Not-Back-to-School: Meet and Greet

Sweetling

 

• Favorite Subject: Science
• Favorite Thing about Homeschooling: "the freedom that's involved with it"
• Least Favorite Thing about Homeschooling: "It's also kind of distracting doing school in my house because there are so many other things in the house that I enjoy doing."
• Most Anticipating This Year:   learning Spanish

Toa of Boy

• Favorite Subject: Math
• Favorite Thing about Homeschooling: "I don't have sit for 800 hours and get sleepy and stuff."
• Least Favorite about Homeschooling:  Spelling
• Most Anticipating This Year: "the end of school"

Mrs. Random

• Favorite Subject: Art
• Favorite Thing about Homeschooling: "marching to the beat of our own drum"
• Least Favorite about Homeschooling: "teaching higher level math"
• Most Anticipating This Year: "cooking with Sweetling"

Not-Back-to-School: Our "Room"

Through the years, our school room has literally moved all over the house. 

I started at the kitchen table when I was homeschooling my youngest brother. My teenage sister was living (and unschooling herself) in our spare room, and our own daughter was two. Our foster daughter joined the family at the age of 15, and she joined us at the kitchen table for some of her lessons, and worked at the desk in her room for others. (Her favorite algebra lesson was one done with permanent markers on the outside of partially full brown paper grocery sacks that were all over the kitchen table. It had been one of those days. I had managed to get the groceries in and the perishables put away. It was getting close to dinner time and I was bound and determined that we were indeed going to get algebra finished, but the table was still covered with the bags of groceries, so.....)

I got sick of trying to juggle schoolwork and cooking and everything else at the ONLY table in our house. When my sister moved out and moved into the dorm room at college, I converted her room to a school room. I loved that solution. That little room stayed the school room for most of my daughter's schooling. But, when my mother needed to move in with us for health reasons, we had to relocate.

I spent two or three years trying to arrange one side of our basement recroom into a school room I was happy with. And I never really succeeded. Oh sure, it looked like a school room, but I was never motivated to go down into the basement to do school.

We spent all of last year with our materials and books downstairs, while we hung out on the couch and did school at the table upstairs.

I've thrown in the towel this year and moved everything up to our small living room. But, I'm pretty much a clutter magnet. I didn't want the living room shelves crammed full of books and looking all cluttered and crappy. 

 I had visions of beautiful organizer boxes, color coordinated for each of my two children, all lined up looking neat and pretty. Those visions lasted until I started hitting stores and pricing those lovely looking boxes. At $6-$12 a box, there was no way I could the ELEVEN boxes I wanted to get to sort our school books into.

But check out what I managed instead. I'm so thrilled with this!

This is a little hand me down shelf tucked under our living room window. See how nice the containers are? Want to know how much they cost me?

$5.24 TOTAL, plus tax and a little time and effort.

I used a few cheap plastic magazine organizers which I had out in the garage, and I made a few other boxes, using the cardboard boxes our curriculum had shipped in.

I bought a can of brown spray paint ($3.24) and headed out to the driveway to spray everything down to make it uniform.

Then I covered the front, the top, and an inch or two of the sides of each box with shelf paper from the dollar store. (Two rolls at $1 each.)

Last, I made labels using some paper and cardstock I had leftover from my scrapbooking days.

The other thing I'm really pleased about is that when it time to do math with my boy, we just grab the Math box off the shelf and carry it to the kitchen table. Then it goes back to the shelf when we grab the next box. No more stacks of books everywhere. No more twenty minute trips downstairs "to get a pencil".

Two more boxes like this wound up on the bottom of our video shelf. We also had to take over a three shelf case at the top of the entry stairs. Our basic school supplies went into plastic organizers on the top shelf, our rotating library books are on the middle shelf (still looking a little cluttered, but c'est la vie.) And the bottom shelf is our history resource books and portfolio binders.

The large clear plastic boxes on the bottom of our supply shelf are a great find I made last year. I got a flat tackle organizer from the fishing department. It comes with small plastic dividers that can be used to create a variety of compartments of different sizes and shapes. Ours holds crayons, colored pencils, markers, and a few other things, like glue sticks and scissors.

So, while we don't have a "school room" this year, I am happy with how we have our books and supplies organized!

Tour where and how others do school on The Heart of the Matter.

Friday Fill-Ins

(To play, copy and paste the text. Replace the underlined words with your own fill in the blank information.)


And...here we go!

1. I hold _the awesome power and responsibility of packing up the van for our weekend trip to Canton. In our nearly two decades of marriage, this is a first. Be impressed with my new job title!____.

2. _Sweetling____ is someone I like to travel with because _I think she is just zoned out in her little world, until she calls out "yellow car." Then it is game on, baby :)____.

3. That day, _when the Jedi told me I was one of the sunsets he liked to watch, that was the day I fell in love with him____.

4. _I'm really excited about our new school badges system____ this year.

5. Trust _your animal spirit guide. Mine happens to be a squirrel. I think that explains a lot about me ____.

6. _(Pretty sure I don't want to lose my PG blog rating, so I'll leave this one blank)____ in the dark.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to _visiting with my oldest brother in Salineville_OH___, tomorrow my plans include __going to Talbert's ice cream parlor with the Jedi and his two moms___ and Sunday, I want to _stay cool at an outdoor graduation party near Columbus OH. Luckily there will be pontoon boats on the lake and a swimming pool to help with that ____!

Your turn!

BFS: Apples of Gold

A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.

This week's blogger friend school assignment is to share prayer requests and to visit each other's blogs and pray for each other. A few weeks ago, I was reading the love dare book, and blogging about some of the devotions and memory verses. One of the days challenged me to examine my speech and my patience with my family. I blogged about how I'm less patient and tender with Sweetling than I should be. Over the weekend, I also felt convicted on the tone of voice I use with Dear Mama. I tend to be way too sarcastic and cutting.

So, my prayer request for myself is that I consistently seek to be more loving in my speech with my family.

When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
and she always says it kindly. --Proverbs 31:26

Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. --Ephesians 4:29

Back to Blogger Friend School

I found blogger friend school a year or two ago and really enjoyed their assignments. Then, being me, I lost track of them over the summer. But Google is a wonderful thing, is it not? So, here I am again. (And this time, I know how to add a link in my sidebar.)

Assignment: Try to think of one thing you can say to the glory of God- one thing to thank Him for, a positive thing you can say about Him, or one of His Names-using each letter of the alphabet. You are allowed to make up words- if you can justify them by making it clear what you mean- and you may also use any foreign language (but please explain what it means) - and you can also use a thesaurus or dictionary if you get stumped. I’m putting my list below so you’ll have to copy and paste this then remove my answers. It’s a bit of a challenge but I think you’ll enjoy it. Have fun with it!

Now, I'm a sucker for ABC memes, so this is a perfect "first assignment" for me.

Awesome
Beautiful
Caring
Daring
Excellent
Family-minded
Great
Higher
Intimate
Jesus
King of Kings
Loving
Magnificent
Neighbor to the homeless
Omnipotent
Perfecter of our peace
Qualified
Regal
Sovereign
Thought-provoking
Unbridled joy
Veil was torn
Warrior
Xuan's lover
Yodeling cucumbers (you can thank Veggietales for this item)
Zenith

Traditions

Real Life Subjects: What Your Family Does Ordinarily That Teaches Your Child an Abundance of Lessons

As homeschooling families we have an opportunity to reach parts of our children’s lives that are missed during public school hours. What are some of the ‘life lessons’ that come naturally within the walls of your home?

Toa of Boy's history lesson on Wednesday was about the First Thanksgiving. At co-op, I told his class about the corn game we play at our house each Thanksgiving. To remember how little the Pilgrim's had during their first winter, everyone starts Thanksgiving dinner with only 5 kernels of corn on their plate and no other food on the table. We pass a small bowl around the table. As the bowl comes around, each person picks up one kernel of corn from their plate and tells one thing he or she is thankful for that year. The bowl passes around the table five times, till everyone's corn is gone. Then we bow our heads and give thanks to God for all our blessings. And only then do I put the dishes of food on the table and we start eating.

I've been thinking a lot about our traditions recently, because I've been reading Treasuring God in Our Traditions. It's really made me stop and reconsider what I do on a regular basis and what that is teaching my children. The corn game is cool, but it only happens once a year. How do I celebrate God at other times of the year? On special days? On "every" days?

One thing that we do nearly every morning is our devotions. We don't have a family devotion time, but we do start out the day in His word. As part of my devotions, I keep a little journal. I start my devotion time by drawing a column of seven little hearts. Beside each heart I write some *specific* blessing in my life. Sometimes its something sweet from schooling the day before. Sometimes its the color of the morning sky. My daughter, Sweetling, loves to read the little lists of blessings in my journal. (Then I write what scripture I read that morning and a sentence or two of what the scripture means to me.)

Each evening at dinner, we say grace together. Each person in the family takes a turn thanking God for their food and for one other specific blessing from that day. I'm trying to model and teach "an attitude of gratitude". We have so much, we are blessed with so much, but it is so easy to slip into the trap of taking what we have for granted.

Last summer, Sweetling decided she was going to read through the entire Bible, one chapter each day. I was a little worried about the time-frame for that goal, but she was insistant and has been steadily plugging along. She's in Numbers now. I've been so proud of her for her consistency and perserverence.

I just started reading Leading Little Ones to God with Toa of Boy. We read the devotion on one day and talk about the concepts. We read the suggested scripture passages on another day and he traces a scripture verse in a little copy book. This week's scripture is "The heavens tell the glory of God." He's downstairs right now painting his own interpretation of Van Gogh's Stary Night. Yesterday at co-op they did tints and shades and looked at Monet's Water Lilies and painted their own water for a water lily piece. So this morning he read his scripture verse from his copy book and we looked at Van Gogh's Stary Night and talked about the tints and shades and swirls Van Gogh used to paint the sky. I gave him a paint pallette of white, yellow, orange, blue, violet, and black with 6 empty wells for mixing and about ten brushes and am letting him go to town on his sky painting.

ABC's; all about me

Affable
Bubbly
Creative
Delightful
Entertaining
Funny
Girly
Happy
Intelligent
Joyful
Kid-friendly
Loving
Mommy
Nature-loving
Orange belt
Precious pink princess
Quaint
Rescued
Silly
Tardy
Unorganized
Vivacious
Wonderful and wonder-filled
Xuan!

Field Trips!

Ah, field trips. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My weary teaching heart can reach, for thou doest
Energize and inspire me.
I love thee for the excuse of skipping school,
Leaving dishes unwashed and carpets unvacuumed
While those weary of everyday chores load up the van
And voyage out.
I love thee for the smiles and the memories and the dreams
Thou doest inspire.
I love thee for the memories thou doest make
And the stories thou does generate.
I love thee, O field trip, in the winter
When the skies are grey and the weeks seem long.
I love thee, O field trip, in the spring
When the days are warm and our hearts sing songs.
I love thee, O field trip, in the summmer
When our bookwork is done and we're free to roam.
I love thee, O field trip, in the autumn,
When pumpkins and crisp fall leaves lure us from home.
I love thee, O field trip, at any time.
I love thee, O field trip, for escape, thou art mine.

Coincidentally, we are heading to the zoo today! Nora gave us two free tickets on Sunday. They expire this Friday, so to the zoo we will go :)

The zoo is a favorite field trip destination. Now, our world-class zoo is rather expensive usually BUT if you call in advance and make reservations as a homeschool family, you get the school group admission rate... which is $1.50 a child, free parking, and one free adult. This is a big savings over the regular $8 per child, $6.50 for parking, and $14 per adult. The catch is, you have to make your reservations 2 weeks in advance....which makes the weather a bit difficult to call. For a few years, it seemed Sweetling and I were doomed to rain on the days we have made our reservations. Rain and zoo field trips were just an ongoing tradition.

Our field trips do seem to be seasonal, so I think I'll group them like that.

Fall--

Fairy Houses: We started a new tradition this year. In september, we hike into the woods and build fairy houses. You see, fairies are flighty creatures. They frolic in the forest all summer long, with never a care for winter. Come winter, they are often left finding any old log or hollow tree they can to live in, but it hardly has the comforts of home. But, if you go in the fall and build them a house, and furnish it with bright leaves, white rocks, and acorn caps, then they have a happy retreat in the cold winter months. (They can, of course, use their fairy magic to seal up the gaps and cracks left in houses built with sticks by children's hands.

Leaf Hunt: One has to go on a walk through the park to pick up leaves (and other small items.) One brings them home and presses them in the phone book, with the intention every year of making a fall collage. Really, they just stay in the phone book all winter, and annoy the Jedi.

Pumpkin Patch: No fall is complete without a trip to a pumpkin patch for a hay/wagon ride and assorted other fall activities. This year, there was a small, very child-friendly corn maze to enjoy as well. Next year, I want to go to one of those hope-to-see-you-again-in-a-few-hours types of mazes.

Winter:

Children's Museum: This is a, no one can work any more and we need to get out and play, destination. We keep a museum membership active and we use it in the winter.

Sledding: Oh yeah baby. We only get one or two really good sledding days each winter. We bundle up and head to a local park that has a great hill that isn't very crowded during the day.

Train Exhibit: Every holiday the Museum Center has a large train display. We get in free due to membership, and its a fun little trip.

Krohn Conservatory: This is a Mommy sanity pill. After so many days of cold, grey, rainy, nasty days...I need a little warmth and light and beauty or I'll crack. So, to the conservatory we go to wonder around beneath the canopy of exotic plants, watch the waterfall splash over rocks, study the koi in the stream, marvel at the bonzai, and so forth.

Spring--

Park, park, and more park: Lets face it. Mommy is done with school. I'm tired of being indoors all winter. As soon as the weather breaks, we're gone. Bike riding, hiking, playgrounds...any destination under the yellow sun is good with me.

ZooBlooms: oh yeah. Tulips and sunshine and peacocks, oh my! We used to do the ZooMath days...but I decided the zoo is more fun when we just go.

Butterfly exhibit: Another Krohn trip, this time to see the butterfly exhibit in May.

Gardening projects: Every spring I have the best of intentions. We'll spend several day outdoors trying to make my dreams a reality. Negligence takes over during the heat of July and August, so these projects never take root. (ha ha)

Summer--

Park Programs: The local park board does an amazing job of putting on free summer programs. We usually take advantage of them on a weekly basis. Creeking is an all time favorite.

Library Summer Reading Club: Not quite a field trip, but we do it every summer, and head to the library at least once a week. Plus, the local libraries put on fun programs that we like to participate in.

Movies: Either at the $2 theater or for free at the main theaters as part of their book club (bring a book report and come to our free showing at 10am on Wednesday), going to the theater isn't a treat we take advantage of often, but during the summer we'll do so about once a month.

Drive-in Movies: We did this for the first time this summer. I'm not sure how much the Jedi enjoyed it, but the kids and I had a blast. I'm hoping we can talk him into it again next summer.

Swimming: We mooch off of friends who have pools. Or friends who have family members with pools. Or friends who's family members have friends with pools. We're big pool moochers in the summer.

Childen's Museum: Come August, it's too hot and humid to do anything outside (unless we can mooch a pool day). So, back to the Children's Museum we go.

Road Trips: Every summer, I have great plans for daytrips. We manage at least one, sometimes two of them. This past summer, the most memorable was the trip to a nearby sculpture park. There was a lot of walking involved, some really great pieces, a tree that was nearly hit, a van that was nearly stuck, a little bit of drizzling rain, a sharp spike in the humidity after the almost rain, and some drive-by art viewing from the air-conditioned van at the end of the long day. "Look kids, art," became the catch-phrase of the visit.

School again, school again, jiggity jig: Not a field trip. But by the second week of August, we hit the books again, breaking up our first couple weeks with a trip or two to the children's museum. Its too hot to do anything outside, and kids cooped upside with nothing productive to do get bored and cranky and whiny. Besides, getting an early start helps justify field trips and sanity breaks needed in the middle of winter. This August was an exception because in the first place, our books didn't ship until September. In the second place, we got a wii. For a week, there was nothing but a solid wii party with many different friends going on at our house.

And now, I'm off to pack lunches for the zoo. I should also check to see what time it opens. Thanks for reading my1,334 words. No, I'm not neurotic. I'm psyching up for National Novel Writing Month.

Ten Timely Facts

Yes, after a long absence, I'm back to the Homeschool Memoirs Assignments. Why? Cause this weeks assignment involves no computer or technical ability for posting photos. Nor does it require creative clever rhymes. And its all about me. So, low effort, ego-centric... right up my alley.

Ten, or so (cause you know counting and trimming would be work), fun facts about me.

1) Math is not my friend. Oh, it tries to lure me in, but in the end I always want to know more about the little squirrel's story, and have lost interest in the exact count of his nut collection.

2) My hair is frizzy. It shall be forever more frizzy. It defies the straightening iron. It will, however do neat little ringlets with the curling iron. You know, the kind of ringlets that were cute and popular in about 1840.

3) I shall never master the chokehold in Tae Kwon Do. If I'm ever assaulted, and my survival depends on trying to get my attacker in a chokehold, I'm done for. In fact, we were taught, and supposed to practice this move last night. I got dubbed "Charmin" by the other ladies in the class, cause they said I just looked like I was doing a teddy bear hug. You figure out the logic there on your own.

4) No amount of crunches in the world is ever going to reverse the effect pregnancy had on my stomach. An extensive amount of plastic surgery, and the elimination of all things chocolate, might be a start. But if two months of TKD haven't done it yet, its just not happening. My tummy will be a misplaced piece of pudgy elephant hide forever. If I had a trim tummy and a cute belly button, I would be tempted to get a little tummy/belly button ring. Since I'm allergic to 99% of every earring I've put in my ear, this might be a bad idea anyway.

5)I've never been tempted to get a tattoo. a)this involves needles. b) this involves making a decision I'd be stuck with forever. BUT, I noticed a lot of the American olympians had tatoos of the olympic rings. If I were ever in the olympics, I'd totally do that. So, you see how likely a tatoo is in my future.

6)Despite my pudgy belly, I can buy my underwear from the little girl's department, cause they are cheaper there.

7)It looks like this list is not going up on the blog I keep with my co-op students.

8)The only "favorite" thing I've had for any amount of time is a favorite color, yellow. (Is yellow an appositive in that sentence? I think so.) All my other favorites, books, movies, songs, etc...phase in and out.

9)I live and die by spellcheck.

10)I'd love to dress in ethnic and eclectic clothing, but settle for jeans and tops off the clearance racks.

11) Just as well, since I would quickly get tired of some of my eclectic choices.

12) Sweetling is here to inform me I am no longer in keeping with the ten timely facts. Sweetling, bless her heart, does her best to keep her free-spirited mother on the straight and narrow.

13) Practically any sweet and delectable item can be made a breakfast food if one serves a side of scrambled eggs and cheese with it.

14) I love the flute, the hammer dulcimer, and the harp. I can play none of these, despite the fact that the Jedi bought me a flute many years ago for Christmas. Musical instruments require consistency and hard work. Not two of my better qualities.

15)Gardening also requires consistency and hard work. Despite the lies printed in books with deceptive titles like "20 minute gardening," "the low maintenance garden" and "the weekend gardener".

16) From October to March, my hands are perpetually cold. I keep a pair of thin gloves in a drawer by my desk to wear when I'm typing and doing school.

17)Flat surfaces are clutter magnets. Jimmy Hoffa might be hiding in my hall closet.

18) Maintaining any degree of artistic ability requires regular practice. Why are the loveliest things in life so demanding?

19) I can memorize entire psalms, a part in a script, or a lengthy monologue. These things stay with me for a day or two after I present them, then my brain, without any conscious direction from me, does a memory dump.

19) Sweetling is now objecting to my numbering scheme.

12b) Take that Sweetling ;)

8a) Sweetling says, "What?!?"

20) Sweetling has concluded that she has a crazy mother. And yet, your father married me anyway :) Sweetling thinks that this is because the Jedi is silly too. This was actually brought up in a Father's day sermon our pastor gave. His wife was Sweetling's Sunday school teacher. She had, a few weeks before, asked the children for some adjectives that described their fathers. Sweetling said her Daddy was "silly". From the pulpit, the pastor related this story and said, "Now I don't know if you know Mr. Jedi personally, but if you do, I think you'll agree with me in saying that 'silly' is not a word that I would have ever picked to describe this brother." (He went on to talk about how important it was for a father to laugh and play with his children.)

21)I want to end this list on one more thing. Oh, I know. I want to take a family vacation this summer. I don't know if that's going to be financially manageable. And certainly, of the big 'three' family vacations, none are happening. One of the big three would be to DC, one would be along the Oregon Trail, and one along RT 66 (for Sweetling). None of those are likely, but I really want to do something. Caves are out, the Jedi hates them. So, where could we go from Cincinnati, Ohio? We like nature and we like history, and we wont have a big budget. We also don't camp. Any suggestions?

Show Me the Music

For those few of you who happen by and are wondering, where is her song? Let me say, I read the Homeschool Memoirs assignment *right* before going to bed. I was *so* excited about it. I laid there, wide awake, putting together witty rhymes. When I finally drifted off, I had the beginnings of a masterpiece. After all, I had set a precedent.

Come morning I could only remember the first verse:

Some people say we're zany,
A few think we are crazy,
All agree we're brainy,
A homeschool family.

And it doesn't even follow the a,a,a, repeat final line scheme.

When I'm feeling more enthusiastic, I'll try to figure it out....again.

In the meantime, have a little fire scarecrow. (Yes, this is why I shouldn't write anything after midnight).

In the meantime, here's a picture of Toa of Boy at co-op yesterday. This, obviously, is science:


And here's a picture of Toa of Boy AFTER co-op yesterday:

Study Spots

I see no point in tiring anyone with my inventive excuses as to why I haven't done the homeschool memoirs in oh, what, three weeks? Or why its Saturday before I even start Wednesday's post. Those of you who know me know that this is just par for the course.

My favorite spots to study. (The original assignment, which once again I haven't read fully, was probably for a single spot...but I'm a rebel. See Holly, I told you that submission was just not my strong point.)


In no particular order--

The armchair by the big picture window in the living room. I sit here, all by myself and read a book. Reading does so count as studying. If I'm reading aloud to a child (which Toa of Boy is just starting to be interested in and which Sweetling outgrew about five years ago, much to my dismay), there is just room enough for a little body to squeeze into the chair next to me. The windows look out into all the mature trees of our backyard where squirrels race and play. Sunlight and fresh breezes stream in.

The waterbed. This is great for sprawling to read aloud or to help Sweetling organize her thoughts for an essay. We haven't tried doing Toa of Boy's phonics lessons here yet...but we might, oh we just might.

The kitchen table in the morning with a cup of hot chocolate. Please note that this location only rates as a favorite study spot if a cup of hot chocolate is involved. This is where I sit and do my devotions. It used to be that Sweetling sat and did hers here at the same time, but now she's off on her own (most often in the armchair by the living room window.) This is also where we have snack and devotions for Sweetling's "God's Girls" club.

For Sweetling: the backyard. This doesn't work as a study spot for myself or for Toa of Boy, cause neither of us can stay focused. But on nice days Sweetling takes her algebra out to the little plastic picnic table and works. Or she takes her literature selection out to the swingset and sits in one of those double bench seat swings to read.

Our school room. I'm actually not sure this rates as a favorite. I like it, and I want to talk about it, but its not actually a favorite. Its just on the list cause this gives me an excuse to talk about it. Our house is a bi-level or a split level, I always get the two confused. You walk in, and are immediately on a little landing. Up half a flight of stairs is the top level that has a living room, a small eat-in kitchen, three little bedrooms, and the only bathroom. The lower level is walk-out along the back of the house, and below ground along the front of the house. It has four rooms. The computer/school room and the master bedroom are along the back, ground level. In the front, below ground, is the laundry room and a closet/storage room that was going to be a master bath when we first bought the house, until we actually got some estimates from a plumber. That plan went quickly down the drain. (Ba dump dump.)

The computer/school room is the largest room in the house and it is roughly divided into two sections. Along the short exterior masonry wall are two corner computer desks set up to make a fat t. The Jedi's computer is in one corner and one half of the T is his domain. The other desk holds two computers, one on each end of the right angle. They are used mostly for playing Age of Empires and other network computer games. Sweetling also occasionally uses one of these when she needs to get online during school, and going all the way upstairs to her bedroom is so far away ;)

The interior wall that separates the schoolroom from the laundry room is dark faux wood paneling, and it has two bookcases and some shelves holding our reference books as well as some vintage 70s fisher price little people toys for playing between lessons. The other long wall, across from the paneling, is also an exterior wall. My computer table juts outward from this wall to divide the room in two. It is the line of demarcation between the Jedi computer zone and the school zone. My computer desk sits on one sude of the table, by the wall, and the other side of the table is open for a working on a lesson with a child. (Open, if you don't count the various stacks of papers, books that didn't get put away, stuffed pencil cup, one or two webkinz, and overflowing desktop organizer.)

The school room side has a large glass double patio door that lets in a lot of light. The short masonry wall and the other long exterior wall are both painted white, so that helps offset the faux paneling as well. Sweetling's little desk sits in front of the non-opening side of the double door and faces into the backyard. *Right* next to her desk in the corner of the room is a tall bookcase which holds her school books and supplies, and the top shelf of which holds teacher books. Two low shelves, each about two feet high, are placed together to make an L and corner off Sweetling's 'area'. In front of this L, and between it and my table, sits Toa of Boy's little desk. All of his books and supplies as well as some games and puzzles are stored on the low shelves. Both desks were ordered from a school supply company online, and are the traditional lift lid student desks.

Tomorrow is our weekly home blessing. After this happens, and the school room is tidied up, I'll take some photos to post. Right now, the school room is very untidy and not wanting to have its picture taken.

A Few of My Favorite Things

(Cute linking graphic coming as soon as Sweetling makes one for me.)

Kisses from children and snuggles in mornings,
Pink-inked devotions and cocoa for yearnings,
Large picture windows and glad songs to sing,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Daffodils in springtime and gay leaves in autumn,
Homeschool and tickles and boppings on bottoms,
Blue eyes that lovingly look into mine,
These simple delights I do find so fine!

Squirrels in the backyard go leaping through treetops,
Christmastime carols and sunsets from hilltops,
Looking for fairies and gnomes in the woods,
These are the blessing that bring me good moods!

When the taters' raw,
But the meat is burnt,
And the crockpot goes unplugged,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bummed.

Panda Garden dinners and hot fudge from Heggy's,
Stoffer's lasagna and finding my car keys,
Cute bunny slippers with whiskers and tails,
Twitter and blogspot and getting emails!

Beating the Jedi when we race with Wii motes,
Gardens and roleplays and conservative voters,
Palin for President has a nice ring,
And these are a few of my favorite things.

Girls I lead in praise dance and teaching at VBS,
Hocking Hills and waterfalls and making a little mess,
Birthdays and butterflies and fuzzy Webkinz,
And I can't forget my fav'rite penguins!

When the sky is gray
On a winter day,
And some of my hairs are too--
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so blue!

Something New

Something new. Something new. (Something borrowed, something blue.) You know, maybe I shouldn't try to do my writing at the end of the day.

The biggest new thing we're doing this year is that we have joined a co-op. We've never participated in one of those before. Mostly because our schedule always seemed so full, the thought of adding something to it had no appeal. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Ok, it might have appealed to the Sweetling, but it didn't appeal to the Mommy. As far as the Mommy was concerned a co-op meant extra fees, extra driving, extra commitments...since the parents have to sign up for something...extra work, and a whole day away from our chosen curriculum. So, pretty much, a lose-lose situation.

BUT, this year, we've joined a co-op that's made up of families all using the same curriculum we are using. So now, instead of the co-op being a burden, its a huge help. Instead of losing time away from school, we're gaining time...since some subjects will be almost completely covered during co-op.

Today (Thursday) was our co-op "kick-off" party. We walked into the cafeteria, and though both children had been waiting and waiting for co-op, both children became shy and nervous. Toa of Boy *clung* to me, absolutely petrified. In response to his repeated questions, I had reassured him over and over again as we walked from the van to the building that I was not leaving him, that I would be with him the whole time. Yet still he clung to me tighter than a velcro monkey. I don't think he's done that since our first month home from Guatemala. He refused to look at anyone or anything, but just buried his face in my shoulder. It struck me then, he would never, ever have been ready to go to a traditional school this year. As well adjusted, confident, and out-going as he normally is, he obviously still has anxiety separation. Forcing him to go to kindergarten on his own away from home might have only intensified his fears.

After the Pledge and songs and prayer together, we divided into groups by grade to go to our classrooms. Sweetling headed off with the fifth graders and I went with Toa of Boy and the kindgergarteners. In kindergarten, we sat at a table together and colored with our brand new school supplies. Toa of Boy shared his crayons. (Toa of Boy got over his fears as soon as he met the cute little blond girl in his class.) We teachers chatted a little with the kids, trying to gently draw them out and get them comfortable. It was a nice half an hour.

In the meantime, Sweetling's class put away their supplies and played Hangman on the chalkboard. Sweetling went first in the game. Her word was "duplicate." No one guessed it. The next girl chose "enchilada" as her word. The class guessed that. Then a boy went up and chose "maniac" as his word. That eventually stumped the class. As the game was progressing, the boy decided to draw a maniac hanging from the hangman's giblet. At one point he put huge ears on his stick figure. Sweetling asked, "Are those mouse ears?" Another girl chimed in, "Who is he? Dr. Two-Brains?" I'm so glad Sweetling is in a like-minded group of children. She's going to have a great year. (For those of you who don't know, Dr Two-Brains is one of the villains on Word Girl, Sweetlings favorite show.)

One of the mom's organized some carnival type games with prizes, and we all went outside. I worked on of the tables, and Sweetling and Toa of Boy stayed together to play the games. Then we all went inside for pizza. Yum :)

I have pictures, but they are still on the camera. I'll ask the Jedi to grab those for me tonight. Then I'll edit my post to put the pics up.

Routines

Now, those of you who know me know that Routines and I don't always get along. Mind you, I have nothing against routines. In fact, I think routines make things run so much more smoothly. Its just that I struggle to follow them. And I get exasperated when the routine breaks down (at which point I want to immediately give up and just go read a book.) I've slowly come to realize that maybe the problem is that I make my routines without regard to this little thing called reality. Believe it or not, just because I *want* something to happen in a certain way, doesn't actually mean that it *can* happen in that way. My routines have been working a lot better since I've stopped trying to fit achieving the moon and all the stars in the sky into ten minute increments. I also need to give myself permission to "fudge" a routine on a day when life happens. Just because I missed cleaning the bathroom this morning, doesn't mean that I'm an utter failure and that I should just toss in the towel on the entire rest of the day.

I have two main ideas I want to explore in my post today. (Well, that's my intention. I'm probably going to get sidetracked and put in one main idea and several fragments of other thoughts.) But, the two main thoughts I want to cover are pretty straightforward and directly related to the topic. And yes, you can gasp in surprise. Me? Relevant? Straightforward? Who'd have thought? I want to cover what we are doing, but I also want to explore what we aren't doing, or what I might like to do differently.

So far, each of Miss Jocelyn's assignments have been exactly what I need, exactly when I need it :) This week is now exception. I had just redone our school schedule yesterday, and this morning as I was going about my morning stuff, I was really thinking about Sweetling's schooling. Sweetling has always been a very private, independent person. She loves working on her schooling independently as well. Oh sure, last years and the years before, she used to love to sit on my lap as we would read together. And last year she used to like me to read the history stories outloud while she had the webkinz act them out. But this year, this year, oh this year. This year she has been doing practically everything all by herself. This year, on Sunday I put together a two page itinerary for her assignments for the week. On a daily basis, I *maybe* get to work an algebra problem or two to illustrate a concept. I check in with her periodically to see how's she's doing. And I go over her stuff with her at the end of the day, or at the beginning of the next day, to help her with anything that she's missing (which is about diddily-squat). And she seems to be thriving and flourishing in this system. But the Mommy? I'm not ready to let go to that extent. Its not that I don't think she's ready to be so independent and so self-sufficient. She clearly is. But I miss doing school with my little girl!!!!

Mind you, I didn't set up the schedule with the intention of making her go off and work by herself and just check off assignments as she completed them. Not at all! I set it up so that we would go over a lesson or two for half an hour or so together, and then she would have independent work time for about an hour to complete assignments while I did some school with Toa of Boy. Then Toa of Boy could go play while I did some more school with Sweetling. And so on back and forth through the day. But that's not what wound up happening. Sweetling took hold of the schedule, took hold of her lessons, took hold of her assignments, and assumed ownership and responsibility for her learning. Which is wonderful. Fantastic. Amazing. Exactly what she needs to be able to do...when she's a young lady. A young adult. Several years from now. Later. When she's almost all grown up. Much later. What she is doing now, is exactly what my goal is as a parent, as an educator. I just wasn't ready for her to realize it so soon. I had just taken the training wheels off her bicycle, so to speak, and I was ready to run along side her, to steady her and catch her...but she's taken off and is cruising confidently down the street. And I need to let her go, to let her succeed and do this on her own. Oh sure, I'm still standing and watching her and calling out encouragement to her and then talking with her about her ride each day. But I want to know, when did she grow up so soon??

So, Sweetling. Sweetling is working on her own. I put on her assignment list for today to check out Growing in Grace. I think what I need is to help guide her in ways that she can be independent, projects and learning activities that she can just *do*. Because she's completing her regular school work in about three hours each day, and she needs some educational, but independent and self-initiated stuff she can do for a couple of hours each day. Mind you, she already loves to read non-fiction books and mysteries. And she loves to write short stories on Webkinz Insider. So, she doesn't need a lot of other activities on her plate. I just want to give her a few more menu options for her day.

This then, is what our daily routine looks like:


6:30-7:00. I wake up. I hope. I'm not much of a morning person.
6:30-7:30 Get my shower, get dressed, transfer a load of laundry.
7:00. Sweetling wakes up. She is a morning person. She has breakfast with the Jedi and jumps into her morning routine. Makes bed; feeds fish; feeds gerbil; brushes hair; gets dressed; takes her vitamin; reads her devotions.
7:30-8:00 I get my morning routine done OR I sit down and do my devotions. My morning routine is clean bathroom, unload/reload dishwasher, clean any pots left to soak from last nights dinner, shine kitchen sink, clean off kitchen table+ counters+ stove, plan dinner, clean off desk.
8:00 Sweetling is usually finished with her morning routines. She now has an hour or so of free time, during which she reads or hops on her computer. She also fixes herself a morning snack during this time.
8:00-8:30--I either sit down and do my devotions, or I do my morning routine (depending on which I did first at 7:30.)
8:30-9:00--Toa of Boy wakes up sometime in this range. Toa of Boy, like me, is not a morning person. He needs a little snuggle time on the couch. Then I help him through his morning routine. It's...make bed, go potty, clean white table in living room, have breakfast, take vitamin, do calendar with mommy, brush teeth, get dressed. When he's finished, he watches PBS kids or Dora or Diego for a little while.
9:00--Sweetling her formal curriculum.
9:30--I work some algebra problems with her, unless she tells me that the lesson is too simple and she already understands it, thanks anyway Mommy.
10:00--Toa of Boy is now fully awake. We start school with him, doing math first--cause he needs to start with something hands-on, then handwriting, and journal.
11:00ish--Monday and Tuesday, I get to do Music or Science with Sweetling. (Science just means I get to read over her shoulder as she reads the online lesson screens). On Wednesday or Friday, I'll start Toa of Boy's language arts lessons with him.
12:00-1:00- LUNCH
1:00--Sweetling's history. Again, if she'll let me, I'll camp out beside her at the desk while she checks out the online portion of her lesson. But more often than not, she goes and does the lesson and the reading and the activities on her own. I'll surf blogs on another computer.
1:30--Toa of Boy does phonics with me, followed by his devotion readings...once we get the book.
2:30--We're wrapped up with formal lessons. On Monday we do art. On Tuesday we go grocery shopping. On Wednesday we go to the library. On Friday, Sweetling has her God's Girls Bible Study Group that meets at our house.
4:30--We do our afternoon routines. The kids pick up their bedrooms, anything they left in the living room, and clear off their school desks. Toa of Boy takes any recyclables to the bucket. Sweetling puts away extra school supplies. Mommy cleans off her desk, straightens the living room, sweeps the kitchen, and starts dinner.

Also, Thursdays are co-op days. Tae Kwon Do happens on Tuesday and Thursday night ( Sweetling, the Jedi, and I are all enrolled in class. A new beginner's class starts on Sept 22nd. I'm going to check out the times and the age ranges and consider enrolling Toa of Boy.) The adult praise dance team meets on Tuesday. (I go straight from Praise Dance to Tae Kwon Do on Tuesday night). Wednesday nights and Sunday nights are church activities. Saturday is our Sabbath/Day of Rest. We hang out and do family activities. Sunday morning is church services, and Sunday afternoon we sort and start laundry and get our weekly housework done.

So, that's my schedule. That's what we do. In theory.

What I'm hoping to glean from responses and from reading other people blogs are some ideas for Sweetling's "menu" for free, independent study. I'm really pleased with how Toa of Boy's school is going. His day seems to have just the right blend of structured instruction time with Mommy and playtime. And I'm really pleased with how Sweetling's school is going. She has just blossomed into this beautiful, amazing, mature young lady. I just want to have a nice variety of options for her to explore through the year.

Thanks for stopping by and reading all of this! :)

My Agenda

First off, let me point out that I can copy and paste html with the best of them. Notice that once again, my pic is a neat little link. Why? How did I duplicate this stunning feat of technology? Cause I can copy and paste, baby. Copy and paste all the way :)

Second, let me say it tickles me to no end to be able to title a post "My Agenda." I feel like I am now totally qualified to participate in some giant conspiracy theory. Why? Because I have an agenda.

Third, I cheated on this assignment. Yes, that's right. You can kick me out of the group now. You didn't think it was possible to cheat on a blog meme, did you? And yet, I found a way. (I mean, a way other than the copy/paste trick up above.) Wanna know what I did? I went and read other people's blogs before I started working on my own assignment. Scandalous, I know.

So, if you're still reading, and haven't been shocked away... let me tell you what I'm doing this school year.

My curriculum is a pretty easy thing. Since we participate in OHVA, we use the packaged K-12 curriculum for almost all our subjects. Sweetling just thrives on the traditional, academic, structured program. I'm not sure how much of a long term match it will be for Toa of Boy, but so far the very hands-on, manipulative based kindergarten program is a huge hit. In later years, we might have to reevaluate and chose different curriculum for him....but that's later.

This summer, Sweetling decided that for her devotion time, she was going to read a chapter of the Bible each day. She decided she would start in Genesis and just read one chapter a day till she read through the entire Bible. I, being the finished-challenged individual that I am, was aghast. I tried to cover my dismay at what I thought was an impossible plan, by very gently asking Sweetling if she knew how many chapters there were in the entire Bible. Sweetling didn't. And of course, I didn't know the exact number, just that there were a huge honking number of chapters. So we looked it up. And I gently asked Sweetling if she understood how many years it would take her to read the entire Bible with its 1,189 chapters, if she were reading one chapter every weekday. Sweetling went and did the long division, and seemed perfectly content with her plan. I, still the concerned mommy, gently suggested perhaps a different reading plan, one that would lead her through excerpts from each book of the Bible in just a few months. But no, no, that wasn't the same as reading the entire Bible. Sweetling was steadfast in her plan to read the whole Bible, chapter by chapter, no matter how long it takes her. So, that's our plan for Sweetling's Bible study. ("Our" in that statement is horribly misused. I managed to read through the entire Bible only once in my life, and that only because I found The Daily Bible, which put everything in chronological order, cut out 'redundant' passages, and explained a little of the history and context where needed. It was a major accomplishment for me to stick to a program regularly for an entire year.)

I was stuck on what to do for Toa of Boy's devotions. He needed something. We had, through the summer, read through the Rhyme Bible, by reading one short Bible story in order each day. I thought perhaps he still needed some familiarity with the major events and people in the Bible. I had considered making lapbooks for our Bible study. We could pick a major Bible story, or Bible hero, and work for a week or two on a lapbook. I still think this is a solid plan, and we might come back to it next year. But, in the meantime, Toa of Boy has been asking... "Why can't we see God? Nobody ever sees God? Mommy, does God die? Why did Jesus die?" And I don't want to ignore these questions. I try to answer them as he asks, but I'm often caught off guard on them, and its hard to put responses to such profound questions in the language of a five-year old. So, I wasn't sold on the lapbook projects, because I felt it wouldn't really address what Toa of Boy wanted and needed. But, as I was cheating and reading other blogs, I found this...Leading Little Ones to God.
(Much thanks to Kim @ Homestead Acres.)

Every Thursday we'll be participating in a curriculum based co-op. Since everyone in the co-op uses the same curriculum we do, the subjects and school work they do as part of the co-op isn't in addition to, or instead of, what we'd be doing anyway, it will be a part of and go along with it. I'm really looking forward to it, and so is Sweetling. Toa of Boy isn't as on board, but he will be once he starts hanging out with and playing with the other boys. And I'm the assist in his room in the morning, so that will help him transition into a new environment.

On Wednesday nights, Sweetling will be participating in a Bible Bowl curriculum on Exodus. On Sunday evenings she can pick either a drama/speaking class based on presenting scripture OR she can participate in praise dance that I'll be leading. And of course, she's still in Tae Kwon Do on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Toa of Boy has church activities on Wednesday and Sunday nights. He doesn't have any extra-curricular sports activities. I don't think Tae Kwon Do would be a good fit for him just yet, and I didn't want to add the running around of soccer practice into our schedule.

So, that's our curriculum. For some unknown reason, I actually thought I was going to have a short post this time.

Now, on to my agenda. <insert maniacal laughter here>

This year...
* I am NOT going to let staying with the curriculum dominate our schooling. I am going to skip units and lessons when appropriate for either or both children.
* I am going to make sure Sweetling has plenty of time during the day, at least one to two hours, to work on her own, independent projects and studies.
*I am going to stick to a basic daily structure and schedule. We will start the day on time. We will take only an hour for a lunch break. We will end the day with plenty of free time left over.
*I am going to insist that morning and afternoon checklists get accomplished each day, including mine.
*I am going to get up at a reasonable hour to get dressed, do my devotions, and get through my morning stuff before school starts instead of waiting till the last minute to roll out of bed.
*I am going to sort and start laundry, clip coupons, vacuum, and get the next weeks worth of lessons done on Sunday afternoon so that we are ready for the week on Monday morning.
*I am going to get most of my grocery list written and in order Monday night, so that I'm ready to go shopping Tuesday after school.
*And I'm going to have to find some way to keep things varied and interesting for me, because doing the same thing week after week isn't going to happen all year long. I'll crash and burn, baby, crash and burn. Blogging is one of those ways, but I know I'll need to cycle through some other things as well. I'm getting back into dance this fall, but I'm not sure if that will increase my happiness or increase my stress levels. I'm going to need some other, fun, relaxing creative outlets. (Hint, hint, and nudge, nudge, to Christopher Robin.)

And that's my agenda.

No one is allowed to burst my little bubble on this one. If the Maven can have a bubble the size of all of Canada, I'm allowed to have a little bubble all of my own.

First Memoir Assignment

If I were cool, I could make the picture a link back to the original assignment. If I were cool. Woo hooo!!!! I am not cool....but Sweetling is!!!!!

Today is not a good day for me to write a little bit about myself. I'm really struggling today with a pretty large, looming issue. If you scroll back a few blog posts, you'll find one titled "Character of God." (I'm not cool, but I can be taught...look how I even linked that for you.) I'm really wrestling with trusting in God's plan, knowing that He has a plan, even when things look a mess. There's a situation that I can't explain here in this blog that I just...grrr...I just want to lay down and have a little temper tantrum about it.

Before I ate lunch today, I put in a video of some worship dance, and that calmed me down enough to eat and then to be cheerful and positive enough to do school. I need a scripture verse that I can just recite over and over again. But even more than that, I need to receive the scripture verse.

I get on Toa of Boy's case when he keeps whining or arguing after what he wants, when I've tried first to gently explain why he can't have it, then firmly state why he can't have it, until it just gets to a point when I say "enough, cut it out already". But I'm doing the same thing in this circumstance. I'm like an incessant toddler. I've passed the "But why? why? why?" stage and am now in the foot stomping and pouting stage.

If you have a good scripture, and wouldn't mind leaving it for me, that would be a blessing. (Your reply won't show up immediately, cause I've got moderate comments turned on, but I'm desperate, so I'll check back this evening and get the comments read and up.)

Normally, when I'm not having a battle of wills with the Almighty, I'm a rather laid-back, bubbly person. I definitely fall into the "free-spirit" category. I would have made a great hippie in the 70s ;) I like creative projects. I like unique approaches to life. I don't like schedules, and I struggle with punctuality. I love art, works of fiction, praise dance, daydreaming, and starting many projects. God has placed me under the care of a husband who loves my tender nature, understands and cherishes my playfulness, and is great at managing all the details of life that I detest dealing with. He is very organized, and he thrives on schedules, completion, and predictability. He has his degree in chemistry and is now working as a computer programmer. I call him "The Jedi" in my blog...both for his love of Star Wars and because he is my Knight Protector.

God has blessed us with three children. Our oldest is "Vaya", who is our foster daughter and came to us when she was 15. She's married now and is out on her own, and tells me the only grandchildren I will ever have through her are her two parrots. (Let me tell you how much the lizards *don't* count.) Her blog name, "Vaya", comes from the name of an elf character. She loves fantasy (as do I). Vaya homeschooled with us through her highschool years, using whatever curriculum I could get my hands on that might interest her.

Sweetling, ours by birth, is the reason I am not firmly in the ranks of the unschooling community. Sweetling is like a cloned copy of the Jedi. For Sweetling's sake, we follow a highly structured, extremely traditional, advanced academic curriculum (K-12). Sweetling is in her 'fifth' grade year, but in her second year of pre-algebra. Let me restate that the curriculum is chosen for the student, and not for the mommy. I knew I was in for a long haul at the beginning of her 'second grade' year. I opened her 4th grade math textbook, and the thing was full of nothing but math! Where were the cute bunny cartoons? Where were the fluffy chicks? Who wanted to do pages of long division without some cute little drawing breaking the monotony of the yucky math? Sweetling did, that's who.

Toa of Boy is starting his kindergarten year. We're using the same curriculum program that Sweetling uses. This time I actually get to do the kindgergarten work. Sweetling pretty much skipped over that. The kindergarten curriculum is very hand's on, manipulitve based. That appeals to both Toa of Boy and his playful mother. We can totally sit down and play with blocks for math. Bring it on :) Toa of Boy is named for his love of his bionicles, his "all boy" nature, and his constant supply of energy. We brought Toa of Boy home from Guatemala at the end of May 2007. He completely changed our family dynamic, but its now strange to remember a time when Toa of Boy wasn't here.

I started homeschooling with my brother and sister when Sweetling was just a toddler. It was a concept that the Jedi and I had already been discussing as a possibility when Sweetling grew older. I have my degree in teaching, and I quit working to stay home once Sweetling was born. We knew we didn't want Sweetling in the regular public school, because we wanted our faith to be a central part of her education. When she was an infant, it seemed silly for me to go back to work later in order to pay the tuition for her to go to a private Christian school. I would be getting paid to teach other children so that I could turn around and pay someone to teach my own. (Then, when Sweetling was reading books independently before she was three, there was no way I could stick her in *any* kindergarten classroom where they were just learning the alphabet.)

As the Jedi and I were casually discussing our options, my sister, Smurf, began having problems in the public high school. After a great deal of discussion, I took on homeschooling Smurf and Baby Brother (who was going into third grade.) Vaya got thrown into that mix a couple of years later. So, for one crazy year, I had two teenagers and a preteen and a preschooler. Though, to be fair, Smurf unschooled herself, and that worked wonderfully for everyone involved. Then Smurf moved on to terrorize professors at the University level, which she is still doing. Vaya got a job and began taking on-line classes for certification as a veterinary assistant. And Baby Brother went back to the public middle school. (I still don't have peace about that one.) Sometime during those transitions, I started the formal curriculum with Sweetling, who just ate it up and clamored for more.

Were joining a curriculum based co-op this year, and I'm pretty pumped up about that. I get to teach the fifth grade composition class *BIG GRIN*. At one of their orientation meetings, the leaders were remarking about how the mothers that used the k-12 curriculum tended to be ones who liked structure and order and so their co-op always ran smoothly. I'm going to be a whirlwind blowing through their tidy little world. But I think I'll be forgiven, because composition is not going to be a drudgery anymore. Over my dead body is composition going to be an onerous chore.

Reading back over what I've written, I've decided that today was, after all, the perfect day to write about myself. I feel so much more at peace now than when I first started writing. I'm still really looking forward to some great scripture verses, so please share some!

BFS--Cookie Exchange

Part A: Please share your Favorite Christmas/Holiday Cookie Recipe(s)!

Part B: Share a memory, story or tradition about baking any Christmas/Holiday goodies.

Part C: Share a verse that is upon your heart this week.

Hmmmm....cooooookieeess. We likes the cookies.

So, I have three recipes that I try to make each year. They are:
Chocolate Rolo Cookies
Applesauce Jumbles
Chocolate Chip Spice Cookies

The Jedi's favorite cookies are Caramel Pecan Dream Bars....but the force is not with me, and everytime I've tried to make these cookies, I fail miserably.

Almost every year, I make dozens of dozens of dozens of cookies. No lie. I put them in containers. We get some, mom gets some, Smurf gets some...if she's been an especially smurfin smurf and gets her little body over to my house before they are gone. But the real reason I make dozens of dozens of cookies, is that I put them in containers to take to the neighbors. Typically, Dayspring has a little printed bookmark with the list of the times and dates of all the special Christmas activities and services. I put the bookmark on the cookie containers, and I take it to the neighbors.

I had just decided that I was going to skip that tradition this year. I'm tired. The first Christmas activity is *this* Sunday. There is no preprinted bookmark. I have to do my monthly grocery shopping on Friday, we have Sweetlings girls club Friday afternoon, and I'm going to the Melting Pot Friday night with Telephone and our children's pastor. We have a rehearsal for the children's Christmas musical Saturday from 9am-1pm. There is no way, no way, no WAY I can get dozens of dozens of cookies made, packaged, and delivered by Saturday night.

And then the darn BFS assignment is about holiday cookies. And the family across the street lost their father this fall. And my one neighbor comes to almost every special musical or church activity I invite him to.

Maybe instead of all my fancy cookies, I could find a few nice, simple cookie recipes that we can do together. (Cause having Sweetling and Little Guy helping in this process is the definition of streamlining). Maybe the Jedi will make some bookmarks for me. If I just do three houses (instead of the six I usually do), I can do this. Surely I can.

And the verses that immediately pop into mind are...
Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." Mt 19:26
and...
I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Phil 4:13

BFS #8-Dirty Laundry

BFS stands for Blogger Friend School. See the blinky link on the right. So, here's the assignment:

Part A - Share about your family’s laundry. Where is it kept? Who does it? How does your family sort it? Do you wash by hand? Hang clothes on the clothesline? Make your own laundry soap? How often do you do laundry? How many loads each day/week? Indoor laundry room, in the garage, or laundry mat? Even more fun…share a picture!

For those of you who have known me for a while, you know that laundry is the bane of my existence. I have lamented about laundry more times than I can count and here's why... ITS NEVER BLEEPING DONE. Those of you who are born organized (which of all my friends would be Christopher Robin and Telephone) keep trying to come up with helpful comments by sharing your system in the hopes that I'll get my act in order and quit whining you you about it. Foolish mortals.

Here's my "system". On Sunday, we come home from church and have lunch. Then its time to sort laundry. Little Guy grabs his laundry basket, which has wheels, and pushes it like a madman down the hall, thumps it down the stairs, and goes careening into "the closet room". (The closet room, when we bought the house, was going to become the master bath since its right off the master bedroom. Then the plumber came out and gave us the estimate, and the room has become half walk-in closet, half storage for crap, half a computer desk with three servers sitting on it. Yes, that is three halves, and it gives you an idea how cluttered the room is.) Sweetling's laundry basket is a fold up nylon mesh cube in primary colors with two nylon handles which she lugs down the hall, down the stairs, and to the closet room. She has learned to go *after* Little Guy if she values her heels. I grab the towels and the fifteen wet washclothes from the bathroom and head down. Then the three of us sort laundry together. Here's the picture of the closet room, taken Sunday evening after the laundry had been sorted and cleared out. Ok. Maybe not. I took a picture, but I can't find what folder its sitting in. There are the other two pictures I took, but not the closet room. Those three servers that sit in the closet room? They look for ways to laugh at me. That's their full time job.

Once the laundry is sorted, I start running loads. This is the part that never gets done. Loads take two drier cycles to dry, because the dryer vent tube (that big round silver thing that leads outside) needs cleaned out Im sure. Anyway, done loads get either a)dumped on the bed to be shoveled back into a basket later because I never got around to folding them; b)left in a basket at the foot of our bed or on the floor of the laundry room; or c)left in the dryer while the load in the washer sits and gets that nice mildew smell. Here, this time for real, is a picture of the laundry room. Now Mango in her blog calls her laundry room the dungeon. I totally disagree. I totally win the dungeon competition for laundry rooms.

Oh, and here's the picture of two laundry baskets hanging out at the foot of our bed. This is taken before the great laundry pile up begins to occur. (Not because I'm hiding the great laundry pile-up, but just because thats when Mango called me about BFS and that when I read the BFS home page and then went running around the house with a camera. The Jedi wisely had no comment.)

The great laundry pile up is why I hate laundry. Remember the a, b, c options for what happens to the laundry when it finally comes out of the dryer? That's the beginning of the great laundry pile up. The great laundry pile up usually gets sorted out by Friday afternoon, just in time to start laundry again on Sunday. So, basically, all through the week there is unfinished laundry and finished laundry waiting to be folded. And several times I dump the laundry monster out on our bed to try to make some headway, get a few minutes of work done, and then get called away to some other task, and by bedtime the unfinished laundry has to be shoveled back into the baskets, often on top of the few things I did get folded. And this is why laundry is the bane of my existence. Every week I start it with the best of intentions, and every week the process gets derailed and becomes a mess that I have to try to live through and function through and tell Sweetling to just wrap a towel around herself and go look for a pair of underwear in the baskets at the foot of the bed. These sorts of things. The stuff that dreams are made of.

By Friday, the laundry is folded, finally, and baskets are lugged back up the stairs. Little Guy helps me put away his own laundry (which is in one basket) and Sweetling puts away her laundry on her own (which is in another basket.) I usually carry the stack of towels up by hand and put them in the linen closet.

And the broken system begins again on Sunday.

Part B - Do you have an area in your life that you know that the Lord is tugging at some heart strings that needs to be cleaned up? Have a testimony of your past struggle(s) that might help another homeschooling mom? Share a piece of your heart (dirty laundry) that you are seeking a good washing or how it got cleaned up. Sharing with one another is a great way to have your post feel human and real.

Grrr. This is why I've not yet done this assignment. I was just going to say that I've been having a really difficult time being motivated to spend time in prayer and in Bible studies and keeping my prayer journal. Oh, I've been doing it, sporadically, but I've just been going through the motions and not reaping any spiritual growth or benefits. But really, I think I know exactly why I haven't been motivated.

A year ago, my women on wednesday bible study (wow), read and discussed the book Captivating. It was an awesome experience for me in so many ways. There was a hurt done to me when I was a child, that I had never really admitted, never faced, never worked through. I blamed myself for what happened, and just felt broken beyond all repair. In the process of reading that book, God helped me to see how what had happened was NOT MY FAULT. He showed me how he saw me, an innocent little girl. Innocent, innocent. I loved the sound and feel of that word. I still do. He started me down the long road of healing, and he was faithful to give me just what I needed when I needed it.

But the road of healing was long, and the landscape of the journey often looked the same, and I was impatient to reach the destination. And I began to doubt that I ever would reach the destination. And I might have been in slavery in Egypt, but I started remembering the banks of the Nile as being so much more lush and refreshing than the wilderness I had to cross to reach the Promised Land. And so I turned around and headed back towards Egypt. And I wondered why the road back seemed darker and colder without the pillar of fire going before me. And I stagnated on my prayer life, on my Bible studies, my journaling.

Mango on the phone with me last night said, "You're so nice. You probably never have to look in the mirror and see something ugly." Oh Mango, I said, you have no idea. There's a room in my heart where I turned all the mirrors to the wall for the longest time, because I couldn't bear to face what was reflected there. But its time to pick up the polishing cloth and get back to work. Because God is telling me, it isn't me who is ugly and distorted. He made me beautiful. But the mirror got warped in my childhood, and the image its throwing back at me isn't what he created me to be. And its going to take some hard work to polish the mirror and to let him bend it back into shape. And its going to take a long time. But we are heading in the right direction. Be patient. Follow him through the wilderness. We aren't out here wandering in circles. We are making progress.

Part C - FIND a scripture this week that pertains to this assignment to help you with your laundry and share it this week.

The Biblical woman I identify most with is Sarah. I want to be like Ruth, but really I'm like Sarah. She had the promise of God, but when it was taking a long time to be fulfilled, she decided maybe God's plan was for her to be more proactive in fulfilling the promise. Rather than stay on the journey God called her to, she wanted faster results, and found a way to "get" God's promise on her time table. It's the impatience, the desire to be in control, the need to know how and when, the frustration and doubt generated by the long journey, all these things I detect in myself.

So, my scripture is both for the laundry in my house, which never seems done...yet really it does get done every week, just not on my time table, and not without some mess and frustration in the middle of the week. And its also for the healing journey that never seems over...yet really I know how far God has already brought me, and I know how much he sustains me, (but the wilderness does seem barren...and there's a lot of murmuring from me along the way).

So my scripture is...Philippians 1:5-6: Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on in completion until the day of Christ Jesus.