The Olive Grove

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, your children like olive plants all around your table. ~Psalm 128:3

Mar. 21, 2010 - Keep Hope Alive

The Word for Today by Bob Gass (March 22) talked about how Ernest Shackleton kept his men alive when circumstances turned against them, and they needed rescuing. These are the words that made me think:

How did he keep everybody’s hopes alive?

First, he modelled optimism. He believed he and his crew would survive, and he spread that optimism to everyone around him.
Second, he nurtured their sense of significance – he kept everyone involved by seeking their opinions and giving them tasks that made them feel like they were part of the solution.
Third, he encouraged them. He used humour and promoted a light-hearted atmosphere.

If you know someone who is in the middle of a difficult trial, your words of kindness and love, your confidence in them, your ability to lighten their load can keep hope alive.

I have only picked out the bones of what was written in this devotion, but it is these words that spoke to my mother heart. Today we are having a catch up day – we are going to tidy the house, do chores that haven’t been got to, we hope to have some time of rest, and we are going to visit a family later this afternoon. My family are tired – that is why these tasks have been left undone – they will struggle with motivation this morning. This is why these words spoke to me – I have a choice as to how I’m going to handle today. I can be like Shackleton and instil hope and motivation in their hearts or we can drag through the day making it take twice as long as it needs to.

I can model optimism – enthusiasm – belief. I know that we can do this quickly.
I can give my children a sense of significance, an opportunity to find solutions to how we work through today. Today is a day for teamwork.
I can encourage them, and keep the atmosphere light-hearted. This has a lot to do with my tone (my tone can encourage or pull down, just as my words can encourage or pull down – the choice is mine!)

As I think about these things this is a good attitude to have about any plans we have with our children – even those days we are planning to hit the books and focus on our studies. As Bob Gass said, my words of kindness and love, my confidence in my children, and my ability to lighten their load can keep [their] hope alive.

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Sunday 21 March 2010 - Weekly Wrap-Up: In Which We Finish the Research Paper and I am Stuffy

You’ve noticed, perhaps, that this Wrap-Up is not called “The Research Paper and Stuffiness Edition” or any other sort of Edition. I started naming my Wrap-Ups with “Edition” because that’s how Kris did it. (Not that I have to do everything Kris does, mind you, but I thought it was fun.) Now, however, Kris has begun naming her Wrap-Ups like “Friends” episodes. That doesn’t work for me, since I have never watched “Friends.” (No, NEVER; yes, I live under a rock; please stop making those gasping noises.)

I was going to just stick with “Edition”, until I had a somewhat-but-not-really brilliant thought. I’ve already had a post or three here and there titled in House at Pooh Corner style, so I’m surprised it had not previously occurred to me to name my Wrap-Ups that way. Now that it has, I am tempted to go back and rename the others, because I am compulsive like that. Although I suppose I should write this one first.

Monday felt a lot like a Monday, only on steroids. I suppose the time change was to be blamed for that. I treated ~~myself to an extra hour of peace and quiet~~ the kids to an extra hour of sleep, but it still felt like it was going to be one of those unfocused, unproductive days. I decided once again to bypass the usual routine, which is becoming par for Mondays of late (it never used to be). With Fuzz’ cancelled piano lesson leaving our afternoon free, we went light on the schoolwork and watched a movie.

Before you start thinking I am a really, really nice/fun/irresponsible homeschool mom, I hasten to add that it was an educational movie that corresponded with our history studies. And before you start thinking that sunshiney afternoons are not the time to watch movies, even educational ones, I hasten to add that I agree with you 110 percent (as if that were possible, which it isn’t, and I should know because I took calculus). But I knew that our evenings this week were going to be filled with such wholesome activities as Girls’ Club and church and research paper writing and… um… American Idol watching, and that realistically, if we were ever going to watch this movie it would have to be some afternoon. And what better afternoon than a Monday?

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were highly focused on the completion of Spaz’ research paper, which was due Friday. In the interest of not repeating the same tired phrase with which I usually describe this endeavor, I will use my handy-dandy reference materials and instead say that this activity entailed much howling and vigorous grinding of whitish bony objects in mouth on the part of both Spaz and his mother. However, we got through it, and at ten-ish pm Thursday night, "A Great American Tragedy" rolled off the presses. (That’s the name of Spaz’ research paper, by the way, not a commentary on it.) Subtitled "The Assassination of John F. Kennedy", the paper (which actually focused not on the assassination itself but on the likelihood of a conspiracy, but hey, I didn’t choose the title) included nearly six pages of text, plus an illustrated cover page, a thesis page, an outline, and a bibliography. I’m sure that it was with a deep sense of accomplishment and relief --well, relief, anyway-- that Spaz bound it all up in a report cover and placed it carefully (I hope) into his Friday School notebook.

Along with it, he packed a 46-year-old newspaper proclaiming, in humungous bold caps, the assassination of JFK. This was courtesy of his grandpa and would serve as the required “visual” for the oral presentation he needed to make. He’d wanted to do a stick-figure animation of the assassination, but hadn’t finished it. Highly distractible boy + stick-figure animation program + shooting theme is not exactly a recipe for Staying On Task. This was okay with me, since I thought the newspaper was Exponentially Way Cooler than some computer thingie that any of his classmates could make. (As it turned out, they all did indeed make computer thingies, and Spaz felt like his visual was lame in comparison. Apparently 14-year-old boys and 44-year-old moms think somewhat differently when it comes to those things. Maybe there was a good lesson in there for Spaz about staying on task; not that the lesson would take, necessarily, but it’s a start.)

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Before we go on to Friday (which has actually already passed, but you know what I mean), we need to talk about those other words in the title. You know, “I am stuffy.” In case you were confused, that referred not to my demeanor, but to my nose and throat and chest and related components. Along with the stuffiness came a general blahness and lethargy. Here’s just how under-the-weather I was: for over two days, I actually eschewed coffee and late-night Facebook time in favor of hot lemon tea and going to bed before eleven. Now that’s drastic.

Of course, you’ll notice that my not-feeling-100-percent days directly corresponded with the hit-the-research-paper-hard days. Apparently the “luck of the Irish” at our house has more to do with Murphy than Patrick.

Friday, I dropped Spaz off at his classes, came home and drank COFFEE at last, and then settled down with Fuzz to do a little science. This entailed an experiment which was (a) only partially successful and (b) of only mild interest to Fuzz, who was happily pre-occupied with thoughts of our upcoming afternoon outing. At the appointed time we abandoned the experiment and went to pick up her best friend, who was off school for the day.

And where did we go on this beautiful, sunny afternoon, the last in a string of 50-to-60-degree days before a predicted Saturday snow? Why, to the indoor ice rink, of course. Go figure (or figure skate, as the case may be). It had been planned for weeks, and Fuzz wasn’t about to let a little sunshine change her plans. I didn’t skate this time, preferring to instead sit in the lobby and pretend to watch through the windows while solving cryptograms in my puzzle book. (Fuzz, still being a newbie at this, didn’t really skate either; she shuffled. But she and her friend had fun, and that’s what counts.)

That was the day-by-day play-by-play; now let me think what we did that I haven’t yet talked about. Because this post isn’t long enough yet, you know.

History/Literature: Continuing with our Civil Rights studies, we read, watched Ruby Bridges (I know, you thought I’d forgotten to tell you what the movie was), and listened to MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech on YouTube. Fuzz copied a few lines of the speech for copywork. Spaz continued reading Warriors Don’t Cry. I had Fuzz write a 1-page “you were there” story about a civil rights event of her choice; she chose to write about being on the bus with Rosa Parks. (Side note: six years ago, we sat in that very bus at the Henry Ford Museum. I think we need to go there again soon!) Since we did not get to MLK’s assassination, we’ll have to extend this into yet another week.

Science, Fuzz: We skipped ahead to the last unit of CKEB (water creatures) so that we can do the insect & reptile units when it’s warmer out. After reading about saltwater and freshwater biomes, we made saltwater (which was quick & easy) and then attempted to turn it back into freshwater through a process of evaporation and condensation (which was not). It was a good experiment, but we ran out of time to see it through. Since I didn’t assign any lit for her this week, Fuzz did extra Science Bookbox reading. (Science & History Bookboxes = bins filled with various library books on the topic at hand, from which the kids can freely choose.) I think the highlight of my week was hearing her say, “Mom, I really like this book about sharks!” That isn’t what she usually says about her science reading.

Science, Spaz: Chemistry homework for his Friday class included looking up some things and doing some experiment with baking soda, which I let him do without supervision. No disaster ensued, so I think he did okay. (And by the way, it feels strange to have the kids doing totally different things for science this year, but Fuzz did not want to do chemistry and I’m okay with that.)

Other Stuff: Math, etc, etc. The usual.

And so went our week. As for this coming week, plans are to NOT work on a research paper with Spaz. I’m looking forward to it.

If you’re still awake, you can find links to more Wrap-Ups here.

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Mar. 21, 2010 - Weekly Wrap-Up

From the Heart: This week has been an emotional roller coaster. The words and actions of others can affect one's mindset severely. Lord, please help me to always be aware of what I'm saying and how I'm presenting myself. I have wrestled with thoughts and emotions that I hadn't planned on dealing with, and it has stunted my progress this past week. (Hence, my Boundaries post from the end of this week.) I have felt as though I have been under attack, but I have also felt your prayers clearing a path for me, and I'm so very grateful to you.

On the Homefront: I have not had the connection with my home that I desire for a very long time now; I think my mind moved out months ago, lol. Not a lot of packing has been accomplished, due to wrapping up birthdays (sleepover last night), necessary before-move errands, an overnight visit from my niece, moving announcements, and one mental health afternoon spent soaking up the sun. Tomorrow will start a 3-day packing marathon, and I'm so eager to just have it done.

In the Schoolroom: We are on temporary leave of lessons until we are settled into our new state. My boys are voracious readers and help out tremendously at the grocery store ("go get me 5.5 pounds of apples, weigh them, and tell me how much they cost" is a game that we play weekly - their mental maths are phenomenal :), write thank-you notes, and do a million and other things that regulated school-ers would consider "school work" but we homeschoolers just consider LIFE. I am looking forward to our time in the trailer immensely, for we will be able to re-focus on our lessons and our goals for the boys. Life has been far too "static-y" here for quite some time; I have worried about burn-out for me. I feel a slow excitement creeping up on me about their future lessons, and I am so relieved and happy. I have packed my Charlotte Mason Companion into the trailer for a thorough re-read and inspiration, along with several other books designed to encourage mom.

In the Craft Corner: I have had absolutely no time as of late to create, nor the inclination to create. I am, however, going to find some room to put a crochet project (or three), and am looking forward to getting back to it.

In the Kitchen: I have been planning our meals for our last week here, and have been looking ahead to next week for easy meals while we are on the road. I have also been busy emptying out our chest freezer and upright freezer, sorting through the pantry, and panicking over what will fit in the trailer and what will not. *smile*

In the Trailer: Last weekend was spent pulling everything out of the trailer, spring cleaning it, and beginning to re-load it. This is going to be our home for the foreseeable future, so I need it super organized and clean. It comes back to the house from storage this Wednesday, and I will spend most of Thursday transferring our household to it.

Mother Culture: This week I laid down my guilt of doing just "one more week of school" and focused instead on wrapping up the chapter of our Arizona lives. I have sat and talked with both of my boys instead of rushing through conversations to get to the next thing. I have not stressed over the lack of packing and instead have focused on following through on my promises to them, unbegrudgingly and with happy heart: a sleepover with four of their friends over Saturday/Sunday, and a trip to the movies today to honor Jigger's birthday request. I have fallen so far in my estimations of what I want to be for them as a mother; this move is encouraging me that that time is about to end.

Picture(s) I am Sharing: brief reminders of what our "new" home looks like:

If you would like to participate in Mary's Weekly Wrap Up, simply click the link and visit her for more information.

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Friday 19 March 2010 - What's in a Name? A Lot, Apparently

Continued from previous post…

So, my Blogger Blog Buddies who have been clamoring for me to come on over: I am almost there. There is one thing that yet hinders, one more think upon which I continue to thing… er… whatever. You know what I mean.

That one thing is: a name.

I’m kind of tired of “Life at the W.A.C.K.O.S.” It’s cute and clever and all that, but it’s also sort of… dumb. Besides, it makes us sound more fun than we actually are, and we can’t have that now, can we? Once I made the decision to just go for it, I realized I wanted a new name for a new blog. I also wanted my url to match my name, at least somewhat, and once I had a url established, I’d have to stick with it. That means I would have to come up with a name --just the right name-- before I could jump. So here we go again.

Did I mention that that was months ago? Think, think, think to death…

Actually, I came up with the perfect name almost right away. It’s a name I thought of when we first moved to this house, before blogging was even on my radar. It’s a play on words, it’s clever, it’s relevant, it perfectly captures the essence of my blog. I love it, I want it… and I can’t use it. Not because someone else has it, but because… well, because… it involves the name of my street. Probably not a real good idea on a public blog.

Of course, as soon as I realized that this name was a no-no, I wanted it even more. You know how that is. It suddenly became The Best Blog Name in the Whole World, far superior to any other. And so I went back and forth on it for weeks, yea months. After all, my street is twenty-odd miles long, and there are similarly-named streets in neighboring counties. I could be anywhere on any one of those streets. How big a risk would it be, really?

Um, enough of one. And I’d have to be way careful about not saying things about that place down the road or being this many miles from the Big Lake or that many miles from the Big City, and I wouldn’t be able to post any pictures of my house. I wouldn’t like that. Too stifling.

Nonetheless, I decided to google the forbidden blog name to see what would come up. Lo and behold, there is a Blogger blog --from West Michigan, yet-- with essentially the same name. That in itself wouldn’t hinder me, as I could easily tweak the url, and the other one isn’t an active blog. It has exactly one entry, dated 2005.

Which kind of confirmed my fears. ONE POST, and pppttthhh, that blogger was gone. See, it didn’t take that stalker long at all. Nope, street name in title is not a good idea.

What else could I come up with? Well, one of my faithful bloggy friends had urged me to write more “random little stories” (as opposed to long, analytical expositions like this one). So how about entitling my blog Random Little Stories? I kind of liked that… except that it wasn’t going to be very accurate. Rambling Long Sagas would be more like it, but that name is just going to scare people away. I could cover both possibilities by simply calling it RLS, which would be infinitely boring, not to mention confusing. Although that would open the doors for posting Really Loopy Stuff and Ranting Loud Sermons, both of which could be kind of fun. Oh, and let’s not forget Ridiculously Lame S… well, never mind that one.

(I don't actually use that word, by the way. Just in case you were wondering. But I was trying to come up with an "S" word, and... well... can you think the words "S word" without actually thinking of the "S word"? No, I didn't think so. So stop judging me.)

Sorry, rabbit trail.

Meantime, I was contemplating the fact that, even though my blog tends to be kind of homeschool-y at the moment, I’d really like it to be more eclectic. So that gave rise to more name ideas. How about Eclectia? Or Eklectia, or Eclektia, or Eklektia? Okay, granted, that last one is a little overkill, but as long as it’s intentional, creative spelling is always fun. (Although as infrequently as I post, a better name might be Neglektia.)

I googled Eclectia and got some results (including the fact that the domain name is available for a mere $7,000+). None were blogs, but it occurred to me that, whatever the spelling, people looking for one of those other places would google the name and might stumble on me, and I don’t really want to be stumbled upon by random googlers. When it comes to obtaining new readers, I much prefer the Friends-of-Friends and Linking-Up methods to the Found-You-on-Google-and-Now-I’m-Going-to-Stalk-You method. So scratch that.

Not that I make huge efforts to obtain more readers anyway… and this is where my next great name idea came in. See, I’ve done a fair amount of ruminating over the fact that I am not a “serious” blogger. Despite my best intentions and numerous head-blogs, it’s become exceedingly difficult for me to manage a post even once a week. I don’t participate in many link-ups (even though I’d enjoy doing so), I’m not really into to trying to “grow my readership” (even though having more readers would be nice), and I don’t go to blog conferences (even though it would be kind of fun). And I don’t really write profound, thought-provoking blog posts (even though I would be capable). I’m definitely an UNserious blogger. And sometimes that causes… you know… blog-guilt. Kinda like mom-guilt, only much more stupid. Because why should being a less-than-stellar blogger even bother me? There are more important things in life to be serious about. (I can’t really remember at the moment what any of them are, but I know there are some.)

And then the name came to me: The Not-So-Serious Blogger. Now that one has potential. I like it. So I googled it. I found a few diatribes about not-so-serious bloggers (as if that were some sort of a sin), which really didn’t make me feel a lot better. I also found that the name has already been taken-- by some guy with girlfriend problems, it would appear. And even though I could easily make do with a slightly different url, I’d really hate for someone to be looking for my blog, stumble on his, and think that I was having girlfriend problems. That wouldn’t do.

On the other hand, nothing had been posted on that blog for about five years, so we’re probably okay. The poor guy apparently met the same fate as the blogger who lived on my street. Or… wait.. maybe he was the fate of the blogger who lived on my street. You know, with his girlfriend problems and all, he might have gone stalking. Now that’s a scary thought.

Sorry, ‘nother rabbit trail.

Do you think I have analyzed this to death yet? Actually, I’m just getting started. I told you it was an illness. You might just want to go read something else.

In fact, you’re going to have to. (You’re welcome.) Because I’m going to turn the rest into Part Three. I know, you can’t wait. (And I promise, there is NOT a “new blog’ announcement at the end of all this, because I still haven’t decided on a name.)

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Friday 19 March 2010 - I Think, Therefore I Think Some More

So I have wanted to move over to Blogspot (aka Blogger) for the longest time.

Okay, maybe not the “longest” time. What does that mean, anyway? What exactly is “the longest time”? Wouldn’t that be… eternity? I have wanted to switch for about two years. That isn’t exactly eternity.

Sorry, rabbit trail.

Your next question, I know, is this: “If you have wanted to switch for the longest time, or even just for a couple years, why on earth haven’t you?” And the answer to that is simple:

I think too much.

There are people who get a thought to do something, and they just do it. There are others who think about it first for a short time and then do it. And then there are the people who get a thought to do something, and then they think about it and think about it some more and think of all the reasons why they shouldn’t do it and all the things that might happen if they did and all the different ways they could do it, and they think about it so long and so hard that they just don’t do it.

That would be me. I don’t just think about things, I analyze them TO DEATH, and I mean a slow, tortuous death.

Case in point: paragraphs two and six above. (You’ll notice, however, that I stopped before I got to the “tortuous death” stage. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t still be reading.) Another case in point: Notice I’m not simply writing up a post saying, “I’m ready to jump over to blogger except for this one thing I need you to help me with.” No, that would be too easy and logical and efficient. Instead, I have to present you with all the whys and wherefores and howzits before I get to my point.

It’s an illness.

And yes, this think-too-much-and-analyze-to-death disease even applies to stupid, inconsequential matters such as where to blog. Think, thank, thunk, thud.

I got through the “I would be abandoning all my HSB friends.” (You all can just as easily read and comment on a Blogspot blog, just like I do-- can’t you? I mean, those few of you who haven’t already moved long ago.) I got through the “I don’t have a good enough reason to move.” (Want me to make you a list?) I even got through the “I don’t blog often enough anymore to warrant a move.” (I can not-blog at Blogger just as easily as I can not-blog over here.) And I’ve almost gotten through the “Instead of starting a new blog, I should really just close up shop and quit blogging, period, and do something productive.” Almost. Not quite through that one, but I’m getting there. Because even if I do quit blogging, it would be nice to blog at Blogspot before I do.

A few months ago, I had almost convinced myself to quit thinking and just DO IT. You know, be like those people who just decide to do something and jump. I was going to give myself a new blog for Christmas or maybe New Year’s. Then I ran into one more thought.

To be continued, because two shorter posts are more fun than one long one. (And no, I DON’T have that Blogger blog yet.)

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Mar. 19, 2010 - Boundaries: Do You Have Them?

As we travel through life, we meet other people on our journeys. Some are permanent, some are temporary, and others are simply proximity-people, or people you encounter for a butterfly's breath while going through the checkout or bumping into while in a crowd. Every single person you run across has the ability to change a life, just as you do, whether it be for better or for worse.

If you, like me, have some permanent or permanent-for-now people in your lives that have a tendency to push, pull, and drive you crazy, I would like to pass along a few things that have been helping me tremendously to put some boundaries up and things into perspective. I wish you much luck if you begin this journey of introspection, boundary-making, and peace. I myself am on this journey as I type, and while it's often-times painful, it's also bringing me to a place of contentment and peace. I wish you the same. Happy reading and listening!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Boundaries, by Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

Dealing with the Crazymakers in your life, by Dr. David Hawkins

Foolproofing your life 6-week audio series based on the book of same title by Jan Silvious. These one-hour long programs aired in January and February of this year. Here is the link to the Part One in the series. These have been so relieving, illuminating, and helpful.

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Mar. 19, 2010 - What We Did This Week

What We Learned-- We started a new unit study with the book I Am Regina by Sally Keehn. Due to the book, we are learning about Natives. This book is a bit mature so I am skipping some sections. The kids are enjoying our unit so far. Each child is making a book on the various Indain tribes. So far we have learned about the Lakotas. The kids are also making an Indian village with tipis, wigwams (they aren't working out very well, though) and back rests. This unit is very much a hands-on one. My kids are grateful for that. We have been spending most of our week with our unit. I will write a more in-depth post about what we are doing for this unit.

What We Read-- We have started reading Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry for our family read aloud. Missy and I have started The BFG by Roald Dahl for her read aloud. We read this book in the summer but it was such a hit with Missy that she asked for a re-read. I am still reading Walden. This book is one that demands to be read in tiny patches. I cannot read this in big stretches of time. I have also read Long Lost by Harlan Coben. I love his books but he is quite graphic and gruesome. That says alot about me, doesn't it? I read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Anne Shafer and Annie Barrows. This book has gotten alot of hype in the last two years. I think that hype has done it a disservice. I will post about that next week as well. I am now reading The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fernette Eide. This book has already answered some of my long-held questions about my children's learning.

What We Watched-- The kids saw The Princess Frog. They liked it alot. My reaction was ho-hum. I saw Up in the Air this week as well. I still don't understand why this movie was made. I don't see the purpose of this movie. George Clooney plays a single man who lives on an airplane flying to city after city due to his job. You think that the ending is going to change his living arrangements and his attitude about marriage and children. Uh-uh. It looks like it is going to change but then someone brutally betrays him (at least, I found it a brutal betrayal) and that just proves to him that his lifestyle is the better one. I was disappointed in it. George Clooney, as always, was debonair and funny. He saved the movie.

What We Made-- We are having company today so I decided to break my hard and fast rule and make brownies from a mix. I know, ooohhh. i always make things from scratch but the picture on the box looked so yummy. As I am typing this out, I realize that I could have just made this from scratch, too, but the picture on the box looked so yummy. That picture swept away any logic that existed in my rain at the time. In my defence, though, these brownies are not just any kind of brownies.....they are M&M Brownies. The picture on the box looked so yummy.

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