Today is the end of the 40 day fast that Kat put on.  Take some time to stroll over and view all of the great causes highlighted there. 

Jesus said the poor will always be with us.  It is true in every corner of the world.  Isn’t it true that it is where we find Him most…with the poor and the marginalized?  I am still wrestling with how I can take part in that in my suburban context. I am reminded of  Hindsfeet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard.  “Sorrow” and “Trails” were her two great help mates that lead her to the high places.  If you haven’t read that book I highly recommend you picking it up. 

I am highlighting Zoe Children’s Home. It is a fact the poorest and most marginalized people in the world are children,because the have no voice. Their voice is unheard unless an adult stands up and speaks for them.  In the states, we rush our children around to palydates and birthday parties.  Many have no idea that around the world, children are being rushed into sweat shops and brothels for money.  Childhood prostition or slavery is rampant around the world. They fall into two camps, sold into slavery by families who are desperately poor looking to make a few cents or those orphans with no family at all victimized for a buck.  It is nauseating. 

What do we do…here…in our nice cushy homes, with AC and all the modern amenities? You can send money to organizations lie Zoe Children’s Home and help support those working on the front lines.  You can pray that God would open your eyes to things that are going on right in your own backyard.  You may even be called to adopt internationally for the express purpose of raising a kingdom minded individual.  It is too much you say.  There are too many.  What good is helping just one?  Well, I would say, it is good for that one.

The July Mama Blogga Group Writing Project has ended with 28 exceptional entries! Feel free to click on the links below to read other bloggers giving their mamas a little sugar.  This was a great process for me.  I suggest you process through this yourself.  You’ve got one life and you don’t want to wait until your mom is gone before you think this through.

Peace ya’ll

• No Market For Used Teenagers by Robin
• Thank you Mom! by Michelle Buck
• July MamaBlogga Writing Group - Thanks Mom! by Jennifer Hitchcock
• Thanks Mom! by Mama Zen
• To my mom by Deb
• If She Were Alive Today by Mommy Zabs
• Danke Rot Koph by Kymberlyn
• Will she ever say it? by Lisa
• Thanks, Mom. by Kulia
• Thanks, Mom! by Laura Spencer
• Thanks Mom - Group Writing Project by Amber
• Dear Mother…Thanks Mother! by Corey
• Thank you, mom by Lynnae
• My Mother, My Mentor, My Friend by Jill
• GWP - Thanks mum. by Amanda Regan
• Thank you Mother by Donetta
• I wanted to say thanks by Summer
• Thanks to my Mommy by Southerngirlmusings
• Group Writing Project - July by Jenn
• Blue Denim by bellevelma
• Thanks, Mommy! by Stacey @ Look, Mom, Look!
• Naming the Mother by Daisy
• I’m turning into my mother… by Summer
• I learned by example by Heather Erbe
• Making Memories with Your Kids—Be Crazy, Unpredictable by Karen (Pediascribe)
• There’s Loving and Then There’s Liking by Dawn
• Thank You Mom in Law by Julie
• Right from wrong by Jordan (MamaBlogga)

Here is the nature blog as promised.  I think it is going to be a fun addition to our homeschooling rythm.  Jackson would love a comment or two, so Grandparents, please chime in:-)

Mommy Zabs and MamaBlogga should love this! 

I am experimenting!  If you care about such things as page rank, than read along, and if you don’t then move on:-)

This takes paying it forward to a whole new level.

wow!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziDeUbifKIM&mode=related&search=]

My kids ROLLED on the floor when they saw this.  See if it makes you roll too:-)

I have been in a process of asking God to reveal our children to me.  Not what I want to see or what I think I see, but what He created.  I want to understand what He sees so I can partner with Him on it.  A little insight or glimpse of their calling.  Little by little He shows me things that stun me.  I am aware of the privilege of parenting them.  I’m humbled by the responsibility.  I am deeply thankful that God is using our children to shape and mold us as people as much as he is using us to shape them.   So it with this understanding that I will be working on crafting our “why home school” statement this week.  I will also be working on a series of posts on finding Sabbath rest in the midst of the daily grind.  Good things for me to ponder on this week.

So for those of you interested, the party was great! You can see for yourself! (Thanks to all in our local community who helped).  We took about 200 bucks and threw a “shin-dig”.  I met a new neighbor who just moved here to help plant a church. I also met a family form Peru.  My boys wore their Inca cola shirts and we meet Peruvians all over the place.  It is our calling card. They had all sorts of cool stories of how they are working towards helping Peru and the local Peruvian community. 

People were so thankful for the party.  The church planter actually asked me “Why did you do this?”  I was like “DUH” isn’t this what God’s people are supposed to do?  Be in the neighborhood, seeing what God is up to?  But I just said  “It’s what we do!”  Everyone couldn’t wait for the next one.  One family wanted us to put up a community bulletin board so we can stay more connected.  Another family suggested we have a little meeting to make sure our builders don’t leave the property without fixing everything that needs to be fixed.  Another neighborhood said “This is what makes a house a home.”

Overall good times.  Many baby relational seeds were sown and Mike and I look forward to seeing what God does through them.  So here is a challenge to  you.  Take some money.  Maybe your monthly tithe and do an experiment.  Take that money and plan a party and invite your neighbors and then invite your church community and see what God is up to.  You never know what you will find and others may just follow your lead.

Many of you have asked about our community bbq tomorrow.  So I wanted to give you all the “digs”.   Firstly, Mike and I had a “spirited debate” about the manner in which information should be broadcast in our community.  I wanted to have 4 signs made (that can be reused) similar to the  garage sale signs that you see that I would put at all of the entrances to our development.  I thought, “Oh we could just throw a quick webpage together describing the party and that we would love to see everyone there.”  To me that would of been the easiest for me, but it was too programmatic for Mike. He wanted the kids and I to pass out invitations to all of our neighbors.  Have it be more relational.  It would be like “oh yeah your the family we always see at the pool, or we bought lemonade from your son type thing”.  So being the submissive wife I am, I agreed to do it his way:-) So last night we made invitations and the kids and I rode our bikes around the neighborhood.  The kids were excitedly knocking on doors, chasing down people as they got in and out of cars  and telling anyone who would listen, “Come to our neighborhood party.”  Mike was right.  It was more relational that way.  At least for the first one, although I do think the sign thing would work after we have a few. And yes, for the record, I did get “Oh you are the family we always see around the pool”. and “We bought lemonade form your son” and “We’ve been hearing about this and are so excited” and “oh we were hoping you were still going to do this!” Shocking if you ask me.  They have heard about it?  I did speak to a few people I saw at the pool through out the week about the party.  I did try to focus on “connectors” in the community.  I did want the word of mouth thing to work in our favor….there are a lot of houses here.  Almost everyone that opened the door to us said…”Thank you so much. I’ve been thinking I should do something like this but I just never have.”  Hmmmm.  I wonder how many people think about connecting with others and then just don’t?  So Mike and I are taking it seriously the  whole “Jesus becoming flesh and blood and moving into the neighborhood” thingy.  

 More thoughts from…..Death By Suburb.  I know, I know, I can’t help it. 

Mending is the key image for  embracing the Sabbath in the suburbs, letting us “experience the depths of Jesus Christ,” as the classic work by Jeanne Guyon puts it.  The trick for the lover of God is to learn how to become better at mending ones life, making small adjustments on a regular basis to avoid the speed and clutter of modern living.

Mending is a verb.  An ongoing action that is consistent and small.  Mending is a thing that reverses the affects of the fast paced business of suburban life.  It is a bridge that leads you to the thicker life.  The deeper life of Jesus Christ.  It is obedience in the small mundane things.  

Now this may seem bizarre to some, but for me right now, home schooling is mending my life.  Our family rhythm is decidedly slow.  There is no rush.  There is no fire to put out, no hill to conquer.  Just deepening of roots and building of relationships.  This is my Sabbath YEAR!  It is a lovely, yummy, comforting thing.  God is moving deeply in the quiet.  Maybe hovering is a better word.  Yes….I think hovering describes it well.

Find the Quiet today!

You never really know how much you love your mom and how much she really does and did for you until you are a Mom yourself!  Thanks to Mammablogga and her group writing project for July, I get to expound on what makes my Mom so special.

Most Moms are biased of their children. (i.e. our kids are the best, brightest most talented children alive)  In healthy parent/child relationships, I think the thought holds true for adult children of their parents.  My mom is the best Mom in the whole world.She’s not perfect, none of us are, but she is generous, and funny (man can she make me laugh) and smart and encouraging,not to mention supportive.  There isn’t anything she couldn’t do if she put her mind to it.  I think she passed that on to me.

Growing up she worked hard, (she still does)  She went back to school for her masters when I was in high school and has had a very successful career. My brother and I learned the value of a dollar early, and we always had chores and responsibilities around the house.  Our family worked as a team and I am so thankful now as an adult for that chance to learn how to do real things early.  We grew up in an environment that honored God and followed Jesus.  She and my father instilled that in me.  I remember sitting at the desk in her bedroom one summer and teaching myself to type as she guided me along.  I just got to replicate that with my own son.  It is funny how times fades away in an instant inside those memories.

The neat thing is…she always gave me room….just enough room to hang myself if you know what I mean.  She let me sit with my choices and loved me through the bad ones. Now as a parent I KNOW how hard that is.  Even today she encouraged me to take 100% responsibility for myself.  She keeps me grounded with her parental experience.  She wishes she could of been home more, and constantly tells me time flies and that this time is so short.  Do whatever you have to to be home with the kids.  Take family vacations…build memories you’ve got one life with these little buggers.  Cherish it!

She is still a better cook than I am.  She can fix or sew anything and at 33 I still call her first when I am unsure about what temp to cook something at or if one of my kids has some medical issue I am worried about.  She still parents me, in a healthy way even now.   Maybe that is the way it is supposed to be.  Maybe we get to be the kid for a lifetime and even into the next.  Always having that bond that grows and changes through the years.  Will we ever stop worrying as parents, or stop wanting to help or stop wanting to deepen relationship with our children?  I hope not.  I hope I get to ask her advice when I am 55 and she is 78 and I want to know how to be a wonderful grandparent, or that just right ingredient to keep my skin soft.  She will know…and be sure of this…I will ask. 

I am ALWAYS finding myself stuck on Lindafay’s home school blog Higher up and Further In.  It is very comforting to read through her many years of home schooling experience for tips, ideas etc.  I have been slowly reworking my blogs organization.  It is becoming my home school dashboard.  Thoughts, wonderings, resources and other inspiring people to read found in my blog roll.  Jackson is on it as much as I am tooling through the resources.  He LOVES THIS! My hope is that one day this site would be an encouragement to a brand new home schooling mama who is excited and nervous and wondering if she can ever pull this off.  And then voila, she will find this blog and she will say to herself, “Oh my goodness if SHE could do it I will have no problem!”  So keep watching the links come in.  (I hope you find them as helpful and inspiring as I do) I will soon begin adding book reviews and the kids and I will be starting a nature blog here soon.  Their sketches are still scribble and I want them to have a place to see what they are recording.  I taught Jackson how to use the digital camera and he routinely goes out and snaps shots of local wildlife.  Mostly flowers and trees.  Yesterday we went to a little park called “Peanut Island”.  During the summer we go every Monday night with my parents in their boat.  We saw a spotted manta ray with a 5 foot wing span and 2 mini hermit crabs walking along.  I wished we had our camera.  So now we wont leave home without it.     Speaking of blogging…I wish other really experienced homeschoolers I know (not to mention any names, Chenoa Styron and Carolyn Hanson) would start a blog like Lindafay’s so more newbie’s can bask in their wisdom.  It is such a gift.  I am thankful for their encouraging words along the way.  Anyway….no pressure, I was just thinking how cool it would be if I could scroll through their brain and not bug them all the time with calls and emails.

Mommy Zabs has tagged me for a web surfing MeMe! So here goes another MeMe! I think it must be MeMe week   Have you ever heard the saying, show me your 5 closest friends and I will show you who you are. Maybe the same is true of blogs.

Do rest, every Sabbath. 

Don’t run around like a chicken with your head cutt off.  Even if it seems like fun activites. 

I am really resonating with Death By Suburb - David Goetz’s comments on the Sabbath rest.

“This is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord.”  He quotes Heschel as saying “spiritual life begins to decay when we fail to sense the grandeur of what is eternal in time.”  Sabbath is “eternity in disguise”.  It’s a day not for furthering our opportunities and those of our kids but to liberate ourselves from the pursuit of such things.  He points out that this is a space, where all of Gods people, regardless of economic position enter as equals.  Able to feast on eternity one consistent day a week without a care in the world.

This is my space right now.  Slowly, steadily working with God on the small space of soil in my heart that has to do with time.  It is as if there is enough time in the world for things to “get done”, and yet such a small sliver of time to really purchase those things worth working hard for.  Namely relationship.

Mike and I are really thinking about all of this in regards to our home schooling decision.  We really want our children to grow up in a slow, easy, expectant of amazing things, joy of life type of way.  A deep since of wonder. Not shuffling around from play date to over done birthday party.  We are not even pursuing organized sports for them. Maybe one day, but not now.  Mike and Jackson did T-ball last year.  Mike had the opportunity to coach, and it was a way for them to be together, but we knew no one on the team.  Jackson was mildly interested, and the other kids and I stayed home because it was too much for them.  Not a way we want to use our time again, any time soon.   Even home schooling is a relaxed, gentle rhythm.  You only have to read a few lines of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy to begin to unwind and dig in. 

Deep roots come from deep rest.  Deep rest is a choice.  It is a discipline regardless of the debt, or the schedule, or the lists.  It is a decision to stop one day a week and really reorient yourself around the kingdom of God.  In His kingdom there isn’t a care in the world.  The joy is knowing God and being known  by Him.

So get off the computer.  unplug the phone, go into your room shut the door and be quiet, with the one who made you.  With no need, or question to be answered.  Just listen, and make room for his inner workings.  I promise you will feel much better when you do.

It is a great word picture for my life this year.  I am in a process of calming down, simplifying, and learning all about how to REALLY be and not do.  I completely believe that there is freedom within structure.  So I am shaping up my housework, finishing up that “decorating” that I never get to, lacing up those running shoes and hitting the gym with consistancy, nurturing my artistic side, and feeding the need to read “deep and wide”.  A general overall weeding it taking place.  Bad habits (like too much TV and rewarding myself with sweets) haven’t formed over night and they will not be gone in a day ether.  Day by day, I move onward and upward and I hope I inspire you to do the same.

Here are some things I have recently reintroduced into our lives.

1. ABSOLUTELY NO TV UNTIL 5PM DURING THE WEEK. In the past I have used TV to medicate my kids when they have no clear direction on what to do next.  Bad habit…I admit it.  I started pulling way back in April.  I didn’t think we watched TV very much.  The sad thing is, in reality we didn’t, but it was how I was using the TV that was not the best.  Mike and I had no TV for years before kids.  Once I was pregnant with the second, and “sick as a dog” we reintroduced it to help me out with escaping the reality of my life. Now I don’t want to escape anymore.  Embrace the race is my motto. So now the kids only watch about 30 minutes of monitored TV a day.  We even drove all the way home yesterday (4 hours with only a 30 minute DVD) We played site seeing games and counting games the rest of the way. ( and they slept some too.)

2. Early morning exercise. ( Me time before the rest of the family is awake.)  Thanks to a great work out buddy and good old endorphins, I can’t wait to wake up early. - This is a big switch for me.

3. Reading at least 2 new books a month. - I used to read like a nut.  I think I piggybacked through seminary on Mikes old Theology books.  I got through second grade by reading all of the Nancy Drew series once I finished my work. (I was soooo bored, another reason I was drawn to home schooling our kids - bored kids are kids who get into trouble.)

Those are the first few.  I will keep adding to the list as I am inspired. 

Grace and Peace to you and all you love!

This is from my friend Betsy. I thought it would be a way for some of my readers to get to know me.  If you read this and feel the need, then consider yourself tagged.  Let me know in the comment section so I can get to know you too:-)Simply cut and paste these questions onto your blog, answer them and then find other blogs to tag! It’s fun and easy and something a little different!You can only answer each question with ONE word. I did use some hyphenated words, so maybe I cheated a little.  Give me a break it is early!
1. Where is your cell phone? Charging
2. Relationship? Married
3. Your hair? short
4. Work? Home
5. Your sister? none
6. Your favorite thing? Family
7. Your dream last night? None
8. Your favorite drink? water
9. Your dream car? paid-off
10. The room you’re in? Foyer
11. Your shoes? None
12. Your fears? little
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? wise
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Leah
15. What are you not good at? golf
16. Muffin? none
17. One of your wish list items? family-travel
18. Where you grew up? Florida
19. Last thing you did? slept
20. What are you wearing? clothes
21. What aren’t you wearing? Make-up
22. Your pet? none
23. Your computer? HP
24. Your life? fun
25. Your mood? Good
26. Missing? Nothing
27. What are you thinking about right now? Family
28. Your car? Mini-van
29. Your kitchen? Clean!!!
30. Your summer? Relaxed
31. Your favorite color? ALL!!!!!!
32. Last time you laughed? Thursday

33. Last time you cried? unsure
34. School? UofFlorida
35. Love? Mike

Tag - You’re it!

Today, I got to pretend I was a Mom of 5 who were 5 and under. It really wasn’t bad at all.   I do so much better with out all the birthing, and nursing and sleeplessness etc. etc.  That and I have a rhythm down and I am not trying to figure out the whole “how to be a mom thing”.  So that has some to do with it.

I am off to Gainesville to have  a week with my girlfriend from college.  She and I knew each other before husbands and kids and our friendship has survived and thrived with the addition of both.  Bonus is her van can fit all 6 car seats without a problem!  

Pray for my drive tomorrow.  4 hours is a hike by myself, but I am timing it over nap time.  Hopefully that will take some of the bite out of it.

I wanted to leave you all with one quote form Death by Suburb before I go.

“Mature Christian faith discerns God behind all the circumstances in life that conceal God - from the mundane to the tragic.”

He quotes Bonheoffer (One of my favorite Christian theologians)

“It is good to learn early that suffering and God are not contradiction but rather a unity, for the idea that God himself is suffering is one that has always been one of the most convincing teachings of Christianity.  I think God is nearer to suffering than to happiness, and to find God in this way gives peace and rest and a  strong and courageous heart.”

Peace to all! 

The Following is a conversation between our 6 and 4 year olds! (enjoy)

 #1 Biggest misconception about Home schooling:  That you have to be a gifted and trained teacher to do a great job at home schooling your kids.

No, not really, if you can read, you can do it.  You just have to be willing to work on yourself in the process.

This was my BIGGEST fear about home schooling.  Now a few months into this I have “seen the light. ” All of my veteran “home schooling diva” friends are chuckling at me.  Lovingly of course.  One of the reasons we are home schooling is to help our children think.  Think critically.  I am sorry no matter how you slice it, that is more important than grade point average, extra cirr. activities or anything else.  If they can think they will thrive wherever God has them.

Lynda says it so well.  “I don’t know about you, but I find this to be freeing for me as a mother who must wear many hats in daily life. I don’t have to be ‘gifted’ in teaching in order to adequately educate my children.”

(For my parents in law you can read till your hearts content on her website about Charlotte Mason method)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma98wzazFlQ]  (Thanks to Dolly Mamma for this!)I live in the “best little” planned community this side of Disney world.  People here drive fast, live large and have little time to really get to know anyone.  Of course this is a huge generalization, but the prevailing thought here, is stick to your self, buy your plasma screen and consume until you can’t feel any pain.   I just spoke to someone on the phone the other night who found our church website.  We related experiences and he said “It is good to hear I am not crazy and that we are not alone in feeling this way!”  

Bev tagged me for a top 8 game, so I thought I would play along.   

Here are the rules:

A. Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.

B. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

Here we go:

1. I love to travel.  My husband and I want to take our kids on a home school adventure around the world.

2. I love to read.  I was  history major in college.  I learned to read “fast and furious”.  Right now I am reading Graham Cooke.

3. I love/hate to run.  I ran a ton when I was younger and I am just now picking it back up.  Wow what a difference 10 years make.

4. I love our church.  Me familia. 

5.  I used to hate laundry, but for some reason now I enjoy it.  I think I enjoy the order of having laundry folded and put away not so much the process.  I also think, it is due to the fact that I purged our clothing inventory to 1/4 of what it used to be.  Much easier to stay on top of!

6. I hate being pregnant.  It was pretty much “hell on wheels”.  You know how some woman say “Oh you forget.” Not me!  I don’t think I will ever forget.  Kind of like POW’s who are tortured.  It just stays with ya!  All I could think the whole time is “Dear God, how do women in third world countries go through this, and still have to do manual labor, in the heat and sleep on straw mats?”

7.  I love being a mom.  That makes the pregnant thing bearable because we have three beauties out of it.

8. Painting.  I have not picked up a brush in 3 years and I will do it before the year is out.  I need to get some canvas going, but you wait….just when you least expect it, the paint will start to fly.

Now  I need to tag a few.    Mammablogga, Mommy Zabs , The Day of a Mom ,

I think I will think a little bit and tag some more tomorrow.  Have a good night!

….at least I am big enough to admit it!

So for all of you out there who don’t know….never leave a pair of children’s scissors unattended with a 2.5 year old around.  Bad things happen.  My homeschooling diva friend (who is starting home-school high-school this year) said last night.  “It’s OK.  things will happen.  You can’t control everything.”   Good advice form a veteran. 

 In other news, my cell phone was thrown into the pool and is inoperable.  Nice!!! I have tons of numbers on that phone that I did not have anywhere else.  Hope the SIM card still works once the new phone arrives.  Thankfully it was free. My computer is doing something weird and only opens in DOS, so I have strict instructions not to touch it until my husband can look at it.  I am writing from his lap top which is like driving someone elses car.  The seat and windows are all out of place.  I am still working on my list that Bev tagged me with.  I will get it up soon.

Peace to all!

I wonder? ……….Most Homeschoolers need to pinch their pennies.  I was just turned on to a great idea from a new friend I just met through my buisness forum.   Buying Coupons on ebay!  I remember seeing this when my kids were babies but I never purchased any coupons for myself but I am rethinking the idea.  The Grocery Game is another tool that you can combine with eBay coupons and save significantly.  I am just now looking into this to really make our dollar stretch.  The woman in front of me at the grocery store was “all a buzz” about it and told me of her savings.  I have never been able to make the savings work with the actual items we buy.

I am at a point in my life that where I am embracing the hardness of things instead of complaining or praying them away. (Prayer doesn’t work that way, but that is another blog)  I figure, they are there for some “omniscient” reason to train me more in Jesus’ kingdom ways.   

Maybe you hate them too!

We were counseled before our home schooling journey to think big picture about who we wanted our children to become and what type of education did we want them to have.  I keep that vision in front of me daily.  It helps me NOT to “lose the forest for the trees” if you know what I mean. 

Do my interactions, my body language,  my tone of voice, my consistency with the very things that I am requiring of them etc….what is all of that saying to them?  How is it shaping them?  After correcting/disciplining our children, I strive to have an “eye”  moment.  Where we look each other in the eyes and I tell them how much I love them.  How much I want them to be people who are respectful of all people and the world around them.  That God gave me a job to do, and I need to be obedient to that job.  Our oldest gets that.  Our youngest does not…but he will. Our middle child is just starting to grasp it.

With our oldest our “correcting” episodes are less and less frequent.  After they happen and we talk about why I had to discipline him etc. I have this huge big picture view of where I am guiding him. With our younger ones, I know it is just a matter of time.  For that reason, I now enjoy the correction of our children.  It keeps me in touch with where we are going.  These are not arbitrary corrections so that I can “rule the roost” or have complete order in the home.  That is a possible byproduct but what it really is, is “training for reigning” as Dallas Willard puts it. 

What I have found through it, is a calming of our children when we are home together.  They understand the drill, they know I am not caving and that I don’t act emotionally (most times) it is just “steady as she goes” rhythm that keeps a well oiled machine moving.  I am not perfect, or have it all together.  Our children are not perfect ether.  We are still working on how to discipline when we are in group situations, but we are getting there.  I have found when the focus is not on them per se or me per se and the day to day grind, but the big picture goal, we move past the hardness, tedium, and constant repetition of daily correction into training.  And now I wonder, how can parents do that well, having their children away from home 7-10 hours a day especially when they are little?  There is no indictment in that statement if you have your children away from you, it is just an out loud wondering question that I am mulling over.

Anyway, Peace to all!

I readily admit that a good friend gave me this idea.  She doesn’t blog so, I will post it here.  If you are home schooling mixed aged children (who isn’t?) and have those that are 3 and under, create a busy box just for them.  We now call it “Hudson’s busy hand box”  he sits on my lap as long as possible for family reading and copy work time. He has his own pencil and paper and we work on the “sand paper alphabet” when the older children are doing their own work.  Then when he can sit no longer, I take out the box of “busy things”. (stacking blocks, a Thomas train, silly putty, floam with appropriate tools, small hard books that he loves and a sorting work.)   That usually keeps him busy for some time.  Everyday, I set our sink up with one side clean water, and the other side soapy water.  The family puts their dishes in the “soapy” side all day and one child or another invariably comes to wash the dishes.  I have a sponge wand and a dish drainer and a drying towel. They have all had a “dishwashing lesson”. They love it and so do I.  This gives me enough time with the older children and helps our youngest feel connected to what we are doing.  As Martha says “It’s a good thing!”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Rw_3ky-uo]

My kids love to watch this! 

I must say that I lingered a little longer on Mommyzabs site than normal because I was scrutinizing the color of her walls.  I love it and I must have it.  Now if she will only share it with me:-)   Please all beg her to give me her secret color!  That and I have to clear it with my dear husband. 

Honey, do you like it too?

Emerging Grace has a list of her 7 favorite books going.  After I read through her reading list, I knew I liked her.  So, today, I will give you my 7 books and tag you to do the same. Firstly, 7 is a bit much for me at one time.  I do have three little kids, a business, a house, and am trying to fit in home schooling so my reading has declined a bit:-) I will say, I was just talking to some friends about how I want to get back into reading more stories and not just theology.  I will read a ton with the CM home schooling method but I also want to read more just for me. So here are my 3!

“No son, You are just getting Taller!”

 So has anyone found a cure for this yet?  I would be much obliged!

Blogging is a great medium to not only share your thoughts on life etc. but to learn from people all over the world.  Today I am focusing on blogtipping other DIVAS whose work I enjoy and learn from.  I hope you learn from them too! In no particular order! 

Diva #1:  Higher up and Further In - is an inspiring CM homeschooler in the middle east.  Her blog is a wealth of info.  I have already picked up several things from her site and I am sure you  will too. 

DIVA #2: Yielded has a blog that really gives a ton of nutritional “food for thought”  (Excuse the pun:-)  ) and some home schooling highlights thrown in.  You will get some tasty recipes from her!

DIVA #3: The Truevyne has some funny home schooling stories.  She loves CM, Montessori and Cavaletti.  When she posted about The Forty Day Fast I new this Diva has some serious Social Justice “kickin” and that inspires me.

DIVA #4 Hidden Art Jumps right in and comments away.  I think it is one of the most interesting things about blogging…the interaction!  So Thanks for all the thoughtful comments, I will try to reciprocate:-)

 Diva #5: The SecretlifeofKat   I found her through the truevyne. She is a soccer mom who actually plays the soccer.  What do you know about that.    I think it is funny.  I first read of the 40 day fast through the true vine who took me to Kats blog.  I then see her linked to Brant who is part of our faith community and a very smart Blogger too…even though he is not a DIVA.  Blogging is a really small world.

Ok - people so there you go…go and learn a thing or two, or three or how about this, just never stop learning!

Peace to all!