I bring Rachel?”

“Definitely,” Mom laughed, “if she can bear to leave the kittens behind.”

Logan LOVES all things trains - Rachel is a great cousin!

And so Rachel and I packed our things and set off for a red-eye flight to Detroit. We landed amidst falling snow, climbed into Mom’s (or Mamie as she is known to the grandkids) car and wound our way to her new condo. How odd to see my sweet mother begin a new chapter in her life; a chapter full of precious, dear friends, a vibrant church, a lovely new home, and yet empty of the very person who mattered most and has been her Beloved for nearly fifty years.

Mom/Cindy, Jan, Nancy, Sue, and Janie - beautiful women and true friends

Rachel and I were honored to be included in several outings with Mamie’s friends. It is very evident to me that she is richly blessed with some incredible, godly, faithful friendships.

Mamie is well loved and cared for - these are just a few of her dear friends.

Yes, indeed. The boys came and we laughed and cried and talked about memories. Logan (age 3) played trains and insisted the celebration was all for his birthday. The cousins enjoyed each other and opened presents and snacked on our traditional Christmas treats. We spent the first holiday together in the new condo – Christmas/Valentine’s Day/Easter all rolled into one. We bought things for the new place, played Wii games, and watched old family slides. We worshiped together on Sunday, we hugged and then we said goodbye.

Me, Mom and Jenn

We tried to acknowledge all the winter birthdays, but it was Logan who blew out the candles!

IKEA makes it easy to outfit a new place.

It was good. There was loss and change and tension. And the twinkle and energy and gentle force that made up Grandad was NOT there. Still, somehow we march on. We worry/trust, hurt/forgive, doubt/believe. We laugh and cry and remember and somehow the days pass.

Aunt Emily and Uncle Phil are always a joy to see - Chase and Rachel agree.

God is Good. He is true and present; He has not abandoned us. We have all seen how He has walked closely with Mom every step of this journey. It is comforting to watch Him work and encouraging to see Mom’s faithful response.

Hopefully we can count on family to carry us through some hard times.


Dearest Mamie,

I am so proud of you. You are an amazing example to me (and others) of true grace and strength. I know you don’t want to be strong, but every day I see you clinging to Jesus and finding the courage to go on. I know you don’t want (at such a cost) to be a model of faith and beauty in sorrow, but you are. I know you often feel depleted and weak and lacking “people energy,” and yet over and over I see you ministering to others, reaching out to the lonely and sad. You reflect God’s wisdom in your countenance, words and counsel and, even in the darkest days, you shine with the light of Jesus’ redeeming work.

Thank you for being so transparent in your grief and sadness; so loving in your care for Dad, me, Tim, my children, your sons/daughters-in-law, and the grandchildren; so generous with your time and resources; so clear in your beliefs; so completely and utterly supportive of me as your daughter; and most of all a passionate follower of Jesus.

I love you!

Kathy

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Daily Life, Rachel, Silliness

Lost Days of 2011 — When Time Lies Heavy

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Last April, Daniel played the part of a blind Prince in a spoof of Beauty and the Beast at our homeschool co-op. Rachel played a peasant girl in the same show, and as the date of the performance drew near, she began to be concerned about Daniel’s lack of facial hair.

Now, of course, we know that I (with my ‘lush beard’) am the true expert in the art of manly beard-wearing, but in those days, I was not yet revealed to the world in my full glory. So Rachel took refuge in her make-up skills, starting (as does any responsible artist) with a curly mustache on herself, just to try it out.

Apparently there wasn’t a lot going on that day, because first Sarah, and then David were swept up in the general dramatic make-over, that was originally intended only for Daniel.

Rachel, the maniacal make-up artist, strikes again.

Browsing through the photos on Kathy’s computer, I came across this picture, and it cried out for explanation. Half an hour later, hearing the story of how it came about, I’m still not sure I understand. But I knew it was a perfect candidate for the ‘Lost Days of 2011′ series. Some may think it should have stayed lost, but their opinion doesn’t count.

Let’s just be glad they didn’t find a hedge trimmer or a can of spray paint while time lay so heavily upon their hands.

Tim

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David, Holidays, Kathy, Rachel

Low-Budget Valentine’s Day

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As many of you know, my wife loves to celebrate. It doesn’t take much — Arbor Day, Saint Ignatius’ Day — any excuse will do for festivities. And once she’s managed to make a big deal out of an occasion twice, it is automatically promoted to ‘Tradition’ status.

More and more, I see her Mama in my beautiful Rachel.

Usually we pull out all the stops for Valentine’s Day, but this year, we decided not to spend any money on gifts for each other. Once that unpleasant decision was made, it became easier to agree that the kids ‘could probably do without any special gifts’, too. Being careful with money is always difficult for us.

Although I didn't buy flowers for my Kathy, her Mom bought some beautiful tulips!

At the last minute, both Kathy and I weakened. I bought a large box of Haagen Dazs ice cream bars for the kids, and Kathy spent much of the night making (and printing) Valentines for her favorite five children. After all, it is a Tradition.

David has eyes only for his Valentine.

Tim

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Events, Kathy, Rachel

Movie Night Out

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In a crazy break from our usual Sunday Family Day, Rachel and I gathered a bunch of friends (mostly mothers and daughters) and set off for the movies. David and Sarah spent the time with some of their besties (is that a dictionary approved word yet?) while Tim, Daniel and Joshua stayed home.

David and Sarah ADORE Eli and Emma - such good friends!

The boys enjoyed an old western with the gravely voiced legend, Clint Eastwood, while the girls stuck to a basic romantic comedy (aka chick flick). Thanks to our ClearPlay dvd, the language in the western was filtered. I wish I could say the same for our theater viewing. Hmmmm.

A rowdy crowd indeed, and at least four of them had already left before I pulled out my camera.

It’s actually quite difficult to find an open Starbucks on Sunday evening, but Barnes and Noble fit the bill perfectly. We talked and laughed and left just ahead of them asking us to quiet down.

We’ll definitely need to plan another movie outing again soon. The only problem, in my opinion, is finding a movie of both high quality production/acting/character development and acceptable moral content. So hard to enjoy cinematic entertainment without lowering your standards. Hmmmmm.

We might just have to stick with the classics….

Kathy

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