Author and illustrator in the making? ;) Only God knows!

Tim had some workbook time last night, or, what he calls "homework." I was at the office the whole day Thursday and Friday, so I thought we'd get in some writing and reading practice before bedtime. We decided to use the Summer Skills Daily Activity Workbook for Grade 1 that we got (for P99!) at National Bookstore last Independence Day.

Do you see little Therese's foot?! Haha!

Yes, I know summer is officially over for us here in the Philippines, but the workbook is really nice! :) Tim enjoyed choosing which pages he wanted to do and I was amazed that his handwriting has improved greatly (by my standards anyway, LOL!) EVEN IF WE HARDLY DID ANY WRITING PRACTICE THESE PAST FEW MONTHS! :) God, You're amazing!

One of the pages required Tim to draw something and he ended up being SO EXCITED that he asked for a separate piece of paper so he could draw some more.

Tim usually doesn't like drawing or coloring, so I let him go crazy drawing up his own characters and making up his own story — even if it was a little bit too "violent" for my taste! You know, fighting and zombies and monsters and whatnot! :P

He got SOOO excited that he even asked for my help to make a book. I tried to recall fellow homeschool mom Mariel's tips for encouraging story-writing among young children as we went along.

I had Tim write the page numbers for our book. :)

This is what our book cover looks like:

The Adventures of Timothy and Friends
Written and Illustrated by Tim and Tina Rodriguez

Can you tell which words Tim wrote and which ones I did? LOL! :) I helped draw the picture but asked Tim to do the details. :) So what do you guys think?

P.S. I am overjoyed that Tim has started enjoying writing and thinking up his own stories and characters. He's been doing this from time to time with his toys and this isn't the first time he's made up his own stories BUT it is the first time we've actually tried putting them in "book" form! :) Perhaps we have an author / illustrator in the making? Only God knows His plans for our kids, and whatever they are, they're certainly the BEST! :D + AMDG +

Wordless Wednesday

Homeschooling in September!

Hubby and I have talked about it and have decided to officially start homeschooling Tim in September, coinciding with the US school calendar (I think, haha! A fellow HS mom suggested this to me.)

Must need to get organized and MUST look for cheap alternatives to all the materials we need! :-)

For all those who have helped us so far, especially by giving books or lending materials, thank you! Of course, thanks too to all who have given us advice, shared tips and resources and websites, and most important of all, gave us their PRAYERS and SUPPORT. We will really need them in the coming days!

Pray too for me, that I can work out a good working schedule to balance with our homeschooling!

All the best to everyone! God bless us all!

P.S. Will write about what exactly we are going to use in a different post soonest! Back to work first! :-)

Wordless Wednesday

Tim and his "Love Land"

While walking to the gate on Holy Tuesday, Tim starts telling me about an adventure he and his (imaginary) pets had. They were in a place full of "bad guys, enemies and bad people" (Grr... Cartoon Network and Disney Channel - I loathe you! This is partly why we moved to our own place, hehe!). I was trying to listen intently while babywearing Rysse, holding Tim's hand and watching the road for oncoming traffic when something Tim said made me stop in dismay.

Tim: "Then I made the bad guys dead."

Whoa! My 4 year old talking about "making people dead"?!! Waaah. What kind of a mom am I?!

But then he said something else.

Tim: "But then.. God helped me.. And the land became Love Land. The bad guys grow (*we're still working on proper tenses with Tim, hehe), and became good guys. They were kind na and good." (I can't really recall his exact words. hehe)

So a lightbulb went on in my head. AHA! Perfect time to introduce Jesus' saving love and mercy, esp. with the Holy Triduum coming up.

Me: "You know Tim, that's what Jesus does too. He doesn't make us dead, but He makes the bad things we think, say and do dead. Then He fills us up with LOVE. That's how much He loves us. Remember in your book, He died on the Cross and rose again because He loves us?"

Tim: "I know that already, Mama."

*Sighs* This Holy Week, it's time for me to reflect more on how we are raising our kids, and be thankful for God's saving grace. May we all do our part to make this world a "Love Land" for all. Blessed Holy Week everyone!

Image taken from hamlinreformedchurch.org

Wordless Wednesday