Fun at the NC State Fair

I finally got pictures from my camera to my computer - via my husband's computer and a jump drive. For some reason, my camera and computer are not communicating with each other. Here are some pictures of our day at the NC State Fair last month.

First stop.... a corn dog...
then a bloomin' onion, chocolate covered caramel apple, dill pickles, grilled chicken pita, fried dough, and NC State ice cream!
Hey, it's only once a year....

these giant chicken sculptures were all over the place!

Jason likes to try his luck at the game booths


this is one of the many gorgeous quilts in the handcrafts building

baby chicks are so soft!

NC Wildlife Officers have a free target shooting range that we visit every year

I just love this "Where the Wild Things Are" garden in the horticulture exhibit. It is Max's bedroom! See the bed behind the boat?

Blue Star Moms & Powder Puff Football

This past weekend was a busy one for Lighthouse Teens. Saturday morning Amanda and I joined a dozen or so other Lighthouse teens and parents, as well as other volunteers, at The Lodge Retirement Home in Wake Forest to help the local chapter of Blue Star Mothers fill care packages with goodies to send to troops overseas. Volunteers lined up along both sides of long tables and passed the boxes along assembly-line-style, adding snack foods, toiletries, books & magazines, candy, and assorted sundries. In an hour and a half we had 260 boxes filled, taped, stacked, and loaded in a van ready to go to the post office! Alex will receive a few of these boxes, with instructions to get them to soldiers who don't receive mail from back home.


Sunday afternoon was our Lighthouse Powder Puff Football Game, Family Picnic, and Dads' Chili Cook-Off! After a week of rainy weather, the day was bright and sunny - a perfect fall afternoon to spend at the park!

Pink Panthers

Purple Penguins


our cheerleaders rocked!

plenty of food to share at the family picnic

Erik P. won the Dads' Chili Cook-off in a blind taste test in which everyone got to vote for their favorite by dropping 50 cents in a jar

The "top chefs"!
Winners were rewarded with gift cards to Dick's Sporting Goods

Sometimes... You win!

My 20 yr old son, Eric, got a pleasant surprise this week when he was notified that he won the Grand Prize in the Ford Racing Street Tour Sweepstakes! While at the NC State Fair last month, he had dropped an entry in to the box at the NASCAR exhibit - he enters every drawing and sweepstakes he can find, figuring he'll hit big some time. Well, this time he did it! The prize is a 4-night trip for two to Miami,FL for the Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway! Included is airfare, rental car, hotel accomodations, $400 Visa gift card for food, VIP passes to Ford Racefest, grandstand tickets to all three races that weekend, private VIP tour with a Ford Racing representative, and 2 Ford Racing apparel gift packages! Pretty amazing, even for us non-NASCAR fans!

Eric asked Mark to go with him. He needed someone older than 25 to be able to rent a car (!), but he also enjoys spending time with his dad! So they'll have 5 days of male bonding in sunny South Florida - airboats in the Everglades, snorkeling at Key Largo, laying on the beautiful Florida beaches.... oh yeah, and watching fast cars go round and round a racetrack. :-) Fortunately Eric hasn't missed any of his classes at Appalachian State this semester, so he has some excused absences that he can use... see, it PAYS to go to class so that when some great opportunity to take a free trip to Florida unexpectedly drops in your lap, you can GO!!!
Now he just must avoid the flu until Christmas break...

Homeschool Teen Meeting

Saturday night was a Lighthouse teen & parent meeting. Since I neglected to update my personal calendar before scheduling this meeting, my own daughter was away at a pre-season homeschool basketball tournament in Greensboro that night. Since I was leading this meeting, I stayed home. Note to self ... when scheduling a support group teen activity, pick a date your own child can attend.

There are a large number of teens in our support group, but for the past couple of years we have not had anything organized specifically for them. This year I am scheduling monthly teen meetings to provide a chance for these kids to meet and socialize ( not "be socialized" - different thing ), and at the same time for parents of teens to meet and discuss the many questions surrounding homeschooling in high school. Saturday night we had 20 teens and about the same number of parents in attendance.

We started with a "business meeting" in which we discussed some ideas for upcoming activities. Then we had 2 guests share briefly about the non-profit organizations that they are involved in and how we could help.
Denise talked about Blue Star Mothers, a national organization made up of mothers of present or former US military members whose mission is as follows:

The mission of the Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc., shall be to support the Armed Forces of the United States of America and its Veterans; to advocate for America's Armed Forces and those men and women who have served their country with honor; to maintain allegiance to the United States; to educate our members and others not to divulge military, naval, or other government information; to assist and participate in ceremonies which honor remember and support our military men and women and Veterans; to honor those families whose children have died in service to our country; to assist in Homeland Security; to uphold the American principles of freedom, justice and equal rights and to defend the United States from all enemies.

Wonderful organization. Our teens are helping with their Care Packages service project this coming weekend, where we'll be packing several hundred boxes with donated items ( snacks, toiletries, DVDs, books, etc ) to send to US soldiers and sailors serving overseas.

Next, my friend Jennings shared about Ten Eighteen Inc., the non-profit ministry she and her husband started a year ago, based on Deuteronomy 10:18 - "He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Currently they are working to raise money to care for orphans and widows in Uganda, through a couple of different local organizations that they have made connections with there. Jennings brought jewelry to the meeting that is made by women living in the Nomowongo slums of Kampala, and a number of the girls and moms were able to get early Christmas shopping done!












After this, the teens raided the snacks and set out the board games they had brought, spending the next hour and a half playing, talking, & laughing. The parents went into a separate classroom and discussed high school classes, credits, dual enrollment changes in the community college system, and other similar topics. Hopefully those of us whose children have already graduated or are almost ready to graduate were able to offer some reassurance to those facing those looming high school years. It really isn't as scary as it seems!

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The Benefits of Homeschool Co-ops

Last Tuesday night was our monthly homeschool support group meeting, and the topic was "Co-operative Learning: Enriching your Homeschool Experience through Co-ops". Several people shared their experiences and I think we all had roughly the same message. Co-ops, however they are structured, offer a lot of benefits to homeschooling families, including accountability, friendship, reinforcement of weaknesses, and cost-effectiveness.

What is a co-op? Generally speaking, a homeschool co-op is two or more families meeting together on a regular basis to share a learning experience. Let me explain that further by describing several of the co-op experiences I have been part of during the past 15 years of homeschooling.

Multi-family Enrichment Co-op
Not long after Lighthouse started in 1996, several parents met at a park to talk about meeting together once a week for parent-led enrichment classes, and the Lighthouse Co-op was born. We held a planning meeting for all interested families in our group, and sketched out a structure. We would meet on Thursday afternoons for 2 1/2 hours at our host church. Noting the ages of our children, we decided that we would divide into classes for K- 2nd, 3rd-5th, and 6th-8th grades. A room would also be set aside for a nursery for babies/preschoolers. Each age group would meet for a 1 hour class, have a 15 minute snack break, and then have another 1 hour class.
Parents then volunteered to fill in the teaching spots, drawing upon talents or children's interests for class ideas - art, Spanish, poetry, rockets, guitar, creative movement, edible science, knitting, woodworking, animal study, fairy tales, etiquette, soccer, first aid, cake decorating, essay writing, American Girls, auto maintenance, dinosaurs... Many classes were free; some ( like art & cake decorating ) charged a small fee for materials. This Co-op met for 8 weeks in the fall, and then met again in the spring with a new set of classes. It was a wonderful experience, exposing my children to a variety of skills and subjects that I might not have attempted - and lots of friendships were planted there.

Multi-Family Curriculum-based Co-op
A little over three years ago, a group of friends met together to discuss starting a weekly Co-op based on the Tapestry of Grace curriculum. This Co-op started out with 13 families but has now grown to 18 families, and meets every Friday from 9:30 - 2:30 at a local church where we rent classroom space. There is a class for each of the TOG levels ( Lower Grammar K-3rd, Upper Grammar 4th-6th, Dialectic 7th-9th, and Rhetoric 10th-12th) as well as a PreK class and nursery. Two moms act as directors, giving some leadership to the group, but basically everyone gives input and all parents divide up the teaching responsibilities for the year, with at least 2 moms per class. Every family in this co-op uses the Tapestry of Grace curriculum, using Co-op to share and enrich the learning that is going on at home during the week. The younger kids do lots of show & tell and hands-on craft projects. In the older classes, there is the addition of fact & concept review (usually through a game like Jeopardy), writing, and discussion. Once a quarter there is a Unit Celebration, usually held in the evening so dads can attend, where we culminate that 9 weeks of study with displays, performances, and maybe a meal. Unit Celebrations have included a Family Seder meal, Medieval Feast, Colonial Field Day, Shakespeare Night of the Arts, and South American Festival.

Yearlong Academic Co-op
I have done yearlong science co-ops with both my elementary and middle school kids. When Sarah was in 8th grade and Eric was in 6th, we did Apologia General Science. To keep us moving along and to make things a little more fun, we met with one other family every other Friday to do the experiments together. This worked great, and I found that not only did the kids enjoy doing the labs with their friends, but it kept us on schedule because we knew we had to be ready for " co-op day". I found another friend who wanted to do Physical Science together the following year, and we followed the same routine, working through each 2-week module on our own and then meeting every other week at my kitchen table to review the chapter and do the experiments together. When Amanda was ready for Apologia General Science, I put a note out on my support group's email list, looking for a couple of girls for a co-op, and ended up with a group of 8. We rotated homes each month, and the hostess mom would be in charge of supervising and reviewing that module. Again, the accountability was great and the girls eagerly looked forward to Co-op day, forging relationships that carried on outside of the academic setting.

Small Multi-Subject Co-op
Those co-op experiences led me to pursue even more similar situations, as I saw lots of good things happening both for me and for my children. A friend and I decided to get our 2 girls together twice a week for writing and Latin - I taught writing and the other mom taught Latin. Since we both had younger children as well, one mom played with the younger children while the other taught, and then we switched. We used Write Shop for writing and Latina Christiana for Latin, which were very easy to implement this way. A year or two later, another friend and I decided to do something similar with our youngest boys. She has the boys to her house one afternoon a week and she teaches them science. Last year we added Latin as well, using the Latina Christiana DVDs. I teach art at my house on another day. This arrangement has worked wonderfully.

Short-term Co-ops
Years ago, when my oldest daughter was really into the American Girl books, I hosted an American Girl co-op at my house, which met once a week for 10 weeks. We read the books of one of the American Girl series ( Kirsten first, then Addy and Felicity - back when history and learning were still a focus of the AG company ) and talked about the stories together, then did crafts and cooking projects together, and worked on a final project to present to the parents at our final meeting - we did a concert of Civil War songs for Addy, and I remember that we made a video for Kirsten, although I can't remember what of! Although I led each meeting, the other parents helped by taking care of my younger kids and providing materials for the crafts and cooking projects.

Although a co-op is by no means necessary for successful homeschooling, our family has loved sharing learning experiences with other homeschool families in this way, and the benefits have outweighed the drawbacks ( which include added responsibility for planning, loss of some flexibility, and time commitment). Perhaps you'll want to incorporate some of these ideas into your homeschooling as well.

Homemade Bread: A Homeschool Parable

Once there was a community in which most people had been raised on enriched, white, store-bought bread and saw to it that their children were fed the same. The hope was that the children would grow to be big, strong, and well-nourished so they could live productive lives and be a credit to the town. The bread was provided for the children by means of a community tax and was distributed on a regular basis to all community children irrespective of size, shape, or color.

In this town there lived a woman named Matilda, who had three children. She had given the matter some thought and had done some reading and had concluded that she could provide better nourishment for her children by making her own whole-wheat or even white bread. After further thought she decided she would try it out. Now, Matilda was aware that what she was doing was decidedly "odd" and that she might get some flak from her neighbors. She was, however, determined to provide what she viewed as best for her children.

She began to make her own bread and no longer used the Bread Distribution Service. She continued to pay the community tax for bread; and, in addition, bought ingredients for her own homemade bread. Sometimes when Matilda and her children were seen in public during the Bread Distribution Hour, people would ask her, "Why aren't your children eating?" She tried to explain that she made bread for them and that they ate it with the family, but found that most people thought that was illegal. She begin to fear that people would think her children weren't being fed (though they looked well-nourished) and that the City Fathers would think she was an abusive parent. She began closing the windows on baking day so the aroma wouldn't get out of the house and having the children eat their bread during the Bread Distribution Hour so they wouldn't be conspicuous. She tried to keep a low profile to avoid detection.

However, rumor that there were some families making their own bread reached the offices of the City Fathers. The City Fathers decided a law needed to be passed to deal with the situation and define what was legal There arose a great debate. Some said it was basically the parents' responsibility and privilege to provide bread for their children. Others said parents didn't know how to make bread and it should be mandatory that they obtain bread from the Bread Distribution Service. There was some fear expressed that children might starve if there weren't some guarantee that they were receiving bread at home when their parents took them off the Bread Distribution List.

Some wanted the law to require that the parents go to bakers' school; some that they have required ingredients for the homemade bread, some that there be a schedule of baking days and assigned times for the eating of the bread.

Eventually, it was decided that the parents who chose to make their own bread needed to submit a recipe card demonstrating that the bread they fed their children would have at least some sort of flour, oil, and liquid. They also needed to be sure to feed their children on a regular basis.

Matilda was elated! She had been afraid that the requirements of the law would be much more detailed and demanding. She recognized that there were those in the city who were violently opposed to the home-baked bread idea and that they would probably seek to have the law changed sometime; but, for the time being, she felt much easier in mind. She was so used by this time to keeping a low profile in her baking that it never occurred to her that that should change.

This writer, however, thinks that Matilda and other home-bread bakers should let the delicious aroma out to waft over the neighborhood. I also believe it would be beneficial if the community at large became accustomed to the idea and began to learn how tasty and nutritious homemade bread can be. This would, I believe, help to counter the weight of tradition on the side of the Bread Distribution Service should opponents of home-baked bread try to change the present law. People who bake their own bread to feed their children need to work to educate the public as to the beauties and benefits of bread baking!

Author's Note: Since we lived in North Dakota at the time, where "homemade bread baking" was clearly illegal (until after we had moved away!), I wrote this response:

In another community, to the north of Matilda's, the sad situation is this: the Bread Distribution Service union is powerful, and for many years has opposed homemade bread baking. Some parents have tried it, anyway, and most would be only too glad to share their recipe cards. Some would be willing to invite the Bread Distribution Service superintendent into their homes on baking day. Some are even willing to submit their children to an annual examination to prove that they are being well-nourished on home-baked bread.

Last year the local Parents' Association of Home-Bakers made valiant efforts in the city council to get the law changed, but to no avail. The current regulation is that parents cannot bake bread at home for their children unless they hold a valid certificate from bakers' school ~ even though Bakers' School concentrates on teaching institutional bread baking, and would be of little value to parents baking bread at home.

Parents who persist in making their children's bread at home and refusing to obtain their bread from the Bread Distribution Service are highly subject to legal prosecution. In fact, five such families were recently taken to court and convicted. One of those families, like many others in the past, has moved to a different community where home-baked bread is legal. (One frustration is that the communities directly to the east, west and south allow homemade bread baking.)

But at least three of the families are continuing to bake bread at home, and are definitely keeping their windows open on baking day ~ in spite of a threatened jail sentence for doing so. Unfortunately, other families who would risk losing their jobs must keep their windows closed and continue to bake bread in absolute secrecy.

So, I would further encourage those who live in communities like Matilda's where home-baking is possible to keep their windows open so that the delicious aromas may waft even outside the community and influence other less enlightened communities to relieve the oppression of home-baked bread families.

by Ann Murphy

Wyoming Home Educators' Newsletter
Spring/Summer 1986

http://www.homeschooloasis.com/art_homemade_bread.htm

NC State Fair - "A Whole Lotta Happy!"

Our family takes a day off to visit the NC State Fair every year. We might have missed a year or two in the 16 years that we've lived in North Carolina, but that still qualifies as a family tradition, wouldn't you say? Why then does my husband still protest that it is not a tradition? Ah, sometimes I think his middle name is Scrooge. But although he protested and claimed to have to go to WORK, in the end he joined us for "A Whole Lotta Happy"!

It was a beautiful, sunny day with temps in the high 70's - perfect for weaving through the maze of colorful concession stands selling such classic and neo-classic fare as corn dogs, fried dough, gyros, ice cream, caramel apples, cotton candy, turkey legs, fruit smoothies, and deep-fried-everything-under-the-sun; the over-priced yet still irrationally popular carnival games and rides; the livestock barns housing strutting chickens, cuddly rabbits, sleepy pigs, cud-chewing cows, carefully groomed goats, and skittish sheep; the education buildings showcasing hours of painstaking work in the 4H, home ec., horticultural, and agricultural exhibits; the commercial vendors demonstrating food choppers, steam mops, waterless cookware, and brightly colored chamois cloths; the folk festival tent, Heritage Circle, and Village of Yesteryear highlighting gifted crafters, artists and performers.

I highly recommend a weekday morning or early afternoon visit, as it is much less crowded than late afternoons and evenings. And for heaven sake, avoid the weekends if at all possible. We went on a Saturday once - and will not make that mistake ever again!

Since we arrived at lunch time, food was foremost on our minds - so first was a stop at the Bloomin' Onion stand. Jason also needed a corn dog for sustenance. Once fortified with some good fried food, we took advantage of the lack of lines and visited the NC Wildlife Exhibit, where Jason and Amanda took several turns at the BB Gun target shooting range. Then we headed to the far corner of the fairgrounds and began to work our way back toward the exit. We made our way through the 4H & Home Ec. building first, stopping to admire some beautiful quilts and sewing projects, then went on to the Commercial building, where we enjoyed a 50 cent dill pickle, followed by an extremely yummy chocolate covered caramel apple from Miss Debbie's! Next we explored the school art & photography exhibits, and then headed off toward the animal and agriculture barns, to see the blue ribbon heifers and 300+ lb pumpkin, the bees and the baby chicks, a "pig pile" of piglets and the capture of a renegade goose who had escaped and was trying to cause a revolt in the duck pond! whew! such drama!

It was obviously time for more food, so Amanda bought herself a grilled chicken pita ( I think it might actually be healthy fair food!), and then we had to have some NC State ice cream - the biggest, creamiest cup of ice cream you'll ever eat!

Mark opted to lie out on the grass while the kids and I visited the Village of Yesteryear - which he long ago dubbed the Circle of Death. This is probably my favorite exhibit - wonderfully skilled crafters and artisans displaying and demonstrating all kinds of crafts - woodworking, pottery throwing, silhouette paper cutting, weaving, glass blowing, Pysanky egg decorating, tin smithing, basket weaving, guitar making, rug hooking, and more. Thankfully, my children have all inherited my appreciation for things beautiful and artistic, so they are happy to pause and talk to the crafters, watching them create.

Amanda decided to join Mark on the grass while Jason and I wandered through the flower & garden exhibits. I particularly enjoyed the "Where the Wild Things Are" and the "Italian Herb Garden" themes.

One last snack before we left - fried dough. Since we shared, each person only got a few bites... a good thing.

I did take some pics, but my camera and computer arent' communicating right now...

Simple Woman's Daybook

Monday, October 19

Outside my window...I see the sun! It has been missing for several days. But it is 44 degrees, which is January weather here in North Carolina!

I am thinking... about my oldest daughter this morning, who is away at college grieving the loss of a friend who was killed by a drunk driver yesterday morning. So hard to be far away at times like this.

I am thankful for... the opportunity my children have to participate in homeschool sports! We just spent the weekend at the NCHEAC State Homeschool Volleyball Tournament in Winston-Salem. Amanda's varsity team played out of their minds and finished 2nd overall. SO FUN!

From the learning rooms…Week 11 of Tapestry of Grace, Yr.3 - "Jacksonian Democracy"; today Jason has science and Latin with his friend, Nathan - Nathan's mom teaches this once a week, which is a huge blessing!

From the kitchen... my oven has been broken for several days. The heating element in the oven won't turn off unless we cut the power to the whole unit. This is the 3rd time this same problem has occurred, and requires an expensive new circuit board! So we are junking it and have been blessed with a free used stove that a friend has been storing in her garage

I am wearing...my pajamas and SOCKS!

I am going...to the library this afternoon to pick up another stack of books!

I am reading...The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien to Jason as a bedtime read-aloud

I am hoping...to get all the volleyball uniforms and equipment packed up in the Rubbermaid bins and stored in the garage, and out of my front hallway!

I am hearing...ESPN Sport Center on the TV; Jason turns this on every morning when he first gets up!

Around the house... there are a number of areas needing my attention; I might need to revisit FlyLady for a while....

One of my favorite things... chocolate covered caramel apples! Thank you, Sarah, for that treat you brought home from your day at the Fair!

A few plans for the rest of the week: 3 baseball games, 5 basketball practices, State Fair on Wednesday, support group Leaders Meeting,

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

sandstorm

Read other Daybooks or create your own and list it here.

Animal School

Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had four subjects - running, climbing, swimming, and flying - and all animals took all subjects.

The duck was good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He made passing grades in running and flying, but he was almost hopeless at climbing. So they made him drop swimming to practice more climbing. Soon he was only average in swimming. But average is okay, and nobody worried about it much - except the duck.

The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In climbing class he beat everyone to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there, which was against the rules. He always had to stay after school and write "Cheating is Wrong" five hundred times. This kept him from soaring, which he loved. But schoolwork comes first.

The bear flunked because they said he was lazy, especially in the winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn't open then.

The penguin never went to school because he couldn't leave home, and they wouldn't start a school out where he lived.

The zebra played hooky - a lot. The ponies made fun of his stripes, and this made him very sad.

The kangaroo started out at the top of his running class, but got discouraged trying to run on all fours like the other kids.

The fish quit school because he was bored. To him, all four subjects were the same, but nobody understood that. They had never been a fish.

The squirrel got A's in climbing, but the teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. His legs got so sore practicing take-offs that he began to get C's and D's in running.

But the bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent him to Dr. Owl for testing. Dr. Owl said that the bee's wings were just too small for flying, and besides, they were in the wrong place. But the bee never saw Dr. Owl's report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway.

This original parable was written in the 1940's by George H. Reavis,
Assistant Superintendant of Schools in Cincinnatti, Ohio.

Homeschool Mentors

Last night was a Dessert Social to introduce a new Homeschool Mentors program that our support group is starting. Several "seasoned" homeschool moms are going to host a small group in their home once a month. Each group will be reading a different book and discussing it together. The books chosen so far are Age of Opportunity by Paul Tripp, Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp, Homeschooling at the Speed of Life by Marilyn Rockett, Ministry of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson, and Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands by Paul Tripp. The inclusion of chocolate in these fellowships was stressed several times !! Just sayin'.

The 16 or so ladies at the social ranged from brand new homeschoolers to experienced ones with a couple of graduates under their belts. The dessert spread was impressive, with a chocolate fountain and all the goodies that go along with it - mini cream puffs, chunks of angel food cake, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows, caramel corn. Thank you to Jennifer D for that! There was a lot of laughter as the group sat in Sylvia's living room and shared bits and pieces of our lives, including some of the reasons why we homeschool. Our support group's large informational meetings are good, but I look forward to more meetings like this.

Smoothies for Breakfast

As my kids would say, I'm on a Healthy Kick again. I occasionally lapse into bad habits because of busyness or laziness, but in general, I try to be a good steward of my and my family's health.
Lately, this means Smoothies for breakfast! I love my blender, and have long been a fan of Fruit Shakes - even before Smoothies were fashionable!

When I was 10 years old, an Italian great aunt introduced me to Fruit Shakes - fresh fruit pureed in the blender with a little water or juice. Peaches, bananas, strawberries, plums, raspberries.... whatever was on hand.

I typically keep a couple of bags of frozen fruit in the freezer and some kind of juice in the fridge. I also add plain or vanilla yogurt for the probiotics and calcium it provides!

Today it was orange juice, Bolthouse Farms carrot juice, Naked cherry pomegranate juice ( about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of each ), a few frozen strawberries, peaches, and blueberries, about a cup of vanilla yogurt, and about 1/2 cup of aloe vera juice! It made 3 good-size servings, for me and my two kids.

Yum!

Simple Woman's Daybook

Monday, October 12

Outside my window...the morning sun is filtering through the trees in the backyard, which are still green - but spots of yellow and rust tell me the colors will be changing soon

I am thinking... that TRUTH is a very important concept to understand; and I like R.C. Sproul's definition, that Truth is reality from the perspective of God; who else's perspective is worthy of my trust? ( see next item )

I am thankful for... the 7 high school girls who were at my house last night for our first meeting of The Truth Project small group!

From the learning rooms…Week 10 of Tapestry of Grace, Yr.3 - "John Quincy Adams and Political Realignments"; reading Les Miserables for our high school Rhetoric co-op class; still learning about the geography and culture of South America; working on an American Govt. lapbook; a field trip tomorrow to hear a Holocaust survivor speak about her experiences in Nazi Germany ( not related to our current studies, but you grab the experiences when they are available!)

From the kitchen... my daughter brought me three big bags of apples from a NC mountain orchard - have already baked apple pies, apple crisp, and apple squares; maybe today I'll try apple dumplings!

I am wearing...my pajamas

I am creating...a support group newsletter that is overdue! I NEED to do something fun and creative though - maybe a fall craft project for the house; my creative juices have been stagnant lately

I am going...to Winston-Salem for the state homeschool volleyball tournament this weekend - GO EAGLES!

I am reading... Mommy Diagnostics, The Naturally Healthy Woman, Naturally Healthy Cuisine, and The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy - all by Shonda Parker and all part of the Family Herbalist course that Amanda and I are working through

I am hoping...to get my TOG Unit 2 planning done in the next couple of days; better late than never

I am hearing...quiet!

Around the house...the kitchen is still half-painted, so I need to get working on that again; also, I am finally getting out my fall decorations today!

One of my favorite things...the NC State Fair starts this week! we go as a family every year and enjoy the Village of Yesteryear crafts, the gardens, the art exhibits, the cloggers, the animal barns, the FOOD - especially the NC State Univ. Ice Cream!

we skip the rides and carnival games

A few plans for the rest of the week: Prom Committee meeting this afternoon;basketball, volleyball and baseball practices; volleyball tournament; ASU Fall Break starts Thurs. so college kids will be home;

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

Read other Daybooks or create your own and list it here.

Where Did the Time Go?

Two weeks has flown by! Alex leaves tomorrow morning to start his trip back to Iraq after 2 great weeks of R&R. I think he has enjoyed himself - he has seemed relaxed and happy, going to the Y each morning to work out, spending hours playing video games and watching movies, meeting old college friends for lunch and a couple of parties in his honor. Sarah and Eric came home each of the last 3 weekends and they enjoyed hanging out with their big brother too - going to the movies, going shopping, going to church, going to Jason's baseball games, & just hanging out.



I think it is harder to see him go this time. I try not to worry, and know that God is sovereign in Iraq as well as here in the U.S.A. But the reality is that he is living in a war zone, and that is hard on a mother. He only has about 4 months left overseas, after which he'll return to his base in TX. Lighthouse basketball just started this past week, and Alex will be back in the States before basketball season is over. So that doesn't seem like so long when you look at it that way.

Pajama School

I stumbled upon a blog this morning written by a homeschool graduate who has also written a book titled "Pajama School: Stories from the Life of a Homeschool Graduate". As someone who has a passion for homeschooling and who is also the mother of a couple of homeschool graduates, I was intrigued, and happily read Chapter One of the book, which was included free on the blog through the link in the sidebar, and then browsed through several posts on her blog. I found Ms. Wickham's writing to be delightful, and her insights and experiences encouraging and refreshing, and I plan to order the book for my "library" - I think I have room on the floor next to the pile of books next to the bookcases in the living room... or maybe the dining room... or maybe the hallway. Whatever! I'll find a spot, or maybe I'll just read it and pass it along to one of my fellow homeschool bookaholics.

Catching Up

Can someone please tell me what happened to the month of September? Because I just turned the page from August, and now it is nearly October! Aye yi yi!

Alex has been home for a week, and I sure am enjoying having that boy around the house. Funny though, the Army hasn't much improved his tendency to leave dirty dishes lying around the house and dirty clothes on the bedroom floor! grr
;-)

Saturday was Eric's 20th birthday. Both Sarah and Eric were home from college for the weekend, so we got to go out for a family dinner on Saturday night - all 7 of us! And we went for a family walk on Sunday afternoon at Joyner Park. LOVE IT!

I have quite a number of irons in the fire right now ... and sometimes it makes my head spin!

• I jumped back into homeschool support group leadership this year, and I probably average 2-3 hours a day on emails, calls, meetings, planning for that.
  
• I am trying to coordinate a Powder Puff football game for the Lighthouse teens in November, and monthly teen meetings too.
  
• I teach high school literature in our Friday TOG Co-op; that takes a few hours of prep work during the week
  
• I am involved, along with Amanda and several other people, in planning a big homeschool Prom for the spring.
  
• I need to get started with art classes again, for both Amanda and Jason - despite my best intentions, we just don't do art if I don't include other kids in a weekly class!
  
• Mark & I are leading a high school girls small group on Sunday nights, to watch and discuss The Truth Project, starting in a couple of weeks
• my kitchen walls are half painted... and have been for about 3 weeks now
• I am scorekeeper for Amanda's volleyball team, and I am in charge of getting the awards for the end of the season banquet
• I help my husband with sundry details of administrating Lighthouse Sports
  
• oh, I do homeschool my 2 children who are still at home
  
• and then there are the household chores.... well, I cook most nights and keep clean laundry available in a pile on the couch :-)

some of you read that list and are aghast, and others of you read that list and think, "piece of cake!" Most days I am in both camps! Things go chugging along and then something slips and I think "what in the world was I thinking?" I get through the crisis and then go right back to chugging along again. Guess it's the way I'm wired.

Well, I hope to get back into more of a routine with my blogging. I've been feeling a bit dry in that area, although there really is a wealth of things to write about. But sometimes I just don't have the energy. One of my friends recently blogged about deciding whether or not to quit blogging because her life was just so busy. But she decided that she needed to keep on writing because it was a way to keep family and friends connected to her family's antics, it was a record she was keeping for her children, in lieu of scrapbooking, and it was therapeutic for her! I relate to all of the above.

So keep coming back. Even if I disappear for a week or two, I'll eventually get back to the blog.