Outside My Window... it's a beautifully cold and blustery day out there today, with the sun's warmly shining rays seeming to shoo away the day's soggy-gray beginnings. The wind's now blowing through the mostly bared branches of our Maple tree, tugging on her last few brown and withered leaves, beckoning their surrender, parading them through the air and scattering them carelessly along the littered, wet ground. A Northeasterly wind has brought this year's first wintery flurries of crystalline flakes our way this morning, quietly covering the fading colors of Fall strewn about our yard with a translucently thin veil of lacey white.

I am thinking... where to start... *sighs* lots... feeling a bit melancholy today I think.

I am thankful for... being able to be home, and therefore available to comfort my cranky-crying-oh-so-miserably-because-she's-teething-baby by holding her close and snugging most of our day away in the rocker, comfort nursing and distracting her with our favorite picture books, even though it means that barely anything from my list of things that I'd needed hoped to get done today is getting accomplished...

From the kitchen... not much as of yet. It's nice and clean though, thanks to N. I baked some wholewheat banana nut bread, muffins and peanut butter cookies over the weekend. I also got the food dehydrator out of storage, cleaned it up and am going to attempt to dry out some apple slices with it. Planning to make baked potatoes, salad and baked bar-b-que chicken for dinner tonight, and then possibly bake some bread and make spaghetti tomorrow.

I am wearing... Okay, am I the only one that always feels weirded out by this question? I mean, do you really want to know, does it even matter? Sorry, melancholy for me usually means I'm thinking way too much about everything as well, though I don't mean to be, I promise! LOL Love this meme, really, other than this question which just bugs me, which probably means nothing whatsoever, except that it just kinda creeps me out for no good reason and I really probably ought to just lighten up a bit, maybe? Um, I'm wearing clothes-I promise, clean ones, and slippers to keep my bare feet off the cold tile floors. Oh, and a sleeping (finally wore herself out with crying) 15 month old baby girl is sprawled over me, cozily snoozing under a fuzzy pink blanket. Maybe I'll just start answering this one figuratively?

I am creating... a menu plan and grocery lists for an early Thanksgiving celebration dinner with my sister, brother and niece who are driving up from the MS Gulfcoast this weekend. Wooo-hooo!

I am going... to be practicing the choreography for the dance I'm participating in with my dance class a lot this week. We're performing it on stage this weekend! It's beautiful, to Steve Fee's Here I am for You off his Sacred Space album but I'm Oh. so. nervous! Um, yeah, just a wee bit of an understatement there! I have to keep reminding myself of what our class motto seems to be:

I'm dancing for an audience of ONE, my Lord alone!

We are learning... about the Great Wall of China, Egyptian Pharoahs and pyramids, a bit more about George Washington, reading some great literature, of horses and revolution, of Zoology and The Story of Inventions, some Geometry and long division, still trying to master those multiplication facts, and the kids are reading chronologically arranged portions of Scripture from the New Testament and then journaling about their readings for their private Bible devotions.

I am reading... lots of reviews and articles comparing and contrasting various digital SLR cameras, specifically Nikons and Canons, as well as some tutorials and reviews of Photoshop Elements software... *sighs* Still a bit confused about what exactly I need, as to which would be the best investment for me, but knowing most any of those babies would be dreamy... Yes, dreaming big photography dreams here lately.

I am hoping... um, to be able to someday actually buy a really nice digital SLR camera? and lens(es) ...hopefully sooner, rather than later. Oh!- And that I don't fall flat on my face when trying to dance ((gracefully-maybe? pray for me!)) this weekend...

I am hearing... T playing Angels We Have Heard On High and Silent Night (two of my favorites) beautifully on her violin, and lots of crying from an unconsolable baby today. She was even crying in her sleep last night, which sounds absolutely pitiful. These molars cutting in are giving her lots of pain.

Around the house... aaaaargh, soooo much mess clutter to clean up. We did get all of the carpeted floors shampooed over the weekend, so that's good. All's clean under that chaos! Haha. But where does all of this stuff come from anyways? Are someone else's black holes dumping on my house? And to think of how much we've gotten rid of this past year already, yipes?! The kids are now getting ready to be picked up for their dance practice, so glad that it's not my turn to take them, worked out perfectly for me to stay here with sleeping baby S today (if only madly barking DOG would shut up! now that their ride is here, arrrgh!). Okay, quiet again, just baby S and I here with now-shushed dog.

One of my favorite things... my contentedly sleeping baby, and the way her fuzzy-haired head smells as she slumbers under my chin.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

1. Finish my menu plans for our Thanksgiving feast and go shopping for everything I'll be needing.
2. Finish cleaning my house up as much as possible before my sister, brother and niece get here on Saturday morning (that includes all laundry and kids' bedrooms)!
3. Practice that dance until I know it by heart and can totally do it without thinking about it, so that I can truly worship as I dance.
4. See to it that T makes it to her basketball tryouts tonight (hoping to stay home while Chris brings her), and N to his game on Thursday, which is at the same time as my dance practice... Sooo, I'll have to drop him off and then head straight over to my practice, bringing the girls along with me, while Chris will go straight from his work to N's game, to watch him and bring him home. Normally Chris stays home with the kids during my dance practices, fortunately this is N's only Thursday game for the next couple of months. Then N his second practice of the week on Friday afternoon.
5. Call up the Symphony of the Mountains to register T to play with the Youth Orchestra, per her violin instructor's recommendation. Oh, she is SO. EXCITED! As am I, for her, to see her living a dream of hers. Thank you Lord.
6. Chris and I plan to get our free-ranging hens fenced in around their house so that we can find out just how many eggs they're laying. We've been finding where the new girls (last Spring's chicks) recently started laying their eggs in hidy-holes elsewhere from their nesting boxes, so we're going to corral them in and fix that problem. Sneaky Samson's coat sure is looking extra shiney these days besides... I'm missing my organic-feed-fed/free-range eggs. C'mon Girls, get with the program here, wouldya!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

My Dancing Girls.

I haven't participated in this meme before, Blogger Friend School, which provides a weekly "blogging homework" theme. As I was browsing through some of the amazing blogs listed over at the HSB Awards, I clicked onto this week's theme for the BFS, and was totally inspired to join in, since it goes hand in hand with thoughts and observations I've been having here in the last couple weeks anyways. Technically, I believe that the "assignment" is supposed to be posted on Tuesday?, but in my natural way, I'm posting mine a day two days late!

 

The passion to sing, the passion to draw, the passion to build, the passion to ride, the passion for reading, the passion for nature… the list is endless. Some children exhibit their passion from day one, others need an experience to spark that passion.

Assignment: Share a field trip/lifestyle learning experience where you really felt you were bringing good things to life for your children, where something came alive for them, or ignited a passion.

This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately... the facilitating of that passion to learn, to build and to creatively express ones self; that desire to grow and to become something great that's within us all, my own children specifically, manifesting itself in so many various talents. As a parent and my children's primary instructor, it's important to me that I culture their God-given abilities and desires, bringing these good things to life, if you will... while at the same time realizing that I truly am not taking the lead... in that it's not all up to me to conjure these up in my kids. Rather, I'm watching, listening, and waiting on the Holy Spirit to show me their intrinsic giftings, and praying for His guidance as I plan our studies and their activities.

As I'm doing my best to daily immerse our kids in an engaging learning environment and introducing them to a variety of inspiring subjects, I am delighted to be discovering their passions with them, and comforted in the remembrance that these precious soul stirrings and that ultimate quickening of their spirits towards Him are all individual workings of His Spirit within them, as we're learning to walk out His Word in our lives together, and therefore not solely dependent upon me, nor anyone else. I need but tune in to them, and especially their Creator, while keeping my eyes wide open to the opportunities abounding in each moment as we journey together each day, lest I miss those small sparks that would ultimately kindle their passions and thereby could someday even dictate their very livelihoods.

I have found that with our oldest daughter, 9yo T, who is my "go-getter", this is an easier thing to recognize; her passions. She talks about it, and initiates doing stuff working towards that end on her own. When she's inspired, the results are much more extravagant and obvious than when our 12 yo son, N is impassioned. He tends to discover passions (like writing, dance, reading a certain book, horse riding) after I've suggested he try something out. Lately I have been fascinated over the inter-connectedness of their blossoming personalities with the opportunities they've been offered thusfar in their young lives. I'm left to wonder over how beautifully it has all worked together... and question which came first, a specific passion or was an experience the catalyst of curiosity turned to desire? I've been musing over what the ramifications of these truths could be, not only in my kids' lives, but in my own as well.

And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.

~ Romans 8.28

It's certainly a mystery profound how the Sovereign Lord choreographs our very lives, nurturing those seeds of talent He placed within us, even as He knit us in the womb, while simultaneously allowing the free-will of our individuality. It's caused me to consider the weighty responsibility Chris and I have as parents to introduce our children- His children- to a wide array of possibilities, directing them toward His truths, and presenting them with an assortment of rich ideas for their minds and hearts to grow upon. Gradually, I am learning to recognize when the "education" is doing its work within them, and to therefore not snuff out the tiny flames which seem yet so insignificant by my own lofty unrealistic adult-perspective qualifying standards, set mostly by pre-conceived ideas of how learning "should look"... Meaningful learning does not necessarily mean a finished *project*. I'm learning to look with my child-eyes again.

For instance, the other day when T showed me the language she's creating for the characters in one of her stories, my first teacherly-Mom thoughts were along the lines of, "well, that's not a real language... why should she be wasting her time and all of that good language interest and energies with this when we could be working on our Latin or Hebrew?" Thankfully, in the next instant, I realized that I was witnessing a beautifully genuine representation of this child's love for language and passion for writing. And so the thoughts I expressed to her were those of encouragement and "why not?, how clever!" and musings over the inceptions of various languages.

But that was not the only challenge along these lines that either one of my kids have thrown at my feeble mind in the last couple of weeks. Last month N, who's been taking guitar lessons for just over a year now (that was his own inspired idea, which he faltered in when it came to the monotany of daily practice), announced to me that he'd like to come up with his own song to play at our co-op's end of the year student presentations ceremony... I immediately had to shush my overly-conservative, doubtful-of-his-being-ready-to-do-that thoughts right up. After months of laboring resistantly through daily practicings on his guitar, he's made it over some kind of mental hump, and now usually plays daily (without my having to tell him to!), and tells me he absolutely loves it. He was also greatly inspired by the movie August Rush. As we're driving home from his lessons, he often tells me excitedly of what he's learning, and how encouraging his guitar teacher is. Just last week his instructor told him that he could play his own songs without having any music written out(?!), and could even learn to play chords he hasn't yet formally learned, just by intently listening to a piece of music and then copying what he hears. Imagine that... I am so thankful for the many wonderfully inspiring people that have been God's vessels of instruction for our kids  (and myself) over the years, what evidence of HIS faithful provision! On so very many levels, this whole parenting/homeschooling business has been such a growing experience for my own faith levels.

And I know that I've mentioned here before of how my daring daughter gets these crazy inspired ideas to do things that are much bigger than any goals I'd ever set for her. I've seen how God has been faithful to send others into our lives to facilitate dreaming and passions that I could not... but I'm apparently a slow learner. Usually my first (natural) impulse is to caution her and help her to pare her visions down a bit, set her sights more realistically... but her fervor and insistence that she can and has already counted the cost of a conceived endeavour has once again inspired me, and as I've let go of the reigns I had moments before fearfully rationally tightened my grip on, I've been further delighted to see how God has sent others to come along side of me/us to see that her fans are flamed and help set her on the path to accomplishing these fantastic goals that I couldn't have orchestrated or provided for on my own, let alone have even decided upon.

Once again, this week it seems that another request, prayerfully offered up by a girl with bigger faith shoes than I can fill has been fulfilled by a generous Father.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows...     

~ James 1.17

T has praise in her heart. She loves to put on worship music and dance before the Lord enthusiastically. It's something that I've enjoyed doing with my kids since they were babies in my arms, twirling together with hands lifted high. T told me on Monday that she'd like to choreograph her own dance to a Third Day song and perform it at the aforementioned homeschool co-op student presentation ceremony. I gulped down my doubts, astonished at her brevity, again. She proceeded to explain her plans to me, and I just nodded along as I listened, knowing better than to discourage her resolve. "I'm going to ask Mrs. Jamie (her dance instructor- that's another testimony we have of His great provision for us- scholarships for dance lessons) to help me with my moves and figuring it all out." "That's a good idea." "Okay then, you'll have to wait for me a little bit longer after class so that I can talk to her about it." I agreed. And after her dance class ended on Tuesday, I watched as she gingerly approached her teacher, holding her passion close, encased in a dream that she proceeded to share with a trusted confidante. To my great surprise and delight, Jamie agreed to help her and meet with her a half hour before her class, every week- for free! I went back and checked with her myself after T told me, just to make sure it was really alright! Is that crazy-generous, and just like God, or what?! Needless to say, T is so excited about it that she's on fire now, and has asked a dancing friend that we carpool with to join her in the dance! She's been busily drawing and dancing up her choreography plans. Here's what she's got so far:

I tried getting some pictures of her dancing, but she wouldn't cooperate.

She did, however, allow me to take some pictures of her practicing on her violin. This - her opportunity to play the violin this year- is another story of her aspirations met by the willing Hand of Providence.

T has wanted to take violin lessons for years. I believe that the desire was probably first sparked sometime in her toddlerhood, when we spent a great deal of time with friends, whose then highschool daughter played the violin beautifully. She would watch and listen to her play intently every chance that she got. She began asking for lessons a few years ago, but we couldn't afford private violin lessons, and neither Chris nor I can even read music (something which both of our children are now learning to do quite well -without us!).  As I do, I told her that I would join in her praying that if it be His will, that He would provide an avenue for this opportunity for her. Then last year, we were blessed with the means to pay for N to have the private guitar lessons I mentioned above, and she so wanted the same. She confided to me of how she was struggling with jealousy and I reminded her that he too had been waiting for years for music lessons. Her time would come... and to be patient. Meanwhile, she decided to master her recorder and used the book that it came with to teach herself to read music and play quite a few folk songs. She joined a class offered at our co-op for the recorder, and took heart in my reminder not to despise small beginnings.

Then, to our delighted amazement, a wonderful lady decided to teach a strings class at our homeschool co-op this year, specifically violin and cello. T was beside herself with excitement over this opportunity to finally learn to play her instrument of choice - the violin. Now... if only we had a violin. I prayerfully sought the Lord, trusting Him to provide this too, knowing that with Him in it, it would all come together. Chris and I knew that it would have to happen cheaply to be feasible for us. Then towards the end of last school year, it came up at our Bible study with some friends that T was so glad to be looking forward to taking a violin class at our co-op, and since this friend had played for years, we asked her for suggestions concerning our finding a used violin for T. To our thrilled astonishment, she offered to loan T her own beautiful violin for as long as she needed it.

Time and again I have been blessed to see God's orchestration of timely provision for our children's passions, in both their inceptions and continuity. As their Mother and primary instructor, I find rest in knowing that it is not up to me to bring all these good things to life in their worlds,

      ‘ Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’
Says the LORD of hosts.

~ Zechariah 4.6

but rather I am just an open conduit of His loving kindness and purposes for each of them, His unique creations.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Memory Verse: Philippians 4:8

In conclusion, brothers, focus your thoughts on what is true, noble, righteous, pure, lovable or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy.

My blog here was actually nominated in the HSB Awards for "Best Unschooling or Eclectic Homeschooling Blog 2008"! so if you feel so inclined, I'd really appreciate your vote! ...though I hardly feel worthy to even be listed among so many wonderful homeschool blogs! There are some really GREAT homeschooling blogs listed there in ALL of the categories so be sure and check them out! You WILL be inspired and encouraged, I know that I certainly have been subscribing to some new favorites! Be sure and check them all out, and then VOTE for your favorites!

Outside My Window... it's a sunny day today, but staying cold... beginning to feel very Fallish, and even winterish now that most of the leaves are dropping! All of the foliage along our street is a brilliant display of orange and golds!

I am thinking... the kids are all healthy enough to go to co-op tomorrow. We've all been fighting a virus this week.

I am thankful for... being born on this day, 35 years ago... wow.

From the kitchen... nice and clean (thanks to my awesome 12 year old son). Just made myself a cuppa hot tea with raw honey, still fighting this cough.

I am wearing... jeans and a black knit sweater~ gift from my Mom.

I am creating... blog posts about our recent nature studies, among other things.

I am going... to have a very busy week, with music lessons, dance practices, homeschool co-op, getting ready for my brother and sister's upcoming visit, and N's having his first two basketball games.

We are learning... The kids and I are learning dance choreography for the dances we're participating in with our dance classes (me: adult ballet to Steve Fee's Here I am for You off his Sacred Space album, N and T: Christian hip-hop, um-yeah, who knew?)!

I am reading... some great blogs listed over at the Homeschool Blog Awards, many of them totally new to me!

I am hoping... that baby S sleeps well tonight and feels better tomorrow morning. She's woken up the past two nights with a fever, and six teeth (that I can see) - four of them molars - cutting in. Her gums are all swollen and red.

I am hearing... Secrets of the Dead: Escape From Auschwitz is airing on PBS right now...

Around the house... we got a lot done around here today. Chris worked outside with N while T and I folded and put away laundry, the kids cleaned their rooms, I cooked, got rid of more stuff. Baby S just woke up again and is playing at my feet, peering up at me so cutely.

One of my favorite things... worshiping my Lord through dance...

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Um... let me get back to you on this one, time's up for now!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Our eldest holding his baby sister, our youngest, helping her to pet Mr. Jimbo.

Today I was inspired by this meme over at Heart of the Matter Online:

I know that there are those that have amazing and elaborate school rooms dedicated to housing anything and everything related to homeschooling. There are also those who have mad skills when it comes to organizing and integrating the school into the home rather than having an ‘area’. We then have homeschoolers that pride themselves on the world being their school house and the couch being their desk.

Where do you school? If you are one of the super-organized mothers what tips can you share? If you are more laid back, what encouragement and insight can you offer?

...and so I'm sharing a post here about our "schoolroom". I thought that it'd be fun to show you around a bit. As many of you probably already know, we are definitely not in the first group there, but rather somewhere in that second and mostly even the third description. Super-organized lesson-plans-wise I am not... although I do have journals full of yearly plans, notes to myself concerning various goals for our kids, endless book-lists and all three of our kids' entire 12 years worth of homeschooling careers entirely mapped and tediously re-mapped out (yes, even the baby's!). Yeah, planning is playing for me... it's what I obsess over for fun in my spare time. Funny thing though, we have  yet to have a week go as I'd *planned*, much less a year! Ha!

Our days are generally pretty relaxed and free-flowing, and I'm always open to the unplanned and unexpected, which I just cannot help. It's a good thing too. I've learned that I simply cannot even foresee, let alone plan out the best learning experiences, yet I do try and have our direction and goals laid out which we work towards within the framework of daily routines and habits. If we don't accomplish or finish something one day, there's always tomorrow.

Homeschooling is such a way of life for us that it just IS all the time, everywhere... in my mind, it all *counts* as valuable learning time anyways. Over the years and through three interstate moves within a span of three years, and then some, our home has been through many upheavals changes and therefore what I'd envisioned at the onset of our homeschooling journey was certainly different than how things have turned out. Fortunately I've grown accustomed to our relaxed eclectic approach to homeschooling, else I probably would have lost my mind! Ha!

With that said though, I do believe that it's important to facilitate appropriately structured routines and accountability when it comes to responsibilities for our children as they're discovering and learning in their every day lives, and especially so as they're getting older. This does not come naturally to me, lots of structure I mean. However, realizing that there's basic stuff they definitely need to know, facts to master, skills to learn and just so much wonderful history, literature, etc. that I want to share with my kids (and much of it I'm learning for the first time myself), that we'd most likely never get around to without scheduled, concerted efforts, I'm striving towards making the most of these precious years with our children.

There have been times that I thought having an actual schoolroom- a space set apart- might help us to stay more focused with our studies during the day... but then I've thought, we'd probably not end up spending much time in there anyways, practically speaking. So as a family, we've all pretty much decided that when and IF we ever have an extra room, it would better serve as an art and crafting studio! Anyways, I know what you're thinking, "Enough talk already, ON with the show!" Okay, c'mon then, let me show you around our world *(un)school*room(s).

First off, I'd like to show you just how organized I am trying to be with all of our schoolerish-type stuff, which yes, we do use regularly and yes, it's mostly great literature, maps, paints, crafting stuff, papers, pens and other notebooking supplies. Here we have our giant "books closet",

which was already lined with shelves on two walls when we first moved in here. That metal caddy on wheels is full of my scrapbooking stuff...

I stacked two bookshelves against the third wall, one...

on top of the other, and then filled them all right up!

This giant closet/mini-room is indispensable to me now. I keep the books we're reading and studying from for a given year lined up and accessible on these shelves. Of course, this doesn't include our library books, nor the kids' free reads, etc.  

N and T each have their own shelf this year, since they're now doing their own AO years and individual studies in other areas as well.

You can see here that T has all of her horse study stuff lined up together, but her favorite classroom for her horse study is definitely still the barn...

Then we have our indispensable crafts/notebooking supplies caddy which I like to keep pretty-well organized. You can see it here in this picture, next to T as she's sitting here at our dining room table playing with cuisenaire rods.

or wooly worms...

The kids each have a crate for their notebooks, papers, copywork books, and various other books they're using, which are kept in this big wicker chest, also found in the dining room, under the window, right beside the caddy. This works well because the kids can clean up their messes off the dining room table fairly quickly.

We also have lots of bookshelves in the living room, where we like to spend many hours reading and discussing all that we're learning.

In the living room is our favorite table, our "coffee table" which is rugged and tough as they come. Chris and I found it many years ago in a thrift store, without the glass. We bought this great piece of artwork that someone spent a lot of time building and welding for a mere $10!and then we paid $40 to have thick glass cut for it to lay in the inset, under which we placed a map of the world, which makes for easy referral. This table is used for eating at, gaming and sitting on (and dancing on if your a little person), drawing, coloring, writing, and mathing on too.

And there behind N, you can see our couch, which is our favorite place to cozy up with books to share...

Well, our favorite place next to the field behind our house.

The other littler couch/loveseat is usually where laundry sits waiting to be folded, next to whomever happens to be sitting there reading a book, or on the kids' laptop, or where I like to sit and blog (like now) while Chris and N are watching something on tv.

Sometimes the kids like to do their studies outside with the goats and chickens...

Oh, and let's not forget the kids' favorite place for their late night studies, their Mom and Dad's bed!

Of course there's so many lessons always waiting to be learned in our favorite classroom, the great outdoors as well, like when Dad wants to read to them under the open sky, or when he has big jobs to do with them,


or when a perfect day beckons them outside to build forts... like today.

No matter where, when our how we're learning, I like to remember the concept expressed in this quote from William Butler Yeats...

Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.

Be sure and visit HOTM online's Friday meme for today if you'd like to visit some more schoolrooms. That's where I'm headed now! Happy homeschooling!

...that seasons change... and to everything there is a season.

Thursday Photo Challenge: Thankful

ONE!

To see some more pictures of her sweetness eating her cake(s), you can click here on my flickr. T helped me to make a cake from scratch for baby S, and we found this great recipe from a friend. We also made real Butter Cream frosting for the first time, which was so delectable! I'll share that recipe below as well.

Delicious Marble Cake Recipe

Batter Mix

• 1/4 c. butter
• 1.5 c. sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 3 c. flour
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 c. milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla

Chocolate Mix

• 3 Tbsp. cocoa
• 4 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 c. hot water

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks in one at a time and beat well. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt; add alternately with milk to cream mixture. Add vanilla and mix. Beat egg whites until stiff; fold into batter. Remove 1/3 of batter and set aside.

Mix together cocoa, sugar, baking soda and hot water to make chocolate syrup. Add the chocolate syrup to the 1/3 of cake batter that you've set aside and mix well. Spoon batter into prepared pan (cooking-sprayed and floured), alternating vanilla and chocolate batter. Bake @ 350 degree oven for about 1 hour, or until knife inserted comes out clean.

Buttercream Frosting

• 1/2 c. sugar
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 egg yolks
• 3/4 c. butter, softened
• Milk

In a small pan over medium-high heat, bring sugar and water to a boil, then continue to boil without stirring for 1.5 minutes.
Meanwhile, place egg yolks in a bowl and beat with an electric mixer until light and lemon colored. With beaters going, pour hot syrup into eggs in one steady stream. Do not scrape syrup from pan. Continue to beat, scraping bowl often, for 5 minutes or until mixture feels cool to the touch. Beat in butter, a tablespoon at a time, until light and fluffy. Stir in milk until mixture reaches desired spreading consistency. Makes about 1.5 cups.

~ excerpted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Easy Basics for Good Cooking

Outside My Window... it's dark, curtains pulled. We had crisp Autumn weather outside today, and we were loving it... windows closed to the cold now. It's a beautiful sun-shiny Autumn day... T is out there "building a fort".

I am thinking... how nice it is when the house is quiet in the evenings like this, and the kids all tucked in their beds... makes it hard to make myself go to bed. I'd rather sit up and read, write and ruminate. Someday I'll feel less scatter-brained and will find time to blog more regularly, surly! Okay, I'm trying to finish this and post it for the third or fourth time this week! Pitiful! Yes, I'd started it on Sunday night, and then Monday morning was starting again, and then thought forget it yesterday... I know it's Wed. already and I'd hoped to have these up every Monday, and I almost didn't even post it again this week, but decided "Phooey! I'm going to just finish it now, even if it's late... again." What's crossed out is old news from when I first started, the second or third time around. (yes, I'm seeing the pattern here...)

I am thankful for... this country that I live in, with the freedoms we still have: the freedom to homeschool our kids, to vote my conscience in a presidential election, to openly discuss and debate politics, education and religion, etc. in a public forum... to resist socialism, communism and political correctness, to be different, unique, having resources from which to learn so readily available, and most of all the freedom to worship and celebrate our LORD openly! We're also all very thankful to have just found out that N made the basketball team that he'd tried out for, and he's so excited!

From the kitchen... just put away chicken soup left-overs in fridge, a few dishes left to be done tomorrow. N is doing the dishes, and I'm about to go and make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner. We've finished dinner, and a dirty kitchen beckons...

I am wearing... comfy, cozy pajamas. Jeans, a purple shirt, a knit cardigan and my fave blue slippers.

I am creating... artwork with T, plans for Thanksgiving, photos and ads for some Craigs List postings (getting rid of more stuff!), reading lists for history studies with N who's very intrigued with our American history so we're going a bit slower than I'd planned and immersing in some more books than I'd originally planned... which means we'll be getting to the 20th Century a bit later than I'd planned, but that's okay. It's great to see him so engaged in our historical studies, with all kinds of related political, theological and philosophical musings!

I am going... to have to get up early to get ready for our homeschool co-op in the morning, so need to get some sleep soon! ...to be lucky if I even get this posted this time around as baby S is now pulling on my arm and crying for my attention.** Okay, distracted her with a peeled apple, but son is almost done with dishes and asking when I'm starting dinner...**Now it's after dinner and I have yet to finish this one simple meme!

I am reading... What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist- The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth-Century England, Genesis 6-11, Isaiah 54-55, 1 Peter 3, some blogs, twitters and a lot of political commentaries and posts related to the Presidential elections.

I am hoping... to sell everything we post on Craigs List.

I am hearing... the hum of the dishwasher and N playing with baby S.

Around the house... a few messes to clean up, but we did a good bit of house cleaning yesterday, so not too bad. More laundry is clean and needs folding, as always. T is taking a bath with baby S, Chris and N are watching Glory Road one more time before we send it back to Net Flix.

One of my favorite things... Autumn.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

1. Get items posted to Craigs List.
2. Practice my ballet dance exercises and choreography.
3. Work on homeschool studies with N and T, gradually implementing more grammar and AO books into our daily studies.
4. Sort through and get rid of some more stuff.
5. Help T get her room straight, and show her how to use new washing machine so that she can do her own laundry, as N does.
6. Take  T on a "girls' date" to go shopping for some new clothes for her.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

T with her beloved Jimbo, who was given to us, but we recently had to give away to a new home since we do not have an electric fence and therefore couldn't keep he and his sister, Sheba... They were here as weedeaters, but it turned out to be way too much work to have to relocate their tethers, water and shelter every other day. T really misses them, they were such sweeties.

Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman

The most important motive in the school and in life is the pleasure in the work.

~Albert Einstein

This picture was sneakily taken last Spring, with my handy-dandy zoom lens feature. I had a hard time choosing between it, or this one for this theme. One things I've loved about homeschooling over the years is all of the extra great quality time the kids have gotten to spend learning with their Dad, afforded to us by our being able to work around all of his wacky work-schedules.

Thursday Challenge: for fun and learning

Photo Theme for Today: "SCHOOL" (Students, Campus, School Building, Backpacks, School Supplies, Desks, Books,...)

Next Week: PLANTS (Garden, Vegetables, Fruit, Flowers, Trees,...)

A baby will make love stronger, days shorter, nights longer, bankroll smaller, home happier, clothes shabbier, the past forgotten, and the future worth living for.

Author Unknown

PhotoHunt, baby

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Outside My Window... It's a rainy morning. The pepper plants and marigolds that I transplanted over the weekend, from the garden boxes down by the apple tree, to a new bed here in the backyard, with a bit more shade, are looking much happier in their new home.

I am thinking... I'm trying to be more disciplined and consistent with my writing. Thus, even though it's a day late, I'm still posting my weekly daybook here, on Tuesday. I also entered my last entry, livid in the library, into a carnival, which is a first for me. Renae did such a beautiful job of hosting the 139th Carnival of Homeschooling Edition this week. I just love her Women's Independence Day theme. Be sure and check out the wonderful posts at the HS Carival if you get a chance sometime this week, or whenever.

I am thankful for... the rain, a wonderfully thoughtful Father-in-law (thank you), my iMac's being restored to us, my digital camera... pictures to capture memorable moments in time, my family to take pictures of, and God's beautiful creation too.

From the kitchen... the smell of toasted cinnamon and raisin ww bagels, mingled with freshly brewed coffee. Um, needs cleaning in a big way.

I am wearing... my hair in a ponytail (been wondering if I should get it cut), black sweat pants, forest green "Great Smoky Mountains" t-shirt that I'd actually bought at a thrift shop in Biloxi, MS.

I am creating... a clean house today, and a yummy meal for my beloved to come home to.

I am going... to pick up some groceries later, may even wait until tomorrow, and to a friend's house tomorrow.

I am reading... the myriad of wonderful posts from the 139th Carnival of Homeschooling as well as those from the Charlotte Mason Carnival's Back to School Planning Bash. Also been reading from an over-sized, hard-back copy of ~ FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN. Poor Richard: The Almanacks for the Years 1733-1758. By Richard Saunders. Wherein are retain’d... the Author’s Prefaces, Proverbs, Verses, & entertaining Remarks... Introduction by Van Wyck Brooks... Illustrations by Norman Rockwell.~ with the kids. Would you believe that I picked up this beautiful old 1965 copy from our library's discard shelf for a mere $1.50 a couple of summers ago, in great condition? I'm seeing it selling online for upwards of $100! I guess they're getting rid of all the gems, making room for newer books. *sighs* We've also been reading to each other from other library books on the Revolutionary War time period, some bios of Henry, Washington and Franklin... fascinating stuff.

I am hoping...

I am hearing... kids busily working on cleaning their rooms. This morning, over breakfast, N announced that he'd "given himself an assignment for the day, to clean his room". I laughed and told him that's good, because we're on the same page then, since I'd determined that I need to get the house clean today.

Around the house... the floor is strewn with stuff baby S has pulled out of every room and dropped at whim, clean laundry on the couch waiting to be folded, folded laundry waiting to be put away, big, black wads of Samson's hair all over the floor (even though we've been brushing him often, his 100# self still keeps shedding... and we have to vaccuum EVERY SINGLE DAY...aaagh!)

One of my favorite things... rainy days.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

• Putting together plans for our Fine Art Mondays with a friend. She's teaching Latin to our kids for an hour or so, and then I'm teaching them Art, along with Art appreciation as scheduled on AO, for an hour or so. Therfore, today, I need to get my creative/artistic thoughts and books together to look over and pull from.
• I'd also like to replant the rest of the marigolds up closer to the house, and get the front garden bed weeded.
• Need to set up my bloglines account, which I just started a couple of days ago... plan to start keeping up with my favorite online reads a bit more methodically via subscribing to their RSS feeds. I hear it's easier, and quicker. I'm so behind the times...
• I'm brainstorming ideas with T for our monthly "girl-time" get together with friends, which T and I are hosting at our house next month.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Sisters...

Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman

Weekly Daybook, Simple Woman, journaling, Carnivals

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Outside My Window... A sunny morning has turned into a breezy, somewhat cloudy afternoon. Clothes drying on the line, and a new swing set that our neighbor gave us over the weekend. Their grand kids have outgrown it, and we thought that it would be wonderful to have here for baby S, who LOVES the slides and swings at the park. It's turned out that N and T are having as much fun on it as baby S is... well, almost as much.

I am thinking... Has it already been a whole week since I did my first daybook post? Wow! Yikes... and I'd really like to finish reorganizing my books closet today.

I am thankful for...

• *The joy that resides in my 9yo daughter's heart, evidenced by how she often hums to herself as she writes, or draws, as she's doing now, while working on her "Horse Study Notebook" at the table beside me.
• *That our sweet 1yo (on Thursday!!) baby girl has finally gotten into a nice routine of taking afternoon naps, for about an hour, every day.
• *For a weekend of bounty, that started with Chris calling me while we were at the park on Friday, "to tell me the good news", that Apple is paying to fix our iMac (the logic board needs replacing)!! Wooohooo! It continued with all of our great frugal finds this weekend: from the perfect set of old, white glass salt, pepper & sugar shakers at our fave antique store we meandered around on Saturday, to the "ba-by" that baby S found there for $1, to the new Raggedy Ann doll T found for Aunt Alicia, to the "collectible Blue Ribbon Ranch Breyer horse!" that T also found for $1, to the new (to us) *free* swing set our neighbors were giving away (just in time for S's b-day!) that Chris spotted the sign for as we drove home from church on Sat. night, to the mig-welder that Chris found for sale on Craigs List for a mere $20?!
• *That N is actually interested in learning how our government works, and so is somewhat enjoying this Government 101 course we started a couple of weeks ago, which he'll be finishing up just in time for his "Presidents & Politics" co-op class to start in Sept. He said that he's excited to be able to better understand what he's talking about when discussing politics, (um, yeah, he and a buddy do actually rangle over politics, got pretty into it with the whole Paul vs. Huckabee controversy, heh.) and for this co-op class.
• *Did I mention that Apple is paying to fix our iMac?! I'll have my Mac back! And be able to upload pictures again... wheee!
• *For a husband with such determined initiative, who actually called Apple for himself, even after the computer techie guy who's working on our Mac said that ours, being a 2nd Generation, wouldn't qualify for some kind of recall thing because of faulty logic boards... but apparently he was mistaken. We bought ours within a window of a few months that made it qualify. It had even occured to me that morning that he probably would get results when he did call, even though I'd initially thought it pointless and his fervor in insisting that we do so misplaced! Figures, he was right again. ;P I've learned from Chris to take the time to go out of my way to call and ask, and check on things, even when I doubt the validity or point in doing so...  There's a whole lot of mundane, every day truth to that lofty saying of old, "you have not because you ask not"... it's true. That one call saved us over $400.
• *That we have this old lap-top to load N and T's math programs onto, since their old pc died this weekend... it won't even re-boot. Aren't computers fun?
• *That the lady who gave T the violin to use for lessons found that she also had a brand new violin case, AND a bow to go with the violin, both of which she'd forgotten about, but found and brought over last week. Saved us $120- the price of a new case and bow! (Wow, so actually the blessings of bountiful savings started even earlier in the week!) *Ahem* AND
• *That same friend also found another violin, and bow with case that she was happily willing to lend to a friend of ours who was also prayerfully wishing for them! How cool and wonderful is that?!
• *Baby S in all her cuteness... the pitter-patter of her little feet as she's run, run, running for a door open to "outside", all of these sweet kisses that my baby girl has been giving us lately, on my leg while I'll be cooking dinner, on my face, or belly upon awakening... how she starts pumping her little legs and throwing her hands up in the air to dance at the sound of music, how she holds her "ba-by" so close as she whispers the word "ba-by" and loves it, how she'll bring me books, and backs up into my lap, knowing that I'll stop just about anything and read to her, how she celebrates when she hears us say "bath", or says "nigh-nigh" to everyone before bed... etc. Thank YOU Lord for this baby that I prayed so long, and waited so wistfully for...

From the kitchen... N doing the dishes, his turn... he and T squabbling over stupid stuff, just called her out, reminded her she's supposed to be reading.

I am wearing... jean capris (with spilled yogurt stain on them) with a teal & pink X-alt t-shirt and my fave, comfiest American Eagle turquoise flip-flops.

I am creating... a clean books closet and mopped floor, etc. Cleaning the house REAL good and thorough, so that when my Mac is back I can play with it to my heart's content for a week or so... blog some pics galore. I'm creating some posts in my head, of course. Still working on our homeschool plans and schedules for the year too.

I am going... to take N to his guitar lesson and pick up T's violin book from Music Doctors while there... um, we got all loaded up into the truck when I realized that I'd left my keys in the car, which Chris took to work this morning. Aaaargh, and we still haven't gotten that spare made yet?! We have a spare car key, and house key, but not a spare truck key. How is that?!

I am reading... The Book of the Dun Cow by Wangerin aloud to N and T. They're absolutely loving this tale, which so wonderfully personifies the farmyard animals, as the keepers of Wyrm, and is a favorite of mine from childhood. Next we'll read its sequel, The Book of Sorrows. I think that our having chickens (who are the heroes in the story, along with Mundo Cani dog) makes it doubly fun. I'm also reading The Pilgrim's Progress Devotional by Ford, along with my daily Bible readins, and The Pilgrim's Progress aloud to N and T.

I am hoping... to get all of the laundry on the floor and in the baskets in my room put away, and keep my bedroom floor clean, completely, for a long time. Is that even possible?

I am hearing... T telling me of her recollections of reading Chanticleer and the Fox, as she's run and pulled it off the shelf when I just mentioned that The Book of the Dun Cow is based upon that story... all when she's supposed to be reading her chapters from King of the Wind for today!

Around the house... baby S has strewn a giant deck of "Hearts" cards on the floor (among other things). All of the curtains are pulled back to let in the sunlight, kids are done with their studies for today, now watching Little House on the Prairie. Samson is lounging on the floor at their feet. I've got some piles of books on the counters and tables that I've pulled out of the book closet I'm reorganizing... it always looks worse before it gets better, right?

One of my favorite things... my coffee/teeccino brew with lots of cream.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

1. Huh. Whadayaknow?! That would be the same list as last weeks... *sighs* How about cross some of these out, as done! Hey, at least we are getting our studies done, healthy meals made, and a few other things even!
2. Weed  garden, maybe plant a few late crops?
3. Rearrange my bedroom, replace baby S's co-sleeper (which is beside our bed) with her crib, with one side off (it's one of those convertible types) so that it will be more supportive and comfy for her, more long term since it's obvious she'll be sleeping in our bed for awhile yet.
4. T is so excited because this means that it (the crib) is coming out of her room and she'll now have room for a desk in there, which means rearranging her room too.
5. Post some books and curriculum for sale to local homeschool list.
6. Finish re-organizing big book/curriculum closet.
7. Continue with N and T's lessons, which we started last week. We're gradually getting into our studies, hoping to be in full routines by September.
8. Post about that, our plans for this school year.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

See all those blooms?

Well, they're apples now, beautiful and and quickly ripening. Soon it will be time for all of the fresh, organic apple juice we can drink, and apple crisp, apple pies, apple sauce, etc...

Hosted by Peggy @ The Simple Woman

Well, I wrote a little update about what our baby girl has been up to lately and need to now update you on our big girl, T's latest accomplishment.

As many of you know, T loves animals, and training them. She's specifically fond of horses, birds and dogs, and even more especially the ponies she rides, her late cockatiel and Samson, our German Shepherd dog, whom she's been "training" for years, and she and her brother's ferrets (one of which she'd also entered into a 4-H show last year).

Something I've really come to admire about T is how she'll get an inspiration, an idea, and will go after it with gusto... whether it's writing a story, creating or researching something, planning a project, or "training and showing" her animals. She keeps her eye on a goal and makes it happen, regardless of discouragement, doubts and sometimes a lot of waiting.

Here she is in 2005 (she was 6 years old, he was 6 months old!)  around the time that she first became interested in training and showing him.

...and another here.

For some time, she's wanted to enter Samson in a local dog show (held just for fun and to raise money for the local humane society) during our city's annual week-long "Fun Festival" celebration. Up until last week though, it hasn't worked out, since for the past couple of years, Fun Fest has been during the same week as the annual week-long Summer Horse Camp that N and T's riding instructor puts together and N and T have attended instead.

However, this year, we were able to attend Fun Fest's Pet Dog Parade, and I do believe the timing was perfect for both T and Samson. She wouldn't have really been big enough to handle his 100+ # self in such a public setting before now (and honestly, we even had our doubts last week, and went into it praying for them both) and Samson probably wouldn't have had the maturity to chill out before this summer. But try and tell T that... the horse camps were a wonderful time in and of themselves, but also offered timely delays.

So, she had been working with him for months now, daily, entirely on her own, and had their routine all worked out. She's been watching dog-training dvd's, and reading some seriously mature books about understanding and training dogs. The big day came last Monday evening... and she was ready, but we wondered... was he? I'm sorry to have to say that even I cautiously discouraged her from going through with it, because I was afraid that Samson wouldn't handle it well (visions of trauma, and her having to endure failure- he gets very protective and growly when we take him to the vet). She assured me that he would do fine, I relented- knowing that he's a good boy, and I'm a bit paranoid- and we entered him into three different categories.

They did quite well together. Chris and I were so proud of T as she took him into the ring all by herself, answered questions asked of her by the channel 10 news man, and of Samson, as he went along so obediently, and played nice. We were all pleasantly surprised (except T, who'd expected it all along) with how well Samson did in such a public setting, surrounded by hundreds of other dogs.

1. Handsomest Male: He tood 2nd place, out of 27 dogs! A dalmation took 1st, over him? Yeah, but YAY Samson and T!
2. Best Costume: Samson and T received an honorable mention in this category. The competition was steep, with extravagant costumes on dogs and owners alike. T was dressed up as Little Red Riding Hood, and Samson was the Big Bad Wolf, naturally, dressed up as Grandma. I thought they were absolutely adorable, T with her red cape that her Aunt Barbara made for her, and Samson with a scarf over his ears, definitely the cutest pair out there!
3. Best Tricks: Samson and T took 2nd place again! She did so good, competing against adults even. She had him sit and lay down by silent command, shake, do high-five/down low, jump up for a treat, and the clincher that made the crowd go "Whoooo...Aaaah" was when she balanced a treat on his nose, and he sat there with it, until she said "okay" at which point he tossed it up into the air and then caught it in his mouth (which she's taught him to do). A little schnauzer jumped through hoops to take 1st place, literally. She belonged to another homeschooling family that are friends of ourss, so it was fun to have them place before us. They deserved it!

As we left the show, N was triumphantly proclaiming, "Homeschoolers dominate!" Once again, T's big dreams and tenacity have paid off, and once again, she has inspired her older brother... along with the rest of our family. N has now already started working with Samson for next year's show, which he's claimed showing rights for.

And speaking of big... I took T shopping for new shoes last week, because only her flip-flops still fit her, and I am fumbling over the fact that she- at 9.5 years old- is now a size 8.5 in women's!  Our little girl is not so little anymore... *sighs* And it's apparent to me that it's not only her feet that are growing... I only hope that my own faith would someday fill her big-sized child-faith-shoes. Once again, she's humbled me... and I am the one who's learning here- from her.

If only I could maintain and apply that same amount of faith that she has in our dog... to believing more in her innate abilities, in her brother's, in our relaxed approach to schooling, and in God's ability to bless my meager efforts to give and guide when and how I am able to in a meaningful way. If only I could dream that big with my husband today, and everyday, to joyfully invite adventure by taking more risks! Truly, to have the faith of a child... 'twould be good. I must remember, as did my determined little big girl, that it simply begins with following through on an inspired vision, the committed work of giving a whole lot of little bits of daily efforts, and then ignoring all the smart big people voices that discourage, "it won't work, you're not ready, etc., etc..."

Some of the most beautiful accomplishments my children have made have been those that they've done of their own accord and inspiration. As they are getting older, I am finding renewed vigor and validation to relax and enjoy this adventure of learning together, all the time!

And He called a little child to Himself and put him in the midst of them, And said, Truly I say to you, unless you repent and become like little children, you can never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever will humble himself therefore and become like this little child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

~ Matthew 18.2-4

 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you";

~ Matthew 9.29

My prayer today is this:

Lord, help my unbelief, touch my eyes that I may see and believe as a child does... and let not my lack of faith be a stumbling block to others. Help me to inspire and come alongside my children in meaningful ways, that I would never stamp out their sparks of interest, nor squelch their faith to go after big dreams, and stunt potential accomplishments. I know that you can do this... I do not want to get in the way.

**Update** T just wrote about the dog show here over at her blog.