I want to travel the world on an all expense paid trip with ALL of my children to Hawaii and stay in a 5 star hotel, go skiing, go to the Grand Canyon and who knows Paris next.

Apparently, all I have to do is have 8 or more children, call TLC and ask them to do a reality show about my family. Oh wait, I think they need to be multiples, so we can have a cute name. Maybe we have to be super extreme, grow our hair long and have 17 kids or something, have all their names start with a “J” and show how we get it done at the grocery store.

Oh no, I am not cynical. Hey I don’t blame them for “pimping” their family to give them what most average family in America would never have in a whole lifetime. I will parade my parenting for millions of people to see every week, if you will just give me that darn trip to Hawaii, because I want to renew my wedding vows too.

I gather TLC is picking up on the fact that America and the world really, is fascinated with family life. Healthy family life, that supports the idea the children are a blessing from the Lord. That there are parents who DO really love each other and want to stay together even when things are hard. Somehow they just don’t believe it, so they have to make it into a real life tv show. Of course we all know “WHO” is at the center of their family life, but they keep all that on the”down low” so they can air it on tv.  You know political correctness and all.

I am writing a test pilot. What do you think? Dang, I just don’t think I have enough kids to make that fly. 3 is just too normal, just too average! Well, that kills that plan, now how are we going to get to Hawaii?

There is a whole flikr group of people who never look through the view finder. They shoot from the hip. It can be fun to see what you get by shooting from the hip.

My husband took this with our point and shoot yesterday on our Thanksgiving day excursion. My flickr tells the whole the story.

Have a great day!

Enjoy your family and friends today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are home from a long weekend away, reconnecting with extended church family from our sending church in Gainesville, FL. I am cleaning, and restocking items from suitcases, creating grocery lists for Thanksgiving meals and feeling that tender feeling creep over my whole being. Maybe you know the one. There is something in the air…underneath all of the lights and tensile, under all of the consumer junk that is flashed before our eyes urging us to buy, buy buy….. underneath the cookie exchanges and the overeating. That tender, new hopeful thing that is birthed every year, as God’s people remember who they are and in whom they are made and held together.

So, now we prepare, our hearts and minds with all the turkey blur. We traditionally set up our tree on Thanksgiving day, and I begin the Advent calender with the children. I did not grow up with a liturgical background, but somehow I LOVE the Advent tradition. I love what it does for me, and hopefully some of that slips off onto the kids. Maybe not, maybe they are just full of expectation for glorious gifts.

That’s okay. I expect the Holy Spirit to ignite a depth of love in them in due time, as he has done in me. I can’t explain it, but I truly am like a little 5 year old full of awe and wonder at this most glorious gift. I will probably post a bit less this next few weeks, and keep my flickr stocked full. There is so much to see and inhale in the natural and in the spirit that I am at a loss for words and can only respond with an artful response.

Song to Listen to: Sing to Jesus by Fernando Ortega

One of the things that will take your photos to the next level is how you choose to crop the image. At first you may want to do this after the fact in an editing program. It is a good way for you to train your eye to see things naturally. Pull up any old image and start cropping the heck out of it and see what you like. You may even develop a bit of a style that is all your own.

Here is the first shot. The lighting is nice The composition is okay, but you don’t really appreciate the main subject, the flower, because it is lost in all the clutter.

So get a little closer. Make the main thing the main thing. Open up your aperture a little bit to create that fuzzy background otherwise known as bokeh. (If you are using a point and shoot, trick you camera by shooting in landscape mode, and make sure you focus on the object in the foreground) This is getting better, but it is missing a little something.

Now, swing it around a little, crack that baby wide open. On a standard kit lens, you can get down to a F3.5 so go as low as you can go. Offset your main subject to one side. This will create even more bokeh. I always tend to gravitate towards landscape layout over a vertical layout. As time progresses you will train your eye. You will start seeing stuff like this all the time. Your eye will be drawn to all that yummy light, you will look at the ordinary just a little differently and viola….art for your home.

Now, Give me your best shot! Whatever you like and want to share, no theme this week. Leave a link to your image on your blog or flickr in the comments, and go visit the other links and leave a nice little piece of encouragement for all our artist friends!

Have Fun!

A Charlotte Mason education has a few distinctives. Here is a great little summary for you if you are new to the philosophy of CM education. We don’t really use workbooks, and narration is a STRONG component of what we do. If you have done any research about it, it can be a bit daunting trying to pull all that off by yourself. That is why I am indebted to the folks over at Ambleside Online. A few Homeschool Moms got together about 10 years ago, and started putting things together for their own families, and just kept on going, keeping track of what they were doing all along, and offering it free for others to find them on their own homeschool journey.

Part of the homeschool process for me, really steamed from my own childhood. I was dreadfully BORED in school and then had a few teachers who just didn’t seem to like me in the 4th and 5th grade (hard to imagine, I know!) and from those 2 things I developed a loathing for school until I reached the collegiate level. When I did get to the collegiate level, I realized some dreadful holes in my understanding of the world, its history and the relationships between how things worked. And I went to one of the top 5 highschools in the nation. I know some of that was because I was being taught to pass tests and not to have a holistic understanding of the world.

So fast forward 15 years, and you can see why some things are very important for me. I really wanted a classical approach with a strong emphasis on history as a whole, not just random little parts that rarely flowed together, and an appreciate for great literature, art, poetry and music. Not just modern things but through the ages. Charlotte Mason filled the bill for me, and now here we are. I literally can’t wait to see what we cover next. It is all so much fun and fascinating, and our kids beg us to keep reading. “DON’T STOP!” is a common phrase in our house, but alas, I do, because it keeps them hungry for more. A love of learning for life is what we are going for, and I see it blooming in the smallest and sweetest way in these early years. I can’t wait to see how it matures through the years.

So here are a some of the questions that Christine asked and I thought I would answer here in case any one else is in her boat.

• Our DC are 12 & 10 (7th & 5th). This is 2nd year HSing 10yr old and 1st year with 12 yr old. Do you think Ambleside is something that they could just get into with no prior use of CM?
  • Absolutely! A CM approach is very different from traditional schooling and workbook driven curriculums. It may take a bit of detox from the way they are used to schooling but give them space to transition. Children are brilliant and if we give them good stuff for their little minds to engage with, they take off and soar. I think they can transition over beautifully. AO is set up in years, yr 1, yr 2 and so on. Those do not mean school years. So a 5th grader coming out of 5th grade traditional school, may need to do yr 3 or yr 4 based on what they can handle. This is where the flexible part comes in. The language component is challenging and it will take a bit for them to get used to the literature readings, and the concept of narrating. One way to check where they should start is by going to a given year and look at the free reading books. Check one out from the library and read it aloud as a family. Track where they are with it. This will tell you if you need to pull back a year or two. There are many 3rd graders coming out of traditional school starting with yr 1. You have to start thinking holistically and not by years. My children are not yet at the age of being able to read their own literature on their own. My 7 year old is in love with Shakespeare. He couldn’t read King Lear on his own, but boy does he LOVE it when I read it to him. It does not mean they can not engage with it beautifully, they just need a facilitator, me. I read aloud, and bit by bit I am transitioning the reading over to them. By yr 4 they should be doing most of their reading on their own. In the beginning you may read a ton with them, even at their age. Just like riding a bike with training wheels, you will see when they can go it alone.

• Also, one of our DC is VERY right brained, visual, Will Ambleside work for him?
  • Yes, you may have to think a little differently. They will have to begin to visualize the story in their brain. You may need to have a notebook handy during the readings, so they can draw out the characters and their interactions. You will also create a Book of Centuries which is a very visual way to keep track of what you are studying. My oldest is very visual too. That is why we LOVE Math U See, it works splendidly for him. You can also incorporate some pbs movies about certain things you are learning about, Shakespeare etc.

• Is there workbooks or is it pretty much reading?
  • I use 3 workbooks, one for Handwriting, one for phonics and one for Math. Other than that, they are creating their own narrations and work, based on how they narrate to me. I don’t ask them leading questions, because it makes them sloppy in their thinking. I read, they listen and then tell me back to the best of their ability. With one of our selections I started asking leading questions and I am paying for it now. With mine, I read one paragraph and ask them to tell me back to the best of their ability exactly what they heard. This is how they are picking up great grammar, vocabulary and how to make the connections in their brains and then give it back to me. It is a hard discipline, and you should not expect them to master it right off the bat. Your age would be giving a written narration. Mine are still orally narrating. I also “test” in this way. They don’t know it is a test, I call the “Oral Reviews” and they go something like this….”Tell me everything you can about…”.

• What are the pros/cons of Ambleside?
  • Pros - it fits all of the things we wanted in an education for our children. I love that it is gentle and challenging at the same time. The information you cover over the 12 years is amazing. The advisory suggests that once a child has moved through year 7 work, they have gotten the equivalent of what a traditional highschool senior would have.
    
  • Cons - Not many, however you may not be “down” with every book selection for different personal reasons. I have no issues with them, but some parents do. Again, be flexible and substitute a great equivalent. They offer suggestions in those areas. Some Moms on the email loop are HARD CORE and can at times put pressure on you to do what they are doing. If you know what you want and where you are going, you will be able to stir clear of that. Comparison is bad stuff, so stay away from it:-)

• Do you teach your children all the same level or do you teach each one at their own levels?
  • I do Bible, Art, Music and Nature Study the same for all 3, handwriting at the same time, just different aspects for each age, Poetry together(I usually pull this back so the littles can hang with it), and math at the same time, just different aspects for each. The reading/phonics, history and literature I do differently as they are at different levels and ability to understand. Your 2 however, are close enough in age, and probably ability at this point that you may experiment doing the same year for both of them. Just ask your older to do a few things a bit more challenging then what your younger can do.

  So, I hope that helps a little. The FAQ’s are very helpful and the email thread is a great source of info as you get going. One of my favorite CM blogs to read is here. She “rocks the shizoks” with all of this stuff. I go there often. If I can be of any help just drop me an email.

In case you have not noticed, I LOVE homeschooling. I was also terrified before I jumped in. I know for as many of us that choose to home school, there will be just as many who feel led to go public or private school, or do not have the choice to be home because they are single moms or can’t afford for the Mama not to work. My way isn’t necessarily the right way for you, it is just one method out there and I hope you are encouraged by it. DON’T compare yourself in anyway, just take what you need and leave the rest.

I have friends in every camp: public, private and at home varying between unschooling to Abeca workbook style learning. There is something for everyone, if you look long enough. My hope is that in all these little glimpses of my real life, you would stop and think and pray and ask God how you can more deeply engage in your little tribes life where ever you may be, whether you stay home or are the chief PTA’er at your child’s school every time the doors are open.

I had a commenter specifically ask about our method, so I thought I would take a minute and address it here. In case any of you want a Charlotte Mason style education or love the idea of “classical education” and you don’t have a clue of where to start, you might find it helpful. I first read the book For The Childrens Sake by Susan Schaeffer McCaulay. I couldn’t stop, I just kept reading and dreaming. At the time I was heavily influenced my the Montessori method (I am big on methods:-) and was bringing the kids home and didn’t know where to start. I started to poke around, ran into a few homeschool bloggers who where giving me the Charlotte Mason vibe and the rest is history.

I do not have the time or energy to reinvent the wheel and create my own curriculum. Everyone says that is so simple, but that overwhelmed me. Kudos to you who do, you are my “sheros” . I really believe their is freedom within structure, so when my blog friend directed me to Ambleside Online, I felt like I had fallen in to a pool of women who knew what the heck they where doing, who spoke my language about developmental learning, giving me a road map to move forward yet the freedom to do what was best for our brood. I like big picture stuff, and I got to see the whole educational thread for 12 years laid out. I could see where it was all going, and I liked what I saw. Ah, niiiiccccce, not to mention it is a free curriculum and you can find most of the classic literature at the library or free online as ebooks. Now you are talking my language.

We supplemented a little Math-U-See with Mr. Steve (Love ya Mr. Steve!) got a few packs of lined paper from Walmart, downloaded our free ebooks and just got going. So, I will have to tell you a little more tomorrow. This post is already long enough and besides I have some killer shots of a super flexible kid that just have to go with these posts;-)

Sorry Christine, come back tomorrow and I will try and flesh it out more for ya. I want to go play with my kids.

Peace to all who want to play today~

A little meditation on the wonders of God to start the week out right. I left 2 translations. I always love reading scripture in a few translations. It gives me a deeper hold of its beauty. Have a great day all! See you tomorrow.

NIV

Psalm 111

1^[a] Praise the LORD. ^[b]
I will extol the LORD with all my heart
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.

2 Great are the works of the LORD;
they are pondered by all who delight in them.

3 Glorious and majestic are his deeds,
and his righteousness endures forever.

4 He has caused his wonders to be remembered;
the LORD is gracious and compassionate.

5 He provides food for those who fear him;
he remembers his covenant forever.

6 He has shown his people the power of his works,
giving them the lands of other nations.

7 The works of his hands are faithful and just;
all his precepts are trustworthy.

8 They are steadfast for ever and ever,
done in faithfulness and uprightness.

9 He provided redemption for his people;
he ordained his covenant forever—
holy and awesome is his name.

10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.

The Message

Psalm 111

1-10 Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I’ve got—
Wherever good people gather, and in the congregation.
God’s works are so great, worth
A lifetime of study—endless enjoyment!
Splendor and beauty mark his craft;
His generosity never gives out.
His miracles are his memorial—
This God of Grace, this God of Love.
He gave food to those who fear him,
He remembered to keep his ancient promise.
He proved to his people that he could do what he said:
Hand them the nations on a platter—a gift!
He manufactures truth and justice;
All his products are guaranteed to last—
Never out-of-date, never obsolete, rust-proof.
All that he makes and does is honest and true:
He paid the ransom for his people,
He ordered his Covenant kept forever.
He’s so personal and holy, worthy of our respect.
The good life begins in the fear of God—
Do that and you’ll know the blessing of God.
His Hallelujah lasts forever!

There are some benefits to running 25 miles a week.

Not only that, but I wanted to capture that morning light, the chocolate brown and teal blue with my favorite dish towel. Really, I love shooting still lifes and tablescapes. When you are thinking about things you want to capture with whatever camera you have, think composition and natural lighting. You can put a Tupperware container containing some fresh tomatoes or fruit in the natural light, compose it artfully, stand above it and take a picture, and you can hang that shot in a museum. Maybe not the MOMA but a kitschy touristy museum. You get my point!

So now I have an idea for you dear readers, but it will only work if you comment and participate. Could I drop any more of a hint with that one. I was thinking a photo Friday every week. Post our favorite pic of the week on your flickr or blog, and leave a comment and link here so we all can see. Then we can all go and leave comments for you, you little artist you. I am finding that blogging is so much more fun when people participate. So comment away and pull out that point and shoot or SLR and give me your best shot.

So let’s try today, totally random and not planned but let’s just see what happens. I am kinda like that, just pull a wild hair out and go for it type gal.

Our middle child is a girl bookended by brothers. She is tough and can throw down with the best of them. I work hard at taking her on “princess” dates and doing special little things so she can see through modeling that being a girl is great. I understand that she will learn about her femininity through watching me. She does like to wear dresses and look pretty, just not overly girly in anyway.

We enrolled her in ballet, so she could have girl time, and be prissy and wear pink etc. You know a break from all this boy stuff around here. The testosterone, drowns us out at times. Guess what. She could care less. In fact, she doesn’t really ever want to go, and would rather stay home and play soccer with her brothers. I do have a loose game plan on things that I am exposing her to, and working with her on in regards to the wonders of being a woman but I am now seeing that ballet doesn’t have to be one of them.

Here is the reality. She is just like me. She doesn’t really like pink, she told me the other day she doesn’t like princess stuff. It is “dumb”, a word we don’t use so I am sure she really meant it. The other night we were sitting outside playing and she asked if she could get the skate board to skate. The hysterical thing is, it is her brothers and he never touches it. She is rockin’ on it. Honestly, she is a total athlete, even over the boys. The boys are athletic and do well at athletic things, but she is a natural at almost everything and has crazy spacial awareness.

So I gotta say, I think it is totally RAD to have a skater chic for a daughter. We are discontinuing ballet. I agree that we should require children to do certain things even if they don’t like it because it is good for their character training…like cleaning their room, and eating their vegetables, not something that we are stretching to pay for and she isn’t really diggin’. We are rethinking something else I can get her involved in that would nurture her feminine side, that she will be down with.

Any ideas for an athletic, rad, little 5 year old who thinks she is invincible and can do anything she puts her mind to.

Dang, I want to be like her when I grow up!

So is your music study a little dusty? Maybe you are wondering how in the heck do I teach my children music at home if a) I am not a musician and b) we have no instruments and c) I don’t know where the heck to start.

Well, my friends have no fear. Most Parents can get their kids through the first 2 years of general music instruction on their own with a few good resources and then, if they see that their child is leaning in a given direction, save their pennies for private lessons…cuz Lord knows they are CRAZY expensive. I called the other day for a violin lesson quote and I almost choked over the phone with the dear woman.

Now, I studied violin and piano growing up. I was one of those kids who kept asking and asking to learn, not every kid is like that. Later in life, I taught myself guitar. Once you have the basics of one instrument you can kind of figure things out on any instrument if you want to. I have always sung and eventually started leading worship in college, owned a music and movement business for 8 or so years and taught hundreds of kids and their parents basic music and then stopped because I got burned out and wanted to be with my own kids not everyone else’s and well, the rest is history. Music is a huge part of our families life. I would not say we are musicians per say, we are worshipers who can get around on a guitar and use it to facilitate worship. Even if your child is not drawn to it, it would still be valuable to require them to learn basic knowledge of a given instrument. It is kind of like new foods. How do you know if you are going to like them if you don’t try them.

Why am I writing all of this? Because I have been letting music study slide in our little homeschool. I taught music for so many years with other peoples kids, I just kind of wanted to not go there right now. Shame, shame on me. This is how it works at our house, tons of varied music on all the time, kids seeing Mommy and Daddy lead worship with a guitar, piano at home that kids are getting comfortable with. Oldest - could care less (or so I thought), our middle (interested but not as interested as she is in sports) and our youngest ( sang before he could talk, asks routinely for lessons, works with a drum or the glockenspiel daily and lays his body flat on anything vibrating so, as he says “he can hear the rhythm”.) So I have the whole spectrum.

Here is my game plane, and you can join me if you wish. Maybe we can keep each other accountable:-)
A Piano resource I am going to use is - Pianimals. Hey if you don’t have a piano, check Craig’s List we got a used one super cheap, but a keyboard could do in a pinch. If you can’t even do that, you could ask around and see if a friend or neighbor has one that you could use once a week. We use the classical composer study available for free through Ambleside Online to make sure we are listening to new and different things.

This last week a friend gave our oldest a recorder. Well, Hallelujah, he is finally interested in all things music. So I am going to use Young Beginner Recoder book for our introduction to recorder. Another homeschool blog I read recommended it, so I thought, why reinvent the wheel, I will use that. I mean it is a recorder people, not the harp. I just want to start something.

Pre step - before step 1 - Pray that God would bless your simple heart to infuse the sound of music and worship into your little crews life. He will surely bless it. You never know, you may have a Handel on your hands.

Step 1 - Turn off the TV and turn on the music. Come on you can do it , we won’t die:-)

Step 2 - Leave some “musicky junk” around the house. Recorder,small hand drum, glockenspiel, rhythm sticks. Hey take a field trip to a music store and wet their appetites. Give a kid a pair of rhythm eggs and they will be set for hours.

Step 3 - SCHEDULE IT! Really people, I am talking to myself, I need to plan that sucker in, or as history proves, it wont happen.

Step 4 - Download some good classical stuff to mix into all your current contemporary stuff. Get a good spectrum except for heavens sake country, don’t expose the kids to that junk. (I am kidding, if you all like that sound go ahead, I wont penalize you. I wont understand you, but I wont penalize you:-))

Step 4 - Relax, have fun, don’t stress about it.

Okay, Ready, set…GO!

There are my pithy tips for today. I know mind bending right.

Keepin’ it real peeps - Blessings to you and your crew today!

If you have not done this, you should check it out.

We toured a candy store today. They showed us how to make different types of chocolate candy, many of their cool tools and machines and learned that water is the number one enemy of chocolate. It turns it into taffy like a tootsie roll.

They even let us paint some chocolate portraits with food coloring.

The kids were very polite and well behaved. We left the store standing in one piece and took home a few bags of handmade candy. The owner of the store used to be a teacher for 22 years and then opened this store so she was very hands on. She mentioned how she didn’t know how we did it. How we could teach our own kids. I remember thinking the same thing, until I tried it. Now I couldn’t imagine letting someone else do it, at least not right now. This is my season, and I am taking them to candy store on my terms people!!!

Phew, I am glad I got that off my chest, I couldn’t really give her my home school 411 then, so I just smiled and nodded.If you homeschool, what do you say when people say that to you?

Peace to all who love them some chocolate in large handmade quantities.

I just love it. I get to stand outside, another person or families life, and capture their story and then show it back to them in some of its simplest beauty. I’ve been a little busy with some post editing work, and schooling and training for a marathon. I am moving through my to-do list. I hope to finish much of it tonight and then get back to some real writing.

Until then, just relax. Imagine what it feels like to not have a care in the world, not worrying about what you would eat or what you would wear, or if you had any money, feeling completely safe and loved with the ability to explore endlessly?

Imagine you could live your life just like her. Well, that is what I am going to do anyway. I am going to go play at the beach with my kids. I may just play with my camera and tell my own story……my poor flickr has been neglected.

Peace to you,

Well just because I can be goofy and I have no time to write anything well thought out, but feel this crazy urge to create something….. anything…words, pictures, tooth pick figures. I know it is strange. Maybe it is more of me wanting to play and be a little kid today.

1. I got a new hair cut….. I am working my way short again.

2. I love chartreuse…..I believe I would like a wall that color in my home.

3. I HATE having doors left open. I have to go and shut it if I see it open, I know it is strange. I can have a weeks worth of crumbs on my floor by by goodness if a door is left open, I can’t rest until it is closed.

4. I deeply wish to have a tattoo and a nose ring. Alas, do to a metal/ink allergy I can not. I can’t even wear earrings unless they are pure gold…therefore I wear none.

5. If I could do anything in the world, just by blinking my eyes, I would give myself a pre-pregnancy stomach.

6. I like my eyes. I am in a new stage of finding things I like about me. I feel like ever sense I was 12 I have focused on the imperfect in me, instead of the beautiful. Darn first born tendencies. Great Scott, doing a selfie (self portrait) with a 60mm is a bit tricky.

7. I typically have outbursts of laughter at suddenly funny things. At times I have liquid in my mouth and spew it everywhere. Nice I know.

8. I am ticklish, freakishly so.

9. When I get angry, I cry, when I am happy I cry, when I am moved by something amazing, I cry. I am a cry baby.

10. When I am super comfortable with my friends, I start talking “urban”. Maybe because I went to high-school in the inner city and learned how to roll that way in my formative years. Kinda like a silly high-school girl. Last night I was hanging with a new friend who teaches at an inner city high school, and she stated talkin’ slant in her white girl proper way. It was a bonding moment. Ya know it is the little things……

Well now, this was fun. I might just do this silly thing again one day. My dear friend who first met me online and then we met in person,was scared to meet me, thinking I was a little snotty or prissy. She said, the real you is so much more fun then the blog you. So I am letting a little goofy out…..

Latah Peeps Gotta bounce!

Today, is a day that I wanted to experiment with words. With so much attention over the significance of this day, I wanted to say a few gentle words as a small hope filled act.

A letter to God’s called and sent people who happen to live in the United States:

Greetings to you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, our king, our leader, our hope in all situations. Grab hold of all of the things you have been given through his death and resurrection. Live a life, full in Him. He is our daily bread, our 401K, the author of our domestic and foreign policy and does not waver even when the economy does.

Rise up, you precious one, and embody the life and calling of our King. Feed the hungry, adopt an orphan, take care of a widow, give generously to those in need. Really, I mean you do it, not the government, not the leaders of the church, or organizations. Don’t wait for “someone else” to do it. You do it… now, today. Go find one of these and do that..do what Jesus did and calls us to do. If we all decided to do this, then days like today would be held in their proper perspective.

Do your civic duty, as one that is prayerfully asking for guidance from God on high. The one that holds countries in His hands, the one who seats kings and rulers up in power. It is interesting to me, that I know and love people, who love and follow Jesus, in all three camps, who feel deeply called to act in the way they are acting in regards to all of this political stuff; Democrat, Republican and Conscientious Objector. It is a mystery to me, and yet I know the God who sits on high, is not confused or in fear about our future as His people. What a beautiful hope, to be a part of the people of God around the world. That our hope is in Him in every season.

What if we did more than vote? What if we lived our vote with our lives? What if we gave so generously that government programs wouldn’t need to exist, and what if we did such radical acts of counter cultural things that we would really start to see some change move at the grass roots level?

So go ahead today, and check your box, but do not stop there, keep going. Keep voting with your life and your words and your actions. Vote all over the place in word and thought and dead.

In Him we will see lasting change,

Signed by a little homeschool Mom who’s voice does not even break out against the roar of the parties, but still believes that Gentle Words spark life in the Kingdom of God.

a comedy of errors. Long story short, we have a salt water fish tank in house….as we speak. So far we are all super thrilled with our new ecosystem and our one little domino fish. The children have already bonded with the little guy. Can you believe they are bonding with a fish? It is so sweet. They check him every few minutes to make sure he is okay, and were a bit sad to take him away from his friends at the fish store. Really! We had the water tested and it was fine for a fish to dive right in on day one. In a few weeks we will have a few more join him. I will post more pics then. You can check the flickr to see the other pics of our day.

On another note, I am working on reworking and reorganizing the tabs up top and my blog roll list which is a separate page and is different from the links next door. So if I have linked to you in the past and you don’t see yourself up there, don’t worry, I am working on it:-) If you want me to link to ya, send me an email and I will be happy to do so.

The collaborative Etsy site is moving along with some group input and content it is going to be better then I even originally envisioned. If you are an artist or know an artist who may want to participate then just drop me a line. I also have 2 new photography blogs being created as I type, a few face books fan pages and some personal photography work in the works. So get ready to click and link in the next few days. All right hope springs eternal, it may be like the next few weeks, but you get my drift.
Peace to all~