This week’s theme is about sharing your 2008-09 homeschool agendas and plans. You’ve been preparing your plans for sometime and you’re ready to go. Or you’re still in the planning-stage and need some inspiration or tips on what to use. Because many use different curriculum and methods there is always something new to be gleaned from other homeschoolers. It’s always fun and interesting to see what other’s are using and the WWWWH as Robin Sampson suggests. So this week I hope you will share what you’re doing this year for your homeschool agenda. Share the different curriculum you’re using. You can also include what age/grade you’re using it for, how long you’ve been using it, and why you like it.

Please share a Bible verse that has encouraged you or inspired you during this planning-process, and how.

Dear bloggy friends, I need to approach this question obliquely in order to prevent this post from being incredibly boring. Because I can answer the curriculum part of the question by saying that we are using the Calvert School curriculum. We are using Kindergarten for Baby Girl, and Third Grade for Little Son. I have written a separate post explaining why Calvert is a good fit for our family, and it is located here.

So instead, I am going to talk about our year 'round schedule and why we like it. We live in a climate that has a long, hot and humid summer. The remaining months are very comfortable for outdoor activities. So we have decided to school year 'round. Over the five years we have been homeschooling, we have settled into a pattern of beginning a new school year in January, and aiming to end the year by Thanksgiving. This leaves our longest break time for the Christmas season, a time when I tend to feel overwhelmed anyway, so it is good to not have h/s duties at that time. In fact, we get much more school done during the summer months than at any other time of the year. Calvert has 160 lesson days for Kindergarten, and 168 lesson days for Third Grade, counting review days. Baby Girl is up to lesson 143 out of 160, so I anticipate finishing up her Kindergarten by the end of September. Little Son is on lesson 123 out of 168, so I think we will finish up 3rd Grade by early November.

Since our family loves to go camping in the cool season, we take about five or six extended weekend camping trips during the time between November and April. Also, we typically take our annual family vacation around September / October. This way we avoid crowds, and the weather is cooler. Plus, the cool season is when we take a day here and there to go on a field trip, or a hike, or just enjoy the outdoors during the loveliest time of the year.

Now, we are out of step with the world; we're even out of step with the other families in our homeschool fellowship, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. When another mom asks me how I do it (the year 'round thing, that is) I laughingly state that if I were to take a full summer break, I might just never start again! How close to the truth that probably is.

If I lived in a more northern climate, I might feel differently, though.

For Bible, we are working through Training Hearts Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. This incorporates the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

Other learning activities we plan to continue this year include AWANA Sparks for Baby Girl, AWANA T&T for Little Son, ongoing Suzuki Violin and competitions, and Christian Homeschool Athletic Association "Saints" P.E. program.

The Bible verse that energizes me to homeschool is definitely Colossians 3:23-24 "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." This is meaningful to me for the following reason. In my "past life", before children, I was a senior electrical engineer for W*lt D*sney W*rld. It was a job with a lot of responsibility, and I was accountable to numerous people. It was a case where I had to perform at a high level and keep on plugging on, night or day, because if something didn't get done right, you never knew whose office you'd be sitting in the next day explaining why. I was actually directly responsible for a 90 minute power outage of half of D*wntown D*sney W*estside one hot afternoon in February 2000, so I know. So I became driven to perform, because a lot was at stake, and I had many bosses.

But now I am in a different situation. Homeschooling is still my job, and it is a very important, responsible one. One where I really need to keep on plugging on. Except, I don't have a human boss who is closely watching my performance. Sure, my DH asks if lessons are going well most days, but it is not the same. In many ways, I am "my own boss" as if this were my own business, and I often worry that I am not up to the task. So it comforts me, and challenges me at the same time, to consider my homeschool hours as my "work hours", and to remember that I do have a boss to answer to and that is Christ. I may never again be responsible for a costly power outage, but I am accountable for the way I raise and teach my children. This is a responsibility of much greater weight than any other I have ever had. The Boss, my Lord, is always looking over my shoulder, and listening into my heart at every turn. And rightly so, for I now have the most important job in the world!

Recently, I have been developing this guilt laden conviction that we ought to be doing more for our kids in the area of exercise, fitness, sports, et. al. It laid heavy on my heart that we are passing our lazy, non-athletic, exercise-less lifestyles onto our kiddos. Sure, we brought them to swimming lessons each summer, and played a little in our pool with them, and DH would break out the Speedminton set once every couple of months and whack the shuttlecock around with Little Son. Once about 18 months ago, we went as a family out to a tennis court and happily made fools out of ourselves. Heck.. we even get the croquet set out from time to time, and play a family round. How's that for aerobic activity? And both children just love those AWANA games; talk about 'em all week long. But deep down inside was the nagging feeling that we, somehow, have been shortchanging our children in this area.

We are also completely hopeless, helpless, and clueless in the realm of sports. It wasn't long ago that our eight year old couldn't tell the difference between a tennis ball and a baseball. Yes, it was embarrassing. Then a few things happened this summer.

First, we took the children to a minor league baseball game. It was a company function for DH's work group. They loved it, and followed the game as best they could, with our help. In fact, you could say our son was fairly riveted, and our daughter didn't ever quite know what was happening but showed lots of team spirit and knew the right questions to ask. And they both loved the ice cream and peanuts.

Enter the Summer Olympics. We thought that some of the events might inspire our kids, but we really thought that it would be the swimming that did so -- after all, swimming was something they could relate to. Nope. It wasn't the swimming.

Instead, it was the hurdles. And the sprints. And the volleyball. And for both of them, gulp ... the rhythmic gymnastics. For hours, they whirled and twirled around our family room with hula hoops and homemade streamers. They really had both parents looking at each other with eyebrows raised.

So much for parents knowing their kids.

Actually, I did mourn the end of the Olympics yesterday evening. I truly love watching the Olympics, and I feel actual sadness when they are over.

So, Providentially, a friend of our homeschool support group happened to email our group about a high quality Christian homeschool P.E. program. Well, upon closer examination, it fit the bill for us. It is on the correct day of the week, and I can bring both children to participate at the same time. In addition, it is reasonably convenient to us (where we live, a half hour's drive is convenient), and I can stay there and enjoy the park while the children are busy. It is a little expensive, however, so I thought my DH would shrug off the idea. But, with very little coaxing on my part, he was pretty quickly in favor of the idea! So I seized upon the opportunity and sent in the registration form. We will begin next week. The children are both very excited about it. Our son is eagerly anticipating the Track and Field and volleyball activities they promise. The best part is they will get to wear cute T shirts as well.

So, next Tuesday (9/2) is the first day. We are looking forward very much to this new experience in our lives. And a load of guilt off for me!

This is a video of our baby girl during a recital last fall, when she was 4, playing French Folk Song. We are so proud of her! She likes performing on stage.

Please note: you need to turn off the blog accompaniment music at the bottom of this blog before viewing the videos, or else you will hear both streams of music superimposed on each other.



This is a video of our little son, the same day last fall, when he was 7, playing a concerto by Oskar Reiding. We were so proud of him that day, and we continue to be very proud of his accomplishments. It is truly a lot of work here at M___ O__ Country School (wink wink) but we are happy with the results.



Thank you for viewing. Praise God for his generous gifts to us parents!

It has been 21 hours since my last past. Now look at the radar image here, and look at the radar image from the last post. Not too much different, right? Sort of like coming back to a soap opera after being away for awhile and pretty much the same things are going on.

Locally, we have had 8 inches of rain here at our house, according to the official almanac. Right now, the rain is as torrential as ever, and the winds are stronger than they have been all storm long.

The good news is that Fay is creeping due west at 5 mph. But we are situated right in that heavy precipitation band that is wrapping around the south side of her core. And we've been there for a night and a day.

Things to be thankful for: we don't have flooding, we don't have apparent damage to our house (a friend just called here and reported water seeping through her walls and surfacing from beneath her laminate flooring!), so far our trees have done okay, except for some branches, and only our shed has structural damage. If you've seen the news, there are many places around here that are flooded,including right here in our community.

The bright side: it hasn't gotten warmer than the 70s today!

DH is on his way home from work, and I will be so glad to see him walk through the door. 'Til then, dinner is in the works.

Just another summer in Florida, right?

UPDATE: It is now Friday, August 22, and finally the clouds are breaking up some, and the sun is trying very hard to break through. You can almost tell there is a sun up there. I haven't seen it since Sunday or Monday. In total, we have received over eleven (11!) inches of rain in our village in the past couple of days. And the land around our home has proven to be marvelously flood free. Even now, there is not a puddle outside to be seen. Just a bunch of branches to pick up. Thankful, thankful!!

Our house is 12 miles from the east coast of FL, and Tropical Storm Fay is sitting stationary directly off the coast from where we live. The winds are getting very strong. It is alarming. It feels like hurricane Charley did 4 years ago. It is going to make landfall in about 12 hours just to the north of us.

Don't know how many hours we are going to be pounded like this.

In short, we are beginning to feel Fay's fury this evening! This is almost a little bit too much excitement for me right now. Whew!! I don't think I could handle a serious hurricane. I sure hope we don't lose one of our mighty oaks.

Well, I better post this before the power goes out again. Will post again when it passes.

I have joined Homeschool Memoirs, and the first theme begins today. The writing idea is as follows:
This week, we want to hear about YOU. The author behind the words. The Momma behind all the homeschooling kiddos. Just write up something about you, your family, and your home. How long you’ve been homeschooling and why you decided to homeschool. It doesn’t have to be anything lengthy at all, but we’d love to hear it! You might include a family photo too!

Well, first off, I have only been in the blogosphere for two months, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have been married for 14 years, and am a homeschooling mother of two children, ages 5 and 8. We live in a rural area in Florida, in a home on 5 acres. I have now been homeschooling for 5-1/2 years, ever since my DS turned 3. It has been a journey for which I am always thankful. Sure there are some days that aren't so great, but that would apply to anything that I set my hand to. I have my hand fixed firmly on this plow, and there is no turning back.

Deciding to homeschool hit me like a bolt of lightning when my DS was 2-1/2. Prior to then, I had never given it any thought. We were planning to send the children to a local Christian school. Now, I can't imagine life any different! One day, I visited a school supply store in my area (L*keshore), and when I was leaving I picked up a freebie newspaper that was in a rack by the exit of the store. I think the newspaper was all about homeschooling. I read articles that evening on homeschooling, and followed up by investigating websites and library books on the topic. It didn't take long before I was "sold", and then there was no problem convincing my DH of the soundness of the idea. So, I knew it was of the Lord. Nowadays, homeschooling has become such an integral part of my identity that I view life completely differently than I did in those days. Homeschooling means Freedom!

This is a photo of our family last September on vacation on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Another benefit of homeschooling. We can take those vacations at any time of the year we desire. I am looking forward to writing these weekly themes and meeting more of you homeschool moms.

p.s. This first post is in memory of my mother, whose first name was Etta. Today is her birthday. She has been with the Lord over 17 years, and would have turned 85 today.

In a parallel universe, yesterday was to have been a Big Day for my daughter. You see, had we not been homeschooling, it would have been her First Day of Kindergarten. I was very mindful of that fact over the weekend, thinking about how I would have been getting all her clothing ready, and getting her up around 6:30 in the morning. I wonder how she would have felt at the prospect? Excited? Nervous? How would she have reacted when I left her in her classroom? Would she have begun the new chapter with confidence? The first day of school is a day that you never forget. At least I never did. But instead, August 18, 2008 will fade away as an utterly forgettable day in my DD's life.

Of course, it would have been an anticlimactic event because she would have been home with me today again anyway. All the schools in our part of the state were cancelled today due to the expectation of turbulent weather a la Tropical Storm Fay.

But no. The First Day of school was not to be this week. Providence has seen to it that I would choose to keep her home as a homeschooled Kindergartner.

And that she is.

In fact, neither of us even remember her first day of homeschool. I think she was around three years old, and it was some time in early 2006, but that's all I can recall. I think my little girl doesn't remember not being homeschooled.

I told her that it was the day that she would have begun school away from home. But that she was stuck home with me instead. She giggled sweetly.
So instead of beginning Kindergarten, my daughter was home with me, doing our Kindergarten lessons. She snuggled with me on the sofa, reading a Berenstain Bear book to me. She spent a good amount of time pretend playing with her big brother. We practiced violin without being exhausted from a long day. And she is on lesson 140 out of 160 lessons in Calvert Kindergarten. So she is nearly done with Kindergarten, and probably will be done by late September. After a vacation and short break, we will ease into First Grade. I am still at the stage where I feel rejuvenated at the thought of beginning a new grade with new books. In fact, I feel rejuvenated simply after looking over the Calvert catalog.

As I mentioned earlier, I believe that one never forgets their first day of Kindergarten. I remember very well parts of my First Day. I remember stepping off the bus and looking at the sidewalk as I approached the classrooms (our public school system actually needed to use our church facilities for their two kindergarten classrooms -- how funny is that?) I remember my teacher, Miss Devry, telling me to go into the room with the door with the big apple on the window. I remember choosing from one of the empty seats to sit down, so I sat at the end of a rectangular table. It would, in fact, become my "assigned seat" for the entire year. I remember how a boy and girl were seated at either side of me. Michael and Jennifer. I think they had made a pact with each other that they would torment whoever sat in the vacant seat between them, all year long. So I was that person, and they started in on me that first morning.

I believe that experience began a downward spiral of lack of confidence in me, and engendered many similar experiences which followed, having a profound effect on the person I am today. But despite all the pain along the way, I believe the effect has been a good one, overall. To use a cliche, I think I have marched to a different drummer ever since. But that has been good.

Still, it has played considerably into my decision to homeschool. And as a result, my kids are already becoming everything I wasn't. They are incredibly confident and secure. My son is tough as nails, and would never let his sense of self be dented in by any kid. My daughter, while secure, is more emotionally sensitive than he is. I think she would suffer more at the hands of a Michael or Jennifer. So I think that she needs the nurturing and safe environment of being a greenhouse plant, rather than being planted directly outside in the garden. I know there are many who would disagree with my thinking here, but I believe it will make her a stronger person in the long run, and let her childhood be a little less painful than mine was.

Right now the children are playing happily outside. They insist that they are playing in "hurricane Fay", but there is not a breeze or drop of rain in sight. I can hear their shrieks, laughs, and giggles from inside. May they always continue to be the best of friends!

post script: as I write, on 4:10 p.m. my husband called to tell me that he is coming home from work early. He had "early dismissal" from the office on account of Tropical Storm Fay. YIPPPPEEEE! I feel like I am a kid again, and we got a snow day!

We put the finishing touches on the room. Here are the pictures.













This is the new table we ordered online. It was shipped by UPS. It is a very sturdy and rugged table, just the correct size for what we are doing.





Here is one of the St*ples D*sktop Appr*ntices. Each one holds the Calvert resources for one child / grade level.







Getting this room finished helped get me out of the homeschooling doldrums. I so enjoy having everything at my fingertips. And homeschooling is no longer taking over the entire house.




The children enjoy the room, and it helps me to compartmentalize my time and attention to doing lessons. I needed this structure to help keep myself disciplined.



I am so thankful to be able to homeschool. What a blessing!

SCENE: Driving home from Malwart with the week's groceries in the car. The car windows are all rolled down to ventilate the stink from spilled chicken salad in the trunk.

BABY GIRL: Mommy! You've got your hand sticking out the window like some people do!

MOMMY: That's because I'm trying to get rid of a booger.

LITTLE SON and BABY GIRL (together): EWWWWWWWW!!!

(Ten minutes later and a couple of miles closer to home. Mommy hears giggling and looks in the rear view mirror).

MOMMY: Kids. Don't hang your hands outside the window. It isn't safe.

LITTLE SON: You were doing it.

MOMMY: Yes I was, but I was getting rid of a booger.

LITTLE SON and BABY GIRL (together): Okay. So we're flicking boogers, then.

~~~ Children are a blessing from the Lord.~~~

I am so looking forward to camping this season. Just two more months until the weather moderates here. Although you wouldn't know it today and yesterday. In fact, as I write, the local temperature is still just 79 degrees. It has been uncommonly cool here in our state these days, mainly because it has been overcast with showers. What a difference - we have barely used the air conditioning.

But I digress. Like I said, I can't wait to go camping again. About three years ago, we ventured into the world of camping. Now those who know us will agree that my DH and I have had plenty of hare-brained ideas over the past three years. Camping was another such idea, another instance of redefining our family identity. Once we had blown $37.50 on a family tent, and splurged on those $20 sleeping bags and $60 Thermorest mattresses, there was no turning back. No sirree, not this family.

I love the cool season, and I love submerging into it by spending all our time outside while camping. I love putting out the checkered tablecloth on the picnic table, and giving the campsite that feminine touch of home. I love mixing up that first cooler full of Gatorade.

I love how hungry I get while camping, and how delicious all that comfort food tastes when we have grilled it, griddled it, or boiled it. It is fun to talk about the raccoon that sneaks a peak at us eating from behind a tree trunk, and the rustling sound it makes when it doesn't think we're paying attention.

I love listening to the children giggle as they play with small cars in the sand, or toss a ball around the campsite, or snap glow sticks aglow and wave them around.

I love when it is beginning to get dark, and the sounds change in the woods. More crickets, more snapping of twigs, an occasional hoot owl in the dark. I love to crunch my way along a shadowy path with my DD on the way to the restroom, playing with flashlights along the way.

I love sitting around a campfire after dark, with the Coleman lantern dividing our territory from the vacant black night. I love reading to the family, while they throw leaves into the fire, or nosh on popcorn or smores. I love sticking a cup of cocoa or coffee into the cupholder of my folding chair, and zipping my fleece jacket up higher around my neck. I love covering my ears with a wool cap, even when it isn't that cold yet.

I love walking around the campground, and checking out all the other campers. I love seeing how they make their fun. Some bring their portable TV sets, others kick up in an easy chair inside their RVs, and all we can see is the glow from behind their blinds. Some opt for simpler pleasures, just getting together with old friends, and their sites are filled with laughter and playing cards.

Some sit outside in loungers, playing Sudoku, filling out the Jumble, and just content to be outside in the chair next to their loved one, waving to the occasional passer-by. Campers are definitely friendlier than the average person. I love to see the decked out campsites, complete with Tiki torches, or Christmas lights, or glowing chili peppers. And then there are the gourmet campers, who grill seafood, steaks and ribs, complete with all manner of fresh veggies and a bottle of wine.

And then there's us, with our burgers and beans, our griddle cakes and eggs, cold cereal, bagels, baked potatoes, and cheese steak sandwiches. Oh well, to each his own.

I love when we are all zipped up in the tent to go to sleep. All four of us in a row. DH and DS sleep so comfortably in their sleeping bags. DD and I are sleeping bag rebels. DD lies on top of her bag, and I have long since rejected a sleeping bag, in favor of an air mattress, flannel linens, and a blanket on top. I need to stretch and spread out when I sleep on my stomach, arms and legs extended in various directions. I like the little night light we hang from the peak of our tent. We talk a few minutes, and laugh at the moving shadows against the side of our tent from nearby campers. My kids are fortunately still at the age when they enjoy everything.
I don't love so much the continuous zipping sound of the front door zipper at 1:30 a.m. when the guys have gotten up to go to the men's room together. Why can't they ever keep 'till the morning? And why is it so hard to fall back asleep afterwards?
I especially love waking up at the earliest light of dawn, hearing the first twittering birds, and sneaking out of the tent before the family to heat up water for coffee and cocoa. I love strolling around the quiet campground before others have waken and enjoying the misty morning peacefulness. Breakfast never tasted so good.

I love family bicycling along trails, and gentle hikes. Trying to fish off a dock. Exploring. Beachcombing. Admiring the mountain views. I am so thankful for the simple pleasures that camping brings to us. And thankful that we have found so many wonderful camping spots, with the promise of more to discover this year.

So I can't want, and I count the weeks until camping season begins again. It isn't far away now.

Now if we could just convince some of our friends to try it out with us!

First of all, you have to know that we have not watched actual television, broadcast or cable, in our house for over five years. We shut it off the week after our military entered Iraq, back in March of 2003. Never turned it on again, except for space shuttle launches and landings, and approaching hurricanes. Besides that, we just watch videos that we rent through the mail from N*tflix.

So we decided early this year that we would break our TV fast for the Olympics. We are not sports fans by any stretch, but we both enjoy watching the Olympics. I had a chance to visit the venues in Lake Placid shortly before the 1980 Winter Games, and caught the Olympic bug at that time. So, I am always enthusiastic about the Olympics (although we didn't watch them at all in 2004 or 2006).

Anyway, Friday we watched the awesome opening ceremony all the way through until midnight, and our kids stayed up for the spectacle. For them, the spectacle wasn't simply the ceremony, but the whole "TV experience", not the least of which is the commercials. Not being used to TV, the children were perturbed by the frequent cutting over to commercials at high interest critical moments of programming. Now, DH and I have grown used to this over our lifetimes, but the kids found it quite aggravating, and they vocalized their opinion over this.

"OH NO! Another commercial!"

"We just saw this one!" (for P*blix supermarkets)

"Not again!!"

and my personal favorite: "ARRRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!"

Well, the frequent reoccurrence of about 20 or so commercials since Friday evening has continued to be a continual joke amongst our family. The beginning of the commercials are now met by comments like

"Oh I know this one!", (they are such TV experts already, since Friday)

or

"This is funny!"

among cackles and shrieks of delight, especially for the commercial for Kr*ft Macaroni and Cheese Cr*ckers when the cheese geyser erupts under the unsuspecting child. Over and over again. Giggle, giggle, laugh, laugh.

It is kind of funny. Not the commercials, but my childrens' experience / reaction to them.

When the parade of athletes was going on, this was a neat review of the Geography Songs CD that we listened to last winter. Some of the Pacific island countries completely stumped us. It was very disturbing to see that Taiwan was not permitted to carry their own flag. The kids got excited to see athletes from the countries of their birth. My son eagerly awaited the contingent from Viet Nam. They sent about 15 athletes, and the commentator mentioned that although the Vietnamese hadn't really been winners of Olympic medals in the past, they were a force to be reckoned with in the Math Olympics! We were happy to jump all over that fact, as Math is not my DS' favorite subject.


My daughter was happy to see the athletes from South Korea, some 350 strong. She was full of grins, too, when the young Mr. Park won a swimming gold medal for South Korea.




An aside: what is it with beach volleyball, anyway? It seems that they spend half the time just showing that! (Don't answer that question, I think I can guess..)

So, my kids have gotten the idea to stick U.S. flags around the room on dowels, or to hold them and wave them when the USA is winning or getting a medal, and then they lower them to half mast when the USA isn't doing so good. Where do they get these ideas?
They are also being exposed to new terms, like vaulting, uneven parallel bars, balance beam, etc. 'Tis a shame; we non-athletic parents haven't exposed them to much of this stuff.

How great is the potential for us to become TV-holics? Take yesterday afternoon, for instance. Mid-afternoon found me sitting in the recliner feeling very lazy, watching swimming races. This is such an unusual scene in our house. DH got bored with this and disappeared outside to do something with the tractor. Turned out he sharpened the Bush Hog blades. My son got bored, too, and went outside to play. My daughter, who takes to TV more readily than her brother, hung around a little bit, and then decided to go outside to join her brother. This left me, sitting drowsily in the chair, feeling quite brain dead and extremely lazy. It reminded me far too much of days past when I was growing up with my parents. And part of me said - are you crazy? Don't you feel guilty? Look at you, sitting like a lazy lump in your chair while these incredible swimmers are slicing through water! What are you doing!!?? And at that point, I got up, got dressed in my swimsuit and did laps in my pool. It sure felt good to move. That led into dinner, violin practice, and the entire evening ritual. We didn't watch the Olympics again until 9 p.m.

I guess our family isn't cut out for daytime TV, not even on the weekends. Nevertheless, we have a lot of exciting evening viewing of the Olympics to look forward to, and it is double the fun with our kids.

NEWS FLASH: The UPS truck is here delivering our new homeschool room table. Gotta go!

The young lady who commented on my previous post gets the Ancient History prize today, folks, for taking my mind back to 1977 to Ms. Evin's French class when and where we met! That's right, I have a friend of thirty one (31!) years reading this blog. I would happily post her high school yearbook picture here but she would undoubtedly flame me for it. Here is a lady who truly knew me when.

Stacey reports that she would have her own blog if she had anything worth blogging about. Let's see -- last I remembered, you were jumping out of airplanes, and hang gliding. Sounds pretty blogworthy to me. You always were a thrill seeker, and always knew how to have a good time.

Stace, I am here looking at a scar I have on my right pointer finger. Do you remember the day when I was visiting you at the tennis club that you belonged to (where are the right emoticons when you need them?) and...

... I had had a boyfriend at the time who thought he was pretty cool,



So, I, too, thought I was cool, like him, and proceeded to tear apart with my bare hands a soda can that I had just emptied,



just like my boyfriend had done in front of me the prior weekend,



except that my hands began too close together at the center of the can? Therefore, I did end up that day with what the tennis club employee called a "semi-serious" cut. That cut probably could have used a couple of stitches that day. Except I ignored it, and wrapped it up, (it was a Friday afternoon) and kept it hidden from my parents that entire weekend, lest they ask what happened, and I would have to explain how I got the cut, which, for me, would have been impossible.

By the good grace of God, it did heal uneventfully, although slowly, from the inside out, as it is supposed to, and today I am a happy healthy well-adjusted adult. A fact to which all my more recent, Modern History friends can certainly attest.

This is when I get to sound like a church worship leader. I have found it very fun, and gratifying, to have attracted a groups of readers to this blog. Most of you I have "met" either in person, or through your blogs. Since beginning this blog, I have met so many unique and neat home's-cool-ing families and homesteading families through their blogs.

I do have a few frequent visitors, though, who I haven't had the chance to "meet and greet" yet. A frequent reader from New Hampshire. A frequent reader from Ontario. Please drop me a comment. Tell me about your blog, too, so I can visit. I would like to hear from you. It makes me feel more comfortable with writing and posting. My blog is relatively "public" right now, and I do prefer to keep it that way, but I might need to change the settings.

I plan to add a new feature to my sidebar soon: a list of blogs I read. Like I said, I have met the neatest families, and I want to share their blogs with you, too. You moms have really inspired me. I love to read about homesteading families as well, families who are seeking the simple life, families who are living "off the grid", families who are at various points in this spectrum. I think my readers will too.

Have a blessed day!

So tomorrow is our "baby girl's" Adoption Day. It is a day that some adoptive parents lovingly refer to as "Gotcha Day". But we call it Adoption Day here.

We asked our daughter what she wanted to do to celebrate. She replied that she wanted to go to a local pizzeria, "and maybe I can bring some money from my piggy bank, and put some in the thingy and turn it and get some gumballs for M[my brother]!"

This is one of the things we so cherish about our little girl. Almost since the day she arrived in our family, her big brother has lit up her life, and she has always let us know about it. She really adores him.

Thinks about him before she thinks about herself. She doesn't accept anything from anybody without first making sure that her brother gets his share. Whenever there is something beautiful to see, she runs to tell him about it. She has been this way every day since she's been a baby. It is amazing.

I don't think a big brother has ever been loved by his little sis quite like this.

Yes, this week I did cross yet another milestone in life. Some would say, it is one of those little thresholds.

I got a prescription for Dual Vision Corrective Lenses. That is my preferred name for ... uh ... er.. bi, bifo, (spit it out! ) ... ah .. ummmmmmmm...

I think the correct word is bifocals. Yes, my friends, I am now going to be a bifocals wearer. I eeked out those single vision glasses just as long as I possibly could, but now, at the tender age of 45 -1/4, it's time.

I've decided that it was going to be sooner or later, and might as well get it over with. Sometimes one just has to be a big girl and face the music, bite the bullet, jump in with both feet. Or eyes.

I am taking that prescription and marching off to the nearest optician to get my newfound Dual Vision. Yessirree, I am going. I'm putting that prescription in my purse right now. I'm going .. going .. well, maybe in a few months.

Right now I've got more immediate fish to fry. I got stung by a wasp yesterday, and although it didn't continue to hurt very long yesterday, as of today my left ring finger is very itchy and swollen. So much so, that I can't really bend the finger anymore. It looks like a balloon animal. It looks like the ring finger of a very fat person. Fortunately I had the foresight to take off my rings before it swelled. Boy oh boy -- I took Zyrt*c, and it didn't help. How do I keep from scratching it?

I saw the symptoms before affluenza became a known buzzword. Before I was a mom myself. I saw kids who were never satisfied, and the older they got, the bigger the thrills they needed. I spoke to a dad of a 3 year old in my neighborhood who said to me one day "If you think it is hard to keep them happy when they are babies, just wait. It gets really hard when they're three!" Hmmm. I tucked that comment in my brain for pondering. We live near the world's biggest tourist attraction. I mean 42 square miles of ultimate entertainment -- the biggest mouse-related theme park and vacation kingdom there is. I knew kids in my neighborhood who, at age 10 or 12, had gotten bored with going there. Didn't want to "do D*SN*Y" anymore. Boring.

This is insane!! What is going on here? I have since learned it is called affluenza. A disease that is bred by the affluence we enjoy here in our country. We have the resources, so lets give all we've got to the kids. For better or for worse. So I thought about what effect this overstimulation of kids with entertainment and activities would have on them. It bothered me so much, that at some point when my oldest was still a toddler, I saw the handwriting on the wall, so to speak, and decided to change our path. My dh understood the problem immediately, and he was on board as well.

Since then, we have made a deliberate decision not to overstimulate our kids. Keep life simple and natural. Toys we chose were simpler, we tried to avoid logos and name brands, we shyed away from characters of all sorts (which are just ways of getting kids to recognize a brand at an early age). We stopped watching TV, and therefore, TV commercials. We tried to eliminate every aspect of commercialism that we could from our home. We minimized electronic toys and gadgets, for ourselves as well as the kids. We dish out computer game time in very sparing doses.

Now the kids don't know what they are supposed to want for Christmas. They just know what they like.

We heard of a family that gave their kids three gifts per child for Christmas. After all, Jesus himeself received three gifts. We did this each Christmas, and found that they still ended up with too much stuff. (this past Christmas, we loosened this rule to allow for stocking items and educational items as extras. Since we don't buy them gifts all year round, except birthday and Christmas, we find we need to stock up a bit on those educational items).

I know. By now you think we are very odd. Just keep reading. Horror of horrors -- we never take the children to any of the world famous theme parks that we are "privileged" to live nearby. We tried it once, when my oldest was 4. He couldn't handle the stimulation, and had repeated meltdowns in the park. We decided we wouldn't do it again for years to come, and we haven't.

Theme parks are like Fr*tos or L*y's Potato Chips to a child's sensibilities. Once they get a couple of experiences of them, it grays out all other more subtle life experiences. Especially when you live right near those theme parks. No other place quite measures up. We want to avoid that. There is plenty of time for them, when they are older.

We approach every event, every vacation trip, from the point of view of how much it could overstimulate our children. Because when you overstimulate, and overstimulate, and overstimulate, pretty soon it takes more, and more, and more to provide the same thrill anymore. Life itself gets duller and duller. We human beings are made that way.

We talk to the kids about being wise consumers, and avoiding the pitfalls that advertising set up. Recognizing a gimmick when you see one. Does this toy really look like it did on the cover of the box? Isn't it just a bunch of little plastic pieces and stickers to put on? Where does the fun come from? YOU! You can make your own fun.

I hear parents comment often in amazement about how their youngest children were alway initially more enthralled with the box than they were with the toy the box contained. We parents (and grandparents) are the ones who teach them to crave the toys. This doesn't have to be. They really can make their own fun, and should be required to, now and them. It is so good for them to be understimulated more. This is the classic case of less is better.

So, we remain low key in every area of the children's lives. Lives as commercial free as possible. As a result, they really do know how to make their own fun. They have a blast playing with blankets hanging over things. Exploring nature in our yard. Pretending together for hours. We read so many family read aloud books, so they have the ideas they need to create pretend play. Now that the door of reading is being unlocked to our younger child, I have caught them in the same room both reading their own books. It is a very rare time when they report that they are bored. Maybe once every couple of months.

Vacations are getting simpler and more frequent. We have stopped the nice hotels, and integrated camping into our lives. It took some getting used to, and we had to build up some new planning, packing and camping skills, but now we really love it. Vacation destinations are nature-based now. Mountains, scenery, state parks. The kids love it because they love nature.

Did I mention that my kids almost never have nightmares? (if I could just say the same about nosebleeds!)

Now, if you can find a down side, it is this. My kids are very sensitive to stimulation. Sometimes, we are watching a DVD, and if the movie is less than, say, 20 or 25 years old, it can be very stimulating. The scene changes at a frenetic pace, the action is non-stop, and it is difficult to always know what is happening. My kids, especially the 5 year old, don't care for this. My youngest has had a couple of nightmares in her life, and they have always (always!) occurred after a movie that I later regretted letting them watch. Yes, these are G-rated movies. They are just very stimulating, because folks demand that nowadays.

Tonight, we are going to do something that is unusual for us. My husband's work group has provided a fun night out. There will be S*nny's Bar-B-Q served for supper(yum!) and then a minor league baseball game, topped off with fireworks. We've never done anything like this before. We are looking forward to it, because it is such a rare experience, a big deal for our family. I'll post about how it goes.