A Week of Creativity

Inspired by a pin I saw on Pinterest (you HAVE lingered there, right?!), I made this wall hanging as a gift for a friend who is having her first baby:

The fabric and ribbon are new, but most of the buttons are "vintage."

....and I made a card to go with it:

Thankfulness Journal

We've begun a new unit on Miracles in our Sunday School class, and it motivated me to follow through on something I've been meaning to do for a couple years:  create a Thankfulness Journal.

I had one years ago when I first started working - it was a confidence booster at the time, where I wrote things people said that (what to me at the time) seemed to validate my work, my competency, etc.  I needed it when I was feeling unsure of myself.

Other times I've written lists of things for which I am thankful, but those were impermanent and I couldn't put my finger on them now if I had to.  Therefore, I'm going to dedicate one of the many hard-backed, blank, lined journals I pick up here and there to a Thankfulness Journal.

What does Thankfulness have to with miracles?  Well, for me, I am SUPREMELY thankful when I see God play an active part - even in small ways** - in my daily life ~ some people call them "God Sightings" or "God Winks," but neither of those phrases really grab me, so until I find a new way to describe them, I'll just refer to them as things for which I am thankful and write them in my journal.  Personally, I think they are "Mini Miracles," because, I mean, hey, isn't it a MIRACLE that the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE cares about little ole' me?

I see God alive and at work in my life in the smallest ways.  I mean, VERY SMALL.  An atheist or agnostic might dismiss things that I notice as coincidence, I take it as evidence that God cares about every part of me and is involved in the mundane day to day activity in my life.


FOR EXAMPLE, and here is a Homeschooling Moment:

This morning we began our school day as we always do - with our Bible lesson and memory verse of the week.  This week's verse is

Matthew 5:16:  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

(OF COURSE, we sang This Little Light of Mine)

But to put our verse in context, I backed up some....

Matthew 5:13:  You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how ^[e]can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.

We had a lovely discussion about salt losing its saltiness ~ (background:  If the four year old finds a salt shaker on the table and pours it out on said table, licks it....licks it...licks it.... she throws up.  She doesn't say why she is retching, however, but Mama's detective skills are improving.  We Have Learned That Too Much Salt Is Not Good For Our Bodies And They Reject It.) ~ which has been a pertinent issue in our home at least twice.  They know about salt.

Anyways, we moved on to History.

We are using Mystery of History as our backbone curriculum and (more on that in another post) this morning we began to look at cultures outside of the middle east, specifically, China.  We did the lesson, learned about the first couple dynasties and, as a surprise, I took the girls to "Chinese" for lunch.  We compared the characters of the Chinese alphabet on the back of our chopsticks packages to hieroglyphics and cuneiform writing, talked about the differences in food and the different gods (idols) they worshiped ~ Chinese restaurants aren't complete without a Buddha! 

Lovin' us some homeschooling!

So then it was Fortune Cookie Time.

Now daggone it if I didn't lose my 'fortune,' but it said something about filling someone's head with knowledge vs. teaching them to learn for themselves.  I "just happen"** (see above) to be reading to be reading a book about Classical Education vs. Outcome-Based Education.  Right on target!  Hannah's fortune was: Keep negative comments to yourself, avoid any disputes.  Eh?  Maybe not.  Nice, but not necessarily words to live by.

But what I thought was REALLY NEATO was that on the back her "Learn Chinese" word was, SALT.

Really?

Yes, really.

Its going in the journal.

Do U See Math?

Did I mention that we had changed our math curriculum?
Based on outstanding reviews from friends, we switched to Math U See this year.  It has three components: a DVD lesson, a teacher's guide and a student workbook.  Oh, there's the manipulatives, too - base 10 blocks I guess you could call them - interlocking from the bottoms and used heavily in the lessons.
The program is geared toward various learning styles, and we've really enjoyed it so far....Han is in the second book, "Beta," and will finish that book (30 lessons) by the end of next week.  We'll move into the "Gamma" book directly afterward.  It is largely self-paced - and that is the point.  They want to ensure that each concept is nailed and learned solidly before the next one is introduced.  Much of the "Beta" work is review from our program of last year, which is another reason she's flying through it.
I haven't mentioned that a Very Good Friend shared her teacher's manuals and DVD's with us.  What a money-saver....almost $200 worth!  Wow.  She even shipped them out here from Oklahoma!  OK!  Thank you Lesly!
But wait, there's MORE!
In order to begin the program we had to order the student workbooks.  We needed the Primer (for A) and the Beta for H (we skipped the Alpha, the basic math facts).  We also needed the manipulative blocks.
So I went to the Math U See website and placed the order.  Rats.  They were out of the blocks, pictured here.  "Temporarily Out of Stock" the note said.  Nonetheless, we wanted to get started right away so I placed my order for the books.
The next day I went back to the website to check and see if the blocks were available....they were!  Now, to try and stop my order from shipping, I contacted the customer service "help chat" and told the Nice Lady my story.
This Very Helpful Person said she would try and stop my order before it left the warehouse so that the blocks could be added to the box to save me a second round of shipping costs (almost $12!).  I told her that if it couldn't be done, I understood, as I probably should have waited to place my order.  She said she'd get back to me the next day.
Alas, my order shipped separately as I was informed by email.  No big deal.  After all, the Instruction Manuals and DVDs were Free To Me so it was a pretty good deal to begin with.  We were still in our school budget for the program.  And as it turned out, shipping was much quicker than the 5 days suggested on the website.

(((time passes)))

A couple weeks later Andy asked me if I expecting a rebate check from Math U See.
"No, lemme see it!"
After a lively discussion of "its mine,"
"NO its MINE" etc.
ensured, I emerged victorious and was able to see the amount.
THIS NICE COMPANY refunded the cost of shipping my second package!  Without even being asked!  And loooong after the whole incident was pushed far from my mind.  Really?  They did that for US?
So, not only am I impressed with the quality of their teaching, but the company itself is devoted to its customers as well.
The money refunded will be turned around again next week and used to purchase the next book in the series, but isn't that a great story?  They really did the right thing.  And now, I'm going to try and reciprocate by passing along my experience to you!

Blogging - And Why I Haven't Been

I've been Living the Life!  I think about something almost daily to write about, but when it comes time...there IS none!  I've mentioned before how my computer time is usually in the evenings when Andy is asleep or trying to drift off.  My 'clicking' over here would be MUCH too distracting for him, so I try to do more 'mouse clicks' than keyboard clicks. (There should be a clever way to phrase that, but I can't come up with it now)....

The girls have made friends with a little girl who, along with her parents and older brother, moved in with her grandparents across the street.  She comes over 3-4 afternoons a week and my girls are thrilled.  They have never had a child live so close by that they could just show up, unannounced, without hitching a ride from a parent.  I love it, too ~ it reminds me of when Amy and I used to play with our friend, Diana, who lived down the street.  They're pretty content to play on the swingset, in the creek, in the carport and under the pine trees, AKA the Tearoom.  She's over here now, which is why I can sneak a few minutes on the computer!

All the same, I am eager for our house to sell so that we can move closer to Roanoke and more homeschooling families, events and activities.  I want the girls to get involved in 4H and ballet (Abigail), but I don't want to start here and have to change mid-year.  Of course, only the Lord knows the plans He has for us, and we could very well be here for another year.  I hope not,  because I don't like the idea of Andy driving 76 miles each way in the wintertime with snow and ice in the forecast.  Its hard to be patient... and yet, 1 Corinthians 13:1 lists patient as the first descriptor of love.  Hmmmmm....could my having patience about a move be a testimony to my love for God?  There's a lesson in there somewhere....

We've enjoyed being outdoors a lot this early Fall.  We've taken a couple quick family walks in the woods and two nice long bike rides down the (Rails To Trails) Jackson River Trail.  I hooked the "Wee Ride / Co-Pilot" tandem bike to mine and Hannah rides a new bike our neighbor gave her last year, and we trek away.  I hope to get over to the Greenbrier River Trail, too, pretty soon to take advantage of that as well.  Here in Callaghan there are few areas to really ride....its 45MPH in front of our house and that's the low end of the scale for the speedies who fly by.

I'll leave you with some pictures of the girls' adventures....

Keepin' on keepin' on!

A funny face after a long ride

"Wading" in the Jackson River at Petticoat Junction

Hot Weather Inside Activity

Han asked today if I'd make "edible sand," something she saw in a magazine.  I didn't have the ingredients for it, so I made edible play dough instead.  They are having a blast, and I have time to take a break get my work done!

Edible Play Dough

1 box cake mix that you bought for a recipe then decided not to make
1/2 stick of butter @ room temp/soft
1/3 of cream cheese block left out since breakfast, so its at room temp

Mix all together for about 3-4 minutes in (preferably) a stand mixer.  It should start to really clump together. 

Use trays to keep clean, washed hands and kitchen tools to play!

VBS Season

Its VBS week again, and this year, instead of the usual 9-12 time slot, we're meeting from 6-8:30 in the evening.  I'm also teaching the 3-5-year-olds instead of just doing crafts.  Its a big difference! 
Now, you know I love VBS.  I do it every year and actually look forward to it.  But I also like to gripe.  So lets get right to it!
Whose idea is it to jack up a hundred kids on junk food at 8PM, play loud music with lots of action and moves and send them home with a message that "Jesus loves everyone"?  Yes.  He does.  But we as parents are imperfect reflections of God, and at 11:30 PM when the 4 year old is still spinning, I'm having a hard time reflecting the Love Of Christ when I am whacking on her for the THIRD TIME and she is still wound tight as as a top. 
These are the nights when I am tempted to put some Benadryl in the baby bottle.... no, not really, but come ON!  And then she was up at 8AM?  Really?  Doesn't this kid need sleep?  More importantly, do I get any time to myself??  Sigh....
The Big One went right to bed after a bit of an emotional upheaval ~ Daddy pulled out her remaining front tooth after several unsuccessful tries on her part to do the same.  She went to bed after tears of joy, sadness, and with heady expectation that her tooth fairy would reward her with a shiny coin and a smooth paper dollar.
Alas, her joy upon awakening was dashed as she reached under her pillow and felt neither. 
When she opened one round eye at me at 8AM as I tiptoed in to replace the tiny fang with money, she whispered,
"Butterfly didn't come last night."
(Butterfly is the name of her tooth fairy.)
Ding, dang, dong.
"Well," I told her, "I have a feeling she tried to get here but your sister scared her away being up so late and wailing until the wee hours of the morning" inadvertently fueling sibling rivalry in a piteous attempt to shift the blame from my forgetfulness.
So tonight is the second night of what I fear will be a long, long week of VBS.  Not at all because of the children in my class, who are precious lambs of Jesus.  Really!  Those little loves are the easy part. 
And I have GOT to remember to play Butterfly.

I shouldn't have even looked!

Has it really been since May since I posted last?  I'm sorry!  But here is something blog-worthy to break the long dry spell.  Its typical for me.

I drink day old coffee.  Yes, yes, some will say its so gauche, or gross or what have you, but I don't mind ~ I usually mix it with new coffee to heat it back up so I can drink it right away. 

Ever have that niggling feeling that, "I should...." but then ignore it? 
Don't ignore it.

Last night I poured the last of yesterday's coffee into a coffee cup and left it on the stove, refilled the stove top percolator and set it on the burner and went to bed.

This morning I turned on the burner, perked the coffee and, when it was finished, topped it off with the fresh coffee.

I just finished drinking it and, reaching the bottom, felt something against my lip.

It wasn't coffee grounds.

It was an EARWIG!!

GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!! 

Someone I know who reads this will be ESPECIALLY GROSSED out. 

Don't remember what an earwig looks like?