The Sweet Life... - Homeschool Blogger

I'm Still Here

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 09:25:00 -0500

Well, I haven't moved yet...obviously...I just can't seem to make the break...the community here is so great...I'm hemming and hawing ...so until further notice this is my blog home!

I'm moving

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 01:08:00 -0500

Well, I've finally made he commitment to move my blog...I'll be posting at A Sweet life
from now on. I've been getting very frustrated trying to upload photo's here at HSB. I am going to miss the community, though. So, if you get the chance, check out the new blog...not much is happening there at this time...mostly housekeeping as I move my posts from here to there. But you'll notice a new header (designed for me by my Dear Knight) and some new pages...oh, and another thing... I'll be signing off as "Lola" from now on...the Dear Knight finally told me he thinks "Motherhen" is too frumpy. So , thanks to our nephew "T" for christening me with my new moniker when he was 2 (ok...not so new..."T" is 19 so I've been call Lola for a long while).

Coram Deo, Lola

Endless gifts

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:47:00 -0500

I've posted previously about my 1000 Things for which to be thankful here and here. However, I really slacked off in posting any more "things". Until now...I have been inspired yet again by Ann at Holy Experience. And so I have created my own homekeeping/gratitude journal. If I can do this any one can. I challenge you to start your own "Endless List" or add to the one you've already started. Check out Ann's blog, drop her a line , and be added to the "Endless List" blogroll. If we "...seek the things that are above" and " set our minds on things that are above and not on things that are on earth..."~ Colossians 3:1-2~ then we will be living indeed!

Bravewriter

Mon, 7 Apr 2008 15:40:00 -0500

If you have never heard of Bravewriter I suggest you go straight away to the Bravewriter

website. There you will find a wealth of information regarding the Bravewriter lifestyle and the Bravewriter writing philosophy. The two oldest chicks and I just finished up a 6 week course called Kids Write Basic. This course taught ME how to teach my children how to write. It allowed me to see that my children have funny, interesting, thoughtful ideas in their heads and that they CAN write if they have something about which to write. It allowed my children to see that they can write and there is nothing to fear about writing. Bravewriter is not a curriculum...it is a lifestyle that nurtures the writer in you and your children!

First Place

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:02:00 -0500

This weekend, our local homeschool group held their annual Project Fair. This is the first year any of my chicks has entered. Lala created 8 small felt dolls using the book Felt We Folk by Sally Mavor as a guide. Lala created the 8 main characters from Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. She took first place for her age in the Arts and Crafts category. We are very proud!

Mystery Class

Tue, 29 Jan 2008 12:21:00 -0600

I wanted to let you all know about a great online Geography resource. It is called Mystery Class. It is a free online line "class" the purpose of which is to use the changing sunset and sunrise times to track down the location of 10 "Mystery Classes" scattered throughout the Northern Hemisphere (or maybe the whole world--I think I'd better check that out...LOL). I copied this directly from the website:

'Somewhere under the sun, kids at 10 secret sites are watching how day length changes with the seasons. We challenge you to find the 10 Mystery Class sites using sunrise and sunset clues.'

It is completely free and looks very fun.   I just signed up this morning and will be working with my three eldest children to track our daylight times and graph them appropriately. Hopefully we'll be successful and solve the "Mystery'.

Additionally, the site has other programs that utilize the sightings of various harbingers of spring (migrating birds, butterflies, melting ice, etc...) to track the changing seasons.   There is even a "botany" related experiment involving the planting of tulips and charting the first sprouts....unfortunately we're a little late for that one but there is always next fall.

HT: to Melissa   over at Here in the Bonny Glen

Quick call a plumber!

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 08:00:00 -0600

After a night of very little sleep what with a sick ~~baby~~ toddler..5:30 anounced its presence way too early for my taste. But, alas, Wonder-Beagle needed to be let out and fed, so out of bed I rolled. With me came Babycakes--newly 2 (as of yesterday) and unbelievably awake considering the amount of sleep we both missed. Giggling the whole time, she watched as I fed Doggie and retrieved the paper form the driveway. We made our way back into the house. Her sweet but LOUD voice accompanying us into the kitchen. She sniffed delightedly as I measured out the coffee and declared (still very loudly): 
"Mmm, I love it!! That's my girl!

Then a look of consternation crossed her face. I had turned on the cofee maker and the water had started to drip down into the pot. With a deep intake of breath, she whispered: 
"Uh, oh. It leakin' "

Shutterbug

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:36:00 -0600

For Christmas my Dear Knight gave me my own digital camera. I had been using his Nikon D70 with a wide angle lense but it was really too much camera for little ol' me. So he surprised me with a Nikon Coolpix S51--very cool!! Now I can click away and not worry about all the settings and such...I can even make movies with it! I am so much more a snapshot taker than a serious photographer as is my DK.

This image is one I took as I tested out my camera. It is my favorite tea cup and my favorite scented winter-time candle (peppermint/vanilla) along with a figurine my dear momma gave me for my 40th birthday. All sitting on the slim windowsill of my kitchen window. Not too bad for a novice photographer :-)

Peppermint Perfection

Wed, 19 Dec 2007 19:38:00 -0600

Today was the day for the chicks and I to get serious about our annual holiday baking frenzy. This little tradition started with my grandmother who always delivered homemade treats to her neighbors. It was (and still is) continued by my mom and me and my chicks. So, after baking 3 batches of almond-choclate-cranberry biscotti, one pan of creamy mint brownies, one batch of HOMEMADE peppermint marshmallows (OH MY! TO DIE FOR!!!) to go with the peppermint hot chocolate mix we whipped up last week along with the numerous batches of white and dark chocolate peppermint bark the Boy has been making over the last week, 3 loaves of pumpkin orange marmalade bread, and a final batch of gingerbread cookies (yesterday we made and decorated two additional batches and about 7 dozen butter cookies and the chicks built 2 gingerbread houses--from kits) and the last of the butter cookies. I finally called it quits for the day and sat down...Whew! It's been a long while since we/I have baked like this...and I'm tired--but it's a good tired.

But really this is about the peppermint marshmallows. This is our first attempt at making them from scratch and am I glad we did. Who would have thunk that a simple solution of corn syrup, sugar, peppermint and vanilla extracts, water and gelatin could make such a light and fluffy treat! Absolute marshmallow perfection...just enough mint to let you know it's there but not too much to be overwhelming. These babies are going to be perfect with that hot cocoa!! Or even better---peppermint s'mores! Hey-Daddy-man fire up the ol' bar-b!!

Many thanks go to Elizabeth at Real Learning for steering me in the right direction and feeding my peppermint addiction!

Amos 5:8

Sun, 2 Sep 2007 00:18:00 -0500

I have a habit of walking out my front door and down my driveway and gazing up at the night skies pondering what wonders the Lord has wrought. I am fascinated by the skies and the constellations. I try to discern from amidst the light pollution that floods my community as many celestial bodies as I can. I know Mars when I see it and Venus, too. I can point out the Pleiades and Orion and Cassiopeia. And I can easily spot the Big Dipper, although I have NEVER been able to find the Little Dipper.
I am not sure when this habit of mine formed. Most likely during those many nights of walking and cradling restless wee chicks in my arms; "Look...can you see the moon? When the moon is out it is night time. Do you want to go night, night? Say 'night, night, Mr. Moon'." And even now as those restless nights are getting fewer and farther between I sometimes find myself alone, gazing at the moon and the stars. Tonight was different though...I had company. Not the wakeful babe-in-arms kind of company. No, tonight my two eldest daughters joined me...and we searched the heavens together, my arms encircling their shoulders as I pointed out to them Saggitarius and Scorpius--two constellations I only just "found" this evening. My excitement apparently rubbed off on them for they ran inside to consult "Find the Constellations" and "The Stars" (both by H.A. Rey of Curious George fame) to see what else they could find.
It was one of those moments that makes my heart sing...surely if they attended school elsewhere this would not have happened--what reason would I have for owning the books I do on constellations and the night skies--they were all purchased our first year of home-schooling when the Boy was just a 1st grader and we decided to followthe recommendations from "The Well Trained Mind". We've only briefly looked through them on occasion all these years...but tonight there was a connection made between my daughters and those books; they will be "friends" for life. And a connection was made between my daughters and me; something a bit different from mom the teacher and daughters the students. Something special and full of wonderment...and for that I am eternally grateful.

Organizing our school days

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:57:00 -0500

Every August as I get ready for our new school year to �officially� start I plan, loosely, the kiddos reading schedules. I pull out all their books, count the pages required for the year, and divide that number by how many days or weeks they will use that book arriving at their reading goal. In my quest to do this efficiently I write out in grid form a 12 week chart showing what and how much each child needs to read for each subject each week . Then I transfer all that info into a run of the mill planning book. But not this year. Well, I still do the page counting and writing in the chart ...but...the run of the mill planner is gone! No more funky-looking container of many useless pages for me! I now am the proud owner of a customized (by me) planner that has only the pages I need and use in it! I took my inspiration for my dear friendAnn. In fact her brainchild ,seen here, is just what I�ve been looking for all these 8 homeschooling years. This is the before:

(The black band is an elastic strap to keep the book closed.) And this is the after:
The quote on the front is: �Education is an Atmosphere, a discipline, and a Life� ~~Charlotte Mason
This is the inside front cover. I am going to attach a small pocket to hold miscellaneous papers and notes.

On the inside back cover I am going to attach a year at a glance calendar. The inside pages are divided up just as Ann described with one change...I added a column for writing down reminders of what�s coming up in the next week--any field trips, doctor�s appointments, special projects, etc...
I love the idea of writing in the things as I�ve done them rather than filling in the pages with what I need to do and then trying to get it all done. I can�t wait to use my new �planner� --Thank you, Ann for the inspiration!

Another year older

Tue, 7 Aug 2007 21:55:00 -0500

Well, it�s been another year in the life of Tink. Yesterday we celebrated her 4th birthday, and what a day it was...gifts in the morning before Daddy-man went to work, friends over in the afternoon for a time of play, and cake in the evening for a sweet ending to a special day.
When I look back over the many changes that our family has gone through during the past 4 years I marvel at God�s continuous faithfulness. We�ve sold a home, bought a home and had a new baby--Tink (in a whirlwind two week period), had a fifth child--Babycakes, had a job change, became parents to a teen, suffered through physical ailments and lived through a whole host of the never ending mundane. Yet God is faithful to us even when we aren�t faithful to Him...Amazing! Think about it...we are so important to Him that He never gives up on His chosen ones...oh! how grateful I am that He chose me before the world began.

In the trenches

Thu, 2 Aug 2007 18:23:00 -0500

Here it is the 2nd of August and I still don't have much energy or desire to "do" school with the kiddos. Our schedule of schooling year 'round and taking off most of August just hasn't really happened this year...We've taken most of June and July off from school...many things I had hoped to finish before we officially start our new school year in September have been left undone. And now I've been invited to join a science co-op using Jeannie Fulbright's Exploring Creation With Botany. We have this book...our goal had been to use it throughout the summer months and finish up by Christmas so we could start Jeannie's Swimming Creatures of the Fifth Day come January. Well, we've only done 2 and a half chapters and I've put it on hold--for now.
Th co-op is a good one; few of the families from my local homeschool group participate. As the children study, the mom's enjoy a bible study (the moms take turns leading the lessons so no one mom misses much of the bible study). There is child care for my two littles and The Boy can work for $$ helping out in the nursery/preschool group. A perfect arrangement for us. Except that I have become rather anti-activity...I have a tendency to try do do too much throughout the week and that leaves me feeling discouraged and defeated. I always feel like we have to get "X, Y and Z" done and when we are out of the home it just doesn't happen. As it stands we are already out of the home at piano lessons one morning a week...this co-op would add another morning a week and for some reason it is SO hard to get motivated to start anything after we get home. Unfortunately, I always feel like the day is wasted if some academics aren't completed. However, the Dear Knight thinks it would be a good idea for us...after all, it has been years since I was involved in a bible study and it would help reinforce the lessons in serving others that we are trying to instill in The Boy (even if he does get paid for it). I am warming to the idea especially after talking to my HS group's leader this morning...she has such an engaging way about her... and my girls and her girls seem to have really hit it off (a huge answer to prayer---we are finally-after almost 8 years of HS'ing-making connections with other families/children!).
So I am tweaking my tentative schedule to make it more do-able and less pressure filled. Hopefully it will work and I won't end up regretting it.

A dry and desert place

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 16:53:00 -0500

When the Dear Knight and I started this homeschooling journey we knew only two homeschoolers: one family had been doing it for several years and used the textbook method and one had really just started out using the eclectic approach. Both very different from the road DK and I chose but both inspiring nonetheless. I knew I wanted to experience the same joy and delight in spending hours with my children as these families did and still do. And as I've watched these two families over the last 7 years I have noticed something remarkable--I not seen even a hint of burnout...just a joyful, pleasant desire to raise their children in the way the Lord has lead them.

So what have these families got that I/we don't...I have really struggled with burnout these last 18 months...I have tried to pray it away, read it away, pretend it away, and teach it away. Yet here it still is. Some days I just don't think I can face another page of math facts or history narrations or even fun read alouds. Frankly, I just want to crawl back into bed, pull the covers over my head and sleep my day away, pretending that my house is in order and the children will care for themselves. This is NOT the reality I envisioned almost 8 years ago.

I am not sure what I need to do to get back what I felt I've lost--denial certainly won't do it. I am not even sure a long vacation would help refresh this tired momma. New curriculum won't satisfy and adding another "How to be the Perfect Homeschooling Mom" book to my to-read list just heaps guilt and discouragement upon my head...better that I wear sack cloth and ashes that fan that fire.

But sometimes in the midst of those days when all seems either absolutely hopeless or at least a complete wash God sends me a reminder of His faithfulness---even when I have failed to lean on Him as I KNOW I should. This day and last have been those God-filled days that He graciously gives top remind me of His presence.

I have for a long time wanted our days to be filled with a peace and joy and quietness/gentleness (not silence mind you, 5 children ARE noisy) that only comes from a Spirit-filled home and life. Most days my pleas are seemingly unheard...then God does His thing!

These last two days have been all that I've wanted for a long time...the older chicks did not spend their entire waking moments arguing as is the morn around here. Baby cakes did not spend her entire day crying and fussing as is her norm. And Tink did not spend her days trying to wreak every bit of havoc possible in as short a time as possible. there has been peace and gentle ness (as much as is possible with 6 distinct personalities all living in the same home). We read aloud for over an hour yesterday morning--I can't tell you the last time we read for more than 5 minutes without some horrendous disruption from Babycakes and Tink. The older girls and I completed two science projects. And the older girls did a few math pages without tears (well, only a few and they were quickly dried). And today we read aloud TWICE!--once this morning and again after lunch! As I sat in the chair reading I looked up and there was The Boy building his newest LEGO set (he works hard around the house and for Grandpa in order to have spending money for LEGOS and hockey gear), LaLa was in the kitchen mixing up a batch of our favorite chocolate chip cookies, Mimi was at my desk drawing pictures of whatever struck her fancy, Tink was quietly (will wonders never cease) watching The Boy and drawing her own pictures and Babycakes was, and still is as type, napping. I could hear the fountain right outside our family room window and the ceiling fan was creating a gentle cooling breeze.

This is what I pictured so long ago...a sense of peace and tranquility. A sweet life that seems hard to find most days and yet I'm sure is actually very close...I intend to savor these moments and hide them in my heart...I know this season of my burnout is not over but I do hope these days have been a harbinger of what the future holds.

Ah! the romance of poetry...

Thu, 24 May 2007 16:40:01 -0500

I have not always enjoyed poetry beyond that of the nursery rhyme genre. I do remember, however, in first or third grade perhaps , being given a booklet of poems for young people. The cover was gold and brown and the booklet itself was rather small and thin. However, it contained the words to the only poem I committed to memory (aside from the aforementioned nursery rhymes): "Down, Down, Yellow and Brown". The only other poem I vaguely remember spoke of "eating peas with honey. " I loved that little booklet and yet, my mother hated it for reasons unknown to me then and now. I recall her using the words "stupid" and "vulgar" whenever I attempted to read from it to her. I soon learned to not bother my mom with my recitations. My heart was broken the day I came home from school and couldn't find my little book. It wasn't where I kept it; not in in my room or on the bookshelf--it had vanished. Now as an adult I am sure my mother had something to do with it, but as a child I was just heartbroken.

I did not have any interest in poetry after that...not reading it and certainly not writing it. I even managed to get through high school with only having to write a haiku or two...not bad I thought. Fast forward a few years and as I contemplated homeschooling my brood of (then) 3 chicks I read of Charlotte Mason and of the Classical approach. Poetry it seemed was actually good for children...not vulgar and stupid (although I am know some poety DOES fall into that category). During our first year home educating I purchased "The Harp and the Laurel Wreath" to use for copywork and memorization. In second grade, the Boy memorized Frost's "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" (as did his then-2 year old sister who learned it as he practiced it out loud) Even now this is one of the chicks favorite books.

This year I added to our collection of anthologies by purchasing "Poetry for a Lifetime", "Favorite Poems, Old and New" and the "Oxford Book of English Verse" (by far my favorite). We also started and are about to complete a 12 week study of poetry entitled "Classical Writing-Poetry for Beginners". All the chicks have enjoyed this study and have done a wonderful job analysing and imitating various works. And just for fun this year we implemented "Tea Time Tuesday"; simply and hour or so out of our busy schedule to slow down, enjoy a cup of tea and read poetry. The only rule is poetry reading is mandatory if you want a treat...works like a charm for the sometimes reluctant Boy. The chicks have enjoyed this very much, especially Tink...not a day goes by that she doesn't ask, "Is today Teatime Tuesday?"
All this rambling does bring me to what truly wanted to blog about...If you have a reluctant poet in your house...just throw out this title and see if it doesn't catch his or her attention:"On a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes". That "Tub of Goldfishes" is of course referring to actual fish and not the cracker variety as The Boy first thought!!I stumbled upon this peom in the Oxford Book of English Verse...I think this is now my favorite poem...or at least my favorite title...ever!!

Another Busy Day

Tue, 15 May 2007 09:04:00 -0500

It's another busy day, another busy day...we work to work and play to play. It's another busy day....These words from a children's song keep running through my mind. This is my mantra right now as I faithfully "plan" out what I'd like us all to accomplish. I list all school work, chores, meals to prepare and errands that need to be done. I post charts and lists and pithy little sayings all around our living areas and then I throw up my hands in exasperation. All bets are off...the phone starts ringing just as we sit down to read, the baby cries when we try to have a math lesson--or any lesson for that matter, the toddler decides to sing LOUDLY as we discuss history. the older kiddos argue over who is sitting where and who has what pencil! No sooner do I get everyone quiet and occupied then the door bell rings and we are back to square one. On top of all this the house is a mess; toys EVERYWHERE!! The clean laundry didn't get dried so now it smells "off" and must be washed again and the rest of the mountains of laundry are spilling out of the laundry room into the hallway. The dishes didn't get cleaned or the counters cleared...from last night's dinner and this morning's breakfast...and now it's lunch time...who has time for lunch? Unfortunately the wee chicks don't see it that way...they just want their tummies filled, NOW! Let's have leftover's ...oh wait, we can't 'cause the food from last night is still on the counters...of course the older chicks don't know how the kitchen could have been left that way...it wasn't their night for dishes! Arrgghh!!! Will this vicious circle never end?

A new contest!

Tue, 15 May 2007 09:00:00 -0500

Head on over to the Front Porchand check out the new contest...just for busy moms!! You might win a neat e-book designed to help you get your business under control!!

I've been tagged!

Wed, 2 May 2007 20:03:00 -0500

My dear LaLa has tagged me and I'm happy to play along
Favorite color: pink
Favorite 3 animals: dogs,horses and rabbits.
Favorite movie: A Room with a View
Favorite book: Jane Eyre
Favorite Movie Character: Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride)
Favorite kind of flower: pansy
Who's my role model: Uh...don't really have one :-)
Favorite drink: Iced tea or venti, soy, decaf 3 pump mocha

Whew, what a relief!

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:53:00 -0500

Well, I guess the faculty of Alamogordo Senior High School did a fairly good job...yeah, right! Most of what I learned I learned after I started homeschooling my wee chicks!!
To see how you fare...take this test:

You paid attention during 100% of high school!

�

85-100% You must be an autodidact, because American high schools don't get scores that high! Good show, old chap!

Do you deserve your high school diploma?
Create a Quiz

OK--I 'fess up-- so I took it twice...never said I wasn't a perfectionist!!!

15 years + 1 day

Thu, 5 Apr 2007 15:29:00 -0500

Six years and 7 months to the day after we met and started dating Dear Knight and I were married. It was a beautiful spring afternoon. The church was simply decorated with tiny american flags at the ends of the pews and a few balloons by the altar (Dear Knight paid for the entire wedding and as flowers were a luxury we made do with just bouquets and boutonnieres--no flower centerpieces at the reception and no flowers in the church). We took our vows before friends and family...the first church wedding on my side of the family in many, many years. We lit the unity candle and listened as close friends sang loving testimonies to the beauty that is a covenant marriage before our Lord. We exited the church as Mr. and Mrs. to the strains of Hail to the Chief only to be greeted in the reception hall by ethereal melodies played on the flute by a good friend (her gift to us). We ate and chatted, threw the bouquet and tossed the garter...all the standard wedding "activities". And ultimately we hastened to leave within the three hour timeframe the church allowed us for both ceremony and reception and drove off the have the last few photos taken at the State Capital. The late afternoon sun was glorious with not a cloud in sight and flowers blooming everywhere (this made up for the lack of flowers at the church...we had only hoped the grounds at the Capital would be blooming and they were!).
And thus began our rather simple marriage...two people who loved one another, who had overcome a few obstacles and depended on God to smooth out the rough spots. He has been faithful to us to do just that...and now 15 years and 1 day, 5 children, 3 houses, and 5 job changes later we are still in love and still depending on God to smooth out our rough spots. I can only hope and pray that God will allow us at least another 15 years and 1 day...at least!