A Parable about Change - based in Fact
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•1:33 PM
Once upon a time, there was a family of four. A mom, a dad, and two little children. They lived in a subdivision of homes that all basically looked alike. Their yard was small and unfenced. Solicitors often came to their door. Noisy college students rented the home across the street. The homeowners' association often sent letters to them complaining about dead palm fronds that needed to be trimmed, or pressure washing that was needed on the driveway. This family became annoyed, because there always seemed to be a problem, despite all the effort they put into keeping their yard nice. They decided they needed change. They wanted more space, more freedom, and less scrutiny. They wanted to raise their children where they didn't have to worry about a speeding car picking them off. They wanted to move to the country. They wanted change. At some point in the house shopping process, I don't know exactly when, they prayed for guidance in selecting a new house. After all, moving was a big decision.

So they went with their realtor to visit a house for sale in the country. Yes - surely this was the place! It was different from their old house. It had over 4 acres of space and privacy. You couldn't see your neighbors, and they couldn't see you. It would be a change. Yes, the floors seemed to buckle in some places, and there were some biting deer flies in the yard. The bathrooms looked pretty used and rusty, and the kitchen would have to be completely redone. But the house was different than anything they had ever seen before. It was unique. It would be a real change, moving here. So they overlooked its faults. They visited this house with the realtor 2 or 3 times. The realtor secretly thought the house was a dump, but said nothing. The couple was figuring on a bid for this house, when....

They found out about a second house. This house was on one acre. It was charming and well kept, and the asking price was much less than the first house. In fact, the first house now looked pretty bad compared to this one. This house had a nice view of a horse farm in the distance. It had many lovely oak trees in the back yard. The mom fell in love with those oak trees. But the house was too small. They took measurements, and it would be difficult for them to fit their furniture inside this house. There was also a neighbor with a loud motorcycle. But they overlooked these faults. The house was pretty, and it would be a change. So they placed a bid on the house. The bid was rejected; it was too low.

The couple was down in the dumps. They thought about giving up on looking for a house in the country. By this time, their realtor started to wonder if this couple really knew what they wanted. After all, the houses they were interested in had nothing in common with each other. But the next day, they saw another house come on the market. It was on 5 acres, with a barn and a hen house. There were five neighbors in view. They went to see this house. Yes, this would be a change. It was big enough for the family. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with the house. Everything looked fine. There was plenty of open space. There were many fruit trees, and a garden. There were lovely old oak trees, dripping with Spanish moss. The house was newer than the others, and looked very solid. It had a lovely fireplace, too. That same day, they placed a bid on the house and it was accepted. Yippeee!

A month later, they moved in to the new house in the country. Three weeks later, a hurricane came. There was some damage to this house, but it was minor. No trees were lost, and the roof didn't leak. It was a well-built house.

By this point in time, the cost of homes had become to skyrocket. There weren't any more decent homes in that community that this family could have afforded. It was a good thing they purchased a home when they did!

As for house number one: the family later learned that there was a problem with water quality at that house that would have cost a lot of money to correct. In addition, after the hurricane, the house became isolated. Trees had fallen across the wooded driveway, and there was no other way in or out of the property.

As for house number two: all the lovely oak trees in the backyard were knocked down by the hurricane. And yes, the motorcycle was as loud as ever, even in the middle of the night.

The moral of this story: This family was us, over four years ago. We thought we were wise. We thought we were careful.... savvy. We thought we knew what we were doing. All we knew is that we wanted change. We wanted change so badly that we were blind to the obvious. We were willing to overlook many red flags in order to get what we thought we wanted. Our desire for something different had made us blind.

The only thing that protected us was seeking God. God had protected us from our own shortsighted folly. Praises to Him!

May He protect all of us from our shortsighted folly as well.
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Homeschool Memoir #11 or Our Georgia Vacation: Part 4 (The Rest of the Trip)
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•2:18 PM
THEME:
This week I’d like to invite you to share your favourite field-trip that you’ve been able to go on since you’ve started homeschool. I’d encourage you to include photos, but you don’t have to.



This seems like the perfect opportunity to finish writing about our September family camping vacation, since our vacation was really like an extended homeschool field trip. Many of the places we visited turned out to be very educational. Here they are in the order in which we visited them:

1. Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Georgia - we were camping at F. D. Roosevelt State Park during this time, for three nights. The first full day, we spent at Callaway. It was very quiet that day, with few visitors, since it was off season. They have a magnificent butterfly exhibit, inside a glass building, with non-native butterflies from around the world. Our children are such butterfly lovers, and they could have stayed at this exhibit all day long. Once we could pull them away, we enjoyed the birds of prey encounter, and learned many of the blessings that birds of prey provide for human beings. One of them, is that they get rid of a lot of harmful bacteria, like botulism and anthrax. Did you know that birds of prey can consume carrion with these bacteria, and never get sick. In fact, they rid the world of these harmful bugs. Another reason that birds of prey need to be respected and protected.




















































2. F. D. R.'s Little White House, Warm Springs, Georgia - we visited this interesting home, where FDR retreated for many years, including during his presidency. He loved Warm Springs even before he took office, coming there often for relief from his post-polio symptoms. He eventually had this home built there. It was interesting to see the sentry posts at various places outside the house. He actually passed away at this house, while he was having his portrait painted. He became ill and had to be carried to his bed, after which he died. The unfinished portrait is still there, as well as a second portrait that was complete, for the artist to show what she had in mind with the first portrait. FDR died only three weeks or so before V-E Day (Victory in Europe, World War 2). Surely the stresses of the war did him in, and it was a shame that he did not live to see that day. While we were touring the home, a park ranger called us outside to the front porch to see a huge praying mantis. Needless to say, that is what our children remember best about the Little White House.



















We also visited the favorite picnic spot of FDR where he would go for contemplation. There was a bronze statue of him sitting on a car seat there. He was most comfortable on a car seat that was placed upon the rock there, overlooking the valley. Little Son was curious to see how FDR would have looked wearing his (Little Son's) eyeglasses. This is the result.


















During the three nights we were camping at F. D. Roosevelt State Park, we had to do some violin practice. Baby Girl and Little Son both did their practicing. However, while Little Son was practicing his concerto, he noticed that a girl, who was walking by our campsite, had stopped to listen. Shortly after the violins were placed back in their cases, she came over and introduced herself. "Hi, my name is Ashley and I'm nine. Say, you're pretty good. I am taking up violin myself now, although all I can play is 'Twinkle'." The rest of the day, our children played in the campground with Ashley and her siblings, all homeschooled. The moral of this story is: Playing violin is a great way to meet girls!

We drove from there to a mock town called Westville. This was a place where everything is supposed to be as it would have been back in 1850. We had an opportunity to see craftpersons sewing, quilting, making candles, doing laundry the old-fashioned way, making shoes, making rope, making wood furniture, growing cotton, etc. All of the buildings in Westville have been moved from other locations in Georgia to their present spot. This was definitely a "field trip" type of destination. Again, it was very quiet there, as there were few visitors. On a weekday in early October, it is quiet unless there is a local school visiting. Here are some photos from that experience:


































After Westville, we drove on to Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park outside of Cordele, Georgia. Although it didn't turn out to be our favorite place to camp (especially after F.D. Roosevelt S.P., which was excellent) at least there was plenty to see and do there. The campground is on Lake Blackshear and you can see boaters and anglers busy at their hobbies. There is also a well done military history museum on the premises, with artifacts from all the wars from Revolutionary to Desert Storm. This was very interesting. We especially appreciated the proximity to a depot for the SAM Shortline Railroad. We walked a little over a mile from our campsite to the train station, and took a 6 hour excursion that stopped for some time in Americus, Georgia, and Plains, Georgia.

Here are photos from that excursion.












In Americus, we visited the Habitat for Humanity Global Village. This was a very worthwhile place to visit, and I highly recommend it. It is an exhibit showing the terrible conditions that folks are living in in various places in the world. You can walk into a slum full of shanties that would be typical of the type of communities outside the U.S. where Habitat works. After that, you take your passport and visit (walk through) about 15 full scale models of homes that Habitat builds for families in those countries. Some of the countries represented were India, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Kenya, Mexico, Guatemala, and Botswana. For each country, climate, and culture, they decided the construction method that would build a strong, solid house that is typical of the middle class of that country. Then they involved the families in the building process, often by teaching them how to make the bricks. The result was a house that might not seem special by American standards, but was clearly far superior to the slum shanties that were at the beginning of the exhibit.

Here is a snapshot from the Georgia Vets military museum:









The last night, upon returning to Florida, we stopped to camp for one night at Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park. This is a great one night stopover when entering or leaving Florida. The campground, itself, is top notch. The rangers were very friendly, and while we were there, our children satisfied the requirements to become "Junior Rangers". They are proud of their Junior Ranger badges, and Little Son is anxious to enforce all the campground rules when we next camp at a Florida State Park. by the way, at this park is a unique museum celebrating the life and folk music of Stephen Foster, who made the "S'wanee River" famous with his song. Oh, I mustn't forget - we had to take at least one photo standing onthe banks of this famous river (spelled Suwannee).





Well, I managed to accomplish two things with this post. The Homeschool Memoir of the week, AND the rest of our vacation travelogue.

Whew! That's a load off my mind.

Our next Field Trip (a.k.a. Camping Trip) is scheduled for a week from tomorrow. Yippee!

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Be Prayerful
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:08 AM
Just a reminder to be in much prayer during the upcoming week and beyond. Pray that the Lord will have mercy on us, on our nation and protect us all.
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First Day of the First Grade
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:57 AM
Baby Girl completed Calvert Kindergarten last week. We celebrated over the weekend by going out for ice cream. Also last week, the new Calvert First Grade curriculum box arrived at our house. We weren't home at the time, but discovered the box in our breezeway later.



Baby Girl was anxious to bring it inside and open it. Calvert boxes are usually heavy.

Stopping and looking inside every book.

Wow, look at all of this!

So, actually this past Thursday, we began the First Grade materials with her. Now this is a child who I did not teach yet to read, all that much. Instead, she taught herself, or should I say, motivation taught her. Which leads in to a funny anecdote.
The earliest worksheets in Calvert First Grade are designed to ease the child into their studies, reviewing the work that was covered in Kindergarten. So, there was a place on the worksheet that read as follows:

Read the sentence. Circle the picture that goes with it.

3. Sam sat.

So Baby Girl, upon reaching this portion of the worksheet, proceeded to read aloud by herself as follows: "Read the sentence. Circle the picture that goes with it. Sam sat."

Well. Bowl me over. I guess she is going to do okay this year after all!

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Homeschool Memoir #10
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:30 AM
This week's theme for Homeschool Memoirs is:

The time will be changing again. I think on Sunday but not sure. Anyhow this is our 10th Homeschool Memoirs so this week it’s going to be about 10 timely facts about you! Write 10 interesting, crazy, weird, fun facts about you! Include facts about you as a woman, a wife, a mommy, a homeschooler, a homekeeper, a taxi-driver, a cook, etc . I only put 10 facts because I didn’t want to overwhelm you, but you’re welcome to do more!

Okay. Here goes.

Number One I spent over two thirds of my life in the great state of New Jersey before moving to Florida after getting married; although I have gotten used to the climate here, I still do miss the four seasons, very much, and mourn their absence even as the weather gets cooler and more pleasant here in FLA in October. But I lived in a lovely community in New Jersey, where the New York City skyline could easily be seen from the higher ridges in my 4 square mile town. I still keep in touch with some of my friends from there, although many have moved to different states since.

Number Two Adoption runs in our family. My brothers and I were adopted, and so are our children. Get this: My older brother was adopted on October 25 when my mother was 37 years old. Our Little Son was adopted on October 21 when I was 37 years old.

I was adopted by my parents on August 9 when my mother was 40 years old. Our Baby Girl was adopted on August 6 when I was 40 years old. Neat, huh?

Number Three My happiest childhood memories (when I was 6-8years old) were two-week long vacations in the Adirondack Mountains at a place called Hemlock Hall. Here, we stayed in rustic furnished cabins, with electric heaters and fireplaces that were actually needed at night in August. There was no TV, there was no phone. We ate with everyone else at a common table in the lodge - breakfast and supper every day. These happy days have helped form my passions today. I still long for a place like that was, and to this day, I love the mountains.

Number Four I once wanted to go to college in Canada. I had studied French for six years, with great interest in excelling, and wrote my college admissions essay in French. I was excited to be admitted to McGill University in Montreal, but my excitement turned to dismay when we discovered there would be no financial assistance for me to study there. It wasn't God's plan for me. Instead, I received a 4 year scholarship to study Electrical Engineering at L*f*yette College in Pennsylvania. That, too, is an amazing story of God's provision in my life.

Number Five I was once a disk jockey for my college radio station. My format differed from semester to semester, from Classic Rock to Classical, from Pop to Contemporary Christian Music. Without going into too much detail, one could almost tell the condition of my spiritual life from the contents of my radio show!

Number Six Before I became a mom, I once was an electrical engineer. My engineering career spanned about 15 years. Two of those years, I worked at K*nnedy Sp*ce C*nter in facilities engineering there. That job was an eye-opening experience for me. I had the privilege of experiencing shuttle launches and landings from pretty close up. The words "awesome" and "tear-jerking" do not adequately convey that experience. I can't imagine the Glory of God compared to that.

Number Seven I worked for 4 years as a Senior Electrical Engineer at W*lt D*sney W*rld. This was quite a stimulating job, with much responsibility. There were a few times when I had to work nights for a week or two straight. My office was 500 yards behind C*nderella's C*stle. As such, I spent most of the big "Y2K" night (remember that hoax?) inside a high voltage substation. Millions of people were celebrating the new millenium on D*sney property, while folks like me were confined to a substation. I often wonder what I realistically could have done to "save the world" if it had all come crashing down that night. The "Y2K" experience has profoundly affected my worldview, and the amount of credence I give the mainstream media about anything anymore.

Number Eight My DH and I become parents for the first time inside an orphanage in Ho Ch* Minh city, Viet Nam, when Little Son, then 6 months old, was placed into our arms. We spent two incredible weeks in an apartment there until the process for securing his travel visa and completing his adoption could be completed. How do I put words to that experience?

Number Nine We met Baby Girl in our local airport. I was fortunate enough to be able to capture that experience on video. Once again, there is simply no way for me to put words to that precious experience!

Number Ten One of my dreams is to drive around the continent and see all the sights. This is to include all our national parks. I also want to see Aurora Borealis some day. I know this is difficult to "schedule", so it would truly have to be the grace of God to allow me this treat.

Okay - I will quit at ten things. I am looking forward to reading everybody's post on this topic!

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I Love Your Blog Award
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:43 AM
My new internet friend, Lois, the creator of The Prairie Family Chronicles gave me this lovely award before we left on vacation. Thank you, Lois! I just know we would be great "in person" friends if we lived near each other. She has the sweetest, most beautiful, family that includes a youngest beauty who was born in China. Some of her children are also learning the violin, among many other things, including Boy Scouts and Caravan. They have a very interesting and busy life over there in Kansas, so check out their blog some time. It is quite good.

Now I have to nominate seven blogs I know for this award, so here goes. In no particular order:

Life at the W.A.C.K.O.S. : I can usually count on this one to be very entertaining. The homeschool mom here is about my age, except she has children who are much older than mine. I love her glimpse into a future life with teenagers. Highly recommended.

Musings of the Dings : I like to read about this beautiful family. They are expecting a baby soon, and they have a lovely blog. Both husbands and wives are contributors, with the husband writing posts that are of more theological interest. I enjoy this blog a lot.

Ante Family Agrarians : Now here is a real bonafide homesteading family. This family decided to answer the calling of the Lord to live off the land in Christian community. I find their lifestyle fascinating.

Modern Day Ozzie and Harriet : The creator of this blog is such an inspiration to me, as well as a really nice lady! I am a long time follower of her blog. She shares our appreciation of large, cute dogs, and of Calvert School curriculum. She is also an amazing cook, baker, seamstress, home decorator, and MOM of nine! I wish she lived closer, too. I'd love to stop by for dessert often. Check this one out.
Falling Like Rain : rapidly becoming an all time fave of mine. The more I learn about the creator of this interesting, uncluttered blog, the more I appreciate her point of view. I always check this one out first.
Susie Q&A : I have enjoyed reading about this family and their summer. The children are real cuties, and they live in a beautiful location as well.
The Prairie Family Chronicles : Is it legal to nominate the blogger who nominated me? This is one of the few blogs that I can honestly say I read "cover-to-cover". They are just such a sweet family, and everybody wears glasses, too! Don't worry, Lois, you don't have to go and nominate another seven.
For good reading, something uplifting and encouraging, fascinating and inspiring, check out any of these blogs during this election season, and beyond.
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A Wedding!
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:22 AM
We've been pretty busy lately, and I haven't had much time to post, but part of the reason is because our children were in a wedding!

I used to work with a man when I was in my W*lt D*sney W*rld career days - we were in different departments but became friends. He was older, and had two daughters who were adopted, both of them born in Korea. Those daughters are young women now, and the younger one was planning to marry a Korean man (born and grew up there, but here for college - his family is still there). He is attending a local college here, and they decided to get married while they were still in school.

The wedding was small, and there was no "wedding party" to speak of, EXCEPT...

... they asked our children to be a flower girl and ring bearer.

Here are the results.

The Bride's family had hired a salonist on wheels to come to the church and do the hair of the ladies of the family. This included the Bride, her mother, sister, and Baby Girl. Our daughter sat very patiently and quietly for the duration -- about a half hour, and 22 bobby pins! These three photos came in in reverse order, but you get the idea.




Baby Girl is checking out her new "do" in the mirror before getting dressed. Wow!


Little Son and Baby Girl, all ready for the big event.



The groom was a lot of fun. He really enjoyed our kids, and he had a great sense of humor and a lot of personality. Here he is, before the ceremony, getting in a picture with our children.


The children made up a third of the receiving line. This was unexpected (by them), but it left them feeling pretty important!

Baby Girl's dress was chosen to look like the Bride's dress.

Waiting for the reception to begin.

They took a picture of our family, as it is not often that we are all dressed up.


This wedding was very nice. We enjoyed it, and so did our children. It was a great experience for them. When the dinner was over, the bride and groom came over and gave our children all the extra mini bubble solution bottles and glow stick bracelets. They were dazzled by all this incredible fun-in-a-box. As we were driving home after the wedding, Little Son could be heard saying: "They [the Bride and Groom] are truly the most generous man and lady I have ever known!"
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Convictions before Election Day
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:47 PM
I hate election season. This one seems to be the worst. I tend to get pretty riled up over things. I get into many conversations with my DH about election and candidate issues. Often, the children are listening in. Sometimes this is good, and informative for them. Other times, maybe not.



Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, -- think about such things. PHILIPPIANS 4:8



This is a stressful election for me. My emotions are running high. I have even dreamed about it at night. We don't ever use swear words in our home. However, my kids have overheard me refer to some voters as "idiots", and some political party members as "goofballs". I have also had some choice nicknames for the mass media. I am definitely forming my kids' political point of view at a young age.


This is not talk that is glorifying to God. The Spirit is convicting me big time.



This election, I am quite concerned. I really do not trust one of the candidates to be in the White House. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him: with my little finger, that is. If he gets elected, I truly fear for our nation's future. Herein is my mistake.

This morning, when I was studying scripture with Little Son, we read through Acts Chapter 23. After several of his missionary journeys, Paul had travelled to Jerusalem, where he angered many Jewish leaders with his talk of the Gospel. At one point, the mob was about to kill Paul on the spot. Enter the Roman military commander, who stepped in and protected Paul from certain death, kept him under guard in the Roman barracks, and provided an opportunity for Paul to address the crowd with his message. Later, when this commander heard of another Jewish plot to ambush and kill Paul, the Romans went to great expense and trouble to usher Paul safely and securely out of the city, north to Caesarea, with a letter of explanation and arrangements for a fair trial to be held before Governor Felix.

Now we don't often think of Roman military commanders as nice guys, or even good people. They were known for unspeakable cruelty, and were responsible for carrying out brutal punishments and crucifixions. Many were corrupt and sinful. They were ridiculously harsh in their treatment of non-Roman subjects, but were comparatively lenient with Roman citizens. But this particular commander, who is unnamed, saw terrible injustice about to occur and went to a lot of trouble to insure Paul's safety. Of course his job was to keep the peace in the territory, but he went way above and beyond the call of duty on Paul's behalf. Some of it was because he discovered at one point that Paul was a Roman citizen. But then again?

The first night Paul was in the barracks, Jesus spoke to him and said:
"Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify in Rome". Acts 23:11b.


In other words, he was reassuring Paul that he wasn't going to die at the hand of these Jews. He was going to make it through. Furthermore, he would eventually make it to Rome one day.

So Little Son and I discussed how the Lord is writing all of human history. Nothing happens without first being planned by the Lord. And God can use some very unlikely people to enact his amazing plans, just as he did with this Roman commander.


Just as he will do with whichever candidate takes the American presidency in 2008.


Like I said before, my biggest mistake is fear. I act out of fear, I speak out of fear, and it is not glorifying to God. Has God written all of human history? YES! Does this mean that everything is going to come up rosy for America? Maybe not. Maybe our country will be chastised. After all, many have forsaken God in America.


I close with one more scripture passage that speaks to me in the context of the future of our country. It is Genesis 18:16 - 33. This is when Abraham pleaded with the Lord on behalf of Sodom.


Abraham remained standing before the LORD. Then Abraham approached him and said: "Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

The LORD said, "If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."


Abraham boldly repeated his question several times, each time reducing the count of righteous people, until he got to merely ten.

Then he said, "May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?" He answered, "For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it."
When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.


May these passages give you comfort in these tumultuous times, as they do for me. I pray that I may no longer act and speak out of fear, but of confidence in our good and holy God who writes all of human history, just the way he wants it.
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Our Georgia Vacation: Part 3 (The Early Days)
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•6:58 AM

Whenever we have at least a couple hours of driving on the interstate, we always like to stop and eat at a Cr*cker Barr*l. My goodness, we have never found one we didn't like. Never have we seen a restaurant name that has more consistency in friendliness, service, and food quality. Oh, and well-used bathrooms! Oh well, nothings perfect. We try to take along some candy to munch on in the van. This time, Daddy chose candy that pleased me - Good and Plenty and licorice Twizzlers. I am a big licorice fan, and Good and Plenty's remind me of my late Dad, who loved them and consumed entire boxes in movies. Of course, he had dentures, so he could get away with it in part. After eating, we often sit a couple of minutes on the porch chairs, and here we are doing just that. So we enjoyed this Alabama version of C/B, and hit the road for Georgia.

This trip was my children's first venture into Alabama. Along the interstate, we saw exits for Tuskegee University, and this caused us to recall the contributions of George Washington Carver, and the research he did to help agricultural production in the south. We learned about him in Calvert's third grade this year. We also saw vast cotton fields, and peanut fields as well. There was another mystery crop we couldn't identify, and I don't know if I would recognize a soybean field if I saw one, so it remains a mystery to us. The plant looked tall and grassy with wide blades. Hmmm.

Other notable sites in Alabama had to be the casino and the fireworks stores we saw along the way. Can't remember much more about that drive across Alabama.

Once we entered Georgia, within two exits, we got off and we were in the Pine Mountain area. At once, the appearance of the area improved greatly. It was a lovely area. We again traveled across rural roads, but these were rolling, winding, and hilly, and the properties were quite picturesque, with lovely country homes set way back from the road. This was a nice place to live. Daddy was already telling me I had picked a good place to go. As we drove onto our next destination, F. D. Roosevelt State Park, the land got more wooded and secluded. The highway traced the ridge that is known as Pine Mountain, and the State Park is located at the top of this ridge. We followed the signs and pulled up to the ranger station, where we were dealt with professionally, if not warmly. Here, as in all Georgia state parks, they give you a small card with your name and departure date, and are told that you can go select your campsite from those that are available, placing your card in the little pedestal provided to distinguish occupied sites from vacant ones. Campsites are not reservable. So after checking out two of the campsite loops, we backed into one that was surrounded on three sides by woods. It was a great campsite, spacious and private, while not being isolated. This loop was about 30% filled, which was also nice. One side of the loop bordered the shore of Lake Delanor, and our side of the loop was higher elevation, and in the woods.

We really liked this campground, and this campsite. It is the closest place to our state where there is a feeling of being in the mountains. The woods are characterized by the trees of a temperate climate, not the semi-tropical climate of the vast coastal plain of the south. If I didn't speak to anyone, I could almost convince myself that I was back home somewhere in my home state of New Jersey. (here I insert a long, deep sigh). It was pleasant settling down here, and by the next morning, my DH said to me, "This is a great vacation", something that he never said the previous year when I made him traipse the entire length of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. So I felt good about that.

While at Pine Mountain, we spent one day at Callaway Gardens and one day at FDR's Little White House. Impressions and photos of those attractions will come in my next post.
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Our Georgia Vacation: Part 2 (Leaving Home)
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:21 AM
We packed everything the night before, for the most part, and took off after an early breakfast in the house. This is often a stressful part of the vacation for me, and it takes several "miles" before I can fully unwind from it. I so distrust my memory and my brain that our countertop is full of checklists, one for my concerns, and a separate one for DHs concerns. My list contains things like allergy medicine, insect repellant, toiletry items, foil, scissors and scotch tape, package up the dog's food for the vet, etc. DHs list contains things like a/c and all parts for exhaust hose, toolbox, extension cords, check oil level, add windshield washer fluid, turn off water heater, turn off house a/c, turn off well water, turn off solar water heater pump. Meanwhile, the kids are SO charged up over the prospect of vacation, and I am SO worried about forgetting something important that there is an uncomfortable dichotomy set up within our house. At this point, I tell them "just go outside and play until we come out to go. And please, no injuries!" Usually this is right after the kids have approached Daddy with three small colorful backpacks full of toys and things that they don't think they can do without. "No," says Daddy. "You can each just take one small pack, and everything has to fit in it."



Here are the children all settled in for a long day's drive.














Then, about an hour after we are on the road, it hits me, and I report to DH: "I distinctly remember shutting the windows to all the bedrooms and the school room, but I don't remember ever closing the kitchen window". Hmmmm. We had slept with all the windows open that night, since the air temps were venturing down into the 60s for the first time this season, and now I didn't remember closing all of them. After about 90 seconds of my husband wondering what I was going to request next, I ended with "Oh well, nothing we can do about it, I guess. I will simply just have to forget about it". I think I heard a sigh of relief come from the driver's seat side at that point.


Of course, this was well after we had gotten to the other end of our small town and I announced that we had to go back because I left half a banana in the garbage can and never took out the garbage. DH was continuing to drive, and then I followed up with "Yuck. An overripe banana in our trashcan for TWO WEEKS. The house will reek to high heaven. We can't just leave it."


"Okay!", and the van turned into a side street and we went back home. Fifteen minutes gone.


Oh, and we don't take our doggy on such trips. You see, there is barely room for him, and it is so hot in the car, and we like to hit every Cr*cker B*rrel restaurant we can find, which would be difficult to do with dog, and we honestly don't know if we could keep our dog quiet through the night at any campground, so we board our doggy, or leave him with the neighbor. So this time, it was to board him. So we stopped there first, too.


Now we absolutely adore our vet, and everybody on his staff. They are the best. And they were more crowded that morning than I ever remember, which meant we were there about a half hour waiting our turn for things. I also had to sign off a release for anesthesia for Beau because he needed a "nail shave". He is 8 years old, and will not allow anybody around his nails to trim them anymore. They had grown hideously long, and this really bothered me, since I felt guilty every time I saw them. So now, he will have to have an annual "nail shave" under sedation; we requested this the morning of our vacation as well (as a follow up, he is now home with his new short nails, and they look great. I am so happy about this. Now he can run all winter without fear of breaking/splitting them, which he has done in the past. I think I notice a new twinkle in his eye and a spring in his step now, don't you?)
















So will this post ever get on with the trip? Well, I have to say, that's what I was wondering, too, that morning as it was nearing 10 o'clock before we really started to move along the highway, putting the house and vet finally behind us.


Our first destination was the Milton - Gulf Pines KOA Kampground outside of Pensacola, where we were going to visit my MIL (Mimi) for two days. More about that part of the trip in my next post.
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Homeschool Memoir #8
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•4:25 PM


This week share your favourite spot to study with your kids. There are many places you can sit down to teach, learn, and work, but where do you prefer and why? You’re welcome to include a photo of your study spot!



My favorite study spot is the breezeway table when the weather is nice enough to do lessons outdoors.









And when the weather isn't nice enough to work outdoors, I like it when I can do a family read aloud from my favorite recliner.









I have described our regular homeschool room in this post.




And this week, we just returned from our family vacation. This year, it was a 10 night camping trip. I have begun a series of posts about this here. Please check it out when you get a chance!






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Our Georgia Vacation: Part 1 (The Camper)
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•7:21 AM
We arrived back home safely on Monday, without any incident, after ten nights of camping with perfectly sunny and cool weather the entire time. Yes, we were truly blessed on this trip. It was a fairly simple vacation this time, with less driving, and I am still physically tired from the trip, and still recovering, but I am happy to say that everything went off without a hitch on this trip. The best thing was we never had to discover what it would be like to have to bide our time inside the camper and wait for the rain to quit!


This will be a multiple day post, so today, I will just share some photos explaining how we do our homemade Sprinter van camping conversion. Our van is simple, allowing us mainly to sleep, store our things fairly neatly, and cook inside in a toaster oven, but that's it. But we try to stay at state parks that are reputed to have nice bathrooms, so we don't really need the bathroom facilities to be in the van. And the sleeping is quite comfortable, too.


The weekend before the trip, we remove the back two rows of seats from the van. They are extremely heavy and difficult to handle, so that is why we always do that part on a separate day from actually packing. This leaves the back of the van large and open for our "conversion". First, we move in a small wood cabinet with drawer, where we store our permanent camping supplies. Then we move in the portable a/c unit, and tie it down securely for the trip. Then comes the futon that is a double bed. After that, comes DH's nifty storage trunk that converts into a sleeping surface for one child. The other child sleeps on the floor in the front of the futon by the cabinet.


This photo is looking inside the back of the van after it has been fully packed. We back the van right up to the front door of our house! (we can do this in our neighborhood). Note the full trunk. The bottom part of the trunk is full of things we need for the trip, and the top section is full of mostly non perishable foods, and a few things that wouldn't fit in the bottom part. Including, of course, the all important violins.















Then, we place our cold foods cooler adjacent to this box, allowing us to walk in and out of the van from the back door. When it is sleep time, the end of the box pivots up on a set of hinges, and locks in place to make a flat sleeping surface that crosses the entire back of the van. Definitely long enough for any child, or shorter adult, to sleep.


Here is a photo of the futon that we use for DH and myself to sleep. We did not skimp here. We are using a good futon mattress with 10 layers that rivals the comfort of our bed at home. It is important, for if I can't sleep while camping, then camping isn't gonna' last very long in this family!















You can see in this photo that underneath the futon we store all the blankets, sleeping bags, linens and pillows, a camp chair, and the self inflating mattresses for the kids to sleep on. With the wheel well under the futon, this pretty much takes up the full space under there.
Oh, and notice the wooden "feet" that DH made for the futon. This raises it up some to facilitate a person, even an adult being able to sleep comfortably with a portion of their body underneath it. In this case, Baby Girl sleeps on the floor, but her feet are partially underneath the futon.







This next photo shows the portable a/c unit when it is tied up for travel in front of the cabinet. In the cabinet, we store things like flashlights, reusable dinnerware, paper towels, tablecloth, cooking spoons, ladle, spatula, oven mitts, trivets, and various things we always need and keep in the cabinet year round for our camping trips. We always know these things are in the drawer, or on the shelves, and they are easy to retrieve when we need them.






DH has mounted two fluorescent lights at the ceiling that can be plugged into shore power at the campsite. They provide great lighting inside. Can you tell I am really proud of my husband's ingenuity?














The next photos show the van when it is in use for sleeping. This first photo shows Little Son all set up in his sleeping area, at the foot of the futon, and directly across the back of the van, over the storage locker that DH constructed. Complete privacy is assured by the attaching of many sunshades to all the windows. They are secured by strong magnets, and go up pretty easily. Nevertheless, setting up in camp involves many little steps, but none of them are too difficult, and we are all set up in half an hour. We just have to carefully coordinate everybody's parts, locations, and sequence of steps to make it smooth. By the end of the trip, we were doing okay with this. It did take some patience, though!




This is Baby Girl all snuggly cuddly at the foot of the storage cabinet. She turns out to be the best sleeper of all. She crashes immediately, sleeps soundly all night, and is the last person to be aroused every morning. Of course, Bear Blanket might have something to do with that.












This next photo shows the kids romping with daddy in the morning. The window shades black out everything so well, that it isn't always easy to tell when morning has arrived. Doesn't Daddy look comfortable there?














Now at this point, you may wonder how the van is kept cool and comfortable. We were concerned that it would be stuffy and damp or humid. Not so with DH's handy dandy shore power HVAC system. (actually the heating part is handled by separate portable electric heaters, and work pretty well, at least when the van gets down into the upper 40s at night. We haven't tested when it gets colder yet).

This is the portable air conditioner when it is all hooked up between the driver and passenger seat. This air conditioner works extremely well during sleep. It can't handle the heat when the full sun is on the van, though. But then, we never will be sleeping then. We will only need to be in the van at camp when the sun is down, or when it is raining. In either case, the a/c should work fine. We will have to seek out shady campsites when we can. The air conditioner also functions as a vent fan when no cooling is needed. There is an exhaust tube that is connected to the driver's side window.





Note how DH has rigged this one up. He constructed a vent opening out of plexiglass that fits neatly in the driver's side window when it is down. It also permits the electrical connection to enter the van here.
Our goal was to modify the van to camp without defacing the van in any way. Notice the way DH has designed the interface to keep rain from entering the duct.



And that concludes today's post about our van conversion. For anyone interested in converting a Sprinter van for camping, this is the way one family of four has done it. The cost of the conversion, as you can see, was under $1000. And this vehicle still gets 23 mpg diesel, even when converted for camping, since the weight doesn't really increase during the conversion (once we take those heavy seats out).

The next post will talk about some of the things we saw and did on our trip. Thanks for reading this far. Hope you'll stay tuned!
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