The move has been completed.  You can now find me in my new home.

If you can bear the mess while I settle in and get things arranged the way I'd like, please stop by!

Mrs L

My apologies for the silence lately!

It’s been very busy around here, and on top of that, I’ve decided to move!  So, you’ll see some things disappear from this blog, as they are packed up and moved to my new blog.  I figure I’ll work a little here and a little there and be completely settled in within a few weeks.

Hope to see you in the new neighborhood!

Mrs. L

About two years ago I was having a discussion with a friend about our young daughters.  We are trying to raise them to be lovely in this world of smut, which, two years ago, reared its head with ultra low rise jeans and high rise thong straps.  (Before we go further, let me just say that the kind of lingerie we prefer is our own business.  I’m just saying that it’s called underwear for a reason.)  Anyway, I told her that within a year or two that the stores would be marketing thongs for children.

I stand corrected.

Run over to Everyday Mommy for just a few minutes and peek at the links in this post.

What’s next?  (Forget it, I don’t want to know.)

Mrs. L

The Women of the Bible study started today!

Each week (for an entire year) a different woman is studied, and there is a quilt block representative of that woman.  The block below represents Eve.  Trees, garden path, tree of knowledge in the center.  A lot of people like to use red for the center tree to show the 'fruit'.  But that looks a bit too 'apple-ish' to me and I've never found where it says she ate a red peice of fruit.  Anyway, I did my center in gold-ish, more representing God, and the fact that she wanted to be like God.  This is just one of 52 blocks that will later be put together for one fantastic quilt.

I don't think it's bad for my first go.  You can see where the edges aren't exactly square - I always have that problem, even with accurate cutting and a 1/4 inch foot.  If you have any tips, please share!  While I'm usually a bright/bold type of gal, I'll be using Daiwabo Taupes for this quilt.  I've stashed fat eigths for a while and it's time to put them to use.

Off to go rally the girls.  Orchestra starts today too - fun fun fun!

Mrs. L

I have to chuckle . . .

As I have a morning saunter through blogs here and there, it is evident that all of Homeschoolblogger has started a new year.  There are new materials, new energy, new panic, new books, new character traits to build up, and a few to buff down.  Your enthusiasm comes at such a great time.

We run our year a little differently.  While in the rest of the country/world most people are happy to have their summers to be outside, trading their formal studies for gardens and what-not, we have no interest in being outside in the summer.  The Arizona desert at 117 degrees is just not that enticing!

But fall/winter?  That’s when we want to have less formal study and clear schedules for more ‘time to breathe’.  Our family starts our ‘year’ in January, and ends whenever we’re done, usually October or so.  We can enjoy the back yard without melting, and the Christmas season is blissfully clear.

That’s why you’re enthusiasm arrives in such a timely fashion for us.  Not only am I running low on energy as we near the end of our studies, but I’ve never felt like I got a grip on this year to begin with!

We changed gears a few months into our year after I discovered Tapestry of Grace.  This program does everything I’ve ever wanted to do – but didn’t have the education to pull together myself.  Anyway, we started it and were a bit overwhelmed at everything that was involved – there is an amazing amount of work to do!  Then just when I’d have all the plates spinning, one would drop, and as I ran to save it, down came the rest.  (Ever have one of those days, weeks, months, or years?)  How in the world were we going to get through this?  It got to the point of our skimming down to math and grammar and that was it for the day.  I didn’t want to face another attempt at getting a handle on the ‘to do’ list.

(By the way, don’t let this scare you if you are interested in Tapestry – I still LOVE it and highly recommend it as an very worthy option to research.)

But then I had an epiphany.

(OK, it was really one of those, “Duh!” moments, but doesn’t ‘epiphany’ sound so much lovelier?)

We don’t have to do it all.

We didn’t buy it to make us crazy; we bought it to give us a frame, a guide to follow.  A well thought out program that offers a wide variety of options to use while discovering all the interesting things there are to learn.

But I was using it to make me crazy.  Bad!  Bad!  Bad!

So I sat down and considered what was important and what we could really leave behind.  The goal was to get us through the end of the year, finishing strong, using our time wisely, while leaving my sanity intact.

So, while the rest of my Homeschoolblogger family here are all posting these beautifully full schedules of various subjects with new vigor, my offering reflects the ‘big push’ to the end of the ‘year’.

Math                                                    Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday

Violin/Viola Practice                             Daily

Grammar                                              Monday/Thursday

Reading/Discussing                               Daily – from the Tapestry of Grace plans

Commonplace Book Entry                    Daily

We keep Wednesday pretty light.  Violin/Viola lessons are that day, so we combine that with errands, etc.

That’s it!  No major projects, no ongoing writing, no nothing.  A bit dull, perhaps, but the girls are enjoying all the time this allows to read and practice.  I find the books we need for the next few weeks on the library website, place them on hold, and get them at the drive-through pick-up window.  The rest of the day runs itself.  The house is relatively clean, and I’ve even begun to plan and cook dinner again.  (I know – crazy!)

The girls are learning, and we have a little time to breathe.  Time for them to play and still help with the house and in the kitchen.  Time to sew, crochet, embroider, watch football, paint, whatever the season may bring.  (Hopefully peaches to can with in the next few hours, actually!)  Oh, and time for another run at a garden once we get the killer ants under control.

Now that we’ve got a grip, I can enjoy planning for next year.  The girls are looking forward to Year 3 of the Tapestry of Grace program, and all the wonderful books and ideas that will come with it.  I’m looking forward to a new found freedom in knowing that I control how deep we go under, and for how long.

And if we need to come up for air every once in a while, that’s perfectly ok.

Happy to be Breathing,

Mrs. L

If you missed it the first time around, you’ve got a second chance.

The, “Stupid in America” Documentary by 20/20's John Stossel will be re-run on September 1, 2006.  Check your paper, TV Guide, or tvguide.com/listings for your time and channel.

When it's over and you want to bring your children home but think, “I can’t do THAT.” that’s a lie.  Email me, I’d be happy to direct you to enough resources to get you started.  Have your children already started in ‘school’ (public, private, co-op, whatever) and it’s too late to pull them?  That’s a lie too.  All your friends’ children are there and they’d look at you weird if you pulled your children?  Too bad.  Are you packing a not-that-great public school education yourself?  Can’t teach algebra, physics, or thermal dynamics?  So what.  Bring your children home.  Stop listening to the NEA.  Stop listening to the world.  Start listening to your heart.

And if you’re still terrified or don’t know where to start, let me know.  I don’t have all the answers, but I’ve got great resources, it’s not as hard as you think, and I know you’re children need to be raised by you.

Mrs. L

Who’s just pushy and passionate, and really not trying to run your life.

Reason #57

Recently I had to fill out some forms that asked the name of the school which my children attend.  Here in Arizona you don't have to have a 'school' name, but it does come in handy on occasion.  For a long time we were the L(ast Name) Academy for the Mentally Ungovernable.  (LAMU)  It fit.  But then I realized being mentally governed is alright – as long as you are fully aware and in agreement with what it is that’s mentally governing you.  I then shifted to the L(ast Name) Academy for the Autodidactic.  Much better.

Of course, later I was asked about it and again had to diplomatically respond. 

For those of you who know me personally, STOP LAUGHING, I can too be diplomatic!

Upon return home I started thinking that I really need a pamphlet to hand people that will educate them, while leaving me free to get on with my day and not be stuck explaining our decisions or dodging the barrge of questions and comments that are guaranteed to ensue.

Then I read this.

I think the NEA offers excellent content supporting the cause of home education.

And they aren't smart enough to know it.

And they're educating the public at large!

Ironic, isn't it?

Thankful to be home,

Mrs. L

After my Mad Libs, I was asked, "What is a Koala Cabinet?"

A Koala Cabinet is a sewing table.  It begins looking like a normal table/cabinet.  If you had a lamp, a vase of flowers and a stack of books on it, no one would ever suspect its secret identity.  When you want to sew, you open it up, pull out all the extentions, and get to work.  When you're done (in theory) you close it back up again and your room is back to normal.

This is a picture of the model I have - and yes, when you order one, it comes with a stuffed Koala Bear!

Mine, however, does not look this nice and neat at the moment.  I've been working on covering a settee cushion and throw pillows today, so it's a bit of a disaster.

These are lovely tables.  Very well built, very easy to maneuver, beautiful to work at.  I'm lucky enough to have parents who own a quilt shop, so I was able to get mine at cost.  I never could have purchased it otherwise.

Mrs. L

Old Mother Hubbard went to the Daiwabo Taupe
To get her superfluous Kitchenaide a bone.
When she got there, the Glock was Brazilwood
And so her Maple dog had none.

Jack and Jill went up the Blog
to fetch a/an Viola Case of water.
Jack fell down and broke his Koala Cabinet,
And Jill came tumbling after.

There was a little girl and she had a little curl
Right in the middle of her Ammunition.
And when she was Willowy, she was very, very Stoic,
And when she was bad, she was Idealistic.

There was a Musical woman
who Practiced in a shoe.
She had so many Canines
She didn't know what to do.

I was reading a blog that nicely addressed the tendency for us to sometimes compare ourselves with fellow bloggers.

So, I started thinking . . .

“Wouldn’t it be nice to have such wisdom and insight?”

She’s earned that on her knees and over her bible, through the blood, sweat, tears, heartache, and experience of life.

“Look at her weight loss meter – must be nice.”

But it wasn’t easy.

“Her husband must be perfect.”

Yeah right!

“I wish I had 6 children.”

But she miscarried 4 before she had 6.

“I wish I only had 1 child.”

She worked for 10 years with a fertility specialist to conceive that baby.

“Her house looks perfect.”

The children were camping with Grandma and Grandpa for the weekend, she had 48 hours to clean and enjoy before they returned full of muddy shoes, stinky socks, smoke laden laundry, and back packs that need napalm.

Do any of those sound familiar?

So, confession time.

I’ve blogged about going to Quilt Market.

I get to go by a generous mother, rolling of pennies, and the grace of God.

I’ve blogged about working on the guest room.

We’ve lived here for 5 years; this is the first we’ve gotten to it!

I’ve blogged about our library that looks like a magazine photo.

You conveniently can’t see the office that sits to the left of the sewing cabinet.  It is NEVER clean AND orderly at the same time.  Notice, you also did NOT get a picture of when that sewing cabinet is open and there are a zillion bits and pieces of thread and scrap spread over half the library!  You also can’t see the tumblehair (when you live in Arizona, you get tumbleweed rolling across the freeway.  When you life in Arizona with a Golden Retriever, you get tumblehair rolling across the hall) that blows in circular billows down the hall when the air conditioning kicks on.  Oh, and I won’t mention the carpet shampooer sitting around the corner that hasn’t been emptied even though I used it a week ago.   (YUCK!)

I’ve blogged about a fantastic trip with dear family.

It was hotter than – well – hot, three VERY long days, and Mr. L hadn’t seen his cousin since before they both lived in Communist Poland.  Oh, and Mr. L's parents picked up the bill.

I’ve blogged results of the ‘How Ladylike Are You?’ quiz.

While I’m ‘92% ladylike’, what they aren’t telling you is that last 8% packs a .40 caliber shot of non-diplomatic, idealistic, opinionated, sarcasm from one who hates to scrub the toilet and would do anything other than clean the fish tank.

So, what’s my point?

If it looks enviable, it’s because of what the camera angle is NOT revealing.  It’s because you’re only getting PART of the story, and it’s not the down and dirty part.  It’s because Satan is getting a foot hold.

Be encouraged, be happy for each other, and tell Satan to take a hike.

Off to empty the carpet shampooer,

Mrs. L

(OK, OK, I’m going to finish a sewing project – THEN I’ll clean the shampooer . . . maybe!)