Shadybrook Acres

What's In Our Read Aloud Basket

2010-04-29T12:31:00.009-05:00

I've been getting some homeschooling questions lately and I thought it might be helpful to post pictures of what is in our read aloud basket right now. We don't read from all of these every day but we usually read from three or four of them each day.

The kids each have their own personal reading from different books in addition to our read alouds. The personal reading is also from a variety of subjects such as geography, history, science and literature. Most of the kids read from two separate books a day.

I have a basket next to my chair that contains the following books:

Using real books instead of dry, boring textbooks is one of the reasons I love homeschooling!

Two New Hobbies

2010-04-25T12:31:00.004-05:00

I figure with each child that leaves home I should come up with a new hobby. This year it's medicinal herbs. So far The Complete Book of Herbs has been the most helpful along with this medicinal herb course from Sweet Hollow Farm.

I'm not growing any vegetables this year because of last year's bug invasion. The squash bugs annihilated anything that grew on a vine and the Mexican bean beetles destroyed my bean crop. So, I'm hope that by not planting the foods they like they will all starve to death and I'll sick my chickens on the ones that insist on living.

Instead, I'm adding more herbs to the garden, specifically medicinal herbs. We've added horehound, English thyme, bee balm, catnip, purple sage, purple coneflower, quite a bit of lavender and also some stevia. We'll also be watching the fields for passionflower, muellin, red clover and honeysuckle. I have lots of little brown bottles, 1/2 gallon mason jars, various tins, bees wax, and vodka (for tinctures) all ready for the summer harvest. Already some horehound was gathered, made into a syrup and used for Annalise's cough.

The other fun project around here is artisan bread. With this great book, it's so easy and fun. So far we've tried the boule, light whole wheat, 100% whole wheat and olive oil dough. This morning I made the sundried-tomato and parmesan bread with the light whole wheat dough and I'm taking it to the church potluck. This kids are constantly oohing and aahing. And it really does just take 5 minutes.

So next time you come for a visit, expect to smell some earthy herbal potions along with the fresh baked bread!

Jack

2010-03-19T07:48:00.004-05:00

Meet our new Great Pyrenees puppy, Jack. His name on the papers will be Stonewall Jackson because we are hoping he will be a stone wall around the property, keeping stray dogs away from our chickens. He's already a moose at eight weeks!

The first day, Pal would not let him come near but now they sleep close together. I can not find Pal's papers but I know we got him when Luke was about four years old. Luke will be sixteen this summer so Pal has got to be about twelve years old. We figured it was time to get a new protector raised up because Pal has not been up to his job lately. He has been such an awesome dog for so many years that we wanted our new dog to meet him and hopefully Jack will realize that he has big shoes to fill.

We have only had Jack a week but he is already so attached to us. He sticks very close to the front porch and sometimes whines at the door for us to come out and be with him. The boys sleep with him every night. When I go out and sit down on the porch, he climbs up in my lap like a little lap dog. This ought to be interesting in a few more weeks when he is quite a bit bigger!

Picture Problems

2010-03-19T07:47:00.001-05:00

Sorry about the pictures below...I don't know how to fix it. If you click on each one you will see the whole photo.

A Few Photos from Priscilla's Wedding

2010-03-19T07:31:00.004-05:00

The new Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Bell

And her new family....the Marines...
All of us from left to right: Annalise, Kezzi, Hope, Abel, Nathan, Priscilla, me, Ford, Candace and Luke.
And the hardest moment of all...saying goodbye. They will live about nine hours away near Camp LeJeune, NC.

Priscilla's Shower

2010-03-01T19:59:00.000-05:00

Just a few shots from Priscilla's bridal shower. We had over 50 people here!

She was blessed with many nice gifts...and some that were a little too embarrassing to post pictures of.

Candace passed out toilet paper and divided everyone into teams. The goal was to make a wedding dress. Immediately there was lots of talking and laughing. It was Priscilla's job to choose the winner. Here's the final dresses:
And the winner....

Pris was also thrilled to see some of her college friends, whom she will miss very much.

Coffee Shop School

2010-03-01T07:43:00.000-05:00

When Kezzi was still in school, I used to take Hope and Kezzi to the coffee shop once a week. I would buy them a drink of their choice and we would work on writing and grammar there. I have recently resurrected the practice with Luke and Abel. It's something special I like to do with the older kids just to change the environment and hopefully find some new inspiration. This past week we had to take Annalise with us because no one else was home, but normally it will just be the boys and me.

Luke prefers to use the computer for his writing and most of the time Abel still likes his good ol' composition notebook.
Their favorite drinks are the frappes...caramel with lots of whipped cream.

Meditations in Psalms

2010-02-27T08:21:00.002-05:00

Recently I have begun reading through Psalms in my personal morning time. As I read I am looking for a verse or two to carry with me through the day, giving me something good to dwell on. I'm looking for ways to fulfill Philippians 4:8, which is about dwelling on things that are true, lovely, pure, etc.

Today's verse is Psalm 13:5-6:

"But I have trusted in Thy lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me."

Today I will not focus on the hard things I have been through or the things I may be worried about. Instead I will think about all of the ways He has dealt bountifully with me. This may not be too difficult today because things are going relatively well at the moment. But I will store this up for the harder days, which I know are bound to come back around in the endless cycle of life on earth.

Other Studies

2010-02-26T18:32:00.007-05:00

The time of day I enjoy most is our Morning Time studies. I have drawn the inspiration to spend this extended time together from Cindy at Morning Time Moms. It's the first thing we do every morning.

The kids come upstairs with sleepy faces and grab their favorite blanket while they snuggle down in their spot. I begin with Bible reading. Right now we are reading through the life of David with occasional diversions into topical studies such as this past week's lesson on love and "walking in the manner worthy of our calling". After Bible we read a poem a day from Poetry For a Lifetime. At this point everyone jumps up to grab a quick breakfast and then they bring their food back into the living room and settle in for the next reading. Usually we read some historical fiction or something from the time period we are studying, which happens to be World War I right now. Our current read aloud is Falcons of France. Other weekly and bi-weekly additions are History readings (20th Century) and Picture Study (Winslow Homer's prints have been gracing our refrigerator lately).

After Morning Time everyone dives into their own work in math, writing and various readings.

I'm going to list the things that I feel have been worth while pursuits this year.

Write Shop. I had my doubts about this since I've never been a fan of formal writing programs but I really felt the boys needed some direction. It's been just the thing they needed. They often embark on the assignments with gusto and have been very proud of their work. I see their confidence in writing improving. The other day Abel drew some imaginary creature and decided to write his own "field guide" entry to go along with it, all on his own free time. He said, "Mom, since I've been doing Write Shop I'm not afraid of writing! I know just how I want to do this!" I think it's helped that we've been co-oping with my sister and her boys. Even though it may try our patience to get through the week's initial lesson due to unnecessary silliness, it's worth the results. Hope has decided to join in too so I just ordered her own student notebook.

Hands On Equations. I'm calling this pre-algebra. Annalise and Abel have been doing this along with other math work. Doing algebra with 'things' is awesome. I hope it will help them when they get to a regular algebra course.

Key to...series. This is a great set of workbooks that save us tons of time by not having to copy the problems down. We've used the fraction, decimals and percents books and I actually think I finally have a handle on these topics.

TruthQuest History. I have been a long-time fan of TruthQuest, even raising money and buying guides for our local library. This year we have been using the guide for 1865-Present. I am resisting the pressure to hurry through and instead we will most likely take two years to go through it all. This is one time period I really want the kids to have a good grasp on since it merges right into current events. I always make notes in mine of other resources I find, especially films.

Introduction to philosophy through Sophie's World. Hope read this this year. It has sparked a lot of thinking and led to an interest in philosophy. She even wrote a monologue based on this book, which she performed at the AMTC competition this year.

Focus on biographies. Each of the kids has read quite a few biographies this year. I tried to give them each books on their level and that has contributed greatly to our history discussions. They have read biographies on Stonewall Jackson, Lee, Lincoln, Booker T. Washington (autobiography), George Washington Carver, Geronimo, Teddy Roosevelt, Louisa May Alcott, Helen Keller and Joseph Stalin so far. Authors/series we like are Albert Marrin, the Sower series, Landmark series and Childhood of Famous Americans (for Annalise).

Graphic Forensic Science. To complement our human body study, I bought these comic-style books. They looked gross enough to tempt my boys into reading and I was right. They also had fun with the Human Body model. We used Apologia's General Science book and read through the sections on the body and they drew illustrations of the different organs and systems. I don't feel like they really absorbed the technical information in that textbook but I definitely think they will benefit from the drawings they did. Our next book we will be reading is Exploring The History of Medicine and I already know that is a keeper because all of my older girls read it and still remember stories from it.

I'll try to add to this as we progress through the year.

Our Latest Art Project

2010-02-26T18:08:00.005-05:00

Last week we did a project out of our Usborne's Art Treasury. This is inspired by and artist name Kadinsky. This first one is mine. I wasn't too happy with how light my backgrounds turned out. But it was fun and that's the important thing.

This one was done by 8 year old cousin John, who came over to do the project with us.

This is Hope's.

And this one was done by Candace. She was visiting and we talked her into joining us. We knew hers would take an unusual twist.

And last but not least, here's the one done by Annalise, who is 9 years old now.

Hope's Songs

2009-12-23T22:53:00.003-05:00

Here's what Hope's been up to: Hope's Music Myspace

My Eye of the Hurricane

2009-12-23T21:44:00.002-05:00

It's been a mighty long time since I have written anything here, or written much of anything anywhere. Even my journals have been untouched. I don't know why. Family members and a few friends whined and complained and I still couldn't make myself blog. Then so much time went by, I wondered how I could catch up with all that has gone on. It all started when blogger was giving me trouble with my pictures. I became so disgusted I gave up. So tonight I came to give it another try. And it worked. So, I figured now was as good a time as any to jump back in.

Here's the first picture I was able to upload. It was taken just last week on the Big Island of Hawaii.
My sister, her husband, Ford and I were able to take a dream trip and get away all by ourselves. I took this picture when we were driving back to the resort one evening. The sun was shining on the water and it looked like liquid gold. Absolutely a stunning place!

I call it the eye of the hurricane trip because so much has gone on and is scheduled to go on, but that made this time all the more sweet. Kezzi got married November 20th, the next week was Thanksgiving, then Hope's dress rehersal for AMTC (a talent competition organization she is working with) then the trip to Hawaii. On this side of the eye there is Christmas, a trip to Orlando January third for the talent competition which lasts eight days and then home to plan Priscilla's wedding, which at first looked like it might be February 6th but now looks like I will get a little more breathing room as it is being planned for March 6th. Whew!

Soon I'll have three daughters married. Three son-in-laws. In just over two years so much has changed. I've decided I like it and I think I've finally learned to go with the flow.

So hopefully, if I can rouse myself from this long slumber, I'll start catching up on the recent events and some current ones too.

Get This Book!!

2009-07-29T14:33:00.005-05:00

Wow! Am I happy about this book!!! For a couple of years now we have been enjoying the use of Wilderness Awareness School's Kamana program. We did Kamana I together and Hope is finishing up Kamana II. I have been telling others about it but those courses are expensive and not many people are willing to invest that kind of money in a nature study course. Now there is this book which sells for about $25 and it is perfect for a homeschooling family. It's one of those resources that I wish I could buy for everyone. I'm going to be using it extensively in our nature study class this year.

The first half of the book is the Mentor's Manual and you will find information about thirteen methods of connecting with nature. They call them the Core Routines of Nature Connection. And the Book of Nature chapter has information about the eight sections of study which are in the Kamana II program. The second half is an activity guide with all kinds of games and activities. I can't even believe they were able to put all of this great stuff in one book!!

Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, which I am also reading, writes the forward to this book. If you read Louv's book you will understand the importance of reclaiming the days when kids played outside and Coyote's Guide will be an invaluable resource to get kids interesting in the outdoors.

So check it out. Get the kids off the computer and away from the tv and video games! You may even be inspired to start your own little nature study club!

You can buy it here on amazon or here from Wilderness Awareness School, where you can see 14 pages from the book including the table of contents.

Going Through the Fire

2009-06-04T18:47:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I'm giving up on pictures. Every time over the last month or so when I have tried to load a picture for a post, it won't work. So I will have to go picture-less for the time being and just use words. That might be hard work because my heart has been so full lately and I have not been able to form all of it into words very easily.

One major event in our lives has been the burning down of our business while we were on vacation last Friday. We were just finishing up a trip to Colorado, stopping in Springfield, MO to visit some friends when we got a call from the local sheriff telling us our building was on fire. We left and drove home immediately. The fire had started in the stovepipe of one of the woodstoves. It was 4:00 and two guys were at work, my brother-in-law and my son-in-law. They were using the stove to heat a room in order to dry some letters for a sign. By the time they realized there was a problem one whole room was on fire and it spread unbelieveably fast. Within minutes smoke was coming out of the far end of the building. They were able to save a large piece of equipment and the computers from the office. The shop was a total loss but thankfully the office was spared and only had smoke damage so all of our paperwork and records are safe. It was a metal building. We had no idea it could burn like that. We were told there were 14 fire trucks on the scene and that the firefighters were saying it was the hottest fire they had ever seen.

The good news is we had insurance and the check for the building is already on the way. Enough of the contents were covered so we should be able to replace enough to get up and running again. Even payroll is covered for a while. So hopefully it will all be taken care of. Ford has done amazingly well through it all. Almost immediately after the phone call he kept saying that God can turn it into a blessing. I was just glad that everyone was ok.

A couple of days into our vacation, I had received a call from a friend who found out her breast cancer is back, this time in her sternum. So with that weighing on my heart, loosing STUFF seemed to pale in comparison. They are going through a much greater fire than we are.

A make-shift shop has been set up in my sister's carport, which was quickly closed in by the guys. The office is in one of her bedrooms. Even Grandma and Grandpa have been working their tails off helping with painting, pressure washing and whatever needed to be done. Tonight was the first night since Saturday that we didn't all eat dinner together. It's a good thing we all like to be together! That was one thing I kept thinking on the drive home: we are all in this together. I'm just glad we still have each other to be in it with.

The funny thing is, the friend who I just mentioned, her husband runs a construction company and they build the metal buildings like ours. And they have been slow on work. So hopefully we can get him to rebuild our shop and bless them too.

Kids In Church

2009-04-20T13:49:00.002-05:00

Shadybrook Acres readers and most who know me will not be surprised as I step onto this soap box once again. Today I received this book from Paperback Swap. I ordered it hoping it would be something I could hand to parents instead of subjecting them to another one of my usual rants. I read it today at lunch and posted a recommendation in my facebook status. Then as I checked my blogline account, I saw a great blogpost by Granny on the same topic. You can read it here.

The book arrived after just yesterday when Annalise looked around church and then whispered to me, "Mom, there is only one other kid in church today besides us." Of course, she has grown up hearing us talk about this issue, but she seems genuinely amazed that other children don't enjoy the adult service. As we walked into the bathroom after the meeting, she said, "Wow! Has it been an hour already? I can't believe it's over!" I told her it had been more than an hour and that if it went fast for her it must mean she enjoyed and understood it. After all, our pastor is working his way through Genesis, which I think is one of the best books to start kids on experiencing the Bible for themselves.

Something I hope others will consider....

Enjoying the Little Girl Years Again

2009-03-28T07:05:00.006-05:00

Annalise's main pastime is still books. Every night we still have to clean off loads of books and little stuffed animals off her bed so she can go to sleep. Having had four girls who great enjoyed books and then two boys who would rather be playing outside and now even working than reading books, it is nice to have the comfort of having one last little girl who loves books.

This week I turned her on to the Your Story Hour tape series that the girls loved so much. I can't tell you how many times over the years as I have read aloud some history book or biography the girls have said, "Oh, I know about him/her/that from the Story Hour tapes!" We've had a pretty rainy week and Annalise has been glued to her tape player listening to these. She likes to come find me and tell me all about each one.

Then we remembered we also had this book on audio tape. I was in the middle of reading it to her at bedtime, but she quickly grabbed up our copy along with the tapes and was happily listening and following along in the book.

This is the book she is currently reading to herself. She loves this series which she calls The Bonnie Books. Priscilla has already read the four books in this series to her but now she is working through them on her own. She has a cute little framed picture of Bonnie on her nightstand that Priscilla drew for her when she first read them to her a couple of years ago.

This is the series that Priscilla is currently working through with her now. She saves this for times when Priscilla comes home. She has even taken it with her when we have gone up to see Priscilla at school. Pris will find a quiet corner at the college and the two of them with cozy up together for one chapter. Last night Pris came home and Annalise was downstairs. I had Pris sneak into Annalise's bedroom and get settled in Annalise's bed with a book. Then I called Annalise up and told her that she needed to leave the boys alone and go spend some time in her own room. She moaned that there was nothing to do in there. I said, "I'm sure you'll find something." Then she opened the door and saw Pris in there! It was so cute!
She knows how to cash in on the big sisters. This book is the one Hope is currently reading to her though not nearly as diligently as Priscilla read to her when she was home. Annalise usually is sure to rope one of us into bedtime reading no matter how late it is.

All these do not include the books she is reading for 'school', which currently include a Childhood of Famous Americans biography, James Baldwin's 50 Famous Stories and Among the Night People. Nor do they include the books I am reading aloud to everyone for Morning Read Alouds and History. You would imagine that having so many books/stories going on at once would be confusing, but she doesn't have any trouble with that. In fact, she probably has more going than even listed here. These are just the ones I know about.

Isn't life with books grand!

A Wrinkle In Time

2009-03-20T11:01:00.004-05:00

The kids just watched A Wrinkle in Time and now I'm reading the book to Luke, Abel and Annalise. When Mrs. Whatsit is flying the children over a group of creatures singing a song that the children can not understand, Charles and Mrs. Whatsit work at translating for them. In the movie Charles replies, "It's about joy." That is it. Joy.

In chapter four in the book, the song is extensively quoted. "Throughout her entire body Meg felt a pulse of joy such as she had never known before." Disney fails to mention the source of the joy. The song's words? Isaiah 42:10-12.

Quoted directly from the book:

"Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift their voice; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord!"

Interesting that Madeleine L'Engle used those words, which express giving glory to the Lord, as the source of unspeakable joy. I think I'm going to really enjoy this series.

My Last Words

2009-03-05T10:31:00.003-05:00

If I was on my death bed and was able to speak one last thing to my children, it would be this. I pray that it resounds in their heads forever. Take an hour to listen.

Shocking Message from Paul Washer

It's really sad when the gospel is considered shocking.

Sarcasm

2009-03-01T13:25:00.007-05:00

One of my friends sent me a button on facebook that said this:

Sarcasm - the body's natural defense against stupid.

I thought of this button while reading Wendell Berry this week. He was writing about political packages "that are almost irresistible-expensive, of course, but rare." Package #2 is Preservation of Human Resources.

"Despite world-record advances in automation, robotification, and other 'labor saving' technologies, it is assumed that almost every human being may, at least in the Future, turn out to be useful for something, just like the members of other endangered species. Sometimes, after all, the Economy still requires a 'human component'. At such times, human resources are called 'human components' and are highly esteemed in that capacity as long as their usefulness lasts. Therefore, don't quit taking care of human resources yet. See that the schools are run as ideal orphanages or as ideal jails. Provide preschool and pre-preschool. Also postschool. Keep the children in institutions and away from home as much as possible (my note - and when they must be at home keep them loaded with "homework") - remember that their parents wanted children only because other people have them, and are much too busy to raise them. Only the government cares. Move the children around a lot while they're young, for this provides many opportunities for socialization. Show them a lot of TV, for TV is educational. Teach them about computers, for computers still require a 'human component.' Teach them the three S's: Sex can be Scientific and Safe. When the children grow up, try to keep them busy. Try to see that they become addicted only to legal substances. That's about it."

You see my friend sent me that button because she knows me. And anyone who knows me and knows Wendell Berry's writings would know to recommend them to me because we are kindred spirits.

A Quilt for Annalise

2009-02-26T13:59:00.002-05:00

From this:

To this:

To this:

And finally, this:

Copywork from Great Art

2009-02-24T08:12:00.005-05:00

This week we tried the Sketch Tuesday assignment at Harmony Art Mom blog, which was to copy a portion of a painting by Henri Rousseau. Everyone chose to copy the blue flowers, except Hope. Hope didn't quite have time to finish hers but I am posting a copy of it here anyway. I liked this idea of copying part of a painting and we look forward to using this idea more in the future. If you haven't checked out her blog, you are missing out! There are lots of great ideas there.

Winter Weeds

2009-02-24T08:12:00.004-05:00

Today our little co-op met at our house for some winter nature study. Our focus today was winter weeds. I read the chapter from Discover Nature in Winter before everyone arrived and briefly shared a few interesting points with the children. Next we headed out to the field to gather specimens. I was amazed at the variety! Even though we did not identify each find, it was fun gathering and drawing them.

The biggest hit was this mullein stalk!

I love to see the moms participating!

And even the littlest ones getting in on the action.

I never knew a vase of winter weeds could provide so much interest and pleasure.

Shrinking Again

2009-02-16T22:36:00.002-05:00

Well, just like the years when the babies kept coming in fairly rapid sucession, now they are leaving at about the same rate.

Kezzi moved out this week so now we only have four at home! It's hard to believe. After trying and trying to get a job in our small town, Kezzi decided to move to the city where she has lots of contacts and potential to start working somewhere else besides her dad's shop. She has been in and out so much over the last few months that I am hoping it won't really feel that different. I'm trying to look on the bright side as much as possible. I figure I should give denial a chance. :)

The good news is that Michael and Candace have moved to a little rental house three miles from us. They were three hours away so we really excited about this move. They came at a time when a lot was going on. With the death of my brother and trying to make decisions about what Kezzi needed to do, we have been very involved with other things. As everything settles down we should get to spend quite a bit of time doing fun things together. Candace and I were just making plans today to enjoy even the simple pleasures, like cooking and grocery shopping, together. If she gets lonely during the day, she may even buzz over to help with some homeschooling projects.

In less than three months Priscilla will be home for the summer.

So they come and go. It's just the way the new lifestyle goes now. I'm learning to adjust more quickly than I did at first and I'm even learning to enjoy the adventure.

More On CPSIA

2009-02-16T22:36:00.001-05:00

This is a thought provoking article. Please go read it.

The Year I Learned to Love Winter

2009-02-14T08:41:00.004-05:00

This time of year is full of people longing for spring. This is the first February in my life that does not find me anxious for spring. In fact, I am a little sad to see winter go.

A funny thing happened to me this year, I have learned to love winter.

There is no other season when a book, a hot cup of coffee and a blanket are so inviting. It is much easier to hold my kids' attention when the warm, sunny outdoors is not calling to them. They tend to ask for one more chapter more often in the winter. This is something I have always loved about the season, but it has never been enough to outweigh spring fever.

I think the key this year has been learning to love the outdoors in winter. I have learned to love going for walks in the crisp air. I found out that with a hat, gloves and maybe layers, I can be very comfortable outdoors so I am not deprived of fresh air. The leaves are all gone and it is easier to see things that are normally hidden. There is not so much going on in nature that is vying for my attention out there on my walks but there is still plenty to notice. It is quieter outside with most people holed up indoors. The garden does not need to be weeded. The lawn does not need to be mowed. Even though many things may look dead, they are not. They are simply resting. I've learned to enjoy that restful look.

This view of our field is one of my favorite winter scenes.

Update: I meant to give credit to the Handbook of Nature Study blog for being a big part of inspiring me to notice the great outdoors this winter. Thanks Barb!

An Outrage Against Children

2009-02-14T08:41:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to gather information on the new CPSIA law and its effects on us all. Most people have no idea that books printed before 1985 are now illegal to sell unless they have undergone expensive lead testing. It doesn't matter that there is no record of any child having lead poisoning from a book. Not to mention the law includes many other children's products including clothing items and handmade toys. Many small cottage industry business are having to close their doors. Reports of Goodwill stores and other thrift stores throwing away all of their children's books and other children's items make me feel sick to my stomach.

I do not understand why the media has not been covering this. It's all over the internet. So, since so many people have already written about it who are much more knowledgable than I am, I will provide some links to get you a start in understanding it all.

A good introduction to the problem

Apparently only 1 child has died from lead poisoning from a children's item and that was because he swallowed a piece of children's jewelry and was not diagnosed properly. Read more here. The Book Room has many more blog posts about this.

Melissa Wiley has a good round up of helpful links.

PLEASE, PLEASE make some calls about this. Here is the information you need to do something about it.

2009-02-10T09:59:00.002-05:00

"We measure time by its death and , yes, its births. For time is told also by life. As some depart, others come. The hand opened in farewell remains open in welcome. I who once had grandparents and parents now have children and grandchildren. Like the flowing river that is yet always present, time that is always going is always coming. And time that is told by death and birth is held and redeemed by love, which is always present. Time, then, is told by loves losses, and by love continuing in gratitude for what is lost. It is folded and enfolded and unfolded forever and ever, the love by which the dead are alive and the unborn welcomed into the womb. The great question for the old and the dying, I think, is not if they have loved and been loved enough, but if they have been grateful enough for love received and given, however much. No one who has gratitude is the onliest one. Let us pray to be grateful to the last."

From Wendell Berry's Andy Catlett

God called One of His Beloved home

2009-02-02T14:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we buried my thirty-two year old brother, Levi.

In the very early morning hours of Thursday morning he stopped by my dad's house, which is just about 25 minutes from me. He built a little campfire and was standing around talking to my dad. They were enjoy a sweet time together when Levi suddenly fell down backwards. At first my dad thought it was one of Levi's silly pranks but he quickly realized it was not. Levi had died instantly. My dad ran in to get my brother and they started CPR but he was already gone and they could not get any response from him. The ambulances came and they could not bring him back either.

We have since found out it was a ruptured blood vessel near his heart.

He leaves behind his parents and the rest of his siblings, which include three sisters and four brothers. I am the oldest of the siblings. He also leaves a wife and 2yo son. My brother Ben was commenting that with such a big family your chances are higher for sorrows but you also have the blessings of more people to comfort each other.

Through amazing friends and my amazing sister who organized it all, we gave him a beautiful funeral and he is buried just around the block from me at a little country church. We can almost see it from our property. I have passed by this cemetery every time I have walked around the block for exercise. I can't believe he is buried there.

Here is a video of Levi's favorite song. It's Jason Upton's Come Up Here. This is just amazing to me. How could this be his favorite?? God sure does know how to send us comfort.

Thanks to all of you who have called, emailed or posted your condolences through facebook. I haven't had the time to respond to each one but know that each thought and prayer for us is treasured.

2009-01-28T18:59:00.002-05:00

I'm continuing on my Wendell Berry stint with Andy Catlett: Early Travels and a book of essays called Sex, Economy, Freedom and Community. I have nine or so books from two different libraries. I'm really having trouble with reading library books. I am going to have to make a choice: either buy my own books so I can mark in them freely or make liberal use of a commonplace book. I'm torn because I really like the idea of copying all the quotes I like and having them conveniently in one place, but I like the ease and speed of underlining and notes in the margin.

Another library book I'm reading is Hold On To Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More Than Peers. Tim's Mom mentioned this on her blog starting here with this post. I just got it last night and already I've been struggling with the miles of underlining I want to do! While Ford was getting ready for bed last night I was reading excerpts out loud to him because this book was full of things that he always says. So far, I can't see that this book was written from a Christian perspective. I think that makes it more interesting because it looks at the historical shift that has taken place in the last fifty years and its consequences. I'm just starting with this so you may hear more from me on it later.

Isn't it funny that your reading material can affect what you notice? Ford and I want away last weekend for our anniversary. One morning we were traveling around looking for arts & crafts stores in the mountains when I saw a group of guys standing around a tractor. It looked like they were working on a fence. Formerly, this scene would not have received a second thought. But this time I noticed the age range of the men and there were young and old working together. I noticed their smiles. It made me think of my readings from Wendell Berry, how the agrarian lifestyle kept the community working together. Suddenly a scruffy group of farmers looked beautiful to me. Instead of everyone segregated into their own activities, they were all working together, probably talking and joking. I could imagine they enjoyed a sense of belonging to something greater than a small peer group.

Add my readings in Hold On To Your Kids and I can not help but mourn the current state of our society. Even our churches. Recently our church moved all of our highschool kids across the street to a college building for their own church service. Up until this point the kids eighth grade and under were in their own programs but the highschoolers had no other alternative to the Sunday morning meetings. This change really grieved our family. Thankfully, children are not forbidden from being in the service so our children are not affected. But that still doesn't quell our grief over the system as a whole.

I'm sure I will have a lot more quotes and comments in the future but Annalise has set up the Settlers of Catan game so I must go now. To be continued....

School Takes A Bit of a New Direction

2009-01-21T10:07:00.007-05:00

In an attempt to help my boys, especially Luke, enjoy learning I have been looking towards a more hands-on approach. I'm not giving up on books, but looking to supplement with more things to DO. I still read to them and require reading but Luke is really good with his hands and I want to capture some of that before his school days are over. I am looking for ways to fulfill his high school credits without heavily relying on lots of reading.

I can't remember where I found this series recommended for high school but I am looking at these for Luke's biology credit. We have all of these titles: Prairies, Fields and Meadows, Woods and Forests, Rivers and Streams, Lakes, Ponds and Temporary Pools, and Wetlands. It amazes me that we have all five of these habitats on our 26 acres! There is lots of real field work in these little books. There is also quite a bit of equipment to put together, which will require some gathering on my part, but if it is something he enjoys and learns from then it will be worth it.

Timberdoodle is a great supplier of hands-on types of things. This past week we pulled out our

Some Body game and started playing with it.

Recently I purchased My Senses kit & Genetics & DNA kit and we just got them in the mail yesterday. I'm really looking forward to having fun together with these.

The My Senses kit includes fifty experiments including making a stink bomb, a model of the mouth and tongue, a simple telephone, a hearing aid, a telescope and also experiments that test taste buds, confuse your sense of touch, see how sound vibrates and much more. Along with reading some books on the human body, I am hoping to make notebook pages with illustrations and photos of our projects.

With the genetics kit:

"Your child will isolate the tomato DNA in a test tube, discover dominant and recessive genes, learn how chromosomes are combined, and much more. The kit assumes some basic understanding of reproduction. The children will build a model to see the double-stranded helical structure of DNA and investigate DNA evidence to identify suspects and solve a crime. They will even breed bacteria to experiment with genetic engineering."

Doesn't that sound like fun?

All the People to Love

2009-01-14T22:27:00.007-05:00

I would say we probably have a pretty unique situation in our lives as far as church and community goes. It's been almost two and a half years since we left the very small church fellowship that we had been a part of here in our own community for about eleven years. And wow, are things different for us now.

We go to a church about an hour away that is fairly good sized. Not like the mega churches I've only heard about, but around 1,000 people, I think. We hear great teaching and worship which are both led by some very gifted people. We ALL love going to church. When we told our kids we were going to help for a while with a church plant, Abel protested. "You mean I'm not going to get to hear Chad's teaching on Genesis????" I was pretty impressed that my twelve year old cared to hear what the pastor was teaching. And I do not just credit that to the maturity of my son. I give the majority of the credit to our pastor for doing such a great job of making the Scriptures easy to understand while not dumbing it down or stripping them of any depth either.

Besides trying to continue to invite people from our church to our home for dinner and fellowship, I am involved in a small women's Bible study group that meets on Wednesday night. And let me tell you, I LOVE these women. They have become very dear to me. As if that wasn't enough, as I've written before, I became involved in MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) as a mentor this year. And now I LOVE those women too! It's been such a precious honor to spend time with the MOPS ladies. So besides these groups we have many others that we love. I feel like I have grown so much by learning to love such a diverse group of believers!

Our church service ends at around 12:30, from which we rush on to a home fellowship group about 15 minutes back towards home. We've been doing this for almost a year now. I guess you could say this is our "small group" even though they are completely separate from our main church. This is a group of people with whom we share many of the same ideals and convictions. They meet at 12:30 eat and fellowship until another member family arrives at around 3:00 (the husband has to work until that time). During this fellowship time you can usually take your pick of activities. When the weather permits there is usually a game of volleyball going on and sometimes ultimate frisbee. If it's cold there may be games being played by the young people. My favorite part is the spirited discussions that are taking place spontaneously around the house.

When the last family arrives the home church the families are gathered up for a meeting in the living room of the host house, which changes between two different houses from week to week. The worship at is accompanied by a guitar and everyone calls out numbers of the songs they want to sing from the songbooks. Prayer requests are made known and prayed over by all. Several of the men take turns teaching. And the teaching is almost always full of discussion. It is so wonderful to see the kids and young people participate. Many of them sing with gusto, boldly pray and enter in the discussions. After the meeting there is more hang out time and the food is all pulled out again. My kids, well, actually all of us, feel this is a place they comfortably hang out and be themselves. We don't have to be on guard and the kids don't have to be ready to deal with a bunch of junk that is so rampant with other youth groups. It's a place to refuel.

Lastly I will mention our local community, which includes many close and dear family members. It's wonderful when the biggest complaint you have is that you don't see each other enough, even when you just live next door!

When you open your eyes to all of the people to love, you can't help but realize It's a Wonderful Life!

New Bird for the Bird List

2009-01-12T20:44:00.003-05:00

I didn't take this picture but I saw this bird today for the first time. Quite a few of them actually. It's not often that I get a chance to see a bird I have never seen before so I was quite excited! And I even had my binoculars thanks to a couple of young men who ran back to the car to get them for me. From the Handbook of Nature Study blog and the book Discover Nature in Winter, I found the idea of looking for colors on a winter nature walk. Well this cedar waxwing sure included quite a few colors!

On Monday afternoons we meet with several other families for nature study and other activities. We meet here at our house or the park or in the gym of a local church. This week we met at the home of one of the families. After playing games and eating crackers and hummus that our hostess graciously served us, we headed out for our nature walk.

So many people shy away from winter time nature study but it's my favorite time to do it. Without all of the green growth of the trees and bushes in the way, it's so much easier to see things. Plus I just get so overloaded in the spring and summer with all there is to see.

I'm really thankful tonight for such a nice afternoon! Thanks especially to our hostess!

2009-01-09T21:30:00.002-05:00

Ok, I may actually have a favorite author after all of these years. I don't even remember where I purchased this but it had a little round $3 sticker on the front. I finished this book last night and could not hardly even read a few pages without my pen in hand. I underlined, starred and otherwise marked many passages. And I want to read it again. This is a sign that I really like a book. And this essay confirms that it is not madness for all of you doubters out there.

I'm excited to find that he has written many other books (fiction, essays and poetry) and that the library has many of them but I'm wondering how I could handle reading them without marking them? I have a few of them on hold already at the library as a test for myself. But I may find that I will be forced into purchasing them for myself. If I like them as much as I liked Hannah Coulter, I will try to show restraint and only get a couple at a time. Unless, of course, I score big at the used book store. In which case, I can't make any promises. At least it has the potential of giving my family sure fire ideas for gifts for me over the next couple of years.

2009-01-09T15:41:00.002-05:00

I read this little gem of a book over the holidays. I was already doing quite a bit of thinking about giving so this book really put me over the edge with excitement. I have a fresh joy over giving money but also other things. It has set me to pondering where my treasure is... where do I want my treasure stored....and consequently where will my heart be.

Most of my giving has been to my immediate family over the years, and I am glad of it. I have also given some to the homeschool community. But now as my family grows up I find myself with more time on my hands so I am considering how to spend it. I am still needed here at home very much but I do have some time for small opportunites to bless others and I am praying God will open my eyes to the work He would have me do.

The Latest Game Obsession

2009-01-09T15:35:00.002-05:00

A few years ago it was Scrabble. Then Nertz. Now this is the new rave around here. We have the habit of playing a game to death until eventually we won't be able to stand it. Even Candace and Michael are in on it since they've been staying with us. We just recently learned how to play Settlers of Catan so maybe that will be next up. We'll see.

Chiles Rellenos Eggrolls

2008-12-24T15:28:00.003-05:00

This is the recipe for the delicious Mexican eggrolls I love to make! When I found large cans (20 whole green chiles each) for a dollar at a local grocery store, I snatched up thirty of them just so I could make these. They really are easy.

The filling:
Brown 1 lb. ground beef, 1 med. onion and a clove of garlic. Drain. Add 1/2 t. salt, 1/2 t. ground cumin and 1/4 t. oregano. Add 2 c. shredded cheddar cheese.

Lay out a eggroll wrapper. Lay a whole green chile opened up on the eggroll wrapper. Top with some of the ground beef mixture and wrap eggroll style. Fry in a little oil until golden brown on all sides or deep fry. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

I'm Not Kidding

2008-12-24T11:22:00.002-05:00

Ford actually got me a megaphone for a Christmas present. Not this exact one, but a megaphone nonetheless. Our kids are not excited. We, on the other hand, much enjoy tormenting them. What fun I'll have waking them up for school after Christmas break. Of course, they will have the option of using their alarms to get up here on time, but when the don't.....mwhaha!

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-24T11:04:00.003-05:00

We've been enjoying Candace and Michael here for the last couple of weeks. Ford's business was so swamped (which is a huge and unusual blessing this time of year) he needed help and since Michael's work was slow, they came down to stay with us for a while. Now Priscilla is home from college too. All of the adults in the house have been going to work at 8am, leaving the four younger kids and I home during the day. Then at night, everyone is home together. It has been the perfect balance between peace & quiet and fun.

This morning we had our own immediate family's Christmas with gifts from Ford and I and the much anticipated stockings. The rest of today will be spent loading up the presents, packing overnight clothes and cooking food to take to Grandma & Grandpa's, which is just next door. My sister, Lori, and her family will meet us over there for a grand total of twenty people!

Our tradition is that each family basically prepares a whole meal for Christmas Eve and we add it all together buffet style. Mom and Lori usually make more traditional Christmas dinner type foods, while I choose the ethnic variety. This year my contribution is shredded pork tacos, chiles rellanos eggrolls, mexican rice and black bean & corn salsa. Yum! We dress up and have a nice dinner together with loads of desserts that Grandma makes. We have a dirty santa present exchange and a sort-of-talent show. Then we ALL spend the night. We wake up, open presents from the person who drew our name and spend the rest of the day lounging in our pajamas, playing games and eating leftovers. We usually stay until the next evening.

Needless to say, it's most everyone's favorite twenty-four hours of the year!

Our God is an Awesome God...

2008-12-16T23:56:00.008-05:00

...that line can sound so cliche, can't it? Awesome. It's still a great word. My little dictionary that sits here by the computer says awe is a mixed emotion of reverence, dread and wonder. I would say fear instead of dread, but basically awe is the right word.

Today I read the first chapter (well, the first half of the first chapter) in John Piper's Desiring God.

I'll be honest. I just don't care for Christian books. I absolutely love my Bible. I read it regularly, study it in depth, teach from it, underline freely, write notes in the margins and just plain delight in it. But Christian books on theology...uh, I think I need to go clean out my refrigerator. I won't go into any reasons for my aversions here because I don't want to follow that rabbit trail right now.

I stumbled across this title while reading over at Dewey's Treehouse and saw that this book was available online. My girls have ordered some of Piper's books and I knew he was a popular author so I thought I'd check it out. I printed the first chapter and settled down with my cup of coffee before I woke the kids up. I read this excerpt and felt like it did a good job of summing up something I feel like God has been trying to show me this year. Not that I have been through any major trauma this year, but if it can apply to bigger situations, why not smaller ones?

"When God looks at a painful or wicked event through his narrow lens, he sees the tragedy or the sin for what it is in itself and he is angered and grieved....

But when God looks at a painful or wicked event through his wide angle lens, he sees the tragedy or the sin in relation to everything leading up to it and everything flowing out from it. He sees it in all the connections and effects that form a pattern or mosaic stretching into eternity. This mosaic in all its parts-good and evil-brings him delight."

So often, all we see things through is the narrow lens. We rightly feel grief and anger. But that is so often where we stop. We don't move on from there. Oh, maybe we decide to take the big step and "forgive" because we know it's wrong to harbor anger and bitterness in our hearts. Scripture is painfully clear about that. So we say, "I forgive you" but it doesn't always prevent us from only seeing through the narrow lens.

Much of my prayers this year have been, "Lord, help me to see through Your eyes" or "Help me to love so-and-so like you do". Over and over again I have prayed for His viewpoint. Talk about God not giving us a stone when we ask for bread! I feel like I have received freshly ground, whole wheat, delicious, nutritious, satisfying bread this year. Sometimes the results of these prayers have been almost instantly miraculous and other times more gradual, but after looking back a bit, effective nonetheless.

I have seen one thing for sure. Love and grace triumph over punishment and self-righteous judgment. Occasionally, I see a glimpse of His Glory and even just that glimpse, that tip of the iceberg, feels so overwhelming it makes me wonder how I will be able to bear more.

Blondies

2008-12-16T10:11:00.003-05:00

I'm still so amazed that the majority of my children have such blond hair. I thought it was funny one evening when all I saw was this peeping out from the side of the couch and I had to wonder which girl it was. It was Kezzi napping on the couch.

The Silly Boys

2008-12-15T23:31:00.000-05:00

I was going through my camera, deleting pictures to make room for more when I came across these nutty poses.

2008-12-13T11:59:00.002-05:00

I saw this quiz on Becks Bounty and thought I'd give it a try.

Which Christmas Character Are You?

An Elf

Like one of Santa's right-hand helpers, you're dedicated and devoted. From their pointy shoes to their pointy ears, the elves, and people like you, are the man in red's secret to success. Do you really think one person can make all those toys, harness the reindeer, wrap all those gifts, and get around the world in one night?

Manipulating with a Magnadoodle

2008-12-06T23:18:00.003-05:00

I found this on Ford's night stand while I was getting ready for bed one night, right after I told Annalise that it was too late for me to read to her. Needless to say, I caved and read to her.

All Seven Together

2008-12-06T22:32:00.005-05:00

Everyone was here together for Annalise's baptism. From left to right: Candace (21), Abel(12), Kezzi (18), Annalise (8), Priscilla (19), Hope (16) and Luke (14).

You can click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Moving Forward

2008-12-05T13:56:00.004-05:00

Cindy at Dominion Family wrote this post in November. I am in the first steps of a stage she is already familiar with. I'm am happy to find the joy in this time of life and to see that God is just as faithful now as He was when I leaned on Him for all of the little kid issues. This quote reflects what I am seeing happen in our home.

"On the flip side, when the children start flying away it happens just as fast. The seismic shift in family life can leave gaping holes. But when the dust is settled, something amazing usually takes place. Everyone moves up a notch. Maturity levels rise. Relationships change and blossom. A child who was content to be under the radar is suddenly a leader. I have seen this happen over and over again but it is always a source of surprise and encouragement to me."

I am seeing one example of this in Hope right now. She has really been blossoming. It was hard at first to see her go from one of four girls getting ready for bed each night, all in the same bathroom, crowded around one mirror, laughing and talking happily to having large quantities of time alone. But what magnificent things she is doing with that free time! The songs she is composing and singing are truly wonderful!! Her dad just gave her his violin last night and now she is experimenting with that. And she wants a guitar for Christmas. It's amazing to see sorrow turned to joy.

Without the big girls around, it's been easier to see how strong and capable Luke has grown. This morning he went and got the Christmas tree out of the storage building, carried it in by himself and assembled the whole thing with a little help from Abel and Annalise, who both insisted on joining in the fun. I didn't have to do a thing. He has also grown very valuable in Ford's business, taking over the production of one of his most important materials.

With Luke gone working many afternoons, Abel and Annalise have spent a lot more time together and that has been good too.

Everyone really is moving up a notch and adjusting to all of the changes.

A Poem by Priscilla

2008-12-03T12:57:00.002-05:00

I stole this from Priscilla's facebook page, with permission....
----------------------------------------------------------------
A poem I wrote inspired by the story of Eustace in The Dawn Treader; a story which illustrates God's faithfulness to inflict beautiful, cleansing pain on His children.

The Undragoning

I lay e’er long on a bed of comfort
My rough parched self displays no shame.
My jewels, naught such, may taunt yea hurt,
But I turn my head and refuse the pain.
My mind as a wheel spins tales of such
That throne me higher than a King.
'Tis treason, plain and clear, but search
The kingdom wide and you’ll find none true.
Yet amidst the mutiny the ruler rules
And in spite of the rebellion a servant will hear.
The King steps down and with His claws
He pierces deep a gaping tear.
He searches through stubborn scales until
Against smooth skin I feel His paws.
A cry escapes my lips as I
Again feel shame form blessed strength.

Finally Back...

2008-11-22T18:56:00.002-05:00

After my laptop died, I did not have internet at home. The only way I could check my email or be on the internet was by going down to Ford's shop. I just never wanted to take the time to blog down there so that is why there has been a two month lapse in blogging. But I'm back on now, so let the posting begin! My only handicap now is that I don't have a connection for my camera so there won't be pictures until I make a trip to Wal-Mart. And I'm dying to get it because I have a beautiful picture of all seven kids when they were all here a few weeks ago and I can't wait to post it.

Well, for the moment, life is settled down a bit. We have become used to having Pris away at college, but I bet we might win the prize of the "most visiting family" up there. She's been home quite a bit too. What can we say? We have no defense except we love and miss her. Kezzi has been busy trying to get a job. I bet she's applied to twenty places locally. The economy is definitely being felt by her. The younger four are busy with school and play. Hope and Abel are spending a lot of time at play practice getting ready for opening night, which is the day after Thanksgiving. Hope spends almost every spare minute at her keyboard writing music and singing. Pris has a friend at school who is going to help get a little clip recorded and up on youtube or something like that. We'll post a link here when that happens.

I'll try to start putting my thoughts into blogable format and get back on track.

A Night In the City

2008-09-19T22:06:00.002-05:00

Last night I enjoyed a beautiful evening in the city with some of my favorite women in my life. Both of my oldest daughters were there along with my sister and her two daughters and her youngest son. Candace is here for the weekend while her husband is gone on a retreat. Priscilla came down for the evening but had to get back early to prepare to leave at 4am for an out-of-state frisbee tournament. Kezzi was my only daughter who was not with us.

First we sat at the park while Priscilla worked on a drawing assignment. Then we had a wonderfully relaxing time having dessert and coffee at the coffee shop and afterwards walking across the bridge. On the way home we all sang songs to quiet the little ones. It was so nice to hear Candace's voice in the mix again.

It was so nice to be with both of the older girls though it might have made things worse for Annalise who cried quite a bit over having to say goodbye to Priscilla again. Pris is also really homesick, even though she's loving it at school. She keeps complaining about having two lives and wishes we could be a part of her life there. She's been super busy and not getting enough sleep so I suspect that is making it harder for her to cope with her emotions. We are all looking forward to Fall Break, Thanksgiving and a month together at Christmas time!

Lori and I were both commenting on how nice it is to occasionally visit the city with all of it's different sights and sounds. There were two girls on the bridge playing their violins with an open music case full of dollar bills before them. All kinds of people were walking back and forth. Beautiful buildings lined the river banks. People playing in the park - frisbee, football, roller blading. I wouldn't trade my country life for any of it, but it sure is nice to have a little city experience now and then.

Thought for the Week

2008-09-16T21:58:00.006-05:00

Here's a little note to myself and anyone else to whom this might speak:

Don't dwell on all of the things you can't change. Don't focus on all the areas with which you find yourself powerless to fix. Instead concentrate on the good you can do. That is where your energy is best spent. "Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness."
Psalm 37:3

The Lake Project

2008-09-10T11:51:00.007-05:00

Yesterday we took some time to explore around the lake. We found at least twenty different wildflowers in bloom. I was busy taking pictures to take home and identify. We plan to make a family nature notebook that will contain pictures of specimens from the lake area. I'm really excited about this project. I thought it would be fun for visitors to look over the notebook before taking a walk down there so they would have some idea of what they might see.

Here's a picture of a part of the lake. This group of trees was meant to be an island but that didn't happen since we were stopped in the middle of the project. Now, I'm glad it's not because it's a great place to explore and as it is, you only have to hop the canal which is off to the right of the picture) to get to it. I'm sure we would not visit it as often if it required a boat ride to get there.

This is one end of the wetlands. We were told to expect all of these plants to fill in along the edges farther down.
This is the picture of farther down. It's bare right now with only little seedlings showing up along the shore. It will be fun to see it come alive.

I took many pictures of the wildflowers, but I'll only include one here of this beautiful cardinal flower.

Looking Forward

2008-09-06T18:50:00.004-05:00

Things have settled down around here. And my friend was right, I'm adjusting quicker than I thought. However, Pris and I both cried as we hugged each other hello this afternoon when she arrived for her first visit home for the weekend. But we are all moving on and enjoying life.

I feel like I have so much to look forward to this fall. I'm very excited about serving as mentor to the MOPS group at church. I must confess it's excitement one minute, and the next it's a feeling of being totally inadequate. When that feeling comes I remind myself that of course, I am, but HE is not. I'm also excited to be able to help a new homeschooling support group get started in Knoxville. A new group that wants to study Charlotte Mason is forming and I will love every minute of helping them get off the ground.

Our school plans are going well so far this year and we are enjoying all being on the same history topic each week with Tapestry of Grace. Our first topic was John Adams and we've all really been enjoying watching the HBO miniseries on his life. I hated to leave my old favorite, Ambleside Online, behind but I really felt we would all benefit from being together, especially Hope, who as the fourth child has often been lost in the middle. She and I have really been enjoying our conversations on the things we are learning. I'm still using lots of AO books as extra reading, especially with Annalise. She has a basket by the loveseat in my room filled with AO Year 2 books that I hope to read aloud to her this year.

Next week we start two new activities. Our local YMCA is offering PE classes that we are going to participate in. And our little support group is getting together once a week for Nature Study and some more PE type activities. In addition to these active outings, we have been getting together with some other families once a week to play ultimate frisbee and tennis. Luke and Abel are chomping at the bit for tennis lessons and since we no longer have the girls' dance tuition and supplies to pay for, it looks like something doable.

Personally, I am looking forward to the cooler weather. I love fall. I love bonfires on the hill. I love cozy mornings with all the kids drinking hot tea in the living room with the fireplace going while I read aloud. I love walks in the crisp air.

We have some more good news here at Shadybrook Acres. Last year while digging our lake, the government officials shut us down because we disturbed a "wet-land area". We were very disappointed to have the work stopped before we could finish it. After corresponding with them back and forth and then submitting our plan, we have restored the area of concern according to our proposal. The new work also included a walk way around the lake, which turns out to be an even 1/4 mile track. An official came out last week and walked around the lake with Ford and gave his approval! As he walked with Ford, he pointed out and named many of the plants around the lake. He said in a year and a half we wouldn't believe how the plants would fill in and make it a beautiful place. What we thought was trouble ended up being a blessing because we are going to have a unique habitat to explore. I'm so excited to spend time studying nature down there!

So, I'm thanking God that there is so much to enjoy right now and so much to look forward to.

"Every blessing You pour out, I'll turn back to praise..."

The Clock Struck Midnight...and she's gone...

2008-08-28T15:34:00.002-05:00

(the title is referring to Steven Curtis Chapman's song - Cinderella)

It's been a week since we dropped Pris off at college and I think I have pulled it together enough to write about it now. The weekend was rough for me, then it was better Monday and Tuesday. On Saturday when I was in tears, Annalise came and hugged me and said, "I don't want to start crying again because I'll never stop." That didn't help. Wednesday evening I was a little sad again because she wasn't here to ride up to our women's Bible Study. But I'm adjusting. It was weird at first because it felt a little like grief. I felt embarrassed to say that or to even feel it. I have felt grief before and I knew I had no logical reason for feeling it now. She's not even very far away and she's in a great place. People try to reassure me with telling me what a great head she has on her shoulders and how she'll be fine. It's really not that. I'm not worried about her. I know I'll just miss her being here every night. But mamas have to grow up too.

We took her up Friday at lunch time. When we arrived there was a team of students outside each dorm, waiting to help the freshmen move in. We pulled up and within seconds everything was unloaded and carried up to her room. She found out later than the group had been going over the list of names when they saw hers and because they liked the way it sounded they were repeating it over and over. That explained why a girl had later said that she had heard Priscilla's name about 100 times that day!

When we got up to her room, her roommate was already there and had the room all arranged nicely. Kezzi, Hope, Annalise and I got her all unpacked and settled into her room within an hour or so then we went to lunch at the cafeteria. After that we went around taking care of business like getting a mailbox, a parking permit and books. Then the students met their orientation teams on the lawn while the parents had a meeting in the chapel. I couldn't have been more pleased with the meeting. My favorite part was when they opened up the microphones for the parents to pray for the students. I was moved to tears to hear so many fathers and then a few mothers pray out loud for their students first year. It really was beautiful.

We had dinner and then Ford and the boys met us up there for the parent/student meeting. That meeting was awesome too. Great messages from the president of the college, his wife, the dean of students and others. They had a panel of professors on stage in a question/answer format. All of them were characters! And I loved the things they had to say. They were asked what mistakes they made in their college days and what advice they had to pass on. They got talking about putting too much emphasis on the grades and advised the students to care more about actually learning and growing. They had a lot of great things to say.

Next we hung around on the lawn where they were serving ice cream. They had various tables set up according to majors with upperclassmen there to answer any questions. Since we were going home for the night and coming back in the morning for more parent/student meetings, we decided to not bring our kids back the following day. It was just not worth them getting up early enough to leave the house by 7am so they said goodbye there. Annalise especially broke my heart as she held onto Pris for some time. She sobbed all the way to the car.

The next morning we went back up, Ford, Kezzi and I. We had a lovely time of worship and more great speakers. I was particularly impressed with the standard of conduct. They simply expect them to live up to their Christian faith but without all kinds of specific rules. They said the dress code was "modesty" and admonished the girls to care about the Christian brothers. They told them to get in the habit of checking with other girls in the dorm to find out if a particular outfit is ok and to hold each other accountable. (I have marveled every time I've been up there at the girls clothing - for the most part it's been pretty modest.) The dean of students also went into detail about the internet access and how there were blocks in place but if attempts were made to go to unwholesome sites, they would be flagged and talked to. They went on to explain why and because they cared about their lives and their future, they would intervene. Other policies were covered and again, I was very pleased with everything. After a quick lunch, we said goodbye too.

We've talked to her several times (Yes, I know it's only been a week and I haven't been pestering her. I've waited for her to call us. ) and it sounds like she's having a ball. She's loving meeting all the new people and especially playing ultimate frisbee with the ultimate frisbee club. She called me last night after a more than three hour game! Today was the first day of classes. I'm so thrilled that she is going to have the opportunity to learn from some really great men and women and have the opportunity to meet some fine young people too.

We are going up to pay tuition and visit with her tomorrow afternoon. She wants us to take her off of campus so she can visit with us and not be distracted by all of the people she's meeting. She doesn't have to twist my arm to take her away and keep her all to ourselves!

The Countdown

2008-08-17T11:31:00.002-05:00

We are in the countdown phase of Priscilla leaving for college. Five days. On Friday we'll be taking her down and getting her settled in her new room.

This morning we stayed home from church to get things packed up. We've been so busy the last week and we have something planned for every night next week, so this morning was our only chance to get some things done. My hope is that if we tackle all of this today, she will have a nice relaxing week ahead.

It's been funny to note this week, that while she is on the verge of being more independent than ever, she has been continually asking me about what she should do about this or that. "Should I come to the get-together this Saturday night or stay home and finish my essay? What if I take my laptop and finish it there and then hang out with everyone afterwards?"

She was getting overwhelmed last week with everything that had to be done, so I offered her a plan and she gratefully accepted it, relieved to not have to think about those details. She jokes, "Mom, can I take you with me to college?" No, dear. But somehow I will find a way to be there whenever you need me.

I really am so excited for her. At the same time, I've been trying not to face the reality that looms ahead until I absolutely have to. Last night, while talking to some friends about the little details of getting her ready, one knowing mom looked me in the eye and said, "You'll be all right." Oh, yes, of course. But then why am I suddenly choking down the tears? One week, she promises. It'll only take a week to adjust. Hmmm. Dare I believe it?

Voted World's Best Sauce by Shadybrook Acres

2008-08-14T11:48:00.004-05:00

Quite a few months back I bought a bottle of this amazing sauce at Sam's and we've been in love ever since. Yesterday we bought twelve bottles during our Sam's shopping trip. After watching how we descended upon the first bottle at lunch today, I am wondering if I should have bought more.

Today at lunch Hope was commenting that we are the weirdest eaters. She was wondering how many people would eat what we were eating for lunch. Part of our lunch fare was a block of cream cheese with this sauce poured over it as a spread for crackers. That turned into a spread for the whole wheat bread Kezzi made yesterday and then we added shredded chicken to the sandwhich. Of course, as accompaniments we had to open the marinated artichoke hearts we also got yesterday and the black olives. We've come a long way from the standard peanut butter and jelly that used to make up 90% of our lunches when the kids were little!

I'm sure over the next few months we'll come up with a new cookbook called 101 Ways to Eat Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce.

More Changes

2008-08-11T20:52:00.003-05:00

We began work on our new formal garden this spring. Thanks to a friend's husband, who is a professional landscaper, we had a great start with a plan down on paper. It's still a work in progress and may remain so for quite some time. I am quite the ambitious gardener in the spring, but when the hot water sets in, I retreat to the house. I hope to add some trees to it this fall and maybe finish the walkways before winter. Another new addition was the painting of our house. We got rid of the green and went with tan. Priscilla is the one who chose the color. Too bad we couldn't have painted in some green grass! This project is also in progress until we finish painting the block walls of the walk-out basement, which you can't really see from this angle. That will be another project for cooler weather.

Kezzi's Puppy

2008-08-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

Yes, that's right. Kezzi has a puppy. Kezzi, the one who said she hated dogs and that she would NEVER EVER have one and wouldn't even marry someone who had to have a dog, has a puppy. The first night she brought her home she set up the baby playpen and slept IN the playpen with her! Just goes to prove the old saying - never say never.

It's August Already???

2008-08-05T14:13:00.002-05:00

Wow! Like always, the summer has flown past. I've actually been too busy to even think of blogging. Just keeping up with email has been a challenge, not to mention the garden! I've canned too-many-to-count pickles (bread & butter and dill) Also lots of jam - peach, blackberry, blueberry and strawberry. Now it's high gear for tomatoes (salsa & spaghetti sauce), peaches, and green beans!

Kezzi was gone for a month but is home now. She has been a dream come true. It's like having two of me working around the house. On her own, she sees what needs to be done and does it. "Mom, how about I tackle reorganizing the linen closet today?" It's wonderful!!! So many things are getting a deep clean and reorganization. It's a wonderful way to begin a new school year. I love it when I get to be the one saying, "You've done enough today. Take the rest of the day off!" She's decided to not worry about what she will do next and for now she plans to help me around here and work for her dad occasionally. She'll get no argument from me!

The boys and Hope have also been a huge help this summer. It's been my first experience with boys who are growing strong enough to tackle big jobs. They've grown up so much this past year. Luke has reached the benchmark of being taller than Kezzi, who's the shortest of the girls. It won't be long before he's passing me up.

Pris is getting ready to head to college in about two weeks. She already has her first assignment which is the reading of a book and a paper due upon arrival. It's going to be an adjustment around here for sure but I'm so excited for her!

Ford and I have been enjoying evening boating trips down the river. Last year he bought two rafts at Sam's and equipped them with batteries and trolling motors. We take about an hour and a half to go up river and then come back just before dark. It's been such a peaceful way to spend an evening. Much better than restaurants and movies!

Well, that's about as much time for an update as I can spare. I've got to get back to the kitchen! Hopefully, things will slow down soon and I'll have more time to write.

Happy 4th of July...

2008-07-04T11:13:00.002-05:00

from Lucy and the rest of us here at Shadybrook Acres!

The Latest Happenings

2008-06-30T13:07:00.004-05:00

This morning Luke found a chicken hiding out in the woods. She is too traumatized to come back to the hen house just yet. Twenty -five new chicks should be shipped here next week.

We had our house pressure washed and painted. We also stained our deck a darker color to match the house better. It looks great and maybe when we get the deck furniture finished and put back on and the lattice stained, I'll post a picture.

Candace started a new blog where she is sharing her poems. I hope "train up a child in the way he should go" will mean she will keep writing poetry.

Kezzi is gone to Missouri for a month to spend some time with our friends and to work at a camp for children of prisoners. We miss her but we are glad she is having a good time and doing something worthwhile.

I was the "wedding director" for a wedding that took place this weekend. Basically, that just means I was the one who was in charge of bossing everyone and telling them when to go where. I think I was more nervous than the bride and groom! It went beautifully and it was a lot of fun too!

Grandma and Grandpa are home from their three week trip and we are so glad to have them home.

I'm going to savor July because besides Kezzi being gone, everything else looks like it will be wonderfully normal. My July calendar is nearly empty so far and that's a pretty sight! I do have a big Fourth of July bash at Shadybrook Acres on there and Candace scheduled for two visits. And somewhere in there I'm having the MOPS group out to show them how to can green beans and maybe tomatoes too. But so far these are all fun things that have no dread associated with them. I hope this month ticks by in a glorious slow way!

I Hate Stray Dogs!

2008-06-21T19:22:00.002-05:00

Especially when they senselessly kill all thirty-one of my chickens within a manner of an hour or so.

Two small dogs showed up on the other side of our hill yesterday evening. We shooed them away and thought that was the end of it. It never occurred to me to think of the chickens.

Last night we made a bonfire on the hill. Ford, Annalise, Luke and I decided to try sleeping out under the stars by the fire. At about three o'clock when my little dog was out barking and keeping me awake, I stumbled back down to the house and put her in. As I settled back down up on the hill, Ford was tossing and turning and complaining about getting bit by ants. Then I heard the roosters start crowing and I knew we would not be able to sleep. So we decided to head back to the house. We woke Annalise up and took her in with us and left Luke sleeping. That was 3am. All was well.

At 7:00 Luke knocks on our bedroom door. He comes in wide-eyed to tell us that those stray dogs woke him up licking him in the face. He headed to the house and saw nine chickens dead in the field. He was clearly upset. We got up to apprehend the dogs while they were still there. Luke headed out with a garbage bag to collect the dead bodies and found even more dead in the hen house. In fact, every single chicken was dead.

The dogs had been on a major killing spree. I could understand one or two eaten chickens. But thirty-one just killed and left there?

It must have happened after sunrise because the nine chickens would not have run out into the field in the dark. I don't understand how Luke did not hear the ruckus since he was sleeping so close by.

I am so mad and I just feel sick about it. We were so excited to have raised some of the chicks ourselves. A few days ago, one hatched and we put it inside in the chick box. It's all we have left now. The yard is so quiet. Devoid of (poultry) life. It's way too quiet.

Now I am going to have to order new chicks. And we need a new habit of locking them in the hen house at night. We may be in the market for a new Great Pyrenees pup. And this time we are going to train him to protect the chickens. Pal is getting old. He normally would never have allowed stray dogs to be on our property.

A Wonderful Vacation...Part 3

2008-06-13T21:27:00.006-05:00

One day we came in and visited the Audubon Swamp Garden even though it was a sweltering 100 degree day.

On our last day we checked out of the resort and headed back to Charleston. We took a tour across the Charleston Harbor and out to Fort Sumter.

Here is a picture of what remains of the fort. It was not nearly as impressive as the pictures of it back during the Civil War. It was still interesting to see the place but I didn't take a lot of great pictures, because once again it was a hot, hot day.

Dad Saves the Day

2008-06-13T20:35:00.004-05:00

As I was really struggling yesterday, things were happening. Priscilla's college sent her a CD of a musical group from school. Then she checked her email after coming home from work and found an email with her roommate-to-be's contact information. I was secretly (ok, maybe not so secretly) hoping these would be tugging her that direction. And then when she started facing the procedures to try for the other school, she was quickly getting overwhelmed. I must admit I was cheering inside but trying to guard that spark of hope at the same time. I know, I'm a bad mama. But in my defense, I did try to help her by starting to fill out the application while she was at work. But I got stuck with requests for information that I did not know. Honestly. [grin]

She flopped on my bed in agony over the college decision and she was wishing someone would tell her what to do (someone besides me because she says I'm hopelessly biased!). Her daddy came to the rescue. After spending a few days considering the matter, he gave his input and expressed his desire for her to stay close to home. She agreed. So, now we are moving forward as previously planned.

Funny thing is that now I had to face her going far away, the move to the college campus close by doesn't seem so bad. I think I can...I think I can...

In the meantime, I'm trying to savor every moment. Tonight I took three of the girls up to the mountain lake for a relaxing evening swim and Sonic shakes on the way home. I had an unexpected treat of getting a call on my cell phone while sitting on the beach from Candace. I think I'll make it.

I never took childbirth classes but I'm thinking I could use those breathing techniques through these changes that I'm going through now more than I needed it then.

This May Be Harder Than I Thought

2008-06-12T10:32:00.006-05:00

I've mentioned quite a few times about the changing dynamics of my family with children growing up. I've always known that I can't hold them too tightly and that God may have plans for them that take them away. I thought I was ready for that. But I've been crying all morning just anticipating a probable change this fall.
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Priscilla had everything all in line to go to a college that is only about an hour and twenty minutes away. It hasn't been easy finding a local Christian college with an art major. She wanted to be able to live at home and attend classes somewhere where she would be encouraged in a Christian worldview with her art. Even though she would have to live on campus with the college she chose, she and I both took comfort in the thought of weekends at home and the mid-week possibility of going down there for a lunch date. I have been thinking that it is a smaller step that I could probably handle, not real easily, but handle nonetheless.
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When the girls were preparing to go on an out-of-town trip for a week and a half recently to the Worldview Academy Leadership Camp, I was reading Annalise her bedtime reading because Priscilla, who frequently reads to her, was busy packing. She looked at me with sad eyes and asked me how long the girls were going to be gone. I told her we were going to have to get used to it because next year she would not be living here. Then Annalise began to cry and so did I. We just held each other and cried.
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Now at this late time, when I thought all of the plans were set, Pris is considering a college in Missouri where she would not have to live on campus, but could live with some dear friends of ours. If she goes there she will be attending the same school as her best friend, in fact, living with her and her family, who have been like a second family to Priscilla. She feels that it is difficult to find good friends like them and being able to rely on them for encouragement and stability on a daily basis would be very helpful.
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She has met one of the art professors who works at the college in Missouri because he is the father of some kids she knows, and she has been very impressed with his work. Not just the technique of his work, but the messages they contain. Priscilla is not so sure the college she had planned to attend with give her the inspiration and direction she desires.
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So, she is applying for this college in Missouri, eleven hours away, to see what might be available. And we will see what happens over the next few weeks. All of us want God's will for her above all, but that doesn't mean it won't be agonizingly hard to see her go.
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We went through a difficult time with Priscilla when she was seventeen, a time she relates as a part of her testimony now, even on her college essays about her personal testimony. It was a time that brought suffering for both her, her father and I, and even others, but through it she began to know God for herself. It was also a time when our love for each other was tested. When it looked like all was lost, LOVE stood strong. The storms came, the floods raged, but the Rock that the house was built on was not washed away. I guess since we came so close to loosing our relationship with her, it seems all the sweeter now. It's something I have praised God for so many times. So, you see, not having her near will be difficult indeed.
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The scary thing is that it's just the beginning. Our children all arrived one right after the other, and it's likely they will be gone one right after another. I didn't raise them to sit at home and be my pets. It's exciting to see the people they are becoming and the things they are choosing to do (and not do). Nothing is sweeter than to see each of them enter into their own relationship with the Lord. I'm very proud of them. I look forward to the future, and dread it at the same time. I know it's a time in my life to receive the bittersweet changes. And even though I know many tears will be added to my bottle, I know just where to find the strength to face it.

A Wonderful Vacation...Part 2

2008-06-10T13:45:00.004-05:00

Bike riding took up a huge portion of our time. We rented bikes the first day and also a little bike trailer to haul towels, goggles, book bags and groceries. The scenery was beautiful and so different from our region of the country, with swamps, marshes and palmetto trees everywhere. One day we rode to the state park and rode all through the marshes and jungle-like woods on the bike trails there.
Luke was always racing ahead of us to look for wildlife. You can see him here under the bridge looking for crabs. Thankfully, he didn't run into any alligators.
The woods were beautiful with a tropical feel.
And miles of marshes everywhere with water fowl.

Luke had a contest with a king snake that didn't want to be caught.

But after wrangling with it for several minutes, Luke won, but only after the snake emitted some stinky stuff on his shirt, which he used to throw over the snakes head before he caught it.

A Wonderful Vacation...Part 1

2008-06-10T13:22:00.008-05:00

We had a great time on our vacation last week, even though it was a bit of an adjustment going from seven kids last year at the beach, to only four this time. Of course, Candace is married now but Pris and Kezzi were out of town at a Worldview Academy Camp in Missouri. I missed the girls terribly. However, it was quieter (which is good and bad) and much cheaper to eat out, rent bikes, and buy my favorite tuna steaks for the grill!
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This was our first time vacationing in Edisto Beach, which to my delight, is just a hop, skip and a jump from Charleston. Charleston is my favorite city that I have visited. It's like the Boston of the South because it's so rich in history.
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Here is our much reduced family at Rainbow Row.

And then we made our way to The Battery park.
We love the live oaks and the views of Charleston harbor and Fort Sumter - the place where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.
Then there are always adventures on the beach. Thanks to Luke, we always enjoy close up views of the local wildlife.

Riding waves is always the favorite pastime and by the end of the week I was even braving it. While I enjoy the beach, I don't like the ocean where things are swimming all around me waiting to bite me or sting me. But the waves just looked too fun, so I had to try. I did get a very small jellyfish sting, wouldn't you know. Twice we saw fishermen reel in these small sharks. And why do we want to swim here again?
We also saw many horseshoe crabs while walking on the beach at high tide but I didn't have the camera. Yuk! I don't mind snakes or spiders but crunchy shelled beetle like animals give me the willies. And horseshoe crabs look like giant insects. Eeeww.

2008-06-10T12:34:00.006-05:00

I read this book last week and have been ruminating on it quite a bit.

The author Mr. Holzmann, also author of the Sonlight curriculum, makes a case for Christian singles to treat each other as brothers and sisters with their purpose being to bless one another to the glory of God. He encourages us to aim higher than drawing a line in the sand regarding physical relationships and rather to think biblically about the purpose of the relationships in the first place. After listing several things that, of course, should be avoided, he says:

"But God wants you to judge your relationships by higher standards than these. He's not merely interested in what things you'll avoid, but in what things you'll do: how well you'll bless your brothers and sisters; how well you'll lead them to faith and obedience; how upright your speech will be; how loving your actions."

The text is loaded with scriptural references, which I LOVE!

Mr. Holzmann argues that Christians men and women should be able to get to know each other in a sibling type of relationship that can easily lead to marriage, saving all forms of boyfriend/girlfriend types of things until after the engagement.

The family at The Common Room has experienced just such an arrangement that has led to the recent engagement of one of their daughters. We've also posted on this blog about our friend Rachel who had the same experience. So we have seen first hand that this model can work.

Of course, this type of relationship can only be entered into with others who have the same understanding. Mr Holzmann had to enlighten his wife-to-be, at one point, to the fact that he was not interested in being her boyfriend, but wanted a sister/brother relationship. He strongly emphasizes the necessity of being mature enough and ready to explain and stand strong in your own convictions.

We've been guarded over our daughters' relationships with young men. Not guarded enough in some cases when the girls were too young, but maybe too guarded after they had become adults. Upon entering into a relationship with two exceptional men at church, I can see more easily how this model can work. Quite a while back, our two oldest ended up on a boat with these two young men and I couldn't have been more ok with it. I knew they had a reputation of being men of integrity. My time spent with them had confirmed that fact. I knew these men were ones who understood their role in relationship to my girls.

One thing I really liked about this book is that it put the responsibility directly on the young person, unlike some other courtship type of books that are hyper-dependent on the fathers. He says if you don't have the internal strength to stand on your own convictions, you are not ready to be spending time alone with anyone. This has caused me to think differently about how I feel about one-on-one time between my girls and other young men. However, he does also make points about not doing anything that might cause you to stumble and discourages extremely private places. He also addresses not giving the appearance of evil and having exclusive "ownership" type of relationships. Overall, I thought it was a good balance. He also points out the wisdom in getting to know someone first in a crowd type of situation in order to learn if they are someone with whom you want to spend more time and to ascertain if they are a trustworthy person. He suggests this approach for both male and female friends.

This book is an excellent place to start if you want to explore the way your children might enter into relationships with the opposite sex. Even if your children are very young, I encourage you to start thinking about these issues now.

A Blast From the Past

2008-05-29T21:37:00.005-05:00

Here are my darling four girls about fourteen years ago! I think Hope is 1 1/2, Kezzi 3 1/2, Priscilla 5, and Candace 6 in this picture. Somebody loaded this onto the computer and I just had to post it here.

My only solace is that someday maybe I'll get some little granddaughters that resemble their mamas.

Texas Supreme Court Rules Against CPS

2008-05-29T21:28:00.002-05:00

Here's a link to the Grits For Breakfast blog post, where you'll find plenty of links of the news coverage. Hopefully, those kids will be home with their mothers soon. And hopefully, CPS has learned a big lesson. This is still AMERICA where we have laws about such things.

Strawberry Muffins

2008-05-29T16:45:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we drove to a strawberry farm and bought 5 flats of strawberries. Six quarts went next door to my sister and the rest we processed in the food processor and put into freezer bags. Some went into quart size bags with 2 c. in each for the recipe below doubled. Others went into gallon size with 5 c. for jam making later. We did freeze some whole and I made two batches of jam, which we immediately enjoyed on whole wheat (white wheat) pancakes with turkey sausage last night, along with some sliced and mixed with some sugar. Even Grandma and Grandpa couldn't resist a last minute dinner invitation.

This is our time tested favorite recipe for Fresh Strawberry Muffins:

1 c. fresh strawberries
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. soda
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. walnuts, chopped

Crush the berries before measuring. Combine strawberries, sugar, butter and eggs in a large bowl and mix together. Add dry ingredients and mix. Grease muffin cups. Fill 10 cups with dough and bake 350 for 16- 18 min.

What's Going On...

2008-05-25T18:47:00.004-05:00

The garden has been consuming most of my time these last couple of weeks. Both the vegetable garden and the formal garden. The vegetable garden is all planted: tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, onions, peppers, okra, green beans, sweet potatoes, lettuces and some herbs.

We also built some raised beds and planted 50 strawberry plants.

The formal garden is taking shape (pictures to come soon, hopefully) Ford is working on painting and installing the white picket fence. I've been working on planting and mulching. The latest addition was 9 hydrangeas and a couple of Arborvitaes. I also planted a holly hedge in the yard. I'm all enthusiastic and a great outdoor worker in May but when the heat arrives, I'm an indoor gal, let me tell you. I don't like HOT. That's why everything gets a heavy dose of mulch because even those nasty looking weeds are not enough to lure me out of doors.

We are also in the midst of planning some trips. Priscilla and Kezzi will be taking their first road trip to Missouri soon while we take our annual trip to the beach. Having them grow up is bittersweet. It's fun watching them take off and experience life but I miss them being with us all the time. However, sometimes it is nice to "only" have four kids with us and I look forward to time with them on vacation.

Church activities are going well. We still LOVE our church and we all think we have the best pastor in the world. Some regular events are over for the summer, and that is a bit of a welcome break, especially since gas prices are so high. We've also been having a lot of fun with new friends who have a home church and often we go to eat together and hang out after our church is over. What a fun bunch of people! I love sitting around the table listening (and participating too) to one topic after another be served up and devoured with such lively discussion. Everything from the FLDS situation in Texas to growing apples to the Civil War. It's been a little bit of a different experience to be around a bunch of Yankee homeschoolers here in Tennessee who are every bit as passionate about the Civil War as many southerners I know, but from the northern perspective. I know it's not everyone's idea of a good time, but spirited debate is how I spell F-U-N!

I've finished the first week in my Precepts Ministries Hebrews study and I'm LOVING it! I look forward to it every day. I'm hoping to finish it this summer and start on the Covenant study this fall.

For some reason I've really been feeling the tragedy of the accident that killed Steven Curtis Chapmans little girl. Not only are they fellow Tennesseans, but he has always been a favorite of Kezzi's. I just can't help having them on my mind. I've been praying for them quite a bit. Especially their son who was driving the SUV when he hit her. Maybe it's affecting me this way because of losing my 4yo nephew in a car accident almost twelve years ago. I remember the grief all too well and the questioning of spiritual issues that comes along with it.

This weekend, we had a nice visit from Candace and Michael. They worked a lot at Ford's shop on a sign for their church but managed to squeeze in three trips to the Bluffs with all of the kids except Annalise. Once again we didn't fit in getting a picture of all of the kids together. Maybe next time. We also had our good friend Tristin for the weekend and that's always a treat.

Tomorrow is the beginning of our last week of school. After some lessons we'll do a good housecleaning and then head over for a BBQ over at Grandma and Grandpas in the evening. Yeah Summer!

Our Summer Routine

2008-05-24T13:04:00.001-05:00

After this next week, we will be gliding into the summer routine. The best part is being able to sleep in when we want to! We always hold to some kind of routine because the kids seem to appreciate their free time when they don't have too much of it. And I don't like to spend the beginning of the new school year reviewing too much. I do drop all of this for a trip to the lake or something else that might come up.

My plan for our summer schedule is this:

Morning Quiet time - individual Bible reading and prayer

Kezzi, Hope and I are each doing the Precepts Ministries Heberews study. I bought Luke a copy of The One Year Book of Josh McDowell's Youth Devotions: A Daily Adventure in Making the Right Choices. I'm anxious to see how he'll like it. Abel and Annalise are still working through their Bible story readers with the Rod & Staff readers, although Abel did buy a new Bible at church today and I'm sure he'll want to read directly from that too.

Morning Worship & Family Read Aloud

I am hoping to have Kezzi and Hope learn enough worship songs on the piano and guitar to lead us in some singing and I'm going to print songbooks so we can all sing along. For our Read Aloud time, I have a list of books that I want to read to the kids this summer. We are working on Swiss Family Robinson right now. Here's some others I hope to get to:

Tree of Freedom

Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold

Rip Van Winkle

Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Robinson Crusoe

2 books left in the Narnia series...The Silver Chair and The Last Battle

finish the Ralph Moody series

The Railway Children

The Secret Garden

Table Time -

Hope still has math and science to do every day until she finishes her books.

Luke and Abel are going to practice typing and do a short drawing exercise. And Luke has to finish up some pages in his math workbook.

FREE TIME and/or WORK

Many days will be filled with free time here but we will have gardening and canning to keep up with, along with occasional yard work and housecleaning.

After Lunch - Personal Reading of choice

This will be short rest when each person can read whatever they choose.

More FREE TIME before dinner.

One day a week the boys will have more school type stuff . They requested that we do this all in one day so the rest of the days were more free.

Dictation & Spelling rules, Math review (Life of Fred books) and Botany will be the once a week subjects. We will probably also include occasional other nature study besides our botany course.

Annalise's Latest Obsession

2008-05-14T12:41:00.002-05:00

This little volume of poetry is what Annalise has been reading and listening to most every spare minute. It has a CD that comes with it that contains some of the poems in this book. She adores this book. She is the kind of child that would definitely do great with the "unschooling" method of education. All I have to do is give her access to good materials and she's off learning all on her own. She frequently tracks me down to tell me about something she's read (Mom, did you know Andrew Johnson didn't learn to read until he was 14?!), read something to me or in this case recite parts of poems that she likes. As I was writing this she brought me the book and read a poem to me and told me she was going to copy it.

I think she is unschooling me.

Update on Lily

2008-05-08T13:42:00.006-05:00

5-14-08 - Swing on over to Lily's family blog and see some pictures along with my sister's thanks for all who prayed and helped. We had a great time in Gatlinburg this last weekend and Lily only had 1 short seizure the whole weekend! It was wonderful to see her enjoy hiking and swimming in the resort's pool.

***The Latest on 5-8-08 9pm. ~ Lily is on her way home! Apparently she hasn't had a seizure since 11:30 today, so they are sending her home.

I emailed friends and family yesterday to ask for prayer as we took my niece, Lily, to the Children's Hospital. As many of you already know, Lily has a seizure disorder, which is mostly kept under control with medication. Some of you may remember when we told you about Lily's website, put together by a generous friend.

There have been times in her life, such as two years ago, when the seizures are too numerous to deal with at home. This happened again yesterday. After a viral illness that we all had, Lily had an increase in seizures. Finally it got to the point where she needed some extra medication and oversight at the hospital.

So my mother and I accompanied my sister and Lily to the hospital yesterday. We arrived around 1:30pm. The funny thing was that Lily was in rare form on the way up there. She was constantly cracking jokes and obviously very alert and attentive to many details. One nice thing about her getting older is that she can call for help when she needs it. When we were loading up the car, she began having one and said, "Uh Oh, Aunt Lisa!" So I was able to get to her and hold her, preventing her from falling over. The down side is she shows more fear and frustration with her condition than she used to and she asks more questions about it now.

We sat in the emergency room for hours when Lori told us they were about to take them to a room so we should go on home. She wanted to snuggle in with Lily and get some sleep. We left at 6pm, expecting they were going to be taken up any minute. They were finally in a regular room and had an IV with the needed medication started at 9pm! Of course, you have to allow room for other urgent emergencies when you go to the hospital but almost eight hours seems a bit much.

The good news is that the seizures are decreasing and they had a pretty good night's sleep and they've been napping a lot today. Lori said the medication is making Lily groggy and a little unstable on her feet, but it is doing the intended work of getting the seizures under control. We don't know yet when they will be coming back home. Possibly tonight or tomorrow. I think the plan is to send her home with the extra medication and she will be kept on that for the next month.

I will update here in order to cut down on separate emails. Thanks for everyone's prayers and other help! To those of you who have called or emailed offers of help, I will let you know if a need arises. And I won't be shy because I'm not asking for myself.

Girls and Women Together

2008-05-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

I wrote about our ladies small group's decision to start including our daughters here in this post. There were only three of us there that night when we discussed this issue. Due to a lot of different interruptions we had not met a lot since then. Last night was our first meeting in a few weeks, and boy was I surprised to count NINETEEN women/girls there! There were ten women and nine girls (mostly middle school aged).

And better yet was the fact that several of the girls talked quite a bit and quite openly!!! They shared about school experiences and asked questions about what they should do. My heart leaped for joy at the thought of building these relationships now that very well might help them through even rougher years ahead in high school and beyond. Many of us older women marveled as they filed out to go jump on the trampoline after the meeting. Some remarked that they would have never talked so freely at that age in a group of adults.

I'm really thankful that this has not been labeled a mother/daughter group because I SO treasure the women there who do not have daugthers to bring. We were trying to take down the barriers, not create others. And I'm so thankful for the variety of women there.

Can I do a little victory dance here?? I can't wait to see the fruit of this in the time to come!

What's Ripe at Shadybrook Acres?

2008-05-05T10:45:00.007-05:00

This is the first time we have grown salad greens that are not bitter. Every day we are enjoying fabulous salads. I've ordered lots of different kind of lettuce seeds and we are going to experiment with a row cover to try and keep us in fresh greens all summer. Our first head of broccoli this season! And our first batch of strawberries.

We continue to have a bounty of eggs.

Ripe eggs turn into chicks! Well, ok, maybe ripe is not the right word but I had to include our 7 new chicks. It was great fun when Luke came in the first morning with a new chick. Then soon after, 0n another morning, he was bringing a new one in every 20 minutes or so. Luke had them outside for a "walk" today when I took this picture. We've been raising them in a box in the school room but soon they will be placed in their new outdoor pen.

Prayers Needed for TN Homeschoolers

2008-05-03T18:03:00.003-05:00

The following resolution was sent out by one of our local homeschooling leaders. The situation here in Tennesse is very concerning. If they succeed in making the diplomas of our highschool students invalid, it will be a huge slide backward for freedom in Tennessee.

Whenever we face possible changes in the law that would make what we do illegal, I face the following choices: go to jail OR move to another state. Because complying with their wishes is just not an option. I am constantly reminded of those who have gone before us who were willing to sacrifice in order to fight for freedom. If we compromise when we shouldn't, we dishonor their lives.

In this case, I guess my kids would just have to find a way to do without a diploma. Or I suppose they could take a GED test.

I will be praying but I will not be afraid. I still believe God is God. I'm very thankful that he has placed our representative, who is a dedicated homeschooling father, in the state government at just the right time. I believe God has been preparing a people to be in the right place at the right time. And I'm sure this is just the beginning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Written in the form of a resolution:

This is a call to prayer and fasting with regard to our efforts to pass HB 1652 and bring relief from the invalidation of Cat. IV diplomas.

Please pass it along as God leads.

Humble yourselves beforeThe Lord God Almighty
With prayer and fasting

WHEREAS, departments of Tennessee's government have voided diplomas awarded by legally operated Category IV high schools, and

WHEREAS, all remedies to this miscarriage of justice have been fully pursued with meetings held and reasonable resolution sought, but without effect, leaving changing the laws of the State of Tennesseeas the only remedy, and

WHEREAS, Representative Mike Bell has been given HB1652 which is perfectly suitable for correcting this injustice, and

WHEREAS, young Tennesseans with Category IV high school diplomas continue to step forward describing the loss of career, loss of profession, and being fired from their jobs, even though some of them have been awarded degrees from post high school educational institutions and even though their high school diplomas have been acceptable for serving in the United States Navy, the United States Marines and attending post high school educational institutions, and

WHEREAS, the Tennessee Department of Education has described Category IV high school diplomas as "Not worth the paper they are written on", and

WHEREAS, God has mercifully granted to us, even at this late hour in the 105th General Assembly, the opportunity to correct this injustice, and

WHEREAS, students, parents, grandparents, and friends who have been affected by this new policy of the Department of Education plan to contact their State Representative and ask them to support and to co sponsor the bill; they plan to come to Nashville on May 5, 2008 at 3:00 pm before the House of Representatives convenes to talk with their Representative, and

WHEREAS, the State Comptroller'sOffice issued a report analyzing "diploma mills"in Tennessee and found none existing, yet the Department of Education cites thefact that this report was prepared as if it had found diploma mills in the Category IV schools, and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education has determined to use this situation as a vehicle to take over the teacher requirements of the Category IV Church related schools and to increase the requirements for those parents who home school, and

WHEREAS, there is a God, who rules heaven and earth, and this all wise God has delegated to parents, particularly fathers, the responsibility to teach, to train, to prepare their children, and

WHEREAS, throughout recorded history civil governments have historically worked to terminate parents rights in the education of their children, and

WHEREAS, this Constitutional Republic was formed particularly for the purpose of promoting freedom of religion, so that the people so governed would be free in both their conscience and in their persons to enjoy a direct, intimate relationship with the Creator of all that is, the Lord Jesus Christ and to learn freely at His feet and from His Word,

THEREFORE, you are called this day to prepare yourselves to pray and to fast with gentle weeping and calling out in humility to our merciful God on Monday May 5, 2008 asking that our All Powerful God extend our freedom to educate our children away from the corrupting influence of those perverse, usurping men and women wishing to train our children to be dependent on the civil government rather than on God and implore your state representative that he or she work to insure that these Category IV high school diplomas be recognized by all Tennessee Departments as they are by the US Department of Defense and by colleges and universities all across our state and nation .

FLDS events in Texas

2008-04-21T09:12:00.003-05:00

The Common Room has loads of information on the FLDS situation in Texas.

What a Fun Weekend!

2008-04-20T22:18:00.002-05:00

We are rolling in here at 11pm on Sunday night feeling like we have gorged ourselves on great fellowship all weekend.

Saturday night was our Passover celebration. We had a small gathering here with extended family and our dear friend, Tristan. Priscilla did the honors of reading the Passover story and added in extra research on the timetable of Jesus' crucifixion. I didn't even mind doing the boatload of dishes because Tristan made it enjoyable by playing her guitar and singing for us and the Lord while I was working. There is something very encouraging about being around people that have a love for the Lord that you can really see and feel. Everyone is going to have their issues that they are working through in an attempt to allow God to transform them. It's not about being perfect, it's about being sold out for God!

Speaking of encouraging...today after church we stopped by the home of some new friends of ours. They have a home church that meets each week. We went to our own church and then picked up pizza and headed over to their house. We got there about 1pm and didn't get home until 11 tonight. We all had a blast. The adults sat around discussing everything from current events to finding a spouse. The kids had a great time being whisked away to another house nearby to shoot guns and then back again for volleyball and frisbee. Their highest compliment is to say they feel like they are in Missouri. At around 8pm one of the ladies suggested the six of us parents who were still there all escape to Ruby Tuesdays for dinner. So we left a billion kids and young adults and went out on a spontaneous date where we laughed and talked and had a great time. We arrived home very tired but very happy.

This has charged our batteries for a busy week ahead, especially for the females in the family. This week will include a mom's homeschool meeting (while the girls go swing dancing), a MOPS moms night out (which the girls are invited to also), and a women's retreat on the weekend! Whew!

Sometimes it all seems like a lot, especially with all of the traveling back and forth. But when I take one day at a time, it's as my sister always says, "There is enough time in each day to do God's will." When there is so many people to love, it's not tiring.

A sweet friend sent me this verse in an e-card recently:

"He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. " Proverbs 11:25 - And that is the truth!

The Question All Homeschoolers Get Sick Of Answering

2008-04-13T15:33:00.002-05:00

What about socialization? My good friend at Beck's Bounty has a great post on the answer to that question.

Our Small Group Sleepover

2008-04-10T10:23:00.004-05:00

Last Friday night we had all of the ladies and girls from our Bible study group over to spend the night. We had a great time eating, talking, watching Tim Hawkins, playing Apples to Apples and Spinergy. The only bummer was the rain since it cancelled our bonfire and smores plans. The younger girls had fun braiding hair and staying up late talking. And we ended up getting to keep one of the girls for another night, which was a nice treat.

I had a longer night than most because I had Candace, who was home for the weekend, in my bed with me and we lay there talking until 5:30 in the morning! I knew it would be hard on my body to loose that much sleep but I counted it worth it because how often do I get a chance like that with my oldest gal.

Nature Up Close

2008-04-10T10:11:00.003-05:00

Right next to where I sit at the computer is a little bird feeder attached to the outside of the window with suction cups. Because it's too high off the ground to refill easily, it has been neglected and has not been in use.It seems Mrs. Wasp thought that made it the most suitable place for her new home. So I have an up close view of her construction work. I will get to enjoy the progress throughout the season.

I think I can actually enjoy studying wasps when there is glass between us.

Math with Fred

2008-04-10T10:04:00.002-05:00

This is Fred. He is making math much more fun here at Shadybrook Acres.

You can check out the Life of Fred math books here and learn fractions through calculus. I actually look forward to math every day.

Rachel and Colin

2008-04-01T17:51:00.003-05:00

We traveled to Missouri to see our beautiful friend, Rachel, get married. It was a cold, windy day but the wedding site was beautiful and it was worth it all! We were honored to be a part of the ceremony and to witness their first kiss. We pray for many wonderful years of blessing for Rachel and Colin and we are thankful for their faithfulness to the Lord and each other!

Exciting New Movie

2008-03-27T17:55:00.004-05:00

Granny just posted about a new movie coming out that I'm SO excited about. A movie that challenges the sacred cow of Darwinism in the 'scientific' community. And it exposes what is happening to those who dare to question.

You know the old adage, those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it? Well, this is nothing new, folks. In The History of Medicine book that the boys and I are reading, you can see this happening in the earliest times of medical history. Galen wrote medical books with very little study of the human body because dissecting the human body was not allowed in his time. Later his book was used for many years and considered the authority. Even when viewing the insides of the human body contradicted it, teachers would refuse to acknowledge the errors. Evidence against their previously held belief was not enough to cause them to question the man they had set up as the "authority".

"If the corpse and the book don't agree, then the error is in the corpse! No one would dream of doubting Galen."

Then a man came along with the courage to change that.

...the grip of Galen's dead hand upon medicine will begin to weaken. It won't happen without a fight!"

A man named Vesalius fought that fight and he realized the trap they had all fallen into.

"They had repeated Galen for so long it had blinded them to the true facts."

Sound like Darwinism to me. I think Darwin's dead hand on science is beginning to weaken...but it's not going to happen without a fight. And this film is a part of that fight!

We Started A New Study Today

2008-03-26T22:34:00.002-05:00

Even though this is written for elementary kids, I can see I'm going to learn a lot too!

Today we started with an excerise that taught about taxonomy by classifying shoes. When the directions said to get one shoe from every pair in the house, we knew we were in for a massive pile! It was a lot of fun and it did a great job at demonstating classification.

I'm really looking forward to this and plan to journal right along with the kids!

The Rewards of Exploring

2008-03-25T17:59:00.003-05:00

I found these down by the creek this afternoon. I was so excited! My best guess is raccoon, but I'm brand new at this. At first I thought oppossum, but when I came home I checked and the oppossum has fingers more spread and a very unique back track that I did not see down there. I also saw evidence of a clam feast. If anyone else has a different idea, feel free to comment.

I also found a track down by the spring that looked just like a cat print but it was 2" wide (not pictured here). I think it's either it's a bobcat track or a dog track without the claw marks.

Nature Study Tips

2008-03-24T09:57:00.004-05:00

"We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things. "
~Charlotte Mason in Home Education

Heart of Harmony blog has a great post with links to nature coloring books or line drawings to help with illustrating your nature journals.

This morning I have read about two thirds of Kamana's The Young Naturalist and it looks like a great place to start with younger kids. Kamana sells it for under $26.00 here. So far there is only one episode of the characters sending "our thoughts out to the forest" in order to call out a character who will come and teach them some things. I will say again that I think it's easy enough to edit out these kinds of things if they are offensive to you and still get a lot of use out of the materials.

Here's a list of tips inspired by our work in the Kamana program:

1. Get to know one place, even if it's only your yard or even just a tree in your yard. Pick a place that is convenient so you will visit it often, preferably daily. Practice using your senses to learn about what is around you.

2. Take it slowly and get to know one thing at a time, one plant, one bird, tree, mammal, etc. from your area. Use the range maps in the field guides to find local species. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all there is out there. If you just take a baby step at a time, you will be amazed at how much you will learn over the years.

3. Use your journal to record what you've learned or even questions you have. Don't stress about the artwork but instead focus on recording details that will help you remember and be able to identify the object in the future. Don't even spend a lot of time on your journal entries. Kamana suggests aiming for 20-30 minutes each. You are not aiming for a beautiful work of art.
4. Use field guides to sketch from. Practice the Charlotte Mason method of picture study with the pictures of the object you are journaling about. Simply look at the picture until you can see it in your minds eye, then close the book and sketch it quickly in your journal. If you need to, repeat the process until you feel you have included the major components of the illustration.

5. Also use the field guides to gather information. Again, use the Charlotte Mason method of narration. Read the information and then write from memory. Repeat as often as you need to until all important elements are included such as field marks, habitat, habits, etc. Kamana Two suggests taking notes in this manner on a scrap piece of paper and then writing your journal entry from your scrap paper.

6. Read inspirational nature literature - fiction and non-fiction. We are currently reading Freckles by Gene Stratton Porter.

7. For you homeschoolers, take a day a week to focus on nature study. It covers science, art, writing and reading. Even if that is all you did that day, it would be a day well spent. Start when your kids are young. They will be much better prepared for high school biology when they have a first-hand knowledge of many of the flora and fauna that they will study later, not to mention that learning to care about the earth will help them become better stewards of it.

As I have said before, I have been amazed at how well the Kamana program melds with the philosophy laid down in Charlotte Mason's writings. And here's another quote to prove it:

"In Science, or rather, nature study, we attach great importance to recognition, believing that the power to recognize and name a plant or stone or constellations involves classification and includes a good deal of knowledge. To know a plant by its gesture and habitat, its time and its way of flowering and fruiting; a bird by its flight and song and its times of coming and going; to know when, year after year, you many come upon the restart and the pied fly-catcher, means a good deal of interested observations, ad of, at any rate, the material for science."
~from School Education

Candace and Michael

2008-03-23T22:08:00.002-05:00

My beautiful girl and her talented husband. Too bad I'm not allowed to link to one of his songs that they sent to us. Maybe someday.

**You can click on the picture to enlarge.

A Busy Two Weeks

2008-03-22T22:06:00.003-05:00

It's hard to believe it's been 2 weeks since I last posted. A lot of activity has taken place in two weeks. We've had the MOPS meeting, dinner guests, a daughter admitted to the ER, my monthly library meeting, lunch guests, an overnight camping trip for the boys and Ford, out-of-town family come to visit, Hope's first voice lesson, a birthday party to attend, the cold crops put in the garden plus all of the other parts of life that are just normal routine! Whew! And I thought spring break was actually going to be a slow time. I'm not complaining though because with the exception of the ER visit, it's been a lot of fun. Although, there were several things we had to cancel like other dinner guests that we were really looking forward to having, a picnic at a park with some local homeschooled teens and their families and we had to turn down another dinner invitation with some people we have been really hoping to get to know better. It's a bummer when there is just not enough days in the week.

The MOPS meeting was great. Spending time with those ladies took me back in time and reminded me how much disciplining children was the most important thing back then. As I remembered taking 5 kids, 6 and under, to the grocery store, I recalled how important order and control was. I am currently re-reading some of the child training books that I read when I was a younger mom to see if I could recommend them again.

Priscilla gave us a little scare. She went to visit our doctor in order to look into why she was so tired. He sent her over to the lab at the hospital to get some blood work done. She passed out and the ladies who were with her apparently thought she had a seizure because that is the news we got. Turns out she did not have a seizure and all of the blood work came back fine. What worried me is she was absolutely wiped out. Even the next morning she could barely sit up to eat and hardly had the strength to cut her toast, which was quite a difference from before her "episode". She called the doctor again and he said he was fairly certain she had mono, even though the test was negative so far. So, she has had to lay off working and she spends a lot of time sleeping. Now we are wondering if that is what Grandma had recently when she had some of the same symptoms that lasted for 5 1/2 weeks. Pris is hoping with a doctor's note to get a leave of absence at work so she will still have her job when she is well.

I'm really getting addicted to time spent outdoors in the woods and fields. Even in the midst of all of this activity, I have still found some time to be outdoors. I dragged my poor cousin all over the place and she is used to flat land, not all of these crazy Tennessee hills! The thing that is intriguing me the most is the many sorts of holes I find all over the place. I keep wondering what made them all. I'm still pathetically unobservant though. Today, I was taking Abel to show him a cool animal den, walking along the route I had been on many times, and he showed me one I had never seen even though it had been right under my nose the whole time. The idea of animals surviving without any help from man has always fascinated me. Another current mystey that we are trying to solve is finding out which bird has a certain song, Annalise says it sounds like "tin-ker toy, tin-ker toy". The next time I hear it, I'm just going to have to drop everything and go stalking.

One more thing I just have to tell about is my weekly women's meeting. We recently decided to allow our daughters to be a part of the small group. We just got talking one night about our concerns with the whole youth culture and one thing led to another and before you knew it we were talking about having the girls meet with us each week so we could study the Bible and fellowship all together, without any segregational walls. And believe it or not, I was not the one who suggested it. Ok, I know you don't believe it, but it is true nevertheless. We've only had one meeting since then, but we had a great time. The girls all enjoyed it too. The great thing was that my girls enjoyed the mother of the woman who hosts the Bible study as much as the other young girls. I'm so excited about this weekly meeting and other fun things we are planning to do together.

A New Place to Serve

2008-03-09T21:07:00.005-05:00

A new opportunity has come my way that I am so excited about. The MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) ministry which meets at our church is in need of a mentor. Last week I saw the request for a mom with older kids to be a mentor for this group and my heart leaped. I can't think of anything I would love more than a chance to encourage young moms who are in a culture that is at war with family values.

I came home and emailed the leader who had put the request out, told her a little about me and gave her a list of other women in the church she could talk to about me. We emailed back and forth and today I went to look for her after church. I had just turned and asked someone if they knew who she was so they could possibly point her out to me and she had just walked up and said she was who I was looking for. We talked for a bit and I'm going to their meeting this week to start finding out what I can do to help. So far I know they need someone to be there, to listen, to give godly advice, to sometimes speak and lead devotions. I can't wait!

This Should Concern Everyone

2008-03-07T09:27:00.005-05:00

Dr. James Dobson addresses the situation in California today on his broadcast. This should concern parents all over the country no matter how your children are being educated because it's about basic freedom.

"A California state appellate court ruled last week that it is illegal for parents in the Golden State to home school their children without the appropriate state teaching credentials. If this ruling stands, home-schooling parents could, in effect, become guilty of a criminal offense. Tune in today to find out how you can oppose this chilling decision, which Dr. Dobson calls "an unprecedented assault" on parental rights - one that could have nationwide consequences. Joining Dr. Dobson are public policy expert Carrie Gordon Earll, Michael Farris of the Home School Legal Defense Association and Roy Hanson of Family Protection Ministries. You'll also hear from a California home-schooling mom whose right to make educational decisions for her children is now under attack."

"At the heart of this case is a distrust of parents."- Michael Farris

We've also had a recent attempt at interfering with homeschooling and private schooling here in Tennessee and it's not over yet. My friend at Becks Bounty posted about it on her blog. The current proposal would require all students to be taught from the public school curriculum. I could never consent to what I believe is not only academically inferior, but against God and Truth. The state legislators received over 4,000 phone calls protesting what was going on. And they haven't seen anything yet. For many of us, this issue is worth fighting for. Wars have been fought over less.

If you go to Homeschool Legal Defense Association's site, you can read about the situation in California and other attacks on our freedom.

**Update: Here's another link to a blog that links to lots of information about the record of homeschoolers.

***Update #2: The Common Room links to a great explanation of why turn about is NOT fair play...

It's all about control, folks. The basic question should be "To whom do the children belong?" Is the answer the state or the parents?

Historically men and women have suffered and died in the fight for freedom. If we gave in to tryanny now, it would be shameful to put it mildly. In the famous words of Patrick Henry - "Give me liberty or give me death!' If you are not familiar with the rest of that speech, it's worth your time to read it. Look into how the founding fathers felt about what they were fighting for. Think about what they were willing to do in that fight. Imagine. They didn't know how things would turn out. It's easy to read history from the hindsight view. Knowing the end of the story makes it seem less scary. But they didn't know they would be victorious. Imagine it from that perspective.

Now, if your history education came from dry, boring textbooks, it may be difficult for you to IMAGINE these people and events as real people. I'm sure that was the goal, and it has been successful in creating a apathetic and brainwashed people. That's one reason I will never give in. The lessons of the past are too important to loose. They must be kept alive somehow. Someone must remember the truth.

Saturday's Hiking Pictures

2008-03-06T13:09:00.018-05:00

Saturday we went to the Occoee Whitewater Center to explore the hiking trails. For once, I remembered to not only take the camera, but to actually use it. So, here's our photo journey.

Getting caffeinated for the hike...The bridge that leads to the trails.

Annalise found a hollowed out tree.

The views were actually nicer because the leaves were still off the trees so we could see the hills in the distance.

The kids all ran ahead to surprise us with this weird pose when we came around the bend. They were perfectly still and looked like they were posing for a CD cover.

Then we came upon them in this pose - a fake campfire scene. They were all acting like they were roasting marshmellows over an imaginary fire.

A moments rest on a bench overlooking the river.

Heading back over the bridge.

Playing down at the river after the hike.

Kamana Page

2008-03-06T13:05:00.001-05:00

Luke finally allowed me to post something of his on the blog. This is his page from the Kamana study we are doing. Geesh. This blog is starting to look like a Nature Study blog.

Art Time with Pastels

2008-02-29T13:29:00.008-05:00

Priscilla had some rare free time today to draw with the kids. Even Kezzi got in on the action. The three younger kids had never used pastels before. The boys' attention span is short at the end of the school day but I figure a little time is better than none. Luke never gives me permission to post anything of his, but here is some work from the other kids.

This one is by Kezzi. She always amazes me when I watch her at work. She is very quick, confident and bold with her strokes.

Annalise did this picture of flowers and then had me help her find the section in a poetry book about flowers. She voluntarily copied this stanza of the poem. Pris copied the last two lines for her.

Pris did this rendition of Mary Poppins, inspired by the fact that it is the book she is currently reading aloud to Annalise.

It's interesting that the boys always hurry through art time and dash outside as soon as possible. We did wrangle Abel down long enough to get this picture out of him.

Kamana Studies

2008-02-28T16:27:00.003-05:00

I'm still really enjoying our Kamana nature studies. I'm still really impressed over how helpful it is for someone like me who is does not notice detail naturally. Today we talked about frogs and chose one from our area to record information about using the Reader's Digest North American Field Guide. The way it walked me through the process caused me to notice a lot of details about frogs that I had never noticed before. Then it had us choose other species in our area that look similar and note the differences. It also suggested listening to a recording of frog calls. Fortunately, we had bought a frog card for our Birdsong Identiflyer last fall and we were able to listen to the calls of the species we had chosen. Here is my page from the day's work (you can click on it to enlarge): We've done nature studies for at least fifteen years now but this course has given them more depth and direction. I've always wanted to dig deeper but wasn't sure how. We only have a couple of sections to go in Kamana One. Kamana Two has already been ordered and I am really looking forward to using it over the next year. I'm hoping to be able to continue on through all four levels.

**A little addition: This afternoon Luke took our birdcall gadget outside, patiently sat still with it and kept pressing the sparrow call. He said 5 or 6 sparrows came close to him. How cool is that? I love nature study!

What I Came Home To

2008-02-28T16:09:00.002-05:00

Right before we left on our trip to Missouri, my oven died. When I came home, Ford had already bought and installed a new stove as a surprise. The boys helped him and they even cleaned under and behind it before they put it in. In addition they cleaned the house (even mopped the floor) and had candles burning. Wasn't that sweet?

I had mentioned how nice a smooth top range would be because I could actually keep it clean but I was a little worried about being able to can on it this summer. The sales clerk reassured him it could handle the canner. We'll see, because I plan to give it quite a work out this year.

Searching For Sandhill Cranes

2008-02-25T16:40:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday after breakfast, our read aloud time and math, I announced that everyone needed to pack their nature journals and supplies and that we were leaving by 10:30. We loaded everyone up and headed out in search of sandhill cranes. I knew they came through every year but I had forgotten until I saw a couple of flocks heading toward the wildlife refuge in a nearby town.

We arrived at the refuge pictured above and to our disappointment we only saw Canada geese. As we took turns with the binoculars and munched on some snacks, we saw a few small groups of cranes fly over and continue out of sight. Just when we were about to give up and pack it up, a small group came in and we were able to watch them land. Then a couple of wildlife resource agents came up. After giving us a bunch of literature, they told us of a nearby town where there were lots more cranes. So we packed up and headed out.

We were greatly rewarded with the next location. There were many large flocks of sandhill cranes and we even saw an endangered whooping crane among them. We made a bit of a menace of ourselves stopping in the middle of the highway and peering through our binoculars even though we tried to keep one child looking out for traffic headed our way.

It was too cold to draw in our nature journals outside, so we came home and spent the rest of the afternoon drawing, writing and then I read aloud from our new book, The Animal Dialogues.

This is one thing I love about homeschooling - the freedom to take advantage of learning opportunities at the spur of the moment. As much as I love books, I also love going and seeing and learning from real things.

Our Surprise Visit

2008-02-25T08:39:00.004-05:00

Yesterday the girls and I got back from visiting our friends in Missouri. Their oldest daughter, Rachel, who is just a little older than Candace, was having a bridal shower. Her maid-of-honor was giving the bridal shower and called us with the great idea of having us come as a surprise. It was not easy. I'm terrible at keeping secrets. I had to avoid calling my friend for weeks in fear of messing everything up. This was especially hard because she had recently had her second back surgery and I was being a lousy friend by not calling to check up on her. Worse, I didn't even mention the upcoming shower in a reply to an email but instead just alluded to the fact that we couldn't come by mentioning Kezzi and Priscilla's new jobs and how excited we were to see them at the wedding.

We arrived Friday evening and stayed with the family of the maid-of-honor. It was difficult to arrive in town and not go directly to our friends' house. We knew we were giving up a precious evening in order to fulfill the surprise. It ended up all being good. We had a wonderful time at our hosts' home. We sat around the big kitchen table, played games her mom and I did a little crocheting. We even had fun all cramming in the bathroom getting ready for the shower. It was really nice having one-on-one time with another family when we usually just see them at group events. Their 17yo son even got up early and made homemade pancakes for us all!

Next we slunk around town trying to avoid running into our friends. We arrived at the home where the shower was being given just in time to get our vehicle hid in the garage. They arrived minutes after we did. We all ran to the couch and just sat there trying to look casual. One of their daughters came in and stood there in utter shock. We hushed her while we all gave her hugs and kept her captive in the room until the rest of them came in. It was worth it all to see the looks on their faces when they came in the room. There were tears and hugs and some of us were shaking with excitement.

It was a beautiful shower with lots of good food and great gifts. It was wonderful to see old friends and catch up with them.

We went home with our friends and had a nice, relaxing evening just hanging out. It was such a blessing to get to see Rachel and Collin together now that they were free to express their feelings for each other. Rachel had waited patiently for several years, trusting in the Lord and her parents' guidance. Collin had spent years visiting with her family and participating in activities together. They spent years practicing self-control and being extremetly careful in their behavoir towards each other. I have never seen any two people behave so honorably. He had also spent a long time in correspondence with Rachel's father about her before Rachel even knew about it. In fact she didn't know about it until after Collin had arrived at their house one evening to propose and then her parents presented her with a stack of printed emails that documented it all. That was the way Rachel had wanted things to go. Her parents knew how she felt about Collin so there was never any question about Rachel's wishes. She really didn't want to go through giving her heart too early or to the wrong person. They have truly honored God through this process and it will be exciting to see the blessings unfold in their marriage.

Driving home made me a little sad that we had moved away, even though I love it here in Tennessee. I always come home appreciating the group of kids there and feeling a little sad that we don't have a large group like that here. It's always so encouraging for my kids to get to spend some time there and know that they are not alone in the world. There they are not weird. It's perfectly normal in this group for young people to be pursuing a walk with the Lord and submitting to Him in all areas of life. There it is not anything extraordinary for a young man to approach a girl's father in order to pursue her for the purpose of marriage. It's not unusual for those kids to honor their parents and trust that their parents have their best interest at heart. And they find blessings abounding as a reward. I really want to thank them all for the wonderful light they are.

A Wounded Feathered Friend

2008-02-20T16:44:00.002-05:00

This week a little sparrow hit our picture window. We heard the smack and looked out to see him sprawled out on the heat pump. Abel rescued him and we brought him inside. He was placed inside a wire cage in hopes that he was just stunned and with a little time would recover. He did. Within the hour he was hopping around so we released him outdoors. He flew to a nearby tree and stayed there a long time. Eventually he was gone. We checked around the base of the tree to make sure he didn't keel over and die and he was not there. So we think we helped restore him to health. Otherwise, he probably would have been dinner for one of our cats.

Changes

2008-02-19T08:20:00.007-05:00

It seems we are on the verge of more changes. It's exciting and a bit sad at the same time. Priscilla and Kezzi have just been hired for waitressing jobs at local restaurants (only now they call the position - server). That means they will be gone from home a lot more. I'm very excited for them and love to hear the stories of things that happen.

Three of my friends and I went to Kezzi's workplace and had her serve us tonight. She looked so cute in her uniform. I'm so proud of her because even after only one week, she has already been recognized as a Christian and has had several opportunities to share her beliefs. I'm most thankful that being around so much worldliness has not tempted her so far, but has only helped to strengthen her resolve to hold her standards. Amazingly, so far she has only encountered encouragement from others about holding to those standards, even from those who live far beneath them. She is getting lots of experience with those who live very different lives. I'm proud that she does not have a holier-than-thou attitude but instead can be friendly and loving even admist different lifestyles. We will be continuing to pray that she will do well. She knows if it becomes too much for her, there are other options.

Priscilla just started yesterday. (She looks cute in her uniform too.) Her boss was amazing. Even though she is 19, her boss gave her his card and told her if her dad wanted to know what kind of boss she had he was welcome to call him. I was amazed that he had that much respect for her father's position in her life, a rare thing these days. And he told her that no profanity was allowed at his restaurant. Quite a different story than at the restaurant Kezzi is working at. Maybe if Kezzi ends up wanting to leave, Pris will be able to put a good word in for her where she is. So as I said, Pris just started. She's planning on working as much as possible over the next six months in order to earn enough money for college next fall. So far she has received about 2/3 of what she needs in scholarships. The last 1/3 is still pretty hefty but we are hoping that between us we can come up with it. She may be able to transfer to a different branch of this restaurant and continue working part-time while she goes to school so she can continue to have some income.

Candace and Michael came to visit last weekend. Michael called a couple of weeks ago with plans to surprise Candace by bringing her here Friday night. She thought they were surprising us but we knew all along. Right before they arrived, we turned off all of the lights and hid in the library. Uncle Kenny and Aunt Lori came over to hide too. She ran all through the house looking for someone and then finally took a peek into the newly built library when we all scared her half to death by yelling surprise. Michael brought all of his sound equipment and they set it up on the deck Saturday. The girls had a blast singing and playing music all day. I was worried about bothering the neighbors but I was outnumbered.

Candace is vowing to come once a month because she is getting too homesick for everyone. She woke up Saturday morning and was in the hallway talking to Annalise and Candace had big tears in her eyes while she noted the changes in Annalise. This brought me to tears. It's strange to be happy and sad at the same time. I'm happy that Candace has the life she has wanted and I'm thrilled that she loves and misses us so much. I'm sad that the kids will not have the same daily life together. But I do know they will make sure to continue to be close and share many special times together. I knew these changes were inevitable.

Every night the girls come home and we sit around and hear stories from the day. A little change from the bedtime stories we used to have but at least we still have that time together.