April 2, 2011 10:01 p.m.
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!

February 2, 2011 11:01 p.m.

Perimenopause strikes again.  This time I have had a headache since Sunday morning.  Tension headache, floaty feeling.  Very annoying, and we are about to travel, too.  Please pray that it gets better quickly.  Last time I had this headache was about six months ago and it lasted for nine days.  This is only day five.

Other than that, things are great; Chips just completed his first test set in Calvert’s Sixth grade course, Sweet Girl’s first test set is on its way back to us in the mail, and I got a new dishwasher! 

Also, we are about to travel to visit the grandparents.

Just this darn tension headache, or else everything would be perfectamundo.  Like I always say, and I mean it moreso every time --  hormones, you can’t live with ‘em, can’t live without ‘em!

Maybe if I post pictures of the dishwasher going in I’ll feel better.

There.  Isn’t that pretty?  And Chips helped his dad install it.   Have a blessed weekend!

November 29, 2010 11:02 a.m.

….. it is Christmas time again.  How did we get here again so quickly?
Wasn’t it just summer?
There are no flies lighting upon Chips and Sweet Girl when it comes to getting the house decorated for Christmas.  Only the lighting of hundreds of small multi-colored bulbs!
It all begins in the garage, where Self-Reliant Man lets down many boxes, bins, and bags.

Our Christmas tree, a plastic one (yes) is in its 16th Christmas this year.  It is large, nine feet tall, and to distribute its weight in the attic, we long ago began the habit of sorting its branches by alphabet letter in several trash bags that get reused year after year after year.

Then begins the process of decorating the tree (after Self-Reliant Man and I artfully place the lights). 

It is interesting how I remember exactly who gave me ornaments that we received 25-35 years ago, but I cannot seem to remember where we got ornaments within the last five years.  For example, this ornament was given to me 33 years ago by a frequent reader of this blog in New Hampshire.  Do you remember giving me this?  It still looks like new, by the way!





And of course, our sweet lab, Beau, is wondering to himself why we do this every year just when the weather starts getting cooler.

The job is mostly done inside the house, except for a few things.

And Chips is seeing to it that adequate outdoor lighting is being installed.  Pictures will be posted later.
If you are interested, I have written in this post tips for using your digital camera to take pictures of Christmas lights.   Have fun with this!

October 28, 2010 10:35 p.m.

I have to admit, I am proud of myself this Fall.  Last winter, the extreme cold killed so many of our plants.  Our yard was in dire need of some primping, and I planted flowers and flowering shrubs this month.  Plants like Pentas, Plumbagos, Azaleas, Bouganvilleas, Mums, Thryallis, Ixora, Firespikes, Crossandra, and others.  Here are some pictures so you know what I mean...




Not super fancy, but a big deal for me.  I am even remembering to water them all every day.  Pretty good for this girl.

I am beginning to weed places that have been ignored for too long.  We also had to hire a tree service today to do a minor job, but we simply didn't have the equipment to do it on our own.  So within a half hour's time, a work crew came here and cut back the live oak tree from the front of our house, in order to diminish the fire hazard due to a lightning strike.  (Our dear homeowners' insurance company threatened to terminate our coverage if we didn't do this).  So here are some before and after shots...

Before.

AFTER!!  (even the clouds were removed, see?)

Before.

AFTER!!  What a relief!

Another thing, I am bad about holiday decorating.  Really bad.  Every year I think I'm going to decorate, and then I have no time to even think about it.  So I am proud -- no, amazed -- at myself for actually coming up with an autumn decoration.  And it is still just October!  Are you ready for this?

Oooooohh!   Aaaaahhh!

July 9, 2010 10:19 p.m.

I cannot believe how long it has been since I have blogged.  So many things have been going on, and we are so out of our normal routine, as well.  I suppose this is one of those posts that call for photos and captions.


Let's see.  What's this again?  Oh, Chips is always coming up with his own experiments in electricity.  This one was an LED connected to two button cells and two magnets.  Voila!  The LED glows, but unfortunately my camera flash was too bright to show it.


World's longest lasting Christmas Wreath.  I thought that July 2nd was long enough this year, what about you?  I have to say it still looked good, though.  The children helped themselves to the decorations, but the rest ended up in our fire pit.


After six years, we finally put our Black Forest cuckoo clock back on the wall.  This clock was a wedding gift to us from my husband's uncle.  Self-Reliant Man cleaned up the insides and added some lubricant.  Now we enjoy the chiming very much.  It is quite a novelty to the children, since they don't remember it when it was up in our previous house.

 We witnessed the transformation of four monarchs this month.  My husband's boss's boss went on vacation and couldn't tend to them, so he gave them to us.  All four of them matured healthy and whole, and have since flown away somewhere, to the great satisfaction of our family.


I can sleep soundly at night, now, knowing that if all h*** breaks loose, and the End-Of-The-World-As-We-Know-It takes place, at least our family will be set for toilet paper for awhile.  Who knows?  We could probably barter a roll for a tank of gasoline.

 A month ago, we went to visit my MIL.  Here, Chips is sharing his musical gift with a small audience at her nursing home.  It was very calming...


... and it's a good thing I felt calm, because I met up with a space alien that evening at the campground pool!


Our dear friend from church finished up our mother-daughter apron set.  We are using them often together.  Aren't they great?


Self-Reliant Man wanted another Stetson for Father's Day, and he got one.  How 'bout that?  He was a very pleased man.  So was Chips a pleased son.

Highlight of the Month Award goes to Self-Reliant Man's prize for twenty productive years with the company.  He selected from a catalog of gifts that included consumer electronics, an air compressor, jewelry, home decorating items, a propane fire pit, and THIS.  He chose (without my influence at all) this Premium Belgian Waffle Maker.  Wow - what fun!  So friends, for the next several months if you come to visit me, you're getting waffles.  Don't believe it? Then just try me.  Self-Reliant Man now happily makes all kinds of huge, perfect waffles......


.... and Chips chips in his cooking expertise.

 The results are a crunchy and fluffy culinary delight!


Finally, we just completed a week of Music Camp at our church.  There were sixty campers ranging in age from 5 to 13.  They all experienced chorus and Orff classes together.  They also got to select one of the following instruments to learn during the week: classical guitar, harp, or tone chimes.  Our kids did tone chimes, and they loved them, perhaps more than anything else.
But Orff class was a close second.  That looked like a lot of fun.  I would have loved to participate, except I had other duties to tend to during the camp.


Sweet Girl played a metallophone.


Chips played the bass xylophone.  It was a very memorable week for them!

 May 8, 2010 8:09 p.m.

I hit the big 4-0.  Yep, that I did.........exactly seven years ago today.  I don't often get a new toy.  I usually receive clothes, books, and grown up things like that.  Never a toy.

This year, I got a new toy! A Sirius/XM satellite radio tuner and Speaker Dock. Self-Reliant Man installed everything today. He installed the antenna, tuner, and vehicle dock in my Hyundai. He also installed another antenna on the eave of the house so that I can listen to the tuner in the speaker dock.

Anyhow, I am loving the new world of commercial free music that has opened up to me.

Here are some photos highlighting this event in my day.   First of all, these tabletop roses were given to me by a special friend.  Aren't they lovely?

Here is the radio in the speaker dock in my kitchen. I think it sounds very good, like a Wave Radio might sound.  The tuner display shows the channel, the song title, artist, and sometimes even the year.  I am so bad when it comes to knowing song names and artists, so this is appreciated.



Self-Reliant Man had the existing car radio apart within minutes. He is amazing.  I am a retired electrical engineer, but I wouldn't be able to take these tasks on anywhere near how he does.  And certainly not so quickly.
  I think this little antenna is amazing.  It can pick up so clearly from the satellite.  This is before all the wires were concealed.



A couple of hours later, everything was installed, and it looks very professional, don't you think?  But the most important thing is, it sounds great!!


But if you ask me, this is my favorite birthday present by far!

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.

A lot of things have been going on at Mighty Oak Country School lately, therefore partially explaining my relative quietness on this blog.

First of all, I put up a new header photo of our mighty oak. It looks better than the old one did, doesn't it?

Saturday, Little Son participated in a Bible Quiz team from our local AWANA club. We had to travel to the Big City for this event, and there were eight teams in all. Little Son's team came in sixth place, but I have to say that they had a good time. A bonus was the special Ch*ck Fil-A lunch afterward! My favorite memorable moment was when a question was asked such as: "Which scripture verse teaches that God is true?" followed by three possible references. A, B, or C. (multiple choice question). Well, our precious Bible Quiz team held up their agreed-upon answer and it read "false". We moms had a lot of smiles over that one.

One of my frustrations this winter/spring season has been the length of time it has been taking for Self-Reliant Man to rebuild our tractor's engine. Yes, I am sure you are shaking your head, saying "is she still complaining about that?" It is not so much that Self-Reliant Man is incapable; quite the opposite is true... he is, in fact, very resourceful and self-reliant (grin) but the truth is that we are not exactly the kind of folks that have a lot of time on our hands for working on such a large project. Anyway, Sunday evening seemed rather glum around here as we reflected on our failed attempt to press cylinder sleeves into the engine block by cool shrinking them with 14 pounds of dry ice. A lot of money was spent on this ice, and all for naught.

Or, maybe not?

We sure did get a lot of entertainment from a cooler full of dry ice! That is some pretty amazing stuff.


The wonder of carbon dioxide in solid form.













Self-Reliant Man stirring up the cauldron.












So much fun. This stuff just doesn't melt!














Little Son received Mouse Trap for his ninth birthday, and we had a good time playing it together. It is a game I had as a child.











Little Son loves God's creation, and one evening as we were practicing violin indoors, he remarked on the unearthly orange glow outside the windows from a striking sunset. We hurried outside to appreciate it better. It really was beautiful. Little Son and Baby Girl called it "the glory of God".





















We are always trying to capture photos of nature to send in to R*nger Rick magazine. Here is a close up of a lily outside our house.










One more thing. The children are really into writing notes... to their friends, to each other, to us parents. Here is a note I found in our school room just the other day, from Baby Girl to her big brother.

Little Son wrote notes on heart shaped paper for us, too. We found them on our bed, on each side, as we were going to sleep last night. One read: "Dear Mommy, I love you. Good mothers can get rare now! Love, Little Son". The other one said: "To Daddy. I love you. The Dad I love is you."


Definitely gives you a reason to smile as you drift off for the night. This is what being a parent is all about, right?