Ok, I think I am ready to be brave and make my blogger blog public;)  It is NOT what I want it to be at all yet, but if I don't tell you about it, it will take forever and ever to do it *right*!!  So...since I know you all are waiting with bated breath...here is it:

the new and improved Dulce Domum!!  Leave me a note and let me know if you have found it (here or there;)  Since school has started again, and I am training for a 1/2 marathon and I will start teaching gym every friday, I thought I would just start blogging again too.  Makes sense doesn't it?  The truth is, I love it, and I love keeping up with myself with it, and updating my family and friends (which is why I started).  So get over there will ya??  What are you still doing here???

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The school bell is almost ringing around here!  Oh, wait, that was the coffee pot;) 

If you have read this blog for any amount of time at all (all five of you;)  you know that I am ready for a *normal* year!  Well, I have MUCH to communicate, but first, step into this ADD mind of mine and see how our schedule came together. 

First, it started with fear and trepidation at homeschooling a middle schooler, a 3rd grader and a 1st grader who thinks she is a middle schooler...

Then, I needed to figure out HOW in the world I was going to do it.  I use the BEST curriculum guide in the world, with the BEST philosophy (IMHO of course;).  But there is that applying thing that gets the best of us stuck at times!  Plus, three kids, with three different book lists, one three year old, four days a week equals crying out to God (and of course a glass of wine...).  

Here is what I did: 

wrote everyone's initial and subject needed to be covered in the next 12 weeks on a piece of paper and threw it on the floor:

  this is just a portion

I am not good at processing AND making a chart on the computer at the same time, and I needed to see the whole week at once.

Then I put the lessons times along one side of the room and  started to fill in the gaps. 

On Monday mornings, I decided to do everything we can together, which isn't too much, but every little minute I can squeeze out of the week helps.  Together we are going to do our quartly Composer Study, Artist Study, Shakespeare, Hymn Study, Folksongs, scripture reading, and handwriting. 

I worked on one day at a time, and I think I have it all figured out.  At least it looks really good on paper! 

Here is what my paper squares week looks like after rearranging a couple times.  We only school 4 days a week and each column under each day is one of the kids schedules.  Nik was a little overwhelmed at the amount of his squares. 

The final schedules are here...they even each got their own font;)  So, it fits on paper (even with some of the books they didn't finish up last year), we will see if it works in real life!!  I will keep you posted!

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Warning...rant...proceed with caution;)

There is talk in the Christian circles of boycotting the Olympics because of where it is this time...

I am having trouble following why its necessary, let alone helpful on any level.  First of all, I GET where its coming from.  They are Communist, horrible to families, hate my creator (as a Government), give no human rights to their people AND put lead in our toys, etc, etc, etc.  But what purpose on any eternal level does it serve?  What does it DO???

Why not support our athletes and use it to pray for all the Christian organizations that are using this event as a ministry opportunity and for the Chinese people in general!  Why not just PRAY!

We as a nation commit infanticide almost FIVE THOUSAND TIMES A DAY!  We are more worthy to host an event like the Olympics?  Where is the *Christian*-Boycott-line-in-the-sand?

I know I am really really simplifying the issue, but we as Trinity believers NEED to PRAY and infiltrate, not boycott.  (Boycott things MADE in China if you MUST boycott!) 

I think I got it all out, what are your thoughts?

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Shaye:  (after watching Spiderwick with us & hugging me;))  We had a Grandma and she died...I miss her!

Me:  I know, we will see her again someday! 

Shaye:  I know, up, up, up in heaven.  I love you momma so much.

Me:  Thanks Shaye, I love you too!

Shaye:  You are my bestest mom.

Me:  Thanks Shaye, you are my bestest fourth child (I counted on my fingers to show her).

Shaye:  I am three!  I am not three anymore???

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Today before church Henry got our local community paper the Grand Ledge Independent and was flipping through it.  He read this aloud to me and Seth:

Lowest of lowbrow to steal wheelchair

To the person or persons who stole the wheel chair in front of a house on Jenne St. of a 96-year-old lady that used it outdoors to enjoy herself. You ought to be proud of yourself. It took a lot of courage to do this.

She used to make mittens for the children and is called the Mitten Lady. She is the widow of a war veteran that was wounded in the war.

Do the right thing and return it to where you took it. If anyone sees a red wheel chair anywhere, call the Grand Ledge police and they will return it to the lady.

I cannot even imagine someone stealing from a handicapped person. You need our prayers.

I told Steve that I just folded Grandma's and put it in her closet!  Seth yells, "Let's give her Grandma's!" 

Her house is less than a mile from ours and we pass it all the time.  We knew exactly what house on Jenne St. they were talking about.  We passed it on the way to church and everyone got excited about maybe delivering a wheelchair later. 

Well, it ended up being around 5:45pm when we finally got to it after the days activities.  We could hear that the TV was on through the screen door, but she never made it to the door.  We left the chair on the front porch with a little note.  I just explained how we had lost our Grandma and thought she could use it.  Love The Steitz's.  We went to dinner with my inlaws and when we got back there was a message on their answering machine asking that we call, and that this chair was so much better than the one that was stolen.  We decided to go by her house on the way home. 

The kids were SO excited.  After Grandma died, they kept asking if we could have another Grandma come live with us!  So here we were all of us on her tiny porch.  She came to the door in a chair she keeps inside and immediately invited us in to "see how she lives" as she put it.  It was like stepping back in time!  Here was this 96 year old woman who lived on her own and was a widow of a World War ONE veteran!!! 

We probably spent about an hour there talking to her and hearing about her life!  Here was this woman pretty much living on her own right around the corner from me!!  I have driven by her house at times wondering about her because I knew an elderly woman lived there.  It was an amazing time!  She was so greatful and kept wanting to pay us.  She gave Shaye a stuffed animal and the kids candy corn from probably 1973!  (Alexandra spit hers in the garden and Shaye said hers tasted great!)  She hugged Seth when she found out it was his idea.  She doesn't go to the doctors and is not on any medication.  Cooks her own dinners and has encouraging handwritten notes all over her walls!  One that says, Slow Down Inez (her name); Be patient, stay humble!  The man that wrote the letter to the paper checks on her every day and makes her her morning coffee.  He is just a friend from town. 

I was blessed tonight!  By my family, by my community (well, NOT the ones who stole her chair;) and by her!  She has the BEST attitude and loves her little house and life!  Pray we are able to share the Gospel with her soon! 

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So, we have been on a journey lately...and its all Henry's doing (inward cheering;). 

We have made the switch to raw milk and Henry is officially baking our bread.  I know that I have been pretty sappy lately, but when your husband buys items from Urban Homemaker (which by the way is a GREAT site, and Marilyn Moll has a wealth of info to share in her newsletters!), shouldn't I be??? (sappy that is!)

Nutrition is very important to me.  I was raised with an awareness of health & nutrition (even if I wasn't always practicing...) and Henry and I have slowly been taking steps to a more organic lifestyle.  But recently, Henry has been bitten with the bug!  The milk and bread thing is ALL him, and he even does a two step process now with his bread making.  (I don't even know how to use the bread maker yet;)

But this morning, he just outdid himself!!!!  This is what we had for breakfast.

Cinnamon Bread

The Proud Baker

Of course, then I had to make glaze and added even more nutritional value to it~haha!

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Last summer Seth decided to turn my perennial beds into a vegetable garden by planting and harvesting watermelons (from the seeds in HIS piece of watermelon) a pumpkins. 

This year, he decided to *raise* (as he puts it) Toads from teeny wheeny tadpoles.  We are blessed with 9 acres of woods behind our house in the suburbs where we do many of our nature walks. 

Our new little duck family in the pond out back.

Seth discovers the tadpoles

Seth found some in a pond that comes and goes through the rainy seasons and on one of our nature walks we found tons of tadpoles.  We later learned that the black ones are toads.  We got out our handy dandy Handbook of Nature Studies.  We used an old aquarium and got pond water and rocks so they could eat the algae off of them.  Ever since then (May 24th) Seth has gone out and *raised* them on our deck. 

A couple days ago, we discovered tiny tiny toads!  We have only had to have one burial so far because we didn't have enough land.  We learned that after their legs start appearing, they lose their gills and grow lungs...so he quickly went out back to build up one side of the aquarium.  Thus, the happy results...

Some babies left to be raised!

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The attempt to read A Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason has begun again;)  This time I think it is going to stick though, because all of a sudden certain things are making sense like never before. 

I have always tried to use AmblesideOnline as more than just a book list (mostly because IT IS...), but taking the time to read and dig, well, just takes time.  So for many many months, I have been living off of the knowledge of the wiser women on the Ambleside yahoo groups (which has many wise women on it!!).

Anyway, because my daughters were being very shy and would not let me leave them at a Day Camp (at a friend's house none the less...her daughter was doing the camp, still couldn't leave...) I sat in my suburban and read for almost 2 hours.  It was actually quite nice to have them time to read a whole paragraph all at once.  In between phone calls from the boys back at home (homeschooling via phone, a first for me), I was able to just absorb so much info just in the introduction!  

Miss Mason seems way more candid in this volume (I have only partly read Volume One).  But it really sparked a fire in me and now can't wait to just delve into it.  

She starts off pointing out how the mind, just like the body NEEDS nourishment.  But to her, that is not just to use it on a daily basis.  Its even more than just doing math actually, that would just be exercising it, which it good to do, but not enough.  

Here is one quote:

...mind appeals to mind and thought begets thought and that is how we become educated.  For this reason we owe it to every child to put him in communication with great minds that he may get at great thoughts...

To get to those great thoughts they need to read many many worthy books.  

She draws the line in saying that the mind can only get it from within and not without.  Instead of giving them *ideas* from other authors' wisdom, we (teachers and home school moms alike) use incentives, marks, prizes etc.  insead of *knowledge-hunger* (which comes from again, ideas they get from the worthy books and authors), which she says for a child is incentive enough to learn, but we don't give them the chance.  

She also explains the difference between memorizing and assimilating.  I was raised in public schools (many different schools in three different states).  I can tell you that memorizing (usually for the test) was how I learned!!  I have my kids narrate to me what they just read in their own words, and instead they are ASSIMILATING the information.  She says here...

...all reading was tested by a narration of the whole or a given passage, whether orally or in writing.  Children working on these lines know months after that which they have read and are remarkable for their power of concentration (attention); they have little trouble with spelling or composition and become well-informed, intelligent persons.

Now I have to say, that I read that yesterday and thought, hmmmm, does this describe my kids?  With all that we have been through the past, what?, two years, have I been challenging them enough to live up to this?  Do they have (true) knowledge that they can recall months later of something they read so long ago. 

And then it happened!  I have a son in Year One and a son in Year Two.  My Y2 son we were very inconsistent with Shakespeare and our Parables of Nature readings, so I decided for the Summer to do those two together with the boys.  My Y2 son *hated* Parables of Nature, but after doing Ambleside for a couple years now, I feel like I am able to challenge them with it.  Well, today we read Training and Restraining and I read the first line and Nik (Y2) stopped me and said, "OH!  I remember this!"  And continued to narrate the WHOLE dang thing to me.  I read this to him (because I printed out the book and the date is at the bottom) TWO years ago!  And he HATED every minute of it!  But today, he just unloaded after ONE sentence of the story.  (Seth, Y1, was quite impressed by the way!)

Do I even need to explain HOW encouraged I was to continue school today (we are schooling through the summer after taking almost the whole fall off because of construction)??  All my guilt of schooling them until 1ish every day during their summer went right out the window, and the encouragement came from Charlotte Mason herself;) 

I so want my kids to LOVE knowledge, because quite honestly, they were created to love (and NEED) it.  I so don't want them memorizing to pass a test!  I have already proven where that gets a person!   

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Nik:  (10:38am)  Dad said you have to give us an easy day at school today.

Me:  He is golfing and I can have your full day of school done by the time he gets home and he will never know...(evil little laugh)

Nik: Mom, please can't we have an easy day?

Me:  What is an easy day?  Your schedule says: Math, Joan of Arc, Wind in the Willows and Robin Hood.

Nik:  Can't I just skip Wind in the Willows and do the rest?

Me:  Fine...

Me inside:  I have done it!  I have brainwashed them!  (more evil sounding laughter...)

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One day, I will be able to articulate exactly what I think and feel (especially spiritually).  For now, I will just rely on people who really KNOW how to articulate themselves spiritually.  (And on people who know how to link to sound bites;)

I have a favorite radio show that I actually listen to on a podcast because I can't pick up the show in Michigan.  Its the White Horse Inn.  I just think these guys get it.  They understand the Gospel and know how to present it.  I do occassionally have to listen to an episode a couple times to grasp everything they communicate in 33 minutes.  But its worth it. 

Tonight, I was going to some of my favorite blogs (which I have not done is quite a while!) and found theMangoTimes post about a White Horse Inn episode that I listened to today while working out.  This episode is so worth your time and energy to listen and comprehend.  theMangoTimes has a clip for you to listen to, but please listen to the whole thing. 

The depth of the Gospel is SO much more than we give it credit for.  Our God wants MORE than for us just to *love* Jesus, or for us to communicate *Jesus Loves You* to someone who doesn't know (yet, all of those are true).  Its deeper than that, its more complex, and yet easy for even (tongue in cheek) a sinner to understand.  I am tired of the dumbed down gospel.  People DESERVE more!

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Happy Father's Day Daddy! 

 Was our Pastor, still our mentor!

Still inspiring!

I love and miss you dad.   (I purposely left off our embarressing Yoga pics;).   Thanks for inpiring me in SO many different areas/levels/stages () of my life!!! 

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Since I am getting so much hate mail from all my readers about not updating my blog (jjjjuuuuussssstttt kidding ), I thought I would post quickly and bridge that non blogging gap. 

The intensity has calmed a bit around here after losing (I guess I should say her send-off;)  Grandma Jean.  Her room is still the same as she left it, except a little cleaner.  It still has her scent, so we all find ourselves just walking through every once in a while to have a *chat*.  Grief is its own dynamic process I have found, and I have just had to let God take me through it all.  The kids' blind faith in it all really encourages me tons! 

We are still schooling through the summer because of all the construction that went on here in the fall.  The kids are handling it pretty well and I am hoping to have Nik pretty much done with Year 2 by September and Seth done with Year 1 also.  I guess we will see how well we do the next couple months.  Its ever the battle of the homeschool mom to keep the balance.  Sometimes my balance needs balance;)  Sometimes I just need to not care so much.   

We are taking the kids to The Big Ticket Festival next week for the weekend.  We are really excited about getting away with them and letting the boys especially, see all the bands they enjoy so much.  I am excited about worshipping live to all the CD's I listen to all day!  Our church pretty much just uses the hymnal (for now), and that actually has been SO good for my children.  Shaye walks around singing "This is my Father's World"...and it helps focus our hymn study for church.  But I am the one with the *charismatic* background, so I am the one that misses it more than them.  I am ready for the David Crowder stage;) 

I am also going to get to go to Maryland in July.  With STUPID gas prices and my huge Suburban, I wasn't sure.   But thank God for random GM bonuses!!!  But I talked to my neice yesterday for her birthday, and she was talking to me on the phone in llloooonnnnngggg sentences!  So I really need to see her.  Thats that. 

I am also working on a new blog over at blogger...for some time I have been working on it.  I wish I new HTML better, because I really have an interest in it, but you know, that whole balance thing.  You should see the book pile on my bedstand. 

Speaking of books, I do have a book review post I will probably do soon about The Shack.  INCREDIBLE! 

Oh, I know how to make a basic martini now and own my own little shaker! 

There you go you anxious readers :)  You are updated slightly. 

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Paradigms power perception and perceptions power emotions.  Most emotions are responses to perception-what you think is true about a given situation.  If your perception is false, then your emotional response to it will be false too.  So check your perceptions, and beyond that check the truthfulness of your paradigms-what you believe.  Just because you believe something firmly doesn't make it true.  Be willing to reexamine what you believe.  The more you live in the truth, the more your emotions will help you see clearly.  But even then, you don't want to trust them more than God.

~The Shack~

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Background info...Nik was having some crazy energy release by acting totally insane and saying really weird things.  (I know nothing new...) 

Mom:  Seth, what is wrong with your brother?  Why is he acting like that?

Seth (without hesitation):  I don't know mom, maybe we should put him down.

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Things that I LOVE about my man! 

1.  He is teachable.

2.  He loves his Creator.

3.  He loves his family.

4.  He takes his job as a provider seriously.

5.  He is punctual.

6.  He is a handyman.

7.  He is clean (but still a messy...ahem...sorry).

8.  He is thoughtful.

9.  He likes to wrestle with his kids.

10.  He does my errands for me.

11.  He picks up the household slack without being asked to.

12.  He is courageous.

13.  He takes Sunday mornings very seriously.

14.  He has GREAT boundaries.

15.  He looks good in a suit.

16.  Ok, he kinda looks good bald .

17.  He is taking up breadmaking.

18.  Better yet, he is taking up YOGA!

19.  He is a good researcher.

20.  He has an awesome work ethic.

21.  He cannot be manipulated (I like this now...).

22.  He has TONS of common sense.

23.  He is a beer snob.

24.  He has a soft heart.

25.  He supports me and my endeavors.

26.  He values character.

27.  He is pretty funny.

28.  He SEEKS God.

29.  He automatically sees us as a team.

30.  He is God's gift to ME.

31.  God is starting to renew his missions desire, and Steve is letting him!!

32.  He is loyal.

33.  He is interested in the character of his children.

34.  He is good at doing favors.

35.  He loves to serve his church.

36.  He is not intimidated easily.

37.  He knows when to draw the line in the sand.

38.  He doesn't let me mow the lawn .

39.  He started cleaning bathrooms when I was pregnant and hasn't stopped!

40.  He is good at making our huge bed.

41.  He is good at pushing people to do better.

42.  He tricked me into thinking he was layed back before we were married (only knew him for six months...)

43.  He respects my need to sometimes be alone.

44.  He's got good (ahem...expensive) taste in clothing.

45.  He brushes his teeth for the FULL two recommended minutes at least three times a day.

46.  He is a rule keeper.

47.  He is a good neighbor.

48.  He is really good at poneytails.

49.  He was good at taking care of his Grandma.

50.  His gift is serving.

51.  He washed my kitchen and dining room floors the day before his birthday. 

52.  He is open to adoption.

53.  He likes to laugh.

54.  He loves to worship.

55.  He likes politics.

56.  He wants the best for our family.

57.  He loves to do what is RIGHT.

58.  He is so much like my mom personality wise, that sometimes we joke that I married my mother;)

59.  He is *man* enough to let me decorate our room as flowery as I would like it. 

60.  He is starting to eat vegetables!

61.  Did I mention that he bakes bread for our family?!?

62.  He has prayed about our relationship from the VERY beginning.

63.  He secretly wants to be Amish. 

64.  He took a huge risk in starting his own business. 

65.  He is black and white. 

66.  He bought a wheatgrass puree-er and knows (because he researched it) the benefits of it.

67.  All kids love him as their soccer coach.

68.  He loves ME!

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 obviously in a good way...

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Seth: (after playing ALL day in humid/warm conditions till 10:15pm) Mom, do I have to take a shower, I am not dirty. (for those of you who know Seth personally, take a few moments here...)

Mom: Yes, you just showed me your sweaty head...

Seth: But I am not dirty, its just sweat...

Mom: But sweat is getting yucky stuff out of your body, you need to take a shower...

Seth: Do I need to use soap?

Mom: Yes...

Seth: Do I need to wash my hair?

Mom: Yes...with shampoo (which I am remembering now, is not in their shower and they are in there, hold one moment)

Seth: Ok...

A very serious conversation with Seth...

Lord, be with me.

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I don't have the mental or emotional wherewithall to even comment on this very ignorant *journalist*.  But maybe you all can... 

First read Jack Lessenberry's blog...

Then read this GREAT response from Doc!  LOVE IT!  And if you scroll down in the comments the Associate VP of Hillsdale sets the record straight! 

Some people just don't get it! 

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She's gone, but her clothes are folded on the dryer, and dirty ones in her hamper.

She is gone, but there are tissues still all over her room, and PJ's hanging in the bathroom.

She is gone, but her breakfast drink is still on her bedstand, and her cell phone just rang.

She is gone, but I can still smell her lotion and I keep waking up thinking I heard her.

She is gone, but I keep thinking about her dinner and if her pill case is filled.

She is gone, but yesterday's clothes are on the bed and it needs to still be made.

She is gone from here, but with YOU Lord, and I so grateful for that.  She was such a comfort to me, making me laugh, reminding me why I walked in the room (because I would always forget...), listening to my silly stories, reading to the kids and keeping me company at night.   

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