Wednesday, April 28, 2010 10:17 a.m.

We here at our home strive to make our lives as commercial-free as possible.  Our modern environment is saturated with advertising, and we try to make our home and lives as safe a haven as possible, including minimizing the amount of advertising to which we are exposed.  Not simply for our children's well being, but also for our own.  Few things arouse a spirit of discontentment for Self-Reliant Man and me more than advertising.

Now I do enjoy listening to music, usually in the car, but over the years our options for doing so have narrowed.  I have been very unsatisfied with broadcast radio, and I am not in the habit, anymore, of shopping for recorded music.  Whereas at one time, about ten or so years ago, I spent a lot of time and attention acquiring music CDs, I am no longer interested in doing so.  I have relied on the radio, and been unhappy with it, so there has been a dearth of recorded music in my life.  Strange, for a family that spends so much time learning how to play string instruments.

In the last year, our local public radio station has stopped broadcasting classical music due to lack of listener support. The major city near us is not exactly a Mecca for the fine arts, I am sorry to say. So, no more classical music, except for a few well worn, tiresome CDs that I play in the car. The local contemporary Christian radio station seems to have a playlist of about 20 songs, and when an especially good one is released, it is played to death. So I can't stomach that anymore. For awhile, I got excited about a new radio station in town that plays music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s. So I would put that on (or Sweet Girl would request it) and that was fine for about a month. Then I found some of the advertising so offensive that I had to stay alert to quickly change stations. Well, this happened twice, maybe, and then I was sick of it and shut it off.

As Chips would say: "Blah!"

But this post does have a happy ending, I promise. While Self-Reliant Man had his car in the body shop for two weeks (due to his encounter with a garbage truck) we were loaned a rental car that had satellite radio. What a blessed discovery this was for me!!! 100% Commercial Free digital music stations of all kinds: pop, country, classical, jazz, Christian, world music and a station for many various sub-categories of musical styles. Plus all kinds of news, weather, and talk stations.

So this week, Self-Reliant Man announced to me that he is going to install a Sirius/XM radio in my car as well as purchase a free-standing portable radio for listening inside the house and in our yard. So I am happy as a lark. I can now hear all the music I haven't heard in years -- including music I remember from when I was age 7 or under, sitting in the back seat of the car when my mother was driving, nostalgic music for me, as well as classical music 24/7. I especially appreciate the display that identifies the name of the piece and the artist. Very nice. So although there are about 120 stations to listen to, we will be picking the Sirius "A la Carte" option whereby you select 50 stations that you particularly want (and there are many that I don't!) and pay $7 a month.

So that is my latest way to de-commercialize our lives; money well spent, I think.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010 9:48 p.m.

Sorry, but that's just the way I feel about it.  And yet we go back.  And -- help me here -- we are learning perseverance, perhaps?  longsuffering?  deferred gratification?

Or are we simply learning to do our very best to glorify the Lord, perfecting our music far above and beyond what we would have done if we were not going?

But we are going, again, to Jacks*nville this weekend for our annual pilgrimage to the state competitions.  It is difficult to not get our hopes up every year.  Every year, we think he is doing so well.  And Sweet Girl will be trying her hand at the competition this year, for the first time.  She, too, is playing fine.

Quick run down of events.

Chips -- Friday --  Violin Solo, Medium I -- Kuchler's Concertino in the style of Antonio Vivaldi

then

Violin Concerto, Junior II -- Concerto #1 in A minor, by J.B. Accolay

then

Piano Trio Chamber ensemble, Medium  -- "Uluru", from Summits, by C. McMichael



Sweet Girl -- Saturday --  Violin Solo, Primary I -- Oh Come Little Children, from Suzuki Book 1.


So, thinking we are ready for the emotional sandpaper, I say let's go for it!  And may this be the year we return home feeling differently than all those other years.  We all could use the encouragement around here.

April 27, 2010 11:05 a.m.

Yesterday was the final practice of the boys' chamber piano trio of which Chips is the violinist.  They were practicing for state competition this coming weekend in Jacks*nville.  This is "Uluru", from the Summits compositions of C. McMichael.  This was the selection that gave Chips such grief this year, but I feel has resulted in good lessons learned for him.  Lessons in perseverance and patience, for example.

So the coming weeks will bring the final performance of this group.  Hopefully, though, they will always remains friends as they are today.  For me this is the "end of an era".  I have mixed feelings.  First, it will be lovely to get the latter half of our Monday afternoons back; but I will miss hanging with these boys and their wonderful moms, as well as benefitting from the teaching of this particular group's director.  But life moves along, children grow older, transitions occur, seasons change.  In most cases everything we have done, and finished well, has been replaced by something else even better.  That's called Providence.  Hopefully, what is being relinquished now will be filled anew with bigger and better things.

There is more that is changing, but I am not at liberty to talk about it just yet.  In a few weeks I will be able to.

If you can spare three minutes, please view this final "practice" performance of a rather modern musical selection.

 Monday, April 26, 2010 12:27 p.m.

My children bring their friends home with them every day.  Sometimes physically, but most often in their imaginations.  It all began a few years ago when they would make references in their play to the friends they saw regularly at church small group, and then at AWANA, and then at Saints (PE class).  This practice continued on a daily basis, and grew to become more and more elaborate over time.

Eventually, it took on some of the structure they had learned from AWANA.  For instance, Chips had his group of friends, and Sweet Girl had hers; Chips became the Commander of his Group, and Sweet Girl was the Leader of her group.  Both children were in charge over their respective group of friends, but the Commander, of course, was in authority over the Leader.

Soon there were lists prepared on paper of each of the Groups.  Each child's group had membership of between ten and twenty children, identifiable by their real first names (although in the case where there were two children of the same first name, as in Madison, the first initial of the last name would be used).

Since then, the Groups have accompanied our children everywhere: in the car, to meals, to lessons, in the yard, and around the house, even to the bedrooms at night.  I am sure it became quite crowded when Chips had to share his bed with his entire group.  Good thing he has a double bed.

Then the Groups became "National Groups" because children were joining from all over the country.  They began to acquire special characteristics.  For instance, they travel in special vehicles called Sprint Cars, and Sprockets.  Yes, several drawings have been made of Sprint Cars and Sprockets, and each type of vehicle has a description and special uses to the Groups.

The Groups are very adventurous children.  They are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound...... when inside their Sprockets, of course.  The groups are extremely inventive, putting their collective brains together to invent many useful things.  For example, Moving Belts, which they put different things on to transport them, and Dual Rockets, motorcycles that fly with rockets.  One of the boys in the Group races against the space shuttle in a Sprocket and always wins a million dollars each time he wins.  He is up to seven million.  They have superhuman qualities in some ways, yet they, too, are members of our fallen human race as they struggle with their own weaknesses: poor judgment in managing their money, overeating (or eating too many sweets and getting stomach aches), reckless driving of the Sprint Cars, disagreements amongst themselves, failure to heed the warnings of their Commander or Leader, failure to floss their teeth regularly, reluctance to practice their instruments every day, or whatever.

We parents continue to marvel at the level of imagination that Chips and Sweet Girl exhibit when playing with their Groups.  I just when I am driving and I overhear Sweet Girl say to Chips: "Let's talk about our Groups." Self-Reliant Man and I cherish it, and we see that through the National Groups, our kids are able to safely and securely process the realities of life in the real world with the assistance of their friends ---- each other.

 April 20, 2010 6:33 p.m.

I truly want to share some of the highlights of the past several weeks /  months here, and have included some photos here.  Having said that, I must add that there aren't as many photos as I would have liked to include.  Most of the pictures included friends' children, and I don't post pictures of other folks' kids on my blog (unless they are generally unrecognizable in the picture).  So that left me with few photos to use, and I shall have to paint the remaining photos in your mind with words alone.

We had two birthdays here in our family.  Sweet Girl turned seven in March, and we had a quiet and peaceful home celebration for her.  This is the cake that Chips decorated for her.  Our children have a custom of treating each other like royalty on their birthdays.  When it is time to open the gifts, the non-birthday child sets up a type of "throne" for the birthday child to sit on while opening presents.  The throne may be outfitted with cushions, signs, a parasol over it, and a special gift opening table covered with a brightly colored cloth or blanket.  We capture it all on video.  It's pretty funny!

Chips turned ten earlier this month, and this is a moment from his bowling party.  He invited sixteen friends, and they were all able to come.  Chips had an ear-to-ear grin the entire time!

Back to February, now.  Here are the children watching the Olympics, complete with flags for the team members they were rooting for.  Notice Sweet Girl's handmade Korea flag. 
For any new readers, yes, we are a TV-free family, but over the seven years of not watching, we have made exceptions for the Olympics, for Presidential inaugurations, space shuttle landings (there was one here just this morning), and hurricane / tornado coverage (because our internet is the first thing to be knocked out).

Uh, yes, that's Self-Reliant Man teaching Chips to shoot targets with his air rifle.  Goodness, but what has country living done to me?!  Chips was still just nine in that photo.

We had a "field trip" for our homeschool fellowship group at our home.  One especially skilled mom led a terrific class on DNA, complete with hands on experimentation, and then the "field trip" morphed into frolicking in the field.

The children were in a musical production at church, singing "Do-Re-Mi" as the von Trapp children, and "So Long, Farewell".  It was a great show, but alas I cannot show it here...

Sweet Girl made a profession of faith at church on Maundy Thursday and became a communicant member.  She was one of eleven such children, and I have a sweet photo of all those children, too, but darn, I can't show it.  Sorry.  They really are cute, too.

Finally, our dry erase board in our school room doesn't owe us anything.  It has been used, and used, and used, and will need to be replaced rather soon.  But what can you do to thank a dry erase board that has consistently passed along to me such priceless messages?

April 15, 2010 11:08 p.m.

It has been a very busy week, and the busyness will not let up at all over the next few days.  I will write again when the dust settles a bit.
Until then, I leave you with a meaningful photo from our recent life:

We're just guessing that these gentlemen needed to stop in and get some more superglue to firmly affix that sign.  And we're pretty excited about the new dining option we will have soon.

April 6, 2010 8:42 p.m.

Chips is now a published writer. Back in December, for his final fourth grade composition with Calvert School, he wrote about Benjamin Franklin, imagining his reaction were he to come back to earth today. His A.T.S. (Calvert's supervisory teacher) wrote back recommending that we submit his composition to Calvert Connection. Calvert Connection is a quarterly publication for, and about, Calvert's home education community.

Imagine our surprise when we received a packet in the mail, yesterday, containing several copies of Calvert Connection and a cover letter telling us that Chips' composition had been published!

We were excited. I have retyped his composition here for those of you who don't receive Calvert Connection.

FOR TODAY... April 6, 2010 5:15 p.m.

Outside my window... lavender colored wildflowers have sprouted all over our property, and that of adjacent properties as well. These flowers give off a very sweet and floral scent, so that it really smells like Easter time around here.

I am thinking and praying... for the children of three different friends; children who are each dealing with their own issues and pain related to their school lives.

I am thankful for... fellowship time yesterday evening with my homeschool mom friends.

I am wearing... khaki capri pants, a periwinkle blue top, and my trademark athletic shoes.

I am remembering... a fun time at our house last week when one of our talented homeschool mom friends skillfully taught us about DNA and provided a laboratory experience for all the children in our group.

I am going... to host many friends at Chips' TENTH birthday bowling party this coming Saturday. He is very excited, and expects to see 14 friends there.

I am reading... creeping my way through all the books I mentioned within the past few weeks, but now have added the following into the mix: Endangered Minds: Why Children Don't Think and What We Can Do About It by Jane M. Healy, a book recommended by Sandy at Falling Like Rain .

I am hoping and praying... for as painless an adjustment as possible for my MIL to a new facility for her care. She is making the transition from assisted living to nursing home, and unfortunately has to be on a waiting list for a preferred facility. We hope that she doesn't have to be relocated more than once before finding the right permanent spot.

On my mind... two friends whose kids are at brick and mortar schools, and suffering quite a bit in school. I realize that homeschooling cannot solve every problem, nor is it for everyone, but I wonder how much suffering could have been avoided had they been homeschooled from the start. Praying for wisdom for them as well.

From the learning rooms... Chips is now a published writer, and I will write more about this in my next post.

Noticing that... the academic portion of our homeschool day is taking longer and longer lately. Some of it is from a more advanced and extended workload, some of it is from daudling. Trying to tell which is which, and maybe not wanting to know.

Pondering these words... He's alive and I'm forgiven -- heaven's gates are open wide! -- Don Francisco, circa 1977(?)

From the kitchen... Skillet burritos and canteloupe for supper tonight.

Around the house... roof repairs about done here. Now we need to tear down some patio screening to get at another place that needs patching and painting. I guess that means we will be having to learn how to rescreen next. I hope it can get done before the summer heat arrives.

One of my favorite things... watching the children sleeping comfortably in their beds and marveling at the miracles that brought them into our lives.

From my picture journal......

Well, I think it is high time to tell my faithful readers about all the changes that will be occurring around here. There are so many that I am going to give them numbers.

1. We decided to enroll both children in the local public school. We have had this nagging guilt about socialization and secret concerns about their academic prowess, so we decided that their needs could best be met by professionals in the field.

2. We also decided to discontinue their violin lessons at the same time. The reason for this is that we think they will be spending more time each day with school and homework, and requiring this activity on top of everything else will be too demanding. They will need some time for fun, you know? After all, you're only young once.

3. Since there will be several long hours to fill while they are away at school, I will fortunately be able to spend a lot more time shopping in the local malls. After all, we expect to save thousands every year not buying curriculum and paying for violin lessons. More $$ for me to spend, right?

4. We decided to sign up for cable television and we have an order in place for a brand new 55 inch LED high definition TV. This will better facilitate my being able to watch the Oprah show and more daytime TV on non-shopping days.

5. Chips' tenth birthday is coming up, and instead of a birthday party, we decided to buy him an XBox 360, his own laptop, and an Ipod. We have been concerned about his lack of technological skills, and figure these gifts will help. Also, the Xbox should continue to hone his fine motor skills since he won't be playing the violin anymore.

6. We decided that Sweet Girl's wardrobe needs some spicing up. After all she is 7, practically a teenager. So I ordered her some tube tops, short shorts, and bikinis for the upcoming summer. I am sure she will look great.

7. We're finally getting around to registering to vote in our county. I know, we've been here five years already, but didn't have the time. We're registering as Democrats.

8. I will be changing the name of this blog to "Free at Last!"

A lot of thought has gone into making these decisions. What do you all think? If you are still with me, scroll down some....







































APRIL FOOLS!!!!!

Now if you believe all that, I have some great oceanfront property for sale in Nebraska.