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Organizing the Large Family Homeschool
1 month ago
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
I've Forgetten Something?!?! What Is It, Then?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Our New Court Jester
My four year old son has been a laugh a minute recently, and I just had to share. Today, I walked into the bathroom after he finished his business and caught him putting a sanitary napkin into his underwear. He "wanted to be like Mommy." After explaining to him that he was a boy and that big boys don't wear pads, he said, "Oh well.", pulled his pants up, and went on his way--still wearing the pad. I prompted dh to have "a talk" with his son this evening after he got home, and now he's happy to be a big boy like Daddy and not wear pads.
Later this afternoon, we were sitting at the kitchen table and the baby was eating peanut butter and jelly, while the boy was having a mug of hot chocolate. He had come inside a few minutes earlier after working on the car outside with Daddy. He complained that he was "too cold and sick" and of course declared that hot chocolate would cure him. Happy to oblige, I made him a cup and warned him not to let the baby near it since she is allergic to it. He asked me, "Why can't Miney have chocolate?" I told him that it has milk in it and would make her sick. He reminded me that she eats chocolate cookies, and I responded that these were a very special type of chocolate cookie that doesn't have milk in it.
Suddenly he said, "I'm special. Miney can eat me. No. . . wait a minute." He had such a hilarious look on his face at this point, because it was like he truly hadn't thought the whole thing out real well, and suddenly, it dawned on him. Then he said, "She can't eat me. I'm disgusting. I have blood and guts." Isn't that just like a boy? Silly little man!
Later this afternoon, we were sitting at the kitchen table and the baby was eating peanut butter and jelly, while the boy was having a mug of hot chocolate. He had come inside a few minutes earlier after working on the car outside with Daddy. He complained that he was "too cold and sick" and of course declared that hot chocolate would cure him. Happy to oblige, I made him a cup and warned him not to let the baby near it since she is allergic to it. He asked me, "Why can't Miney have chocolate?" I told him that it has milk in it and would make her sick. He reminded me that she eats chocolate cookies, and I responded that these were a very special type of chocolate cookie that doesn't have milk in it.
Suddenly he said, "I'm special. Miney can eat me. No. . . wait a minute." He had such a hilarious look on his face at this point, because it was like he truly hadn't thought the whole thing out real well, and suddenly, it dawned on him. Then he said, "She can't eat me. I'm disgusting. I have blood and guts." Isn't that just like a boy? Silly little man!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Keeping the Sabbath Holy ("set apart")
When I was a small child, I learned the Fourth commandment "Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy." Growing up in a strong, Christian family, I went to church Sunday mornings, Sunday nights and Wednesday nights--and a few days in between for special activities. One of my earliest memories is waking up to old-time gospel music on Sunday mornings (played at top-volume by Daddy--lol). On Sunday afternoons, we would eat lunch, take naps and work on whatever projects and/or Bible verses we needed to complete for our Sunday evening classes.
Since having children, we have attended church pretty faithfully (although there have been seasons when it was difficult). I have been troubled recently by the fact that church did not seem to be a blessing, but rather a chore to my children. I was growing increasingly concerned that they would not wish to honor God as they grew older because Sundays were not joyful--but burdensome instead.
Recently I have begun to meditate on the concept of honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy. First, I would like to state that being holy is more than being good and righteous. As a child, I never realized this. I thought that keeping the Sabbath holy meant that we were to go to church and be especially good on Sundays. But, it means more than that. Holy means set apart for a special purpose. So, in other words, our Sabbath (which for us is celebrated on Sundays) should be set apart for the purpose of worship and praise to God for all of his blessings. It should be a time to remember the sacrifice of Christ on the cross at Calvary. Most of all, it should be different from the other six days of the week. It should be a day of joy and blessing.
Modern Christians have developed a pattern of thinking that tells us that if we attend church on Sunday, we've kept the Fourth commandment. This is sad, because in doing so we miss out on many of the blessing that the Lord intended for us to have through keeping this commandment. The Lord meant for Sunday to be a wonderful day of rest and reflection. This is good for anyone--no matter who you are. God did not mean for us to go at the fast and frenzied pace that our society seems to exist in currently--without ever taking a break.
I came across a website www.abondantliving.com that explains more about the Sabbath and gives several ideas for learning to celebrate the Sabbath in a more meaningful way. This weekend I introduced a new tradition in our family and the family loved it. It made the weekend much more pleasant for everyone and gave the children something to look forward to on Sunday. It helped direct our thoughts towards the Lord, rather than on our own pleasure and projects.
On Saturday morning, we began with a thorough house cleaning. By Sunday afternoon, Eenie and I began preparing our evening meal ("our Sabbath Feast") to begin after sundown on Saturday evening. We decided that it would be easier to have our Sabbath Feast on Saturday evening, because it is difficult to come home after a two to three hour church service and expect people to wait for an elaborate meal to be prepared. For our first Sabbath Feast, we ate teriyaki chicken, rice, green beans, grapes, and for dessert we had special cookie bouquet cookies (from Grammy & Grandpa) for the people who don't have food allergies and French Twirls for the people who do have food allergies.
We had the table decorated with a lace tablecloth, and a centerpiece made by Eenie, along with a candle representing Christ that we kept burning during the meal (or tried to--it kept going out-lol). We also used our best dishes that we usually save for special company. I explained to the children that I hoped this Sabbath Feast would be a tradition and that it would help prepare our hearts and minds for the worship and praise of our Lord and Savior on the next day. I began explaining to them about how the people in Biblical times would celebrate the Sabbath, and how I did not wish the Sabbath to become a burden for them (as it has been for many people over the centuries), but rather that we would set it apart joyfully in honor of the Lord. I told them that I wanted them to participate in this feast as if Christ were sitting there with us (which he is, of course) and the candle was a visible reminder of that.
I read Psalm 138 and a poem called Watering the Lilies (which talks about an earthen vessel used by the Master for watering the lilies). We discussed the blessings that we had received that week from the Lord and gave thanks for them. I also directed the children's thoughts to the next day when we would attend church. I explained to them that when we sing at church, we are thanking God for all of the wonderful gifts he has given us and the sacrifice of His Son. I also told them that we should always attend church with the expectation of receiving a word from the Lord, and we should listen attentively for that word so that we don't miss it. The children also had the opportunity to share their Bible memory work they were doing (for Eenie--the books of the Old Testament, for Meanie, the first five books of the Bible and for Miney--the first two books of the Bible).
After our Sabbath Feast, we cleaned up dinner and I used the leftover chicken to make up some chicken salad (chicken, grapes, celery, onion, relish, and homemade milkless, eggless mayo put together quickly when using my food processor and blender). We gave the children a bath and rolled Eenie's hair and made sure that the house was completely clean with the dishes all done before we went to bed. I also told the children that we were going to have "High Tea" after church tomorrow, so that gave them something to look forward to.
After attending church on Sunday, we came home and put together chicken salad sandwiches cut up into triangles. I washed some grapes and some baby carrots, and laid out some Ranch dressing and that completed the main portion of the "High Tea". We also served peach tea, which the children are not normally allowed to drink. While we were having tea (again using our best dishes and a nicely decorated table, along with our "Christ candle"), I put a Bisquick cobbler in the oven, and as soon as we were done eating, we enjoyed apple cobbler for dessert. Dessert is a rare treat in our home, so that definitely made the Sabbath set apart for my kids in a way they could definitely appreciate--lol!
Clean-up was quick and easy because the bulk of the stuff had been made the day before, so after lunch, we cleaned the kitchen and laid down for naps. Evening was spent reading, relaxing, while the children played "pretend" and enjoyed their toys and games. I can't begin to convey how much I was blessed by the joyful faces and participation of my family.
I am looking forward to making this a tradition, and hopefully, I can keep that commitment. The children have realized how much they enjoy it, so that will motivate them to help in preparations. The celebrations made the Sabbath much more special and less stressful for me, and hopefully point my children towards the Lord in a beautiful and meaningful way.
Since having children, we have attended church pretty faithfully (although there have been seasons when it was difficult). I have been troubled recently by the fact that church did not seem to be a blessing, but rather a chore to my children. I was growing increasingly concerned that they would not wish to honor God as they grew older because Sundays were not joyful--but burdensome instead.
Recently I have begun to meditate on the concept of honoring the Sabbath and keeping it holy. First, I would like to state that being holy is more than being good and righteous. As a child, I never realized this. I thought that keeping the Sabbath holy meant that we were to go to church and be especially good on Sundays. But, it means more than that. Holy means set apart for a special purpose. So, in other words, our Sabbath (which for us is celebrated on Sundays) should be set apart for the purpose of worship and praise to God for all of his blessings. It should be a time to remember the sacrifice of Christ on the cross at Calvary. Most of all, it should be different from the other six days of the week. It should be a day of joy and blessing.
Modern Christians have developed a pattern of thinking that tells us that if we attend church on Sunday, we've kept the Fourth commandment. This is sad, because in doing so we miss out on many of the blessing that the Lord intended for us to have through keeping this commandment. The Lord meant for Sunday to be a wonderful day of rest and reflection. This is good for anyone--no matter who you are. God did not mean for us to go at the fast and frenzied pace that our society seems to exist in currently--without ever taking a break.
I came across a website www.abondantliving.com that explains more about the Sabbath and gives several ideas for learning to celebrate the Sabbath in a more meaningful way. This weekend I introduced a new tradition in our family and the family loved it. It made the weekend much more pleasant for everyone and gave the children something to look forward to on Sunday. It helped direct our thoughts towards the Lord, rather than on our own pleasure and projects.
On Saturday morning, we began with a thorough house cleaning. By Sunday afternoon, Eenie and I began preparing our evening meal ("our Sabbath Feast") to begin after sundown on Saturday evening. We decided that it would be easier to have our Sabbath Feast on Saturday evening, because it is difficult to come home after a two to three hour church service and expect people to wait for an elaborate meal to be prepared. For our first Sabbath Feast, we ate teriyaki chicken, rice, green beans, grapes, and for dessert we had special cookie bouquet cookies (from Grammy & Grandpa) for the people who don't have food allergies and French Twirls for the people who do have food allergies.
We had the table decorated with a lace tablecloth, and a centerpiece made by Eenie, along with a candle representing Christ that we kept burning during the meal (or tried to--it kept going out-lol). We also used our best dishes that we usually save for special company. I explained to the children that I hoped this Sabbath Feast would be a tradition and that it would help prepare our hearts and minds for the worship and praise of our Lord and Savior on the next day. I began explaining to them about how the people in Biblical times would celebrate the Sabbath, and how I did not wish the Sabbath to become a burden for them (as it has been for many people over the centuries), but rather that we would set it apart joyfully in honor of the Lord. I told them that I wanted them to participate in this feast as if Christ were sitting there with us (which he is, of course) and the candle was a visible reminder of that.
I read Psalm 138 and a poem called Watering the Lilies (which talks about an earthen vessel used by the Master for watering the lilies). We discussed the blessings that we had received that week from the Lord and gave thanks for them. I also directed the children's thoughts to the next day when we would attend church. I explained to them that when we sing at church, we are thanking God for all of the wonderful gifts he has given us and the sacrifice of His Son. I also told them that we should always attend church with the expectation of receiving a word from the Lord, and we should listen attentively for that word so that we don't miss it. The children also had the opportunity to share their Bible memory work they were doing (for Eenie--the books of the Old Testament, for Meanie, the first five books of the Bible and for Miney--the first two books of the Bible).
After our Sabbath Feast, we cleaned up dinner and I used the leftover chicken to make up some chicken salad (chicken, grapes, celery, onion, relish, and homemade milkless, eggless mayo put together quickly when using my food processor and blender). We gave the children a bath and rolled Eenie's hair and made sure that the house was completely clean with the dishes all done before we went to bed. I also told the children that we were going to have "High Tea" after church tomorrow, so that gave them something to look forward to.
After attending church on Sunday, we came home and put together chicken salad sandwiches cut up into triangles. I washed some grapes and some baby carrots, and laid out some Ranch dressing and that completed the main portion of the "High Tea". We also served peach tea, which the children are not normally allowed to drink. While we were having tea (again using our best dishes and a nicely decorated table, along with our "Christ candle"), I put a Bisquick cobbler in the oven, and as soon as we were done eating, we enjoyed apple cobbler for dessert. Dessert is a rare treat in our home, so that definitely made the Sabbath set apart for my kids in a way they could definitely appreciate--lol!
Clean-up was quick and easy because the bulk of the stuff had been made the day before, so after lunch, we cleaned the kitchen and laid down for naps. Evening was spent reading, relaxing, while the children played "pretend" and enjoyed their toys and games. I can't begin to convey how much I was blessed by the joyful faces and participation of my family.
I am looking forward to making this a tradition, and hopefully, I can keep that commitment. The children have realized how much they enjoy it, so that will motivate them to help in preparations. The celebrations made the Sabbath much more special and less stressful for me, and hopefully point my children towards the Lord in a beautiful and meaningful way.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Tax Time Again
Yeah! It's tax time again. Sounds a little strange, doesn't it? But, for a former financial advisor, it gives me just a small taste of the world I lost after I quit my job to stay home with my kids. Not that I regret that decision. Well, to be honest, there might be small selfish moments when I regret it. But, the peace that this choice has brought my soul has more than outweighed any of the negatives.
Last night, I spent several hours working on our taxes. I almost have them completed, and once we receive our refund, we'll be able to pay off some outstanding medical bills, and hopefully, repair a few things around our home. We will also use the money to finance the kids schoolbooks and materials for the year. If we're really lucky, we'll get to take a family vacation to Yellowstone this summer. I hope so anyway. That's what we are working towards right now. We would also like to build a storage shed in our backyard and a school room in the garage.
Right now, we homeschool all over the house, and. . . well. . . it shows. Our house definitely looks lived in, and schooled in, as well. This is just one of the sacrifices we decided to make when we began homeschooling. Our small, neat, uncluttered home has now become cluttered with books, art projects and science experiments. That's OK. It is a season, and a season that (while I can personally be stressed to the max by all of the clutter being a firstborn neat-freak type of gal) I'm sure I will miss someday.
We also hope to start an emergency fund this year, so that life's little emergencies don't stress us out quite as badly. Our oldest child will be finishing vision therapy by the first part of April, and after that, we will have some funds to begin putting back into a savings account for rainy days. Our personal motto is that we don't believe in credit cards.
We got into trouble with our credit cards a few years ago, and God, in his grace, delivered us from this without having to file bankruptcy. So right now, the only debt we have is a student loan and a mortgage. I would also love to pay these off in the next couple of years, if possible. I want absolutely no debt, so that whatever happens, we don't have to worry as much about it. Bills stress me. Maybe its the financial guru inside my head, but I've seen too many people get into trouble with credit, and I don't want to have that problem. Now the only debt that seems to be ongoing in our lives is the medical debt, and that can't really be helped at this point.
My dreams are always bigger than our tax refund usually ends up being, but it's nice to live in that dream world for a little while. God has always provided for us and sustained us through all of the emergencies we have experienced so far, and I'm confident that he has a wonderful year planned for us.
Last night, I spent several hours working on our taxes. I almost have them completed, and once we receive our refund, we'll be able to pay off some outstanding medical bills, and hopefully, repair a few things around our home. We will also use the money to finance the kids schoolbooks and materials for the year. If we're really lucky, we'll get to take a family vacation to Yellowstone this summer. I hope so anyway. That's what we are working towards right now. We would also like to build a storage shed in our backyard and a school room in the garage.
Right now, we homeschool all over the house, and. . . well. . . it shows. Our house definitely looks lived in, and schooled in, as well. This is just one of the sacrifices we decided to make when we began homeschooling. Our small, neat, uncluttered home has now become cluttered with books, art projects and science experiments. That's OK. It is a season, and a season that (while I can personally be stressed to the max by all of the clutter being a firstborn neat-freak type of gal) I'm sure I will miss someday.
We also hope to start an emergency fund this year, so that life's little emergencies don't stress us out quite as badly. Our oldest child will be finishing vision therapy by the first part of April, and after that, we will have some funds to begin putting back into a savings account for rainy days. Our personal motto is that we don't believe in credit cards.
We got into trouble with our credit cards a few years ago, and God, in his grace, delivered us from this without having to file bankruptcy. So right now, the only debt we have is a student loan and a mortgage. I would also love to pay these off in the next couple of years, if possible. I want absolutely no debt, so that whatever happens, we don't have to worry as much about it. Bills stress me. Maybe its the financial guru inside my head, but I've seen too many people get into trouble with credit, and I don't want to have that problem. Now the only debt that seems to be ongoing in our lives is the medical debt, and that can't really be helped at this point.
My dreams are always bigger than our tax refund usually ends up being, but it's nice to live in that dream world for a little while. God has always provided for us and sustained us through all of the emergencies we have experienced so far, and I'm confident that he has a wonderful year planned for us.
Monday, January 22, 2007
The Children's Hour
One of the traditions that has been revived in many homes is that of the Children's Hour. This has not been regularly implemented in our home, but I do have to say that the days we do keep this tradition leave me the most satisfied. I don't really make New Year's Resolutions, because I tend to get discouraged when life happens and I don't keep them, but if I were to make a list of goals I would like to achieve this year, a regular Children's Hour in our home would be near the top.
The Children's' Hour
BETWEEN the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.
A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.
A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!
They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.
They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!
Do you think, o blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!
I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
The Children's' Hour
BETWEEN the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.
I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.
From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.
A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.
A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!
They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.
They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!
Do you think, o blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!
I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.
And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
Nurturing My Pre-Schoolers Enjoying the Fine Arts
For the past couple of weeks, I have been very faithful about "doing school" with my 2-year old (Miney) and 4-year old (Meanie). Before that, it was more hit and miss whether it got done. Sometimes the 8-year old (Eenie) requires so many hours of my time to do her school, that it's time to make dinner for dh (who gets home at the unheard of hour of 4pm and wants to eat right away), and then I have no time for the littler ones.
But, I have noticed some wonderful things about my younger two children, and needed a place to ramble about it, so here it is:
My 4-year old son (Meanie) has become extremely interested in the illustrations in books. I never read a story to him, but that he stops me to ask detailed questions about the illustrations. He wants to know how they are made (I think he's asking about the medium used, so that's how I answer him). He notices the smallest details in illustrations that I never would have noticed, like shading, etc. Meanie is SO visual (might become a problem in his teenage years--we'll see).
But, I am going to look for ways to nurture this interest of his. He has always enjoyed painting with finger paints, water colors, etc. My dh works at Hobby Lobby corporate office and we watch for the sale ads, so we could easily get him some high-quality art supplies for a decent price. I may start doing this for Meanie, a little at a time. I might also begin looking for some type of formal instruction for him (because I do not have an artistic bone in my body, unfortunately). There are a number of talented homeschoolers who teach art classes and will even come to our home, as long as I can pay the fee. I might check into this. There are also museums that offer art classes for children on Saturdays and give them an opportunity to experiment with different mediums, but I'm not sure if they do classes as young as 4, or not.
My 2-year old daughter (Miney) is very into music. She is still somewhat unintelligible in her speech (it's probably that pacifier), but she has been trying to sing all of the songs along with me. This is good because it motivates her to take her pacifier out of her mouth and talk. But the other thing I have noticed is that Miney's pitch is good (definitely doesn't get this from Daddy), so I am going to start working with her each day on some simple kids songs and Bible songs. We have so many kids tapes, and I need to get these out and play them for her more often. Also, Eenie has been working on a sign language DVD that has four songs on it, and I have noticed Miney trying to do the sign language and sing when we have the DVD on. How exciting!
My younger two children have always enjoyed music, ever since they were babies. My oldest child could care less about it. I am probably going to begin presenting the concept of Solfage to the kids, so that they can have more of a musical foundation. Aunt Angela is a music teacher at a classical Christian school in Texas, so maybe we need to ask her for some ideas, as well. We play a lot of classical music around here, especially for Eenie's composer studies. Maybe I need to start including Meanie and Miney in the composer studies we are doing (at least the music portion, even if they don't listen to the biographical information).
Just a few things to ponder. . . .
But, I have noticed some wonderful things about my younger two children, and needed a place to ramble about it, so here it is:
My 4-year old son (Meanie) has become extremely interested in the illustrations in books. I never read a story to him, but that he stops me to ask detailed questions about the illustrations. He wants to know how they are made (I think he's asking about the medium used, so that's how I answer him). He notices the smallest details in illustrations that I never would have noticed, like shading, etc. Meanie is SO visual (might become a problem in his teenage years--we'll see).
But, I am going to look for ways to nurture this interest of his. He has always enjoyed painting with finger paints, water colors, etc. My dh works at Hobby Lobby corporate office and we watch for the sale ads, so we could easily get him some high-quality art supplies for a decent price. I may start doing this for Meanie, a little at a time. I might also begin looking for some type of formal instruction for him (because I do not have an artistic bone in my body, unfortunately). There are a number of talented homeschoolers who teach art classes and will even come to our home, as long as I can pay the fee. I might check into this. There are also museums that offer art classes for children on Saturdays and give them an opportunity to experiment with different mediums, but I'm not sure if they do classes as young as 4, or not.
My 2-year old daughter (Miney) is very into music. She is still somewhat unintelligible in her speech (it's probably that pacifier), but she has been trying to sing all of the songs along with me. This is good because it motivates her to take her pacifier out of her mouth and talk. But the other thing I have noticed is that Miney's pitch is good (definitely doesn't get this from Daddy), so I am going to start working with her each day on some simple kids songs and Bible songs. We have so many kids tapes, and I need to get these out and play them for her more often. Also, Eenie has been working on a sign language DVD that has four songs on it, and I have noticed Miney trying to do the sign language and sing when we have the DVD on. How exciting!
My younger two children have always enjoyed music, ever since they were babies. My oldest child could care less about it. I am probably going to begin presenting the concept of Solfage to the kids, so that they can have more of a musical foundation. Aunt Angela is a music teacher at a classical Christian school in Texas, so maybe we need to ask her for some ideas, as well. We play a lot of classical music around here, especially for Eenie's composer studies. Maybe I need to start including Meanie and Miney in the composer studies we are doing (at least the music portion, even if they don't listen to the biographical information).
Just a few things to ponder. . . .
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Sizzle Bop Questionnaire
This is a questionnaire I completed for Carol Barnier who ministers to parents of "sizzler" children. She is the author of "How to Get Your Child Off The Refridgerator and On To Learning" and "If I've Just Diapered a Watermelon, What Did I Do With The Baby?". She has her own website at www.sizzlebop.com.
What special needs are represented in your family?
I have an eight year old daughter who is currently in therapy for developmental vision issues, coupled with sensory integration issues (Sizzler #1). She has problems with focus/concentration and hyperactivity (she's a lot like Anne of Green Gables, actually). She would probably be diagnosed ADHD although I have never personally pushed for this clinical diagnosis, because I prefer to approach her issues from a therapy/coaching standpoint and wait for her to mature at her own pace, rather than medicating her for everyone else's comfort. In addition, we are beginning to suspect that our younger two children--ages 4 and 2--(Sizzlers #2 and #3) are also suffering from sensory integration dysfunction along with hyperactivity (either that or they are following the example and behavior patterns of their oldest sibling, we're not sure which yet). Needless to say, we are one sizzling and bopping family!
You probably didn't go into marriage planning on parenting a special needs child. How has this changed you?
It has humbled me more than you can possibly imagine. It has made me a more sensitive person towards my children, and also towards other parents and children who have behavioral issues. I remember being the prideful one who declared (before parenting sizzlers) that "my child(ren) would never act that way. I would train them better than that." HAHAHAHAHA!
What is the hardest part about having a special needs child in your family?
The amount of energy that these children (and especially my oldest now that she is "school age") require is just incredible. Sometimes I feel that there is nothing left of me for anyone else, including my husband (Sizzler Senior) and younger children (who are also sizzlers). Also, how it has limited my contact with the outside world. Going too many places requires more energy than I have at this stage in life.
How might your spouse answer that question?
I know my wife is doing the best she can. I am a "Sizzler" myself, so I somewhat understand what she has to go through. But, it would be nice if there was more of my wife leftover for me at the end of the day.
What might the child's siblings answer?
We don't get enough of Mom's attention. Why does she spend hours working with Sizzler #1?
What blessings would you say you or your family have gotten from this experience?
We have learned to enjoy more family togetherness times alone and at home, rather than going out as much with other people. We have learned to be very selective of our friends and extracurricular activities. We have learned to depend on God daily to fill our cup and meet our needs, rather than depending as much on other people. We have learned flexibility (more than we wanted actually). We have been blessed with humility and laughter and good times we would have missed if not for having sizzlers. One unexpected blessing is that it has also given us a ministry of encouragement and hope to other parents of sizzlers.
What would you say to a mom who says, "One child takes all my energy. How do I give the other children equal time?Unfortunately, I still struggle in this area, myself. Having multiple sizzlers with very different personalities, I keep thinking that if I can just get Sizzler #1 off to a good start, then I will have time for the others. But, I am beginning to realize that with a Sizzler, the process may never actually end (although after beginning vision therapy a year ago we really are seeing vast improvements--so maybe? the end is in sight). For now, I specifically schedule individual time with my other children when Sizzler #1 is busy doing something else. Sometimes she tries to force her way in, but I lovingly and firmly set limits at that time. Her feelings are hurt by this, but my other children need to understand that Mom is there for them too and that they are special, as well. I have verbally and specifically explained what I am doing to Sizzler #1, so that she understands that she should show love to her younger brother and sister by not "stealing" Mom from them when it is their time with her. ).
What do you know now that you wish you had known way back when?
I don't know it all and that's OK. Learning to parent Sizzlers (as with any other children) is a process, and I will make mistakes. God forgives me when I ask, and I am constantly going to my children to seek their forgiveness when I mess up. Fortunately, young children are very forgiving.
Especially in the homeschooling community, there is a higher standard of behavior for children (as there should be). There are going to be loving, Christian homeschooling parents (and other family members) who will never understand or appreciate your sizzlers, because God has given them a different cross to bear (maybe it's pride--lol). Just understand that whatever their burden may be, it is different than yours and learn to forgive them and show grace, as you hope and wish they would do for your children.
Some people will always believe that if you just tried the wonderful techniques that succeeded with their perfectly angelic children, yours too would become angelic. Realistically, sizzlers are never going to be like other children. You can work with them, and there can be improvement, but the grading scale has to be different. I have lost friendships and scaled back on others because of my children, but God is perfectly able to fill any gap left by the loss of these friends.
What special needs are represented in your family?
I have an eight year old daughter who is currently in therapy for developmental vision issues, coupled with sensory integration issues (Sizzler #1). She has problems with focus/concentration and hyperactivity (she's a lot like Anne of Green Gables, actually). She would probably be diagnosed ADHD although I have never personally pushed for this clinical diagnosis, because I prefer to approach her issues from a therapy/coaching standpoint and wait for her to mature at her own pace, rather than medicating her for everyone else's comfort. In addition, we are beginning to suspect that our younger two children--ages 4 and 2--(Sizzlers #2 and #3) are also suffering from sensory integration dysfunction along with hyperactivity (either that or they are following the example and behavior patterns of their oldest sibling, we're not sure which yet). Needless to say, we are one sizzling and bopping family!
You probably didn't go into marriage planning on parenting a special needs child. How has this changed you?
It has humbled me more than you can possibly imagine. It has made me a more sensitive person towards my children, and also towards other parents and children who have behavioral issues. I remember being the prideful one who declared (before parenting sizzlers) that "my child(ren) would never act that way. I would train them better than that." HAHAHAHAHA!
What is the hardest part about having a special needs child in your family?
The amount of energy that these children (and especially my oldest now that she is "school age") require is just incredible. Sometimes I feel that there is nothing left of me for anyone else, including my husband (Sizzler Senior) and younger children (who are also sizzlers). Also, how it has limited my contact with the outside world. Going too many places requires more energy than I have at this stage in life.
How might your spouse answer that question?
I know my wife is doing the best she can. I am a "Sizzler" myself, so I somewhat understand what she has to go through. But, it would be nice if there was more of my wife leftover for me at the end of the day.
What might the child's siblings answer?
We don't get enough of Mom's attention. Why does she spend hours working with Sizzler #1?
What blessings would you say you or your family have gotten from this experience?
We have learned to enjoy more family togetherness times alone and at home, rather than going out as much with other people. We have learned to be very selective of our friends and extracurricular activities. We have learned to depend on God daily to fill our cup and meet our needs, rather than depending as much on other people. We have learned flexibility (more than we wanted actually). We have been blessed with humility and laughter and good times we would have missed if not for having sizzlers. One unexpected blessing is that it has also given us a ministry of encouragement and hope to other parents of sizzlers.
What would you say to a mom who says, "One child takes all my energy. How do I give the other children equal time?Unfortunately, I still struggle in this area, myself. Having multiple sizzlers with very different personalities, I keep thinking that if I can just get Sizzler #1 off to a good start, then I will have time for the others. But, I am beginning to realize that with a Sizzler, the process may never actually end (although after beginning vision therapy a year ago we really are seeing vast improvements--so maybe? the end is in sight). For now, I specifically schedule individual time with my other children when Sizzler #1 is busy doing something else. Sometimes she tries to force her way in, but I lovingly and firmly set limits at that time. Her feelings are hurt by this, but my other children need to understand that Mom is there for them too and that they are special, as well. I have verbally and specifically explained what I am doing to Sizzler #1, so that she understands that she should show love to her younger brother and sister by not "stealing" Mom from them when it is their time with her. ).
What do you know now that you wish you had known way back when?
I don't know it all and that's OK. Learning to parent Sizzlers (as with any other children) is a process, and I will make mistakes. God forgives me when I ask, and I am constantly going to my children to seek their forgiveness when I mess up. Fortunately, young children are very forgiving.
Especially in the homeschooling community, there is a higher standard of behavior for children (as there should be). There are going to be loving, Christian homeschooling parents (and other family members) who will never understand or appreciate your sizzlers, because God has given them a different cross to bear (maybe it's pride--lol). Just understand that whatever their burden may be, it is different than yours and learn to forgive them and show grace, as you hope and wish they would do for your children.
Some people will always believe that if you just tried the wonderful techniques that succeeded with their perfectly angelic children, yours too would become angelic. Realistically, sizzlers are never going to be like other children. You can work with them, and there can be improvement, but the grading scale has to be different. I have lost friendships and scaled back on others because of my children, but God is perfectly able to fill any gap left by the loss of these friends.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Aaarrgh! WalMart makes me mad sometimes!
I am usually not a milk drinker. My baby is allergic to it, so I avoid it for her sake, since she is still nursing. But, this morning I got a craving for a bowl of cereal with milk. I fixed cereal for my other children and finished pouring the last of the cow's milk on my oldest child's cereal. Opening a new carton, I began to pour it out, and it was chunky! The sell by date is still two days away, the milk has never been opened, we have had power the entire time, and the milk was chunky! Aaarrghhhh! Here, we were being responsible. We stocked up on groceries the first part of this week, to avoid the last minute rush to the grocery store before the blizzard hits (like all the other people who apparently enjoy that sort of thing). But, no! We have to go back to WalMart and exchange our chunky milk for some that isn't chunky (hopefully). They better not have run out like they did last weekend! Praise God! Yet another opportunity to be conformed into the character of Christ. . .
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Romania to Buy Dracula's Castle
Posted Jan 11th 2007 9:55AM by Iva Skoch
Filed under: History, Learning, Europe, Romania
The state of Romania has made one of its first announcements as a new EU member loud and clear: they want to buy the medieval fortress in Transylvania, Bran Castle (known also as "Dracula's Castle") back from the former royal family of Habsburgs, Reuters reports. The price tag? 60 million Euros.
The castle was confiscated from the Habsburgs by the communists after WWII and just last year the former royal family got it back through restitution.
The fortress was never actually part of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". However, Romania's 15th century ruler Vlad Tepes who visited there, served as an inspiration for the author. The castle has been a tourist attraction ever since.
Filed under: History, Learning, Europe, Romania
The state of Romania has made one of its first announcements as a new EU member loud and clear: they want to buy the medieval fortress in Transylvania, Bran Castle (known also as "Dracula's Castle") back from the former royal family of Habsburgs, Reuters reports. The price tag? 60 million Euros.
The castle was confiscated from the Habsburgs by the communists after WWII and just last year the former royal family got it back through restitution.
The fortress was never actually part of Bram Stoker's novel "Dracula". However, Romania's 15th century ruler Vlad Tepes who visited there, served as an inspiration for the author. The castle has been a tourist attraction ever since.
The Top Ten Predictions for 2007 and beyond. . .
THE TOP TEN PREDICTIONS FOR 2007
1. The Bible will still have the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind.
Sometimes when you don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you.
It's your choice: Listen to the whisper, or wait for the brick!
1. The Bible will still have the answers.
2. Prayer will still work.
3. The Holy Spirit will still move.
4. God will still inhabit the praises of His people.
5. There will still be God-anointed preaching.
6. There will still be singing of praise.
7. God will still pour out blessings upon His people.
8. There will still be room at the Cross.
9. Jesus will still love you.
10. Jesus will still save the lost.
God whispers in your soul and speaks to your mind.
Sometimes when you don't have time to listen, He has to throw a brick at you.
It's your choice: Listen to the whisper, or wait for the brick!
A New Brand of Thieves. . .
Thieves Steal Woman's Bag, Phone -- and Hair
Reuters
RIO DE JANEIRO (Jan. 18) - In a new twist in Rio de Janeiro's crime annals, scissor-wielding thieves clipped off the long, flowing locks of a 22-year-old Brazilian woman as she rode in a city bus.
"We got on at the same stop and they sat behind me," sales assistant Mirna Marchetti said. "Then all of a sudden I felt someone pulling my hair. My friend tried to help me but they just cut it off, right at the base."
The thieves also stole her handbag and her mobile phone before escaping, she told reporters Wednesday after the incident the previous night.
Marchetti's hair was dark, straight and reached down to her waist. She said she had not cut it for four years. Police suspect the thieves hope to sell the hair to a hairdresser.
Beauty salons in Rio can charge more than 500 reais, or $250 for top-quality hair extensions, salon owner Rosangela Castro said.
Muggers in crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro often target bus passengers, sometimes robbing a whole bus at gun point.
"This is a new kind of crime,' said a police officer at the station where the report was filed. "They really did mean to steal her hair."
Reuters
RIO DE JANEIRO (Jan. 18) - In a new twist in Rio de Janeiro's crime annals, scissor-wielding thieves clipped off the long, flowing locks of a 22-year-old Brazilian woman as she rode in a city bus.
"We got on at the same stop and they sat behind me," sales assistant Mirna Marchetti said. "Then all of a sudden I felt someone pulling my hair. My friend tried to help me but they just cut it off, right at the base."
The thieves also stole her handbag and her mobile phone before escaping, she told reporters Wednesday after the incident the previous night.
Marchetti's hair was dark, straight and reached down to her waist. She said she had not cut it for four years. Police suspect the thieves hope to sell the hair to a hairdresser.
Beauty salons in Rio can charge more than 500 reais, or $250 for top-quality hair extensions, salon owner Rosangela Castro said.
Muggers in crime-plagued Rio de Janeiro often target bus passengers, sometimes robbing a whole bus at gun point.
"This is a new kind of crime,' said a police officer at the station where the report was filed. "They really did mean to steal her hair."
What's For Dinner?--Three Cheap and Easy Ground Beef/Turkey Recipes
Our family has a number of food allergies and sensitivities, so, unfortunately, most meal planning programs do not work for us. Primarily, we cannot have milk and egg, but dh has a number of foods that he dislikes, and would not appreciate me serving for dinner either (most pork, broccoli, tomatoes in most forms--although tomato sauces, pastes, and juice in small quantities are OK, peppers, spinach, turnips, radishes, and most vegetables really). Many of our recipes do not contain wheat either, as our youngest just got over her wheat allergy.
First, I buy ground beef or ground chuck (dh prefers chuck) on sale (usually $1.99 per pound or less) in large quantities. You can also substitute ground turkey in these recipes which is usually cheaper and healthier for you. When I get home I get my food processor and chop up a bunch of onions and saute them in the skillet. Then, I fry up the meat in large batches, allow it to cool, place it in labeled freezer bags, and send it to the deep freeze. I usually do this when dh is home and can keep the littles outside and out from under foot (plus, the onions make them all cry ). When I am ready to prepare dinner, I pull out one of these premade bags, and dinner is pretty easy. With these packets, even my 8-year old can pull out all of the ingredients, combine them in the crockpot and get these dinner recipes started for our family.
Crockpot Taco Soup
This is dh's favorite recipe and he raves about it for several days when I make it . I like this recipe, because I can even wait until lunchtime to start it, and it is still ready in time for dinner. It can easily be doubled or tripled for larger families, and freezes well.
Makes 6-8 servings
1 lb. or more of ground beef
1/2 onion (or more depending on taste)
1 envelope of taco seasoning (We like Old El Paso Original--not Mild flavor)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. red cayenne pepper
15-oz. can kidney beans, drained (generic brand)
2 cans 15-oz. can whole kernel corn, drained (generic)
2 15-oz. cans of pork and beans (either generic or Van Camps brand)
46-oz. can tomato juice (We get this through WIC)
If desired: taco chips, crushed; shredded cheese (from WIC), or sour cream.
====================================
1. Optional: Place crockpot liner in crockpot, for easy clean-up
2. Saute onion and brown ground beef together in skillet (or use pre-made packets of the mixture from freezer--thawed or partially thawed). Drain and place mixture in crockpot.
3. Stir in taco seasoning, brown sugar, cayenne, beans, corn, pork & beans, and tomato juice.
4. Cover and cook on Low 4-6 hours, or until heated through
5. If desired, you can serve with crushed taco chips, cheese and sour cream (although in our case, we omit the cheese and sour cream ).
Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup
This is a simple and easy recipe that can be ready in half a day. Can be doubled or tripled for larger batches. Freezes well.
Makes 4-5 servings
1 lb. or more of ground beef
1/2 onion (or more, depending on taste)
2 cups tomato juice (WIC)
1 quart of beef broth
1 lb. of frozen mixed vegetables (generic)
=======================================
1. Optional: Place crockpot liner in crockpot for easy clean-up.
2. Saute onion and brown ground beef together in skillet (or use pre-made packets of the mixture from the freezer--thawed or partially thawed). Drain and place mixture in crockpot.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients together in the crockpot.
4. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, and then on low 3-4 hours.
Crockpot Chili
Makes 6-8 servings. Can be doubled easily and freezes well.
1 lb. or more of ground beef
1/2 onion (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. chili powder (or more, to taste)
6-oz. can tomato paste (generic)
3 cans Ranch-style beans w/ liquid
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained (generic)
If desired: rice or crushed corn chips, shredded cheese (WIC) or sour cream
=====================================
1. Optional: Place crockpot liner in crockpot for easy clean-up.
2. Saute onion and brown ground beef together in skillet (or use pre-made packets of the mixture from the freezer--thawed or partially thawed). Drain and place mixture in crockpot.
3. Combine all ingredients in crockpot and mix well.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.
5. If desired, serve over rice or crushed corn chips, topped with shredded cheese (WIC) or sour cream.
For our family, many times I increase these recipes and freeze the extra batch. On busy days, I can just pull out the frozen meal, and reheat to serve. I also freeze leftovers in individual portions (in Gladware containers) for dh to take to work for lunches.
First, I buy ground beef or ground chuck (dh prefers chuck) on sale (usually $1.99 per pound or less) in large quantities. You can also substitute ground turkey in these recipes which is usually cheaper and healthier for you. When I get home I get my food processor and chop up a bunch of onions and saute them in the skillet. Then, I fry up the meat in large batches, allow it to cool, place it in labeled freezer bags, and send it to the deep freeze. I usually do this when dh is home and can keep the littles outside and out from under foot (plus, the onions make them all cry ). When I am ready to prepare dinner, I pull out one of these premade bags, and dinner is pretty easy. With these packets, even my 8-year old can pull out all of the ingredients, combine them in the crockpot and get these dinner recipes started for our family.
Crockpot Taco Soup
This is dh's favorite recipe and he raves about it for several days when I make it . I like this recipe, because I can even wait until lunchtime to start it, and it is still ready in time for dinner. It can easily be doubled or tripled for larger families, and freezes well.
Makes 6-8 servings
1 lb. or more of ground beef
1/2 onion (or more depending on taste)
1 envelope of taco seasoning (We like Old El Paso Original--not Mild flavor)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. red cayenne pepper
15-oz. can kidney beans, drained (generic brand)
2 cans 15-oz. can whole kernel corn, drained (generic)
2 15-oz. cans of pork and beans (either generic or Van Camps brand)
46-oz. can tomato juice (We get this through WIC)
If desired: taco chips, crushed; shredded cheese (from WIC), or sour cream.
====================================
1. Optional: Place crockpot liner in crockpot, for easy clean-up
2. Saute onion and brown ground beef together in skillet (or use pre-made packets of the mixture from freezer--thawed or partially thawed). Drain and place mixture in crockpot.
3. Stir in taco seasoning, brown sugar, cayenne, beans, corn, pork & beans, and tomato juice.
4. Cover and cook on Low 4-6 hours, or until heated through
5. If desired, you can serve with crushed taco chips, cheese and sour cream (although in our case, we omit the cheese and sour cream ).
Crockpot Vegetable Beef Soup
This is a simple and easy recipe that can be ready in half a day. Can be doubled or tripled for larger batches. Freezes well.
Makes 4-5 servings
1 lb. or more of ground beef
1/2 onion (or more, depending on taste)
2 cups tomato juice (WIC)
1 quart of beef broth
1 lb. of frozen mixed vegetables (generic)
=======================================
1. Optional: Place crockpot liner in crockpot for easy clean-up.
2. Saute onion and brown ground beef together in skillet (or use pre-made packets of the mixture from the freezer--thawed or partially thawed). Drain and place mixture in crockpot.
3. Combine the rest of the ingredients together in the crockpot.
4. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours, and then on low 3-4 hours.
Crockpot Chili
Makes 6-8 servings. Can be doubled easily and freezes well.
1 lb. or more of ground beef
1/2 onion (or more to taste)
1/2 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. chili powder (or more, to taste)
6-oz. can tomato paste (generic)
3 cans Ranch-style beans w/ liquid
2 cans whole kernel corn, drained (generic)
If desired: rice or crushed corn chips, shredded cheese (WIC) or sour cream
=====================================
1. Optional: Place crockpot liner in crockpot for easy clean-up.
2. Saute onion and brown ground beef together in skillet (or use pre-made packets of the mixture from the freezer--thawed or partially thawed). Drain and place mixture in crockpot.
3. Combine all ingredients in crockpot and mix well.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours.
5. If desired, serve over rice or crushed corn chips, topped with shredded cheese (WIC) or sour cream.
For our family, many times I increase these recipes and freeze the extra batch. On busy days, I can just pull out the frozen meal, and reheat to serve. I also freeze leftovers in individual portions (in Gladware containers) for dh to take to work for lunches.
Clearly Not the Sharpest Knife in the Drawer. . .
Since I graduated from college, I have felt that my brain has lacked a certain amount of stimulation. I'm giving my kids a Charlotte Mason/classical education, so that has helped me keep my brain somewhat sharp. However, when I think about people like the gentleman in the news story below, I am grateful that my brain deterioration isn't as bad as it could be. Again, another example of modern society depending on technology (see post Family Togetherness and Snow Days a few days ago) to our detriment. . .
Driver Follows Navigation System, Crashes
Reuters
BERLIN (Jan. 16) - A 46-year-old German motorist driving along a busy road suddenly veered to the left and ended up stuck on a railway track -- because his satellite navigation system told him to, police said Sunday.
The motorist was heading into the north German city of Bremen "when the friendly voice from his satnav told him to turn left," a spokesman said.
"He did what he was ordered to do and turned his Audi left up over the curb and onto the track of a local streetcar line. He tried to back up off the track but got completely stuck."
The police spokesman said about a dozen trams were held up until a tow truck arrived to clear the car off the track.
Several German motorists have crashed their cars in recent months, later telling police they were only obeying orders from their satnavs.
Driver Follows Navigation System, Crashes
Reuters
BERLIN (Jan. 16) - A 46-year-old German motorist driving along a busy road suddenly veered to the left and ended up stuck on a railway track -- because his satellite navigation system told him to, police said Sunday.
The motorist was heading into the north German city of Bremen "when the friendly voice from his satnav told him to turn left," a spokesman said.
"He did what he was ordered to do and turned his Audi left up over the curb and onto the track of a local streetcar line. He tried to back up off the track but got completely stuck."
The police spokesman said about a dozen trams were held up until a tow truck arrived to clear the car off the track.
Several German motorists have crashed their cars in recent months, later telling police they were only obeying orders from their satnavs.
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Counting Your Blessings Even During Trials
There are a couple of families we know who are really undergoing some testing right now. In one family, the mother, a godly pastor's wife with eight children, has Stage 4 ovarian cancer. The other family has a 3-year old twin boy who has been diagnosed with Stage 4 neuroblastoma. As of last week, he was declared "brain dead" and the family is fighting a battle in the court system to keep him alive. The doctors won't "add care" at this point and are just waiting for him to die. We have been praying for these families, and rejoicing in their faithfulness to God and to one another during these trying times.
A few years ago, I used to be discouraged when I felt that God was not answering my prayers to heal those that I care about. "So and so is such a good person," I would reason with God. "Why don't you let this bad thing happen to such and such a person instead. They deserve it." But, learning more about God's character over the last few years, I now realize that this is not the way he works. Truthfully, even the best of humanity is terribly wicked when compared with the righteousness of God. It is only when we realize how wicked we are that we see our need for Him. We deserve nothing from God, and any blessings we receive are much more than we deserve.
In our family, we have experienced a number of illnesses and accidents over the last few years, and I have noticed something. When things are going well, I tend to depend less on God. I believe that He allows these problems to happen to draw me closer to Him, and I am thankful for this.
My husband has a rare illness, for which there is no known cure. We have been told to expect a significantly shortened lifespan because of it. My mother has suffered several heart attacks and a stroke over the last year or so. My husband also cut off his fingertip at work a couple of years ago and had to have a couple of surgeries on it. In addition, every baby that we have requires me to be on bedrest since I am considered a higher-risk pregnancy. Each of these have been an opportunity that God has given me to depend on Him to a greater degree, and provided that I make the right choices, bring glory to His name through my responses. This can be an incredible testimony to my children.
Even though I may feel like I am losing sight of God in the midst of my troubles, I always find Him on the other side waiting patiently for me. He has never lost sight of me. He was there all along, if I would only have taken His hand and allowed Him to lead me through. I am learning this lesson, slowly, but surely.
As I have watched these families undergoing crises I have ever experienced, I am inspired by the glory they are bringing to God. They trust Him in all circumstances, knowing that He is good and righteous. Their lives are His to bring glory to Himself in whatever way He chooses. May I be as faithful unto Him in all He gives me.
If you are interested in praying for these families, there are updates at the following sites:
http://debbieshealthupdate.blogspot.com/
http://weloveyoujoel.blogspot.com/
A few years ago, I used to be discouraged when I felt that God was not answering my prayers to heal those that I care about. "So and so is such a good person," I would reason with God. "Why don't you let this bad thing happen to such and such a person instead. They deserve it." But, learning more about God's character over the last few years, I now realize that this is not the way he works. Truthfully, even the best of humanity is terribly wicked when compared with the righteousness of God. It is only when we realize how wicked we are that we see our need for Him. We deserve nothing from God, and any blessings we receive are much more than we deserve.
In our family, we have experienced a number of illnesses and accidents over the last few years, and I have noticed something. When things are going well, I tend to depend less on God. I believe that He allows these problems to happen to draw me closer to Him, and I am thankful for this.
My husband has a rare illness, for which there is no known cure. We have been told to expect a significantly shortened lifespan because of it. My mother has suffered several heart attacks and a stroke over the last year or so. My husband also cut off his fingertip at work a couple of years ago and had to have a couple of surgeries on it. In addition, every baby that we have requires me to be on bedrest since I am considered a higher-risk pregnancy. Each of these have been an opportunity that God has given me to depend on Him to a greater degree, and provided that I make the right choices, bring glory to His name through my responses. This can be an incredible testimony to my children.
Even though I may feel like I am losing sight of God in the midst of my troubles, I always find Him on the other side waiting patiently for me. He has never lost sight of me. He was there all along, if I would only have taken His hand and allowed Him to lead me through. I am learning this lesson, slowly, but surely.
As I have watched these families undergoing crises I have ever experienced, I am inspired by the glory they are bringing to God. They trust Him in all circumstances, knowing that He is good and righteous. Their lives are His to bring glory to Himself in whatever way He chooses. May I be as faithful unto Him in all He gives me.
If you are interested in praying for these families, there are updates at the following sites:
http://debbieshealthupdate.blogspot.com/
http://weloveyoujoel.blogspot.com/
Man's Cell Phone Ignites, Sets Him Ablaze
OK, Now this is just scary! See news article below:
Man's Cell Phone Ignites, Sets Him Ablaze
AP
VALLEJO, California (Jan. 15) - A cell phone apparently ignited in a man's pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said.
Luis Picaso, 59, was in stable condition Monday with second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg, Vallejo Fire Department assistant chief Kurt Henke said.
Firefighters arrived at the residential hotel Saturday night to find Picaso lying on the bathroom floor after a malfunctioning cell phone in his pants pocket set fire to his nylon and polyester clothes, Henke said.
The flames spread to a plastic chair, setting off a sprinkler that held the fire in check, he said.
Authorities declined to name the phone's manufacturer and model.
The fire and water caused $75,000 damage to the room and a business on the ground floor, Henke said.
Man's Cell Phone Ignites, Sets Him Ablaze
AP
VALLEJO, California (Jan. 15) - A cell phone apparently ignited in a man's pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said.
Luis Picaso, 59, was in stable condition Monday with second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg, Vallejo Fire Department assistant chief Kurt Henke said.
Firefighters arrived at the residential hotel Saturday night to find Picaso lying on the bathroom floor after a malfunctioning cell phone in his pants pocket set fire to his nylon and polyester clothes, Henke said.
The flames spread to a plastic chair, setting off a sprinkler that held the fire in check, he said.
Authorities declined to name the phone's manufacturer and model.
The fire and water caused $75,000 damage to the room and a business on the ground floor, Henke said.
Monday, January 15, 2007
St. Francis quote
St. Francis said: "The brothers should preach always and if necessary use words." Memo to self: actions speak louder than words and especially with young children--more is caught than taught. Watch your attitude mama.
Atmosphere of the Home--1897 Parents' Review
The Parents' Review ~ Vol. VIII, No. 12 ~ 1897 ~ pages 772 777
"The Atmosphere of Home"
by M. F. Jerrold (character development, home life, morals & education)
There is nothing more literally life-giving in the whole range of English literature than Gray's description of the effect of Nature on the recovering invalid:
"The meanest floweret of the vale,
The simplest note that swells the gale,
The common sun, the air, the skies,
To him are opening Paradise"
These lines convey such a warmth and wealth of happiness that we can hardly read them without smiling for mere joy; and this seems to me to be the special feature of home to open Paradise before the eyes of our children. There are many important aspects of home-life from first training to highest education; but there is nothing in the way of direct teaching that will ever have so wide and lasting an effect as the atmosphere of home. And the gravest thought concerning this is that in this instance there is nothing to learn and nothing to teach: the atmosphere emanates from ourselves literally is ourselves; our children live in it and breath it, and what we are is thus incorporated into them. There is no pretence here or possibility of evasion; we may deceive ourselves: in the long run, we never deceive our children. The spirit of home lives, and, what is more, is accentuated in them. Atmosphere is much more than teaching, and infinitely more than talk. I doubt if we could live a week even with a very reserved person without being able to say what is his aim in life, what is the thing he values supremely. That after all is the kernel of life: to make up our minds what it is that we want, what is worth striving for; and it is this central aim which makes the atmosphere of our lives, which stamps itself inevitably on our ways and words, so that we are for ever declaring it, though it may be unconsciously and involuntarily.
There are many things which go to make up the home atmosphere. First in importance, of course, comes religion. We are not concerned here with dogma, for atmosphere is very far removed from instruction, and the teaching of any number of articles of faith, absolutely necessary as such teaching is, will not in itself constitute a religious atmosphere. The test will be whether religion is the centre of our life, the joy of our joy, the consolation of our sorrow, the one eminently important thing for which all others have to give way; whether we view the things of daily life primarily with reference to it, and whether all else is felt toe relatively devoid of interest and value. I say advisedly is felt to be, not is said to be, for much personal talk about religion is, I think, very greatly to be deprecated. Precocious piety rather inspires fear than delight; it is so much like the seed which sprung up quickly because it had no deepness of earth.
And as love and faith are the two wings of Divine, so they are of natural religion, and it is their strong protecting wings that our children must ever feel around them. We are all familiar with Faber's lines:
"There is no place wherein earth's sorrows
Are felt more than up in heaven;
There is no place wherein earth's failings
Have such kindly judgment given."
And no less is to be expected from the earthly home which is to be our children's Paradise. They must feel our large faith in them, our boundless love and our never-failing forgiveness. And that they may truly learn to feel and understand these nothing helps more than to encourage great liberty of discussion and the free expression of opinions remembering, as Miss Sewell has said, that it is an excellent thing to have an opinion of your own, however wrong it may be, (provided you are not bend on sticking to it), different as much as we like, but without the suspicion of a "snub" or a "set down"; for, above all, we must hold each one's individuality sacred, and while we care sufficiently for the things that matter, we must also beware of heeding other things that do not matter. Little trivialities of manner or expression, the way of talking which is not just what we should have wished, the choice that is not just the one we should like to have seen made, we must learn to pass these things over as the trifles they are, otherwise there is an end to all freedom, and, what is more serious, an end of reality. Our children may then learn to be the thing we wish in our presence, but they will be themselves still, they will have their own idiosyncrasies, their own individuality, but unknown and unknowable to us. So much for the larger outlook.
But the world is alluring, and we must remember that it will be far more so to our children than to ourselves. We even if we have not happily attained to those "years that bring the philosophic mind" have at least found out that life is full of disappointments and delays, and has on the whole more show than reality. But the young cannot have this feeling; life for them is full of boundless possibilities.
"All seems free to take, to choose,
This prize to win, this ill to lose;
The narrow line, the single chance,
The boundaries of circumstance,
Not seen, not counted, lost in light,
For youth has hope instead of sight."
There are lesser things which are most seductive to the young. Fashion, the air and manner of good society, the rapid easy way of talking that comes from the habit of living much in the world; this is all fascinating, and its influence on our children will depend very largely on the standard by which they are accustomed to see things measured. If a lofty one has been raised for them, we may well hope that they will see these ephemeral things in their true light, as agreeable and pleasant, but as possessing no intrinsic worth. If, on the contrary, they are accustomed to test things by appearance and by general opinion, we may safely predict that the first years of youth will be a mere chaos of rapidly changing views. The character will then be formed outside and in spite of the home, and the child who thus gets his own experience will always have a bitter feeling at heart, that all that has made his life of the highest value to him as been assimilated from without. I can imagine nothing more cruel than for parents to fail their children thus.
Manners have so much to do with a home-atmosphere, that it is astonishing to find them sometimes referred to as being merely surface things. It is tolerably certain that good manners result largely from good breeding, which is after all, an accident, and can have no merit attaching to it, but it remains with us whether our children's manners have any worthier root than this. Decker, in a famous paragraph, has called our Lord, "The first true Gentleman that ever breathed," thereby enunciating a very high religious truth, and it is only the conscious study of this type that can give a value to our conduct of life. Without this in view, manners are apt to be confounded with conventionality a quality, of all others which youth has least patience with. To do a thing because "it is done" would seem the most paralysing of motives. There is a delightful story told of Carylyle, which has my heartiest sympathy, on the occasion of being informed that everyone would be expected to appear in black coat and white trousers, Carlyle emphatically replied, "Then I for my part incline to wear a white coat and black trousers."
The only writer I know who has ever said an illuminating word for custom is Pater in his Marius, where he has the following passage "The world as it where a commonwealth, a city, and there are observances, customs, usages actually common in it, things our friends and companions will expect of us, as the conditions of living there with them at all as really their peers or fellow citizens." Those observances were indeed the creation of a visible or invisible aristocracy in it, whose actual manners, whose performances from of old, become now a weighty tradition as to the way in which things should or should not be done, are like a music to which the intercourse of life proceeds, such a music as no one who had once caught its harmonies would willingly jar. In this way manners would indeed be a comprehensive term for duty. Righteousness would be, in the words of Aurelius, but "a following of the reasonable will of the oldest the most venerable, of cities, of politics, forasmuch as we are citizens also in that supreme city on high, of which all other cities beside are but as single habitations."
These are golden words. St. Paul, St. Augustine and Dante have given us the same idea, and I think Dante, whose sense of citizenship is one of the strongest traits in his divine poem, has nowhere any passage more beautiful than those three lines addressed to him by Beatrice:
"Qui sarai tu poco tempo silvano
E sarai meco senza fine cive
Di quella Rom onde Cristo e romano."
(Here shalt thou wander yet a little while
And then with me for evermore shalt dwell
Citizen of that Rome where Christ is Roman).
When our children grow up and go out to see many sorts of manners, and many different standards of conduct, one of their safeguards will be in the idea they have formed of what is worth while. Pleasure and success and admiration they will want all these, and to almost every one of them some small triumphs will be given, and whether these are sufficient will depend on what they are accustomed to see valued. Let us then covet one gift for our children, that of unwordliness. It does not make for success, it does not secure against errors; it is compatible with grave faults, but it is the salt of life, of life eternal. It preserves whole and pure a certain nobility of character, and a quick perception of all things that tend to nobleness. It gives the faculty of discernment, it does not confound high with low and small with great. The things that matter! If we found ourselves in the palace of truth, and were compelled to say what these things are, I wonder what our answer would be.
Goodness, power, admiration, amusement, which is it? If we do not know or rather if we choose to think we do not I am very sure our children will know with an absolute certainty. There is no truer word in Scripture than that trenchant one of our Lord's, "Therefore they shall be your judges." And they will judge as not in maturing life, when
"The years that pass more heavily
Write large lines of charity
Upon our foreheads, and far less
Of expectation,"
but in the first flush of triumphant youth, when the heart has neither much reverence nor much loyalty, and when it is too soon for any mists of tenderness to have gathered over the home horizon, softening and harmonising it in the long blue distance.
Mercy, charity, longsuffering, these are lessons of later life; but youth is the time for uncompromising judgments, and I doubt if we ever see so clearly again. One of life's most difficult problems is to distinguish between the sin and the sinner, and still more, perhaps, to discern between what is really unsound in the character and what is only attributable to bringing up and surroundings, and I think the tendency, of this age at any rate, is towards too universal toleration. People have not the courage to say, "This is evil and that is wrong"; they are afraid to formulate any moral judgment; they would rather take refuge in a limp false charity, which is really a culpable indifference to the great issues of right and wrong doing. This, at least, is not one of the temptations of youth. "They shall be your judges," therefore let our standard of conduct be, at least, as exacting as theirs, while we must look with "other, kinder eyes" on those who fall short of it.
It must often happen that direct teaching falls to the ground, that in the march of time and science different views will be held, and that in things which are mere matters of opinion differences will exist; but all this will be as nothing if the aim and ideal remain the same. If we have understood noble things; if we have felt and acted as though nobleness were the one thing worth being and having; if through sordidness and worldliness, we have sought out and believed in pure motives; if we have been of those who cy out to the unseen ideal, "Thou tarriest, and I have not said thou art not, nor all thy night long have denied thy day," then, I say that our children are breathing an atmosphere which is verily life-giving, and that mean aims and low motives will be to them destruction and not delight.
There are voices which carry conviction. A short time ago, when I had been pondering the question of how much home-teaching is likely to cling through life, such an one said to me "I believe in atmosphere." The words thrilled through me and I felt I had got the key of the problem. Since then I, too, elect to believe in atmosphere in those choices, preferences, tendencies, which have no completion here, but which old from and flow into the limitless eternity.
"For an ye heard a music, like enow
They are building still. Seeing the city is built
To music, therefore never built at all,
And, therefore, built for ever."
"The Atmosphere of Home"
by M. F. Jerrold (character development, home life, morals & education)
There is nothing more literally life-giving in the whole range of English literature than Gray's description of the effect of Nature on the recovering invalid:
"The meanest floweret of the vale,
The simplest note that swells the gale,
The common sun, the air, the skies,
To him are opening Paradise"
These lines convey such a warmth and wealth of happiness that we can hardly read them without smiling for mere joy; and this seems to me to be the special feature of home to open Paradise before the eyes of our children. There are many important aspects of home-life from first training to highest education; but there is nothing in the way of direct teaching that will ever have so wide and lasting an effect as the atmosphere of home. And the gravest thought concerning this is that in this instance there is nothing to learn and nothing to teach: the atmosphere emanates from ourselves literally is ourselves; our children live in it and breath it, and what we are is thus incorporated into them. There is no pretence here or possibility of evasion; we may deceive ourselves: in the long run, we never deceive our children. The spirit of home lives, and, what is more, is accentuated in them. Atmosphere is much more than teaching, and infinitely more than talk. I doubt if we could live a week even with a very reserved person without being able to say what is his aim in life, what is the thing he values supremely. That after all is the kernel of life: to make up our minds what it is that we want, what is worth striving for; and it is this central aim which makes the atmosphere of our lives, which stamps itself inevitably on our ways and words, so that we are for ever declaring it, though it may be unconsciously and involuntarily.
There are many things which go to make up the home atmosphere. First in importance, of course, comes religion. We are not concerned here with dogma, for atmosphere is very far removed from instruction, and the teaching of any number of articles of faith, absolutely necessary as such teaching is, will not in itself constitute a religious atmosphere. The test will be whether religion is the centre of our life, the joy of our joy, the consolation of our sorrow, the one eminently important thing for which all others have to give way; whether we view the things of daily life primarily with reference to it, and whether all else is felt toe relatively devoid of interest and value. I say advisedly is felt to be, not is said to be, for much personal talk about religion is, I think, very greatly to be deprecated. Precocious piety rather inspires fear than delight; it is so much like the seed which sprung up quickly because it had no deepness of earth.
And as love and faith are the two wings of Divine, so they are of natural religion, and it is their strong protecting wings that our children must ever feel around them. We are all familiar with Faber's lines:
"There is no place wherein earth's sorrows
Are felt more than up in heaven;
There is no place wherein earth's failings
Have such kindly judgment given."
And no less is to be expected from the earthly home which is to be our children's Paradise. They must feel our large faith in them, our boundless love and our never-failing forgiveness. And that they may truly learn to feel and understand these nothing helps more than to encourage great liberty of discussion and the free expression of opinions remembering, as Miss Sewell has said, that it is an excellent thing to have an opinion of your own, however wrong it may be, (provided you are not bend on sticking to it), different as much as we like, but without the suspicion of a "snub" or a "set down"; for, above all, we must hold each one's individuality sacred, and while we care sufficiently for the things that matter, we must also beware of heeding other things that do not matter. Little trivialities of manner or expression, the way of talking which is not just what we should have wished, the choice that is not just the one we should like to have seen made, we must learn to pass these things over as the trifles they are, otherwise there is an end to all freedom, and, what is more serious, an end of reality. Our children may then learn to be the thing we wish in our presence, but they will be themselves still, they will have their own idiosyncrasies, their own individuality, but unknown and unknowable to us. So much for the larger outlook.
But the world is alluring, and we must remember that it will be far more so to our children than to ourselves. We even if we have not happily attained to those "years that bring the philosophic mind" have at least found out that life is full of disappointments and delays, and has on the whole more show than reality. But the young cannot have this feeling; life for them is full of boundless possibilities.
"All seems free to take, to choose,
This prize to win, this ill to lose;
The narrow line, the single chance,
The boundaries of circumstance,
Not seen, not counted, lost in light,
For youth has hope instead of sight."
There are lesser things which are most seductive to the young. Fashion, the air and manner of good society, the rapid easy way of talking that comes from the habit of living much in the world; this is all fascinating, and its influence on our children will depend very largely on the standard by which they are accustomed to see things measured. If a lofty one has been raised for them, we may well hope that they will see these ephemeral things in their true light, as agreeable and pleasant, but as possessing no intrinsic worth. If, on the contrary, they are accustomed to test things by appearance and by general opinion, we may safely predict that the first years of youth will be a mere chaos of rapidly changing views. The character will then be formed outside and in spite of the home, and the child who thus gets his own experience will always have a bitter feeling at heart, that all that has made his life of the highest value to him as been assimilated from without. I can imagine nothing more cruel than for parents to fail their children thus.
Manners have so much to do with a home-atmosphere, that it is astonishing to find them sometimes referred to as being merely surface things. It is tolerably certain that good manners result largely from good breeding, which is after all, an accident, and can have no merit attaching to it, but it remains with us whether our children's manners have any worthier root than this. Decker, in a famous paragraph, has called our Lord, "The first true Gentleman that ever breathed," thereby enunciating a very high religious truth, and it is only the conscious study of this type that can give a value to our conduct of life. Without this in view, manners are apt to be confounded with conventionality a quality, of all others which youth has least patience with. To do a thing because "it is done" would seem the most paralysing of motives. There is a delightful story told of Carylyle, which has my heartiest sympathy, on the occasion of being informed that everyone would be expected to appear in black coat and white trousers, Carlyle emphatically replied, "Then I for my part incline to wear a white coat and black trousers."
The only writer I know who has ever said an illuminating word for custom is Pater in his Marius, where he has the following passage "The world as it where a commonwealth, a city, and there are observances, customs, usages actually common in it, things our friends and companions will expect of us, as the conditions of living there with them at all as really their peers or fellow citizens." Those observances were indeed the creation of a visible or invisible aristocracy in it, whose actual manners, whose performances from of old, become now a weighty tradition as to the way in which things should or should not be done, are like a music to which the intercourse of life proceeds, such a music as no one who had once caught its harmonies would willingly jar. In this way manners would indeed be a comprehensive term for duty. Righteousness would be, in the words of Aurelius, but "a following of the reasonable will of the oldest the most venerable, of cities, of politics, forasmuch as we are citizens also in that supreme city on high, of which all other cities beside are but as single habitations."
These are golden words. St. Paul, St. Augustine and Dante have given us the same idea, and I think Dante, whose sense of citizenship is one of the strongest traits in his divine poem, has nowhere any passage more beautiful than those three lines addressed to him by Beatrice:
"Qui sarai tu poco tempo silvano
E sarai meco senza fine cive
Di quella Rom onde Cristo e romano."
(Here shalt thou wander yet a little while
And then with me for evermore shalt dwell
Citizen of that Rome where Christ is Roman).
When our children grow up and go out to see many sorts of manners, and many different standards of conduct, one of their safeguards will be in the idea they have formed of what is worth while. Pleasure and success and admiration they will want all these, and to almost every one of them some small triumphs will be given, and whether these are sufficient will depend on what they are accustomed to see valued. Let us then covet one gift for our children, that of unwordliness. It does not make for success, it does not secure against errors; it is compatible with grave faults, but it is the salt of life, of life eternal. It preserves whole and pure a certain nobility of character, and a quick perception of all things that tend to nobleness. It gives the faculty of discernment, it does not confound high with low and small with great. The things that matter! If we found ourselves in the palace of truth, and were compelled to say what these things are, I wonder what our answer would be.
Goodness, power, admiration, amusement, which is it? If we do not know or rather if we choose to think we do not I am very sure our children will know with an absolute certainty. There is no truer word in Scripture than that trenchant one of our Lord's, "Therefore they shall be your judges." And they will judge as not in maturing life, when
"The years that pass more heavily
Write large lines of charity
Upon our foreheads, and far less
Of expectation,"
but in the first flush of triumphant youth, when the heart has neither much reverence nor much loyalty, and when it is too soon for any mists of tenderness to have gathered over the home horizon, softening and harmonising it in the long blue distance.
Mercy, charity, longsuffering, these are lessons of later life; but youth is the time for uncompromising judgments, and I doubt if we ever see so clearly again. One of life's most difficult problems is to distinguish between the sin and the sinner, and still more, perhaps, to discern between what is really unsound in the character and what is only attributable to bringing up and surroundings, and I think the tendency, of this age at any rate, is towards too universal toleration. People have not the courage to say, "This is evil and that is wrong"; they are afraid to formulate any moral judgment; they would rather take refuge in a limp false charity, which is really a culpable indifference to the great issues of right and wrong doing. This, at least, is not one of the temptations of youth. "They shall be your judges," therefore let our standard of conduct be, at least, as exacting as theirs, while we must look with "other, kinder eyes" on those who fall short of it.
It must often happen that direct teaching falls to the ground, that in the march of time and science different views will be held, and that in things which are mere matters of opinion differences will exist; but all this will be as nothing if the aim and ideal remain the same. If we have understood noble things; if we have felt and acted as though nobleness were the one thing worth being and having; if through sordidness and worldliness, we have sought out and believed in pure motives; if we have been of those who cy out to the unseen ideal, "Thou tarriest, and I have not said thou art not, nor all thy night long have denied thy day," then, I say that our children are breathing an atmosphere which is verily life-giving, and that mean aims and low motives will be to them destruction and not delight.
There are voices which carry conviction. A short time ago, when I had been pondering the question of how much home-teaching is likely to cling through life, such an one said to me "I believe in atmosphere." The words thrilled through me and I felt I had got the key of the problem. Since then I, too, elect to believe in atmosphere in those choices, preferences, tendencies, which have no completion here, but which old from and flow into the limitless eternity.
"For an ye heard a music, like enow
They are building still. Seeing the city is built
To music, therefore never built at all,
And, therefore, built for ever."
"Gourmet" Cooking--Laughter is the Best Medicine
Those who have known me all my life are amazed to see how life has changed me over the last few years. In high school, I had goals of being a powerful high-level business executive after college. Six years ago, I was well on my way to achieving this goal and was working in the financial services industry for UBS/PaineWebber. I was graduating from college and had goals and dreams of going places, and then everything changed.
When I married my dh over fourteen years ago, I made a very specific list (or disclosure, as I laughingly call it) of goals and dreams I planned to achieve and weaknesses I wished him to be aware of. One of the things we discussed was me working and him staying him once we had children. The other thing I remember telling him was that I don't know how to cook, I don't want to know how to cook and if you plan on eating when we are married you will cook or make enough money to do takeout every night. lol
After I had my firstborn, I remember feeling devastated when I had to leave her and go back to work. All of a sudden, I wanted to be home with her more than anything. But, neither my husband or I had prepared for this possibility. He wasn't prepared to be the sole breadwinner and I hadn't had any preparation or training for being at home.
But, when life slapped us upside the head a few years ago, we realized that things had to change. We took a leap of faith, and I quit working. We honestly didn't know how we were going to make it financially. But, every month money came in from somewhere unexpectedly. To us, this was confirmation that we were on the right path. Step-by-step we moved forward, baby steps, and sometimes taking a few steps backwards.
We began homeschooling our daughter, who was four at the time. I fell in love with the idea of home education and realized that I never wanted it to change. My daughter was like a beautiful flower blossoming and growing in wisdom and grace before my very eyes. I would miss all of this if I sent her away.
However, even though I was at home all day, I was still not cooking very well. We ate simply--boxed or frozen meals most often, or my husband cooked occasionally. More often than we should have, we ate out. I was insecure with my cooking ability and didn't feel that we had the money for me to experiment and learn.
Which brings me to a year and a half ago. One evening, my baby had an anaphylactic reaction to our meal. (That figures, one of the few times I actually cooked!) We were eating pancakes and eggs for dinner, and all of a sudden our beautiful baby broke out in hives and swelled up. For the first two weeks, we were uncertain what she had reacted to and we lived off of beans and lettuce (which are very unlikely to cause allergic reactions). Fortunately, she was still nursing and that helped. After taking her to the allergy clinic, we learned that she had allergies to milk, wheat and eggs.
Try taking milk, wheat and egg out of your diet and see what foods you have left. Let me tell you, at first, it seemed impossible. It definitely required me to leave my Banquet boxed meals and Stouffer's lasagnas at the store and COOK FROM SCRATCH! SCARY! God really does have a sense of humor. He was determined to make a cook out of me somehow, and necessity motivated me to learn.
The Health Food Store and the Asian market up the street from my house are now my new best friends, and my family is laughing (under their breath, of course in case I decide to throw a skillet or two) at the idea of ME spending hours in the kitchen. The funny thing is. . . I am laughing right along with them.
When I married my dh over fourteen years ago, I made a very specific list (or disclosure, as I laughingly call it) of goals and dreams I planned to achieve and weaknesses I wished him to be aware of. One of the things we discussed was me working and him staying him once we had children. The other thing I remember telling him was that I don't know how to cook, I don't want to know how to cook and if you plan on eating when we are married you will cook or make enough money to do takeout every night. lol
After I had my firstborn, I remember feeling devastated when I had to leave her and go back to work. All of a sudden, I wanted to be home with her more than anything. But, neither my husband or I had prepared for this possibility. He wasn't prepared to be the sole breadwinner and I hadn't had any preparation or training for being at home.
But, when life slapped us upside the head a few years ago, we realized that things had to change. We took a leap of faith, and I quit working. We honestly didn't know how we were going to make it financially. But, every month money came in from somewhere unexpectedly. To us, this was confirmation that we were on the right path. Step-by-step we moved forward, baby steps, and sometimes taking a few steps backwards.
We began homeschooling our daughter, who was four at the time. I fell in love with the idea of home education and realized that I never wanted it to change. My daughter was like a beautiful flower blossoming and growing in wisdom and grace before my very eyes. I would miss all of this if I sent her away.
However, even though I was at home all day, I was still not cooking very well. We ate simply--boxed or frozen meals most often, or my husband cooked occasionally. More often than we should have, we ate out. I was insecure with my cooking ability and didn't feel that we had the money for me to experiment and learn.
Which brings me to a year and a half ago. One evening, my baby had an anaphylactic reaction to our meal. (That figures, one of the few times I actually cooked!) We were eating pancakes and eggs for dinner, and all of a sudden our beautiful baby broke out in hives and swelled up. For the first two weeks, we were uncertain what she had reacted to and we lived off of beans and lettuce (which are very unlikely to cause allergic reactions). Fortunately, she was still nursing and that helped. After taking her to the allergy clinic, we learned that she had allergies to milk, wheat and eggs.
Try taking milk, wheat and egg out of your diet and see what foods you have left. Let me tell you, at first, it seemed impossible. It definitely required me to leave my Banquet boxed meals and Stouffer's lasagnas at the store and COOK FROM SCRATCH! SCARY! God really does have a sense of humor. He was determined to make a cook out of me somehow, and necessity motivated me to learn.
The Health Food Store and the Asian market up the street from my house are now my new best friends, and my family is laughing (under their breath, of course in case I decide to throw a skillet or two) at the idea of ME spending hours in the kitchen. The funny thing is. . . I am laughing right along with them.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
My meme
What is your favorite food? Fettuccine Alfredo & Garlic Bread dipped in balsamic vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil
What is your favorite restaurant? Probably Olive Garden (although my dh likes Johnny Carino's better, so we usually eat there); used to be Applewoods, but the last time we went there it was AWFUL. Harrigans is closed, now, unfortunately :-(
What is your favorite dessert? Anything chocolate, although Marble Slab Birthday Cake ice cream is awesome!
What is your favorite drink? Braums egg nog or virgin pina coladas
What type of chocolate do you like best, white, milk or dark? white
What is your favorite breakfast cereal? Fruity Pebbles
Garlic, hate it or want it on everything? Love it, no vampires for me!
White or dark meat? White meat, dark makes me ill
Spaghetti with meatballs or meat sauce? meat sauce, but usually I have it meatless
Do you like to cook? Sometimes, but preferably without little children underfoot (which rarely happens). It usually turns out better that way. .
What is your favorite restaurant? Probably Olive Garden (although my dh likes Johnny Carino's better, so we usually eat there); used to be Applewoods, but the last time we went there it was AWFUL. Harrigans is closed, now, unfortunately :-(
What is your favorite dessert? Anything chocolate, although Marble Slab Birthday Cake ice cream is awesome!
What is your favorite drink? Braums egg nog or virgin pina coladas
What type of chocolate do you like best, white, milk or dark? white
What is your favorite breakfast cereal? Fruity Pebbles
Garlic, hate it or want it on everything? Love it, no vampires for me!
White or dark meat? White meat, dark makes me ill
Spaghetti with meatballs or meat sauce? meat sauce, but usually I have it meatless
Do you like to cook? Sometimes, but preferably without little children underfoot (which rarely happens). It usually turns out better that way. .
Once a Pun a Time. . .
Once A Pun A Time -------------
1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony
wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.
2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but
don't start anything."
3. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste
funny to you?"
4. "Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.'" "That
sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome" "Is it common?" Well, "It's Not Unusual."
5. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly,
"I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," says
Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" exclaims Daisy.
6. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to
look at either.
7. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
8. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find
any.
9. A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted,
"Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you
can't - I've cut off your arms!"
10. I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a mussel.
11. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
12. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the
craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your
kayak and heat it too.
13. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in
the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour,
the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why,"
they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts
boasting in an open foyer." !
14. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a
family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain;
they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his
birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she
wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're
twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
15. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which
produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little,
which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad
breath. This made him .(Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good)..... A super
calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
16. And finally, there was the person who sent twenty different puns to his
friends, with the hope that at least ten of the puns would make them laugh.
No pun in ten did.
1. Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony
wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.
2. A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, "I'll serve you, but
don't start anything."
3. Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other: "Does this taste
funny to you?"
4. "Doc, I can't stop singing 'The Green, Green Grass of Home.'" "That
sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome" "Is it common?" Well, "It's Not Unusual."
5. Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly,
"I was artificially inseminated this morning." "I don't believe you," says
Dolly. "It's true, no bull!" exclaims Daisy.
6. An invisible man marries an invisible woman. The kids were nothing to
look at either.
7. Deja Moo: The feeling that you've heard this bull before.
8. I went to buy some camouflage trousers the other day but I couldn't find
any.
9. A man woke up in a hospital after a serious accident. He shouted,
"Doctor, doctor, I can't feel my legs!" The doctor replied, "I know you
can't - I've cut off your arms!"
10. I went to a seafood disco last week...and pulled a mussel.
11. What do you call a fish with no eyes? A fsh.
12. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the
craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your
kayak and heat it too.
13. A group of chess enthusiasts checked into a hotel and were standing in
the lobby discussing their recent tournament victories. After about an hour,
the manager came out of the office and asked them to disperse. "But why,"
they asked, as they moved off. "Because", he said, "I can't stand chess-nuts
boasting in an open foyer." !
14. A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a
family in Egypt and is named "Ahmal." The other goes to a family in Spain;
they name him "Juan." Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his
birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she
wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, "They're
twins! If you've seen Juan, you've seen Ahmal."
15. Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which
produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little,
which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad
breath. This made him .(Oh, man, this is so bad, it's good)..... A super
calloused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.
16. And finally, there was the person who sent twenty different puns to his
friends, with the hope that at least ten of the puns would make them laugh.
No pun in ten did.
Family Togetherness and Snow Days
We've had a wonderful weekend being snowed in by the ice storm that began last Friday. Sometime last week, we made the decision to pack up and go to my brother's in case we lost power (which seemed likely at the first forecasts). He has a fireplace and a much bigger home than we have, so even if my parents ended up over there, there would be plenty of room for all of us. Of course, after we got there, things changed and weren't nearly as bad as we anticipated, but we enjoyed our little mini-vacation anyway. They were very gracious and hospitable and made our time there very pleasant.
Not knowing what would happen, we packed up about 4-5 days worth of food and clothing, along with our three kids and headed over. The kids were thrilled. They love Uncle Gary & Aunt Stacy and they especially love watching their movies on their big screen TV. They have a whole toy room set up for them over there, and that makes it nice because they have their own "space" over there.
Saturday evening we headed back home, and joked that we would see them again at 2am Sunday when we lost power. Fortunately, that did not happen, and we are toasty warm in our own home again, enjoying homemade potato soup (made by my wonderful dh while he was kind enough to let me enjoy a long winter's nap) and watching Chronicles of Narnia. I think the worst of the weather is behind us, so once again, I prepared for a disaster that did not occur (I tend to be that way, you know--maybe its a firstborn thing!). Of course, if we hadn't prepared, Murphy's Law would have applied and we would have been certain to lose power.
Even though we homeschool, I have allowed my kids a couple of snow days, so that we would have plenty of time before the storm hit for shopping and preparation time (I pre-cooked my meat, knowing we could always reheat it on the grill or camp stove). We always do more school that what the law requires anyway, especially if you count all of the educational field trips we take each year.
Speaking of field trips, Eenie and Meanie keep begging me to go back to the dinosaur museum (The Sam Noble Natural History Museum in Norman, OK). I'm wondering how many four-year old boys and eight-year old girls even care about museums. My kids even love the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. I remember being bored to tears with that one as a child, but my kids are thrilled when we go. My daughter even loves the artwork and will work to identify the medium and artist of each piece she views.
Of course, with our school following the classical approach to education, my children are exposed to a lot of good literature, nature studies, art, music and poetry, so maybe that has influenced their tastes differently than I was as a child. We enjoyed Shakespeare in the Park with them last summer, and everyone but Miney (2-year old girl) thought it was awesome. They even begged to see Two Gentlemen of Verona a second time (I was very happy to oblige, of course).
It's amazing how excited my children can be about their education. Of course, there are times when they are like any other children, and would rather play than buckle down and do school, but, overall, they are really happy with what they are learning. My goal is not to just cram a bunch of facts in them, which they could care less about. I memorized so many lists and dates when I was a child, and now I can hardly remember any of them. Instead, I want to stimulate a lifelong love for reading and learning in my children's minds. I believe that if I can stimulate this love (rather than killing it like what happens in traditional school settings), then they will eventually take off on their own and continue to learn and grow for the rest of their lives.
I read a book in the last couple of years called A Thomas Jefferson Education, which gives a great deal of insight into this philosophy. Years ago, people were better educated than we are today. Our founding fathers received an education that was second to none and gave them a wonderful foundation (along with their religious faith) for building a new nation. What has happened to education today? We may have advanced technologically and scientifically, but do our children care about what they are learning? Unless this changes, our nation is doomed to failure. It happened in ancient Rome and in various other civilizations, and it will happen again, unless we begin to stem the tide.
We must get back to the foundation, rather than be so prideful to believe we have grown beyond it. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, nature study, good classics, music, poetry, art, theatre, coupled with good role models and mentors. We need to ditch the TV's and computers (not really, of course, but we need to minimize our emphasis on these tools) and control our use of technology, rather than allowing technology to control us.
It is times like these "snow days" that our emphasis on technology really hits home. We are too dependent on it, and have lost the self-sufficiency that our forefathers had. We depend to much on foreign oil and other imports, and too little on our own resources. Yet we claim what a proud, strong and independent nation we are. We are only free because our forefathers lived and died for values that we seem to have thrown out the window.
God forgive us. . .
Not knowing what would happen, we packed up about 4-5 days worth of food and clothing, along with our three kids and headed over. The kids were thrilled. They love Uncle Gary & Aunt Stacy and they especially love watching their movies on their big screen TV. They have a whole toy room set up for them over there, and that makes it nice because they have their own "space" over there.
Saturday evening we headed back home, and joked that we would see them again at 2am Sunday when we lost power. Fortunately, that did not happen, and we are toasty warm in our own home again, enjoying homemade potato soup (made by my wonderful dh while he was kind enough to let me enjoy a long winter's nap) and watching Chronicles of Narnia. I think the worst of the weather is behind us, so once again, I prepared for a disaster that did not occur (I tend to be that way, you know--maybe its a firstborn thing!). Of course, if we hadn't prepared, Murphy's Law would have applied and we would have been certain to lose power.
Even though we homeschool, I have allowed my kids a couple of snow days, so that we would have plenty of time before the storm hit for shopping and preparation time (I pre-cooked my meat, knowing we could always reheat it on the grill or camp stove). We always do more school that what the law requires anyway, especially if you count all of the educational field trips we take each year.
Speaking of field trips, Eenie and Meanie keep begging me to go back to the dinosaur museum (The Sam Noble Natural History Museum in Norman, OK). I'm wondering how many four-year old boys and eight-year old girls even care about museums. My kids even love the Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. I remember being bored to tears with that one as a child, but my kids are thrilled when we go. My daughter even loves the artwork and will work to identify the medium and artist of each piece she views.
Of course, with our school following the classical approach to education, my children are exposed to a lot of good literature, nature studies, art, music and poetry, so maybe that has influenced their tastes differently than I was as a child. We enjoyed Shakespeare in the Park with them last summer, and everyone but Miney (2-year old girl) thought it was awesome. They even begged to see Two Gentlemen of Verona a second time (I was very happy to oblige, of course).
It's amazing how excited my children can be about their education. Of course, there are times when they are like any other children, and would rather play than buckle down and do school, but, overall, they are really happy with what they are learning. My goal is not to just cram a bunch of facts in them, which they could care less about. I memorized so many lists and dates when I was a child, and now I can hardly remember any of them. Instead, I want to stimulate a lifelong love for reading and learning in my children's minds. I believe that if I can stimulate this love (rather than killing it like what happens in traditional school settings), then they will eventually take off on their own and continue to learn and grow for the rest of their lives.
I read a book in the last couple of years called A Thomas Jefferson Education, which gives a great deal of insight into this philosophy. Years ago, people were better educated than we are today. Our founding fathers received an education that was second to none and gave them a wonderful foundation (along with their religious faith) for building a new nation. What has happened to education today? We may have advanced technologically and scientifically, but do our children care about what they are learning? Unless this changes, our nation is doomed to failure. It happened in ancient Rome and in various other civilizations, and it will happen again, unless we begin to stem the tide.
We must get back to the foundation, rather than be so prideful to believe we have grown beyond it. Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, nature study, good classics, music, poetry, art, theatre, coupled with good role models and mentors. We need to ditch the TV's and computers (not really, of course, but we need to minimize our emphasis on these tools) and control our use of technology, rather than allowing technology to control us.
It is times like these "snow days" that our emphasis on technology really hits home. We are too dependent on it, and have lost the self-sufficiency that our forefathers had. We depend to much on foreign oil and other imports, and too little on our own resources. Yet we claim what a proud, strong and independent nation we are. We are only free because our forefathers lived and died for values that we seem to have thrown out the window.
God forgive us. . .
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Sizzle Boppin Days--Introduction to Our House
We are getting back into the swing of things with our second term of school. The kids are very lively. The snow and ice keeping them in hasn't helped. They do much better when we have trampoline time (aka, P.E. class). Classical education is a wonderful thing. It's amazing the twaddle they read in public schools nowadays. What in the world has happened to education?!?! No wonder America is falling further and further behind.
Even learning challenged students can have a classical education, albeit a modified one. My oldest has been diagnosed with development visual issues. In school, she would be labeled L.D. and stuck in a class with children who are "slow". She is very intelligent--she just learns differently. And, thus, we have chose to customize her education by homeschooling. She sees a therapist for her learning difficulties and has already made vast strides in overcoming her difficulties. At school, she would already be discouraged, but at home, she is given a chance to overcome her challenges without being demoralized in the process. It is wonderful to think about the possibilities in each of my children.
My second child is so different (of course he is a boy and that is REAL different), but he is special. He has been trying to teach himself how to read. I was determined to hold him off, but have finally broken down and decided to teach him because he won't leave me alone. The vision therapy doctor might not promote this step (since they recommend delaying formal reading education), but I'm going to follow my gut on this one.
My last child is just a little hell raiser. A boy, you might ask? Unfortunately, no. She is an adorable and deceptively innocent little girl. Maybe it's the older brother's influence? Or maybe she just has to hold her own as the baby of the family, but she could beat up both of my other children. . . if only she were a little bigger. Fortunately, she is very tiny for her age so that keeps her in check.
A few years ago, I worked in financial services, but now I am content to be at home. My husband of fourteen years is very supportive and is very committed to our kids. He has worked two jobs at times and sacrificed so much for me to be at home with the children.
I am very blessed.
Even learning challenged students can have a classical education, albeit a modified one. My oldest has been diagnosed with development visual issues. In school, she would be labeled L.D. and stuck in a class with children who are "slow". She is very intelligent--she just learns differently. And, thus, we have chose to customize her education by homeschooling. She sees a therapist for her learning difficulties and has already made vast strides in overcoming her difficulties. At school, she would already be discouraged, but at home, she is given a chance to overcome her challenges without being demoralized in the process. It is wonderful to think about the possibilities in each of my children.
My second child is so different (of course he is a boy and that is REAL different), but he is special. He has been trying to teach himself how to read. I was determined to hold him off, but have finally broken down and decided to teach him because he won't leave me alone. The vision therapy doctor might not promote this step (since they recommend delaying formal reading education), but I'm going to follow my gut on this one.
My last child is just a little hell raiser. A boy, you might ask? Unfortunately, no. She is an adorable and deceptively innocent little girl. Maybe it's the older brother's influence? Or maybe she just has to hold her own as the baby of the family, but she could beat up both of my other children. . . if only she were a little bigger. Fortunately, she is very tiny for her age so that keeps her in check.
A few years ago, I worked in financial services, but now I am content to be at home. My husband of fourteen years is very supportive and is very committed to our kids. He has worked two jobs at times and sacrificed so much for me to be at home with the children.
I am very blessed.
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