So... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, it!!! (Just like I thought I would!)

Guess what???   I LOVE BEING A HOME SCHOOL MOMMY!!! 

Okay.... so I know it's only the first day.  And I know that there are going to be days that I won't love it as much (if at all...).  But today was a GOOD day.

It began with morning snuggles.... at 8am!  In years past, when my kids attended a local school, morning snuggles were a privilege reserved only for snow days, sick days, and summer vacation days.  But today - the FIRST day of (home)school - we had morning snuggle time.  It didn't slip my consciousness that it was happening at the exact time the local school was beginning their day.  I silently thanked God that I was able to spend some quality time WITH my children in the morning instead of rushing them out of their beds before they were ready to rise.... instead of rushing them out the door with barely a breakfast inside them because they weren't up long enough to even BE hungry yet.... instead of a heart (mine) breaking in two.  Yes - that's right.  This is the FIRST first day of school this mommy has NOT had a broken heart. 

After our morning snuggles we took our traditional "first day of school" photos.  Then I decided we should begin a tradition of the "first day of school breakfast".  So we did - and I treated them out.  Yumm!  The kids toasted the beginning of their day with chocolate milk with their meal.  Not a bad start to the day.  I also was able to get the traditional "picture with their teacher" shot... only ONE of those this year!  And then I capped it off with some "learning in action" shots. 

*** (Disclaimer about the photos: for some reason my oldest child is in a stage where it is NOT at all "cool" to smile for any photo.  This is the best I could get out of him.  He will grow out of this, right??   RIGHT???)

**sigh** from one contented Momma.... AKA "Teacher".   Have I mentioned that I LOVE that?!?

Stress Cleaner turned... Stress Crafter??

I admit it, I am a "stress cleaner".   When I am stressed out, I have the ability to transform my home into a museum.  It would pass Mary Poppins' "white glove" test.   Since my home is currently on the market (any takers for a super cute, updated 3 bedroom ranch with finished basement?? Anyone??) it's in a state of perpetual cleanliness.  Just ask my kids - they'll tell you I'm not giving an inch where clutter is concerned.   I've been feeling a bit stressed out the past couple of days - nothing major, just dealing with a few of life's curve balls.  You know the kind I'm talking about... you think you're headed in one direction and WHAM!  Out of nowhere, you're hit with something you didn't put in your day planner.  It's not a comfortable situation for us "type-A" people, but with God's perfect grace and mercy, I'm learning to deal with it. 

Since the house is clean, what is a God-loving, stressed-out, type-A, girl supposed to do?   Movies don't distract - I often find my mind wanders too much and I discover I have no idea what's happening in the plot and all I've accomplished in my mind is borrowing trouble for things that haven't happened.  Yet.  ;-)   Books don't distract (I was shocked, too!) - and I find I'm re-reading the same paragraph over and over.  I trust that Isaiah 26:3 is true, and I have learned to keep myself busy so my mind doesn't wander where it shouldn't.   My house may revolt against me some day now that I have discovered that I am indeed a "stress crafter"... I can see the bathrooms getting less attention and scrapbooking receiving MORE.

After all my Excel planning for homeschooling this fall, it was nearly time to print schedules, attendance sheets, note pages, and curriculum plans.  But these ugly, old, wrinkled binder dividers from long-since-passed financial analysis days looked too sad to use for my super-fun homeschool planner!  All that time I'd spent at the computer deserved something PRETTY to organize it!!

 

But don't these scrapbook papers look super fresh and inviting??

 

 

 

Add some adhesive, and VOILA!!!   Pretty new binder dividers!!  (And all the while I was praying over my stress, praising over my stress - thanks to K-Love, and being productive).   Win-Win-Win!

 



 

If you haven't heard from me in a few days, check under the piles of scrapbook paper and adhesive.  Bring Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi and chocolate - I'll need some bribing to come out. 

How Great!?!?

Do you want to know how great MY GOD IS? 

I have been filing some paperwork away and could not find ONE document I knew had to be there.  I flipped through the pile many times, each one more slowly than the time before because, as I said, it HAD to be THERE.  No where else.  There was no need for it to be any where else.

The anxiety began to build...

Anyone who knows me, knows that calling me an "organized person" is a bit of an understatement.  Now don't misunderstand, I live in my home just as much as the next person... my home is not a museum... but there is a place for practically everything and even in the "piles of daily life" I can typically put my finger on what I'm looking for in a matter a minutes, if not seconds.  Yes, organized I am.

So, the anxiety builds... WHERE is THAT document?

A friend calls, interrupting my search.  She can tell I'm flustered.  I explain my predicament.  We chat for a few minutes about the next days plans, and she promises to grab her family and pray for swift finding of the very important, very lost document.

I walk into another room of my home and begin to go through another set of documents that should not yield successful results of discovering the lost document... the lost document does not belong in this pile.  Why would it be here?   But discovery occurred... and much praising His name began!  I called my friend back, not three minutes after we'd ended our previous conversation to share with her the news.  Rejoicing His name in numbers multiplies JOY.

This song erupted from my heart and flowed out of my lips. How Great - Chris Tomlin

How GREAT is our God?   Greater than even this simple reminder... that a lost document can be found.  In minutes.  Yes, He is THAT great.

The Birds

No, I'm not talking about an Alfred Hitchcock movie in this post... 


Back in May while I was cutting the grass I accidentally, very lightly, "tapped" the gutter downspout with the mower.  The support holding it to the house gave way, accelerated my annoyance (already high because I was tired and I was cutting the grass which is NOT my favorite chore) and I didn't even care about the gutter so much and I just kept cutting the grass with it literally hanging in mid-air. The WHOLE time.


When I'd finished I asked my fabulous (really, they are) children to then help me sweep and put the clippings bags back behind the house.  After I had all grass cutting tools put away I finally decided to check out the annoying gutter downspout which, by the way, I was fairly certain broke away on purpose to make my annoyance level rise.   You have to look out for those gutters - they have minds of their own.   I grabbed a landscaping stone to hold annoying gutter in place until I could figure out how to fix it permanently.  (And it has been fixed by now, thanks Mr. Mike!)


Much to my dismay, this is what I came across.

Look closely at the the top of the nest.

Now, I knew that nest was perched there on top of the annoying gutter, but I thought all bird activity had long ago ceased.  Boy, did I feel sick over this discovery!  I made a few frantic phone calls - and NO ONE I KNEW WAS HOME!  (I apologize to my friends the Richter's for the weepy, very girlish sounding frantic voicemail I left... thank you for still being my friend).   After all the phones of my friends went to voicemail, I prayed.  (Now WHY didn't I do that FIRST?!!?  Sheesh!)  

My main issue with picking the baby birds up was that I was afraid the mother (who was crying at me the ENTIRE TIME from the neighbor's roof top WITH A worm in her mouth even) wouldn't come back to them if she smelled me on her babies.  Isn't that what you learn in grade school??  She was definitely NOT helping my anxiety level with all her crying!  Then I remembered that I had just purchased some new gardening gloves - THAT VERY MORNING! (Praise God for Costco and packages of things I don't know I need until I see them!)


I ran to the garage, grabbed the massive ladder and some fresh gloves.  

These birds were soooo small.  They were not even strong enough to lift their own heads up and they barely had any feathers.  Where their "ears" were (actually just flaps) the skin was still translucent.  I was in awe of how special these little creatures were.   Now, my tears were much different than the franctic ones left on voicemails all across town...  they were sheer amazement of how wonderful God had protected them from the fall off the roof top gutter, protected them from my NOT hitting them with my lawn mower, and protected them from the length of stay they had on the ground while I took my sweet, annoying, time doing finishing my chores.  

Owen and Evie are watching me respond to these creatures, a point that is not far from my mind any minute of the day, but I was so actuely aware of their soaking in this moment.  They wanted to examine each bird and make sure each one was breathing.  This teaching moment was not lost on me (Praise the Lord for His goodness in THAT!) and I was able to show them how "just fine" the babies were and explain how God loves these little birds as much as He loves us.  He created them, and He created us.  He loves His creation and to Him it brings glory. 


After we'd done our due diligence of ensuring each bird was breathing fine and had no broken "limbs", we prayed over them, I fixed the gutter (temporarily), and returned them to their "home". 

And we waited... would the mother come back to "mother" them?  Or would she abandon them as I had feared...

SHE CAME BACK!!! God IS good!!

"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."  (Matthew 10:29-31 ESV)

So You Wonder...

... why I want to homeschool?

Every day I ask my kids what their "high" and their "sigh" of the day is.  Good points, not so good points... we talk it out.  I have found that many a potential "melt down moment" is averted through this conversation starter.  There is no opportunity for my little blessings to harbor any emotions they don't understand and cannot compute on their own.  (Eph 4:26)  I have found out more information with the game "Highs and Sighs" than asking the question "How was your day?"

Tonight at the dinner table was no exception... I found out more information than I anticipated, and am beyond grateful to God for His grace in keeping me calm and preventing an overreaction.  My 2nd grader was talking about learning a new subject... "Visual Media".  He was explaining how the students use "T-Charts" to compare and contrast real life with the fiction seen on television / media (in general).  So far, so good.   Next I asked him what example was used for comparison. He said a television show was shown and it was contrasted with real life.  Hmm... my curiosity is peaked... mostly because I'm pretty particular about what my kids' eyes view and what their ears hear.  I am teaching them to guard their hearts.

(Side note:  the school has a policy that no permission slips need to be sent home to watch anything the school chooses as educational as long as it's rated G.  I have a policy that I don't send my children to school to watch movies / TV shows.  We agree to disagree on each others policies).  

I probe further and ask my 2nd grader what TV show was shown to his class.  It was a Disney show, but one that is really too "mature" for the little minds I am protecting.  By the worlds standards it is a perfectly acceptable show.  But we don't live by the worlds standards.   (NOTE:  here is where I'm grateful for exercising self-control and not freaking out... and God blessed it and allowed my child to open up further). I asked what was shown in the film that he was able to fill up his T-chart with.  His answer was simple - "in the show they played with water guns in the house.  In real life, that doesn't happen.  Water guns are played with outside so the house doesn't get wet."  Excellent comprehension.  He's a genius.  :-)

"And then you know what happened, Mommy??  The grandpa was at a soccer game and he got mad at the coach and turned around and faced his bottom toward the coach on the field and he pulled his pants down and showed the coach his bottom."    Yep - you read that correctly.  MOONING on a child's program.  Ugh. 

Finally I asked my 2nd grader (as I'm silently thanking the Lord that there are only 5 more days of school left this year) what he thought of that.  He admitted he laughed (and was currently laughing) but he thought it was inappropriate for him to be watching, so he told his teacher he didn't want to see anymore.  His teacher told him he could play a math game (mother-approved, at that!) on the computer instead of finishing the TV show.   I have no right to be proud of my child... but in my sinful humanness, I am.  Proud. Of. Him.  He chose to honor the Lord today, and not his own desire for entertainment.

I have no right to be blessed.  But I am.  Blessed.  Immeasurably.

Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.

~ Proverbs 22:6

And that's why I desire to homeschool.  To give more to my children of the Lord than they can possibly receive when not in my care.  I am charged to train them up.  And I want to. More and more.

Queen of the "Last Minute"

I am becoming the Queen of the last minute projects.  This is not ever how I've approached anything in life... but lately, it's just the way things seem to flow.   I hope I grow out of it.  And soon.  It truly shows a lack of planning and preparing, which has not ever been my character, and nor do I want it to be.  But in my lack of planning, God blessed my night anyway.  Isn't He great???  (Amen!)

My church's children's ministry's Wednesday night program features a theme night once per month.  And tonight's the night.   It's been marked on my calendar for literally months.  (You know... because of the preparing and planning trait I try to implement??  Yeah...  it requires follow through of actually LOOKING at the calendar I plan things on.  But I digress).   Guess when I noticed it.  At 4:15 pm, after spending an entire day away from home (on a field trip - so the time away was worthwhile) and I'm prepping dinner to leave the house at 6pm.  YIKES! 

The theme tonight is "Holiday Night" - and I took the easy-way-out suggestion and pulled out Santa hats (perfect for a Christian holiday, no???)  and the CHRISTmas sweaters.   My kids looked at me like I had perfectly lost my mind.  Were we not wearing shorts, devouring fudge bars,  and playing with the hose in 80 degree weather just yesterday???   "Um, I don't prefer that idea, Mommy" - to quote one of my polite children verbatim.   The other child...  (air-i-ly)  "Mommy, I want to be a ballerina" as she twirls and whirls so elegantly around me.  Hmm.... ballerina.... holiday.... NUTCRACKER BALLET!   PERFECT!!!    Have I ever mentioned that "I'm not just another pretty face" lately??    Hold on... I'll prove it further.

So Polite Child desires to be something other than a sweater.  Thinking cap... tired Momma... oh, so very tired... this is hurting my head....  LIGHT BULB!!   Empty box, wrapping paper, packing tape, scissors.  

He's a Christmas Gift!   (I told you I was genius!) 

Cut the holes for the head and arms.  Then wrap packing tape around the edges so no scratching occurs.  Comfort is a very important factor in a gift.

Wrap the gift.  When opening the holes I cut a "pie" shape with a knife and folded the ends in.

Then I re-wrapped the edges with more packing tape so it didn't tear so easily. 

VOILA!  (I think I'll keep this gift)!!! 

Happy crafting!! 

Recipe Review

Funny story - I wanted a Kindle for Christmas.  I ended up talking myself (not truly as difficult as it sounds) into a Kindle Fire.  I LOVE it.  I use it all the time.  I love reading and thought I would hate having an electronic device as a "book" - but the practical side of me won out.  I find so many books for FREE and the realization that I couldn't supply enough shelves to house them all won me over.  So, while I still purchase a paper book on occasion, and check them out of the library as well (which you can also do on your Kindle!), I have quite the collection of books "shelved" inside my kindle. 

First a couple of pictures of the kids giving me my Christmas gift.  This story still makes me laugh.  You don't see Owen because he's on camera duty.  But I still "hear" him in my mind instructing his sister on how this all should play out. 

For reference, Amazon has a different free book every day.  Just search "free Kindle book" on Amazon's website and the options will appear.   I have also found three websites which offers FREE and nearly-free books each day.  Pixel of Ink - which offers a mix of genres for your reading pleasure. Pixel of Ink - Young Edition - which is the sister site and offers childrens and young adult reading.  And my latest favorite - Dining Downloads - which is full of... you guessed it - recipe books!   SCORE!

I have a thing for "new" recipes.  I love to try something new and I enjoy cooking / baking.  My waning desire to cook these days has brought me to trying something new, often, to keep my desire up and my skills honed.  I am also trying to stretch my kids' palate beyond the typical chicken and potatoes meal, which brings me to a new post, and something I hope to feature once a week.  So once a week I will be trying and testing a new (to us) recipe and then reviewing it.  I will tag them all under "Recipe Review" so they're easier for you (and for me) to find again in the future.  I have also "pinned" a bunch of recipes (among other things) on Pinterest and will be commenting about the reality of those projects.  Look for those posts tagged under "Been There, Pinned That" - coming soon to a blog near you. 

Now, for the first recipe....

Kindle Recipe Book:  More Than Hummus by Katherine Cumming
Recipe:  Sun Dried Tomato Hummus (No Tahini)

1 1lb can garbanzo beans, drained
1 c sun dried tomatoes (in olive oil), drained
1/2 c water
1/8 c olive oil
4 cloves garlic
4 Tbl lemon juice
pinch of salt, to taste

Garnish: smoked paprika

Blend all ingredients in blender or food processor until smooth.  Garnish with paprika. 

Review:
The recipe needed quite a bit more water to produce the creamy, smooth texture of hummus.  I'm not sure it affected the taste too much, however.  It did not taste watered-down, and if you like tomatoes, this is the hummus for you!  The tomato flavor was full and rich!  Disclaimer:  it could have used more garlic.  I like garlic, and the taste is hidden behind the tomatoes.  All in all, this is a snack I keep going back for each night. 

Kid Review:
O: Can I have some goldfish instead, please?
E:  Do we have any regular chips and dip? 
Hmmm.... guess I won't be trying any Middle Eastern recipes anytime soon.  ;-)