ARRRGH.  One of these days I'm going to learn to write my entries in a Word document first, then transfer them over here to the blog.  Obviously, today was NOT that day.  You'll have to take my word for it when I say that I had just waxed elephants about the beauty and symbolism of spring, the new life, the new start, and all that jazz.  It's gone, gone like a blog entry that was't saved and you push the refresh button. Oh, it WAS a blog entry that wasn't saved and I pushed the refresh button.

Anywho, I'll leave it to my gentle readers to insert the appropriate prose about spring as you see fit. 

My original thoughts, as I remember, in bullet form:

- grew up in south Florida, on an island, great- but no spring

-Spring is still thrilling

-pollen is NOT thrilling, unless you count runny eyes, runny noses, and yellow drifts on the cars as thrilling

-microscopic pictures of pollen are scary

-our first sign of spring are these tiny "fairy flowers" that pop up in our yard. They are truly tiny, the whole stalk of the bluebell looking ones are about the size of my 3 year old daughter's pinky finger.  The white violets are the size of her finger tip, and the even tinier white star flowers are about the size of my one year old daughter's fingertip.

- after these flowers comes the pink crab apple tree in our front yard.  It's beautiful, but afflicted with tent caterpillars which effectively kick us out of the yard for a month or so after they hatch.  I don't suppose we HAVE to leave, but unless you like creepy crawlies dropping on your head, it's a good idea to vacate.

- the only thing better than discovering fairy flowers is finding baby animals at the local farm park.

- I think this is about how far I was when I lost the first post... so from here on out the bullets are all me. You can still insert  appropriately springy prose as desired so as to enhance your blog-reading experience.

-Joyana and the ducks... you really had to be there.  She loved them, she squawked at them and they squawked back.  The bigger kids got their kicks by chasing the ducks and geese.  I half heartedly issued the order to stop teasing the fowl, but then realized that if the ducks didn't like it, they could always turn around and nip, and the kids were the closest they've ever come to actually CATCHING a bird, so I rescinded the order and let the chase continue.

This picture of Joey and the duck amuses me; look at their posture, they are the same!  These ducks are some kind of odd breed and they stand up to walk, as opposed to "normal" ducks who sit more squattily and waddle.

As great as ducks are, we really came to see the baby lambs and kids. Look at this little guy (or girl, I dunno), I just want to hug it! (ok in the interest of full disclosure, I want to spin it's wool and knit with it, but I'd still hug it first!)

The highlight of our visit (for me at least) was seeing these kids who were literally just minutes old. Some of the pictures I have are a bit, uh, graphic, but to be there while this mommy was delivering was just thrilling!

Here is the first meal

Ack.  My baby has a big man haircut.   I love the little bowl cut I usally do, but he has this massive cowlick smack-dab in the center of his forehead, so, I have to leave the bangs very long so they are heavy enough to stay down. This means that he needs frequent trims because it is a fine line between long enough to stay down, and too long hanging in his eyes.  Joey does not appreciate haircuts and all the itchies that go with them.  Last week I was cutting his hair and he started the twitching, itching, squirming routine and I asked if he just wanted it all cut off.  He said yes. Daddy jumped on this and confirmed with him that he wanted a haircut "like Daddy" and he was quite excited.  So... buzz buzz buzz, off it came.

Wow. What a difference... He looks SO grown up.  I do love that I can see his big brown eyes now, but I miss my little boy.

I have attempted to resize these pictures several times, even to the point of erasing and redoing them in the blog entry. I'm hoping that it's just a glitch that I still see them as huge but the rest of the world can see them at a managable size. 

I frequently either see directions calling for switiching back and forth between circulars and DPNs, or hear people asking about how many different sizes (cable length, not needle size) of circulars they need for any given project.  I'm here to say you don't need to use DPNs and you only need one length of circulars.  There are other sites with cool tools like videos, but this is my own feeble attempt to demonstrate how EASY it is to tuck the cable and knit even just a very few stitches on regular circs.   I assume that if you are planning to knit a very long item that is only a few stitches (and isn't an I-cord) there may be a better way.  but I'm not sure what that would be.  This technique is to keep you from switching from DPNs to circs and from one length of circ to another.

When it comes to tucking the cable and knitting very few sts, the rule is, the longer the better. 20" or 24" is better than 16", and 12" will be almost impossible.  You want to have a lot of slack to pull and tuck and twist. 

I'm assuming that you already understand the basics of knitting in the round.

I knit continental, so if you knit the other way, my hands are going to be in the wrong place. That's ok.  You really need to try continental knitting anyway.

Cast on.  These next few pictures show the beginnings of a hat that starts with 8sts and adds every other round.  

you can see all 8 sts on the needles; 3 have just been knit over, one is in the process, and 4 are in "limbo."   I will now have 4 on the right needle and 4 on the cable.  the next step is to slide 4 on the cable up onto the left needle (my working needle), they will be parallel with the ones on the right needle. Then I will slide the right needle straight up, leaving those sts on the cable, but still held right next to the sts about to be worked.   So, 4 sts on the left needle, a loop of cable, then the 4 right sts, more loose cable, and then the empty right needle.  Once you knit a stitch or two from the left needle to the right one, you will have a tripod, like this:

With this pattern, I will add on enough sts to eventually just be knitting in the round  as usual.  

Next I'll show you a project that uses the tripod for the whole thing.   As far as I know, the only other way to do this would be to use DPNs. I personally do not like them.  I have many small children, I frequently have to toss my knitting aside to tend to them, or even worse, remove my knitting from their tender little hands.  Anything on DPNs would not fare well with this sort of treatment.   Here, I am putting a decorative cuff on gloves.  These are tiny children's size gloves and the wrist is only a few inches.   I pick up stitches the whole way around, then knit 4 or 5 rows just continuing to move the extra loop of cable as I go.

I've drawn a line so you can see where the cable is (since you can't see it through that fuzzy yarn!)

by keeping a loop of cable on each side and keeping the stitches in this tripod formation, I have plenty enough slack to work, and the stitches are not unduly stretched.

The first pictures showed beginning a project , this set shows how to end a project without switching.  This hat pattern begins with approx 70 sts (depending on size and yarn weight) and ends with about 7 sts.  I do it all on the same needle.

this veiw still has about 20 sts on it, but it shows the tripod.  The last picture will show the finished hat top.

The application I usually see people wondering about is legs on longies.  Depending on your pattern, this may be around 40 sts or so.  With this many sts, it is TOO EASY to use these techniques.  (yes I admit that doing only 5 or 8 sts is tricky if you are unfamiliar with it)  Don't go get a bunch of different lengths of circular needles just to make your longies legs... save the $$ and get more WOOL!

So I'm waiting for my favorite soap store to stock at 10 am and I have 7 minutes left... let's see if i can do a power blog.  Oh, since I'll be at the store by the time this posts, you can't beat me to the soaps I'm going for so I'll let you in on it.  Faith Acre Farmgoods Soap it's amazing.

Oh dear, down to five minutes, or I could just blog about soap...how come if you put enough dirty stuff together, it makes you clean?  I mean really, what is appealing about scrubbing up with a hunk of lard and splashing olive oil on as a finisher?  But what Tara does to these soaps is nothing short of ... oh dear, I already used "amazing" in the last paragraph.   Here's my confession... I was raised by an ardent bar-soap hater.  My mom used liquid soap before liquid soap was cool.  My first exposure to weird religeous propaganda was on the label of the Dr. Bronner's Castile that was ever-present in our tub.  I can't say that I've NEVER used bar soap, but very rarely and never on purpose.  Until now.  I got this to use as a gift, it was fancy froo froo soap ya know?  Well, it never made it to the intended recipient.  I used it, I loved it, I kept it.  All five bars. 

This time I'm being smart. The store stocks in one minute.  I'm ordering... and having it shipped DIRECTLY to my loved ones.  Because I know full well, if it ever crosses my threshold, it will not leave.

and here we go, in no particular order....

- the big little kids started T-ball.  Jessi had a blast, Joey said it was " ok, but kind of boring, and they didn't give me any prizes."

-I'm working on stuff for the shop, I just finished this set of 4 custom shirts  (for four sisters)and I'm working on two knit soakers.

-Our Dollar General is going out of business so I went in on Saturday and got several really good deals on kid's clothes for the summer.  I need to go back and see if I can find more jeans for Joey.  He is SO tall that the jeans we got for fall and winter just a few months ago are way too small.  Not just too short in the legs, but the rise is too short as well, so one is always blessed with a view of the waistband of his superman underpants... .

- I got my diploma in the mail today.  It's so big and pretty.  I wish it had gold stickers on it or something.  I think I might go to the teacher store and pick out something shiney and ostentatious.  Just because I'm a grown up now I don't get a sticker for getting good grades?  Bah!

-Jeff and I both enjoy making things so we teamed up for this project. I still think he got the easy part of it... He designed and built the chair, I designed, fitted, and sewed the cover.

-Here is a picture i took of Joy on Sunday, she was wearing a dress my mother knit for me when I was a baby...so the dress is pretty old

I hesitate to label myself as "AP" (attachment parenting) because I have had very bad experiences chatting with people who do use that label.  I'm also pretty sure I don't really fall under "Natural Parenting or Natural Family Living" because I'm not quite crunchy enough (sorry... not going to use cloth toilet wipes...just not going there!).   However, I do practice a number of things that puts me somewhere in the vacinity of these camps: natural childbirth/midwifery care, breastfeeding until child-led weaning, feeding on cue, cloth diapering, baby-wearing, delayed vaccinations, co-sleeping, EC (elimination communication), and homeschooling.   I won't schedule or use CIO(cry it out) (or read the reccomendations of those popular authors who advocate such things), but I'm also not a member of the GBD (grace based dicsipline/ gentle dicsipline) camp.  Once again, I have thwarted the system and defied pigeon-holing.

-Natural childbirth.  My first two children were hospital births with varying degrees of medical intervention, some necessary, some probably not.  For my third child I went with midwifery care and a birthing center which resulted in a wonderful labor and delivery and absolutely fabulous recovery.  Honestly, L&D hurts, no matter which way you do it... but if I have to choose based on soley on recovery, I'd go natural (and plan to) every time.

-Breastfeeding until child-led weaning/ feeding on cue/co-sleeping.  In my personal experience these go together.  I nursed all my children with varying degrees of success but even the ones who were supplimented with formula (due to medical problems on my part) nursed until they stopped by themselves. 

 I think schedules are for trains, not for babies, and realize that especially for nurslings, it is important both for baby's health and development and for mother's supply, to nurse on request and not on schedule.  When you remember that a babe's primary "job" for the first year of life is to grow at a pace that is not duplicated during any other period of life, you can see that unhindered access to nutrition is vital.   For me, this is made much easier by baby-wearing and co-sleeping. 

If done properly, co-sleeping is extremely safe and poses no more risk than sleeping anywhere else. It's convenient and I personally really enjoy it.  We have a small box bed (actually a wooden frame that we built and upholstered, think waterbed frame with the padded rails) that fits a crib mattress and that goes beside our bed.  As months go by, baby is gradually transitioned into this little bed and the way things have worked so far, they stay in that bed until the next baby needs it.

-Baby wearing.  I love, love, love to wear my babies!  I have had only positive results both for me and for baby.  I use slings, mei teis, and wraps Wear your baby, each for different times and purposes.  I feel so sorry for all those babies who spend half their time in a carseat/carrier instead of snuggled up close to momma, and so sorry for those mommas who have to lug that huge heavy thing around, banging their knees, not having a free hand to do other tasks with.  My husband also wears the babies and finds it an easy and natural way to share in baby care. 

-Delayed vaccination.  This is a subject filled with emense emotion and controversy. I simply urge all parents to do their homework  and realize that neither the pro-vax nor the anti-vax groups are going to be completely objective.  The decision I've been most comfortable with is to delay some vaccinations due to spacing them out.  I just can't see bombarding a tiny body with 4 or more vaxs at a time.

-Cloth diapering .  I looked into cloth diapers when my first child was born but i was working full time outside the home and just didn't have time (or didn't think I did).  I looked into it again for my second child but never got around to it.  Finally, I did start using cloth when baby Joy was about 8 months old.  I am now absolutely hooked.  If you have always dismissed cloth diapering as too old fashioned, time consuming and messy, I challenge you to give it a serious look, start   here. These are not your grandma's diapers!  Today you have cloth options that range from traditional flats or prefolds (the flat white diaper, pins, and rubber pants) all the way up to beautiful (and pricey) diapers called all-in-ones that combine the absorbant diaper and a waterproof cover all in one easy to apply diaper that either snaps or velcroes.   I personally use something a little more middle of the road.  I use what is called a "fitted" diaper and a cover.  A fitted is just that, it is diaper shaped, very absorbant, has elastic legs and waist to give a great fit but is not waterproof so it does need a cover.  For covers, I use wool about 90% of the time.  I also have a few plastic covers.  Wool is amazing... i'm not talking yucky itchy wool... but wonderful buttery soft wool that when it has it's natural lanolin put back in is remarkabley waterproof but still very breathable.  Wool also has natural antibacterial properties so they are kind of self cleaning...ok not really, but they are much easier to care for than you would think.   Some links to get your toes wet are found in my "Links" in the sidebar.  Check out Adventure Knits for wool, and Z to A, Winsome What-nots, and Cloth Canoe for diapers. 

You can pay from just a few dollars for a cloth diaper up to a LOT...no kidding, I have seen cloth diapers from the "right" maker go at auction for triple digits.   I really enjoy making my own and have a blast at the fabric store going through all the ADORABLE flannel prints that are available.  I use 100% cotton for the diaper and use microterry for the inner absorbant parts.  You can get (or make) one size diapers that will fit from a very small baby up through toddler, or go with different sizes.  Also cloth diapers can be used over and over and over for subsequent siblings.  They are really economical in the long run and that's not even addressing the environmental impact of 1000's of disposable diapers in the landfills.

Here is Joy sporting a pair of wool pants that function as both the diaper cover and a garment.    In this picture, Joy is wearing all homemade clothes. 

-EC.  Elimination Communication aka infant potty training.  I have to admit that when I first heard the term "elimination communication"  i had no idea and my thoughts were of  some sort of extreme AP people letting the baby piddle on the floor to express their emotions or something.   It's not that.  I won't go into it entirely here, if you are interested you can google it.  The way it works out for me is that since I wear my babies anyway, I can really be in tune with them and take them potty when they give me those cues.  Some people practice this from an extremely young age(like just a few weeks) I personally have waited a few months (although... I am going earlier and eariler with each child.  Maybe by baby #6 I'll be doing it from birth too).

  Some people say it sounds like too much work... but personally, I'm too lazy to change diapers for three years and especially now that I'm using cloth... I would SO much rather let her doodle on the potty than wash it out of a diaper.     This really helps with the time factor of cloth diapering since I don't have to do a separate major wash each day.  I usually only miss a poo potty 2-3 times a week (max) so I only have an emergency wash and sanitize load a few times.  

-Homeschool.  I knew I would homeschool evenl before I had children.  I personally hadprivate school Christian education from K through Graduate work with the exception of a few semesters of community college.  I love the idea of Christian Schools, but as a former student and former teacher, I'm forced to say that they are my fallback plan, not my first choice.  I am excited to see where our journey of home education is going to take us as a family.

So as I said last time... I lost my username and password.   Well, not "lost" so much as forgot. 

I like to think I had a good reason for forgetting.... my brain was just tooooo full of all my schoolwork. 

Let me hit the highlights:

- I finished, I finished, oh Praise God, I finished.   I completed my coursework for my M.Ed in December.  I thought that I would suddenly and magically have all this free time.  Ha.  I finished about 10 days before Christmas, so that time was full of preparations for the holidays.

- Christmas was nice, we saw both sets of inlaws then went down to my mom's a day or so after Christmas.  She wanted to come back here and be here for "the birthdays"  so I thought the easiest way would be to bring her back with us, then set up a time later to meet my sister halfway and give her back. One of the highlights was that Dean and I won a hat contest.  Youth group at church had a "crazy hat" contest  at the youth christmas party... Here is our entry.

- We had grand plans for the birthdays (mine is Jan 3, Joyana is Jan 5, Joey is Jan 8).  Alas, the best laid plans.... January 2, Joyana got sick.  That nixed the lovely plans of having mom babysit while Jeff took me out for a birthday date at a grown-up restaurant.  January 4, Jessi came in and puked on the foot of our bed, thus joining the sick Joyana.  This nixed the birthday party planned for Joey and Joy.  January 7, Joey joined the throngs of sickies.  To make a long story short... the kids were sick for the first three weeks of January.  They took turns, they did it all together, they switched it up on me... ear infections, vomiting, fevers... the works.  The end result was Joey had a pan of brownies and a giant cookie in lieu of a party and poor Joy never got to smash a birthday cake. Here is one of Joy's one year pictures.

- I re-opened my online shop. Last summer and through the fall I was a member of an online store with a group of other women.  At the first of the year, it was closed but a number of us decided to maintain an individual presence.   I will list my shop and links to some of my favorites.

- Joey had his first dental visit (in November I think) the dentist was shocked at how good he was.  Unfortunately, Joey is an old pro at invasive doctor visits due to all of his ear problems and the dentist was no big deal at all.   Joey did tell me confidentially that he thought they (the dental staff) were silly.  "Mommy... they wanted to brush my teeth so they told me that I had sugar bugs in my mouth.  But mom, ACTUALLY I do NOT have bugs on my teeth."

- Joy walked, turned 1, and grew teeth. pretty much in that order.  Third time is the charm for most things... I'm so much more easy going with my mothering this time around, everything smooth sailing (except that one hairball-blanket fuzz blockage)  She walked a good bit later than the other two but that was fun... having a baby that stayed a baby (joey walked before 9 months old, Jessi right at 9 months) . Joy took a step or two right around Christmas but didn't give much bother to learning to walk as a form of locomotion until end of January/early February.   Teeth.  Oh my.  Joey teethed easy-peasy (good thing since he was my first) and had like 10 teeth when he turned one. Jessi was a bit more trouble, but still had 8 or more teeth on her birthday.   Joy.  Joy had teething issues.  much screaming and gnashing of gums.  huge lumps in her gums for weeks and weeks at a time with no teeth breaking through.  pity the first time parent who has a teether like this.   She got two bottom teeth in time for Christmas, and then burst 4 top teeth through almost simultaneously right around her birthday. She is teething again (sigh) but puts those 6 teeth she does have to VERY good use!

- Joey lost two bottom teeth already!   CRAZY!  I thought that kids lost teeth when they turned 6.  We had a meal with my inlaws and Jeff's step-brother's family was there, they showed me that Joey's cousin who is 5 months older than he is had lost a bottom tooth.   I expressed to her mother that it was too early.  Monica told me that kids lose bottom teeth in Kindergarten and top teeth in first grade.  I still didn't believe her but thank goodness I at least had that warning!   Imagine my shock when a few days after this, Joey told me his teeth hurt and that they wiggled!   EEEk,  I felt them and Oh my, they were loose.  I called the Dentist to make sure it was ok.  And no, I'm not sure what I wanted them to do about it if it weren't ok....   They laughed assured me that while it was a little early (He had BARELY turned 5!) it was fine.  One tooth came out a few days later and the second tooth a week or so after that.   So, Jeff and I have officially become tooth fairies!   We had a close call the first time though... I had put Joey's tooth in an envelope under his pillow and Jeff was supposed to go in early in the morning before work and get the tooth and leave a coin.   Jeff nearly got caught!  Joey woke up as he stepped in the room, looked groggy and immediately dived under his pillow.  Good think Jeff has some sleight-of-hand skills and he was able to produce a quarter.  He even managed to palm and pocket the crackers that Joey left out for the tooth fairy (all his own idea I must add).   I did however get a nervously whispered heads up that the tooth was missing!   Jeff couldn't find the tooth envelope.  I went in several times through the day while the kids were doing something else and looked for the envelope. I was so afraid that they'd find it, but I did get to it first, it had fallen down behind the head of his bed.  Tooth Fairy operation 2 went much more smoothly and Joey was delighted to find not just one but two quarters.

I'm sure there is more, but that's plenty for one post.

My biggest fear about homeschooling was teaching my kids to read. I was afraid that if I messed it up, they would forever be dumb and hate learning.  Reading has always been such an important part of my life that I was very nervous about goofing it up for my children.

Drum roll please...Joey is reading.  Ok not reading chapter books or anything but reading nontheless.  He's known all his letters and many sounds since he was 3 or so, last year we sort of did "Teaching your child to read in 100 easy lessons".  I say "sort of" because I just don't follow directions well.  Anyway, we got what we needed to from the book...well, at least through lesson 32, and then I just branched out.   We still use the book to learn what sound should come next, make word lists, etc.  

Anyway, this all took place the year that Joey was 4.  I knew he "Got it" as far as sounding the letters and recognizing that they made words... the problem was in his "want to".  So I bribed him.  I told him that soon he would be 5 and 5 was a big boy and if he was 5 and could read, he could get a library card.  That worked to motivate him and he really was putting forth an effort, but now the problem was making it interesting.  

Recently I had a lightbulb moment.  I found a packet of blank word cards (poster stock with the writing lines printed on them) at the $1.00 store.  I bought them and a sharpie marker (also $1) and brought them home.  I went through our 100 lessons book and copied all the words that i knew that he knew, and threw a few new ones in as well.  I then cut apart the strips and divided them into piles that roughly correspond with subject, verb, direct object, etc.  I told the kids to pick one card from each pile and then I made a sentence.  Of course I have to quietly adjust some of the combinations that come up, but for the most part, it works.  Joey thinks that he is just the funniest guy in town for making all these nonsense sentences. Jessi gets to help pick cards and she does a bang up job of sounding out the letters and i know that soon it's all going to click for her too.

Joey turned 5 in January of this year and he is doing really well with our cards and when I read aloud to him in books i have in try quite a few words.

Some of the funny sentences we have had are:

The mud is not a rock.

That ram is a sick cat.

This mom sees a fat Joey.

and so on.

I know I was only blogging in fits and starts to begin with, but there has been quite a lengthy ...gap shall we say.

You see, I forgot my login information.   Ok, that's a simple fix, ask for a password reset.  Easy-peasy right?

Welllll......I didn't just forget my password, I forgot my username.  I mean I kept using what I thought must surely be my username, but repeated attempts with various names and passwords just kept getting me the dreaded "you have failed to log in five times, you must wait 30 minutes to re-attempt" message.

I finally swallowed my pride and emailed tech support and begged for help.  A very nice lady named Jodi helped me.  And if she was laughing as she told me that my username is right there in my profile, she was kind enough not to tell me or say "duh" or anything else that I probably deserved. 

So my lesson from this is that the next time someone makes a very obvious,  Duh worthy mistake... I will simply help and keep my judgements to myself.

I love it when you get a chance to realize that the values you are trying to instill are actually sticking.

I've been working with the kids on the idea that we should think and play and act in ways that are "good, lovely, and nice."  It's kind of a long verse for them to learn, but I think it's high time they started living it!

This morning Joey was playing swordfight , or as he defended himself, "starwars"

with lincoln logs and accidentally hit Dean. During lunch it came up and he asked if he can't play swords, can he play "like this" and began boxing. I started in on how we shouldn't fight at all and Jessi (age 3) told him, "Lovely things Bubby, lovely things, remember?"

I love Christian Education.  I have been blessed to complete nearly my entire scope of education in a Christian environment. K-12 I attended private Christian schools, most of my undergrad college (with the exception of a few quarters at community college) was spent in Bible college, and now, I'm working on my Master's at Regent University, a wonderful Christian institution. 

One of the most influential books I've read in quite some time was assigned to me as required reading last semester- The Weight of Your Words, by Joseph Stowell. Really great book.  This semester one of my classes has the Love Languages books as required reading.  

My whole point to this is that one of my assignments this week included reading an article by William Cox and in that article I came across some thoughts that have my head spinning--spinning in a good way that is.

So, let my actual blogging article begin.

Truth, any truth, once known, changes the person who learns it. This applies in some ways to all truth, from theology to addition. Even the child who learns 2+2=4 will be different from learning that fact; the effects range from building a foundation for other math facts, to the rudimentary understanding of order and solidity in the universe.   Coming to know truth and accepting the fact that it will change you, means being vulnerable to the truth (see my previous blog about truth not always supporting your pet theories or previous understandings), by extension, this means being in some way vulnerable to the people (teachers, authors) who present this truth. The student must trust the teacher bringing the truth, otherwise, the message will not be accepted.

This is both positive and negative in consequence.  On the positive side, it can perhaps protect us from false teaching because we do not trust the teacher, but on the negative, we can miss opportunities to learn new truths because we are not in a trusting relationship with the teacher.

As a former classroom teacher I can vouch for this. There is an old adage that states, "The students will not care how much you know until they know how much you care."  In psychology there is a concept called a "hierarchy of needs"; basically, humans have needs that range from basic for life like food and shelter, and then progress up, through personal relationships, love and understanding, and finally the higher levels with learning and self-actualization. A person can not move up this ladder until the lower needs are met.  Now, don't get hung up on the "self-actualization" and throw the baby out with the bathwater.  I think that this hierarchy of needs concept transfers over to the classroom.  Until basic needs are met, students can not progress to the next level.  I taught overseas one year and faced head on the issue of students being at the very first level and truly needing food and shelter.  I can testify that there is no point in trying to teach a child who is falling asleep to get away from the hunger pangs. You simply have to feed them first.  In the same way, people all have a need for love and understanding, needs for interpersonal relationships.  They are not going to move on to the next level (learning) until those needs are met.  This trust/truth relationship fits in right here.  Until the student has a trusting relationship with the teacher or other truth-presenter, they are not going to be able to accept and thereby benefit from, the truth.

In the world of educational theory this means that teacher effectiveness is not based on technical skill, but on spiritual and emotional relationship.

As I ponder on what this means to me as a professional educator (and ponder on the paper I'm supposed to write!) I can't help but be greatful for the obvious connection that this has to me as a homeschooler.  Because of the built in trust relationship I already have with my children, we move directly to teaching truth.

What happens when we have a wonderful cause or belief, a soapbox, a bandwagon, and then we find out that the facts we love to use to support it are not correct?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about finding out that the very foundations for your belief systems are wrong, just something minor.  You know, the fact that you proudly (and with martyrdom) eat 2 cups of spinach daily because studies have shown that it makes you grow Popeye-esque muscles. But then, the rug is pulled out from under you; someone points out that all those documentary films you based your theory and practice on, were actually just children's cartoons.

What to do now?  Here's the thing. It's not now wrong to consume your spinach, you have just lost your "important" reason for doing so.  The information you so glibbly spouted and gleefully shared is ... incorrect.  You are known as the spinach guru in your circle, people even ask you about your spinach regimine.  If you let on that your basis is unfounded, you could lose all that.  No one is going to come to you for their spinach 4-1-1, and even worse, all those people who thought you were crazy... well, now you can't throw your defense back at them.

Is this truly an ethical delima?  I believe so.  Obviously the spinach example is merely that, an example.  But I am disturbed about the frequency that I see this scenario among various circles I am in.  To clarify, it's not the scenario that is disturbing, it's the response.

1. Someone presents new or better information that contridicts the teachings of the great spinach spouter.  Instead of everyone beign glad to become better informed, the masses seem to want to shoot the messenger.  They LIKE the old information, the one that supported the pet peeve, that elevated the soapbox.  Don't MESS with or CHALLENGE the incorrect information. WE LIKE SPINACH!

Here's the thing, no one wants you to give up spinach. Spinach is fine. I do want you do know WHY you are following the spinach bandwagon.  Simply presenting the correct information is not being "anti-spinach" I just want you to know that while it's high in iron and will give you lots of bulk fiber, it's not going to turn you into Popeye.

2.I think it's unethical (and perhaps immoral and even sinful) to continue to promote your old message once you know it is not correct.  In many cases it's probably not necessary to actually go back and tell everyone you were wrong (unless of course it was a purposeful lie, or , the misinformation is harmful), just stop speading the news.

Simply WANTING to be right, doesn't make it so.  Just because the truth of a matter goes against your favored position doesn't make it any less true.

oh yeah, don't shoot the messenger.

Well doesn't life surprise us sometimes? 

Last night as my hubby and I were discussing my school and the fact that one of my classes didn't work out, he asked me if I was game to "go for it."

Now, I have to tell you, I have been griping for weeks now about being "almost finished" and "oh I wish I could just be done"... but you see, I felt safe in saying these things, knowing that my husband has enough sense to put the brakes on.  YIKES, now that actually finishing it all this semester is his idea, I'm scared witless.

Very excited, but also very nervous.  I love my family. I love my current GPA. If it came to a toss-up, I'm not sure who would win.  That is obviously a joke. If worst comes to worst, I can always buy a gold sticker for my diploma at the teacher store, right?

So, just when I was about to get back into blogging, it looks like there might be a very long hiatus.   I'm making no guarantees to anyone about anything until mid-December.

OH all I want for Christmas is my M.- E-d, my M.-E-d....

Long overdue for some blogging! 

Today will be a catch up day, then I'll start getting some articles out.  SOMEONE (name Lisa!) doesn't think it's fair to do a bunch of articles the same day.  I wonder if there's a way to post-date these things?

Hmm. I last posted in July.  I finished out my summer course, yippee, I'm down to the end now, 9 credits left. Of course as I register for Fall, I see that my perfect plan has gone awry and I can't take the classes I wanted.  It will all work out, I liked my OLD plan better.  I'm ALMOST there!  I've done a bit of knitting and sewing in my break.

Joey is reading.

Reading words in real books.  Not reading the books as a whole yet, but well on his way. This is so cool.   My biggest concern for homeschooling was teaching them to read, I know I can handle everything else, but I was worried that I might really bungle them up in the reading department and destroy all future of literacy. Looks like I'm safe. He would much rather be playing computer games, but the reading is definitely coming along.

Jessi is a mess.  The child has enough imagination for 4 kids.  I actually have to park her in front of the TV for a few hours each day to stifle her.   No kidding, she scripts out these elaborate play scenes and does 3 or 4 parts herself, and also feeds lines to Joey.  It's amazing.  She very much wants to learn to play instruments, she turns anything she picks up into music.

Joy is just getting more and more cute by the moment... she's the best baby... I just wonder if she's ever going to grow teeth.

Dean finished summer school and is back on grade level, he has about a 3 week break between end of summer school and beginning of classes so he's mostly sleeping and on the phone. perhaps he's actually sleeping on the phone. who knows.

OH yeah, We just had our 6th wedding anniversary.  crazy.  It seems like a LOT longer than that. (in a good way!)

 Back in the day, you know, BC (before children) I liked to garden from scratch. I would start my plants from seed in little flats. I had a whole set up with growlights and watering systems.  It worked well, even though I lived in a pretty mild climate and could have had an ample growing season by just planting them outside, I took the time to give them a good start.  See, I knew that once outside my plants were going to face a number of challenges. 

 I lived in an apartment/townhouse type building and had a little strip of dirt to call my "yard".  It was hard baked clay.  I would literally use a hammer and a metal trowel to dig holes for planting. When I started my garden, most people laughed and told me that nothing was going to grow. It took time, lots of time. I dug the holes many times the size i would need them and then filled them with good soil and fertilizer.  I would go into the woods and bring back decaying leaf matter and the occasional earthworm and throw them on. 

I also knew that the neighbor's dog had a "thing" for being destructive and would pull up anything I planted, chew it, and leave it somewhere to dry and shrivel up.  My little plants had to have strong enough roots to handle getting dragged out by their necks and replanted several times.  Strong enough roots to go down, down past the starter holes I had made for them and break the ground on their own.

Nowadays I'm too busy with all these munchkins to spend that much time babying plants. I still love to garden (and they still need to be hardy, only now it's to survive "helping hands" instead of destructive dogs), but I spend most of my time on my other little sprouts.  I keep them protected too. I carefully keep away any bugs and cold drafts, I make sure that they aren't too wet and get moldy.  I give them just the right light.  When they get bigger, I'll start taking them out into the real weather to harden them off.

My purpose for those little plants wasn't to keep them under the grow lights forever, in fact, too much a good thing can make the seedlings get weak and leggy. They won't bloom well, or if they do, it will be on an unnatural schedule. I wanted those plants to go outside and be beautiful, I wanted them to bloom and bring about seed and fruit. I wanted the ones I planted the first few years to break the ground and make it easier for those coming behind.

My purpose for keeping my children safe and protected isn't to keep them in the greenhouse forever.  I want them to be as strong as possible, straight, unblighted, good roots, ready to dig in and go deep. I want them to break ground, to bear fruit, to be beautiful and useful.

I don't know what my children's roles in live will be. My greatest honor would be for God to call them to fulfill the great mission- the great commission- and for them to "Go ye into all the world".  Or perhaps they will be called to be godly business people, or teachers, or professionals.  I hope that God sees fit to let them have their own families and they are godly parents.  I can't see the future, and so far, God isn't giving me any sneak previews.  Therefore, it behooves me to keep them safe and strong and pure, well-prepared in all areas,so that when the time comes, I can give God a young adult who is not scarred or used up, but ready, willing, and able to serve.

I'm growing my children strong so they will be ready for service, not to keep them forever in seclusion.

I remember when I was a teen, I would occasionally be asked to go places or do things with my friends that I knew I was better off not doing...but who wants to look uncool?  MUCH better if I could blame it on my mom, right? So I'd call and ask, and she, being the great Mom that she was could usually tell if I really wanted to go or if I was looking for a way out, and with no questions asked, she would tell me "no."   I've already had the experience of having our 16 year old foster son do the same thing, and it was great.

Now, as an adult do i still need to hide behind my Mommy? No, of course not.  But what about my husband?  Remember those things that we do just to fit in?  What about the times when we don't/can't do them?  Do we "blame" our husbands?

Of course our husbands are our protectors, I'm not talking about that. I'm not even talking about telling the telemarketers that "my husband makes financial decisions."

I'm talking about when we are in a hen-fest and someone brings up...school choices, or medical choices, or food choices, or church choices...and much to our horror... we realize that we are active participants in whatever choice is getting bashed today.

What to do? Sadly shake our head and blame it on our husband of course. "I know, using 10W30 in the lawnmower is just awful, but that is what my husband chooses to do... I'm praying for him to see the light, but until then, I have to be submissive."

Whew, got out of THAT one pretty darned slick, didn't I?  Except....maybe it is true, maybe I do wish hubby had made a different decision, but aren't we ONE?  Aren't I his partner? Is it honoring to him or to his reputation to make him be the scapegoat about something that is not sinful, and no one's business anyway? 

Which would I rather have?  the "sympathy" of a bunch of women because I'm such a martyr to my unreasonable husband and his lawnmower oil?  Or the knowledge that my man makes the best decisions that he can for our family and I'm proud enough of him to stand up and say so?

more tomorrow.... the purpose of the greenhouse!

 Usually my entries are more on the "Fluff" side, I think today (and possibly several days following) will be more on the "stuff" side.

I've been thinking (those are words to fear to those of you who know me...).

Why do we do what we do?  It's all fine and dandy to step back and look at the world and laugh at their "trends" and thank God that we are not like them.  But are we?  Are all of our decisions based on real thought and research and prayer?  Or are we just as guilty as jumping on the latest train that goes puffing by?

Some areas of following trends might be: homeschooling, dressing conservatively, eating healthy/following alternative medical treatments, following various "isolationist" tendencies such as homechurching or not going to sunday school or VBS.

But, you say, all of these things are GOOD. Well... yes and no.  is it possible to do a good thing for the wrong reason? I think so.

One thing that springs to mind is breastfeeding my children.  Of course that's good! I believe in it, I do it.  But I find myself wanting to "Fit in" with everyone else to the extent that I get embarassed to say that I supplimented with formula (past babies) or that I've already started some solids (current baby). Why on earth does it matter to anyone else?  My desire to fit in with the "all natural, breastfeeding, earth mother" group absolutely overtook my sense of independence and confidence that I am an able mother and certainly capable of deciding when to feed my baby solid food!

How rediculous.

What else am I doing as part of following the crowd?  I was recently part of a discussion that left me absolutely bewildered and frustrated because I felt that everyone was simply jumping on a bandwagon and had no idea what they were even worked up about.  The startling reality is that I might be doing that too.

I plan to do a lot more thinking and take inventory and see what I come up with. I'm afraid it might not be pretty. 

My kids love maps, especially Joey.  One of their all time favorite "toys" is a map brochure of our zoo that I stuck pictures on (of them at the zoo, and of the animals) and then laminated.

I have been wanting to get a large map either of the world or the USA and put it up for them but haven't found one (maybe because I keep thinking of it and not doing it?) yet.

The other week I was in WalMart buying fabric and saw a map panel and got it.

It's kind of cartoonish and not totally in scale, but great for the kids. 

It is now up in our living room, hung on a piece of conduit and bent L brackets. Quite the designer's touch, you know.

oh I know... you wanted to see the conduit pipe and L brackets. tough. the picture that I have already loaded happens to be pre-pipe so it's temporarily on the broom.

Anyway, maps are super fun

The kids spend a large part of their time pretending to be other people. Sometimes I get confused about who we are on this particular day, or even this moment of this day.  It can change frequently.

This was a Princess and Knight day.  Here's the Princess.

*at this point, the only knight gear we have a wooden spoon/sword. When we get some dress-up stuff for him, I'm sure I'll post pictures.

Well, our new routine is that after dinner Jeff and the kids "do school" with materials that I've prepared earlier.  Lately they've been fascinated by mixing colors. I keep meaning to get some good quality tempra or finger paints and let them go outside and experiement but it's either TOO hot, or very rainy. 

So we decided to figure out some other way; that other way turned out to be playdough. 

I love having Jeff so involved in their learning, he tends to take things much deeper than I would, but surprisingly, they seem to keep up with whatever information he gives them.  There's nothing like hearing your 3 and 4 year olds in the other room earnestly discussing tertiary colors with their father.