Book

I had to stay up late to finish the book I am reading. I didn't even want to list it in the book section as it seems to need an explanation. It is a Christmas book and it seems so odd to be reading it now. Still, I just love the sappy, Christmas stories that are heartfelt and full of Christmas love, warmth and cheer. This one had all that. The author is also a Christian. The book is called A Cedar Cove Christmas by Debbie Macomber. I really enjoyed the book. It is a very quick read. I finished the book in about a day and a half. Of course, I was up until 3 a.m. reading last night. The house was quiet and the book was good. 

Winter storm?????

Snow, 

Snow, 

Snow, and more

Snow

Hard to believe it is 7 days into spring and we are getting socked with a winter storm. We are expected to get 7 to 11 inches of that beautiful white stuff. Normally, we love snow but this late in the season - it just is tiring. We were so looking forward to spring. A few weeks ago we got teased with beautifully warm weather. It made us want more and it is so disappointing to be getting this much snow. We are going to go to the later church service tomorrow --- only so that they have time to plow and make the roads safe before we venture out. We have 4 wheel drive so we could go earlier but none of us feel like being in the snow. We just want spring. 

Waiting for Spring!

Wishing it was here!

When will it arrive?

Why are aren't you here?

an ahhhha moment

My children have been reading the book of Matthew as their bible assignment. Well, to be truthful - they are listening to it on their ipods. As we were riding in the car to the play today, my middle son, suddenly gets excited to share. Mom - did you know that in the book of Matthew it says that a house divided against itself will not stand? Abraham Lincoln said that. 

Well, honey, I know that Abraham Lincoln was a Christian and read the bible. My son realized then that Abraham Lincoln had been quoting from the bible when he said that famous line. 

When he got home, he had to pull out his bible to SEE it in black and white. He read it to me again and told me how he thought that was so cool. 

I started to wonder how many adults think that famous line is really all just Abraham Lincoln's --- how many realize the original author was Jesus? 

Abraham Lincoln said this line in a speech he gave in Springfield, Ill. on June 16, 1858. Lincoln delivered the speech when addressing his Republican colleagues at the statehouse during the Republican State Convention --- just after they chose him as their candidate for the U.S. Senate, running against Democrat Stephen A. Douglas. 

Here is the beginning of the speech - 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention.

If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could then better judge what to do, and how to do it.

We are now far into the fifth year, since a policy was initiated, with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation.

Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only, not ceased, but has constantly augmented.

In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.

"A house divided against itself cannot stand."

I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.

I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

It will become all one thing or all the other.

Either the opponents of slavery, will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.

Here is the bible verse that Abraham Lincoln paraphrased from:

Matthew 12:25

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand."

I am just amazed that J put the two thoughts together. We have been studying the Civil War and he remembered the speech --- and then put that together with his bible reading. Pretty impressive!! 

Quote by Sir Ken Robinson

"If you are not prepared to be wrong, you will never come up with anything original."

Deodorant

I have found a new natural deodorant. It has no aluminum and no paraben. I have been worried for some time about aluminum but have struggled to find a good alternative. I tried going without and just washing frequently --- but I just never felt fresh. Felt kind of gamey. I am excited to try this new one. It is by Arm & Hammer - called Essentials Natural Deodorant. 

I have to update ya all on how it works. 

My oldest

Happy Birthday --- JT turned 13 yesterday but we celebrated as a family today. 

Here is what he asked for his special birthday dinner:

steak

corn on the cob

mashed potatoes with gravy

a wonderful chocolate and vanilla ice cream cake from DQ - good choice - it was very good

Hard to believe he is 13 already. Although the teenaged attitude is there - we have been dealing with that since Sept. and it is not enjoyable. 

Bible verse

Taste and see that the Lord is good;

blessed is the man who takes

refuge in him. 

Psalm 34:8

Quote of the day

All great change in America begins at the dinner table. 

Ronald Reagan

Organizing field trips

I have felt called to share this information. I hope that it is helpful to someone. It has just been on my mind to actually put to writing some of what I do and share it so others might benefit. I am known in our local homeschool community for planning and organizing field trips. Everyone has a gift and the gift of organization is mine. For those of you that would like to do more field trips here are some ideas of where to go and what to do. This is generic so the ideas can be applied to any area. And also for those of you that are wondering this aspect - I will tell you ways to do them cheaply. Field trips do not have to cost you an arm and a leg - especially if you are willing to be the coordinator - you can really do it fairly cheaply - many times free to the coordinator. 

1) Museums - many museums offer classes for school groups and every museum I have ever contacted has allowed homeschoolers to be a school group. This will allow homeschoolers to take advantage of the much reduced rates. Most times, school group rates are much cheaper than regular entrance fees. Further, many of the museums also allow for 1 free chaperone per so many students. 

2) Local, city, state and national parks - these often have classes available for school groups and homeschoolers. They will often do guided tours. We have been on canoe trips through marshes with a guided naturalist. Some of the parks have archaeological finds that will be the topic used for tours and classes. National parks are usually free. Other ones have school group pricing. 

3) Nature centers - we have a fabulous nature center near us that also rehabilitates birds of prey. They can only keep birds of prey as long as they use them for educational purposes. So they offer classes on birds and will bring in real birds of prey to show the kids. We got to see a Barred Owl and a Red Tailed Hawk. 

4) Zoos - of course - an obvious place to go. Our local zoo has classes that normally run $20 per person if you signed up for them as a summer class --- for $2.00 per child for school groups. It is a fabulous rate. Plus at our local zoo, a company pays for the entrance fee if you attend in the months of Nov. through March. It is cheaper to do a class then it is to pay normal entrance fees to just walk around the zoo. 

5) Local companies - many times local companies will give tours of their facility. Sometimes they are set up for tours as they do it for the general public. Sometimes we have called and they have willingly just done tours for our group. One such company that did that was Carmex. They make lip balm and by talking to the owner (who was just a wonderful man) we got to tour the facility. Most tours of local companies are free. We have toured Trek Bycycle Corporation, Carmex, General Motors, Jelly Belly Center, Honey Acres Bee Farm, Widmer Cheese Factory, winery, recycling facilities, etc. 

6) Government --- government is owned by the people and therefore they are the most willing (within reason) to give tours. We have done some fabulous tours. The obvious are the local fire department, police department, Department of Public Works, library and post office. Some of the not so obvious would be to call the local mayor - we had one mayor of a local city in the area that when we were studying government - met with our group and talked about his role in government. Additionally he brought a city alderman with him. It was really great to learn about what an alderman's role is and how do the alderman and mayor work together. We went to the mayor's office and our meeting took place in the common council room. 

Those are some ideas to begin with. As I think of more I will update. We are expecting a huge storm and I need to shut down the computer - we get power surges that have been strong enough to get past the surge protector and ruin computer equipment. So we shut down when expecting strong storms. I will update more later. 

Play - Blues Journey

It is interesting because I had a very hard time selling tickets to this play. I think they just didn't describe it well. Here is the description:

Come, listen to the bluesman, who still has a song in his heart and lots of stories to tell! Every last story is rooted in music—from The Great One’s deal with the Man in White, to riding the “blues train” up to Chicago, and learning how to capture lightning in a song. Take a journey and discover how the blues came to be, and why they are here to stay. Drama, narration, and live music bring the rich lyrics of Walter Dean Myers’ book to life.

It really was so much more than the description. It was a very good play/production. Talked a lot about the history of blues. Sang some songs so the kids got a taste of what blues music sounds like. We really enjoyed it and it was incredibly educational. I am surprised more from our homeschool group didn't attend. 

The most interesting part was when it talked about coming to the 'crossroads'. It was a metaphor for the crossroads in life. The man in the drama actually made a deal with the devil thereby choosing a bad path when he came to his crossroads in life. The kids and I talked about this on the way home. We discussed how everyone comes to a crossroads and will you follow Jesus or will you sign a pact with the devil like the man in the drama. It was a very good lesson. Never expected to have that lesson while learning about blues music but certainly I couldn't miss the opportunity once presented. 

Thomas Jefferson quote

I think if we look more to our Founding Fathers we will gain insight. This is just a fabulous quote from Thomas Jefferson.

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

Quote of the day

I think we can learn so much from our Founding Fathers.  Here is a great quote from Thomas Jefferson. 

"In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." 

Feeling relieved (and grateful!)

I have been working part time at the church for our confirmation program - we have close to 390 students going through the confirmation program. In 6th grade, we have the kids going through communion instructions and then follow that up with a Seder Supper. The Seder Supper is also instructional as it teaches them about that tradition from the Old Testament. As part of the Seder Supper we incorporate communion - so it is the 6th graders chance to have their first communion after being instructed on the meaning and importance of communion. 

The Seder Supper was last week Tuesday night. Set up takes all day. We had almost 400 people for dinner that night. It was fabulous. I was in charge of getting things ready and setting things up for that night. I am very grateful that things all went well. I wanted to do a good job for the church and for the families that were a part of that special event. 

I am relieved that it is over and now I am concentrating on confirmation for the 8th graders (the next big event I have to plan! - pray it goes well!)

Virtual Co-op

I know that I have talked about it before but I wanted to add another post on our virtual co-op. What a blessing our virtual co-op has been this year. Our family has been just so blessed and happy with the virtual co-op. Some of the benefits --- 

1) We do not have to travel anywhere to have class. Last year I felt always on the go. So much for being home - homeschooling. We were never home and it made it hard to get school work done. This year I cut back on outside activities and it has been such a blessing. Doing a virtual co-op allows us to still cut back on the lost time from getting coats on, driving to class, the social time, driving back home, etc. Now we just go on line and more of the time is spent getting the meat of the discussion. 

2) It has also been a cost savings as we don't have to pay the gas to get to and from class. 

3) We have gotten to meet some new friends. The other children and moms in the virtual co-op are really terrific. And we have enjoyed learning from what the other moms have taught. 

4) It has challenged both my oldest and middle child to learn technology --- they like the online stuff and learning about how to make it work. 

5) My middle child has watched my oldest participate. He felt left out and has decided that he wants to do the work to be able to participate too. He loves having a computer that is now 'his' and loves the virtual aspect. Being virtual has encouraged him to want to do the work of a higher level. He didn't want to be left out of the technology aspect and would do anything to be included. Awesome!!!! 

Art class - Famous Arts - Portraits

Art Classes

I wanted to take a moment to talk more about our art classes. We are so fortunate to have a wonderful college level art teacher (she is actually head of the art department at a local college) that is willing to work with homeschoolers. I have known her for years. I organize the classes and she teaches. It works really, really well. 

The art class is for K-12th grade. We do this so that as homeschooling moms we can leave the house once --- and not have to leave the house 3 different times just to have art for all 3 of my different aged children. 

Many times the projects she has us do are ones that she has her college level kids do. Then she tailors the project for us - or has us do the same project but many times the difference is that our kids - being younger will be far quicker -- will take less time and be less detailed in their approach than the college kids. But this is also why K-12th grade works -- each child just works at their own level. It is marvelous. 

Many times teachers are so stuck in the traditional school approach that they can't figure out how to teach to a class of kids that range in ages. We are so extremely blessed to have a wonderfully, Christian art teacher that is willing to expand beyond the traditional way of thinking. She is a very out of the box kind of lady and I love her dearly. 

It is interesting to note that I have been doing art classes with this art teacher for approximately 8 years and we have only repeated a project once - and that was at my request. One Christmas we made stain glass stars but my children were too young to do the metal work and made stars with cardboard and tissue paper. She had divided the class into 2 groups - those old enough got to do the soldering. So when my two older ones got to an appropriate age for that project I asked to repeat it. We will have to do it one more time in about 5 years when my youngest is old enough. A mom with 3 kids can't end up with 2 stain glass stars. So that project will need to be repeated. 

I am always amazed at the neat new projects that she comes up with. There is such a variety. We are learning about the elements of art and doing projects that will allow for discussion of those elements. We have talked about texture, line and shapes. For the last class, each student had to research a famous 1800 or 1900 artist. The student had to print off a picture the artist had done and study the artists techniques a bit. Then in class we had a portrait shape board. It had a head and shoulders. The kids were to use crayons, water colors, paint, yarn, pastels, colored pencils ---- she had all available --- but were to use similar techniques to their famous artist - and incorporate those techniques onto their portraits. It was awesome to see the results. 

Watch your thoughts, they become words.

Watch your words, they become actions.

Watch your actions, they become habits.

Watch your habits, they become character.

Watch your character, for it 

becomes...your destiny.

Author unknown