So, Monday morning Big Girl had the last of her baby teeth removed.  It was hard on this mama to think of that.  The procedure was hard on Big Girl - these were molars and the roots hadn't begun to recede.  The dentist had a difficult time getting the teeth out.

Anyway, Monday night I decided to try it again.  Hubbie took all the children into one room to read bedtime books, and then to tell 'the story in the dark.'   As they were telling the story, I burst in the room in full toothfairy garb.

Kitty Cat instantly said, "Mama!" in that way she has when she thinks I am being silly.  I said, "Oh!  I thought everyone was asleep!"  I  went straight over to Big Girl's bed, waved the money, and put it under her pillow.  When I turned around, Hubbie snapped a photo. 

Not a very flattering photo, I must say.  I'm considering sending him to photography school... but I digress...

I left the room, finished my bedtime routine which included getting back into my regular jammies.  I returned into the girls' room to say good night.  They were all grinning and telling me they had just seen the tooth fairy.  I said, "Oh, really?  I'm sorry I missed that."   Kitty Cat says, "You wanna see a picture?"  We laughed and I headed off to bed.

I'm sure you can imagine my reaction the next day when Big Girl and Kitty Cat were telling Grammie all about seeing the tooth fairy and Kitty Cat said, with an expression of genuine astoundedness on her face, "It was amazing how much she looked like Mama!"

I'm hoping she's pulling my leg...

Here are some photos from our 16th annual caroling party. When we began, we were just four dating couples. Over the years we married and had children. We've grown from eight people to twenty! We're thinking it will be fun when our grandchildren join us some day...

Here are the children:

And here is a shot of all of us:

We had such a nice St. Nick's day this year. I made the 'Santa cookies' and we decorated them.  The cookie cutter we use comes from here (it's the small one) and is such a simple design that it is very low stress to decorate. Using these decorators, it was easy even for Boyo to decorate.  So, the cookies started out looking like this:

to looking like this:

The children had a great time decorating.

After we decorated (and ate)cookies and made our 'Santa plate,' we adjourned to the living room, lit our Advent candles, and read "The Secret of Saint Nicholas" by Mary Anne Kamols. This book gently addresses the truth of Saint Nicholas. We had quite a nice discussion of how Saint Nicholas became Santa Claus, and our discussion of course included Clement Moore's famous poem and how commercial advertising cemented the Santa Claus image in the minds of Americans.

Early the next morning the children came down to the living room to open their stockings.

You can see the 'snowy footprints' on the carpet, and the empty plate. My husband and I enjoyed the last of the cookies while he used a stencil and some powdered sugar to create the footprints. We use powdered sugar instead of flour because someone always wants to taste North Pole snow...

The stockings contain pretty much the same thing every year: chocolate coins, because that's what Saint Nicholas left; non-pareils, because they remind us of happy family times; toothbrushes, because those were in my husband's stockings when he was a child; scented soap, because that's our tradition; a flashlight, because Jesus is the Light of the World; and a lump of coal candy. 

This year, as a reminder of the vast differences between the real Saint Nicholas and today's Santa Claus, I got glass bottles of 'real' coke (sugar instead of hfcs) for us to enjoy.

We had a wonderful Saint Nicholas Day!

When my children were born, I had no desire to do such things as 'the tooth fairy.'  I mean, come on!  But it was a big tradition in my husband's family, and when my mother-in-law presented my daughter with a 'tooth fairy pillow,' I just went along with it.

Fast forward to six months ago.  One of the big girls lost a tooth, and all three of the girls had questions about the tooth fairy.  So, I decided to follow the lead of one of the FIAR moms and address it with a little fun.  I made my plans and I waited.

Friday, my oldest daughter lost a couple of teeth.  I decided this was the time to gently lay the tooth fairy to rest.  It would be perfect.  She is my daughter that simply cannot fall asleep easily.  She comes in to our room usually at least twice each night in the first half an hour after lights out, wanting to talk about something before she can relax and go to sleep.  Perfect!

So, after my husband finished reading the bedtime stories, I set the plan in motion.  I stepped into our bathroom and emerged dressed in black pants and shirt,  wings pinned onto the shirt, a tiara, a feather boa, and a sequined purple tutu.  I had a wand.  I was ready.

After turning on the hall light so I would be nicely backlit, I walked into the girls' room, and heard.... snoring!  What!  Big Girl was asleep?  No way!  I was expecting Two to be drowsy, but not Big Girl.

I stomped across the floor to waken her.  Didn't work. I kicked her underbed boxes back under the bed where they belong. Didn't work.  I jingled the wand over her, then poked her with the wand, then poked her with my finger. Finally I grabbed her arm and shook it.  Her eyes flew open. 

I jingled the wand in front of her, then shook the money before her very eyes. I wanted to make sure she wasn't missing this.  Then I roughly shoved the money under her pillow, and just as roughly emerged with the tooth pillow.  I waved that in front of her as well.  Then, flapping my arms like a deranged goose, I tiptoed loudly from the room, shutting the door behind me. 

Expectantly, I waited in the hall for her to come out and ask what in the world I was doing.  Never happened.  Finally, I went back into our bathroom and emerged in my pj's, only to be met by two-year-old Boyo asking, "Mama, what you were doin' in that dwess?"  

My husband and I figured that Big Girl would at least have a dream to tell us about the next morning.  But, nuthin'.  

Finally, I said to her, "Hey, since you're going upstairs, why don't you see if the tooth fairy left you anything.'

"She did. But I was waiting to show it to Princess and Boyo."

"Oh."

My husband looks at me with some serious surprise on his face, and then says to Big Girl, "Honey, uh, did you happen to see the tooth fairy?"

Big Girl replies very matter-of-factly, "Yes."

"Well, what did she look like?"

Continuing up the stairs, she says in an even tone, "She was bigger than I imagined."

! ! !

Shortly thereafter, I heard her telling her younger siblings all about her tooth fairy sighting.

Guess I'll try again.

They are gifts.  My children are gifts to my husband and me.  Not only is the Bible very clear on that, but our experience bears it out as well.

Why would I give them away?

Why would I send them away from me, to sit at the feet of someone else to be discipled, influenced, changed?

Why would I give away their daily best hours of energy, enthusiasm, joy, fun, to someone else so that I can be left with the dregs?

Why would I give away the joy of seeing my child change from pre-operational to operational in math;  watching as reading "clicks" for her; sitting shoulder to shoulder as she finally gets her hands to do what she wants them to do; hearing her excitement as mysteries of the world open up to her?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

With cooler weather moving into the area, the area mice have decided to move into our house.  Last night we saw one in the family room.  A little later I was in the kitchen doing dishes and 4yo Princess Perky went into the family room alone to get something.  Mousie poked his head out from under our couch and Princess got hysterical. She jumped up on a chair and began to scream, "Help! Help! I'm so scared! Get me out of here! Get me out of this room! Get me out of this house!"

I ran in and grabbed her and sat down in the chair with her and began to comfort her.  As I was doing so, Mousie looked out again, and the screaming began again.  I gently put my hand over her mouth and said, "Shush!  Now be so still and sit here and watch."

Watch we did.  Mousie kept poking his head out from under the couch and pulling it back in until he felt a little more safe. Then he exited his refuge and began to make his way across the floor. He stopped just a bit from us and stopped to look at us, giving us a good chance to look at him.

He was so cute. Dark gray and soft looking, with big velvety ears - if he wasn't in my house he would have been adorable. 

Mouse viewing turned out to be a mistake.  Perky now thinks mice are the cutest things ever, luuvs them, and is plotting to get one as a pet for every member of the family.

"Please, Mama, please.  I'll care for it so well!"

Uh, no. Thanks, but no. I'll have guinea pigs, I'll have fish. I'll have reptiles, amphibians and birds. But no mice in the hice.  I mean, no mouse in the house.  Ever.  Unless it comes in voluntarily and at great risk to its personal safety.

- We called the children to come to the supper table.  When 4yo dd arrived, she was out of breath.  We asked her what she'd been doing. 

"Playing."

"Playing what?"

"Detective.  I'm a detective and I detect when people have been muhduhd."

-We were driving home from errands and talking about our pet chickens.  10yo dd and I were discussing petting the chickens and just generally lovin' on them.  4yo dd pipes up from the back seat, "Yes, but we can't hug them, or their heads might pop off!"

-Like mother, like son

The phone rang today, and before I could get to it, 2yo ds picked it up and answered it.  After saying "hello" he immediately frowned, pointed at his sisters, and said, "Shhhh!  Be kite!  I on the phone!"

I wanted a book case headboard, so several years ago my husband made one for our bed.  He made it of plywood, with trim moulding for a little texture and a more finished look.

It holds books, alarm clocks, lights, whatever. 

The headboard was painted to coordinate with our walls and bedding in our old house; we moved last week and the walls here are still white and I haven't found all the bedding yet, but you can get the general idea.

Here is a photo of the headboard.

Here is a side view so you can see how it looks from the side.

The book cubbies have a hole in the back for electrical wires.  We were in a hurry at the time we built the headboard and those were the only lights we could find that weren't halogen. I don't want halogen lights on my headboard - I think they would be too hot.  So, we will keep looking untl we find some lights we like better that are non-halogen.

April 24 - everything proceeding as normal - busy living life and have planned and purchased materials for a DYI remodel of our family room

April 25 - husband driving home from work sees a sign in a yard

April 26 - look at the house, love the floor plan

April 27 - look at the house again and after much discussion decide that it is just too much work and we are not interested

April 28 - make an offer on the house

April 29 - offer is accepted and contract drawn up

May 2 - home inspection

May 6 - renegotiation based on inspection

May 15 - approval of terms by all parties; get storage pod delivered

May 20 - meet with tradesmen to get bids on work to be done

May 22 - show house to sister who is visiting from out of town

May 29 - close on house

May 30 - get family room measured for carpet

June 4 - take possession

June 5 - meet with window guy, floor guy; also a friend about removing wallpaper.  meet with seller to learn about mechanicals

June 7 - remove wallpaper, paneling from house; realize the drywall is not textured. begin moving things from old garage to new garage

June 9 - meet with contractor about texturing walls; hire him

June 10 - meet with another floor guy; hire him

Jun- 12 - 15 - drywall is being textured

June 16-17 - new roof put on

June 16 - 20 - floors being refinished

June 20 - dumpster delivered

June 21 - 22 - put all trash from drywall texture, wallpaper removal, roofing, etc. into dumpster

June 22 - replace doors

June 23 - clean house in preparation to move in; begin moving small items; prepare furniture for new home on wood floors

June 24 - movers arrive to take large items and FIRST NIGHT IN NEW HOUSE

My daughter's recreational soccer team had their-end of season party last night.  We met at their practice field and before we commenced with pizza and trophies and cake, we had a parent v. daughter game.

I am NOT athletic, I am not competitive, I have never played soccer before in my life.  Let me just say those things up front.

Last night I learned some things:

-  I learned that I am more competitive than I thought I was.

- I learned that I don't really care whether my team scores or not, but ain't NOBODY gonna score on me.

- When facing my daughter on the field as a competitor, I learned why her coach says she is "scarey good."  Wow!  Even just for fun, she is intimidating.

- I learned it is a good idea to keep my eyes open when I am kicking a soccer ball.

- I learned why my daughters love the game of soccer!

On my daughter's team, the girls are from three different schools plus homeschool; they are from a variety of family situations; they have a variety of spiritual beliefs.  But they all get along well, and our parent group enjoys each other too.  We are a soccer community and it is a wonderful thing to be a part of such a group.  The team is parent-coached, and all other positions are parent volunteers as well;  we are blessed to have folks who are so committed to our daughters' enjoyment of this past-time.

that we are moving.

We have wanted to move for a while now.  We have felt that with the birth of our current youngest, we are bursting at the seams.    Our floorplan works awkwardly for us, at best.

We have looked and looked, for years, in fact.  But finding the right floorplan on the right lot in the right neighborhood at the right price has been impossible.

(The word "right" in the above sentence does not mean ritzy or new or fancy or anything like that. It just means "fits our needs".)

And... as frustrating as some things are about our house, it is our home.  Our first two children were brought home from the hospital to this house; two more were born here.  Three of them learned to walk in this house.  Except for nine months of TDY, all of our children have spent all of their lives here.

But, our split-level floorplan was causing increased problems for the grandparents; it became increasingly difficult for them to visit us because of all the stair climbing to move from one room to the next.

After years of searching wore me out, we decided that there were possibly things we could do to make the most of where we are, so we set to work in August to make that happen.  We have been making gradual and sure progress and feeling pretty content with that.

On April 25, all of that changed. 

My husband was driving home from work and noticed a "for sale" sign in a yard.  That was a Friday. Saturday we looked at the house. Sunday we looked at it again.  Monday we made an offer. Tuesday the offer was accepted.

Now we are just doing all of the little things one does between putting a contract on a house and closing on it.  Lots of paperwork, inspections, etc.

We are so excited!

The floorplan is one we have dreamed of. The house is easily-navigable for senior citizens: the grandparents today, and us in the future. 

The house and yard are very easily classified as "fixer-uppers", which is why it fits our budget.  That gives us room to plan and dream.

God is so good to us.

My little son hurt his arm.  He came to me crying and showed it to me.

I said, "Oh, poor guy!  Do you want me to kiss it?"

He replied adamantly, "No.    Chocolate!"

You know you have, ahem, made too much smoke in the kitchen when your 22-month-old son walks around singing to himself, "Beep beep!   Fi-yar, fi-yar!"

Yesterday, DH and I did another "Big Cook."  Friday night we got a sitter, and spent 4 hours at our food warehouse store and then at our grocery store.

I got up at 6 yesterday and put the final touches on my labels, printing out the recipes, made the prep list, etc., and by 7:30 we were cooking.

My 7yo helped quite a bit, until the beautiful weather was just too exciting to ignore. Also, we enlisted the neighbor girls who were in the back yard playing, as well as my girls, whenever we needed hands to hold baggies while I filled them.

I now have 50 frozen entrees in my freezer.  And, one of the recipes made a bit more than I expected, so we were able to share casseroles with three other families, as well as having one for our dinner last night.

We finished at a little after 6:00 last night.  It sounds like a lot of work, but these meals will last for around 10 weeks.  Doing the planning, shopping, cooking and clean up individually each day over the course of the next 10 weeks would take waaay more than 16+ hours, so I came out ahead.  Additionally, there is no stress because every day I KNOW WHAT IS FOR DINNER.  AND IT'S READY. 

Yee haw!

This week we have been watching the movie "Heartland."  It is a very well-done movie about homesteading in the early 1900's.  However, it portrays a life that was harsh and unrelenting. 

(note: there are also graphic scenes of how animals become food. this movie is not for the squeamish. preview before watching with your children)

There were some sad and difficult parts, and my daughters were making sympathetic noises during those scenes.  HOWEVER...

my boy was screaming with excitement throughout the movie.  His twenty-month-old self was just too excited, and he was bouncing in Daddy's lap yelling, "Train, train!  Wook! Train!"  or  "Chruck!  Chruck!  (truck) Yay!" or "Tows (cows)!  Oh, wook, Mama, tows!)"   or "Horsies!  neigh! neigh! Horsies!"

The next day while Baby Boy was sitting between us eating breakfast, DH and I were enjoying remembering how thrilled Boyo was during the movie.  I said that was to be expected.  "After all, there were trains, trucks, cows and horses.  What more could a boy want?'

Without missing a beat, my son looked up and said, "Doggies!"

Oh, yeah, I forgot.  Boys want trucks, trains, cows, horses and doggies.  Oops, my bad. 

My big girls are old enough that they can study some subjects semi-independently. 

I've set up some stations in our Expedition Room where they can do that, and it is really helping them take "ownership" of their education. And, it is a great time-saver for me - I use that time to engage in "snuggle-reads" and play-dough construction with my 3yo and toddler.

We have an inexpensive piano keyboard that we picked up used.  I attached headphones and velcroed a timer to it; I also organized their music in a file-folder "hot file" that DH attached to the wall.  At the beginning of each week, I review their music 'home fun' with each girl; then they are on their own - unless they want to show me what they've learned, how they've improved, or just need help.

We set up the math station near the work table. My mom gave us her old laptop.  I put the MathUSee DVD's and the laptop ontop of a two-drawer file cabinet.  Again, I attached headphones.  Each girl can watch her lesson on the laptop, and then do her work.  They work on their own unless they need help.

Our third "headphone station" involves a CD player and a beanbag chair.  The girls listen to their PowerGlide Spanish and do their workbooks while they listen.  Each girl goes at her own pace. They have both been good about going back and reviewing when they need it.  9yo DD really enjoys it the most.

We begin our days reading and discussing Psalms together.  Now that the girls can do the above three disciplines independently, I can add another independent lesson - journaling.  They are very excited about this!  And, I will be gradually adding in more humanities and other courses of study that we will do together.

My 9yo dd is very into holidays.  I'm, well, not so much.  And yet they can be so special...

Sweet Girl spent went with her daddy to get small gifts and cards for everyone.  Then she spent several days hiding gifts and making clues for everyone.

When DD got home from work, she presented us all with cards and clues; she was so excited to watch us find our gifts.

Mine was a can of Dr. Pepper and a lovely picture she drew.

I got this idea from my friends on the FIAR boards.

I got each child one unbreakable drinking glass; one color per child.  Now the children know which glass is theirs and are responsible for keeping it clean (I do help the little ones) and knowing where it is.

Wow! This has really helped my counter-top clutter in the kitchen. I was literally washing 1+ dishwasher load of drink ware only every day.

The children are enjoying this as well.

Every year for Valentine's Day, I make DH a candy poster, and have it stealthed into his work to surprise him.  Here is last year's :

I've written it before:  I was born in a small town.   It's amazing how much of that is woven into who I am.

With my dad's illness, I realized that when he is gone, my family will be gone from a place where we have been for over 100 years.  However, it's not just the thought of my family being gone from the hometown that I find so disturbing.  It is that my hometown will be gone.

My sister and I were talking about this over Thanksgiving.  It is so hard to be there now, and see our town like it is.  It is hard to get our husbands and children to understand what it was, because what it is is so bad.

When we were growing up, our town had a population of around 3,500.  However, there were many other small towns and villages in the surrounding area, and my town was the hub.  Everyone came to my town - to shop, to have lunch, to "make the drag," to go to the movies.

We had a thriving Main Street, with a flower shop, two drug stores, three utility offices, two 5 & Dimes, cafes, hair salons, offices, theaters, a hotel, two jewelry stores, an auto parts store, a home supplies store, a hardware store, lumber yards, a feed store, a fabric shop, a bank, two furniture stores, and many clothing stores.

You couldn't go to town without running into, well, everyone.  There was never anyplace to park on Main; folks usually had to park on one of the side streets.  My grandmother lived a block off Main, so we just parked at her house.  The town was busy, bustling, all the time.  Some of the stores didn't close until 6:30 or 7:00.

High school events were big: sports, parades, plays, concerts.  There was always a packed house, even at football pep rallies.  If you wanted a place to stand where you could see the parade floats pass by, you had to get there early.  Or, if you were lucky, you were friends with one of the Main Street store owners and were invited to join their group on the roof.

The economy was good.  Many of our friends stayed in the hometown, or went away to college and came back home after.

My sister and I married "away."  She lives about 4 hours from home; I"m about 14 hours away.  We went home every chance we could, and so did everyone else.  Thanksgiving and Christmas, Easter, July 4th, the August rodeo and picnic, homecoming in October...    We went shopping, went to church, went to everything that was going on in town, and there was always lots going on.

We laugh because we always made sure we were 'dressed' before we went to town - because you never knew who you'd run into!  We'd literally see 20 or 30 of either our friends, or their parents.  And in a small town, there's talk, you know, so we didn't want to give anybody room to say about us, "Well, she's let herself go..."

It was fun, it was invigorating, it was refreshing and renewing and bolstering.  We knew who we were and where we belonged. 

My maternal grandfather was born there. My paternal grandfather was raised there, and my paternal grandmother was born there in 1900; all of her many siblings were born there as well, some of them in the 1800's.

I could go to the grocery store for my mom, and it never failed that I'd run into a little old lady who'd known my grandfather when he was a boy.  "And how's your little granddaddy doing?"  one of them would ask; she was older than Granddaddy and always thought of him as a very small boy.

Of course, my grandparents have all passed on, and so have their peers.  Many of my parents' peers have passed as well.  And though we are not old, it's not just the parents of our friends whose obituaries we're reading now, but we're beginning to read those of our friends as well.

Many folks are moving away from the hometown as well.  One friend's dad died, and her mom moved away.  Since my friend doesn't live there any more either, it's likely that we'll never see each other again - with the parents gone, there isn't any reason to go back, especially on the holidays.

Before, when we'd go back at a holiday time, we made sure to get to church early or we might not have a place to sit!  Now, there are fewer than 50 people in church, including my family of 11.  Everyone is gone.

 It's so dreary now. Store fronts are boarded up.  Instead of thriving local businesses, the only going concerns are the two competing dollar store chains.  We don't see anyone when we go uptown; we don't go uptown.  Oh, we tried it once, a little over a year ago, but it was so hard to walk past the boarded up windows of the place where we sat at the fountain and drank our floats; or the place we bought my first bicycle; or the place that always made sure to stock my favorite sneakers in my size because I wore them out so quickly...

Folks in my hometown used to be what my Grandmother called "house proud."  What she meant by that was that folks kept their homes' exteriors clean and in good repair.  No peeling paint, no trash or old cars or other junk in the yards, no overgrown yards.  These days even the houses ooze despair, looking as if they would fall down with the weight of it if they didn't have the weeds and car corpses to hold them up.  They look just as hopeless as the people seem to feel.

Reading this, you might think, well, that's what happens:  time passes and things change. And you'd be right.  But all this deterioration in less than 15 years?

In my mind's eye, I see "home" the way it was just a few years ago; every time I go back it is a shock to see it as it is now.  And I come away deeply grieved.

There was an article in a recent "Homeschool Enrichment" magazine where a similar story was related about the author's hometown, but the author was still in his hometown and able to offer some hope.  I seem to only be able to grieve from afar.

Well, we're mostly finished - as of last night!

In September, we decided to clear out the junk room in the basement and turn it into our lessons room.  I still need to put the numbers on the time line, and DH needs to secure the 'cubes' to the wall.  I also have a few items to put away.  But in terms of it being a usable space, we're finished and ready to resume formal lessons on Monday.

Here are some photos.  The "before" photos show before the 'redo' began, but after we cleared out most of the junk in the room.

The "music corner" before

and after.  The keyboard has headphones so one child can practice without disturbing the others.

The door hides a closet used to store extra paper, manipulatives, learning games, etc.

This corner

became our 'reading nook' and 'listening station':

There are reference books on the shelf within reach of the children and a basket of fun-to-read books that I rotate often.  There is a cd player with headphones, and some shelves with CDs (audio books and music).  They can also do their Spanish lessons here, using the headphones and doing their workbooks.

The upper shelves contain curriculum and other resources.

This photo

shows our 'comfy reading couch,' the mini tramp and hula hoops, the maps which still need to be hung on the wall, and our Five in a Row bookshelf, where I keep our FIAR library, our manuals, and a shelf of go-alongs.

This picture shows the view into the basement from the stairs, before

and after

Before we had a fireplace that we had never used.  It is now replaced with a floor-to-ceiling bulletin board.

To the left is our filing cabinet which stores the girls' completed assignments. The DVD player to play their Math U See and other DVD's will live on the top of this.  DH and I built the table for seatwork, with a 'ball chair' for those wiggly learners. Moving clockwise is the "science corner" where the classroom zoo - two guinea pigs, two geckos and a garter snake - live. The red table is the sensory table for the little ones, and the art corner is to the right of that. The storage cubbies do double duty as emergency escape access to the windows.

At the top, you can see the colored paint of the time line.  I painted each millenium a different color. Under the colored paint is magnetic paint, so we can use magnets to attach the figures to the timeline.  I'm really looking forward to getting the timeline numbered and getting the figures hanging on it.

We all love our new room, which is a good thing since it is where we will be spending most of our time beginning Monday!

My children on Christmas Eve!

Last night, DH, 3yo DD and toddler DS were in bed. We had read our books, and the boy was asleep.

DD asked, in her little chipmonk-on-helium voice, "What are bunnies made of?"

DH answered, "Well, fur and bones and things."

I answered, "Bunny cells and bunny DNA."

DD asked, "What else are bunnies made of?"

I said, "Bunny breath. Do you have bunny breath?"

And she sweetly and innocently replied, "No, I have people breath! And Bubba has dog breath."

We laughed until the tears streamed from our eyes.

Here are some brief opinions of some homeschool-related books I've read lately; these were all available at my public library.

“Real-Life Homeschooling: The Stories of 21 Families Who Teach Their Children at Home” by Rhonda Barfield.

I don’t think I will buy this book.  The only chapter I found interesting was 21, which talked about an entrepreneurial family.

“Homeschooling Step-by-Step: 100+ simple Solutions to Homeschooling’s Toughest Problems” by LauraMaery Gold and Joan M. Zielinski.

I will definitely buy this book.  It lists many great resources and is a great resource in itself.

“Homeschooling Almanac” by Mary & Michael Leppert

This book is also a “to buy” but get the current edition.  The one I checked out was 2002-2003.   

“Homeschooling the Early Years” by Linda Dobson

This book would be one to buy as well.  It would be a good refresher, to spark some ideas when my own well is running dry.

“Early Education at Home: A Curriculum Guide for Parents of Preschoolers and Kindergartners” by M. Jean Soyke

This was a self-published book available from my library.  It had lots of great ideas for learning stations and things to do at home w/ wee ones.

“Homeschooling the Middle Years: Your Complete Guide to Successfully Homeschooling the 8- to 12-year-old Child” by Shari Henry.

This would be a good resource to pick up.  It would be good to read through periodically for reminders. 

Homeschooling:  Take a Deep Breath – You Can Do This!  by Terrie Lynn Bittner

This is a great book for reminding, inspiration, resources, etc.  It is also a great book to refer folks to if they want to try homeschooling but are nervous.

Family Matters: Why Homeschooling Makes Sense by David Guterson

This book is written from a secular perspective, and seems to champion Rousseau.  That aside, there are some great quotes about the dysfunction of public schooling.  This book would be fine for the home library; a good resource for statistics. 

“How to Get Your Child Off the Refrigerator and On to Learning” by Carol Barnier

This book has games, manipulatives, and more for the distractible child.  Carol’s thoughts on labels and discipline, as well as her energy, make this a MUST BUY book for our house, especially since she wrote it just for us!

And, I need to get her book for distractible mothers...

Thursday, October 18, 2007

We finished “The Quilt” today.  We alo read a few more chapters of “Sugaring Time” and read about making maple sugar and syrup in “A Pioneer Sampler.”

We read about “America” in “America the Beautiful.”  In “The Maple Syrup Book” by Janet Eagleson & Rosemary Hasner, we looked at lots of photos, and read about (and were inspired to) make our own maple syrup in the spring from our tree in front.  I hope we don’t kill it…

I need to get the girls a smaller, more modern dictionary.  Webster’s 1828 is too unwieldy for them to use and doesn’t have re-spelling, making it hard to work on dictionary skills. 

We discussed the prayer Laura prayed (Now I lay me…); both girls have memorized it.  We talked about the 3 words Laura used to describe Pa.  The girls wrote three words to describe their daddy and then drew pictures of him, using the words as captions.

We discussed how trees draw water from beneath the ground to their leaves.  We used a single straw, two straws taped together, and four straws taped together to drink water, and compared the difficulty.  I told the girls what osmosis is, and demonstrated it by peeling a potato, cutting off thick slices, hollowing the slices, and placing each in a bowl of water. Then I put blue water in each potato’s hollow, and put sugar in one.  We will observe this over night.

To learn about why tree sap is so high in sugar in the winter (and thus in the spring), we froze two containers of water.  The first was plain water, the second had sugar dissolved in it.  We came back hours later; the plain water was ice and the sugar water was slush.

We compared the flavor of organic maple syrup to pancake syrup, and also compared the nutritional value.  We discussed what store-bought items the girls think are better than home made, and vice versa.

I asked the girls which bear story was scarier. We read Psalm 64:1, Psalm 73:19, and Luke 21:26 and talked about the ungodly being consumed by fear. We talked about whether fear caused by something real was different than fear caused by something imagines.  We talked about using fear as a weapon (Ezra 4:4) in the rebuilding of the temple.  I asked the girls to think of a time that an imagined fear has kept them from doing what they needed to do, and we talked about that.  Then we talked about what Pa, King David, and those rebuilding the temple did (faced their fears).

I introduced the concept of homographs using the words ‘primer’ and ‘sow’, and reminded the girls that ‘homo’ means ‘same’ and ‘graph’ means ‘write or draw’.

Both girls practiced their music on the keyboard downstairs.

Last Saturday, I attended a "time of encouragement for homeschool moms".  It was wonderful.  It was good to see old friends, to meet new friends, and to put faces to friends of the heart. 

Our speakers were Jane Lambert and Amanda Bennett.  If you don't know Jane and Amanda, well, put meeting them on the top of your life list.

Others have posted photos of the event already, but I'm adding mine here.

Here we have three generations of Oney.  The small black spot is Scout the Wonder Pup.

This is Jane, Katie, and one of Katie's fun little fellers:

Oney, Yolanda and Shauna:

Amanda and Jane

I have some great quotes from the day, but the one that keeps repeating in my head when I think of our wonderful time together is a line from Emily Dickinson: 

"Hope is the thing with feathers

That  perches in the soul

And sings the tune without the words

And never stops... at all..."

Monday, October 08, 2007

We read pp 48-72 from “Soup Should Be Seen and Not Heard.”  This portion is about how to eat various items, how to use place settings, etc. 

We talked about whittling and began to plan our soap whittling projects.  We decided to wait on making molasses candy; we’ll wait until it snows and make molasses candy and maple candy and compare them.  We looked up ‘jealousy’ in Webster’s 1828 and discussed the meaning, and looking at the slight difference between ‘jealousy’ and ‘envy.’  Then we read Proverbs 14:30 and Proverbs 27: 4 to see what God says about jealousy and envy. We read 1 Corinthians to see what God says our response should be when something good happens to someone else.

We discussed the gastrointestinal track, toxins, and elimination.  Then we ate green sesame seeds (a unanimously agreed-upon “yuck”) at noon and will see how long it takes for them to pass.

We read chapter 5 from Big Woods, and did the reading comprehension questions.

The girls worked on the “Big Woods” word search 1 from http://www.easyfunschool.com/article1496.html, and then did math.

7yo attended worship dance and 9yo attended Tae Kwan Do.

In August, my 9yo dd and I took a tree climbing class.  It wasn't what we expected. I knew there would be harnesses and ropes, but I thought they'd harness us up, we'd climb the tree, and the ropes would come into play if we got stuck, sort of like rock climbing lessons.

I was wrong. The instructor had put ropes on high branches. Our job was to learn about safety, and then we learned to push ourselves up the ropes (no easy task, let me just say) until we got as high as we wanted, and then come down.

I have an irrational fear of heights, and so set my sights on a pretty low branch on my route. Touch it, and I could come down. It took a long time to get there...

DD went up to the top of her rope on both of her climbs.  She went as high in the tree as she could go. On her last descent, the instructor let her play around in the air. She loved it.

Here is my dd heading up:

and up

and waay up

Here she is coming down from her last climb; she is the tiny speck in red.

Her acrobatics... yes, she is upside down.

Look, ma, no hands!

"with the greatest of ease..."

I'll be posting some "what are we doing" stuff from time to time.  My big girls are working in Cadron Creek's "Prairie Primer" this year, and my smallest princess is in Jane Lambert's "Before Five in a Row."

Monday, September 17, 2007

We began our day with a character lesson on lying.  What is lying?  Why is it wrong?  What is the difference between lying and telling a story?  What special responsibilities do teachers have?  How can one re-earn trust?

We read from “Soup”, chapter 2 (Phone Etiquette) and the first half of chapter 3 (Table Etiquette).

We talked about density, and floated a candle, a grape tomato and a cork in a cup containing corn syrup, vegetable oil and colored water.  We noticed that the corn syrup laid on the bottom of the cup and the vegetable oil floated on the top, with the water in the middle.  The tomato sank to the bottom, the cork floated on top and the candle floated in the middle.  Then we mixed colored milk with cream to see if the processes of pasteurization and homogenization (which we discussed) would alter the ability of the cream and milk to separate.  The cream did eventually rise.

We read from Proverbs and Ephesians on obedience, and remembered what happened to Pa when he was a little boy and disobeyed Grandpa Ingalls.

We began to learn about report writing.  We talked about research.  We reviewed “noun” and “verb.”  Then we put nouns and verbs together into sentences, and remembered that a group of words that is missing either a noun or a verb is just a phrase.  A group of sentences that tells about one thing is a paragraph.

Using the idea of writing a report on bears, first we organized our thoughts.  Bears:  What are they? What do they do? Where do they do it?

Next, we put our ideas into sentences and the sentences into paragraphs, and wrote a rough draft.  Then we talked about turning the rough draft into the finished report. 

Then I assigned the girls to begin writing a report on owls by organizing their ideas under the headings given above.

3yo was a little pistol, very noisy and disruptive.  She had to be put in time out, and then was sent to play with play dough.

I went back and helped 7yo work through her “owls” ideas.  Then, lunch, and off to a dr appt.

9yo worked on some science workbooks while at the doctor’s office.

We have a basement room in our house that was a hodge-podge kind of room:  junk storage, messy play room, laundry-folding-while watching tv space.  It was dark and messy and felt like a cave.

However, we didn't have a family room anymore; we had converted that into a school room. I asked my husband, and we agreed it would be a better use of space to return our lessons room to being a family room, and make the basement room into a lessons room.  Hmmm, it wouldn't take much: a couple of coats of paint, clearing out the junk, maybe a storage shelf.

Yeah, right.

The room was darkly paneled. DH remembered that the electrical outlets wiggle around in the wall and even pull out a bit when unplugging something. Maybe we better fix that. The cause of the problem was surely the two layers of paneling. So, let's take those off. We can do that ourselves. Once we remove the paneling, the drywall will likely need texturing. While we're at that, let's scrape the popcorn texture off the ceiling. So we called our friend Lorin, who is a contractor, to get a drywall referral.  As it happens, he had an opening in his schedule, so he came by and gave us a bid.

He began work on the project yesterday, and already there are changes. Once he pulled off the paneling, oops!  there is NO drywall behind. And no insulation.  And before we add the drywall and insulation, we might as well upgrade the aluminum wiring to copper.  And add some new outlets. And add some lights because it's so stinkin' dark down there.  Oh, and since we're doing all that, and the walls are open, let's move the phone and electrical and cable over to a little nook that later in life we can convert to a home office.

And you know, while we're doing this, those windows are not secure, nor do they provide any R value.  Let's replace those.

By last night, this is where the project had grown to.

Then.... it turns out that there is slab only under part of the floor; the rest was a wood surface and it had begun to rot, as had some of the wall boards, from a very old leak that was apparently resolved years ago when we put in new gutters.  But the carpet had to be lifted up and the flooring and its support had to be torn out and replaced. 

Since part of the carpet is out, we are going to replace that strip only with vinyl, so it can be a pet and art center in our school room.

Let's hope the "scope" of this project doesn't creep any more!

And don't worry, I do have before and after photos!  These are actually both:  before remodeling but after junk removal.  This photo is looking to the NE corner of the room.

This photo is looking toward the NW corner.

Here is our two-week rotation menu.

Week 1:

Monday – Old-Fashioned Meat Loaf with Mashed Potato Balls

Tuesday -  Creamy Italian Chicken (crock pot)

Wednesday – Chicken Pot Pie

Thursday – left overs

Friday – Spaghetti and Meatballs (crock pot)

Saturday – Pork Ribs with Garlic & Chive corn

Sunday – fun cooking

Week 2:

Monday – Southwestern Lasagna

Tuesday – Sauerkraut & Sausage Supper (crock pot)

Wednesday – Comforting Chicken

Thursday – left overs

Friday – Teriyaki Drumsticks and rice (crock pot)

Saturday – honey-lemon schnitzel         

Sunday – fun cooking

A note:  I put the weekly menus, recipe originals and multiples, shopping list, labels and prep list into the computer and will keep them.  I plan to do 3 seasonal big cooks – fall, winter, and spring – and in the summer we will continue our outdoor grilling.

Here are some recipes I will definitely use again.  They are not multiplied here.  Remember, all slicing and chopping is done ahead of time.  Have a sharpie handy to write on the bags.

Comforting Chicken

1 lb b/s chix

½ lb sliced onion

1 ½ C baby carrots

½ C butter

15-oz can of potatoes

1 C half and half

1 T dried parsley

½ t salt

¼ t pepper

1 pound egg noodles

Place chicken, onion, carrots and butter in a bag and label it bag 1.

Place drained potatoes, half and half, parsley, salt and pepper in another bag and label it bag 2.

Put both bags  in a larger bag and label it.  Tape the egg noodle bag to it and freeze.

For this recipe, here is what the label would say:  Comforting Chicken.  Thaw over night.  Place contents of bag 1 in a big skilled and cook until chicken is lightly browned. Cover and cook until carrots are tender, about 15 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.  While simmering, cook egg noodles.

Creamy Italian Chicken

2 pounds b/x chx

1 can golden mushroom soup

1 pkt Italian seasoning

4 oz chive and garlic cream cheese

1 C white wine

2 pounds egg noodles.

Place all ingredients except noodles in a bag.  Tape together with bag of noodles.  Label and freeze.

Label says:  Place bag of ingredients in crock pot, cover and cook on medium all day.  15 minutes prior to serving, cook noodles.

Chive & Garlic Corn

1 lb frozen corn

½ C chopped onion

2 T butter

¼ C chopped fresh chives

½ t minced garlic

1/8 t salt

dash pepper

Place corn, onion and butter in a bag.

Place chives, garlic, salt and pepper in a snack bag.

Tape bags together, label and freeze.

Label:  Do not thaw.  Sautee corn and onion in butter for 5 minutes.  Stir in remaining ingredients and heat through.

Drumsticks & Rice

3 lbs drumsticks

8 oz tomato sauce

½ c soy sauce

1 t minced garlic

3 T cornstarch

½ c water

6 C cooked rice

Put tomato sauce, soy sauce, garlic and chicken in a bag.

Put corn starch in a snack bag.

Place uncooked rice in a bag. 

Tape bags together, label and freeze.

Label:  Thaw over night.  Place bag of chicken in crock pot and cook on low all day.  Before serving, steam rice.  While rice is steaming, mix cornstarch in water, and stir into chicken.  Continue cooking with lid off until rice is done.  Serve chicken and sauce over rice

This weekend, my family and I did a “big cook.”  Some of my FIAR sisters have asked me to share how I planned, my menu and some recipes.

I knew that with soccer, school, home improvement projects, extra-curricular activities, and other events on the horizon, September and October will be busy months.  As well, dinner preparation is a big boulder on my path to peaceful family evenings.  I decided to move the rock.

I did a lot of studying to prepare for this, including reading “Dinner’s in the Freezer” by Jill Bond, and hosting a “Power Cooking” demonstration given by my PC consultant.

Looking at seven nights of meals, I decided to plan crock-pot meals the two nights we have soccer practice, and have “easy freezy” meals three nights.  This left 1 night for left-overs and one night for fun cooking.

I also decided that cooking 40 individual recipes would be daunting, but having the same thing every Monday night would get on my nerves, so I chose a two-week rotation.  With this plan, I needed to choose 4 crock-pot recipes, and 6 freezer meals, and quadruple each recipe.

Next, I made a shopping list of EVERY item I would need and the amount.  Then I “shopped at home” so I wouldn’t over buy and would use what we had. 

Thursday night, DH and I went to Costco and got what we could there.  Friday morning, I went to the grocery and finished shopping.  Friday evening, I calculated the amounts of prepwork.  For example, I needed x pounds of sliced onions, y pounds of chopped onions, z pounds of shredded zucchini, etc.

Saturday morning, the girls and I did the prepwork of chopping, slicing, shredding, grating, etc.  After lunch, DH returned to the grocery to get three items I had overlooked on my list the morning before.  When he returned, we were ready to assemble.

I only chose two recipes where anything had to be pre-cooked.  I decided the meals would taste fresher if I froze them uncooked and cook them just before eating. 

Also, two recipes required shaping “food balls”, which was very labor-intensive.  The girls loved doing that part, but then the food had to be put on cookie sheets to freeze and then bagged.  Next time, I would do those two preps the day before, so I would have them in baggies before doing the rest of the meals because I was running out of room in the freezer.

One recipe utilized prepared pie crusts, including the pan. Two other recipes used foil pans; the rest were frozen in good-quality freezer bags.  I used a variety of bags, putting everything in the smallest bag I could, and using a big bag and masking tape to hold it all together.  Next time, I will use duct tape.  If there is pasta with the recipe, I taped the bag of uncooked pasta with the other ingredients. That way when it comes time to heat the meal, I know I will have everything.  Next time I will add 2 gallon bags to my shopping list, as well as figuring out how to use my vacuum sealer.  I will also freeze the crockpot meals in crock pot liners.

I printed thawing and cooking instructions on the computer and taped them to the outside of the bag using packing tape.

Assembling was pretty easy, especially for the baggie meals.  Two neighbor girls came over and I had all the girls and DH standing in line holding up baggies as I filled them.

We had a lot of fun working together to accomplish this.  Even my three-year-old can push the food processor buttons, shape meatballs, and other things.  I bought her the serrated plastic lettuce knife from P.C. and she can slice and cut things for me with it. 

Putting the last touches on the food and closing that freezer felt great!

A friend of mine shared her struggles recently.  She was talking about her school room and her curriculum, and how it all sits there so prettily, and how her plans keep getting interrupted by other things.

I am continually frustrated in that area as well.  My homeschool definitely look like I plan it.

I envisioned the Sally Clarkson house,filled with peace and beauty, with my younger children sitting next to me on the couch while I read to them, and my older children passionately exploring some delight-directed path of learning. I envisioned kitchen-based math as we bake together. I envisioned my girls fluent in the art of homemaking by age 10 (ain't gonna happen) and us all chatting happily in Spanish as we joyfully fold laundry together.  Of course, in their free time, the children are cheerfully engaged in the various learning centers I have set up around the house...

I don't live up to anyone's standards, much less my own. I am barely keeping my head above water.

And yet...... maybe that is what homeschooling is about.... maybe it is as much about what the mom learns as what the children learn... maybe it is about learning to do what the Lord asks of us, where He asks us to do it... maybe it is about us taking joy in who we are created to be, instead of comparing ourselves to some impossible dream... maybe it is about learning to live in the moments we are given instead of spending our energy reaching toward the future or the past or the impossible...

Introducing "Tiger"!  

DD got this beautiful garter snake yesterday.  She named him Tiger because of his vivid orange and black markings.  He seems to be a very calm guy.

A couple of things that happened regarding the burial of Stella:

First, I told my DD to get a box that we could bury Stella in.  She said, "You mean we're going to bury her in the box?"  Yes.  So off she ran and got a box.  Stella was laid gently inside.

But... DD thought we would just keep her in the box and that way we can take her with us when we move.  She was distraught at the thought of burying Stella in the soil.  So, I told her, "Let's bury Stella among the irises. When we move, we can take some irises with us, and that way Stella will be coming with us."

Second, when it was time to clean out Stella's habitat, I noticed quite a bit of dirt missing.  DH found it that evening in our classroom.  It is in a zipper baggie, neatly labled in sharpie:  "the dirt she died on".

What a tender heart.

Despite our best efforts, our friend didn't make it.

Yesterday was feeding day for Stella, the beloved pet gartersnake of my 9yo dd.  As we usually do, we got her a bag of small feeder minnows and dropped them into her water dish.  Often we watch her hunt, but yesterday we did not.

My day was not going as planned, as usually happens.  But one thing was on track: we were having our laundry-folding fest.  The girls and I were planning to sit under the a/c and listen to a "Jonathan Parks" episode or two while they folded the mountain of laundry and I tackled a filing project.

As I gathered my materials and headed upstairs, I was prompted to look in on Stella:

"Oh, look. There are 4 fish left.  That's unusual... Stella usually doesn't stop hunting until all the fish are gone.  Where is she?  Oh, there she is.  Why isn't she moving?"

I tapped the glass; no response from Stella. I got a sick feeling and opened the cage. I could see Stella's body but not her head. She wasn't breathing and she had gone "slack" as an animal does when it dies. I could see her head now; it was hidden between a stick and the glass. I moved the stick and Stella moved, only slightly.  She gave what appeared to be a final weak effort to swallow the fish in her mouth.

"Oh, my goodness!  That fish is stuck there!  How long has she been fighting? What do I do?  I can't let Stella die. But  I need help."

I had go get DD's help.  I called the big girls; had #2 watch the babies while #1 got to work helping me try to help Stella.  First we called the neighborhood "exotics" vet. Fortunately their ad magnet was on the fridge. I told the receptionist I had a reptile emergency. She said her reptile vet wasn't in. I said, "But I have an EMERGENCY!"  She still didn't get it. I asked her for the number of another reptile vet; she gave me a number and I called it.

When the receptionist answered, I recognized the name of the vet clinic; they were more than an  hour away.  I told her I had a reptile emergency and needed some phone help. She told me to bring Stella in.  I told her Stella would be dead long before that; I needed some phone help NOW.  She got a tech on the phone and I explained the situation.  Meanwhile, I knew what I was going to do and I was not looking forward to it.  I sent DD to the garden shed for some soft garden gloves, then upstairs to my make-up drawer for some tweezers...

The vet tech confirmed what I was thinking.  Unless the fish was dislodged, Stella would die.  She might die anyway, but it was a certainty if the fish stayed there.

What's a mother to do?  Here were my options:

1. Let Stella die, with my daughter watching my inactivity helplessly

2. Try to help Stella and hurt her worse

3. Try to help Stella and get snake-bit

So, I hung up the phone. By this time DD had returned with the requested items. At my request, she gently picked Stella up and handed her to me.  I held her in my left hand, and with my right hand used the tweezers to try to get the fish out.  After a couple of attempts, I was successful.

Stella was still lethargic and looking much the worse for the wear.  I called the vet we had used for many years back when we had dogs and cats. They referred me to their sister hospital which treated exotics. I called them and they said to come on in.

So, I bundled all four children in the car. By this time the babies had missed both snacks and naps. The boy was very cranky; the girl was defiant and in full screech mode.

By the time we got in to see the vet, Stella was coming around.  Dr. S examined her throroughly and pronounced her fine.  We discussed Stella's habitat and care and learned the ways in which we were taking good care of Stella and the ways in which we were falling short.  (This advice was not cheap, let me assure you.)  Dr. S confirmed that without intervention, Stella would have died.

I have watched Stella eat many times in the 14 months we've had her. She almost always catches her prey head first, and when she doesn't she is careful to turn it and swallow head first.  This time she was swallowing the fish tail first, which probably explains why it wouldn't go down despite the small size of the fish.  I wonder why she didn't turn it?

Note to self:  add to the list of things I never imagined I'd have to do "removing from the mouth of a live snake"

Right now my favorite word is "ith."

How you use "ith" in a sentence, as spoken by my 3yo: 

"Mama, can I eat this apple ith I wash it off?"

"Ith I be good, I won't get in trouble.  Ith I don't be good, I get in trouble."

I got my first zucchini of the year from my garden, and is it beautiful!  In honor of that lovely squash, here is my recipe for zucchini muffins, which is adapted from my old friend Ruth Shipman's zucchini bread recipe:

3 eggs                                     1 C all-purpose flour

1 C sugar                                  1 C whole-wheat pastry flour

3/4 C vegetable oil                  1 T cinnamon

1 T vanilla extract                    1/4 t baking powder

2 C coarsely grated zucchini       2 t baking soda                2 C milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350; grease and flour muffin tins.

Beat eggs until frothy; add sugar, oil and vanilla.  Fold in zucchini.  Without stirring, add in flour, salt, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and beat until smooth, but don't overdo it.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Bake regular sized muffins for 20 minutes, and mini muffins for 10 to 12 minutes.

Even my "I won't eat it unless it's drenched in Ranch Dressing" child loves these!                                        

Let me just start by saying I love my life.  There is nothing I would rather do or be than a wife, a mother and a homeschooler.

However, I'm the first to admit that I need to tweak things a bit.  There are areas I'm just flat-out pitiful in.  So, I've assembled a dream-team to help me.  I'd like these people to come live in my home and help me get everything on the right track.  Here is my "moderate makeover dream team" and why I need them.

Jane Lambert - I need her guidance for down-to-earth homeschooling, and being more relational with my children.

Martha Peace - I need her help in taking captive my thoughts, especially in the areas of homemaking.

Cindy Rushton - I need her enthusiasm and energy and creativity in many areas of life, from homemaking to homeschooling, to my walk with God.

Steve Lambert - His wit and rationality would definitely be beneficial to me as I strive to give my husband the respect he deserves, and for helping me see my husband's perspective.

Teri Maxwell - She could help me with routines, scheduling, and self-discipline.

my aunt Aleta - I would love to sit at her feet and learn about frugal living and how to raise a houseful of children.

Sally Clarkson- I dream of being able to make my home a place of peace and beauty, a refuge for my family.  I would love to have her demonstrate turning homemaking into a ministry to my family.

Don Aslett - the guru of house cleaning.  I am clueless and drowning and can use all the help I can get...

I will add to this list as time permits.

So, who's on your dream team?

This morning I went to the garden shed to get out a tool.  As I opened the door, I felt like I was being watched, and even like I was being watched by a snake!  Now this isn't surprising because I know we have a snake who lives under the shed and hunts in my garden.  I have just never quite felt "observed by snake" before. 

Before I put my foot down, I stopped to look down and sure enough, there was the snake looking up at me.  My heart skipped a beat - a little startled, you know - but I had time to study the animal before it headed back to its home under the shed.

Here is what I have:

Isn't it pretty?  This is the subspecies of the Western Terrestrial Garter Snake known as the "wandering garter snake." 

The wandering garter snake's diet branches out from the aquatic to enjoy the occasional insect and, ahem, mouse. 

By the way, "under our shed" is a duplex.  The snake lives under the right side.  A little mouse lives on the left side.

I wonder if the mouse has met her neighbor yet?

Please note:  these photos are from before my son's fall, so there are no bruises...

Every year, we have a tradition of releasing lady bugs in our yard.

Here are this year's photos:

my oldest dd teaching ds the joys of ladybugs

My 7yo steeling herself to touch the bugs

the boy and the bugs

ladybug giggles

ladybugs in our hair, ladybugs everywhere

We get ladybugs in the spring and early summer from a local garden center.  If you want them at a different time, you can get them at InsectLore.com; I think they are actually cheaper there but then you have to pay shipping.

We get them for a couple of reasons.  The nobler, yet lesser, reason is as a natural pest control for the garden.

The main reason is just to have fun with them (it is fun and tickly when they crawl over us) and to, in a fun way, discourage any kind of bug fear.  I don't want my children to be afraid of bugs.

We try to do this on Mother's Day each year, but some years are delayed.  I found out that if you let them go in the morning, they will fly away and benefit someone else's garden, but if you release them in the evening they will stick around.

We were working on our "suburban homestead" this weekend.  Doesn't the "back forty" look great?

We have lettuce, tomatoes, okra, corn, squash, pumpkin, watermelon, cantaloupe, beans, peas, gourds, and...  you get the picture...

Well, here is Farmer Brown hard at work:

hauling hay for the (guinea) pigs

and mowing the fields

Last Friday, a sudden rainstorm moved in.  That doesn't happen often here.  We were outside when it clouded up, so we came back inside to do a few things.  Some neighbor girls were over and all the children went downstairs to the cool basement to watch "Heidi". 

Suddenly, there was a flash of lightning and a loud roar of thunder.  The power went off and the sky opened up.  The rain was coming down so hard the water drops were hitting the ground and bouncing back up.  The wind was howling.  The electrical portion of the storm was right over our house; it seemed like there was lightning actually inside the house.

Unfortunately our chickens and our (guinea) pigs were still in the back yard, with no cover. With all the lightning, it was just too dangerous to try to go out and put them all in shelter.  Within moments, they were all soaked, and the rain continued for the better part of an hour.

Now, let me just interject here that there are some things I never imagined that as a mother I would have to say ("Honey, keep your feet off the ceiling.") or do ("mining" poopy diapers to confirm the passage of swallowed coins), but this tops the "I never imagined" list...

By the time the rain stopped, our poor "livestock" were all wet to the skin.  It was dark and they all needed to be put in their night-time shelters.  We were concerned if they were confined as wet as they were, they would get sick.

So...  Here we are, blow-drying the chickens!

I never imagined any connection between the words "hair dryer," "chickens," and "my kitchen"...

Just so ya know, it is more than 2 days later and none of them have caught cold, so it must have worked!

We had follow-up appointments for our son last week.  Here are the results:

Neurosurgery:  everything looks good; they will see us back in September to confirm that the skull is healing and continuing to grow properly.

Opthamology:  everything looks good except he doesn't move his eye in one direction. the doc thinks that is just because it hurts and not because there is any long-term damage.  we have an appointment in August to confirm that, but I know he is fine.

Our pastor asked us yesterday which of the names of God is the most personally significant to us right now.  My answer is The Great Physician.

Here are some photos of my son after his fall, and the progression of his bruising. 

This one is from Monday morning in the hospital; at that point the bruising was just the upper eyelid.

By Monday evening, the colors had traveled down to his lower eyelid and upper cheekbone.

Later that night, the swelling increased, and the bridge of his nose began to swell.  The little "divot" that babies have on their noses between the eyes was completely gone. You can see it from this profile shot.

We were excited that by Tuesday morning he was able to open his eye a bit...

...and even more by that afternoon!  You can see that the discoloration is traveling from his left eye to his right eye, but the swelling is decreasing considerably.

By Wednesday he was *quite* his perky little self again. Here he is in his stroller.

And here is a photo taken at a follow-up appointment on Thursday.

By Friday the colors were really fading, as you can see in this photo where he is helping his big sister brush her teeth:

And here the purples and blues are giving way to greens and browns on Saturday.  He is being quite contemplative here, don't you think?

 We are so grateful our son is healing so quickly.

Throughout the events that surrounded Jonathan's fall, I had a strong sense of peace that all would be well with him, that though I didn't know what was in this valley, we would get through it  and come out fine on the other side. 

However, there were some painful moments.  It is heartbreaking when your child is hurting and you can't help.  However, when your child is hurting and you are helping cause that hurt is almost too much.

Have faith in God when your pathway is lonely

Blood and needles don't really bother me.  However, just the concept of "veins" and I get a full-body cringe.  It makes me want to woppity (our family word for throw up).  Some of the most physically painful things I have ever endured are when people are attempting to put an IV line in me.

He sees and knows all the way you have trod

The ER doc came in and told us how important it was not to let our son get upset.  "If he has a brain injury, crying forcefully could make it worse."  Further, I wasn't to nurse him; some other doc who we hadn't even seen had ordered "nothing by mouth" for our baby.

So, it was beyond me when the staff decided to put an IV in because he was being transported to another hospital and "some ambulance services like to have an IV in."

Seven times they tried to start an IV on my baby.  Seven times they failed.  During the last time, he flipped over onto his tummy and was crawling - away from those bad people sticking him with the needles and toward his mama, who would surely help him. 

I fell on my knees and wept as I had to help hold my son down.

Never alone are the least of His children

I thought at the time that they couldn't start the line because of their incompetence. I was a little upset.  The nurses left the room to regroup and I told DH that they weren't sticking him again. If he had to have an IV, he could get it at the children's hospital, where someone who knew what they were doing could do it.

Have faith in God, have faith in God

Meanwhile, my son was unconsolable.  They had him on monitors and I could see his heartbeat climb out of the yellow range and into the red zone.  I sat down with him and we nursed.  His heart rate immediately fell out of red, through yellow and back into green.

I found out later that afternoon that the reasons they couldn't start the IV was that my son's blood clotted almost immediately.

Have faith in God, He's on His throne

At the second hospital, after everything else was done, they wanted to do a small blood test, so they did a little heel stick.  They told us they would repeat the test in the morning.

The next morning, the nurse did a heel stick again.  The blood clotted immediately, and she had to try it again.

Have faith in God, He watches o'er His own

Two days later, as I was on the long drive home from a follow-up appointment, I was thinking about what could have happened when my boy fell.  It was surprising to me that he had no bleeding in his brain, and seemed to surprise the doctors as well. 

For "some reason" I began playing those two scenes over in my mind.  Then, I got it.  The clotting factor! 

He cannot fail

The IV lines wouldn't start because our son's blood was clotting so quickly.  One blood draw had to be repeated because his blood clotted so quickly.  HIS BRAIN DIDN'T BLEED BECAUSE HIS BLOOD CLOTTED SO QUICKLY!

He will prevail

God had His hand on our son, protecting him. And without those failed attempts at the IV, I would never have been aware...

Have faith in God, have faith in God

This is from my previous entry: 

"As we were standing there, I again began to feel that I needed to do something, call the grandparents, make arrangements for the girls, something.  I was running mentally down the list of my emergency contacts.  Top of the list is my friend Rebecca.  But of course, I didn't have my phone to call her.  Then, I turned around, and there she was!  saying, "What can I do?"  Thank you, Lord.  I gave her the house keys, told her we needed the cells. "

When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed,

Do not be discouraged, thinking all is lost....

So, how did my friend Rebecca end up standing right behind me asking how she could help?  Here is the story:

Our church has worship service first, then Sunday School.  During Sunday School, Rebecca goes to Starbucks with some other women.  There are 2 Starbucks near our church.  The near one is to the northwest, and she always goes there.  However, this summer, Rebecca has been attending a study taking place during the Sunday School hour.  DH and I have been in the same study.  It's called "Experiencing God."

Count your many blessings, angels will attend

Well, last week, being pressed for time, our family didn't stay for Sunday School.  Instead, we went east a couple of miles to run our errands.  There is a Starbucks in the shopping center where we went.

Rebecca and Stacy decided to go to Starbucks, and for "some reason" decided to go to the east one.  Our friend Stephanie decided to join them, but despite Rebecca's encouragement to ride with her and Stacy, Stephanie insisted on taking her own car.  She said, "I don't know why, but I need to drive."

Rebecca, Stacy and Stephanie were in Starbucks ordering when Rebecca got a phone call from her husband Mike.  Their little son Joe was having a hard time in Sunday School and wasn't able to calm down. Rebecca told Mike, "Just bring him to me."  So Mike did.

As he arrived, he noticed the commotion outside.  He went into Starbucks, told Rebecca we were out there and that he thought our boy was hurt.  Stacy turned to Stephanie and said, "Oh!  This is why you needed to drive. You'll need your car to get us home."

Help and comfort give you 'til your journey's end.

Rebecca came out to help us, and you know the rest of the story...

Count your blessings, name them one by one

Count your blessings, see what God has done

DS and I were transported via ambulance to the pediatric specialty hospital.  DH went home to get an overnight bag packed, grab us some food (we still hadn't eaten or anything), get the girls home from Rebecca's and situated with their grandmother.

DS slept all the way to the hospital and until the resident came in to our ER room to do his first exam.  When he woke up, he was still mad from the IV incident.  He shoved his little bandage-covered arms at the doc and chattered angrily.  The doc sympathized and helped gently remove some of the offending bandages.

The neurosurgery team came in.  They had looked at DS's CT scan, and after examining him, concluded that there was no damage to the brain.  There will need to be regular follow-up with them over the next few months to make sure the skull is healing properly, though. 

They showed me where his fracture is.  It begins at the "eyebrow bone" just next to the nose, runs across the brow and then turns and runs vertically.  They also mentioned it going through the back of the eye; we are not clear on what this means and will get clarification.

Blessed be Your Name when the sun's shining down on me

DH arrived with the overnight bag and food.  Hurray!  I was starved.  He brought large portions of the sandwich that was meant for DD's birthday party.

When the world's all as it should be, blessed be Your Name

Then the opthamology team arrived.  First, the "junior" resident.  He did an exam on DS's eye.  That little eye was swollen shut and the doc couldn't get a good look at it.  DS was fighting the exam because it was painful.  So, the "senior" resident was called in.  He tried to hold my baby son down and do the exam and got the same result.  They gave us two options.  They could swaddle the boy, use a speculum to hold that eye open and do an exam, or they could put in an IV and give him a "waking sedative" to do the exam.  The "waking sedative" might prevent him from looking around, which would alter the results of the exam.  We chose option one, knowing that we may still have to go the second route as well.

So, they brought in 2 nurses and swaddled my little son, pinning his arms to his side.  The nurses held him down while they pried that little eye open and held it open with the speculum.  DH and I had to help hold him.  The nuse asked me to sing to him.

Blessed be Your Name on the road marked with suffering

They examined him, then put in drops to dilate the eye.  Twenty minutes later they came back to do  a second exam - more swaddling and holding him down.  After that, the attending opthamologic surgeon felt that due to DS's age he should personally examine him.  A third time my son was swaddled, held down, and his eye pried and held open while bright lights were used to look into that painful eye.

Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be Your Name

At last, the exams were over

Every blessing you pour out I turn back to praise

and we were left to the waiting.

When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say blessed be the Name of the Lord

Finally DS was changed to an obs room - an observation room - which is basically a closet still in the ER, but it has a hospital bed.  He and I slept there all night; DH went home to be with the girls, who were still traumatized.  It was so hard for him to leave us, and so hard to see him go.  It was 9:30 at night, though...

DS slept well; I kept being woken up by the crying of the children who were coming and going from the ER and OBS rooms.  My heart just wrenched for those poor children and their parents.

Blessed be Your Name

Anyway, we woke yesterday, DH returned, DS had two blood draws, we waited on the visits from the neurosugery and opthamology teams, were cleared to come home and we left.

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Our cells didn't work in the hospital; the minute I got outside mine began to ring.   I answered that, and then while we were driving home I checked messages, returned phone calls as needed, and made my son's follow-up appointments for this week.

Blessed be Your glorious Name

One of the calls was from Steve Lambert.  He and Jane just happened to be in town and wanted to come pray with us if it wasn't an inconvenience.  That was a blessing to us.  And during their visit, they both ministered to the hurting heart of my husband.

You give and take away

When we got home, there were many calls from people who were concerned for our son, who had been praying, and wanted to know what they could do to help.  One friend said, "I can't help you on Tuesday or Thursday; can I watch the girls for you on Wednesday?"  I hadn't even told her I needed some one to watch the girls so I could go to a follow-up appointment.  Another friend said, "What can I do to help?"  She is watching the girls on Thursday while we have two follow-ups.

You give and take away

Last night we celebrated my now-nine-year-old's birthday with our traditonal birthday dinner of Ranch Style Spaghetti.  She ate her birthday cake - a two-layer peach cake- and opened her presents, and then it was bedtime.

Sleeping in our own beds, peacefully, in our own home.  We are so blessed.

My heart will choose to say, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

Here is what happened.

Sunday was my #2 daughter's birthday party, and Monday was my #1 daughter's birthday.  So our plan was that after church we would take the 3 little ones shopping for their big sister's birthday gift.  My husband would take them, and I would take the big girl across the parking lot to run another errand.  Afterward, we would go to the grocery to pick up the  sandwich and cupcakes we had ordered for the birthday party, go home and take care of some last-minute party details, and get #1dd's cake made in preparation for Monday.

Blessed be Your Name, in the land that is plentiful

I learned during my first pregnancy that the #1 rule of parenting is: Nothing Goes as Planned.  I learned when my precious girl was a toddler that the #2 rule of parenting is :No Matter How Hard You Try, You Can't Protect Them From Everything.

Both rules came into play on Sunday.

I always carry my cell phone and my camera with me, but both were being charged Saturday night.  As we walked out the door Sunday morning, I was prompted to grab them, and DH's cell, too.  I said to myself, "Naah, you don't need them.  You're just going to church."

Where the streams of abundance flow, blessed be Your Name

After church, we headed out for our errands.  We arrived at the small shopping center.  I got out of the car and grabbed a cart to clip the boy's car seat onto, gave it to DH, took DD#1 and headed across the parking lot.  DH clipped the carseat (with our son still strapped in it) onto the cart.  With our 3yo dd in one arm, and the 7yo dd walking beside, started across the parking lot.  He looked down at the carseat, then up at the path they were taking. The cart hit a bump.  (I saw it later; it was just a tiny hole in the asphalt).  He looked back at the carseat and saw it slide and fall off the shopping cart.  He grabbed at it but with only one hand free couldn't stop the fall.  Our son landed face down on the asphalt, still strapped into the car seat.

DH picked up the seat and saw the "goose egg" on our son's head.

I will never forget the anguish in my husband's voice as he called to me across the parking lot.  I turned around and it was like I was standing in front of him.  I could see his face, and it was white.

Blessed be Your Name when I'm found in the desert place

My big girl and I turned and rushed back.  DH said, "He has to go to the hospital."  I said, "Ok, put him in the car and let's go."  A passerby let us know that she had already called 911, and encouraged me to take our son inside the store (by this time he was in my arms) where it was cooler..  I told the girls to get in the car and get buckled in so they would be ready when the ambulance got there.

When we got inside the store, I knew prayers were needed. I borrowed a cell phone and called the church.  Carlene answered, I told her the baby had fallen and the ambulance was coming, and hung up.  I also wanted to call the prayer warriors from my "mom's boards" but didn't have my cell phone.

I began to feel helpless; without that phone, I couldn't call anyone - our family, friends, anyone!  I didn't know what was going to happen and where we were going to go; who would take care of the girls; how to cancel the birthday party...

Though I walk through the wilderness, blessed be Your Name

Then I realized I was inside and DH was outside. I knew he must be frantic and I had to be with him. I went back outside.  We needed to be together.

As we were standing there, I again began to feel that I needed to do something, call the grandparents, make arrangements for the girls, something.  I was running mentally down the list of my emergency contacts.  Top of the list is my friend Rebecca.  But of course, I didn't have my phone to call her.  Then, I turned around, and there she was!  saying, "What can I do?"  Thank you, Lord.  I gave her the house keys, told her we needed the cells. 

Every blessing You pour out, I turn back to praise

The sheriff, fire truck and ambulance showed up.  It seemed like it took forever to get DS strapped in; he is so little.  Finally, we were headed to the hospital. As we were driving, my son began to drift off to sleep.  The EMTs would wake him each time.  But he became more difficult to arouse, and then wouldn't wake up. 

Behind us, my daughters were asking why the ambulance was going so slow.  DH told them it was because DS was ok and so they didn't need the siren or the speed.  Just at that moment, the lights and siren came on and the ambulance took off.  Of course, that sent the girls into a panic.

I was singing to my son, praying over him, and trying to get him to look for chickens and ceiling fans (two of his favorite things) in order to keep him awake.

When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say blessed be the Name of the Lord

When we got to the hospital, Rebecca was already there with the cell phones and the charger!  DH and the girls were right behind.  The girls were distraught.  Rebecca took them home with her.  Did I mention she has 3 children?  So she already had 3 car seats in her car.  Thank you, Lord.

Blessed be Your Name

The med. folks examined our son, and took us up for a CT scan.  Back to the ER.  Then our pastor walked in.  He was with us when the doc came in to announce, "Your son has a skull fracture."

Those words should never be in the same sentence.

During all this time, I wasn't worried.  My boy was sleepy, and I was holding him. He didn't seem to be in much pain. So, now they needed to get us to the big regional children's hospital. I didn't know what we had to face, but I felt peace about it, and knew that my son would be ok.

Blessed be the Name of the Lord

While we were waiting, we used those cell phones to first call our families, then I called Oney from my mom's boards.  She let everyone on the boards know that DS had a skull fracture, and they began to pray.  Then we began to call the birthday party invitees to let them know the party was cancelled.  As we spoke to each parent, they committed to pray.  Thank you, Lord.

Blessed be your glorious name

The ER doc told us it was important that DS not get upset; crying could make the injury worse.  I was told he couldn't nurse because he couldn't have anything by mouth in case surgery would be needed.

The hospital staff decided that my baby boy should have an IV to prepare him for transport. I won't go into detail here, but they tried 7 times to start a line.  They were unsuccessful.  By the last time, he was crawling across the exam table, trying to get away from them and get to me and they were holding him down, and I had to help them.  My son was hysterical from the pain of this, and fighting to nurse.  I told DH that we were done with the IV. If he needed one, he could get it at the children's hospital, where they were experienced with children. 

DS was on a monitor and I was watching his heart rate climb up out of the yellow zone into the red zone.  I sat down and nursed him.  His heart rate immediately fell back into the green zone.

Finally, they arrived to take us to the children's hospital.  DS and I were going in an ambulance.  DH would go home and get some things for us, like a change of clothes.

My son fell yesterday.  I will post details later, but for now wanted to post some photos for his auntie and grandparents to see.

Here he is, being held by his daddy.  This photo was taken mid-afternoon yesterday.  You can see his forehead where it hit the pavement - it is swollen and bruised -  and his eye is swollen shut.  Yes, his shirt does say, "Chick Magnet."

From this photo, taken at the same time, you can see a little bit of the swelling and disfigurment of his forehead.  It is actually worse than it looks in the picture.  Follow the line of his eyebrows and you will get an idea of the displacement.

This picture was taken this morning.  You can see how the swelling over the eye is continuing to change.  By this afternoon, the bruising has moved down into his upper cheek.

Sigh...  my little son in a hospital bed...  I'm glad he is home, napping in his own bed right now.

In June my family went on a camping trip to Yellowstone National Park.  We saw lots of wildlife, of course, and other fun things.

However, our wildlife experience here in Suburbia seems to be trying to compete with the wonders of Yellowstone.

We have seen eagles, pelicans and herons fly overhead.  A hawk has nested in a neighbor's tree, and has hunted at least 3 times in our yard, one time landing on our patio table just 3 or 4 feet from our back door.  Two huge racoons raided our trash can one night.  A pair of mallards nested across the street.

But the biggest news lately has been the foxes.

Twice in the spring I saw a fox in our yard.  Once was early in the morning as I was returning from the gym; the fox was running through our yard.  Another time was on a gray, drizzly day:  the fox just wandered leisurely through our front yard.  My husband reported seeing a fox several times in the neighbor's yard on his way to work.

Then, in June, we were saddened to find a dead fox in the neighbor's yard.  We called animal control, and the officer who came out was very helpful.  He concluded that because there was no blood on the fox, it fox had likely been bumped by a car and made it as far as the yard before dying.  However, there were signs of the fox having been in something's mouth:  the fur at the back of the neck was wet and spikey.

Because the fox wasn't mangled or anything, just looked asleep, we photograped it to look at more closely later.  It has been interesting to study ear shape and placement; fur color and texture, etcera, through the photographs.

We thought this was the end of our fox sightings.

Then, a few weeks later, we were on the front porch and saw a fox in the neighbor's coniferous undergrowth.  Turns out Trish had thrown some bread out for the squirrels and Mrs. Fox wanted it for herself.  We watched her from the porch for a bit, and then grabbed the camera and lawn chairs and sat at the end of our driveway for about 30 minutes as she gathered up her food.  We were about 50 yards away.  It was fascinating.

About a week later, I heard a sharp bark.  That was followed by two more.  I could tell it was the fox across the street.  Then, she began to scream and run.  By the time I grabbed my glasses and made it to the door, it was too late to see anything in the dark, but I could hear her scream as she cleared fence after fence, running through the neighbors' yards toward the natural area a few blocks away.  Something was definitely after her.

Trish across the street went the next morning to her back yard to check the fox's den.  She reported it changed: "For the last couple of years, it has just been a hollowed-out resting place.  Now it has been dug out and is definitely a hole.  I didn't get too close for fear of disturbing her.  I wonder if she has kits?"

So, now the neighborhood has on our hands - and our consciences - a fox who possibly has kits and is likely widowed.  What to do?  Do we let nature take its course?  Or, since people were possibly responsible for the death of the probable Mr. Fox, do we give the Missus a little help?  We spent a few days debating the best course of action.  Then...

Night before last the plot thickened.

My husband was awakened by a screaming noise that seemed to be made by something running right down our street, coming from the west to the east.  By the time he got up to investigate, the sound had stopped.  He watched for a bit, and then something surprising.  A coyote was coming down the street, also from the west.  The coyote disappeared in the shadows across the street, near where the fox's den is.

Then he saw the fox coming from the north side of our house.  She stopped there on the corner sidewalk for a moment, then moved west across our yard, stopped and stared in the area of her den, then continued a few more feet to the west into the driveway next door.  Next she crossed the street toward her den area, and headed back the few feet to the east and stood under the street light.  She was plainly visible. 

At that point, she began watching to the south, and began to scream, howl and wail.  It was quite a racket.  All the dogs in the neighborhood began to bark and carry on.  After a few seconds of this, she took off running north. 

Less than one minute later, she was followed by coyotes.  There were two, possibly three of them, and they were hunting her.

I was awake by this time but had to grab my glasses and so missed this scene.  The dogs were all still barking; lights were coming on in houses on the block, and people were coming outside.

I found out later that neighbor Randy had heard the fox, heard his dogs' ruckus, and thought the fox was after our chickens, and was running down the street in his boxers in order to sound the alarm!

We have all concluded that somehow the coyotes knew the fox was in the area, and that she was trying to divert them from her den and her kits.  We also have decided that feeding her will only tell the coyotes exactly where the den is, so we have opted not to feed her in an effort to protect her and her young.

Last night I was alert to every outside sound, as I am sure many of the neighbors were.  I hope our fox is safe.

I love this one!

"Years ago, people used to voice concerns about the academic virtue of homeschooling. "How do you know that you can do as good a job as a real teacher?" "How could a home offer as adequate educational services as a school?" These were legitimate questions since the purpose of public education has always been assumed to be...of course... education. Once those concerns were put to rest through test scores, national spelling and geography bees, college admissions, etc, the skeptics began to concentrate their objections on socialization.

Now that it has been proven that a quality education can be obtained at home, "socialization" has become public school's only reason to exist. We tax payers are expected to rest assured that billions of "education" dollars are being spent to buy friends for our children.

I don't think that the socialization question is here to stay. As homeschooling becomes more widespread, almost everyone has had a chance to "socialize" with a real homeschooler. The myth of the stumbling, stuttering xenophobe is dissipating rapidly. Also, as school violence increases, the socialization argument wears thin. Homicide is not exactly a social skill.

So what will the homeschool skeptics think of next in defense of their crumbling empire? Cafeteria food?"

My friend Collette shares this one:

"Public school is a government institution; not the "real world". If you plan to have your children spend the rest of their lives in a government institution, like a prison or mental hospital, then ps is probably good preparation. If you think about it, ps is a pretty typical government
instruction for many reasons:

1. You are required by law to attend.

2.The day is regulated by the ringing of bells as people are herded around like cattle.

3.You need permission to go potty.

4. The food is bad."

Another friend says:

"My favorite is when they say kids need school in order to "learn to deal with bullies" by which they mean "tolerate being bullied." Good gravy, who wants to teach THAT message? In adult life, we don't "deal with bullies", we avoid them, divorce them, quit our jobs if they are the boss, sue them, and/or report them to the police!

I've also commented that no job I ever had was anything like a classroom, although I've worked with people who belonged in kindergarten."

And my final quote on the issue comes from Lynn, who says:

This question always makes me laugh and I always reply "Oh yes, I'm concerned about it. That's why I keep them home -  so they don't learn to swear, and curse and smoke, and be rude and disrespectful and lippy and obnoxious. It was one of the main reasons we chose to homeschool - so we can influence their social skills instead of having them learn the unacceptable social habits of all the gang bangers and drug babies in school; so they don't learn how to shoot guns or have sex by 5th grade,  and instead learn proper manners and uncommon courtesy."

Yup.  What they said.  I think that pretty well covers it, don't you?

Lately, I have had some friends ask about homeschooling; their inquiries are really about the "how-to" of the issue, and they always have their "well, what about socialization" question.  Some homeschooling moms I am acquanited with express that very well, and over the next few days I will share their thoughts here.

I'll begin with Cynthia:

  "As parents is it our job to teach our children the truth so they will be able to recognize a lie. When they become so familiar with truth, they will know when what they are seeing or hearing doesn't match up with what they have been taught.

 When we teach them our values and how to deal with life's issues and encourage them to develop a strong relationship with the Lord, they will learn discernment as well as develop their knowledge, understanding and wisdom in whatever they encounter. The best analogy I've heard on this is that when learning about how to spot a counterfeit, people are taught the characteristics of the real thing, so they can compare all bills to that. If they find one that doesn't match the real bill, they will know it is a counterfeit.

 This does not mean that our children are not exposed to people different from their own family or that they are sequestered at home. It simply means that they are sheltered and not put out into situations that they are not prepared for. We teach them a standard and help them to grow in that standard so when they are on their own, they have already established not only a pattern of behavior, but an attitude of the heart.

 As they mature, they are given more responsiblity and freedom. If they show they have not learned the lessons well, we pull them back for further instruction before adding more responsibility and freedom."

Well, nothing difficult or mysterious in that, is there?

My husband and I were talking about my blog entry regarding the "why do you homeschool" issue and how bothered I am that the people close to us never seek our hearts on this matter, instead choosing to try to conform us to their paradigm.

Turns out, it bothers him, too.  He thinks the reason we are so disturbed by this is "the R word."

In other words, it's all about relationships.

Because we are created in the image of our Creator, relationships are important.  Our vertical relationship (with Him) is our primary relationship.  However, other relationships in our lives are also crucial to us.  Our need for good, strong relationships explains why a hurtful relationship can be so devastating.

When those we love reject a part of our lives because they disagree with us, it feels like they are rejecting us.  And that is really what they are doing.

Shutting us out is one demonstration of that.

Superficiality is another.

Again, we see this in three ways from the people around us.  The first way is "ignore".  We have friends who ignore completely the fact that we homeschool.  We have others with whom we can't discuss homeschooling because our homeschooling and our reasons for homeschooling hurts their feelings.  Bang!  A huge part of our lives is ignored out of existence in their eyes.  We can't even talk with them about 90% of our daily life.

The second way is "chisel and shape."  These are the folks who believe that if they constantly whittle away at us and our beliefs, we will eventually become like them.  So the talk they direct at us is concentrated on telling us how we are wrong, how foolish we are for holding fast to our beliefs, and telling us how changing our beliefs to conform to theirs would make everyone so much happier.  They tell us what to do and when we disagree, they ridicule us.

The third way is "interrogate and harrass."  This group loves to ask questions in the name of appearing interested in what we do.  However, the questions have either "yes & no" answers (Do you like the color blue?"), have very superficial answers ("What colors do you like?"), or are have no answers, being simply rhetorical and intended to be barbs ("Don't you think people benefit a great deal from group interaction?  Oops, time for me to run...")

They don't ask "how do you feel about..." or any other "dig deeper, take some time and listen with your heart" questions.

Our relationships with some of our family members and long-time friends are withering from lack of rootedness.  People are afraid to exchange dissimilar ideas for fear of being hurt. Some folks can't tolerate the challenge of anyone disagreeing with them, even in a loving manner.  Some are frightened of knowing, or being known.  Others are afraid of interdependence.

We are longing for depth to our relationships with friends and family, and continuing to pursue that in love.

We try to be respectful by being non-confrontational.  We try to keep quiet ...  when most likely we should just open the flood gates. 

Perhaps we should be direct with people:  Here is how we live, here is why we live that way.  We are not going to change.  And we are no longer going to hide ourselves or our lives.

Would that transparency and openness revive our relationships?  Or destroy them all together?

The other night I  peeled potatoes to bless my family with my mother's potato salad recipe.  When the potatoes were cooking away in the pot, I gathered up the peelings and headed outside.

Outside the door and down the deck steps live the Guinea pigs.  I blessed them with some potato peelings.  That blessing will be passed on to the grass at the bottom of their open run.

A few steps farther and I was able to bless the chickens with a generous portion of peelings.  They will be passing their blessing along both to the grass at the bottom of their run and to the garden compost pile.

Finally, I made it to the back of the yard and blessed the compost pile and all its little inhabitants (as well as some scavenger squirrels and wild birds) with the remainder of the peels.

In the fall, the compost will be laid upon the surface of my family's vegetable garden, covered with a thick layer of mulch, and will "work" through the winter to be prepared to nurture vegetables I will plant next spring.

And next summer, I will peel some potatoes, gather the peelings, and head out the kitchen door...

My feelings of blessing and contentment went extra deep as I served my family potato salad for dinner that night.

 I find it interesting that people ask me that, and here is why. 

I have never said to anyone, "You send your children to public school?  Why?  Wow, I could never do that!"  Yet perfect strangers feel free to say stuff like that to me all the time.

Another reason I am intrigued by this question is that it is asked most often by strangers.  Periodically, a friend or aquaintance who is exploring the idea of home-centered education will ask, and they are really wanting to hear about the nuts and bolts of homeschooling.  And, of course they want to know "What about socialization?"  

However, the biggest reason this question is on my mind lately is because of who doesn't ask it.  Our close friends, our family members - those who supposedly "know and love" us - never ask.  Why is that?

Some of them avoid the topic all together.  It is just never brought up.  It is sort of like they want to use "magic invisible paint" to paint over this huge part of our lives.  It gives us the feeling that they think, "You are doing a strange and unacceptable thing.  If we ignore it, maybe you will stop. If we don't ignore it, we might become infected."

Then there are the others... 

We have a few (hopefully well-meaning) relatives who disapprove of what we are doing and feel the need to comment on it.  One called my husband and told him that "the foundation of America is the public schools, and by not participating in that, (we) are hurting our country." 

 That is called a "non-sequitur," by the way - Latin for "it does not follow."

We have the "covert action" factors in our lives - those who fire bombs and run.  "The other grandchildren are much more advanced in _____ than your children. "  "People who go to small colleges are just not as intelligent and advanced as those who go to large universities. "   "I just don't see how you have time to take your children to doctor's appointments and still find time to do school.  How do you get anything done?"  "So, who are your friends these days?  When do you get to play with them?"

These are the same factors who feel the need to do things to my children that they don't do to the other children, like quiz them on their math facts, or ask them to quote history dates or speak Spanish at dinner. 

Or they will do something like try to turn setting the table into a story problem:   How many people are here?  How many of them are eating dinner?  Of those, how many are having salad and how many are having soup?  In all, how many spoons and forks do we need to set the table?

The "overt operators" have been more open in their distrust of us and disdain for our choices.  They have outspokenly criticized us, and even told us we are stupid or crazy and used other names.  (I'm trying to repress that, LOL ...) 

Others combine the covert with the overt.  The offer "advice" which is basically criticism, and they offer ideas on how we could improve our lives if we would just follow their suggestions (most of which involve putting our children in public school or other classroom situations).

We have to actively tell ourselves that these people are just acting out of love for us and our children.  Some days, that is just flat-out hard to believe, though.

None - that's right, NONE - of those people has ever opened mind or heart and asked us, "So, why did you choose this lifestyle?"  Or, "What do you feel are your top reasons for homeschooling?  I'd really like to understand..."

None of them express any interest in our daily lives, none of them have any true advice to give in any struggles we may have (honestly, we don't share many of those because we know that transparency would be later used as weapons against us...), none of them express any real caring at all.

It would seem to me that those who are truly interested in who we are would ask questions and try to hear our hearts, rather than spending so much (time, effort, energy, whatever) trying to tell us what to do. 

I believe that people just don't "get" this homeschooling thing.  Homeschooling isn't just a thing we do, it is a part of who we are.  Home-centered education is such a big part of our family's identity that I feel like having a bumper sticker or a t-shirt printed that says "Home-based learning - if you don't get it, you don't get us." 

Hmmm... I sound a bit cranky about this.  Maybe I should stop writing now and go make myself another cup of tea...

My children bring me dandelions.

My ten-month-old son laughs out loud when he sees me, and it's not always because he wants to nurse.

My three-year-old daughter paints my toenails with a water-soaked cotton swab, and "bixes" my hair until my eyes water from the pain.  She reads to me.

My six-year-old likes to put lotion on my feet and massage my back.  She charges for the privilege - a dollar or a penny, whichever I have.  She scrambles eggs.

My eight-year-old engages me in lengthy philosophical discussions and gives me tender kisses.  We share favorite books. She frustrates me to no end with her moodiness and impulsiveness. She catches chickens for me.

My children bring me dandelions. I put them in water. They are soft, fluffy and yellow for a time, then they close up tight. When they open again, they are seeds in parachutes, ready to float away.

My children bring me dandelions.

My 11mo son got his first haircut on Friday.  We decided to give him a "buzz cut."  His hair was getting long and was all wispy and uneven.  His sisters were a concerned audience.

We took him to see Miss Kathy, who cuts my girls' hair.  Daddy got caped, then the boy in his cape sat on Daddy's lap.

We were a bit concerned about how he would react to the clippers, but apparently he thought it tickled.  He laughed every time Kathy touched him with the clippers.

He liked to brush off the cut hairs with the big brush.

My two men; aren't they handsome?  (I asked my 3yo daughter that on Sunday.  She replied, "No.  Daddy is handsome.  Bubba is cute.")

Probably most people won't see much difference, but I see a big change.  I am still trying to get used to it.  He looks so grown up, don't you think?

Tragedy has struck.

A few weeks ago we got 3 bullfrog tadpoles.  The girls named them Jeremiah, Betsy and Fred.

We have been feeding them on brine shrimp and changing their water weekly, making sure to replace the old water with aged water.

Jeremiah seemed to change quickly, developing legs and then a mouth and then losing his tail.  Last weekend he was deemed to be a frog.  We put a bit of floating wood in the container for him to crawl out on and he did use it some. 

Yesterday, Jeremiah left us.  I noticed the frog had passed and was wondering how to break it to my girls when my 8yo discovered it for herself.

This is my girls' first encounter with pet death. They are still working on processing it.  My 3yo wanted to know "When is Jeremiah going to be dead?"  I said, "He is dead now, Sweetie."  She replied, "When will he be alive again?" and I had to answer sadly, "He won't."

There was (and still is) mourning.  We buried Jeremiah in the back yard under a cottonwood tree.  In the process of carrying the frog to his final resting place, my big girl was looking him over and discovered he was she!  What a surprise!

Apparently the size of the ears relative to the size of the eyes is a gender marker...

Here is a photo of our little frog's grave being gently covered over:

And here is the gravesite after this morning's "Decoration Day" event:

The stone says "Here Lies Jeremiah" and on the back is tenderly written:  "a girl".

My husband missed out on the funeral yesterday, being at work and all... So, imagine his surprise last evening when Jeremiah was exhumed and suddenly presented to him for examination!

Never a dull moment...

I spent much of yesterday in my garden area.  I was weeding, doing some late planting, etc.  However, I wasn't alone!  The chickens were following me around hoping I'd toss them a freshly-pulled weed.  Apparently, that is some sort of a chicken delicacy.

In the herb bed, I was accompanied by this little gal working hard at pollinating my chive blossoms:

My iris is looking its best this year; I am amazed!

And at the end of a long day of gardening, I got some company in my relaxation time:

What a handsome critter!

My big girl decided to spend a little time with the flock this morning.  She got a book and laid in the run (which had just been moved to a clean spot, btw) and read a while.  After she got comfy, she sprinkled some grain on her clothes so the chicks would feel comfortable and close to her.

She told me the other night she's glad I'm her mama, she's glad we have chickens, and she's glad we get to have "adventures other kids don't get to have."

Awww.

How we sleep at our house:

8yo in the recliner

6yo sleeping on top of the covers to avoid making the bed

8yo sleeping beauty

my two babies:

My big girl and my baby girl

Covered in chocolate:

Please notice that nowhere in these photos do you see parents sleeping...  LOL!

We finally got our 'hen hut' finished except for installing the roost.  The mobile run, aka 'the tractor', is finished, complete with a gate and a lid.  So, in my back yard I now have a structure made of pvc, zip ties, duct tape and chicken wire...

My boy likes to chase the chickens around the yard when we let them have their pre-dusk run-around.  He crawls after them, squealing in delight.  Our backyard neighbors like to come out onto their elevated deck and watch the fun.

Here he is with Chicken Jane:

And looking in on the chickens in the tractor:

In this photo, you can see Chicken Fricasee on the left, Chicken Dobber in the middle and Chicken Little on the right.  Jane is a Black Star; "Frixie" is a Barred Plymoth Rock; Dobber is a Cuckoo Moran; and Little is a White Orpington.

This is a closer view of Dobber (brown head), Frixie (black and white) and Jane.

My 3yo helping cook dinner:

My children and the neighbors in a "tent" they made in our back yard:

The new fashion hair wear at our house - snoods with matching headbands:

A rainy-day soccer game

My 3yo and her daddy, heading out for their first monthly breakfast together. At our house, once you turn three, you get to have breakfast out with Daddy once a month.

An interior shot of a tulip in our front yard:

The boy having a good time in his stroller:

What happens if you visit our house? You cuddle with chickens, of course!

We spend Sunday afternoon celebrating a special occasion with some dear friends in their world: waaayyy out in the country.

Here are my girls and three of their boys playing king of the hill:

A young pioneer with his trusty rifle and his woman by his side:

Please note that the pioneer woman is wearing mis-matched sneakers!

Seriously, our three-year-olds get along so well together.  It was a blessing to my mama's heart when his daddy charged him to "take care of" my baby girl.  The "C" boys, and there are quite a few of them, are all such gentlemen. Their parents begin training them in this at a young age.  The boys have such cheerful and tender servant hearts.  My daughters don't consciously understand what the difference is but they know that they really like spending time with the "C" boys.  

They are looking forward to our next visit!

a shot of Venus and the moon:

My big girls are on the neighborhood swim team this year.  Here they are in their team uniforms.

My 8yo:

receiving a little instruction:

and my 6yo (note her new smile):

We got some Painted Lady butterfly eggs when we were ROWing "Andy and the Circus."  It wasn't long before we had larvae, then caterpillars, then chrysalises (sp?).  They lived on the kitchen work table next to the tadpoles.  If you look carefully, you can see three of them hanging from the lid of the jar and one hanging from the side.

Finally, they became butterflies this week.  I put a dish of corn syrup and water in the jar to feed them:

Today we released them:

It was such a beautiful day we felt like doing a little math outside:

My 6yo enjoys dancing and theater.  These are some photos of her at her year-end performance:

And her bouquets:

And her teacher:

And her family:

We just finished ROWing "The Bee Tree" by Patricia Polacco.

One of the things we did while ROWing this book was to visit our local beekeeper.

Here, she is showing the girls posters of the life cycle of the bee:

To the right in the above photo is the observation hive. We got to see the bees in action, bringing in pollen and nectar, feeding the larvae, fanning the nectar into honey, capping the cells, hatching out of a cell as a mature bee, even doing the "nectar and pollen dance."

Here it is in close up view:

Here is my crew looking at the beekeeping equipment and trying on the garb:

Even the boy got in on the act!

My mother-in-law took my girls to the local botanic gardens to see the insect sculpture.  Fortunately this coincided with our study of "The Bee Tree!"

Our round of 2007 birthdays has begun.  Our Petite Pirate, our Capturer of Hearts, our Trouble Maker Extraordinaire, had a birthday.  We celebrated at home with our traditional birthday dinner of Ranch Style Spaghetti and chocolate chip birthday cake.

She loved opening her cards and gifts, and her big sisters loved watching her.

Later we celebrated with a tea party.  Her grandmothers came, as well as her godmother Karen, and friend Claire with her mom.  Big sisters served as waitresses.

Here she is with Grandmom, and Grandmom in her boa:

All dressed up:

with Claire, who is 3 months older:

I hope she has wonderful memories of the day.

While ROWing "Andy and the Circus," we got tadpoles. They live in my kitchen while they are morphing into frogs.  You can see Jeremiah at the bottom right of the jar.  We feed them frozen brine shrimp and change their water biweekly.

We ended our time with "Andy" with a field trip to the circus.  This was my children's first trip to the circus. My parents joined us, and my husband took the day off to be with us.

We walked the floor and stood under the acrobats' nets,

rode the elephants,

stood by the big cats' cages,

and got clowns' autographs.

My big girl was on the edge of her seat when the tiger jumped through the flaming hoop!

 What a great time we had!  And the experience really broadened my girls' knowledge base, not to mention their role play.  We have had many acrobatic performances and daring feats of lion taming in our back yard in recent days...

Well, our peeps have passed through the chick phase and are almost fully-fledged pullets.  My, that happened fast!  They are only about 25 days old!

We have some beautiful chickens.  I will post some photos later.  We put a roost in our brooder, and it is such fun to see these little chickens practicing.  We are really having a good time with them.

The brooder has turned out to be almost perfect. I need to post photos and a link to the "how to" for it, or you can just scroll down to my Guinea pig entry... it is the same as the pig cage except for it has an old window screen on top.

Yesterday, it rained all day here and was foggy this morning.  My daughter saw a fox sprint across our front lawn yesterday afternoon and I saw it again this morning.

Okay, so my husband is going to have to get BUSY working on that hen house and run.  I will have a FIT of Reynaud or Mrs. Reynaud get after my chickens.  A FIT!

Yesterday, we gave them an earthworm.  They didn't know what to do with it!  They were clearly frightened by it. Finally Dobber grabbed it and ran.  Jealousy quickly overcame their fear and they all chased Dobber around trying to take what she had, even though they were still afraid of it!  I don't know that anyone actually ever ate the poor worm...

Ahh, life on the suburban homestead!

And speaking of suburbans, my husband bought one yesterday! He has been searching for one for almost 4 years.  He finally found one that met our needs, met his qualifications regarding mileage and condition, and fell *well* within our budget window.  Praise God for his provision!  It is such a nice vehicle, and we are looking forward to many happy family memories with this new ride.  We are calling it "Big White". 

Well, I'm trying my durndest to ROW "Andy and the Circus" over the next few days.  However, between the children's appointments, my appointments, outside lessons, drama-trauma, and other events around here (including loss of the book), I am definitely having to learn some lessons in flexibility.

It is the perfect time to row it, though.  We are getting tadpoles on Sunday and my parents are coming into town next week; we will go to the circus...

I have lots of audio stuff for the children to listen to as well, fun circus music...

Well, I'm getting another late start this morning, so time to rouse the troops...

Well, we have suspected that Fricasee is a bit older than the other chicks.  The fact that she is twice their size should have been a clue... 

I heard some excessive peeping while I was playing with my baby, and had my big girl go check on the chicks.

Seems she was telling on herself: she had escaped from the brooder and was standing on the table trying to figure out what to do.  I caught her and put her back, then had my daughter stand guard while I tried to find an old window screen in the garage.

Fortunately, I was successful, and the little escapee is back in the slammer and now under lock and key!

Maybe we need a bit larger brooder...

The eggs did not hatch.

Funeral services at dawn tomorrow.