May. 10, 2008 - Decisions

I'm having the worst time trying to keep two blogs going AND trying to do all of the other things I want to do. I've come to the decision that I'll delete this blog in a couple of weeks and continue my blogspot blog. I love the people here on HSB, but to be honest, I understand the publishing & templates a little better on blogspot and I can be more creative there. If you want to find me, I'll be here. And if you come visit and something looks familiar, it's probably because I'm going to copy some of my favorite posts from this blog and republish them on the other one.

Hope to see ya!

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Apr. 22, 2008 - Scientists of Faith

Did you know that many of the most well-known scientists throughout history were Christians?  While I was aware of some of the scientists outlined in Scientists of Faith, (Dan Graves, published by Kregel Publications), I hadn't  even heard of  a great deal of them. I'm not sure if it's because I was educated in the public school system or if it's just because I'm not a real science nut!

One thing I do know is that in my studies with our five children, a lot of these names never came up in their science or history books. That's a shame.

Dan Graves has written a powerful book that jams 48 biographies of these great scientists of faith into one volume. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about each scientist and  his contributions to our world.


Each chapter quotes a Bible verse that pertains to the area of study in which the scientist specialized. Not every single bit of their lives are chronicled, of course, but enough of their FAITH is described to make them important to us as Christians.

I think it's important to teach our children (and ourselves) about the lives of these people so that we might not forget that God is behind science, not man. If we let faith slip by the wayside and try to separate it from science, we'll make an exceptionally  great error.

Let me encourage you to purchase this book as a supplement to your science curriculum. I don't think it's a volume that will just sit on your shelf to gather dust. At least mine won't.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Apr. 18, 2008 - Music

I started teaching the guitar to two of my teenage sons. I got through something like ... lesson one ... and then found I was running out of time to get everything done. I told them that if they wanted to learn to play the guitar they'd have to teach themselves by using the stack of guitar books I have. I figured they'd quit right away.

Both boys practice the guitar, but Jonathon has really excelled at it. He took piano lessons a few years ago so he already had a handle on reading music. It was a bit more difficult for Evan to grasp, but he's doing fine too.

I think the reason Jonathon - who turns 17 tomorrow - is doing so well is because he literally spends 3-5 hours a day practicing. Now, he doesn't do that straight through, but breaks it up an hour at a time. We're not pleased when he plays in the late hours of the night, though.

This is all to say that if you have the drive, you can teach yourself to do most anything.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Apr. 12, 2008 - Need New School Books?

Hey guys,
The HSB Front Porch is having a contest and you can win a $50 gift certificate just for blogging about The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo before midnight April 30, 2008. Subscribe now to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and receive 25 BONUS gifts valued at over $550! The Winter Promo sold out, don't miss out on the free gifts this time!

They are also giving away a $150 gift certificate to the Schoolhouse Store. All print subscribers (new or renewing) between April 3 - 30, 2008 will be automatically entered into a drawing. No purchase neccessary to win. To enter without subscribing, please send a postcard with your name, address, telephone number, and email address to:
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine Spring Promo Contest
PO BOX 8426
Gray, TN  37615

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Apr. 6, 2008 - Florida 2008 ...and Evan's Back

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Apr. 3, 2008 -

An easy way to tap into the idea pool is to write names of different nouns on little slips of paper. The more you can come up with, the better. Put the slips of paper into a small box, like an old check box. When you're feeling blah and can't come up with anything to write about, pull one of the nouns out of the box and begin "clustering" ideas. Before long you'll have a pretty good idea of what subject's going to put you back on track.

*Clustering is an exercise involving writing a word, then "clustering" words all around that one word, clustering and clustering little clouds of ideas until you come up with something rock solid for you.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Apr. 1, 2008 - April Fools

Focus on that word, fool, for a moment. I can't tell you how many times I've heard people call others fools, intending to criticize but ultimately looking like fools themselves. What I mean by that is that when you poke fun at others because of the way they look, act, sound, etc., you're doing it because you really want to take the heat off of yourself. You want to elevate yourself into this "Look at me; I'm really wonderful and that person is NOT!" position. And the only way to do that is to put someone else down.

Here's what the Bible says about fools:

"But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, 'Raca,' is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, 'You fool!' will be in danger of the fire of hell." Matthew 5:22 (NIV)

"How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge?" Proverbs 1:22 (NIV)

"As a dream comes when there are many cares, so the speech of a fool when there are many words."

"The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception." Proverbs 14:8 (NIV)

There are tons more verses that speak of fools and foolishness, but you get the gist. Note: the reason I quote more from the NIV than other translations is simply because the Bible I use the most is a large one with bigger print (I have really bad eyesight) and it's an NIV. I also like the KJV and the NKJV. Ecclesiastes 5:3 (NIV)

• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 26, 2008 - Inspiration

Where do you get inspiration for your writing endeavors? I used to get mine from real life, but lately I've been in a stale mode. I'm not really sure why unless it's just because we  still have snow at the end of March, the pressures of everyday life are caving in on me, and I seem to have less time to work at what used to be my heart's desire.

We all get to this place at one time or another and the real question is, what do we do about it?

I don't know what works for you, but I work best when I make myself sit down and WORK! Two of my sons are going to Florida this weekend and will be gone for more than a week (yahoo!) with our church's youth group (spring break here). I told Ryan and Amanda that we'll not do any school except for math each day while Johnny & Evan are gone. I shouldn't have to help Josh with any college assignments - I'm crossing my fingers - so this'll free me up to get in some much needed writing time.

If you're one to watch TV in the early hours, you might want to tune into the Today Show on NBC at 7:30 a.m. & 9:00 a.m. tomorrow and Friday morning. Our youth pastor, Newell Cerak, and his wife, Colleen, will be interviewed with their two daughters, Carly and Whitney. You might remember hearing about them a couple of years ago when Whitney was in a car accident in Indiana. Just weeks after her funeral her family found out she was alive - it was a case of mistaken identity. You can go here to find out more about when the Ceraks will be on TV (even Oprah!) Please pray for their safety and for the testimony of Jesus to win hearts.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 22, 2008 - Happy Easter

I'd just like to wish everyone a blessed Easter. I don't know about you, but we still have several feet high snow banks lining our driveway and our mailbox is just now being seen from behind a particularly large bank. Does it feel like Easter at 20 degrees? NO.

The great thing is that it doesn't have to "feel" like Easter in order for it to "be" Easter. Easter is all about the resurrection of Christ and the fact that He's alive today to intercede for us before the Father...it has nothing to do with beautiful spring weather and Easter egg hunts and candy.

I hope that you will "feel" Easter in a new way this year.

• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 19, 2008 - Rosetta Stone Giveaway

I've never tried Rosetta Stone's programs for foreign language but I HAVE heard lots of good things about them. I can't afford to buy any of it, but now I have a chance to win some, and so do you. Here are the details:

Rosetta Stone has been the #1 foreign language curriculum among homeschoolers for a while -- next week they are unleashing a brand new curriculum, and you can WIN the *all new* Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3… FOR FREE! 

This is a $219 program (and believe me it's worth every penny!) and the winner gets to pick from any of these 14 languages: Spanish (Spain or Latin America), English (American or British), Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Irish, Hebrew, or Russian.

This will also include a headset with microphone, and students will participate in lifelike conversations and actually produce language to advance through the program.  Rosetta Stone still incorporates listening, reading and writing as well, in addition to speaking.  Many homeschoolers requested grammar and vocabulary exercises, and with Rosetta Stone Homeschool Version 3, they're included!  For parents, the new Parent Administrative Tools are integrated into the program and allow parents to easily enroll students in any of 12 predetermined lesson plans, monitor student progress, and view and print reports. 

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 15, 2008 - Quiz

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convincing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 9, 2008 - A Short Absence

I'm burned out so I'm going to repeat my current post at my other blog:

I probably won't post here for a couple of days as my husband is in the hospital and I'm worn out, both creatively and physically. It appears that he has a blood clot. They are treating it with blood thinners in the form of a shot given in the stomach every 12 hours. He might come home tomorrow sometime. He will have to give himself the shots for a few more days, until the Coumadin (blood thinner in pill form) kicks in.

We've been through this before 10 years ago, but back then I only had three little boys. Now we have four "little" boys and one little girl, and only one of the boys have graduated. And has he really graduated? I can't tell because he keeps asking me for assistance with his college assignments!

Anyway, I quickly want to tell you about the joy I experienced this afternoon when our senior pastor (our church attendance runs about 650) and his wife popped into the hospital room. We used to attend the Gaylord Evangelical Free Church 10 years ago (about the time of the first clot!) and stayed there for a year before we thought the church was too large. We left there at that time and since then have been to several smaller churches that we thought would be better. Now we've come full circle and have found that none of the smaller churches were "better." In some ways the problems those little churches experience make me wonder why they always stay tiny.

I have to get to the point of this post...sorry.

Back to the joy of our visit today: A prominent man in the community, the senior pastor of a large church, came to visit another man in the hospital today. This poor man had rejected the church the pastor represented and had humbly returned. The pastor welcomed him with open arms and in turn, humbly served the other. I think that is greatness in the Kingdom and I have joy in my heart today in spite of the struggles I'm going through with Jeff being ill.

Praise God for His blessings.

• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 6, 2008 - Scholarship Searching

I've been thinking a bit about college expenses lately. My oldest son is in his first year of college and so far he hasn't had to borrow anything. He's living at home and enjoying free food and lodging. He paid for his tuition with grant money, which also covered his books, less a scientific calculator which we bought for him.

Today I re-read a lengthy e-mail that my sister-in-law sent me a few months ago concerning Josh's schooling. She said something then that I didn't pay a whole lot of attention to at the time, but today it hit me. The topic was scholarships and she suggested that we check with the company that my husband works for - Pepsico.

Today I did a search online for Pepsico employee scholarships. Wouldn't you know that this company gives away scholarships each year to children of Pepsico employees?

It appears that homeschooled students are as welcome to apply as are other kids, but the homeschoolers will probably have to do some legwork to get some of the information needed, as well as forms signed by "important people." (my emphasis)

Jonathon, our 2nd son, is now in 11th grade and he's seriously considering a Christian college in another state. He wants to be a scientist (entomology) so he's definitely going to need more money than what just government grants supply.

All of this is to say that if you're looking for extra moolah to help you pay for college, don't overlook the obvious and search, apply, and work hard. The rewards will be worth it.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Mar. 5, 2008 - Nothingness

Do you ever get to the point that you just don't know what to blog about? I'm there tonight. I drank an energy drink late in the day so I'm wired tonight and can't sleep. I thought it'd be a great time to get caught up on some computer stuff, such as update this blog. The problem is now that I'm here I don't know what to write about.

I thought maybe I'd do the tag Bethanyrae hit me with, but I don't think I have enough "material" in my head right now to do it. I think I've lost my muse.

I guess I'll tell you about my quest to find two of my teenage sons affordable clothing for their upcoming trip to Florida with the youth group. We went to three different stores tonight while my younger two were in Pioneer Clubs.

Guess what? Everything costs A LOT of money! The boys need swimming trunks, boat shoes, shorts, and new sneakers. That adds up to big bucks if you can even find any of it here in the frozen north this time of year. All we bought was a pair of shorts at Kohl's for Evan. That was an ordeal because he's so skinny that we had trouble finding anything that actually fit him. I wish I had that problem....

• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Feb. 29, 2008 - Time - More of It

I need more time! I know that I have all the time in the world; the Lord gives us 24 hours a day and it's up to us how we use those hours. My problem is that I don't seem to know how to manage it well. I have a list yay long with things I want to get done, need to get done, but most of the time I find myself at the end of the day dead tired and afraid to get up the next morning for fear I'll have twice as much to do.

I don't understand how this happens. I don't sit around and watch TV; in fact, I hate TV and would toss ours out if I didn't have to fight everyone else in the household over it.

I don't even sit around reading books too much even though I should do so more often. Reading in your genre is the best way to learn to write well.

I think my problem is winter blues combined with the last few months of homeschooling for the year doldrums. It all combines to make me feel sluggish and I walk around sort of in a daze.

Then again, maybe it's just my age and I'm going senile.

• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Feb. 22, 2008 - Color

We are in the early stages of talking with an adoption agency about adopting a little girl from our state who is in need of a home. The reason for preferring a girl is because we already have 4 boys but only one girl. She needs a sister. But we've also remained open to getting a boy.

No, we don't have a particular little girl in mind, but we're feeling the Lord's call to provide a loving Christian home for an orphan. If we all adopted just one child, there'd be no need for orphanages or the foster care system. Jesus said to take care of the widows and the orphans. We do what we can for the elderly widows in our neighborhood, but there has to be more.

We're preparing our children for the fact that we might - probably will - be blessed with a child who is not of the same skin color as we are. Thankfully, in today's society we see more and more blended families so it won't seem so extreme to the people around us.

What seems to bother me is that there is so much talk these days, especially in the presidential campaign, about the topic of "race." I don't believe in "race." I believe in many different skin colors within one "race" of people. We all descend from Adam and Eve, do we not? Some of us are lighter skinned and some are darker skinned. Others are somewhere in between. Take off our skin and we're all the same. We all have the same sinful desires, the same wish to be accepted by others, the same yearning for love. And we're all accepted and forgiven by a loving heavenly Father, provided we all repent and take His free gift of Salvation.

We're looking forward to providing a safe and welcoming home for a child of any skin color. We want to introduce her to Jesus. Please pray for us and for the child we hope to meet someday and adopt into our family.

• 1 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Feb. 18, 2008 - Attributes

I subscribe to Writer's Digest, have for about 8 years. I remember back when I was in high school and I borrowed the magazine from the public library. I thought I was so smart and important at the time and I began writing a novel just to prove to everyone that I could do it. I wrote about three chapters and then sent those pages in to a publisher and asked if they'd publish my book.

I made a lot of mistakes with that submission but the editor who received it was kind. She told me that next time I should send an SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) with a submission. Then she proceeded to tell me that my story wouldn't work for them. She picked it apart in a gracious manner.

Editors today aren't all that gracious. They receive thousands of submissions yearly - some monthly - and they just don't have the patience of a saint. I've received all sorts of rejections and most of them are form letters, but a few have been in the form of a personalized letter. Others have gone a step further and critiqued my manuscripts, which in my book is a blessing. I can always take the suggestions and improve my work before sending it out to someone else, which I almost always do. I say almost always because I decided early on that I wouldn't compromise my convictions and write something that is dishonoring to God; an improvement has to improve, not morally decline.

All this is to say that if someone criticizes your writing, don't immediately throw it away and pout forever. Take their comments to heart and seriously ask yourself if your criticizer was right. Could you improve? If so, make the needed changes and thank the Lord that someone was caring enough to help you.

• 2 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Feb. 10, 2008 - Curriculum

I'm debating on which curricula to purchase for next year for my children, especially math. I think I spent the better of today looking online and in what catalogs I could find here. It appears that my husband burned my favorite catalogs when he tried to warm up the garage in order to work on the brakes...you'll have to ask me about it later as it's sort of hard to explain burning papers in an attached garage.

Anyway, I have a wish list with CBD that totals up to about $220. I also have an order ready to go with Rod & Staff that totals $138. This is for 4 children and I don't think it's too bad. Most of the books I have already but Jonathon's (grade 12) are the ones I need and are the most costly - Advanced Math and Chemistry. I heard that the DIVE cd's are really good to help explain upper math. I think Algebra II (this year) is about the highest I can go without help!

If anyone has suggestions to how I can find these books at a lesser cost (I'm keeping track at E-Bay and Half.com too) please let me know, as we are on a super tight budget.

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Feb. 5, 2008 - Notes

Are you good at taking notes? I used to be once upon a time. In fact, when I was in college I took two shorthand courses - is shorthand still in existence? In other classes I'd use my shorthand skills to take notes during lectures quickly and efficiently, then come home and write them out neatly in longhand. By that time I'd nearly memorized the lectures!

A good writer takes notes, lots of them. Observe everyday life and take notes...jot down what you see, hear, smell, etc. I used to love going to the mall when I lived close enough to one to just observe people. This would be a great place to do some note taking.

Here's what you're wondering - why take notes about people wandering here and there? Why take notes about no people but just nature (or whatever)?

Someday those notes will come in handy, such as a time when you're stuck for a really great idea for a creative writing assignment, book idea, magazine article, etc. You can go back to everything you jotted down way back when and draw on those experiences. Another reason is to help you add sensory details to an already in the works production. One more reason is to keep you in tune with reality - something that even the best fiction writers have to interject into their best sellers.

Grab a notebook and pencil now and get to work!

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link

Jan. 30, 2008 - Writers in the Spirit - Giveaway

If you read my previous post, you'll notice that I quote from Writers in the Spirit by Carol J. Rottman, Ph.D. I've nearly finished the book and would like to pass it on to someone else. If you're interested in receiving this book, leave me a comment. I'll randomly choose a commenter at the end of 2 weeks and mail the book out. I can't afford postage for outside the U.S., so it'll have to be open to U.S. residents only - sorry.

Be sure that you either leave me your e-mail address or blog address so I can notify you if you win. Contest ends Feb. 14

• 0 Comments • Post A Comment! • Permanent Link