'Tis the Season to be Thankful

May the weekend be stuffed full of counting every good and perfect gift.

Here is a small sampling of things I am thankful for.

I am thankful for chickens that recently came to visit. Some of our best friends came to visit. They came with chickens. How fun to have chickens in my house! Since I am a suburbia dweller for all the days of my life and I am not well-acquainted with animals, this was my first time to host poultry in my home. How about you? When is the last time you had chickens in your house?


I am thankful for a table that is worn with memories, including a dinner for two this summer while the children were away. I am thankful for the aunt and uncle who keep the kids for a week, creating special memories for the cousins.


I am thankful for fun, summertime memories with the 6 of us. Over ten days of travel, beautiful sunshine, family, and friends, culminating in the celebration of the wedding of good friends.



This is my favorite picture of the year. We went tubing this summer and it started at the K&K tubing company. How fun since those are our initials and we have delighted in being K&K for 18 years and it was close to our actual anniversary on this day. It is also a favorite picture because this day of renting tubes and floating down a river in Minnesota set off a chain reaction here in Tennessee when we told some good friends about it. Soon we were equipped with our own tubes and floating down a river in Tennessee. What a great way to cool off during a hot summer.



I am thankful for these four children: their creativity, their imagination in creating costumes, their playful spirits, and their loving hearts. It has been a mighty privilege to be their momma. I am a better person for being a mom. I am so thankful that God granted this desire. He does not grant all desires equally in the same quantity to the same people. I am so thankful for the ones He has granted to me.

I have a thankful heart.

How about you? What are you thankful for?

Happy Thanksgiving.

What's baking at my house this week

This is what is on my plate this week -- quite literally-- the baking of a pirate cake. We're hosting a Pirate Themed Birthday party for the youngest who is turning six and who is having his first friend party.

I encouraged the party to be a Pirate Theme just so I could make this cake -- for the third time. Third time is the charm -- right!?! Last year I convinced him not to have a pirate cake. This year, I persuaded him to have a pirate cake. What's up with that?

It started when he was turning three. I had asked him what kind of cake that he wanted after we'd been through the bakery aisle at the grocery store. We'd oohed and aahed over the neat looking cakes.

So when asked what kind of cake he wanted, he answered, "A pirate cake."

I meant chocolate or vanilla. He meant a pirate cake.

I didn't want to buy the cake due my frugal tendencies. Instead, I set out to learn how to make a pirate cake. It didn't look that hard. And it wasn't; but, as usual, I didn't give myself a lot of time to experiment with such a project.

I baked it. I built it. We ate it.

Then his four year old birthday approached.

"What kind of cake would you like?" asked his mommy.

"A pirate cake, " he replied.

Since I didn't keep anything that I had used to make it, I had to search again for directions on the internet although this time I could also look at my pictures. It went okay.

When the five year old birthday came around. I convinced him to choose another cake; perhaps by not giving him the option of a pirate cake. (I don't really remember since that was a year ago.) I didn't want to be locked into baking a pirate cake for the next 10 years.

But I guessed I missed making it since I convinced him to go with a Pirate Theme just so I could make this cake!

Since making a cake for the third time may not be stressful enough (even though I will probably need to look up directions again. I don't know, of course, since it is only Tuesday and the party is Saturday), we're going to make our own pinata for the very first time. This will help just in case things won't be stressful enough getting ready for the kid party on Saturday. Tee-hee. Right now, it sounds fun and creative. Hopefully it remains so, especially with an inspired 13 year old around that can spearhead the pinata project while I bake the pirate cake again.

It should be a fun week!

But if you'd like to give some pinata-making tips, they are quite welcome.

So....what's baking at your house this week?

Scrapbooking & Contentment

Putting together a photo order so that we can each scrapbook!

This past weekend I went scrapbooking. I dusted off my tools and my pictures. I hauled my gear an hour away from my home. I set up my stuff on a table and focused on getting child number three's baby book finished. And now she has photos of herself in a dedicated book from birth until one year old, just one month after her ten year old birthday. Woo-hoo!

I was in the midst of kind-hearted women. We ate when we wanted to, slept if we wanted to, and all of us worked on our albums. There was chit-chat about our pictures and the memories that they hold. There were movies and music and working on our albums.

And here in this atmosphere of kindness, I still felt pressure. It certainly wasn't coming from anyone else. We didn't even spend much time looking at each other's stuff; we were busily focused on our own projects.

And yet, we glance. I saw the seemingly large stacks of page layouts they were getting done. The amazing amount of craft and beauty. My pages were much more simple. I worked much more slowly.

And I found myself needing to remind myself that I was making the book for my daughter. And she would love the album. She has been waiting for the album for a long time. She won't look at anyone else's album. Only this one that I created for her.

Why is so hard not to get caught up in comparing myself to others? Wanting these other scrapbookers, most of whom I do not know, to come and be impressed with my pages?

Isn't it fascinating that I needed to remind myself who I was making the album for? There was no external pressure about this. I sure seem to fight a lot of internal pressure. Where does it come from? And why so strongly?

As I thought, "I'm making this my daughter. She will love it.", I began to be content. I remembered my focus, my calling.

And truly I was right. My daughter loved the album. Actually the whole family delighted in the album, these pictures of welcoming sweet number three to our family.

Those other scrapbooks that made me feel pressure, they've faded but not the women that created them. I remember their friendly faces. Their encouraging words. Their adamant invitation that I join them at their monthly crops. I remember their kindness.

The stacks of more work that "they" seemed to get done went by the wayside when the oldest said, "Wow, it looks like you accomplished a lot."

May this internal, ridiculous pressure go away once and for all!

Surely, I will yet learn the secret of contentment.

...for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances...I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation...Philippians 4:11, 12

How about you?
Can you relate to feeling inward pressure that is not really there externally?Or do you just think I am crazy? Do you have some secrets to share about learning to be content?

The Secret of the Heron

It was the last day of summer. It was sunny with a few scattered clouds and little wind. The smells of river-water, sun & mud wafted through the air -- outdoor fresh with a hint of fish. The bugs were cricketing with a buzz, buzz and a cheep, cheep.

We sat on the hard rocks. We began to sketch nature observations into our new journals. Great and silent across the river sat the patient fisher bird. Our heron friend that we often see at this bend in the river stood in the water. Waiting.

We took turns gazing at him through the new pair of binoculars the thirteen year old received for his birthday. We could see the heron's open mouth and the detail of his gray-blue feathers.

I saw splashes and bubbles. There must be fish nearby. I hoped to see the heron make a catch, if only we waited long enough.

There was a bright blue sky. Above the green-leafed trees with their faint yellow-rimmed edges, the jet roared. Its explosive sound interrupted the serenity and quiet beauty of our "secluded" spot. It was then that I also noticed the cars thundering over the cement, metal bridge a half-mile away.

The contrast of the images jarred me. But it didn't jar the heron, or the birds, or the bugs.

The heron stood just as focused on finding a fish for its dinner. The birds chirped just the same. The bugs kept on buzzing away.

They didn't even flinch.

Yet, I was interrupted. I heard the jet. I heard the cars.

The noise reminded me that I belong to a culture of to-do lists, of places to go, and of accomplishments to achieve. But I didn't want to be reminded just yet about the world to which I would soon return. The to-do lists that are never finished were left back on the kitchen counter for a reason!

I longed to package this moment and bring the peace back into my "real" life.

What was the secret of the heron? How could it be undisturbed by all the noise? Was it numb to it? Or was it focused on its calling: its need for dinner tonight?

Then, I realized that the jet was not disturbed by the heron either. It didn't even know the heron was there. But the bird didn't care if it was noticed by the jet. The jet wasn't striving to be noticed by the heron. Each was focused on its own purpose.

The jet sure would look silly wading in the river to catch a fish. Likewise, not even one person on the jet could climb upon the heron to get to their destination.

I must begin to realize that it is just as silly for me to try to pursue someone else's calling as it is for a jet to wade for fish!

My calling is to be here in this moment with my children. I need to climb over the rocks and down to the water's edge far away from my respectable to-do list and into this moment. Oh, I shall need to return to the many listed responsibilities. . . but for this moment I need to collect shells and to throw stones in the river, and simply let God's creation soak deep down into our souls.

No, I am not transforming the world with technology or amazing speeches. I am not making headlines or any kind of monetary contribution to society or even to our small household. But. . . I am making a difference in the lives of these four children. And this is my calling here and now in this short season while they roost here with us.

And that, my friends, is the secret of the heron: Know your calling. Your unflinching, undisturbed calling that keeps you fishing for dinner in the midst of a jet-roaring world.

Have you found your focus, your calling in life?
If so, has it helped you to maintain peace in the midst of chaos?

Linking up with Jen at Finding Heaven today.

Thirteen

For the day my first born turned thirteen 2 1/2 weeks ago

Thirteen years.

Thirteen is an unlucky number, or so they say,

But not for me

Because thirteen years ago today

My dream came true

I became a mom

Thirteen years from now

I will be a mom whose children are all grown

How dare they come and

Change my heart, my home, my life

And fly away so soon

Yet that is their calling

And my calling too

To help them become

Who they are called to be

And in the process

It changes me

Changing diapers, making meals

Teaching fractions and phonics

To say please and thank you, too

Reading books and saying prayers

Tickles and laughter and outbursts of tempers

Theirs and mine

And I am changed

Holding their hands, holding their hearts

As they change

To become who they are called

To be

And in the process

It changes me

Thirteen

* * * * * * * * * * * *

How about you?

Has a recent milestone made you reflect upon your life?

And/or what advice do you have for us

for these upcoming teenage years?

* * * * * * * * ** * * *

p.s. Linking up with Company Girls at Home Sanctuary. Check it out HERE.

Finding a New Groove

One of the groove busters: our MN vacation.
Here are the kids 0n Paul Bunyan's lap in Northern Minnesota.

Somewhere along the way, I lost my schooling groove and my blogging groove. I am looking for them. If you find them --or any of my other good grooves, will you return them to me?

Ahhh, if it could only be that easy.

It's always harder to restart than it is to keep going, isn't it? So, why do I have such trouble remembering that? Sometimes it's a circumstance: a vacation, a sick child, a broken car, or some other time-consuming event. Then my feelings take advantage: I don't feel like it.

Another pic from our groove-busting, memory-filled vacation.

It is just like when I am running along and then... bam... there I am walking. I didn't decide to walk. But I am walking none-the-less. It is best if I take three quick steps as soon as I notice I'm walking or I may walk a long way. And so it is with my habits, I need to take quick action or it may be a long time before I'm grooving again.

Unfortunately, I did not take quick action and so I find myself today in need of lots of gumption to find the grooves of schooling and blogging.

One of the easier grooves to re-establish has been running. It hasn't been as long since I was in the groove as it has been with the others. Also, my oldest is running with me. He woke me up yesterday when I didn't hear my alarm.

So there is that, too: fresh enthusiasm from another. Always very helpful to get over a hump of inertia.

And in the running together, I have passed on a couple of tid-bits: watch your form and it's a mental game. Now, at first they were for him. But, I have found that I need to apply this mental game advice to my every day life.

Our family at our dear friends' wedding.

Most of us can get up and run -- even if it is not your method of getting a work-out. But the big part of learning to run (and a great benefit of running) is to teach your mind to direct and not your body. Decide beforehand how long you will run and how you will run. The work-outs can be slow and easy with no walking or fast and hard run with short walking breaks.

The type of run doesn't matter as much as training the body to do what your mind says and not what it feels like.

And isn't that great advice for tackling the daily details? Determine in advance what you will do in spite of what you feel like doing.

And so, I determined in advance that we will do math this week even though it is birthday week at our house (three birthdays, seven days). We will set our alarms and begin our routines. And instead of reading lots of blogs this morning, I am writing my own blog post. I need to re-establish the blogging groove somehow. Here it is.

Cute, aren't they?
At the end of our three-day camping trip in Northern Minnesota.

What are you determining to do in spite of how you feel?
Are you in a good groove?
Or, are you like me and beginning again?

P.S. Welcome to the Company Girls...I've been gone awhile...thanks for checking in on me...and for my other readers click HERE to get to know some other folks...

The Plan for the upcoming 2011-2012 School Year

Hello! Welcome to all and especially to those hopping on over from the the Not-Back-To-School Blog Hop at Heart of the Matter.

Today's post will be focusing on curriculum.

Since I home-school multiple ages, I try to do as many subjects together as possible. That includes science, history, Bible, and read-alouds. Also, I adhere to a learning lifestyle that includes many books that we read aloud together, looking up questions as they come up, observing wild life around us. But I do recognize that there are some academic skills that we'll not master if we don't take the time to intentionally pursue them.

So the following list is mainly for our in-the-seat work.

Bible
Our main text is The Story Bible by Catherine Vos. We read aloud. Then the kids take turns telling me what they remember, also called narration in the Charlotte Mason method.

AWANA handbooks: they each take ownership of memory verses and projects. I'll need to help the Kindergartener since he'll be learing to read. I have one who graduated out of the program after achieving the Timothy Award. So my seventh grader & I will be memorizing whole chapters of the Bible together. This will be incentive for me to memorize Scripture.

Sunday school class, VBS, and life lessons as they come up.

Math--
In order to create a fun atmosphere in regards to math we have these resources around.
I Hate Mathematics
Math for Smarty Pants
Games for Learning Math by Peggy Kaye

Muggins, Math-It, Yahtzee & many other games
Math-U-See blocks, legos
Dice, coins, chips, fraction wheels, rulers

Making Math Meaningful by David Quine for the K, 5 & 6th grader
Life of Fred for the 7th grader


Language
English From the Roots Up, Vol. I by Lundquist
Emma Serl's Language Lessons (Both Primary & Intermediate depending on which student)
Four days a week prompts to write in a composition book.
Learning Spelling Through Copy Work

History
Our main text is V. Hillyer's A Child's Story of the World. We read a chapter and then the children draw a picture and write about it. As they get older, I'm requiring more be written. We emphasize using our best handwriting and applying grammar rules.


We're entering the Roman phase as we read chronologically. I hope to read some of Genieve Foster's Caesar Augustus World. I also look up books that will fit in this time period, using different book lists that I can find including a Carole Joy Seid book list, Valerie Bendt's Unit Study book. I also use Honey for a Child's Heart, Books Children Love, and the Read Aloud Handbook to find good books to read, not just for history but also for science and for fun. I love looking for new good books to read.

I will also check out a book or two from the library about crafts & projects we can do. We also have a global puzzle, spend time looking at maps, too.

Science
Considering God's Creation: We have several units left that I would like to cover: animal classification, weather, and some others. There are other resources listed in each unit that I use to supplement.

The Periodic Table for Elementary Students.

Nature Walks & Observations in a field trip notebook

Art
Artistic Pursuits by Brenda & Dan Ellis
Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt (oh.. to finish this project! it is up first!)

I also try to have lots of art supplies on-hand.


Kindergarten
Alphaphonics by Samuel Blumenfeld. I have taught the other three with this book. When we complete this book, they can get a library card of their own. (The local library will give you one when they are born. When we started the phonics program with the first born, none of them had cards and I thought this would be a wonderful incentive and directly related to reading! They loved not being restricted to the number of books because we had to share my card.)

Bob Books for practice of reading

Sparks handbook

Five In A Row Vol. I by Jane Lambert

Handwriting Without Tears

Making Math Meaningful-Kindergarten


Seventh Grader
Fix-Its by Pamela White, an IEW product. The student fixes grammar mistakes.

Other miscellaneous grammar workbooks that I picked up here & there. I still need to fill in the remainder of his grammar curriculum. This will be a focus while I'm hopping to other blogs.

Starting Points by Cornerstone Curriculum. I plan to do this over the course of two years. The program begins to teach how to discern worldviews and how they impact literature and history. In addition to the syllabus, the seventh grader will be reading: How to Read Slowly by James Sire, the Chronicles of Narnia, The Deadliest Monster, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, Know What You Believe by Paul Little. This curriculum is to begin to teach Biblical world view thinking.



Other thoughts
In this post I am listing curriculum, if you click on a colored words it will take you to a website about that product. I tried to link to the writer of the product if I could. This is just for information. I haven't received anything to do this.

I appreciated when I began all the help that other home schoolers gave me. Still, when I need to focus on a new area, I'm thankful for the trading of resources & blog hops like this one.

If you would take the time -- which I'm assuming most of us don't have -- and clicked on my post from last year, you would notice we are using many of the same curriculum. We're in a groove right now that seems to be working -- and if it's working let's not fix it. The newest additions are for the oldest (a seventh grader) and the youngest (a kindergartener).

May we all have either a great School year no matter where we are educating our children!

When do your children go back to school? Some folks around here go back today, which seems way too early for a girl who always started the day after Labor Day. Did you look forward to going back to school as a child or were you terrified? Or tell us your plans for the upcoming school year.