May. 15, 2007 - Motherhood's Journey
Motherhood is the journey out of my own selfishness. -Author Unknown
This quote struck a chord with me the first time I heard it. I've thought of it over and over, ever since. Maturity seems to be the destination of this journey. The same lady that shared the above quote also stated on her blog something to the effect of "I shudder to think what I would be today without Motherhood". She said that as it relates to the journey.....the struggle.....the learning process I guess all mothers go through.
At the moment, I'm shuddering to think I'm this immature and I'm a mother. :( My faults and failures are so apparent to me and I've found myself driven to my knees in tears, crying "I don't know how to be a mother, Lord!!" Perhaps this is part of the journey - to recognize that I can NOT do it alone........motherhood done right takes the GRACE of the ever-present, all resourceful God.
Maybe the following quote from a lady named Meg will help anyone else who may feel the same way I do at the moment. I know it helped me!
"Motherhood (the kind that is in the trenches and with your kids 24/7 and holding yourself
to the highest personal standards of excellence) is a CALLING that
is tons of grunt work, not much reward and an absolute gift from
God - one that must be unwrapped daily. It is not a job for whimps
and in those hard times, remember to thank God for the struggle
because motherhood (done well) is a perfecting of YOUR soul. It's
the true path to God because it's all sacrifice and nothing will
mature a spirit faster than giving and doing it freely. That's what
real motherhood is about."
• 4 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link
Mar. 20, 2007 - Spring!
Punkins has looked forward to Spring with the greatest of anticipation. Last evening when she prayed, she said in an awestruck tone "God, I don't understand how You're going to make the trees burst open, but I know you will!".
This morning she asked again when First Day of Spring will be here. I told her that tomorrow is the Big Day (according to my calendar).
Beautiful eyes danced in excitement as she asked "What time will the trees burst open?????"
As I explained to her that Spring doesn't exactly "hit" like that, her shoulders began to droop. Her head dropped. If I could have seen her mouth, it would probably have had a protruding lower lip.
Amused yet saddened that my precious child's balloon of expectancy had been burst by reality, I quickly added : "It probably happens like that in Heaven, tho! In fact, it's probably ALWAYS Spring in Heaven!!"
The butterfly of pure JOY alighted on my little girl's face.......gone were the drooping shoulders, the despondent head....................................SPRING IN HEAVEN - what a glorious thought!!!!
Mar. 15, 2007 - More Progress
Sunshine (2 yo) can now identify colors correctly. A few weeks ago she was able to just point to the correct color.........now she readily verbalizes what is red, yellow, green..........................and of course, she knows PURPLE!! 
Way to go, Little Sunshine!
Mar. 13, 2007 - It's CLICKED!
Punkins has a night time teacher. Yes, a very good one! She's told me for a long time that at night, she has a teacher inside her head. I have started to believe her.
First, it was numbers. I honestly have not focused on addition. Yet the other day she informed me:"1+1 is 2. 2+2 is 4. (ETC.....all the way up to 5+5 is 10!!). When I exclaimed my surprise and asked her how she knew that, she told me........................"THE TEACHER IN MY HEAD. THE ONE AT NIGHT."'
Encouraged that I have an assistant (or maybe I'M the assistant???!!!), I decided to take some time and approach phonics from a different angle. The Abeka method is good but it just hadn't "clicked" with Punkins. When she would work on blends, she would separate the letters and sound them out individually. I introduced a "Secret Key"......and showed her how she can use it to read any blend at a glance. I started with "A" and added the consonants in front of it. The next day, she'd conquered it! And who was responsible? "My teacher that comes to teach me at night after I go to bed!"
So now...........Punkins is READING!!! I gave her a book yesterday and she was able to read quite a few words. I"m so proud of her and it's neat to see her bursting with excitement. She's well aware of her limits, however. Yesterday she pointed at a word, "Christian", and said "I can't read that yet. I'm just not very good when they put two consonants together like that!!"
I love the thrill of teaching. It's not always thrills.......sometimes it seems like nothing is being accomplished.......but these major breakthroughs make me realize afresh the fertile land in which I'm farming!
Feb. 12, 2007 - Homeschool Tip
I've found a really useful tool that I'd like to share today. It's a place for organizing homeschool goals. I really like it - it's easy to understand, it's comprehensive, and it's FREE! I've been going week by week (well, since discovering it about 2 weeks ago!) and printing out the weekly calendar once I've entered the data. I do recommend watching both videos before setting it up yourself. There are many other features, too.
Feb. 7, 2007 - The Vacation That Never Happened
This afternoon I received a phone call from a telemarketer. You know the kind....young male voice, complete with a chipper "How are you today, Mam?". Oblivious to the dull monotone response (a practiced art - comes from having been a telemarketer myself in my younger days), he proceeded to tell me he was from a resort in Branson, MO. "Have you ever been to Branson?" No. "Well, we have ___ shows each day, (bla.bla..bla...bla...bla) and 3 beautiful lakes! How many people usually travel with you?........I'm sorry, what did you say?......"
Suddenly an angry toddler cry arose from the living room, followed by an unearthly scream from Punkins. With beautiful Branson hanging in the balances (I was just sure he was going to tell me we had won a FREE trip!!!! For once, I WANTED to hear the punchline)......I rushed to where Punkins stood screaming. Shrill, very shrill screams and screeches. As she pulled back her shirt sleeve, I saw a huge mark on her arm and finally realized Sunshine had biten......yes BITEN!!......her sister. With a quick "I have to go, sir!", I let the much needed vacation go with the click of a button.
After practicing my nursing skills, soothing angry spirits, disciplining the guilty party, and supervising a sincere apology, my thoughts returned to the vacation in Branson. Well, not so much to the vacation as to the telemarketer. I started to laugh. I can only imagine what he thought!!
Maybe he'll call back.......you know, I'm SURE every high class resort in Branson would LOVE to have us come grace their facility with our quiet unassuming airs.
A post script: As I was typing this, Buttons knelt at the rocking chair and prayed "Dear Jesus, please help (Sunshine) to never bite (Punkins) again. Amen"
I second that motion, Lord!
Feb. 4, 2007 - Sweet Words are Good Medicine
"Ouch, Mommy Princess!!!" - Little Sunshine, as I brushed her hair today.
"I love you better than anyone else....almost as much as Jesus, but not quite". - Punkins
"Mommy, I'm going to live next to you. (Speaking of when she grows up) You are my stickum buddy". - Punkins
"I love you, Mommy. You are the most Mommy in the whole wide world!", accompanied by a tight squeeze around the neck and kisses from Buttons.
Ahhhhhh sweet, sweet words. Sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. Their sweetness is like a balm to a weary heart after a challenging week of life.
Jan. 25, 2007 - Priorities of Life
Good Evening! As I shared with my dear friend the other night, I don't have a large contingent of readers. But that suits me fine. Just fine! I have actually shared the blog with very few people. I view blogging as something that I enjoy. Not something I HAVE to do (as I might feel pressured to do if I worried about maintaining a following of readers). Not a place where I have to be perfect (I rarely succeed in that, anyway!). But just an outlet of expression. Oh - and it's an instan-tan-eous-ly organized place to journal! (If you could see the many boxes full of years of memories waiting to be journaled and scrapbooked, you'd understand!!)
That being said, I thoroughly enjoy good and consistent bloggers. I don't have time to read a lot of them any more, but tonight I revisited one I enjoy. I found a very classic and inspiring entry so I thought I'd share a link to the article. I think I'll print them out and frame the quotes she composed.
Happy Reading! 
And don't forget to cruise through the feedback section for a few more great quotes.
http://thesparrowsnest.typepad.com/the_sparrows_nest/2007/01/she_is_no_fool.html
Jan. 16, 2007 - HaHa's from the Homefront
I'm so glad for a sense of humor. Life is so much richer when you can appreciate the funny things WHEN they actually happen, not just in retrospect.
Yesterday I was one determined Mommy.........determined that homeschool would go better and that I would have the upper hand in the behavior of my dear scholars. This determination was a byproduct of a few days of very unruly behavior....sliding down in chairs, giving wrong answers on purpose, etc. So using my gift of impromptu imagination, I just happened on the following idea...........
At the first sign of restlessness, I casually mentioned for them to pay attention because I'm sure they wouldn't want to get a bean. BEAN?!! Being sharp little munchkins, they immediately bit. BEAN?! 
Yes..dried beans were the reward system I used yesterday. At first, I had thot I'd be giving out lots of beans.......but THANKFULLY remembered that children respond to POSITIVE reward even better than to NEGATIVE.......so I revamped and chose some dried white lima beans for the "reward" bean. The black-eyed peas were still the dreaded bean. This is how it worked: Whenever they were noticed doing GOOD, I took a lima bean and wrote their initial on it and dropped it into a canister. (Nice "DING!" as it dropped in). At the end of the day, I wrote the reward system up on the board........1 bean = 1 chocolate chip (a treat they love!)..........2 beans = piece of candy......3 beans = 5 cents.........and 4 beans = 10 cents. They loved the system and that bag of black eyed peas never got opened all day!! WHOOPEEE!! We had the best day of homeschool that we've had in quite a while.
But back to the humor - now that you have the background to understand it - I was on the computer last evening while the girls had some independant play time. Suddenly I heard Punkins say loudly "(Sunshine)!!! You're gonna get a BLACK EYE!!!" Shocked at such violent talk, I immediately hollered......."What did you say?!!" Punkins said "(Sunshine) is gonna get a black eye if she doesn't stop it!" My ire raised, I said "And who's going to give it to her?!" Amazingly, she said " YOU are!" Completely "got" by this unexpected kind of talk, I said "Do you realize HOW people GET black eyes?!!" LOL My balloon was poked by a little needle and I quickly deflated into laughter as Punkins clarified "You said you'd give us a black eye bean if we acted up!" 
I do believe I won't continue with the Black Eye Pea as the "negative".........it would absolutely HORRIBLE to have to try to clear THAT kind of comment up in public!! "You better behave or Mommy will give you a black eye"?!!!! YOUCH! Not what I want!! I'm sure everyone would believe me when I explained they MEANT to say pea. Yeah....gonna do something different!!
The other thing that was SO funny yesterday happened when I was asking the blessing before supper last evening. We were having left over tacos. Busy getting things on the table, I snagged a piece of the taco-seasoned hamburger.......then said "All right girls, let's pray!" 
(That's not a good example, by the way!!) Well................as I prayed, I said the typical phrase "Please bless the food to the good of our bodies"......(BREATH IN.........AGH! a piece of HAMBURGER INTO TRACHEA.......CHOKE CHOKE CHOKE" ....."Mommy, are you alright????!!!"........peals of laughter from Mommy!!! ) Can't you just imagine?! The timing was hilarious.
Jan. 6, 2007 - World Views of a Kindergartener
On the radio news..........
Punkins: "Mom! Turn off that yucky news! They're always saying someone is getting killed. Soon the flag will be so low that I can touch it!"
On poverty in 3rd World Countries (after watching a stirring U-tube video clip).......
At bedtime before going to sleep, she said "Mom, I'm really sorry for those little kids. I feel bad that they wasted all their money and now they don't even have food to eat!"
It was my duty to inform her sadly of the reality of earthly poverty. I was so proud of how she responded: "Mom, I want to take ALL my piggy bank money and send to those little kids. I don't want a violin with it. I want to give it all".
Lord, give us child hearts in 2007!
Dec. 22, 2006 - Princess Party
One evening several weeks ago, I decided to have a "Princess Party". I made pink cupcakes with fluffy pink icing and while the little princesses were donning their royal attire, I attempted to create a magical environment. Magical in the sense that I turned the "normal" dining room into a candlelit atmosphere. I hung a purple canopy from the A/C vent, used a "Princess" flat sheet as the tablecloth (which I now regret that I didn't IRON!), draped a lace tablecloth over the chairs, used a tear drop chandelier type lamp from the Domincan Rupublic and lit a candle for added affect, etc. I arranged the cupcakes on individual Pfaltzgraf Tea Rose plates and sprinkled one shade of purple sparkles on top of the cupcakes and another shade of purple around the plate. A bowl of peanuts perched precariously on top of the satin heart pillow.
"Mom!! Are you ready yet?!!!" Floated down the steps as I frantically worked, knowing even Princesses lose their patience sometimes. In fact, I worked so hard, I had difficulty fulfilling the expectation that I look like a Queen at the party.
With lights out, but candlelight casting it's romantic glow around the room, I notified the Royal Trio that they could, at last, come. At the top of the steps, they paused for pictures. Beautifully arrayed in princess attire, with hair up in fancydo's, they were just the "cat's meow", let me tell ya! Slowly they descended as the sound of classical music swirled around them. As they caught a glimpse of the dining room, their eyes just shone! Trying to act dignified, however, they were seated and served. The grape Juicy-Juice was poured from the never-before-for-them-used Rose Teapot, the Queen making sure it was held at a towering 8 or 9 inches so that the juice sparkled in the candle light.
As the Princesses dined, I took the opportunity to expound on what makes a young lady a true Princess. It's not the pretty clothes or the pretty hairdo's. I told them there are 2 types of Princesses in this world. Disney has their chaffy version. (On second thot, maybe there's 3 types...people who are born to the title by name only) But the true Princess is a special because she's beautiful with God within her, making her a Child of The King! We talked about heart issues and they had fun serving each other by pouring more grape juice and being polite in their interactions. As they finished their icecream, I told the story of the Princess and the Pea.
Now if only the message of the evening will adhere to their little hearts as well as that pink fluffy icing stuck to their cute little faces...........................
Dec. 20, 2006 - Nativity Trauma
While waiting for school to begin, my children often entertain themselves with their imaginations. Today was no exception. With one child wrapped in a pink blanket pretending to be Mary and another bundled in some blankets as Baby Jesus, they had quite a little Nativity play going. "Mom, you be Herod!" I huffed and puffed to myself about a King being born and then implored the imaginary Wise Men to find the Baby King Jesus for me. To everyone's surprise, Buttons, who was playing Mary, said "Here He is!" Punkins went into immediate emotional distress. "(Buttons)!!! Why would you tell Hair-road (Herod) where Jesus is?!! (Buttons)!!!!! why in the world would you do that?!!!" I tried to diffuse the situation by reassuring Punkins that Buttons didn't understand.......but she heatedly replied "Mom! She knows the story!! Why would she say that?!!!"
Dec. 14, 2006 - Back Again
We were blessed with some company for the last several days so both blogging and homeschool took a second seat. The first day, I did homeschool with company here. The second day, we took a "field trip" but I let everyone relax instead of stressing the education side. 
And yesterday, we went out to shop and because it was a beautiful day, I ended up taking them to the park. But I have absolutely NO regrets. We all needed the fresh air, the interaction with other children, and the excercise. As I stood pushing a swing, I thought of the irony: "My only day to go Christmas shopping and I take my kids to the park." The next thoughts were something like this: "I don't regret it tho! Where else could I smile for 2 hours straight?!"
I had a long entry (complete with a picture!!) written last evening and when I finally went to submit it, PUFF!! It was gone. It was a very sad occasion. 
When I recover, I may try again.
Dec. 7, 2006 - 14 Days of Homeschooling
The following poem is not orginal.....wish I COULD take the credit for it - it's a classic!! 
14 Days of Homeschooling
To the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas."
On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you
homeschool legally?"
On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give
them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about
P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you
homeschool legally?"
On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO
STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long
will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E. , do you
give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at
what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO
STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they
socialized, do you homeschool legally?"
On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you
do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool,
YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they
socialized, do you homeschool legally?"
On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss
the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long
will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E. do you
give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"
On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about
graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what
they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!,
what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can
you homeschool legally?"
On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could
never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do
you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you
homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them
tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"
On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they
go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll
miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how
long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do
you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool
legally?"
On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They
Can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, we
don't like the prom, we do it cuz we like it, they are missing
nothing, we'll homeschool forever, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them
P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL
LEGALLY!
On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can
I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum,
when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I
think we can do this, if you will help us, we'll join a sports team,
and we'll homeschool legally."
Dec. 6, 2006 - Sharing another neat site....
I'd like to share the following website: www.Biblesondvd.com. If you click on it, you can watch the whole book of I John online. It's not cartoony or entertaining. It's the Word of God on DVD and I really like the idea that kids can listen and as they learn to read, they can follow along. I plan to order a complete set someday. Right now it's not in the budget!
It amazes me how much children can truly enjoy and understand the Bible. It's real and alive - able to speak to all generations. Tools like these DVDs can help make us as we teach our children to love God's Word. In my mind, they're TONS better than sitting them down in front of animated Veggie Tales (please, don't throw any rotten Bobs at me!
) who have cucumbers who say they're Queen Esther, or David, or whoever. I'm not against fun and entertainment (in moderation!) but when we are dealing with children's minds, I think we really need to THINK about what we are teaching them. Can a squash really portray the fortitude and courage of Bible Heroes?! I love Veggie Tales when they're doing character stories - just not Bible stories. In fact, I sing one of their songs quite often in our house, sometimes multiple times a day.....
O dear! My Hairbrush! "Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh where is my hairbrush? Oh whereohwhereohwhereohwhereohwheeeeeerrrrrrre.............Is my hairbrush?!"
Now that I've proven that I can ramble and go off on tangents as well as the next blogger, I'll bid you adieu!!
ADIEU!! 
Dec. 4, 2006 - First Official Lesson
Would you believe that the piano books have already arrived? It's been impressive service from Allegro Music! I'm very impressed with the quality of both the books and the accompanying CD. Tonite will be our first official lesson.
I plan to sit down (when I have time) to figure out how to upload pictures again. I'm missing so many opportunities to share their hard work with the world wide web! Soon......soon! At least I know Grandma and Grandpa would be interested!!
Nov. 30, 2006 - Piano Books Ordered
Hip-hip-hooray! I don't have to re-invent the wheel!!! 
When I started teaching Punkins about the piano, I tried to be creative and explain things for a 4 year old mind. I'm not SURE what I did was orginal.....but I don't remember learning it from anyone.
To teach middle C, I showed her how the sequence of black keys is 2,3,2,3. So I taught her a little song with the 2 black keys under the name of the piano. Here it is:
(starting on c# and playing C#,D#, C#, etc.) "Lit-tle bun-ny hops a-round. Lit-tle bun-ny hops DOWN!" On down, the little bunny hopped down to the white key: Middle C. She caught on to this in no time and uses her index and middle finger for the bunny. It usually hops down really hard, too!
To teach the concept of Treble/Bass notes, I told them we have tweeting birds up in the treetops (hear them in the treble?) and in the bass, there are deep voiced GRUMBLY BEARS!! Hear them growling?
Anyway, the concept of using imagination when teaching piano interests me and I have been delaying the purchasing of those boring ol' books! And then I found Fable & Fable!!
This couple have a series of piano books developed especially for young children. It appeals to imagination and taps into the #1 motivator for this age group: FUN!!
The Faber's website is: http://pianoteaching.com/ You can even watch demo lesson videos to see exactly what I mean about it appealing to young children.
Here's what I ordered:
FF1619 *NEW* My First Piano Adventure for the Young Beginner-Lesson Book A (Pre-Reading) with CD 1 $9.95
FF1620 *NEW* My First Piano Adventures for the Young Beginner Writing Book A (Pre-Reading) 1 $6.95
That's not too bad, is it? I ordered from www.allegromusiconline.com
I'm excited that I now have a professional FUN way to teach her piano lessons!
Nov. 30, 2006 - Correction
I hang my head in shame........I totally misread my curriculum overview. We did NOT just finish the first 6 weeks! I'm too embarressed to tell you the mistake I made. I goofed BIG TIME!!! 
I'll let ya know when we reach that milestone for real. I thought we were a month behind..........now I'm pretty sure we're WAY behind! In one way, I'm not overly worried because we ARE making progress and we've seemed to find our "notch" and we're being consistent now. The first year is really a learning year.
Can I say that again? The first year is really a learning year. Shh! Listen! 
Do you hear the old record player of yesteryear?........Female voice crooning encouragement "The first year is really a learning year. Oh, the firrrrrrrrrrrrrrst year is really a learning yearalearningyearalearningyearalearningyearalearningalearningyearayearayearayear...." 
(HOLLERING FROM THE KITCHEN) WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TURN THAT THANG OFF????
Nov. 26, 2006 - A Favorite Website
One website that's become a "fav" in our routine is to check EVERY DAY NEWS by Vision Forum. I tried to explain it to another homeschooling mom the other day and found myself stumbling for the right words.....so I'll just share the link here.
http://www.visionforum.com/hottopics/multimedia/enn/
Check out the archives and then be sure to tune in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for new videos. It's one of the few places that I don't have to worry about previewing everything before we watch it.
And the lamb jumping rope? You never know what you'll see on Every Day News......or this blog! 
Nov. 20, 2006 - 5 o'clock News Brief
"Good Evening. This is Momamaria Duffendork reporting in for Homeschool Haven News. This evening we're interviewing a bright young lady who just completed her first six weeks of the Abeka K5 curriculum!! Punkins, please step forward."
"Now Punkins, I understand you want to read. Is that right?"
"Yes Mam! I want to read so I can read the Bible!"
"Punkins, just how are you learning to read?"
"First I learned my letters. I can say my alphabet without any problem now."
"That's great! What was the next step?"
"Next, I learned the vowels."
"And they are???"
"A, E, I, O, U.........and sometimes Y!"
"Great job!"
"I learned how to hear them in the middle of words."
"Oh really?! Can you give us an example? What vowel do you hear in 'Set'?"
"Set. Ss..ehh.ehhh.ehhh tt... E!!!"
"Wow, Punkins, that's cool! And you can do that with all the vowel sounds?"
"Yep!"
"What's your Mom teaching you now?"
"Today I learned that all the other letters are called consonants. We're starting with an easy one....'T'."
"Well, thank you, Punkins, for reporting in. It's really exciting to watch your progress. You're on your way to reading! Keep up the good work."
(Audience claps , Punkins exits)
"Thanks for joining me for this look inside the 'Homeschool Progress Folder'. It's also reported that Punkins is making progress in Spanish, Music, PE, and Cooking 101. This is Mrs. Duffendork, reporting."
Last Page | Next Page
