The Homeschool Mother’s Journal - 11
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:01 PM
April 2, 2011 10:01 p.m.The Homeschool Mother's Journal
In my life this week...
When I have time, I am cutting and pruning vines, cabbage palms, low hanging branches, and tall weeds in various places around our yard.  This is a never ending job, and even though I spend hours doing it, a casual observer cannot tell I have done anything.  However, I mustn’t let that deter me.

In our homeschool this week...
Sweet Girl completed her third test set in Calvert School’s third grade course.  We made the decision to split her test over two days’ time, and it made everything much more relaxed.

Places we're going and people we're seeing...
Monday evening brings a Mom’s meeting with one of my homeschool fellowship groups.  Tuesday brings kickball (P.E.) with the other homeschool fellowship.  Wednesday brings an early morning chapel performance for Chips and his friend, J, at a local Lutheran school.  They will play the same hymns they played at the talent night and dinner theatre.  Then, hopefully, things will slow down toward week’s end.

My favorite thing this week was...
Seeing the children performing their little hearts out at our church dinner theatre last night (April 1st).  It was an entertaining, hunger satisfying, and exciting time for all who were involved.  I hope to post more videos of this event soon.

What's working/not working for us...
My staying off the internet until one o’clock every weekday has been helpful in allowing us to get done with lessons at a reasonable time.  I have also enjoyed, very much, keeping up with Chips’ literature, history, science, and geography reading, even though they are those dread textbooks.  I am particularly enjoying geography, now, as we are doing some in-depth learning of all the eastern hemisphere countries.  Yesterday, I read about Israel. 
Sweet Girl’s social studies textbook is turning out to be a little more enjoyable than I expected it would be.  When I first saw it, I wanted to barf  was dismayed, to say the least, but I guess it is because I had such low expectations of this subject that I am enjoying it all the more.  Strange…
What’s not working is the internet being “down” when we have extended rainstorms, as we did on Wednesday and Thursday.  We went 24 hours without functional internet service, and it put my students behind on the online portion of their work.  Chips is behind by about 7 videos.   I hate having to rely on a robust internet connection for homeschool, especially when we don’t have such a connection!

Homeschool questions/thoughts I have...
I am always thinking ahead to the day when we start high school.  And as I think, and peruse websites, the Potter’s School Classical Track is becoming more and more attractive to me all the time.  But I still have plenty of time to make this decision.
I also really agreed with this post over at Old Earth Creation Homeschool blog.  We cannot rely on the magic textbook for the high school subjects.  Our students are young enough that they still need more guidance.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share...
None other than our son, Chips, in his performance here yesterday evening.  We still cannot believe what we hear and see, and we are so proud of him and his on stage poise and confidence, no matter the size of the crowd.  The Lord has really given him a gift!
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A Spring Tea
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•5:09 PM

March 14, 2011 5:09 p.m.

On Saturday, the ladies of our church celebrated Spring with its annual tea.  Although I am not a collector of tea time finery (and could not hostess a table, unless styrofoam cups would have been alright, and I suspect not), Sweet Girl and I were able to attend as guests and meet and get to know more women in our church.  It was Sweet Girl’s first ladies’ tea (not including the tea party we had here at our house when she turned 5).

This tea is a tradition for our church, and began back in the day when the senior pastor’s wife used to host it in her home.  The church is now much too big to allow a ladies’ tea to be held in her home, so it is in the fellowship hall.  And unfortunately, our senior pastor was hospitalized over the weekend, so his wife was not in attendance at this tea, either. (but as best we know, he was to be released from the hospital this morning).

Anyway, this was some tea!  An event that is best explained with photos.

DSCN3131Here we are just before leaving home.

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This is the table to which we were assigned.  One of the prettiest, I think.

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There were 17 tables in all, but I am showing just a few here.

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Lovely in blue.  I enjoy all these other ladies’ talents.

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And their vision and creativity.

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Each table is as unique as its hostess.

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I love these colors here.  So Springy!

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Love this even more.  The Youth Group boys (middle school through high school) take on the duty of being waiters.  Our waiter was a 13 year old boy named Holdane.  So polite!  I loved seeing them rise to the occasion and act as gentlemen.   I really think the experience is good for them. (and Chips will probably be doing this next year).

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These cakes were given away as door prizes.  Our table hostess won the big teapot one in the middle.

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Is it dessert time yet, Mommy?

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Who could wait very long to try out all these truffles?  Lemon ones, red velvet ones, chocolate mint ones, and chocolate covered strawberries that were hand-picked from the farm the day before.

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Another gentleman providing the music.

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All the ladies had a wonderful time.

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So did Sweet Girl and I.  She was proud to pose for this photo after much happy nibbling of hors d’oeuvres and truffles.  It was a wonderful first tea!

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Our Church
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:57 PM
October 24, 2010 10:57 p.m.


Someone shared this photo with me today... this church building was just built and completed a year ago.


This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. PSALM 118:24.
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In the News Today
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•8:51 PM
Sunday, July 25, 2010 8:51 p.m.

Our church and teaching elder were featured in the newspaper today.  I thought it was a pretty well-researched and balanced article, although it is possible that some of the quotes could be taken the wrong way.  Nevertheless, it was exciting to see this article today.  The video link does show a bit of the interior of the church sanctuary, a beautiful structure that was just completed a year ago this month.
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Photos and Captions
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•6:37 PM
 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?


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Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:37 PM
December 7, 2009 8:02 p.m.

The Christmas season often brings a range of emotions to me as my present day life mixes with the memories of Christmases past. I have a wonderful new life with my immediate family of four, yet I can't forget the wonderful life of my past, with family members who are either deceased, or living a thousand miles away. And there are those childhood Christmas experiences we all had, both good and bad, that can never be repeated again, remake the same impression on our hearts, or be experienced ever again in the same way.

As we have entered this final crescendo of 2009, I realize how truly blessed our family has been this year. While nothing especially dramatic or tremendous has occurred, we have experienced God's common grace in all areas of our lives. Many friends and acquaintances are struggling with tough situations around us, and these things just serve to remind me all the more of our blessings.

Which brings me to yesterday, a day of special blessing. Yesterday's worship service at church was completely beautiful, in an unexpected way. The music, the choir, the organ, the prayers -- seemed especially ethereal to me, filling me with happiness as I reflected on all our blessings this year.

To top it off, our children were participants in a lovely Christmas pageant yesterday afternoon. I had an opportunity to help with this, being in charge of the seven wise men (who said there had to be three?) and providing some of the refreshments. Considering that we are still pretty new to this church, one nice part was that the other ladies who were helping out made me feel like an old friend and not like the new mom in town, as we met the challenge of being sure that Joseph and Mary were available when they were needed in the program, as well as dozens of adorable sheep, shepherds, and angels. And the fact that my wise men were perfect gentlemen, both on and off stage (well, most of the time, anyway) was nothing short of miraculous.

It was a beautiful children's Christmas pageant, in a beautiful setting, with help from some very talented people. I was thankful that we could be part of everything at church yesterday, and the entire day placed a song of happiness in my heart.

I forgot (AGAIN!) my camera, so I hope to get some photos from others to post really soon. It was a beautiful day!
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Jim's Daily Meditations
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•10:00 PM
The pastor at the church we attended for five out of the past six years received shocking news last week. After suffering some unexpected injuries and symptoms before and while serving in the mission field, he got checked out medically and learned that he has a very serious form of cancer known as multiple myeloma, a cancer of the blood plasma cells. He learned that without treatment, he has months to live, while if he seeks out the best treatment available in the U.S. he can extend this out for between a few and a handful of years, depending.

This man is 52 years old, married, with no children. He has a vivacious personality, extremely articulate, full of energy, wit, creativity, and passion for the Lord. He was in the middle of transitioning calling from being pastor of the small church we attended to working full time in the mission field, overseas.

Now his energy, thoughts, and prayers are directed toward the many decisions that must be made ~~~ quickly ~~~ regarding his treatment options.

There are, perhaps, thousands of folks praying for him and his wife right now. Please join that number if you can; I'd appreciate it very much.

Also, amidst all of this, he is choosing to gift us with his thoughts, prayers, and daily reflections of this journey through the valley of darkness. If you would like to read his daily meditations, you can find them here. As I said, he is an incredibly articulate and prolific writer and preacher, and I am sure you will be blessed by his writings. I know there isn't a big "crowd" of readers of this blog, but if you can, please pray for his church as well, as they are in the midst of making some big decisions regarding their future, too.

Thank you!
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What Churches Should Be - Part 4
Author: Breezy Point Mom
•9:10 PM
Continuing my series from Marva Dawn's book Is It A Lost Cause?

Question #4: Are there some people in your congregation that you don't like?

Do we seek out a community where we will feel cozy and comfortable, where we think we won't have any social frictions because everybody is so like-minded?

Do we simply plan to leave a church to find a more compatible one when conflicts arise?

If so, how will we learn to love those who are not like ourselves? Wouldn't it be great if our children could observe us actively loving others in whom we don't delight?

I was thinking about this today, for even though we have settled on a church to attend for now, there are some things about it that don't enchant me. I was fretting a bit because it doesn't seem people are all that friendly. We are relative newcomers, but I need to cut these folks a break. This church is unique in that every Sunday there are a fair amount of "tourist" attenders: people who stop by and worship here when they are on vacation in the area, people who just want to hear the pastor, who is nationally known, preach. So these members are used to seeing a fair number of unfamiliar faces --- Every. Single. Sunday. Most of whom will not be back. So it is no wonder that they don't all extend themselves to us.

But as I was meditating on that today, I had to ask myself: why should everything about a church enchant me? Should I not be content that the church teaches the truth, that it has God-centered worship, that it is stable and growing, that it is a good steward of its resources, that it offers educational, fellowship, and service opportunities for our family? Since when does a church have to be custom-designed to suit me?

Wouldn't it be great if I just learned to accept a church with its imperfections, even as I hope that I will be accepted?
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