Oct. 15, 2009 - Project: Christmas - Ahhh I'm behind

2 hours a week for 12 weeks -

Preparing for a relational, homemade Christmas -

Oct. 5, 2009 - My Internet Reading lately

We need to watch the subtle messages that media gives us and our children.  This article points out a trend in romantic comedies - the author hits the nail on the head, she is so true.  Though my daughter (or son for that matter) don't watch many of these movies, not sure if they have even seen one yet, I was glad to have this trend brought to my attention as I certainly have seen plenty like this.  Read The Drunk - the new female tenderness

My daughter Jessica has been enjoying Jasmine's blog.  I read one of her latests posts and can see why Jess gets a lot from this young lady.  I'd recommend it for your teens to put on their blog reading list too.  Read A People Pleaser

Tea Tree used to be grown in this area and it has always interested me but I've never known how to use it other than a few drops in water when you want to bathe a cut.  Here is a list of uses for Tea Tree oil.  

Here is another link Jess found and shared with Joshua and myself:  Self control in a wired world  The challenge is so real - for teenagers and for mums!

As I play around with digital scrapbooking I am looking for free fonts.  Though the kids also use these on their notebook pages and making cards and personal stationary.

I have just found this list of writing prompts - a free download.  I have highlighted the ones that I particularly like and am going to give a copy to each of my children (in our family meeting today) for them to use as blogging prompts.  They may or may not use them but it may help them to write a variety for their blogs.  You could also use these prompts for daily writing exercises or journalling which we don't tend to do as we integrate our writing into as many subjects we can.

Sep. 28, 2009 - Project: Christmas, week 3

freefoto

2 hours a week for 12 weeks -

Preparing for a relational, homemade Christmas -

Sep. 28, 2009 - Weekly Wrap up, 27th September 2009

If you like the idea of a weekly wrap up, then join in over at

Three Little Ladies.

From the Heart:

A key lesson in our home this week was from 1 Corinthians 10:31  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

 

I especially started thinking about relationship issues – you know, just the little niggles that go on in family life.  Whatever you do, (read – however you fix your niggles) do it for the glory of God.  How can how we relate to each other in our home bring glory to God?  So often the niggles come because someone wants to ‘fix’ someone else and yet Jesus told us to love oneanother – not fix one another – so to love each other (even in the midst of a niggle) will bring glory to God.  How?   Well, the only way we can love in the midst of a niggle is because of Jesus love to us and if we can pass that on to others, then we bring glory to God because we are not loving in our own strength but in God’s.  These are just some thoughts that I’ve been thinking about – haven’t shared them with the kids yet.  Waiting for the next niggle!

 

Our Week:

Our week was pretty busy.

Josh went to his first farmers meeting; the sandalwood growers had a meeting about mealy bug and how to deal with it.  It was a good experience for Josh to be in a meeting and report back to Peter the main points.  The key speaker was a little unsure about what a kid was doing at the meeting but that was soon set to rights by the farmers who knew Josh and knew about our homeschooling choices!  (I know I've already blogged about this but I wanted it in my wrap up as well!)  Josh had a second new experience as he went motor bike riding with a group of boys.  He came home covered in dust – an all over tan!  He ended up on a quad bike which he hadn’t driven solo before – he had a fab-time.

 

Jessica continues her singing lessons via phone or Skype.  Isn’t technology wonderful!  The girls had Keepers again this week (we do this fortnightly).  Jess and two of her friends are learning to sew, they’ve made shorts, and are now working on a shirt.  This week they learnt about interfacing and tailors tacking (marking).  Jess and I also continued in our planning a unique education together.  We sat down and looked at a list of interests/needs we created a few weeks ago, we looked at her timetable/commitments and worked out how her studies should proceed.  One thing that came out of this review was that her history wasn't working for her -she wanted something a bit deeper.  We've decided to keep Mystery of History but only as an overview and add extra reading to it as she goes along.  This may take longer but she feels she'll learn more this way.  I think it is a good step forward.

 

Nomi has been doing a lot of drawing on her bamboo mat (which is a large mousepad where she has a pen instead of a mouse and her drawing goes straight to the computer instead of paper.)  The more she explores and takes risks the better she is getting.   For Keepers Nomi and her friend helped a HS Mum look after some little kids – giving another HS mum the afternoon off. 

 

Daniel completed his math book this week (Math U See).  That was a big achievement for him.  Our focus for Daniel has been reading every day.  He has also started LEM Phonics workbooks as revision and consolidation.  He is doing so well with these, mostly working independently.  Daniel's commitment to his daily diligences (independent studies) is great - he gets in and gets it done every day.  Daniel is also working on maintaining some daily exercise.  The trampoline is his choice at the moment.

 

Friday was a child free day for me.  My friend had the kids for the day and I was supposed to get in and do a lot of office work.  That didn’t happen though I was productive.  I did a lot of cooking and pottering in the kitchen (I don’t seem to be as fast as I used to be!).  I also worked on my digital scrapbooking files, getting sorted ready for a workshop.

 

Family Happenings:

It was Jessica’s birthday this week.  15yo.  I cooked a most delicious chocolate mud cake, Nomi decorated one of the cakes (apparently it isn’t a birthday cake unless it is decorated!)  We had a pizza and games night where Jess invited family friends for the evening.  The little kids watched a DVD and the big kids played board/table games (some of the adults joined in).  It was a great family time.

Online Happenings:

You can now follow Lifestyle-Homeschool and/or this blog, Live life with your Kids on Facebook. 

Sep. 21, 2009 - Project: Christmas Week 2

freefoto

2 hours a week for 12 weeks -

Preparing for a relational, homemade Christmas -

Remembering Jesus!

During the week I completed
* My budget thoughts

This coming week I need to work on:
* Completing my gift giving list (a few tricky ones still to think about)
* Plan Christmas party (date and guest list) plus add any other events that happen in December (Christmas Carols, Church services etc)
* Talk to Peter re family photo - do we want to do one?

If you would like a copy of my project list it is available as a free download.  If you are planning ahead for Christmas celebrations please leave me a comment and I'll come and visit your blog to see what projects you are working on.

Sep. 21, 2009 - My Internet Reading lately

I’ve been collecting links to a few things that I’ve been reading lately – about time I posted them up and shared….

Since Josh is planning on going to university there was some advice here that I’ve taken to heart.  

Shopping is one of those things that can work for us or against us and it totally depends on how intentional we are.  If we think through what we want our children’s behaviour to look like during this time, teach them, train them, expect it of them then the weekly shopping trip can be both a time of training and in the long run, an enjoyable time together.  Start your thinking with these shopping tips: 

The value of motherhood – it is always good to be encouraged to see the truth in what we do.  

Homeschoolers and Socialisation – okay, this one is more for the fascination factor – I have never seen such a list on articles about the socialisation issue. (Check out the sidebar for this list)  I know it can be an annoying issue that people throw up but sometimes people ask out of genuine care for our kids – if we can speak to them knowledgeably about what socialisation really is (they probably can’t even define it themselves) and then share how we are addressing these real issues then we may well win a friend. 

Sep. 13, 2009 - Wrap Up #38

Weekly Wrap up – Week #38

If you like the idea of a weekly wrap up, then join in over at

Three Little Ladies.

We’ve had a good week.  What defines a good week?  A week of laughter and friendship, a week of learning, a week of doing.  A good week is where I know we’ve done the best we can, we haven’t done it all, but we have been diligent.  A good week is where I don’t feel overwhelmed by all that still needs to happen – I have a long term perspective.

 

Homemaking:

This is one area I’m feeling challenged in at the moment.  The basics are done but…. I’d like more.  A few weeks ago our family talked about ‘excellence’ and I defined it as the little polish/shine on the top.  This is where I’d like to take my homemaking – so there is a little shine on the top!

 

I started my Christmas prep this week.  I call it Project Christmas.  I set aside 2 hours a week, for 12 weeks and work on the things that are closest to my heart for our family Christmas celebrations.  I invite you to join me, I’ve posted my first week to-do list.

 

In conjunction with starting my Christmas prep, I released a small e-book which is about thinking about the “what and why” of our Christmas celebrations, Restoring the Heart Mind and Soul of Christmas.  If you are unsure about how your Christmas celebrations focus on Jesus then this workshop style e-book may help.  It isn’t full of wonderfully creative ideas – there is plenty of that on the internet – but it guides you with some thinking questions so you can discover what is right for your family.

 

 

Community involvement

I haven’t mentioned for a while about Jessica’s weekly involvement in Mainly Music.  Mainly Music is a church based initiative to serve and encourage the community by providing a music / dance activity for parents and pre-school age children to enjoy together.  Jessica is on the committee and is very involved in the weekly programme.  My other children often help setting up (though we didn’t this week as there were plenty of other extra helpers around).    There is also a monthly committee meeting that Jess goes along to.  Though I am present at the meeting I sit in the back and work on something to give Jessica the opportunity to stand on her own two feet!  Though we know Jess helps out a lot at Mainly Music, we are thankful to the ladies for making room for a young girl to learn how to work in such a committee.

 

Training

Joshua – Joshua was over at Canberra this last week with a Rotary Citizenship programme.  He had many amazing opportunities.  Not only has he seen all the normal things you see when you go to Canberra – Parliament House (old and new), Australian War Memorial, he also saw CSIRO (Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), Duntroon (Royal Military College) and the Australian Institute of Sport.  He spoke to many different and interesting people in each of these institutions.  This was his first time in a big group of peers with the purpose of learning.  He learnt many things about himself and other people.  He had the opportunity to speak publicly several times both in planned and impromptu situations.  He talked political issues and generally had a fantastic time!  No doubt he will be blogging about his time away this coming week as he starts to sift through it all and prepare a presentation for Rotary in a week’s time.

 

Jessica – This was a week of different projects for Jess though she did a little of her regular studies as well.  She learnt how to use Movie-Maker and made a movie for our minister’s farewell.  She continued to work on our bookcases and storage issues!  We started Keepers again – the older girls (which includes Jessica) continue their dressmaking lessons – they had a lot to think about in lesson 1.  Jess has also worked on the powerpoint for the church service.   Jess was on kitchen duty this week which meant she also cooked a lot of our evening meals.

 

Naomi and Daniel – I’m joining Nomi and Daniel together for my thoughts this week.  We are working on establishing habits in their discipline studies – these are the areas where they need daily practice and can work on it by themselves.  For Nomi it is Piano, Math, Writing, Art.  For Daniel it is Math, Writing, Reading, and his Activity box.  We also worked at getting back into the swing of several lessons – namely, Bible, Character and Reading aloud. 

 

Because Josh was away it gave us an opportunity to bump up responsibility for the others.   The challenge of course, is to maintain this level of expectations and training even after Josh gets back.

 

We took the opportunity of Josh being away for Nomi to move into the ‘boys’ room for a couple of nights and spend some time with Daniel.  We have always found that the time just before falling asleep is great talking time, which builds their relationships.  I’ve tried to remember the idea of swapping around at other times and am hoping now that we’ve done it once we’ll take other opportunities (not week in and week out, but specific opportunities) for the kids to swap around and share time with each other.

 

 

 

Sep. 10, 2009 - Getting ready for Christmas

image:  freefoto

Can you believe it – only 15 weeks till Christmas!  Over the years I have learnt that the earlier I begin the less stress it is at the end.  For several years now, I have set out to prepare for Christmas starting mid September and aim to be finished by the first week of December.   So the time has come for me to set aside 2 hours a week, and chip away at the important things on my to-do list.  I call this Project Christmas.

Project Christmas is all about preparing for a relational, homemade Christmas. It is about being prepared in the physical so those things don't crowd the spiritual.  I don't want a Martha spirit this Christmas.  I don’t take on any extra decluttering or cleaning projects – my two hours are spent in preparing things that will build up my family, speak to my children’s hearts, or encourage other people. 

Project Christmas is a 12 week project. The idea is that we only do the things that are important to us – each individual makes the decision as to what is important in their home.  I am happy to share my Project List, but I encourage you to tweak it if you need to.  But please don’t move too far away from the objective:

2 hours a week for 12 weeks

Keep the focus on a relational, homemade Christmas

Remember Jesus!

Would you like to join me with Project Christmas?  I’m starting this week.   Download Project List and tweak it to make it yours, if necessary.

Each weekend I’m going to give a progress report (an accountability report!)   I’ll share how I’ve done, and I’ll share my new tasks ahead of me for the week.  I’d love you to join me pop back on Saturday as I’ll set up a MckLinky and you can share your progress and projects too. 

Aug. 31, 2009 - Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap up – Week #36

If you like the idea of a weekly wrap up, then join in over at

Three Little Ladies.

 

I’ve already blogged that this last week didn’t happen like it was planned to but the Weekly Wrapup is an opportunity to focus on all that did happen.

 

Homemaking:

This week I initiated a group of ladies to prepare meals for the minister’s wife as they are leaving town and she holds down a full time job and is finding it difficult to work full time, come home cook dinner and then pack.  It is a big task.  So we are going to cover their meals for them over the next 3 weeks (at least the main dish). 

 

Friendships

I visited two ladies who had babies this week.  One was still in hospital the other had moved out (due to how noisy the hospital can be at times).

 

This weekend we had a homeschool co-op family fun day.  This is like the old fashioned Sunday School Picnics with egg and spoon races, sack races, 3-legged races and the like.  Fun was had by all.  I may get some pictures posted later.

 

We ducked over to our friends to see their new-born puppies.  While there my friend cleared the pool from little people and I had 15minutes of swimming.  I hope to do this whenever we visit.

 

Joshua is working with some boys in the community to create a friendship group for a boy with Downs Syndrome.  So far they have gone out on the river and this week they did scuba diving basics at the public pool.  This has been a positive experience for all involved and Josh looks forward to this continuing.

 

Not sure that this fits in the ‘friendship’ category but due to relationships in the community Peter was asked to conduct a funeral.  I went along with him, though I didn’t know the family involved.  Though we would never have expected to get involved in this aspect of people’s lives the truth of it is that this is when people need loving, caring people  (even if they don’t want anything to do with the God that helps us to be that way!)

 

Training our Children:

Joshua – We managed to have a little fashion parade with his new clothes – dress pants, business shirts and ties – all ready for his trip to Canberra.  I think he has the whole tie thing sorted!  We need more practice this coming week.

 

As Josh gets ready for his trip to Canberra he has to write a 90sec political speech with a  selected theme.  Co-inciding with this assignment has been some old-time friends being in town.  It has been great to see Mr M. and Josh head to head talking things over – our kids need older people in their lives.

 

Jess – Jessica had another wonderful week as we continue to sort out books and bookcases.  We still have more sorting to go but we are chipping away at it.  Jess has been practicing not only her piano but also her singing now. 

 

Nomi – Last week I gave Nomi a drawing/art book with a variety of exercises and projects in it and told her that I wanted her to develop her art skill by working for ½ hour each day.  She loved the idea and has been itching for more than ½ hour a day – which of course she can have!  It was a good lesson for me, as I have tried to give her this book before and she was unenthusiastic – it just goes to show that timing our encouragements is important.

The other area we are aware of with Nomi is the need to ‘bump her up’ in regards to responsibilities.  She is more than able and yet out of habit we continue to ask Jess to do things, being the older one.  This week I gave specific organisation tasks to Nomi and she just blossomed with the responsibility.

 

Daniel – Our primary education goal last week with  Daniel was to establish the habits of his discipline studies – math, typing, phonics workbook, and his Adventure box which has independent activities based on Pirates. 

 

Daniel had a wonderful play date during the week too.  Daniel needs to work more on Tolerance – accepting other people’s differences (his struggles with these things comes out as telling tales.)

 

 

Aug. 24, 2009 - My Internet Reading this Week

The Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival opened last week.

A blog Carnival is a thread of blog entries on a related (or semi-related) topic.
In this case, the topic is all things Charlotte Mason.
There was so much good stuff to read - lots of good thinking.
 Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival - Inspired to do Better.

Aug. 24, 2009 - Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap up – Week #35

If you like the idea of a weekly wrap up, then join in over at

Three Little Ladies.

 

This week I kept a journal record of daily learnings.  Lots of other things happened in the home – like personal devotions, exercise and family time that I didn’t record but I simply wanted to see what was and wasn’t happening during the training/focus times of our day.  Though we had a lot of other things happen last week I was happy with the overall balance of our week.

 

I like looking back over a day, or over a week and assessing how things go.  But it needs to go one step further – we need to evaluate what was achieved (and maybe what wasn’t) and assess how things could be improved in the next day.  If we don’t learn from today then we won’t grow.

 

Homemaking:

Since we are working on the character trait of Diligence this month it bodes well for the housework – it is such a hands on character trait!  We worked on finishing the job – that not only means getting it done but putting away all the tools as well.

 

Our biggest project is rearranging our bookshelves.  With the arrival of 4 flat-packed bookcases (it was very exciting) we got to, emptied old bookcases, built the new and started stacking.  We are only ½ way through this process.

 

I am trying to spend ½ hour every second day preparing raw food so I reduce my nibbles on processed food.  Last week I made several batches of raw bread/crackers, a chocolate mousse and cookies (which ended up not being that nice as the macadamia nuts had turned!)

 

Training our Children:

We have recently decided that the younger two need to spend more time with me – this has come about that as the older ones become responsible I tend to duck into town leaving all the kids at home.  Though this seems to work, there is some underlying concerns (mainly their relationship with each other at these times) so the younger two either come with me, or have very clear instructions of what to do, and where to do it.  This has been working.  I have been refreshed in the wonder of how much you can speak into your child’s life when they are simply driving into town with you.

 

I set the goal to teach Joshua to iron a business shirt (he irons everything else) but this didn’t happen.  He also needs to learn and be accomplished at tying a tie.  Both these will have to happen next week.

 

I have been promising Nomi a lesson in fur bear making for a few weeks now – it finally happened this week!  She is busy stitching a tiny 5” fur bear.  She never starts with easy projects!!

 

I’ve started to be prepared when we sit down at the dinner table with a specific conversation starter.  This may cover a character issue, a current affair and world view issue, or something from our studies – there is really no limit to what we can discuss but I find when I go to the table armed with a specific idea we have better conversation than if I just say – we are going to have good conversation!

 

Joshua is working hard at disciplining himself to study when his siblings appear to be having it easy.  This comes about because 1) he is older and 2) he has a different path to learning than the others do.  It is good practice for when he is at University and he’ll have to make wise decisions on what social time he takes.

 

At the concert on Sunday I kept my children with me, even though they weren’t always that interested in the music.  I sat there wondering why I did that:

1. Teaches them to give themselves to family interests.  I was thinking how nice it is for Pete to be able to sit through a movie that he isn’t particularly interested in just because he wants to be with me.  I believe learning to give yourself to family interests will be a good groundwork for being able to do this in a marriage.
2. I believe that family relationships are to be the primary relationships and our children need to understand that their contentment can come with being with the family.  It concerns me when children have to have friends (of their own age) in order to enjoy any outing or activity.

We need to know why we make certain decisions as a parent.

 

Aug. 16, 2009 - My Internet Reading this Week

I was excited to find Adobe now have (and maybe they always have) e-seminars on demand.  I had signed up for some e-seminars but by the day came around it wasn’t really convenient to leave my children and sit on my computer.  Having them available all the time – means I can do them anytime

Ahhhh!  Green Smoothies – I love ‘em.  I decided not to join International Green Smoothie Day this year (I did last year) but it reminded me, inspired me to get back to at least one a day.  I’ve been into parsley juice at the moment and that is pretty green!  My favourite green smoothie is mango, banana and spinach!

This post from Robyn Sampson hit a chord – I need to look after myself so I don’t collapse in a heap!

SimpleMom has some thoughts on The Clutter you can’t see – I need to go over this again and think about what I can declutter!

Living for Him wrote about being the 2^nd Fiddle – a true message for all mums.

I spent some Tea Time with Kate and found some very interesting finds (though you could pop over there yourself and see what interests you):

• An enormous collection of art postcards – I checked out the Sistine Chapel.  That is one amazing piece of art.

• Sense and Sensibility has an Edwardian Apron pattern that I think one of my girls would enjoy. 

• Webdesign for Kids sure looks interesting.  Kids could convert any of their work or interests into a website even without uploading it and making it live.  This would be good practice with html (web design) as well as making an interactive record of their work.  Mmmm…. I’m going to think on this one some more.

• Plus … a great article on deciding how many outside the home activities your family is involved in.   Why so many activities?

Aug. 10, 2009 - My Internet Reading this week or so

I thought it about time I shared some links.  Here are some websites and blogs I’ve been reading lately.

Shaping Little Souls has posted, teaching our children how to apologise.  I have used these very same steps except there are some extra words in there that spark a lot of teaching opportunities – expand the ideas of an apology.  Have a look at see – watch for these words:  regret, responsibility, restitution, repent, requesting.  Ha!  Look at that they all start with R – I didn’t notice that before.  That should make it easy to remember.  I personally like the order to be different but I’ll post on that another day.   I’m going to make a prompt chart using this during the week.

Helping our children deal with their emotions is a big issue for parents (sometimes we are still struggling with dealing with our own emotions.)  I appreciated the options and tools that Megan offers at SimpleKids, 6 Peaceful Solutions for Hitting and Anger.

Last week I began (again) being a little more focused on living math – using everyday situations, using hands on manipulatives, using stories to teach math.  I like my children to record their learning in some way and paste that into a scrapbook (large recycled blank pages, just right for gluing things in).  Jimmie has another squidoo lens on Notebooking Math – very inspiring.  I love her lenses.  While we are at it, here is a link to her Bible Notebooking lens.

Answers in Genesis have some of their books online (some have been condensed to booklets).  I particularly like 7C’s which is a curriculum I have used with my children but it was so intense.  I like this simplified version for free here online (pdf).

Aug. 7, 2009 - Charlotte Mason Learning Methods

There are many different methods and techniques that we use in our home but I think Charlotte Mason has probably had a very large influence.  Here are a list of some of her key methods that are a part of our learning model.

• Narrations – the children learn to tell back what they have heard or seen.  We have found that the foundation of oral work, such as narrations, is a firm foundation for thinking and writing.  We use this method in various ways regardless of the ages of our children.
• Copywork – our children use copywork to master a skill (penmanship, spelling or drawing), to hone in their observation skills, or to commit to memory facts/quotes that have taken their interest.
• Short lessons – when our children were young we had 10-15 minute focus on any one subject, as they grow their attention span grows and they can participate in a 1 hour lesson, or read for 1-2 hours.  This expectation is tailored to their abilities, but the expectation is always growing.
• Whole, living books – we encourage our children to learn from a full book, rather than from encyclopaedia or textbook snippets.  Reading is such a big part of our life.
• An appreciation of nature and beauty around.  Though we have not been consistent with nature studies and a nature journal, our family enjoys nature and encourages observation whenever we are outdoors.  We have also not been intentional in our exposure to art and music though enjoy these aspects when they come into our life. 
• Creative expression - We spend a lot of time in being creative (once again depending on the gifts and talents each child possesses as to what this actually looks like)
• Life skills – we are intentional about teaching our children lifeskills in both the areas of chores and responsibilities but also as foundational skills in crafts and various hands on projects. 

Many people practice Charlotte Mason in primary school but I have found many of these practices to be equally valid in Highschool – they may need a tweak, they may look a little different but the principles remain true.  Read more about tweaking your methods for homeschool.

Charlotte Mason Websites I read:

Simply Charlotte Mason

Jeannie Fulbright on Charlotte Mason

Ambleside

Charlotte Mason Education

Apr. 13, 2009 - Fun 8 Things Meme

Homeschooling4Christ tagged me for this fun meme.

8 Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. Travelling to Sydney for a conference - I’m also a tad anxious!
2. Getting my house decluttered - I live in hope!
3. Cooler weather - The dry season up in the north of  Australia is a lovely time of year
4. Seeing more of this part of the world where I live - a friend has offered to take me and the kids off bush for a few days – interesting!!
5. Finishing a Quilt that shows the Nativity - its been an ongoing project for a couple of years now!
6. Getting my first digital scrapbook album printed - thanks to Creative Memories Storybook – which I am totally loving!
7. Painting my house – a friend has convinced me I can do this!
8. Seeing the different things that my children get involved in as they grow older

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

1. Went to a dawn Resurrection service

2.  Had breakfast (BBQ) with friends beside the river

3.  Went to church

4.  Shared the Jelly Bean Poem with the congregation

5.  Had a nap

6.  Cooked rice pudding and custard

7.  Went to a friends for a BBQ dinner

8.  Made Chia pudding for breakfast this morning (let the chia gel over night)

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:

1. keep my house uncluttered with stuff
2. take my children on a history tour of the world
3. visit Zimbabwe
4. read more books
5. play the guitar again (I used to but I’ve forgotten everything)
6. not be so tempted to eat bread
7. make my evenings a little more productive
8. keep my windows clean (frogs make this a major task!)

8 Shows I Watch:

Well I watch too much and I know it is brain dead stuff so I am not going to share it – instead I’m going to share 8 movies that I’ve enjoyed

1. Fireproof
2. Ultimate Gift
3. Facing the Giants
4. Faith like Potatoes
5. My Fair Lady
6. Little Women
7. Anne of Green Gables
8. Love comes softly
9. Pride and Prejudice (Oh well, I just couldn’t stop at 8!!)  

8 People I Tag:
I’d love to tag 8 people but I just don’t have the time to go visiting at the moment so if you feel that you’ve got 8 things to tell folk – take this meme and use it for your next blog post.  Let me know here (in the comments section) and I’ll come and visit!  If you’d like to read some other blogs who have joined in this tag then visit Homeschooling4Christ

Apr. 10, 2009 - My Internet Reading this Week

Mar. 30, 2009 - Cleaning my teeth

click on image

For someone who doesn’t particularly like animals a lot of them seem to find their way into my home.  The other day I was cleaning my teeth, bent over the sink and came face to face with this little fella….

At the moment Nomi is our chief frog catcher so she was called in straight away!  And yes, we have enough frogs in our house to have a 'chief frog catcher'!!

Mar. 29, 2009 - A Person of the Past I'd most like to Meet

Every Friday Heart of the Matter features a different topic for their meme.

This week they are asking to share our  thoughts on :

Person of the Past I’d Most Like to Meet.

Well, there are truly so many interesting people who have gone on before; where does  one begin ....

I’ve been thinking about heroes a little lately as my son is enjoying dressups all over again.  Who are the people I’d like him to emulate?  What makes a person a hero?  Are these the people he sees as heros?

I read this blog post this week, Are you a Difference Maker?  It is just the regular people, the everyday person off the street who has the opportunity to make a difference in their world.  Am I such a person?  Which areas in my life need to be changed in order to increase my impact on the people around me?

Now, back to the theme of this meme:  the person of the past I’d most like to meet-

I’d love to meet a Christian from the early church.  Someone not mentioned in the Bible, preferably a woman.  I’d ask her

• What did it look like to fellowship together daily, to share and meet each other’s needs
• If she was a Jew I’d ask how they moved from Old Testament to after the cross worship.  How did she deal with religious habits of her culture and with family members who hadn’t ‘met’ Jesus? 
• But my most pressing question would be how did she bring her children up in a time of persecution?  How did she teach them the teachings of Christ, and yet teach them to be careful about who they talked to about it.  How did she protect them from fear of the Romans?  How did she prepare for persecution?

I’ve recently read One Woman against the Reich.  This book brought home the idea that there are two human sides to a war, that there were Christians in Germany, crying out to God for change.  There were Christian women whose sons were grafted into the Nazi army.  There were Christian women who were scoffed at by their neighbours because they believed.  There were Christian women who helped these very same neighbours when war came to their town/city.  We don’t often see this face of war – we only see our own ‘side’.  What fascinated me with this story was how this mum held her family together when their very faith was under attack.  It made me very thankful for our freedoms – and made me want to protect and maintain those freedoms.

So who would you most like to meet?  What would you talk about?  Why don't you join Heart of the Matter this week.

Mar. 27, 2009 - Blogging and Me

My blogging habits:

I would like to blog every day, but reality is otherwise.  Reality says I blog when I’ve got something to say and when I have a moment to type it up.  I get lots of blog thoughts throughout the day but only a fraction of them ever make it online.  I have spits and spurts with my blogging – I’ll go great for a season, blogging nearly every day and then I’ll take a week or so off.  I don’t feel any pressure about that – blogging has to fit in around whatever else is going on.  On those days where everything goes well, I like to blog at the dining table on my laptop, while the kids do the evening dishes. This works better than taking myself off to the office though often I forget to do it!

How long have I been blogging?

I started blogging mid 2005 – so that makes it 3 ½ years. 

Why do I blog?

I blog for a few reasons

1.  To process my thoughts especially when I’m learning something new, or trying to change my habits – kind of like a narration, Charlotte Mason style!

2.  To record our learning, especially if it is not book-orientated

3.  To encourage other homeschool families to enjoy their family life as well as be diligent in their discipleship/homeschooling their children.

These reasons have remained fairly constant over the years though the priority order changes with the seasons of my life.

What do I blog about?

Though I like to write about anything that comes to mind my blog categories are as follows and I guess most of what I write falls into one of these categories:

• Learning Happens – this is where I journal about our days, regardless if it was planned learning or just family life opportunities
• Discipleship homeschool(discipleship),  - articles andthoughts to encourage the why and how of discipleship homeschool
• Be a deliberate parent – often there is very little difference between parenting thoughts and discipleship thoughts but when I have thoughts about being deliberate in the training of our children they go here.
• Homemaking – making my house a home for my family and friends
• Just my thoughts – a mix-match of ideas as they come to me, covering all my hats: wife, mum, homemaker, homeschooler, friend etc…
• Walking with God – the occasional devotional thought
• Family   - about us and the things that our extended family maybe interested in reading about.

My favourite aspect of blogging?

I have enjoyed how blogging has opened up the homeschool community to me. As I read other blogs I find friends, I find help and ideas from real people, I find encouragement and thoughts to reflect upon.

My least favourite aspect of blogging?

There is too much to read and think about. 

Blogging can create an information overload. 

Blogging can take you away from your family – you maybe present in body but your thoughts and emotions are creating the next blog post.

Mar. 27, 2009 - How long have you homeschooled?