I have finally finished it!  It really didn't take that long, once I decided I was GOING to get it read - I must have started it at least 50 times.  This time I carried it with me everywhere in my purse and read it any chance I got, and even made the kids babysit two hours so I could finish.  What a feeling of accomplishment!  I've been wanting to get that book read for THREE years!

I can see why Oliver DeMille has you read that as one of the first pillar books.  If ever there was a book you could label "Core Phase" and "Love of Learning", this would be it.  Mom reading to them, Dad teaching core values over milking cows, allowing mentors come in and teaching when it was beyond your ability to teach - allowing Ralph to lead his own learning by interest instead of making him do what they wanted...   it was a whole way of life - not really a checklist like we tend to think of. 

Each person was pretty secure in their role in the family.  The entire family worked together, and they were given their free agency to continue to contribute or not once they started earning their keep outside of the home.  When their core values were not  upheld, the parents didn't tolerate the actions, but the individuals were still loved, and they knew they were loved.  Like the scriptures say, "Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy"  (D&C 121:43), this father lived that instruction.  He instilled in Ralph, and I am sure in the others (the entire book is from Ralph's point of view, so you don't hear much from the others), a knack for searching for the betterment of his soul.  Father often allowed Ralph to come to his own conclusions without much interaction - when he saw a lesson being learned, he would highlight it.  He would give instruction and assignments when necessary, but he often allowed life to teach the lessons for him.  He was preparing Ralph to learn from a mentor.

And when Ralph was ready, his mentor "Hi" showed up, just as one keeps hearing about in all the seminars and things. "When the student is ready, the mentor will appear".  I am still getting ready, because I still am looking for a mentor myself.  I noticed how Ralph did everything that Hi told him to do - even when it drove him nuts.  And how quickly he progressed because of that.  More opportunities were open to him, skill came easy and quickly, and he was blessed with a great relationship as well.  I am reminded of an old saying, "You can choose to make life easy, or you can choose to make life hard.  Either way, it's your choice."  When Ralph chose to listen, life went easy - when he didn't, it was harder, and even painful. 

I was stuck by Father telling him that sometimes life's best learned lessons are the most painful ones.  Then Hi basically told him the same thing when training the horse, Sky High.  No one likes those painful lessons, but as I look back, it's true.  I wonder at those that choose to not learn their lessons, and cause the painful experiences to reoccur time and time again.  And it makes me ponder what is it that I am not learning in my own life?

Something that wasn't really the theme of this book, but struck me none-the-less, was the partnership between Father and Mame.  He protected her, even kept harmful knowledge from her.  He would take her off to "discuss" things so that the children wouldn't see them argue.  I had always thought to do that to protect the children - I had a thought though, that it was to protect her.  To keep her image spotless and the respect and care for her AS mother flowing from her children.  I had never really considered that before.  And she, as help meet, took care of him, worried over him. and reassured him when things got his esteem lower than need be.  She was strong when he needed her to be, and was feminine enough to need protection and care, things that a man needs to be needed for.  She was well read and was a hard worker, provided for her family, paid attention and could give direction, but never competed with him.  Together, they are a couple that set the standards high for, and uplifted their children's core values to a higher livining standard.  How do Redbeard and I do that?  DO we do that?  After he finishes reading this book, I want to discuss these thoughts with him.

There were some really good quotes from the book that I'd like to post, but Redbeard has taken it over and now he is reading it.  :)  When I get it back, I will post the quotes that meant the most to me, and why. 

to add a trip home in 2007.  I really miss my home!  Idaho is beginning to grow on me, but there is something special about home, and Texas is where my home is.  I had wanted to make it back for my sister's wedding, but she's in a rush and is having it in Feb., so I can't make it.  :(  Hopefully I'll be able to go to my sister-in-law's wedding in June.  If not, well DARN IT, then I will try just to make it home period.

LOL!!! 

Here's the books I will have to read and write papers for level 1 of the 5 pillar certification:

Potok, The Chosen

Bronte, Jane Eyre

L'Amour, The Lonesome Gods

Moody, Little Britches

Stratton-Porter, Laddie

Shakespeare, The Merchant of Veince

DeMille, A Thomas Jefferson Education

I've already read four of these, and even wrote a paper on the Lonesome Gods for my class last year, but I'm going to go ahead and start over.  Won't hurt, and may gain more insight.  :)  I'm going to be very busy....

If you're talking to a TJed savvy person and you tell them you're working on your 5 pillar certification, then they know exactly what you're talking about.  At the end of A THOMAS JEFFERSON EDUCATION by Oliver DeMille, he talks about  Mom's getting their own education, and this is the way that the George Wythe College has set it up to help us get started.

Well, if you look at my goals, you can see I wanted to start with that.  You can also see that I want to start a youth group myself up here.  Sooo...  I imposed myself on Donna.  She was extremely nice to me and let me pick her brain a bit, and gave me some ideas on how to get some of this started. 

One of my problems is that I can't really attend things that I have to travel on because I have 4 children under the age of 4.  It's impossible to get a babysitter for any length of time, and it is a little overwhelming to Athena to watch all of them just for a short period of time.  Heck, it's overwhelming to me a times!   So her suggestion was to just start reading and writing the books and listening to the tapes, and go to the other things later when the kids are a bit older and can be left at home. 

So that's what I'm going to do.  I'm creating a new catagory called "Passsage to Liber - Five Pillars to Greatness" - and I will be putting my papers in there.  :0)  I had started to call it Liber voyage, but then I looked it up in the Thesaurus and found: a passage is a one-way boat crossing; a voyage is a round trip journey by sea.  Well, I see this as a one way sort of journey - not round trip.  So passage it is.  I'm still keeping my other catagory "Commentary on the Classics" because I will still have things to say there for books that I'm reading that AREN'T on the 5 pillar list.  My apologies if I've immitated anyone on that title - I've read so many things over the years, I'm sure to be influenced by someone else's writings! 

As for the other, she said that I need to start inviting people to my home to see that even though we homeschool we are normal people.  Eventually start up a group.  So I'm going to start doing that too...  problem is, I'm not sure how much longer we have here.  We may be moving soon.  But, it's a place to start.  :)