If you have dropped by my blog and seen I have not added anything in weeks, it is not because I have not wanted to - we have been very busy and have had so much sickness this winter. It has been one cold or infection after another. Now we are in allergy season... I have three with really bad spring allergies so there is no relief in sight.
I love Homeschool Blogger (my #1 source for homeschooling) but I also have two other blogs that I am trying to maintain (what was I thinking?) so if you do not find anything new posted here please visit me at my other blogs. One is a pictorial blog at Blogger and the other is at The Homeschool Lounge. Here are the links:
A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said: 'Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink.
What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each other's cups.
Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have.
Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate
An Angel says, "Never borrow from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice."
1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life. 7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places. 9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficultprojects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns. If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety.If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it . 12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19. Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people. 25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand. 26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good
"Thank you Jesus." 27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33. Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe 36. Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)
This is a continuation of our trip to Florida. We are staying at the Gaylord Palms and are having a great time. Dear hubby is at meetings all day while we are relaxing at the pool and touring the hotel.
It was raining this morning so we did not leave the room until about 11:00; we had no plans, just do whatever struck our fancy. We decided to start out in the lobby and make a complete circle so we did not miss anything. Essentially, it took us all day to do everything. We visited all the shops, visited the Everglades, Key West, Emerald Bay, and of course St. Augustine which is the section where we are staying in. I really like the Everglades Atrium, Key West colorful decor, St. Augustine's quietness, Emerald Bay ritziness (I think that is a Tigger word).
The girls swam awhile after our tour, then we order room service and a movie since hubby had an of site dinner meeting. The girls were so impressed with room service! If you have ever watched "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" you will understand their fascination with hotels, room service and spas. They are always wanting to order up a massage!!!
We had a "fancy" dinner of pizza and a hamburger, but when served on fancy dishes, with fancy tablecloths and napkins and all the trimmings it is much more enjoyable. Of course, the bill was $40.00 not including an additional tip for the waiter. We rented a movie for $12.99 and all I could think of was "for $4.00 more I could buy it when it comes out on DVD." It was Ratatouille and since we had toured the hotel kitchen the day before it was a fitting movie. I am happy to report the kitchen (and we are talking 1/2 mile walk to the pastry kitchen from the main kitchen) was very clean. No rats cooking in there!!!
Vending machines - they don't even take money! You have to use your room key to charge it to your room. A very cheap rate of only $2.00 per bottle of Coke!'
It has been a fun trip though. The girls got to hold an alligator last night, fortunately its mouth was taped shut, but how many kids get the opportunity to hold a live alligator? We took pictures and hopefully I will get them posted soon. What an educational trip!!!
We are on day 3 of our annual fall "homeschool" vacation. We started back to school the day after Labor day, went camping the next weekend and now we are enjoying two weeks in Florida. My husband is attending a work convention in Orlando at the Gaylord Palms and we have been fortunate enough to tag along.
We stayed the first night of our journey in Brunswick, GA. We stayed at an Embassy Suites; what a lovely motel. It was attached to a mall and movie theatre, which the girls thought was way cool. We had a jacuzzi tub and since it was too late to swim the girls took a nice bubble bath in the jacuzzi. I did real the sign that said the water needed to be 2" above the jets before you turn it on, but did I comprehend that...??? NO!!!! My hubby and I were standing in there talking to the girls and I decided to turn on the jacuzzi since it looked like they had enough water and that would help stir up the bubbles.
We were ATTACKED by several jets of water coming out of the tub. There was not one dry spot in that bathroom. We were soaked from head to toe and stood there dying laughing at each other. I also could not get it turned off which made it even worse. What a funny time!!
We went on to St. Simons Island, which is a lovely place, and a great place to go back to when we have more time. The bad thing was these bugs...a literal swarm of bugs at the ocean. We spotted some dolphins and went to take a closer look and was assaulted by these bugs. They looked like two headed bugs which I later realized they were mating. They literally swarmed all over us!!!! Cake, who is not particularly fond of bugs anyway, was jumping and running and swatting. It was kind of funny to watch her but then they kind of got the best of her and she started crying so we decided it was best to leave. Honestly, we were covered in these bugs. We stopped at a gas station later and I asked the lady what they were called and she said they were"Love Bugs". Obviously, they are quite a nuisance to residents in Texas, Georgia, and Florida. Make sure you read about them.
Today we are at the Gaylord Palms and my husbands coworkers wife arranged a tour through the Hotel Kitchen. It was way cool; he gave us a tour of the entire kitchen area as well as the pastry kitchen which was about 1/2 mile away. The kitchen was endless; the organization that is required, the amount of food to be prepared, dishes, laundry. It was an incredible experience! I could not believe this chef took the time to show us through the entire kitchen and explain all was entailed in preparing meals for a conference.
The chef's name was Chef Christopher, and oops, I forgot his last name. I will have to check it out when I upload the photos I took. He was a great guy though. The whole experience was wonderful. We are staying at this fancy resort and my kids get to go on tour to see how a big hotel kitchen is run. I am so happy we are able to homeschool. We learn so much more than the average person (I say we instead of child because I learn as much as they do).
We then continued our tour of the hotel by stopping by Alligator Springs to watch the "real, live" alligators in their Everglade area. I thought they were fake because they did not move a muscle for what seemed like forever. Finally, we saw a turtle move and then later an alligator moved and everyone was astonished because by that time we were convinced they were a bronze statue or something.
I am going to try to blog daily and post pictures to keep family at home updated.
A new take on Corinthians 13:4 We used this in our wedding, and now I can see how it really applies to raising our girls and homeschooling.
Though I teach my children how to multiply, divide, and diagram a sentence,
but fail to show them love, I have taught them nothing.
And though I take them on numerous field trips, to swim practice and flute
lessons; and though I involve them in every church activity, but fail to
give them love, I profit nothing.
And though I scrub my house relentlessly, run countless errands, and serve
three nutritious meals every day but fail to be an example of love, I have
done nothing.
Love is patient with misspelled words and is kind to young interrupters.
Love does not envy high SAT scores of other homeschool families.
Love does not claim to have better teaching methods than anyone else, It is
not rude to the fourth telephone caller during a science lesson, does not
seek perfectly behaved geniuses, does not turn into a drill sergeant, thinks
no evil about friends' educational choices.
Love bears all my children's challenges, believes all my children are God's
precious gifts, hopes all my children establish permanent relationships with
Christ, and endures all things to demonstrate God's love.
Love never fails.
Where there are college degrees, they will fail; where there is knowledge,
it will vanish away.
For we know in part and we teach in part. But when the trials of life come
to our children, the history, math, and science will be done away and faith,
hope and love will remain; but the greatest of these is love.
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in
Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of
time for Friday night's dinner. In their rush, with tickets and briefcases,
one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display
of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they
all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.
ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his
feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple
stand had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them
to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his
taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples
were all over the terminal floor.
He was glad he did.
The 16 year old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears
running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly
groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one
stopping and no one to care for her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them
back on the table and helped organize her display. As he did this, he
noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set
aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here,
please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded
through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day
too badly."
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out
to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind
eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus?"
He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered. Then slowly he made his way to
catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his
soul: "Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus? That's our
destiny, is it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the
difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love,
life and grace.
If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would.
Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church. It's
actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.
You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a
fall. He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill
called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.
CONTINUE PRAYING, KEEPING ALERT AND ALWAYS THANKING GOD. COL. 4:2
This morning I found the coolest video by Chris Tomlin from the movie Amazing Grace. That, of course, sent me on a rabbit trail to find the Amazing Grace website which then lead me to a treasure trove of educational goodies. There are all kind of downloads, sheet music, study guides, and pages and pages of information. I hope you enjoy this find...I have not seen the movie yet but intend to!
Bl
ogging
