Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Photobucket GRANNIE JAN POST! ::snort::

Here you go, Mom and anyone else who likes photos.

No title needed
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NO, no, no!!!! This is not mine. We saw this when walking one night. I'd be very worried if *I* were the parents at this house.....but it gave me a fun "flat stanley" idea if I should ever need a creative way to make announcements in the future.

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Oh YES - Zander and Stacia had hours of fun painting little animals that Grannie Jan sent them.

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I'd say the costume is a bit big....

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I do NOT remember going to the park...evidently sometime after lunch with John and Nadine and before Improv (if the order of photos are an indication) I DID go to the park...

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And so did Jamin and Jared. ::snort::

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IMPROV - I can't show a photo of Nolan as each one of him is with children whose parent's have not given permission for blog photos....

Deja - my camera was dark but I have lots of photos to send your way. Here's Emma.....

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And out of all the Ellie photos I love this one best.

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Here's Arielle (L) with Eric (Deja's son) OK - Doug's son too. ::snort::
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Mike taught at RE about the sheep knowing the Shepherd's voice...even Stacia participated.

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Stacia likes the contemporary service....

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REALLY likes it - Zander is overloaded with sensory input. Praying about this.

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Forgot I did THIS too....Jamin bought his OWN laptop and such. We always give them that for graduation but we'll all be happier if Jamin has his own laptop to write on. Yay - Chick Fil A!. LOL

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My friend Deja.....keeping all on track at Mom's Night Out....while I harass her....OK having pity on Deja and not posting this photo. ::snort::

Other photos from farewells, parks, plays, tea will have to wait as I don't have permission to post those images. Chicken photos next..... actually I think more rest for migraine. LOL

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Photobucket Let Me Explain "Updating the Blog"

SHEW - I haven't updated since last Tuesday - that's 8 days. Wow. OK - some of you will think, "she's blogged since then", but let me explain. My blog is relational. It was birthed by a NEED for our older children to be involved in the day to day life of our family. Grandparents enjoyed it too. THEN we realized that friends, who had shared past assignments with us ,enjoyed keeping up with us through the blog. Finally, SHS members began to read...then I haven't a clue where it's gone since then....but at the heart of "Choosing Joy" is relationships, and keeping those relationships current and vibrant. The WFMW, book reviews, Meme et al are fun things that those afflicted with blog addiction enjoy ....but THOSE are not REALLY "updating this blog". My family and real life friends, many of who are not homeschoolers, pretty much skip those posts. They want the nitty gritty LIFE (and they don't care if my writing is grammatically correct or my spelling is accurate). Unfortunately, life got BUSY and I've sent in a few posts that I had written and dated to send...but I've not "updated".

For those who could care less about things such as "our life" and visit here for homeschool reviews, book reviews, memes or such - you will want to skip THIS ONE. ::snort::

What have we done the past 8 days????? I wouldn't remember except I found my camera and uploaded the photos which hadn't been loaded since 20 Apr. ::snort::

Tuesday - I left you there....I'd come home and had a new direction for Bible Study

Wednesday - I got my hair cut and such. I was LATE; I dislike being late. I was late because I got on the loop and headed for base - in the opposite direction. I explained to Heather that I've been driving to the base gym daily and went on auto pilot. Heather, bless her heart, told me about Community Gym where she works out. I THOUGHT these gyms were for PATIENTS of our local hospitals. I stopped there on the way home and toured their gym. THEN I saw Shannon across the street. Hmmm....I went and toured there. These are gyms that are less than 2 miles from my home - 3 minutes. They both cost $40. They both have the machines I like and classes. Shannon is a women's only club...and so there are no men grunting and straining in the weights room......just KLOVE....which I enjoy. Neither gym is as nice as the base but they are close and $40 a month certainly saves time and gas money (remember I've been averaging $120 - 160 for GAS to drive to the base gym). Deja or Heather (not the hairdresser but another Heather) suggested that I ask for free passes. What a GREAT idea. Shannon gave me 5 days. Community gave me 1. I've done Curves and Butterfly. I have one more workout left at Shannon and 1 at Community and then I will talk it all over with Mike. BUT what a great idea to get a couple of weeks of free gym time and really try out the equiptment and atmosphere.

Thursday - was the typical day with HoF, Civil Air Patrol, and a few other things. Jared passed a couple of tests for Tech Sgt. though he's not pinned on Staff. I haven't a clue. LOL Thursday is also the night that John and Nadine S, Mike's endorsers got to town. A chaplain's endorser is the liason between the chaplaincy and civilian denominations. He/She is the one that guarantees the Air Force that this chaplain is a representative of their denomination. If an endorser decides to pull an endorsement a chaplain will be OUT within 2 weeks. Our endorsers are huge encouragers and we look forward to their visits.

Friday - Mike took John to base to meet with the Wing Chaplain and such. Nadine came and helped me with produce co-op. We went out to lunch together. We went to watch Arielle and Nolan at the final preformance of their improv class. John, Nadine, Mike and I went out to dinner.

Saturday - I had 4 things to be at. I couldn't do it all. I decided to go to the homeschool book fair - and got the Apologia book I've been meaning to order all year, a few books on our TOG list for next year and some fun things. I then came home and cleaned house and cooked dinner. A funny thing happened - and it IS funny. I thought I was having John and Nadine for dinner. The hour came and went. I called Mike he said he'd be home in 15 min. I asked if John and Nadine were with him......::snort:: he'd forgotten to invite them. ::snort:: I DID have a clean house and a yummy special dinner for my family - why don't I do THAT more often just for them?????

Sunday - RE (religious ed) at 0900. Traditional Service at 1100. Mike had a funeral that he needed to attend at 1400. F Jim helped him out with the service he was scheduled to be in. John and Nadine came by to visit. The children LOVED having them here. Mike came home and we all went to the 1800 service. Mike will conducting this service for the next 4 months as their chaplain deployed. 3 - 5 folks were saved - how fun. We all came back here and visited with John and Nadine for several hours. They finally had to tell us goodbye as they left early Monday a.m. OH - our new chaplains arrived at 2230. We met them at the gate so that Mike could sponsor them on to base (he is brand new military) and show them the TLF. What FUN to see their little one, Emily, and to visit a bit with Tammy. We look forward to getting to know them. They will be moving here the end of June. They've decided to have a house built here.

Monday - Speech, school, gym, baking quiches, Mom's Night Out tea - all very fun. I did get a migraine from the candles and will need to be more alert to this.

Tuesday - Gym, picked up my chicken.... Farewell for a Chaplain family moving to CO. Yes, I still hate goodbyes. Working on details for United co-op. MIGRAINE. Study for Bible Study. Bible Study. Both my girls call and I realize I've not been emailing or blogging for a week.

Wednesday - Cancelled field trip and guests for dinner so I could sleep off the migraine. This is hard to do with lots of little ones in the home and the dreaded "to do" list staring at me.

Other Misc things.....completed an overiview on the book of Judges and wrote a lesson for next week for the ladies. I will need to do that one more week. That takes time but is FUN. I am so very blessed that Arielle has been reading aloud assignments to Nolan so though I'm busy and not feeling good - couch school goes on. This sort of week would NOT have phased me 8 years ago - I think....well....I need more vitamins. ::snort::

I'll send another post with photos soon - family. They are uploading.


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Photobucket BOOK WINNERS

As I try to rest and kick this silly migraine......I keep thinking of things that I need to do....like send out May's price list to the United Co-op, send out a link to May's order form, check on produce co-op for the week, and YIKES - I never did pick winners for last week's giveaway.....or if I did, I didn't post them and don't remember who we picked.

Nolan picked winners. Each of these ladies will receive a copy of "A Mending at the Edge", by Jane Kirkpatrick.

Our international winner was the only one who entered and will soon be coming statesdide....Jamie....Vcitywife......and our stateside winner is Lymeade Lady.

Congrats ladies.....back to resting.

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Photobucket Hands and Hearts Sale!

I've written before here and here and here about the living history kits that Jeff and Kate Estes sell. (Click the picture of their son Noah in the side bar for prayer updates).

I won't go on and on again - other than to say that these living history kits have made hands on projects MUCH more doable in our home. If you use Tapestry of Grace, (BTW if you decide to order from TOG - click the link in my sidebar first and I'll get some change LOL) you WILL have instructions and books to show you how to do many projects. I simply find that I actually DO THEM if I have all the supplies on hand. I add Jeff and Kate's kits to whatever we are studying. I no longer feel guilty about this as one of my mottos is "resource your weakness". Yes, I know that that isn't the EXACT motto that my friend Lee made famous, she says "Invest in your Weakness"...but that's MY air force version before I heard Lee say it. ::snort::

Resource Your Weakness - this is profound. Instead of getting more and more Lit (which I love), I've begun to spend my dollars for hands on and Math tools (last year a totally new program for all) because those are MY weak areas. I need easy materials or hands on won't happen. When life gets busy, I skip hands on projects (or math). My young ones still love hands on projects (not math so much)....and I need to work with Zander's wiggles.

BOTTOM LINE - Hands and Hearts is having a subscriber only sale. These kits are 15% off if you order before 5 May. AND you get a free toob with your order of each kit. I'm quite sure the toobs aren't strictly needed - but I planned to order the history kits next year anyway. ::snort:: There are several other products "Marmees Kitchen Primer", "folder books" for 15% off.

I cannot give you the link to this sale...but if you go here and subscribe to The Handprints and Heartbeats newsletter, you will be sent the subscriber only sale too....and if you plan to order these for next year - 15% off is a nice perk. I plan to order all the kits that will go along with "Middle Ages", "Reformation", "Colonial America" and "Revolutions".

OK I know this isn't a real update...but I'm working on it.....I must SLEEP today to kick a 2 day long migraine and I'll update as I have time. This does have lots of links - that earns me some points - right? ::snort::


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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Photobucket Where Have I Been/ Changes?

Hmmm....I really have not updated since Thursday. ::snort::

I wouldn't be updating now but had to go online to load a co-op spreadsheet and my blog popped up. LOL

I've been very busy pulling together a study, writing a week ahead, and living our life. Maybe tonight or tomorrow I can update further.

I wanted to quickly comment on the letter verification you have to leave to post a comment now. It was either that or switch comment moderation (ACK - another thing to do). I've received two offers of child prostitution on my blog in the comment section. I'm hoping that adding the letter verification will stop it as spam bots and spiders won't be able to leave comments. Sorry, I hate the letters too. 90% of the time I get the wrong letters. I may leave it this way a week or so and then try again without them. If it were just swearing or such I would have simply deleted as I've done in the past...but vile links I don't want on my blog for even a moment.

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Thursday, April 24, 2008

Photobucket We have a Topic

Bible Study that is. Thanks to all who prayed that I'd have direction the past few days. I'm really excited again. I have a LOT of study to do in the next few days in order to get the first lesson out by Friday - Sunday.

In Januaray, as I was reading through Judges, God dropped a phrase into my heart. I turned it into my email signature line so that I'd continue to marinate on it. "Dare to be a Deborah in a Little Debbie World." This a.m., as I woke, I was praying....I told God, "I need a passage for this week....I can take it week by week if you want me to, but I need to know what to do for this week." I have options. I have some Bible Study teachers on DVD that we could listen too - they would be great and would not require study time for anyone; but I want to be in the Word and my ladies want to be in the Word. As I prayed.......that sig line "Dare to be a Deborah" popped into my head. Huh? I hopped out of bed, read the first 5 chapters of Judges....yes....I do think this would be valuable. We've talked about courage and peace the past couple of weeks in our other study. I can build on that foundation.

At this point I think we can spend one week getting an overview of the time of Judges. Then the ollowing two weeks on Deborah and Barak and Jael. Maybe one week Ch. 4 and the other week Ch. 5.

God is good. He dropped the desire to do more study on Deborah in my heart 4 months ago. And here it is - an opportunity to do just that. I wish I'd figured this out on Tuesday night because then I'd have worksheets, charts et al to email out....but I guess we'll have to overveiw the thing without charts this time. ::snort::

Please do continue to pray that I'll find time to study a lot in the next few days. Thanks.

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Wednesday, April 23, 2008




THE SOCK

I seem to be on a sock theme. If, even after pinning socks, you find yourself with odd socks, I have about 50 uses for them. This is our favorite. In colder states we've lived in (MT, AK) little wheat or rice pillows are very popular. You throw these in the microwave, heat them up for a couple of minutes, and then have them to keep you warm.

Long ago I realized I could take a spare sock, fill it with rice and use it the same way for a fraction of the cost. These big boy socks work great to put around your neck for stiff necks. We use smaller ones for "hand warmers"....you get the idea.

For more of my WFMW posts click here (there ain't many yet). To view hundreds of this week's tips from others go here.

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Photobucket The Rest of Tuesday (for my family and friends who read because this is a family blog that recounts our life) LOL

Jamin had an unfortunate experience with his MP3 player. He left it in the restroom at Chick Fil A and someone took it - THAT QUICK! I picked him up after work and took him to the bank to deposit checks, to buy a new Zen, and to Best Buy to check out laptops (he's in the market for one so that he can WRITE whenever he wants).

Nolan is really, really reading well. He doesn't think he is but he has suddenly leapt forward...and I'm thrilled. Zander still doesn't see a reason for school. I'll start real school in a few months with him.

I began playing in the kitchen and was going to make something simply fabulous tasting.....when I realized my one 9x13 pan had lasagna in it that the family would pull out for Encore Presentation tonight (along with other 1/2 eaten meals). I left the mixed ingredients and will finish it tomorrow.

Bible Study - well - YUCK! What? Yuck? The study I picked for us to do for 5 weeks is simply NOT WORKING. I realized on the way home tonight that I don't enjoy doing my personal work, and I don't enjoy leading it.....that's not like me. I LOVE to see lightbulbs during teaching. This study is 75% reading cutesy "real life" stories and "case studies" and "group exercises" and oh yeah "here's a passage if you want to study it - but how does this make you feel?" I am known for telling groups "I don't care how you feel about it. I don't care what you think it means. I want you to do the work and tell me WHAT IT MEANS. Then let's talk about how to walk it out. " OK - do not harass me - my ladies love me and know that I do care how they feel....it's just that our emphasis is on the Word and I trust the Holy Spirit to lead them to proper application for their life. I don't have to give them ONE application. I thought I should stick this out. On the way home I realized that if it were a homeschool curriculum and not working - I'd tweak it. I talked with Mike (our advisor) and Debbie (our VP) and both agreed that I should move on. I sent out an email telling everyone. We spent three weeks studying Bible Study Methods, we spent 9 weeks inductively studying Ephesians and the women want the WORD. Pray with me in the next couple of days as I figure out where we are going. I can't order more books. I don't know that I can write a study staying one week ahead.....We shall see where God is leading us. I love these women. Old Fashioned Bible Study use to mean a teacher lecturing....but I like students to do homework before Bible study - so I don't want to go to THAT.

Jamin and Mike went to a dual credit workshop at the local university. He'll take the ACT and we'll go from there. He is seriously considering taking classes at the university his Senior year - next year.

Josiah is looking for an apartment. I'm planning what furniture and heavy items can go with him. LOL

Zander pulled out his tooth. He wanted to tell me all about it - but I don't do teeth. ugh.

That's all I can think of that I did today.

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PhotobucketPassover??? What Happed to Purim?????

ACK – I missed Purim. Oy vey! Now my children are all excited to celebrate Purim, because we hit week 24 in TOG (yes we ARE behind most of y’all and that’s FINE with us LOL), and we missed Purim LAST MONTH…..I guess we’ll do it now. LOL

We hadn’t decided if we would celebrate Purim, as strictly speaking it isn’t a holiday given by God – but from Mordecai and Esther….. However, it sounds like so much fun! I loved the way Jews for Jesus describe the holiday in, Walk with Y'shua through the Jewish Year. I thought the tie ins to our modern walk with Christ were great. It does focus on a princess, and it IS about courage - themes we are already addressing.

It WOULD be fun to do a Purim Pagaent complete with boos and hisses and wild cheering, and dressing up.....We may even find a few families to do this one with us.....and the whole bring something to give away is a practice we've been meaning to implement with birthdays - we just haven't had any birthday parties. This could be fun. It won't happen THIS week - shew what a week is coming up....and not next weekend as I have PWOC Traveling Training, and the Friday night after that is a PWOC Project Night....but it will happen! Probably when least expected. ::snort:: Has anyone else ever celebrated Purim? Any tips to share? What was fun and meaningful? What wasn't? Our main goal in celebrating Biblical Holidays is to expose the children to the amazing connections between the Old Testament and the New Testament.


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Monday, April 21, 2008

Photobucket BOWL-A-THON this SATURDAY!

Our oldest two daughters are on staff at Master's Commission. In June their group will be going to Trinidad. Their purpose will be two-fold. They are setting up a program in Trinidad that will imitate the MC model but will have students living in a foreign country and doing a missions internship. Students will have to have had a certain level of training before they go to Trinidad. While they are there, they will also participate in various mission outreaches.

BreAnne will not be going on this trip. Krista will. The group is having a bowl-a-thon this Saturday to raise money for the trip. Your donation will be tax deductible as it will go to the group fund and not to an individual. You can donate a set amount or a per pin amount. If you are led to help out with this, please email BreAnne at bigsis4ever@verizon.net or Krista at kokobean1@verizon.net and let them know how much you would like to pledge. They'll be able to tell you where to send your $ and how to get a receipt.

Above all, will you pray for their ministry as the team prepares to leave the first week in June.

Back to your normal blog reading.....

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Photobucket MONDAY

I did not work out. I had plans to get lots of school done - I didn't do that either. LOL

We went to speech. It appears that the only sound Nolan has trouble with consistently now is "r" and that she will give us exercises and such to work on that. We have another month and then I don't know that Nolan will be going back next fall. He still processes things funky but that isn't going to really change. So.....Nolan is sad about leaving Miss Natalie.

Nolan and I went to Lowes and got lumber to build garden beds. Wow - that was a workout in itself.

We grabbed milk. We dropped off "Chocolate Hemp Bliss" for the United driver. We didn't order this. ::snort::

We made Lasagna and such for dinner. Mike had invited F. Jim for dinner and I had to call and say, "Don't bring him, my cooking will kill him!" I'd forgotten that he's deathly allergic to garlic and I use LOTS of garlic in my lasagna and had garlic rolls alongside. The poor man would have been stuck with salad. It was a spur of the moment invite. We'll have to do it again.

I grated 3 lbs of mozarella and 3 lbs of sharp cheese. Since I had the grater out, I made a double batch of laundry soap today. I'm hoping that will last a couple of weeks.

We have lots of visitors and such this week. It promises to be busy.


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PhotobucketOld Fashioned Homeschooling

I’ve been schooling long enough to have observed trends and cycles in the movement.

In the “old days”, we schooled very simply. We didn’t have the options currently available. We have a zillion companies willing to sell to us, yahoo groups, blogs, co-ops, online schools, umbrella schools, church schools, tutors …and yet I’ve seen a disturbing trend developing that alarms me. I believe that our many options have led to unrealistic expectations, feelings of inadequacy, and have contributed to burn out for many homeschooling moms. I believe, this culture has led many to put their children back into public schools in Jr High and High School because they feel that they couldn’t possibly do it as well as “suzieqexcells.blogspot.com” (fictitious url) or the “experts”. At conventions we use to hear that we, our child’s parents, were the experts on our children. Now, we often hear from the true homeschooling experts….and feel that we shouldn’t question their authority. When I began schooling we simply took it one day at a time until we finished. Most school districts didn’t want our children back in the system; we knew we had to school them until we figured out what else to do with them. ::snort::

Unrealistic Expectations: SuzieQ may post amazing blog glimpses of astonishing nature walks and yet totally ignore other school subjects. She doesn’t tell you that her oldest is 3 years behind in math, that her youngest hasn’t begun school, and that the great ideas she posted 6 months ago and that you are trying to implement didn’t work at all. SuzieQ may really be practically perfect – but we can’t really know. Co-ops may be wonderful, but aren’t absolutely essential for 2 – 3 days a week. It is possible to stay at home and homeschool the old fashioned way – and see great results. Homeschool companies, like other businesses, try to convince us that their product will SOLVE our homeschool problem. It doesn’t always work that way. Do you think I’m making this up? Consider this ad that was sent via email by a big and popular HOMESCHOOL magazine. This magazine and others are where many new homeschoolers turn for “expert” advice: We expect support from these publications.

“Greetings:

Are you still homeschooling the old fashioned way?

Homeschooling was infinitely more time consuming before “XYZ Academy”. Homeschool parents use to spend their nights and weekends doing lesson plans, tests, grading, scheduling, and coping with the ever present “Am I doing enough?” No wonder burn out is so common! Does this sound like you?”

I don’t feel supported by the above. I feel that the ad tries to portray there is something wrong with old fashioned, independent homeschooling. The use of the term and the description of what “old fashioned” would be offends me. In fact, I need their expertise to homeschool. This ad from a Homeschool magazine has irritated me enough that I don’t plan to renew my subscription.

Feelings of Inadequacies: The above ad landed in my in-box on the very same day I was communicating with 2 online friends and a local friend…. all feel INADEQUATE. I was angry…righteously angry, I believe. Ads like the above, huge co-ops that try to offer all the advantages of private school on a budget, practically perfect homeschool bloggers, tutors who charge huge bucks to implement programs I can buy for a fraction of the cost, perfect posts on yahoo groups, can all lead new homeschoolers, and even veteran homeschoolers, to feel that they aren’t measuring up. We slide into thinking that homeschooling SHOULD be easy. I shouldn’t be wasting my nights making lesson plans, grading, scheduling…..I should let the experts do it. I must find a way to pay for these services. I couldn’t possibly do enough on my own…look I can’t make the perfect 9 week unit study on the lifecycle of a slug. Obviously, I NEED to either join a very active co-op, or this academy, or buy this product. When I’ve worn myself out trying all the options, when I have no money to buy the latest and greatest, I throw up my hands in frustration and put my child back into public school. More and more people feel INADEQUATE to actually homeschool independently. It doesn’t have to be like this.

Burn Out: This syndrome has always been around – even in the dark ages of our movement. I see it intensifying as well-meaning and loving moms try to implement ALL the current options. We leave our homes constantly, yet we try to accomplish all that our curriculums map out for us at home. We fail to pick and choose and so we fell picked over, wilted, and exhausted by spring.

I am not saying we should never use any of the current options. I own a yahoo group. I publish a blog. I take advantage of drama classes and such. However, I believe we need to remember the heart of homeschooling.

A few Things to Consider:

God is the expert on your children. YOU are his partner. Get HIS plans for your child and faithfully follow it.

Do not become a curriculum/blog/magazine/yahoo group junkie if you are prone to feeling inadequate. Once you have God’s plan - stick to it. Look around when you have the green light from God to look for specific help. Don’t allow yourself to feel validated or invalidated based on what others are doing. Look to God for approval.

People homeschooled long before all the current options were available. Most homeschooled until graduation once they had pulled their child out of school. It CAN be done.

If you find “perfect blogs” causing you to feel depressed or inadequate – don’t read them!

Balance – use the options that encourage and help your specific family. If at any point you feel the disadvantages of participating are outweighing the advantages, be courageous enough to adjust. Seek balance.

We do ourselves harm when we excessively compare ourselves and our children to others. Quit!

Carefully choose your mentors – online and in real life. I am NOT trying to be judgmental….but you really only know what an author chooses to reveal about herself. Are you sure she is a mentor you should follow? Has she ever shared the hard days, the real days, the icky stuff so that you can learn from her how to work through those sorts of days? What do you know about her marriage? What do you know about her children? Are they the types of adults you would like yours to become? Has she schooled long enough to give weight to her theories? Has she lived long enough to experience both joys and heartbreaks? Is she willing to pull you close enough so that you can learn from both? Does she give you the freedom to search God for yourself and reach different conclusions than she has? When you find this sort of woman, online or in real life, get close to her. Shadow her. Learn from her. DON’T TRY TO BECOME HER. God has a plan for YOUR family and YOUR life. We don’t need to become clones of each other. Don’t put her on a pedestal – she’s human. If she’s showing you the good, bad, and the ugly you aren’t likely to put her on a pedestal. ::snort::

Shew – this is far too long. The End.
**Update - Having read comments and a few personal responses I want to be crystal clear that I am NOT saying that "co-ops are bad" - some of my best friends are co-op coordinators. ::snort:: I'm not saying "yahoo groups are bad" - I own one. I'm not saying homeschooling blogs are bad. I have a blog and am a team member of Home School Blog Awards. I'm saying that if we aren't careful we tend to allow outside things to define how we homeschool and if we are a "success". If co-ops, tutors, alt ed are good for you - go for it - just realize that it's not the ONLY RIGHT way to homeschool with success.


As for my criteria for a mentor - that could be a whole other post.....but basically I look at Titus 2 and think that a mentor should be doing those things she is to teach younger women (obviously she won't be perfect this side of heaven). There again - those are MY criteria and you are free to choose your own. ::snort:: I am NOT saying that you cannot glean from a woman who doesn't meet the Titus 2 criteria - but mentor to me signifies an intimate spiritual relationship - someone who will be signifcantly speaking into my life on a variety of issues, vs. a casual/learn from each other at a support group type of relationship.
Dana over at Principled Discovery is hosting the Carnival of homeschooling. This is my first ever carnival. LOL I highly recommend you go read Irene's "homeschool bag lady" at the start of the carnival.

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©2008 D.R.G.
Moms of Many Exercise Challenge Weekly Fitness Goals (click button for more info)

Weekly Goal - 240 Minutes (40 minutes most days)
Total Weekly Minutes - 295 Minutes
Annual Goal - 11,700 minutes (2900 by end of March)
Minutes to Date - 3,557 minutes


Monday - 50 Minutes (Leslie Sanson'es 4 Fast Miles)

Tuesday - 95 Minutes (65 min recumbent bike, 30 min elliptical)

Thursday - 115 Minutes (recumbant bike - got caught up in coverage of FLDS)

Sunday - 35 Minutes (walk with 4 younger ones)

I'm not happy with LIFE on this new schedule and I need to figure something out. Now - if this routine was resulting in weight loss, maybe I would feel that it was worth the stress to our school schedule. LOL I KNOW that I need INTENSE workouts most days of the week and the 4 fast miles is not as intense as the elliptical for the same amount of time.....but I can't always spend the 2+ hours it takes to drive to the gym, work out and come home. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Something.

To read accounts from more participants - click here. To join us, click the icon above.....

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Photobucket Saturday - Shew

Mike helped me adapt the military survival kit that I found downtown. The lady didn't have a spouse kit, or a moving kit....and she told me they weren't copyrighted....so we made one. I'll post that later.

We had a farwell for Jill at Olive Garden. It was a fun afternoon to get together with PWOC ladies...but sad as well as it was a farewell. We gave Jill an ornament from TX (Merry Christmas y'all) and a military spouse kit - and lunch. LOL

Mike had gone to the office to prepare for Sunday at about 11:00. The plan was we'd be home at the same time. I knew that was not to be. LOL I ran to Home Depot and priced lumber for my garden. I ran to Hobby Lobby - wanted to see if they had a cricut - they do. LOL I realized I'd not been in HL since BEFORE Christmas...wow, I HAVE been busy and it's not doing hand's on school or we'd have been in there. I need to evaluate priorities again.

I came home and baked. I need to take dessert, bread, and salad to a farwell potluck at Chapel tomorrow.

I ground wheat and kamut.
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Perfect..... These will become Whole Wheat Garlic Dinner Rolls.
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As they rose, I began the sponge for Chocolate Rolls and made Ooey Goey Krisper Bars.
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As the Chocolate Rolls rose, I started the sponge for 7 grain bread.
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As that baked I cleaned up. I listed to Royal Diaries - Elizabeth I as I baked.

Zander played Zoo Tycoon.
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Jared, Arielle and Nolan played Risk. Jared also put together a new yard storage container we'd bought...but the composter beat him.
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2 1/2 hours and we have 4 loaves of bread, 4 doz garlic dinner rolls, 3 1/2 doz chocolate rolls, and a pan of Ooey Gooey Krisper Bars.
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Mike is home....time to get showers and ready for tomorrow.

WooHOO - Mike put the composter together. Now I need to find manure. I'm fresh out of horses and cows around here.
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