Satellite internet connections can be so frustrating! For the last couple of weeks our internet has been so slow that my blog wouldn't fully open up. We would love to have DSL, but it is not available to us right now. We are so far out in the boonies!!
Everyone is doing much better healthwise right now and we are making great strides in our school work. The temperatures have been so nice lately that we have been spending some time on the porch doing our reading and the younger children have spent hours outside playing. This is why we generally do school during the hot summer months! It's just too hot to play outside in much of July and August (and even this month has seen highs here in the 100's). We take more time for outdoor activities in the fall and spring. This weekend we will be having a much needed yard sale---lots of clothing, some furniture, framed prints and miscellaneous items that I hope will find a new home. The boys' bathroom is almost complete. Just needs a few paint touch-ups here and there. Jeff had a trip to DC that interrupted his work. Hopefully he can get that finished this weekend and get the next project completed before he and Jordan go back to DC later in October.
Next week we will be buying apples from our local orchard. I hope to can lots of applesauce for applesauce muffins, pie filling and yes, apple jelly. I am also gathering up supplies to start making our own soaps. I am very excited about this and should have all my supplies in by next week. I am so very thankful that God gave me these years at home to spend with my children and to learn together. So many skills that we are learning are now lost arts, but we are having fun planning them, have fun working on them together and enjoy the fruits of our hands.
I have several topics coming in future posts-- a great giveaway, product reviews, recipes, homemade cleaners, fall decorations and finally the bathroom reveal. But a busy household comes first! Today it will be cleaning house, cooking, schooling, music practice, a doctor's appointment, errand running and gathering and pricing more items for the yard sale. So, what have you been up to?
Family
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
CSN Product Review
My friend with the CSN stores recently contacted me about working together again and I agreed to do a product review this time. Have you looked at the CSN stores? Over 200 stores with lots of fabulous products! Childrens toys, cookware, all kinds of furniture including some nice dining sets and much, much more. I am looking forward to picking out one or more products to review. I am gathering materials to start making homemade soaps for my family's use, so I have already been looking at stick blenders, thermometers, kitchen scales and new measuring cups. Don't you love getting new kitchen gadgets?
Check out the CSN link to the words "dining sets" above to find some great products!
Check out the CSN link to the words "dining sets" above to find some great products!
Birthday Boys
September third is Jeff's birthday. While I cooked dinner, Kaelan and Jackson set the table and prepared the dining room. Jackson wore this suit all day with a white undershirt and bared feet. And yes, he is a funny kid! On the small whiteboard, Kaelan wrote the menu: Roman roast with mushrooms and spinach rice. We had a mango-lemon-orange cake for dessert.
September fifth was Aaron's 14th birthday. Aren't they handsome! They could have dressed up a bit for the occasion, though!
Aaron requested a fried fish dinner, so that's what we had! I went with a fish house theme and served on paper plates. We had fried fish, baked fish, fries, and seasoned green beans with cream sodas all around. A delicious blueberry cobbler was served for dessert.
Sweet Caedmon!
Aaron received a new Columbia fleece from Devin and Jordan. He has grown a lot in the last year!
Looking over the birthday goodies with Kaelan. Aaron received a beautiful hard bound book of missionary John Paton, two Ballentyne adventure books and lots of art supplies.
I am so very thankful for the man that my husband is and for the man the my son is growing into. Aaron has on his Dave Ramsey t-shirt, but the message is true. Every year he is changed a little more.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
How I Conquer Mt. Laundry--or not!
Laundry is one of those many household tasks that just never goes away. You can get that LAST load done for the day and realize that when everyone undresses for the night there will be at least two more loads of dirty clothes. Kimberly at Raising Olives, Kim at Life in a Shoe , Connie at Smockety Frocks and the Deputy Headmistress at the Common Room are all sharing their dirty laundry today and I thought I would join them.
My laundry room is not really a room. It's more like a closet and not a big one at that. Our laundry closet is just off the kitchen, right at the back door. Originally there were folding doors to close this closet, but when we upgraded to front loading machines a few years ago the doors wouldn't close. I then opted for curtains, but they are usually only closed when company is coming. The curtain rod is too handy for hangars! (Does anyone else have a pet peeve about loose hangars in the clothes closets?) The back door is to the right of the laundry closet and is usually blocked off by laundry baskets which means Jeff and the kids either push all my carefully sorted laundry gently out of the way (not!) or go out the front door. Because this is such a small area, I asked Jeff to take an old door and place it over the top of the washer/dryer. It extends to the wall on the right side and back. These were two areas that easily became great waste lands where things would be forever lost. Now I don't lose anything back there!
Things are slightly messy right now due to our continued bathroom re-model which is ALMOST complete! I desperately need to get this area cleaned off and re-organized. There are two shelves above that hold many items that I do not use every day. I have a slight remodel that I want Jeff to do here soon. He has been saving a set of upper cabinets for his office for the last couple of years. They are taking up valuable space in the garage and his office is not on the short list to be completed any time soon. Those cabinets would be great in my laundry room, though, and a bar could be hung below to hold my collection of hangars! Then we might actually be able to close the curtains. I do have a vision of one day turning my current kitchen into a laundry room and the laundry room into a linen closet. I have a dream!!
My mom drilled into me the importance of sorting laundry. I think I have taken it up a notch. I sort wash clothes, white socks and undies, and dish towels in one load which is washed in hot water. Other loads are reds and purples, jeans, whites, lights, darks, greens and bright blues, light towels, dark towels and sheets. And yes, I have been washing about 4 loads 5-6 days a week. The other day I had a vision of each bedroom having its own TALL laundry basket and only brought out to the laundry room on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I will wash clothes only on those days and do towels on Wednesday and Saturday and also do ALL the sheets on Saturdays as well. I'll let you know how that works!
I have also been making my own laundry detergent. You can go to tipnut.com to find recipes, but I am hand grating a bar of goats milk laundry soup (makes two cups), adding 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda and then mixing it up in my Vita Mix. I use a heaping tablespoon in the laundry. It seems to do a good job!
I love to fold laundry! I love neat orderly stacks and dream that the children actually keep them that way when they put their clothes away. Still dreaming! My dining room is just across the hallway from the laundry closet and that is where I fold laundry. The clean laundry goes on the dining table where I fold away. A low bookshelf serves as a holding spot for folded laundry for the children which is supposed to be put away at the end of the day. Ahem!! I go from right to left: girls' bathroom, Devin, Jordan, Aaron, Kaelan, Jackson and boys' bathroom. You can see in this picture that the boys' have a two stacks of bathroom towels waiting to be put away. I bought all new towels for them and we can't put them away until the new vanity is installed and the hooks for the towels are hung on the wall. I keep laundry for the master bath, Jeff, Caedmon and I put up through the day.
At times that I am feeling exceptionally thrifty and it is not 100+ degrees outside I will hang out laundry to dry on the clothesline. I love hanging out the laundry as I enjoy the few moments of peace and quiet (oops, did I say that?) I also have a folding drying rack that comes out on occasion and I have been known to hang non-stretchy items from hangars in doorways to dry. Now I am sure that I have shared way more than you ever wanted to know about how I do the laundry!
My laundry room is not really a room. It's more like a closet and not a big one at that. Our laundry closet is just off the kitchen, right at the back door. Originally there were folding doors to close this closet, but when we upgraded to front loading machines a few years ago the doors wouldn't close. I then opted for curtains, but they are usually only closed when company is coming. The curtain rod is too handy for hangars! (Does anyone else have a pet peeve about loose hangars in the clothes closets?) The back door is to the right of the laundry closet and is usually blocked off by laundry baskets which means Jeff and the kids either push all my carefully sorted laundry gently out of the way (not!) or go out the front door. Because this is such a small area, I asked Jeff to take an old door and place it over the top of the washer/dryer. It extends to the wall on the right side and back. These were two areas that easily became great waste lands where things would be forever lost. Now I don't lose anything back there!
Keeping it real!
My mom drilled into me the importance of sorting laundry. I think I have taken it up a notch. I sort wash clothes, white socks and undies, and dish towels in one load which is washed in hot water. Other loads are reds and purples, jeans, whites, lights, darks, greens and bright blues, light towels, dark towels and sheets. And yes, I have been washing about 4 loads 5-6 days a week. The other day I had a vision of each bedroom having its own TALL laundry basket and only brought out to the laundry room on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I will wash clothes only on those days and do towels on Wednesday and Saturday and also do ALL the sheets on Saturdays as well. I'll let you know how that works!
I have also been making my own laundry detergent. You can go to tipnut.com to find recipes, but I am hand grating a bar of goats milk laundry soup (makes two cups), adding 2 cups of borax and 2 cups of washing soda and then mixing it up in my Vita Mix. I use a heaping tablespoon in the laundry. It seems to do a good job!
I love to fold laundry! I love neat orderly stacks and dream that the children actually keep them that way when they put their clothes away. Still dreaming! My dining room is just across the hallway from the laundry closet and that is where I fold laundry. The clean laundry goes on the dining table where I fold away. A low bookshelf serves as a holding spot for folded laundry for the children which is supposed to be put away at the end of the day. Ahem!! I go from right to left: girls' bathroom, Devin, Jordan, Aaron, Kaelan, Jackson and boys' bathroom. You can see in this picture that the boys' have a two stacks of bathroom towels waiting to be put away. I bought all new towels for them and we can't put them away until the new vanity is installed and the hooks for the towels are hung on the wall. I keep laundry for the master bath, Jeff, Caedmon and I put up through the day.
Laundry waiting to be put away!
At times that I am feeling exceptionally thrifty and it is not 100+ degrees outside I will hang out laundry to dry on the clothesline. I love hanging out the laundry as I enjoy the few moments of peace and quiet (oops, did I say that?) I also have a folding drying rack that comes out on occasion and I have been known to hang non-stretchy items from hangars in doorways to dry. Now I am sure that I have shared way more than you ever wanted to know about how I do the laundry!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Of Remodeling, Reactions and Reasons to Celebrate
It has been a while since I have taken the time to blog. I am trying to maintain a full school load with the children while in the midst of major home remodeling. We are FINALLY getting the boys' bathroom rebuilt after gutting it due to water leaks almost 3 years ago. Yes, we are slow about some things. Thankfully we have 3 bathrooms so we have not been too terribly inconvenienced all this time.
"Worker men" have been here for several days each week for the last three weeks and Jeff took off three days. It is extremely hard to get a 6 year old boy to sit down and work on letter sounds and counting with mom when there are nice men with jackhammers in your bathroom cutting through the concrete. He has learned a lot these last few weeks about plumbing and shower building.
We have lived in this house for 12 years and Jeff has decided this is the time to get all of the remodeling done and the broken things fixed. He is a man on a mission! The older boys are now old enough to be a tremendous help to him. The boys' shower has built built and tiled. It now has a nice glass door. The walls are painted. The floor is tiled, but still needs grout. Then we do the baseboards, the door, molding, toilet, vanity, mirror and cabinet. Half of those items are in my dining room. Boxes of all kinds have been shoved in the boys' bedroom and it was too cluttered for them to clean it up. Yesterday we removed all remodeling paraphernalia, thus eliminating their excuse for cleaning their room. Tomorrow, it WILL be cleaned from top to bottom. There is so much dust from drywall that everything is gritty. I have slowly been cleaning the living areas as we finish up the messy work in the bathroom.
__________________________________________________________________________________
In other news, we have been hit again with some strange illnesses. I have suffered from dishydrosis for several years. This is a severe form of eczema that occurs on your hands and feet. Incredibly itchy blisters of which there is NO cure. After a recent flair up I went to another dermatologist and had a steroid shot and was prescribed two different steroid creams. After another visit I am now on oral steroids. Women are more prone to this form of eczema and those who have eczema and asthma are more likely to get it. It is not painful, but extremely itchy and frustrating. Stress also causes flair ups. Seven children, homeschooling, dealing with multiple food allergies, major remodeling and a type-A personality=stress. In addition, my IBS has also been flaring. I have had IBS for years, but after the removal of my gall bladder last year, it has worsened. Some days I cannot leave home. One perk, however, is that I continue to lose weight! Got to find something good about it!
Aaron, Jackson and Caedmon continue with their usual eczema problems that need daily attention. Caedmon has had two food allergy reactions that really scared us in the last two/three weeks. I will no longer live the house without his Benadryl, Epipen and nebulizer. Jordan is my only child who does not have asthma and/or eczema, but a couple of weeks ago he broke out in a very strange rash ALL over his body. It looks like very small patches of eczema, but there are hundreds of them. Jeff finally took him to the doctor Wednesday. She just looked at him and was speechless. Had no idea what the rash is! Gave him a long-acting steroid shot and Benadryl ointment. Repeat visit this morning added a staff infection to his diagnosis. Now he will also be on an antibiotic for a couple of weeks. Please pray for the rest of our eczema kids who have some spots that could be easily infected. Staff is contagious!
I have been going back to visit my chiropractor the last couple of weeks as my back and neck have been bothering me (stress?). He has told me for YEARS that we need to get off of gluten. He is big on the blood type diet and we are all B and apparently gluten will cause skin and digestive issues for those with B type blood. In light of all that I wrote above I think I need to investigate more and try a gluten free diet. My problem with gluten-free is that two of my children are also allergic (deathly) to eggs and most gluten free recipes contain eggs. Any body with any experience with gluten free and/or diets for blood types? Would love to talk with you!!
__________________________________________________________________________________
And, today is Jeff's birthday! Both of us are sliding ever so closer to 50. We are planning a nice birthday dinner for him tonight. I asked him last night what he would like and he requested a Roman roast. We got this recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines when we were studying ancient Rome. You take a nice roast and cook it on the cooktop in a Dutch oven. I inserted sliced cloves of garlic in the roast, covered 1/3 with white grape juice and let cook slowly all day. Half way through the cooking process, I added mushrooms cut in half. We will serve this with spinach rice, roasted broccoli and carrots and a green salad. We were trying to make his favorite apricot nectar cake for him, but two of our local Walmart stores are no longer carrying apricot nectar! I bought mango nectar instead which I think will taste great. I hope to get the dining room at least dusted and swept well for the evening meal. Kaelan will be in charge of setting a celebratory table in honor of her father. The kids pooled their money together to buy the BBC's Return to Cranford today, so it seems we will have an evening in Cranford tonight. A pleasant end to what I hope will be a nice celebration for my hard-working husband who is such a wonderful example of a Godly man for our children.
Sunday is Aaron's 14th birthday! So hard to believe my fourth born child is so old. Aaron is growing into an extremely hard worker. He loves to read (ALL of my kids love to read), is becoming more serious about his Bible study, loves to eat and is a clown. We will be spending the day with Jeff's parents on Sunday. Aaron requested bratwurst and saurkraut with all the trimmings for his birthday meal, so the grands are getting the grill ready for his special day now.
I hope to have pictures of the bathroom as soon as it is completed and birthday pictures as well. Hope you all have a great weekend!
"Worker men" have been here for several days each week for the last three weeks and Jeff took off three days. It is extremely hard to get a 6 year old boy to sit down and work on letter sounds and counting with mom when there are nice men with jackhammers in your bathroom cutting through the concrete. He has learned a lot these last few weeks about plumbing and shower building.
We have lived in this house for 12 years and Jeff has decided this is the time to get all of the remodeling done and the broken things fixed. He is a man on a mission! The older boys are now old enough to be a tremendous help to him. The boys' shower has built built and tiled. It now has a nice glass door. The walls are painted. The floor is tiled, but still needs grout. Then we do the baseboards, the door, molding, toilet, vanity, mirror and cabinet. Half of those items are in my dining room. Boxes of all kinds have been shoved in the boys' bedroom and it was too cluttered for them to clean it up. Yesterday we removed all remodeling paraphernalia, thus eliminating their excuse for cleaning their room. Tomorrow, it WILL be cleaned from top to bottom. There is so much dust from drywall that everything is gritty. I have slowly been cleaning the living areas as we finish up the messy work in the bathroom.
__________________________________________________________________________________
In other news, we have been hit again with some strange illnesses. I have suffered from dishydrosis for several years. This is a severe form of eczema that occurs on your hands and feet. Incredibly itchy blisters of which there is NO cure. After a recent flair up I went to another dermatologist and had a steroid shot and was prescribed two different steroid creams. After another visit I am now on oral steroids. Women are more prone to this form of eczema and those who have eczema and asthma are more likely to get it. It is not painful, but extremely itchy and frustrating. Stress also causes flair ups. Seven children, homeschooling, dealing with multiple food allergies, major remodeling and a type-A personality=stress. In addition, my IBS has also been flaring. I have had IBS for years, but after the removal of my gall bladder last year, it has worsened. Some days I cannot leave home. One perk, however, is that I continue to lose weight! Got to find something good about it!
Aaron, Jackson and Caedmon continue with their usual eczema problems that need daily attention. Caedmon has had two food allergy reactions that really scared us in the last two/three weeks. I will no longer live the house without his Benadryl, Epipen and nebulizer. Jordan is my only child who does not have asthma and/or eczema, but a couple of weeks ago he broke out in a very strange rash ALL over his body. It looks like very small patches of eczema, but there are hundreds of them. Jeff finally took him to the doctor Wednesday. She just looked at him and was speechless. Had no idea what the rash is! Gave him a long-acting steroid shot and Benadryl ointment. Repeat visit this morning added a staff infection to his diagnosis. Now he will also be on an antibiotic for a couple of weeks. Please pray for the rest of our eczema kids who have some spots that could be easily infected. Staff is contagious!
I have been going back to visit my chiropractor the last couple of weeks as my back and neck have been bothering me (stress?). He has told me for YEARS that we need to get off of gluten. He is big on the blood type diet and we are all B and apparently gluten will cause skin and digestive issues for those with B type blood. In light of all that I wrote above I think I need to investigate more and try a gluten free diet. My problem with gluten-free is that two of my children are also allergic (deathly) to eggs and most gluten free recipes contain eggs. Any body with any experience with gluten free and/or diets for blood types? Would love to talk with you!!
__________________________________________________________________________________
And, today is Jeff's birthday! Both of us are sliding ever so closer to 50. We are planning a nice birthday dinner for him tonight. I asked him last night what he would like and he requested a Roman roast. We got this recipe from The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Three Ancient Cuisines when we were studying ancient Rome. You take a nice roast and cook it on the cooktop in a Dutch oven. I inserted sliced cloves of garlic in the roast, covered 1/3 with white grape juice and let cook slowly all day. Half way through the cooking process, I added mushrooms cut in half. We will serve this with spinach rice, roasted broccoli and carrots and a green salad. We were trying to make his favorite apricot nectar cake for him, but two of our local Walmart stores are no longer carrying apricot nectar! I bought mango nectar instead which I think will taste great. I hope to get the dining room at least dusted and swept well for the evening meal. Kaelan will be in charge of setting a celebratory table in honor of her father. The kids pooled their money together to buy the BBC's Return to Cranford today, so it seems we will have an evening in Cranford tonight. A pleasant end to what I hope will be a nice celebration for my hard-working husband who is such a wonderful example of a Godly man for our children.
Sunday is Aaron's 14th birthday! So hard to believe my fourth born child is so old. Aaron is growing into an extremely hard worker. He loves to read (ALL of my kids love to read), is becoming more serious about his Bible study, loves to eat and is a clown. We will be spending the day with Jeff's parents on Sunday. Aaron requested bratwurst and saurkraut with all the trimmings for his birthday meal, so the grands are getting the grill ready for his special day now.
I hope to have pictures of the bathroom as soon as it is completed and birthday pictures as well. Hope you all have a great weekend!
Friday, August 20, 2010
In Which We Are Six
Wednesday was Jackson's sixth birthday. He has been counting down the weeks and days for a while.
We usually start our birthday celebrations at breakfast, but Jeff has been going to work extremely early every day this week because of filming. To compensate for this, we took Jackson by himself to Baskin Robbins Sunday night where he enjoyed a double dip cone. So, Jackson had to wait until dinner time for his celebration.
Kaelan made a sign for his chair .
Last week we asked him what kind of cake he wanted and his reply was an Irish cake. Devin has introduced him to the Celtic Woman and The High Kings, so he is on an all things Irish kick right now.
We tried to get him to tell us what an Irish cake was and all he told us was that it was four layers with chocolate cake and brownies! So Devin, Kaelan and I brainstormed a little and decided to go with the chocolate cake and brownie layers and add a couple of layers of chocolate mint ice cream. He also wanted white icing. He choose spaghetti, French bread and salad for dinner. I tried to get him to choose a corned beef dinner in keeping with his Irish theme, but spaghetti it was!
Jordan googled "Happy birthday" in Gaelic and Devin wrote it on the cake and added in a few shamrocks and sprinkles. It was delicious!
I have to throw in a picture of little brother Caedmon. We do like our Gaelic names around here!!
Happy Birthday to you!
I am so thankful for this sweet boy who still climbs into my lap and loves to cuddle. He still sneaks into bed with me occasionally in the early morning hours for a sweet snuggle. I know this time will soon pass and try to enjoy it as much as I can.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Calendar
I am a planner by nature. I like to have everything planned out, if possible, before the school year starts. I don't do well with last minute spontaneous events. I have to prepare myself ahead of time to be away from home even for the evening. I don't know if it's a "getting older" thing or not, but it is what it is.
The other day I was filling in the calendar with our known activities for the year and had a brief moment of panic as I began to think about all the unknowns. There are many things that I can plan for----what we will study in school, piano lesson times, field trips, vacations, birthdays, work days, etc, but it's the UNKNOWN events that can unravel me. With a large family there is always a time of sickness--doctor's visits, time that a child just needs to be in the bed, and interrupted sleep because of needed breathing treatments. We have had our share of broken bones (only Kaelan, but she has managed to break both arms and is still seeing the orthopedic surgeon bi-annually from her last break 3 years ago), emergency room visits, out-patient surgeries and even an ambulance ride and critical care stay. It seems that God grants me more grace to get through the more major unknowns as I can remember not being panicked when my child wasn't breathing or when faced with Kaelan's obviously broken bones. It's the little unknowns that get me frazzled; that cause me to be irritated and annoyed. I am a control-freak.
There, I said it. Some of you probably already knew that. ; ) I am the oldest of four and had a good bit of responsibility put on me as a child. I am a mom to many who homeschools as well. I must have control over most things. It's hard to step back and let others be in control. It can even be hard to remember that ultimately God is in control. No matter how many unknowns may be lurking to "shake me up", I need to rest assured that the all-knowing and all-seeing God is not surprised and He will not become unglued; He will and does reign over all. So Lord, here I am in the first few weeks of our school year, realizing that I cannot do it all; I cannot see all that is coming up; I cannot rest in my own strength; so I give it all to you. Your plans are much better than I can ever write; You know what each of my children needs to learn for this year; You know what lessons I need to learn this year; You have plans for our family that we cannot comprehend. Please help me to step back and rest in Your plans.
Even now as I am typing here, I receive a phone call that sets me in panic and changes my morning plans. Lord, calm my heart and set my path to just do the next thing that You have given to us to do.
Proverbs 16: 9 A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
The other day I was filling in the calendar with our known activities for the year and had a brief moment of panic as I began to think about all the unknowns. There are many things that I can plan for----what we will study in school, piano lesson times, field trips, vacations, birthdays, work days, etc, but it's the UNKNOWN events that can unravel me. With a large family there is always a time of sickness--doctor's visits, time that a child just needs to be in the bed, and interrupted sleep because of needed breathing treatments. We have had our share of broken bones (only Kaelan, but she has managed to break both arms and is still seeing the orthopedic surgeon bi-annually from her last break 3 years ago), emergency room visits, out-patient surgeries and even an ambulance ride and critical care stay. It seems that God grants me more grace to get through the more major unknowns as I can remember not being panicked when my child wasn't breathing or when faced with Kaelan's obviously broken bones. It's the little unknowns that get me frazzled; that cause me to be irritated and annoyed. I am a control-freak.
There, I said it. Some of you probably already knew that. ; ) I am the oldest of four and had a good bit of responsibility put on me as a child. I am a mom to many who homeschools as well. I must have control over most things. It's hard to step back and let others be in control. It can even be hard to remember that ultimately God is in control. No matter how many unknowns may be lurking to "shake me up", I need to rest assured that the all-knowing and all-seeing God is not surprised and He will not become unglued; He will and does reign over all. So Lord, here I am in the first few weeks of our school year, realizing that I cannot do it all; I cannot see all that is coming up; I cannot rest in my own strength; so I give it all to you. Your plans are much better than I can ever write; You know what each of my children needs to learn for this year; You know what lessons I need to learn this year; You have plans for our family that we cannot comprehend. Please help me to step back and rest in Your plans.
Even now as I am typing here, I receive a phone call that sets me in panic and changes my morning plans. Lord, calm my heart and set my path to just do the next thing that You have given to us to do.
Proverbs 16: 9 A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Jacksonism
Jackson, age almost 6, ready for a hot afternoon of military manuevers
Lord's Supper, Communion or Jesus' dinner? He's thinking about it and remembering.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
On Waiting Rooms
I have had the privilege of spending a good bit of time in doctors' offices this year. I say privilege, because I can call the office and set up an appointment and see a family doctor later in the day or a specialized doctor within a couple of weeks. I fear that may change in the near future. However, my observation is entirely of a different nature. In our home we do not watch television. Don't feel sorry for us. This is a personal decision. There is so much filth and garbage on television these days that we just don't watch it. We do watch movies each week that we CHOSE to bring in to our home, but just watching something for the sake of watching it....doesn't happen.
Over the last few years I have noticed that just like restaurants, doctors' waiting rooms are being equipped with televisions. I ALWAYS take a book to read for myself or if my children are with me, books for them to read. However the TV is a magnet and it is so difficult to keep eyes from straying. One day at our family doctor a talk show was discussing the v**pire series phenomenon and how grown women were attracted to the teenaged young men in the movies. Words used were pretty graphic as were the pictures. I tried to engage my children in conversation and talked loud so they couldn't hear what was being said, but it was extremely difficult.
This week it was another doctor's office with another TV show. Dr. Phil was on interviewing young men who do dangerously stupid stunts like playing with fire on their private areas, jumping from high places while on fire, skateboarding while holding on to a moving vehicle, etc. Dr. Phil was trying to find out why they did this and kept showing the utube clips that are making these poor souls money! My eyes kept wandering from the Jane Austin book I was reading back to the tv. Every eye in the place was glued to the screen. I kept wondering where the fathers of these young men were. No mention of them did I hear. I wish we could go to the doctor without having the TV to deal with. Can't we just spread a few books and magazines around for those who don't come prepared for a wait?
Another observation I had: I was filling out a new patient form and was asked to check one: employed, retired, disabled, active military or XXXX (I am sure the letters stood for something, but I suppose you must have been that to have known what it meant?) I didn't check anything. I felt slightly discriminated against. LOL! Jeff says I should have just checked EMPLOYED, but that would make it seem that I am employed and earn a paycheck. Puzzling!
Over the last few years I have noticed that just like restaurants, doctors' waiting rooms are being equipped with televisions. I ALWAYS take a book to read for myself or if my children are with me, books for them to read. However the TV is a magnet and it is so difficult to keep eyes from straying. One day at our family doctor a talk show was discussing the v**pire series phenomenon and how grown women were attracted to the teenaged young men in the movies. Words used were pretty graphic as were the pictures. I tried to engage my children in conversation and talked loud so they couldn't hear what was being said, but it was extremely difficult.
This week it was another doctor's office with another TV show. Dr. Phil was on interviewing young men who do dangerously stupid stunts like playing with fire on their private areas, jumping from high places while on fire, skateboarding while holding on to a moving vehicle, etc. Dr. Phil was trying to find out why they did this and kept showing the utube clips that are making these poor souls money! My eyes kept wandering from the Jane Austin book I was reading back to the tv. Every eye in the place was glued to the screen. I kept wondering where the fathers of these young men were. No mention of them did I hear. I wish we could go to the doctor without having the TV to deal with. Can't we just spread a few books and magazines around for those who don't come prepared for a wait?
Another observation I had: I was filling out a new patient form and was asked to check one: employed, retired, disabled, active military or XXXX (I am sure the letters stood for something, but I suppose you must have been that to have known what it meant?) I didn't check anything. I felt slightly discriminated against. LOL! Jeff says I should have just checked EMPLOYED, but that would make it seem that I am employed and earn a paycheck. Puzzling!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Aaron's Curriculum for 2010-2011
Aaron is our second son who will turn 14 in just a couple of weeks. Last year we switched from Math U See to Teaching Textbooks and he has been doing double duty to catch up to where he wants to be. If he were in government school he would be in the 8th grade. Here is Aaron's curriculum for the year.
-Teaching Textbooks 7--he is doing 2-3 lessons per day He should finish by Thanksgiving at this rate. Jeff is looking at Video Text Algebra for Aaron to use after this course. Jeff is exposed to TONS of curricula and is meeting many homeschool curriculum writers and speakers since starting up The Homeschool Channel. He likes the Video Text sample that the creator sent to him although it is extremely pricey. We'll see! If any of you have used it, I would love a review!
-Typing-Typing Instructor
-Quarter Mile Math
-Learning Language Arts through Literature-green
-Daily Grams- 8
-Apologia Physical Science--This will be a first. We are extremely textbook phobic around here and prefer to read living books and study nature. We watch lots of science videos and listen to creation based cds. Aaron is interesting in becoming a medical missionary, so I need to buckle down on the science. My older three children gave up on Apologia Biology after the fifth module, so I am hoping that by starting with physical science (actually all the topics covered have already been covered by us in KONOS) he will be used to the format before high school credits start. We'll see how it goes!
-All-American History--used as a spine and discussion starter. We fill in with lots of biographies, historical fiction, mapwork, Geosafari card packs, and movies.
-Geography-Around the World in 180 Days--we are studying Africa this semester. We will read several missionary biographies and the children will also read some independently. Aaron also loves to read the Ballyntine books that cover geography as well. Geosafari card packs are also used.
-Spanish--Powerglide--I have had this curriculum for several years. I am not sure how thorough it is and promised him that if he was diligent with it we would get his coveted Rosetta Stone.
--Music-A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers and piano lessons
-Art- Feed My Sheep by Barry Stebbing
-
-Teaching Textbooks 7--he is doing 2-3 lessons per day He should finish by Thanksgiving at this rate. Jeff is looking at Video Text Algebra for Aaron to use after this course. Jeff is exposed to TONS of curricula and is meeting many homeschool curriculum writers and speakers since starting up The Homeschool Channel. He likes the Video Text sample that the creator sent to him although it is extremely pricey. We'll see! If any of you have used it, I would love a review!
-Typing-Typing Instructor
-Quarter Mile Math
-Learning Language Arts through Literature-green
-Daily Grams- 8
-Apologia Physical Science--This will be a first. We are extremely textbook phobic around here and prefer to read living books and study nature. We watch lots of science videos and listen to creation based cds. Aaron is interesting in becoming a medical missionary, so I need to buckle down on the science. My older three children gave up on Apologia Biology after the fifth module, so I am hoping that by starting with physical science (actually all the topics covered have already been covered by us in KONOS) he will be used to the format before high school credits start. We'll see how it goes!
-All-American History--used as a spine and discussion starter. We fill in with lots of biographies, historical fiction, mapwork, Geosafari card packs, and movies.
-Geography-Around the World in 180 Days--we are studying Africa this semester. We will read several missionary biographies and the children will also read some independently. Aaron also loves to read the Ballyntine books that cover geography as well. Geosafari card packs are also used.
-Spanish--Powerglide--I have had this curriculum for several years. I am not sure how thorough it is and promised him that if he was diligent with it we would get his coveted Rosetta Stone.
--Music-A Young Scholar's Guide to Composers and piano lessons
-Art- Feed My Sheep by Barry Stebbing
-
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