What a busy time of year!

Isn’t summer supposed to be the time when things slow down? Aren’t we supposed to be able to just take it easy and lie next to the pool? I wish! We’ve been keeping really busy this summer. Softball has kept us really busy. Thankfully there are only two more weeks after this week. The week after next is our National tournament and we are pretty excited about that. Hopefully we’ll do really well there!

We’ve also been keeping busy by going to basketball games, soccer games, and baseball games that the kids’ friends are playing in. That’s been a lot of fun for them.

Our town has a movie theater that has been running kids movies for free 3 days a week so we’ve gone to the movies almost every week for the last month or so. That’s been fun - except for when all the moms and kids that don’t believe in discipline decided to go at the same time we were there. That wasn’t fun at all.

We’ve also gone to the lake, visited family that lives a little ways out of town, had our niece staying with us, had parties with our co-op families, and thankfully enough - we’ve been able to hang out in the pool.

I’ve got to start thinking about school though. I need to get the rest of our books ordered and I still have to write the syllabus for the class I’m teaching at co-op! I’m running out of time!

What about you? What have you guys been up to this summer?

A letter from a mom to her kids

This was sent to me in an e-mail. I thought it was hysterical - I think you will too.

Dear Kids,

Don’t be alarmed, the world isn’t coming to an end. I am simply taking a bath. It will take about thirty minutes and will involve soap and water. Yes, I know how to swim. Even if I didn’t, forcing myself to drown in a half-inch of lukewarm water is more work than I’ve got energy for. (Which reminds me, I’m all for science projects, but the next time you want to see if Play-Doh floats, use cold water.)

Don’t panic if I’m not out right on time. I’ve heard that people don’t dissolve in water and I’d like to test the theory. While I’m in the tub, I’d like you to remember a few things. The large slab of wood between us is called a door. Do not bang to hear my voice. I promise that even though you can’t see me, I *am* on the other side. I’m not digging an escape tunnel and running for the border,no matter what I said a while ago. I didn’t mean it. Honest. There will be plenty of time later to tell me about your day.

“Later” means at a time when I am no longer naked, wet, and contemplating bubble gum in the blow dryer. I know you have important things to tell me. Please let one of them be that you have invented a new way to blow bubbles, not a new way to add gum to your hair.

Believe it or not, shouting, “TELEPHONE!” through the closed bathroom door will *not* make the phone stop ringing. Answer it and take a message. Since Amazing Mind-Reading Mom has the day off, you’ll need to write that message down. Use paper and a pencil. Do not use your brother and the laundry marker. We can’t send him to school with telephone number tattoos.

Water makes me wet, not deaf. I can still tell the difference between the sound of “nothing” and the sound of a child playing the piano with a basketball. I can also hear you tattling at the top of your lungs. I’m *choosing* NOT to answer you.

Don’t call your dad at work and tell him I am unconscious in the bathroom. He didn’t appreciate it last time. He won’t appreciate it more this time. Trust me.

No matter how much I would like it, water does not make me forgetful. I remember who you are and why yo are grounded. No, you can’t go to Shelby’s house to play. No, you can’t go to Shelby’s house to use the bathroom. If someone is in our other bathroom, you will just have to think dry thoughts and wait. Unless you have four feet and a tail, do not think of going outside to “water” the lawn. I know the dog does
it. The neighbors don’t feel the need to call me when the dog does it.

Unless the house catches on fire, stay inside and keep the doors locked. Do not go outside and throw rocks at the bathroom window to get my attention. I know it works in the movies. This is reality, the place where people don’t like to sit in a tub while rocks and broken glass rain in on them. Do not set the house on fire.
Call me if there is an emergency.

Emergencies ARE:
1. Dad has fallen off the roof.
2. Your brother and/or sister is bleeding.
3. There’s a red fire truck in front of our house.
Emergencies are NOT:
1. Dad has fallen asleep.
2. Someone on TV is bleeding.
3. There’s a red pickup truck in front of our house.

One other thing: Being forced to use the last roll of toilet paper for a towel does not make me happy. It makes me sticky with little white polka dots. In the future, when the tub overflows, use a mop to clean up the water instead of every towel in the house. For my sanity’s sake, let’s pretend it was the tub, Okay? No, I don’t want to hear the real story. Ever. Especially not while I’m standing in the pool of water you missed.

By the way, all Play-Doh experiments are hereby canceled.

Be good. Entertain yourselves. Yes, you can do both at the same time. Try coloring, playing a game, or paying that stack of bills on the coffee table.

I’ll be out soon. Maybe.

Love,
Your Mom

Online photo sharing

Hello everyone!  I feel like I haven’t “talked” to anyone in forever!  Life has been so busy around here.  I’m in desperate need of a breather.  ;)  I hope everyone has been doing well!

Well, on to the point of this post - one thing that I’ve been wanting to work on is uploading some pictures to a site online so that I can share them with my family without having to e-mail large files.  I was hoping someone out there could help me.  I’m looking for a site that I can put my pictures and videos on but I also would like them to be able to download them onto their computer if they’d like as well as download theirs to my computer.  Does anyone know of a site that will do that?

I’ve looked at snapfish, flikr, and photobucket so far.  Flikr has very limited storage space and the other two don’t seem to have a way to download the pictures and videos from the site.  In fact, I don’t think you can even do video with snapfish.

So, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Summer Vacation - is it abuse?

I know my last post was a link to Tammy’s blog but I just had to share this one too.    She shared a post from Mom is Teaching that I just couldn’t pass up sharing. It’s great so check it out!

Homeschoolers tell all

I just read an interesting post on Tammy’s blog - something she got from this blog and this blog - and I thought it was definitely worthy of repeating here. It’s a series of questions asked of homeschoolers. I’m always happy to answer questions about homeschooling so here goes!

Why do you homeschool? We homeschool for many reasons. First and foremost, we want our children to receive an education that is Biblically based. We don’t want them to be indoctrinated by curriculum that teaches things that go against God’s word. Another reason we homeschool is because of the atmosphere that exists in schools today. There is so much going on, such as drugs, alcohol, sex, etc., that we don’t want our children to have to deal with while trying to learn. You can read in more detail why we’ve chosen to homeschool here if you’d like.
What technique or curriculum do you use? I use a variety of things. We have used A Beka quite a bit. We liked it a lot in elementary school but not so much in middle and high school. We use Teaching Textbooks for math, Apologia for science, Sonlight for reading, A Beka for grammar (even through high school for this subject) and a variety of other books for other subjects.

Do your kids work above or below grade level (or both!)? We pretty much stay on grade level. I know a lot of people who work way ahead but I like a nice, steady pace of one book a year. My daughter did skip a grade of math but other than that we’ve stayed on track with their grade level each year. I’m in no rush to graduate them from high school.

What is your educational level? I have a bachelor’s degree.

Do you feel this has an effect on your teaching (both limits and abilities)? No. I don’t think a degree is necessary to homeschool your children. I especially don’t think a teaching degree is necessary because a teaching degree is earned by taking numerous classes in classroom management. If you are homeschooling you aren’t managing a classroom - you are actually teaching the subject at hand. 
What does your daily schedule look like? We usually get up around 8:00 am, have breakfast, and then the kids and I gather so that I can read to them. We read from either a Christian Heroes Then and Now book or a Heroes of History book, usually some type of book on apologetics, Mystery of History Vol 1 (Mystery of History), and some other fun book that we’re working through which changes frequently.  After that the kids move on to their “regular” school work - math, grammar, reading, etc.  If they work diligently all day they usually finish in early afternoon - sometimes even by lunch time, depending on the assignments for the day.  On Tuesdays we attend a co-op so we leave at 8:15 am and we are there until 3:00 pm.
Are your kids always polite and ready to learn? (*snicker*). Umm… NO!  :grin:  Seriously though, they are polite and ready to learn the vast majority of the time.  Everybody has their moments though! 

Do the kids (or you!) get frustrated? Umm… YES! 
How has this affected your parenting? It has made me a MUCH better parent.  It has helped me learn so much more patience for one thing.  It’s brought my kids and me so much closer together though.  We are such a close family that I can’t even imagine living a different way anymore.
How much free time do they have? Quite a bit actually.  During some months of the year we stay pretty busy because of sports and such but on the days that we don’t have to go to any practice or anything they have a lot of free time.

What do they do during their free time? It depends on what time of year it is.  My son loves to play video games and my daughter loves to be on the computer - those are what they would choose to do first.  But they also enjoy other things.  My son loves to read.  He’ll spend hours reading a good book.  My daughter loves music and will listen to her wide variety of music for hours.  She loves to sing and play the piano as well.

What hobbies do they have? Reading, games, internet/IM, soccer, softball, swimming, basketball, music, etc.
What difficulties and challenges do you have with homeschooling? In all honestly, after 8 years of homeschooling I don’t really feel like we have many difficulties.  Of course there’s always the problem that’s hard to figure out or getting a certain assignment or project finished on time and things like that but I don’t feel like we have any major difficulties or challenges.  The difficulties we face are just regular life difficulties - not necessarily a result of homeschooling.

What makes homeschooling enjoyable? There is so much that is enjoyable!!  I love being with my children, I love having the time with them to get to know them and who they are, I love getting to be a part of their life everyday, I love learning right along with them, I love seeing them excited about learning something, I love that my children enjoy being with their parents and they aren’t embarrassed to be seen with us, I love the  flexibility of it so that if there’s something different we need to do on a certain day we can do it, I love that we aren’t tied to a school calendar, I love that we can really dig into a certain subject that interests us, I love that we can sleep late if we’re tired, I love that we don’t have to rush around in the mornings and herd them out the door, I love that I can teach from a Christian perspective.  I could really go on and on but I think you get the idea. 
How do you get involved in the community? In all honesty, this is the one area that I feel we are lacking.  We are a part of things outside of our home but as far as community related things I’m just not that familiar with things that are available to us to be a part of.  That’s something we’ve talked about in our family and something we hope to get better at - especially as our kids grow older and are able to do more.

When do you have opportunities to interact with public or privately schooled children? My children both play sports on homeschool teams and the teams we play are either private school teams or public school teams.  They’ve also been in church groups with both public and private schooled kids.  And anytime we’re out in public doing anything - I would imagine the majority of the people we interact with are not homeschoolers. 

Would you like more of these opportunities? Not necessarily.  I don’t mean for that to sound mean but we have a pretty full schedule as it is -with plenty of interaction with the outside world - and trying to find more opportunities to do something with someone simply because they are not homeschoolers seems a little silly.

How can they be created?
What is your least favorite homeschool stereotype? That homeschoolers are “unsocialized.”  I get so tired of the “What about socialization” question.  It’s just ridiculous!  I’ve written on the subject many times if you’d care to read more of my thoughts on that topic.

Well, that concludes this question and answer session!  I hope you’ve enjoyed my answers.  If you choose to answer the questions please let me know so I can read your answers. 

What If

I was sitting here listening to my iPod while scrapbooking this morning and one of my favorite songs started playing. It’s a Nichole Nordeman song called, “What If.” If you’re not familiar with this song read the lyrics and listen to the song (below). It’s so powerful.

Nichole Nordeman - What If
From the album Brave

What if you’re right?
And he was just another nice guy
What if you’re right?
What if it’s true?
They say the cross will only make a fool of you
And what if it’s true?

What if he takes his palace in history
With all the prophets and the kings
Who taught us love and came in peace
But then the story ends
What then?

(Chours)
But what if you’re wrong?
What if there’s more?
What if there’s hope you never dreamed of hoping for?
What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?

What if you dig, What if you dig
Way down deeper than your simple-minded friends
What if you dig?
What if you find
A thousand more unanswered questions inside
That’s all you find

What if you pick apart the logic
And begin to poke the holes
What if the crown of thorns is no more
Then folklore that must be told and retold

(Chours)

You’ve been running as fast as you can
You’ve been looking for a place you can land so long
But what if you’re wrong?

What if you jump?
And just close your eyes?
What if the arms that catch you, catch you by surprise?
What if He’s more than enough?
What if it’s love?

Discipline…

…it’s not a bad word. A friend and I just had a conversation about parents who don’t discipline their kids and then I read Karen’s beautiful post and it got me thinking about parenting and wondering why people don’t seem to discipline their kids very much anymore. I don’t know if it’s laziness, if they just don’t care, if they’re afraid to hurt their little one’s feelings, or what but all they’re doing is hurting the child. Discipline is something we do because we love our children. We want what’s best for them and we want them to grow up to be happy, healthy adults. If we don’t discipline them it’s not going to happen! We are going to end up with a bunch of self-centered, rude, out of control people if things don’t change. (Oh, wait! It’s already happening isn’t it!!)

Discipline doesn’t start when a child is older either - it starts when they are infants. We have to teach our children right from wrong as soon as they are able to understand the difference. And if you don’t think an infant understands the difference you either haven’t been paying attention or you’re getting played. If you wait until a child is older and then start trying to establish boundaries and rules it’s not going to work. If, on the other hand, you do it from the beginning you are going to have a teenager who is a joy to be around rather than someone everybody dreads being around.

It always makes me sad to hear people talk so poorly of teenagers or to say that they are dreading the day their kids are teenagers. It doesn’t have to be that way. If you provide them with a home that has plenty of love and plenty of discipline from the time they come into this world they will be happy, healthy, fun-to-be-around people by the time they are teenagers. I have two children - one who is a teenager already and the other will be one in just a little over a month - and they are both very well behaved, enjoyable to be around, and just generally good kids. That didn’t come easy though. That came with a lot of hard work when they were little.

So, parents, don’t be afraid to use discipline. If you don’t, you’re basically telling your kids that you don’t care about them!

Happy Father’s Day

I just want to take this opportunity to wish all the dads out there a Happy Father’s Day!

More importantly though, I want to say that I couldn’t have asked for a better man to be the father of my children.  My husband is the greatest daddy to my kids and I’m so thankful for him.

I love you sweetie! 

Some of my favorite quotes

Not serious ones anyway - just fun ones.

While playing a game with my kids where my son wasn’t too happy with the calls I was making: “Mom, you better check your answering machine. You’ve missed a lot of calls.”

“I wish I could go back in time so I could eat that cake all over again.” - a 9 year old friend of the family

“Is it your camera or am I that ugly” - said my daughter to her friend about some goofy pictures of the two of them

“Note to self: Never eat sauerkraut again.” - said my daughter after trying to eat sauerkraut with braces.

Summer reading

I love to read and in the summer I usually have a little more time to read so I thought I’d share a little about books that I’m reading.  So, if you’ll look to the right you’ll notice two new widgets - one for what I’m reading now and the other for what I’ve read recently.  You can click on both of them if you’re interested in finding out about the books I’m reading.

Let me know if you’ve read one of the books I’ve listed and tell me what you thought!