Carnival of Homeschooling

Sorry, I forgot to announce that the new Carnival of Homeschooling is up at Judy Aron's blog, "Consent of the Governed".  Click on the widget to your left to go there.  Judy does a great job, and she has a very informative blog.  She's worth visiting even if you aren't interested in the COH!

First Day of School

We started the day with a bang!  I actually got up with the alarm (it helped alot that the resident mouse was at work early, trying to chew through the bedroom wall), stretched for a minute, and enlisted Alizona to do a very brisk two-mile walk.  We were shooting for 4 mph, and we almost made it.  That is a FAST pace!!  The other girls soon were up and at 'em, and by 8:30 we had all our personal devotions done, chores done, bodies clothed, and breakfast consumed!  What a great start!  We gathered in the living room for devotions (sometimes referred to as Ladies' Coffee Hour), where we read and discussed the interesting and sometimes mysterious blessings and prophecies of Genesis 49.  Then I read to the girls a chapter from History Stories for Children, on Alexander the Great and his horse, Bucephalus. (Personally, I would have liked to have just a little bit more info on Alex the Great.  We looked him up on a timeline and then I had one of those "aha!" moments -- he is one of the Grecian emperors of whom Daniel prophesied, part of the image made of gold, silver, bronze [that was Greece] and clay mixed with iron.  Okay, so I'm a late bloomer in the classics.)  We parted with prayer and a plan for the day, and that was the END of the great start!  I won't fill you in on the rest of the school day!

Fast forward to late in the afternoon.  We finished the day by having each of the girls write in her "school journal" (something new here), one thing she learned in school today.  This way I learn from my kids, you see, what makes them tick. They sure aren't going to report on the things they don't care about.  They are required to write just one sentence, for example, "Today I learned that we live in the temperate zone, but we have an arid climate."  Something like that.  Everyone finished her schoolwork and had time to play, and I whipped together a light and quick supper of bran muffins, salad, and rice pudding (again). 

Can someone tell me how to do a search for a Yahoo group or other forum?  Just wondering if there is anyone out there discussing Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? 

I have heard a few promises of a better day tomorrow, with one of my own to add, Lamentations 3:22-25:

It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him.
The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today ~ Monday, July 28, 2008

Outside My Window...at 5:30 this morning, when it was too early to turn on the computer the sun was just coming up over the mountains to our east.  It reminded me that Jesus is coming again... soon I hope.

I am thinking... We start school tomorrow, so today is our last big hoorah of the summer.

I am thankful for...my good health (at least that I know of) and for my husband who is always in love with me, even when I am unloveable.
 

From the kitchen...experimented with a slow-cooker rice pudding last week, and today the girls want to try a different recipe.  Alizona's banging around out there cooking some rice.

I am creating...nothing at the moment.  Many moons ago a friend gave us all the materials we need to make a darling crib quilt.  The blocks aren't all the same size, and we don't know what to do next, but guilt is motivating me to figure something out!

I am going...to the library for some "holds", a couple of books for Booklover, by Patricia Reilly Giff .

I am wearing...khaki skirt (what else), cream tank with denim shirt over. Bare feet.

I am reading...1 Kings, and Women in Ministry, by Mrs. Sargent.     

I am hoping... we get a good school routine down this year.

I am hearing...Booklover babbling in her "kitchen", and Carrotlover hollering for her sister through the heat vent "phone", lol.
 
Around the house ... finish last week's laundry and do something else worthwhile to earn my keep here.

One of my favorite things... hearing Emily singing out in church!

A few plans for the rest of the week... Well, school.  Grocery shopping, maybe a trip to the lake on Wednesday afternoon, church Thursday night, and our monthly nursing home service this coming Sunday afternoon.  Also need to start thinking about the next issue of our church ladies' newsletter.
And sometime this week, Alizona's last violin lesson, boo hoo!!! No, she is not quitting.  Her teacher is moving out of state.   Now what?

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

If you would like to join us in The Simple Woman's Daybook, please see our Hostess, Peggy for details.  You may also visit her for the Mr. Linky to others.

MOMS Exercise Challenge

Nothing to report here.  I'm still at it.  Almost didn't do my walk this morning, but I went and tortured myself anyway.  I have made an interesting observation, and that is when I have a partner, I never notice that my feet and legs are killing me.  But if I go alone, everything hurts and I am a clutz.  I feel like a big spaz out there, lol.  So I will be soliciting a partner more earnestly from here on out. My previous weight loss was a desert mirage. sigh.

The TV Lover's Psalm 23

The following little ditty is copied.  Contrary to the sentence under the title below, the majority of Christians do NOT believe most of this.  If they did, they wouldn't own a television.  They would keep far away from it. Can you get on your knees and earnestly thank God for that thing, and for the blessing it is on your life, how it helps you to grow in your walk with the Lord, and for the good character it is building in your children?  I didn't think so.  I couldn't either.

What the Bible Says About Television

(The version of Psalm 23 believed by most Christians today)

The TV is my shepherd, I shall not want,

It makes me lie down on the sofa; it leads me away from the faith.

It destroys my soul; it leads me in the paths of fornication and violence for the sponsor’s sake.

Yea though I walk in the shadow of Christian responsibilities there will be no interruption, for the TV is with me, its cable and remote they comfort me.

It prepares a commercial for me in the presence of all my worldliness, it anoints my head with humanism and consumerism, my coveting runneth over.

Surely insignificance and ignorance shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house watching TV forever.

Happy Friday

Do my little girls have the best daddy, or what?  Whenever I sense that my two littles are going to ask me to get into the pool with them (or even sit outside in the oven, watching them) I get a sense of dread that makes me want to run away.  Not Daddy.  Daddy's the best.  Daddy says, "Let's go swimming!"  Daddy's awesome.  Someone else here should try to be more like him.


Notice those nice bright Wholesomewear swimsuits?  They have kept their color this year, BUT.  They are completely. stretched. out.  I know what it is -- it's pool chemicals. So much for my chemistry degree. Remember the goggle-eating pool from a previous post?  It also eats swimsuits.  Now what? We have tried to make them last two seasons, but it's just not going to work this time.  I have quite a quandary for a mom of desert kids.  We just aren't going naked, that's all there is to it.  But we want to get wet and have fun, too! I would love to figure out how to design something similar to these suits, something that wouldn't cost an arm to make.  Well, that's one ramble for today... what else can I ramble about?

Emily and I had a good time looking at the map last night, after she told me she wants to take a train to Tanzania. Or China. LOL!  I showed her where Tanzania is, and she said, "Oh! We can't take a train there.  We would have to fly or take a boat!"  I am feeling pretty smug, knowing that my four-year-old has figured out what a map represents.  Her social studies requirement for the year has been met.

The rest of them were supposed to start school last Tuesday.  But, well, we just didn't feel up to it, and SURPRISE!! Daddy said we could put it off a week! (See, didn't I tell you our daddy is the greatest?!)  Now our target starting date is THIS Tuesday.  I am thinking about Shani's recent entry, in which she asked, "Does your high school student finish her work in under four hours?  Does your junior high student finish her work in under two hours?"  I will be able to say NO to the first question, but to the second I will have to say YES.  The junior high age child will skip through her school work as fast as possible, likely missing a few questions and taking all the shortcuts.  The highschool age student will be diligent but will also dawdle, so that will help her to fill up her four-plus hours.   No superachievers in this household, but then, look who they have for an example!  (And no, we aren't really counting hours, just talking about using our brains and accomplishing something in these energetic growing up years.)

This morning, while number 3, number 4, and Daddy were in the pool, number 1 and number 2 and I played with the microscopes we borrowed from the local high school.  Figured it was about time -- school starts soon, and we'll have to give them back!  We looked at red blood cells (mine), cheek cells (mine), a thin slice of carrot, and a very thin piece of onion skin.  I can't remember from my college days which of these things require dye to make a good, visible specimen.  Hmmm, my biology degree isn't helping me, either!  I think my brain is a big black hole of knowledge.  Stuff gets sucked into it, and then poof!  It just disappears!

Second child, the short-cut taker, made us a batch of slow-cooker rice pudding this afternoon, and we are waiting to see how it turns out.  Experimental recipe, of course.  That is so much more fun than making one that we KNOW turns out edible.  I have been asked to make my famous enchiladas for our church's men's meeting next Friday.  Aren't enchiladas, by definition, baked in a sauce?  These are baked topped with salsa.  I don't think that counts.  So we'll call them hot chicken and black bean roll-ups, how's that?  I think I'll post that recipe here -- they really are yummy.

Well, that was about five rambles, and I have met my minimum blogging requirement.  Time to go do something to earn my keep around here!  Have a great weekend, everyone.

Friends List Update

Just letting you all know I am going to be updating my friends list, removing people I have not heard from in a long time.  If I remove you, please don't cry! (I do know of a blogger who cried when her name was taken off another blogger's friends list, and honestly, I don't want to cause anyone that kind of grief!)If you don't see your blog on my list, and you still want to be "friends" (sounds like second grade, doesn't it??), please just leave me a comment and tell me so.
I admit it, I stole all my new smileys from your c-boxes!  We will no longer be stuck with boring ol' blue smileys on my c-box. So go ahead and leave me a chatty line or two.

Now.  Somebody tell me why there is a break before and after each emoticon...???

Carnival of Homeschooling

The Carnival of Homeschooling is now available via a dynamically updated widget!  To see the current Carnival or any previous one, just click on my widget.  It is temporarily located WAAAAAYYY down at the bottom of my right sidebar, but I promise that if Booklover ever finishes my three-column template I will move the widget up where it can more readily be seen.  Tiffany at Life on the Road made a "Herculean" effort to get the COH up this week, so go on over and give her some business.