No, it's not to blog more...although I'm sure a few of us have made that one!  My resolution has more to do with this...

Yes...the bowls.  You know what I'm talking about...the assorted sizes, colors, uses.  The bowls from Grandma, the bowls you bought because they were cute and could be used for all kinds of things, the novelty bowls, the "he LOVES (fill in the blank) and would use this all the time bowl, the bowls for snacks, the bowls for fingerpaint, the list goes on!!!!  I have an entire section of these bowls in my cabinet and I grumble EVERY time I get one down because I know SOMEONE is going to be unhappy with the color/size/style and, unfortunately for them, the one they want is in the dishwasher!

Well, I'm not going to grumble about it anymore.  And, no, not because I'm going to throw them all away!  I'm going to take a different view.  Each bowl is a reflection of who I am and how I see my children.  I love to hear them blow milk bubbles and the endless giggles that follow(DO NOT tell them I said that ), to hear the sounds of webs being shot across the table at each other (and the complaints of "He spit on me!"), to know that my girl will ask for the pink bowl everytime.  These bowls are a sign of their childhood

and mine.  So, my resolution is to always find the joy in all those things that I find myself grumbling about through the day.  One day, I'm going to want them back, so I need to revel in them now. 

This is what it's all about!  I look out our window into the backyard and what do I see?  Boyhood ingenuity at work!  Not to mention all three chickens laughing and playing together.  So, what do you need to make a leaf toboggan?  Number one, you need an imagination.  Next, you need one slide, turned upside down, and you'll need a scrap piece of wood from the shed to use as a fulcrum (see how I worked a little science into that one).  However, for the leaf toboggan to be a success, what you really need are willing participants....

And a little bit of force (science, you gotta love it!)....

Now, if we could just arrange for a little bit of snow to come our way we won't need to buy anything...we'll just transform our leaf toboggan into a snow toboggan.  See, we're scientific and frugal!

One thing's for sure...we are not an all textbook all the time homeschool family.  Take for instance a recent trip to the zoo and park...I apologize for the angle, but I couldn't figure out how to turn my video right side up! 

Hmmm...maybe there was a little learning going on here...after, of course, the world stopped spinning! 

I've been quiet about the election, only because I wasn't sure how to express my thoughts on the matter...until I was sent this...the author is not known...

He's My Precious King...
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Today at 11:19am
As I drove to the office today, everything looked exactly the same. The trees had not withered. Their leaves were still rich with autumn color. The creeks I crossed over were still rushing with the same vigor as yesterday. People were still driving down the street as usual. I noticed no evidence of freshly closed businesses. It appears that at least for today, everything is the same.

Whew! It’s not the end of the world. I know some people feel that way. Some have probably looked into moving to Canada (oddly enough you would move to a country with a social health care system—one of the tenants of the platform you were against). But things really have moved on quite normally. I’m not so naïve as to think that there won’t be changes. Our President elect ran on the message of change. But for today, all appears to be well.

There is no doubt this country is in a transition. I am reminded of another transition in history. Judges 21:25 states, “In those days there was no king in Israel…” In 1 Samuel 8:5 we see the plea of Israel, “…Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations…” Samuel was upset with their request. It displeased him (1 Samuel 8:6). But notice what God says, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). Even though Judges closes with the thought of “…no king in Israel…” there truly was a king—God was ruling over them as king.

As we move forward into a time of transition, it is my desire that we remember we have a king. Jesus is described as the King of kings (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; Revelation 19:16). Regardless of who our President may be in this country, we will continually bow before the King and serve Him. That also means we must trust Him. He will lead us, protect us, and provide for us. We serve a risen Savior and a mighty King.

The King of kings has told us how to react to times of governmental change. He has instructed us on how to respond to leaders we do not fully appreciate or endorse. If we are going to serve the King of kings, then we must obey His orders in relation to our civil leaders. Here are some of those instructions:

1) Give the honor due. In Romans 13:7 we are told through the pen of Paul, “Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.” Regardless of who you voted for yesterday, we are to honor our President. The failure to do so is a negative reflection on our life as God’s people. It shows that we aren’t serving the King of kings. This particular passage is written to a people who had a leader far worse than the President elect appears to be. If they were expected to honor Caesar, certainly we can honor Barack Obama.

2) Be subject to the authority. Paul clearly shares this instruction with us in Romans 13. We are to be subject to the authorities because there is no authority that is not appointed by God. It is not the time to revolt. It is the time to submit.

3) Pray for the leaders. The closest command in relation to political activism is found in 1 Timothy 2:1-3. “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.” We should always be praying for our leaders regardless of who they are and how much we agree with them. That doesn’t change if “our candidate” does not win.

Friends, the world will keep moving forward if it is God’s will. If it does not, then we know it was not God’s plan. If we trust God, we will look forward to a new day with brand new opportunities to serve the King. Doors will be open that have been closed. There will be new chances and opportunities to share the Good News. God is still work. Jesus is still ruling. We sing the song, “He’s my precious king and oh I dearly love Him…” Now is the opportunity to prove that to all men.

May we all serve the King.

Okay,this post requires a little imagination on your part.  Now, let's start the theme to Mission Impossible playing in your head.....

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find the pumpkin with the ability to end cravings for roasted pumpkin seeds, creamy pumpkin pie, and lip-smackin' pumpkin spice muffins.  Your point of contact is a field 40 miles out into no-man's-land. 

The tools needed to carry out your mission will be available upon your arrival.  Good luck.  This message will self-destruct in 15 seconds.  Unfortunately, the theme song will continue to play in your head for the next 15 hours....Sorry

Ever since I read Jaminacema's entry on file folders, I've been a file folder games making machine!  Fortunately, to feed my addiction, the incredibly talented Valerie of Christian Preschool Printables has created a brand new site JUST for File Folder Fun....and it's FREE!!!!  How cool is that?  But, that's not the best part...as part of the GRAND OPENING she's giving away some pretty great prizes...especially if you like file folder games as much as my little chickens do.  So head on over and check it out...and if you like lapbooking and you've never visited Jaminacema...go check out her blog, too..you'll be so glad you did!

Okay, I said that our calendar for October would require a before and an after, and it IS November...

October 1

Can you guess what happens next??

I can't wait to see how November's idea turns out, can you?

Did you ever dream of getting a horse for Christmas? You can get a sneak peek of our Fall issue and see Nancy Carter's first horse! Oh, and she's not the only one sharing her childhood pictures. You'll see photos from the 50's through the 80's.
But, you'll need the Fall issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine to go on this walk down memory lane.
 
Plus, do you like to create holiday memories? The brand new TOS holiday E-Book can be yours, too. It's all about the fall and winter holidays - mainly Thanksgiving and Christmas. But it's not even for sale yet. This is your chance to get it first  - for FREE ($12.45 value)!
 
Normally when a person subscribes, their subscription starts with the upcoming issue which can take a while. But, TOS thought about that when they planned their  Fall Special.
 
If you subscribe now with their Fall Special, you'll get:
Almost 50% off the cover price for 2 years
The current Fall issue as soon as it is ready
6 Bonus gifts
12 months of Teacher's Toolbox, which contains a FREE E-Book every month
PLUS, the new E-Book, Homespun Holidays for FREE!
This is over $250 worth of product for only $39!!
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE NOW!

Sadly, this was my kitchen sink this morning.  You know what I needed?  MOTIVATION!  And I knew just where to get it from.  So, I buzzed on over to the Flylady and started reading.  "STOP!", you say?  It's okay...we work a 6 week on, 2 week off school schedule so I have some time...after, of course, I check to make sure all cosmetics are safely put away!!

I've tried applying the Flylady's techniques, and at different times in my life they have worked well and other times, I've had to tweak them to fit my needs or abandon them all together.  What is Flylady, you ask?  You really have to see it to understand...but she can help you turn chaos around in 15 minute segments.  Just look at what 15 minutes did for my kitchen sink...

Want to know more?  Check out the baby steps to turning Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome into the Clean Kitchen Sink Syndrome...sorry...no cute acronym for that one!  Now, it's off to the surrounding counters you CAN'T see!  After all, it will be time for dinner soon...

I've never been the creative type...I can come up with some good ideas...it's just the execution I have trouble with...I usually do JUST THAT...execute my poor idea and it kindof dies right in front of me .  This year, I wanted to do something fun for all three of my chickens...something that would make them excited to start the school day...ahem...not that they don't ALWAYS look forward to it like eager beavers .  So, I came up with a brilliant idea...and this time I executed it in excellent style!

In September, we studied Johnny Appleseed...his birthday was Sept. 26....and we also visited an apple orchard and picked so many apples that we had to FIND ways to eat them...caramel dip, pancakes, applesauce!  So, I made the best possible tree I could out of construction paper and every day of the month it "grew" an apple (courtesy of my chickens).  I used it to teach Gryphon how to count to 30 and how to count using ordinal numbers.  Turtle even picked up on a few things!  Pretty cute, huh?  I even framed it...via photo editing, of course.  Stay tuned, because October's  idea requires a before and after.....

Your entire day is spent in the kitchen????

Breakfast

Dinner (that one's for you, cuddles)

Supper

I love to cook...but wouldn't it be great if I had a Rosie (think Jetsons) to come out and clean up after me?  Speaking of which...here's a funny....

Now, Monkey is our clearer table-er...you know...the one who gets to take all the empty plates and smooshed up napkins back to the kitchen and PUT THEM IN THE SINK (that one was for you, Monkey) or trash, whichever the case may be.  So, we have some guests for supper one night and our Monkey promptly stands up and begins to clear the table.  Our guests are impressed that he does this without a word from me or Dad and compliment him.  Monkey responds with "You know how Moses was trained in all the ways of the Egyptians?  Well, I'm trained in all the ways of women!"  he...he...he...he...he

Wow...a kindergartener...I can't believe our Gryphon is ready for that!  To think...one day...instead of just saying "I love you, Mommy" he's going to write it down...and I'm going to be the one to teach him how....

We recently celebrated Monkey's 12th birthday and we surprised him with a trip to the World of Coca-Cola and the Lego Store in Atlanta.  Years ago, when he was but a wee lad (see previous post), we visited the WCC and there was a really cool section where you could sample the different sodas Coca-Cola distrubutes world-wide.  Part of the display was a fountain that shot an arc of Coke into your cup.  That display was the main reason he wanted to go back...to share the experience with his brother and sister.  Sadly, WCC relocated and doesn't share Coke with you quite as dramatically...instead there are several run of the mill fountain stations.  Still fun to taste all the different drinks...just didn't quite pack the WOW the arc did! 

Now, the Lego store....WOW  WOW WOW!!!!  It may have been just a store, but the clerks make it a GREAT place to go!  While admiring the displays, they offered to move several around for better pictures and even removed the face from the Egyptian sarcophagus for the kids to pose!  Poor Monkey just didn't know where to start spending his birthday money!

Our baby is growing up...point in fact...when asked where he would like to eat to celebrate...Outback...because he wanted a STEAK!!!$$$$$$ 

Let me tell you, I have soooo many pictures of this same shot...taken about every 3 or 4 months when we visit this particular zoo.

I made the comment to our Monkey that we have this same picture from a few months ago and did he really want to pose again in front of the turtle?  His reply..."You can watch us grow!"  Well, maybe not from a few months ago...but how about from 120 months ago?

Awww....so cute and sweet....

Nothing much has changed....

Hopefully, we won't have any doctor's visits soon...8-) 

I love the fall...the weather is cool and comfortable, the colors are beautiful, and there are so many ways to get out and teach our children about the bounty that God has provided us.

Next week we'll be going to pick our pumpkins so we can roast seeds and put up puree' for pies, breads, and muffins!  YUMMY!

In my last post, I talked about the amount of curriculum we have to choose from...but it doesn't end there!  Within 90 minutes we have three zoos, a science center, Co-ops with classes that appeal to all learning styles, State Parks, YMCA's, a performing arts center with kid friendly shows, many museums, and I'm sure I'm forgetting something....  All of these groups provide exclusive and wonderful programs for the homeschooling community and we attend a few (within means...whew...gas prices, you know!).  My concern, however, is that when we do attend, I often hear about how little Janie has five more programs or classes to attend in the next three days or Bobby has his summer all scheduled with art camp, science camp, Learn Spanish in a week! camp.  I appreciate so much how our community has reached out to the homeschoolers to provide some really enriching activities for the children, but I have to ask..."Where's the HOME in your school??"   I know that if we didn't spend 80% of our time at home, there would never be moments like this....

Now, I know that everyone has different learning and teaching styles, so please don't think of this as an attack...it was just a thought, crossing into an opinion, and being voiced on my blog.  I applaud the ability to coordinate what seems like an exhausting schedule to me!  However, it just sometimes seems that we (and I include myself because I'm guilty of it too) are trying to recreate the atmosphere we pulled our children out of...or avoided subjecting them to altogether.  So, I'll quietly step down off my soapbox and creep away into a corner to nervously bite my fingernails....

Okay...so it's not exactly water...but it sure does surround us!  All the choices out there for homeschoolers...It's kindof like when you go to the grocery store to buy ketchup and there's atleast 10 different brands, not to mention the different flavor and color versions!  And you know what happens sometimes when you buy the cheapest one!  On the other hand, I am thankful for the many choices I do have as a homeschooling mom.  Think back to just as few as 15 years ago when many were still struggling to prove our right to homeschool our children, not to mention the FEW choices they had in curriculum.  So, it's back to school for us in a few days...which is why all three areas look so neat!  I had to clean them up and out to make sure I didn't **need**anything new...which, as we all know, doesn't really mean anything! 

Did you see that??  Down there underneath my first entry.  In the comments section...  It's an appearance by my dear husband...aren't I a lucky gal?  It warms my heart and makes me feel all gooey inside when he does sweet little things like that...

MY computer crashed a few weeks ago so I'm borrowing monkey's.  When I get my pictures back, I'll post one of that dashing young man I married 13 years ago.

Wow!  I can't believe how fast summer is speeding by...or how long it's been since I last blogged.  You know, you start out with the best of intentions...I'll blog once a day, okay, maybe every other day, umm...twice a week?...hmmm...maybe once every other week...sigh...

Sometimes, life just happens so fast...and sometimes we are just plain lazy (who me?). 

But, our days have been filled here-and I have the pictures to prove it!!

Plums...plums...and more plums....

The good...the bad...and some ugly ones, too!

You know those days...the children are all quiet...you're wondering what you did to deserve 20 minutes of reading time...and it hits you...if they're quiet-there must be trouble brewing...

Exhibit A

I know...you'd think I would've learned my lesson...yet, one year later...

Exhibit B

Sigh....it's too bad I don't have a picture of the time she (rather expertly) trimmed her bangs...

She's pretty talented at being a girl!