Sunday Scrappin' (3/29)

It's Sunday again and that means it's time for Sunday Scrappin'. This is a GREAT way to get inspired, meet other crafters and share your creations, so please drop over and join today!

My TA-DAs for this week are many and I'm really exctied to have gotten so much done. It's amazing how much you can get done when you use the same kit for multiple pages. I may opt to do this more often. I am working on an album of Aspen's first garden, starting with a day of planting little seeds back in February. Without further ado, here are pages 1-6, in three 2-page layouts.








As for TO-DO's this week, I don't have anything specific in mind. I might keep going with the garden album or I may just do some random pages based on my mood. I find that my new approach of scrapping what I feel as opposed to trying to lock myself into a certain project works better. I am more efficient when I'm working on something I'm excited about.

Now for this week's bonus question: What inspires you to sit down and craft?
I often do my crafts in idle moments when my toddler in entertained doing something else. Which craft I do just depends on my daily mood. With scrapping, sometimes a certain mood or picture will inspire me or a new project idea, as was the case with this week's work.

Now, to give credit where credit is due. Credits and Resources for this series of layouts are as follows:

Mother Earth
Digital kit created by Dawn Mills, aka Snowsmoon Designs
Blog: http://www.snowsmoon-myworld.blogspot.com

Delights Alpha
Once again I used the precious and versatile Delights Alphas from Foxy Designs. I love these! They are so perfect for children's layouts with a whimsy feel.

Quotes found at: http://www.quotegarden.com/index.html.

Font “Leftovers”

Photography by my lovely daughter, Ashley. Thanks kiddo!

Hold Me, Jesus

One of the easiest ways we get tripped up in our walk with Jesus is trying to meet our own needs, and solve our tough problems on our own, instead of waiting in faith for Him to fufill his promises to provide for our needs and care for us. Whenever I find myself about to get off track this way, I turn on this song and I'm able to be still and joyfully anticipate what God might have in store for me that I can't even imagine.



Be sure to stop by Signs, Miracles & Wonders to join in this easy and fun meme. You just share a song that has inspired you in some way, and enjoy the great tunes others have shared.

A Glance Over My Shoulder

Another week is over. I'm still in awe of how quickly the days, then weeks pass by now that we are busy with lessons all morning and most of the afternoon. We accomplished a lot this week, although it was a bit of an up and down group of days. Some went smoothly, others not so much. Overall I'm pleased with the way it went.

We started on a new unit in Language Arts, the third of twelve in our Lifepac curriculum. Once again I am seeing that there is a lot of information covered in a few pages without much of an explanation. Thankfully, we have found some good online resources to help us delve deeper into the areas that aren't sufficiently taught in the books. Our favorite is Grammar Bytes.

Ashley is sailing through Algebra I. We opted not to purchase a curriculum for this one, since it is largely review for her. Instead we are using online lessons and exercises we found at AlgebraHelp.com. She reviews a lesson and completes the exercises and then I check them using the online answer sheets provided on the site. If she misses one we review it together and can get step-by-step help on the site as well. So far she is doing quite well, and has an A.

US History is progressing well too. We started the second chapter this week and have made it about half-way through. She is really getting it as I hoped she would if we got more in-depth with it than just memorizing facts. She's still not terribly excited by it, but I am hoping as time goes on she might enjoy it more. We had a great defining moment this week as we went over a section together. She read he text and then I asked her to explain it in her own words. She was a little hesitant so I tossed in my own explanation, and she said to me, "I would never have gotten that from that sentence. That's so cool!"

At least I know I am doing my job.

We've decided to put off Biology until Fall, I believe. Things are progressing very nicely with three subjects instead of four, and it's taking me a long time to find any type of curriculum that I like. I'll keep you all posted on how that develops.

Everything was much smoother as far as Aspen's behavior and even her resistance to going int he car seemed to improve. I am crediting this to adjusting our schedule to better meet her somewhat nocturnal needs. When she sleeps in later she is so much better and happier, and then she and I have each other all to ourselves at night after everyone else retires to their rooms. This got me thinking about something else I need to look at in my life. I tend to do things a lot based on what other people think I should do, as opposed to what actually works for us. Why is that? Why so often, do we as Moms, know what's best for our family yet question our own wisdom?

As far as my weight loss and taking time for myself goes, it was an up and down week. I didn't get a chance to put my new routine into action every day, just as I expected. But just being more conscious of my own needs and making the effort to better care for myself improved my mood and made me feel more balanced.

I did manage to get in some writing this week, and I really enjoyed it. I rejoined an online writer's group that I was part of before, where writing prompts and regular critiques will help to keep me motivated and give me valuable feedback as well as some validation for my enjoyment of my writing. I found, this week particularly, that writing helped me deal with some things that I've been carrying around and not really able to express constructively, and that was a huge relief.

I also found some time this afternoon while Aspen napped to do some digital scrapbooking and I am really pleased with the way the pages turned out. Stay tuned for my Sunday Scrappin' post when I'll put them up for viewing.

The weather was nice more often than not this week, so this helped all of us immensely. We got out of the house and played outside, hung out at the pool (still too cold to swim but we got a tan!) and went to the local park. It's supposed to be chilly again over the weekend and I find I am really dreading that. I'm running out of new indoor activities to keep Aspen engaged, and I find that she is decidedly crabby when we can't play outside. Like mother, like daughter I guess!

That's about it for this week I suppose. I'm planning to try to get some writing done for Home Education Week next week. Other than that, we're planning a fairly lazy weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

Sheltering Children

Today's topic over at Heart of the Matter is the issue of sheltering our children. As a writing prompt, we were given the following quote:

"Clearly there is an appropriate kind of sheltering. When those who are opposed to homeschooling accuse me of sheltering my children, my reply is always, 'What are you going to accuse me of next, feeding and clothing them?" ~R.C. Sproul Jr

My first thought when I read that quote was, why in the world would anyone not want to shelter their children? Today's world can be a scary, dangerous, ugly place and is filled with negative messages and false ideas. How can we, as parents possibly hope to compete with the government, the media and pop culture in shaping our children's hearts and minds if we don't protect them from that as much as possible?

For me this goes along the same lines as those critics of home schooling who question a child's socialization. Again, do I want my children socialized in an environment where they are often unsafe, physically and emotionally?

What is the arguement for not sheltering children?

Writer...Interrupted

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Magazine Monday Nominations.

One popular mantra among writers is the idea that "you can't fix a blank page", meaning that lousy writing is better than no writing at all. Often times though, when I have the opportunity to write, I am unable to conquer the blank page. I often find myself seated, pen in hand or keyboard under my fingertips, feeling as blank as the page before me.

When I sleep soundly I dream vividly, and upon awakening I have much to write about. But life demands my immediate attention, and my dream-inspired places, scenes and characters fade quickly into oblivion. Many a story with enormous potential has been miscarried in this manner.

Even the inspirations that come from my own life experiences are no match for my mountainous writer's block. Many a tale from my real life has failed to make it to any form of print, so what hope does fiction even have?

It if weren't for blogging I would never write at all. I have my addiction to public journaling to thank for the fact that my writer's brain gets any exercise at all.

When I do write, is is my habit to write out of sequence. I tend to write what I feel, rather than planning out a scene from start to finish and writing it that way. In fact, most of my pieces have never progressed past a file folder or CD full of random, unconnected scenes. I'm not good at the bridge work that it requires to pull them all together into a completed work.

There have been many times in my life when my writing has been much-needed therapy. Be it journaling, poetry or fiction, much of my work today has filled some need in me that was not otherwise to be met. When I was a young teen struggling with isolation and lonliness, the characters I created were much needed friends. Later, as a young bride and new mother, trapped in a negative home situation, my writing provided me a safe place to go and an outlet for emotions that no one else seemed to understand.

These days there are internet groups for almost everyone in every situation, full of people going through similar things in life. For most of my life though, I was isolated and often lonely. As a young mom whose toddler just would not sleep, I spent hours feeling like I was the only one in the world awake at 2 am rocking a crying, restless child. With tears running down my face, I prayed that she would just fall asleep. My own sleep deprivation only compounded my sense of failure and inadequacy. Had it not been for a red spiral notebook and green felt tip pen, I might not have made it though that time.

I'm older now, and wiser. I have experience to guide me, other moms to share with and a wealth of information at my fingertips when it comes to parenting, marriage and other topics of concern to me in my daily life. I guess it could be observed that I don't need my writing as much as I used to.

Be that as it may, the desire to write is still there and still strong. The urge to put ink to paper in some format the other is always with me. Romances, adventures, women's fiction themes and more roll around in my head while I go about the daily tasks before me. No matter how carefully I plan, how many notes I scribble down or how many characters I nurture to life, I Can't quite seem to bridge the gap to making them a literary reality.

Somehow I am always.....interrupted.

Home Education Week: March 30 - April 5

March 30-April 5 has been declared Home Education Week over at Pricipled Discovery. I just discovered Dana's terrific blog and I highly recommend that you stop by and check it out, even if you are not a home schooler. It's a great resource and an enjoyable read for all moms.

Home Education Week is a week long meme event that invites all home schoolers to blog daily and Dana has given some great writing prompts to help us get going, as well as provided a Mr. Linky for each day so we call all share our thoughts, reflections and experiences together. I can't wait to participate!

I hope you will too!

Wordless Wednesday

I originally had some words in mind to go with these images, but none of them seem to do the emotions justice so I'll just leave them as they are...

Curriculum Changes & Life Lessons

I've said a few times now that I am learning new things everyday as I teach Ashley at home, and this week is going to be no exception. In addition to some historical facts and math methods, I am also learning some important life lessons. Perhaps the most valuable one, and the toughest for me is flexibilty. I'm a creature of habit, I admit it. If my plans get mussed I tend to get annoyed. I'm better about this than I used to be, but still sometimes I catch myself getting frustrated, when what I really need to just relax and roll with whatever is going on.

Today was Monday for sure! First off, Aspen and I slept in as I had planned, only we slept in way longer than I planned, so all day I felt like we had to play catch-up with Ashley's school. Why I felt like this I don't know, since there really is no clock we must go by. For some reason I feel like we have to start and stop by a certain time, which is silly. I found I was testy and tense until finally Ashley asked what was wrong and I started to answer and realized I didn't know. I had to stop and think about it, and when I figured out what was bugging me, I felt really ridiculous. So I took a deep breath, let it all go and ignored the clock on the wall. Things were much more pleasant after that.

Also today, Ashley and I mutually decided that the Bob Jones Biology course is NOT working for us. I love the BJU US History course and so does she, but the Biology really is not what we had expected. I knew when I ordered it that it was a Christian text, but this is really over the top. That's the way it feels to us, anyway. There is more Bible study than science, and I find myself having to pick out the science part of it from other long-winded sections that seem to contradict what the science parts are saying. To Ashley, who has only been learning about Christianity for the last couple of years, it is really confusing and overwhelming and is leaving a bad taste in her mouth. That's the last thing I want. Plus, I don't especially care for the way it's organized.

Again, I found myself stressing and getting frustrated as we tried to wade through a chapter on the scientific method, and I finally just decided to stop the lesson and have a discussion about how this was (or wasn't) working for her. At first the idea of going with a different curriculum really made me upset, because we paid close to $60 for these materials, and I don't have the funds on hand at the moment to buy something else. She said to me, simply "Mom, you're doing it again." So I just stopped myself, took a step back and a deep breath and asked myself why I was stressing so hard. After all, I can resell these materials while I shop for new ones. There is nothing etched in stone that says we have to do Biology right this minute. It's the last science credit she needs, so we have plenty of time to get it done. Once I allowed myself to actually be flexible I found I was much more relaxed and happier. We'll devote the time we were using for Biology to Algebra, so that we can get through that course faster and get on to Algebra II.

This was a good lesson for me I think, giving me some insight into a part of my personality that I need to change. After all, isn't one of the main plusses of home schooling, flexibility? After lessons were over I gave some thought to why I find myself feeling so inflexible these days, and all I can really determine is that it's a habit that has formed over years of trying to please everyone, all the time. That's an impossible task, of course but one that can often become a bad habit.

So, as Monday draws to a close, we have lessons learned, changes in the works, and a better outlook for tomorrow.

Sunday Scrappin: Easter Edition

It's Sunday again and that means it's time for Sunday Scrappin'. This is a GREAT way to get inspired, meet other crafters and share your creations, so please drop over and join today!

My TA-DA's for this week are three scrapbook pages that I managed to squeeze in. I'm not doing any particular scrapbook right now, just scrapping what I feel. The first layout is actually a two-page set:




Credits for the beautiful digital scrapbook supplies I used on these layouts are as follows:

The paper and elements are from a kit called "Winter Bliss" by Angie over at Digital Scrapbook Place.

The alphas are called "Get Stamped" and I found them at Free Digital Scrapbooking. I love how well they go along with the kit, even though they are by different artists.

The other page I did was in honor of her third birthday. This picture was taken the day we brought her home from the hospital:



Credits for this page are Hugs and Kisses freebie by DigiDiva Designs, and A Gift of Love Freebie by Lori at DigiScrap Designs by Lorie.

My TO-DO's for this week are just to do a few layouts scrapping what I feel at the moment.

This weeks bonus question: For which holiday do you do the most crafts?
I would have to say Christmas, because I usually make some gifts and a few new ornaments each year. I also like to make a new wreath each year or revamp an older one.

Happy Scrappin!

Reflections on a Healing Weekend

This weekend was truly special, in many ways. I enjoyed each day to the point of losing track of time, something I rarely have the luxury of doing these days. I felt very calm and open in a spiritual way, and over the course of the last two days I made some discoveries, came to some realizations, and made some decisions based on them. I'd like to share some of that with you.

It all started on Saturday morning. Aspen and I slept in until 11am, something we've not been able to do much since I began home schooling Ashley. We got up and she played happily while I read mail and did some blogging. The weather outside here on Saturday was absolutely beautiful, and after getting really frustrated with my hubby, who wanted to lay on the couch in front of the TV and was in a foul mood, I decided that Aspen and I were spending the day outside in the warm, serotonin producing sunshine. We got dressed and headed out to the back of our garage, where we played with her high bounce ball, running after it up and down the hill behind our home. Once we got bored with that, we climbed the hill and explored the little wooded area a few feet beyond it.

Being in nature was too wonderful for words! I realized that I have really been neglecting that part of myself, the part that loves nature, feels at one with the Earth, and loves to be outdoors in the sun. Aspen loved every minute of it too, and had a ball tossing rocks down the other side of the hill, picking little flowers here and there and just wandering aimlessly with Mommy in tow. Having me all to herself was great for her too, and she ate up every minute of my undivided attention.

When we got hungry we made ourselves a lunch of sandwiches and green tea and had a little picnic in one of the grassy areas of our neighborhood. Aspen enjoyed this too, and was fascinated by the little lone ant who visited us. She fed him a piece of her sandwich and was quite upset when I almost folded him up in the towel when we were done.

After lunch we headed over to the neighborhood pool, where it was warm enough for us to enjoy lying in the sun and splashing with our feet in the cold pool water. Aspen had fun playing with some of her plastic sippy cups at the edge of the water while I had the chance to talk to and reconnect a bit with my oldest, Kelly. She and I have had a really difficult time getting along over the past several months, and now that she is working nights, we don't see much of each other. Talking together was nice, and we were both making an extra effort to get along.

On Sunday, the weather was still nice, although not as warm. I finally managed to get Shawn off the couch and we piled into the car and went over to a nearby local park we'd been wanting to visit. There was a very nice playground and Aspen had a blast running, climbing, swinging and sliding. Kelly came with us, and enjoyed swinging on the swings and being in the sun. When the playground started to get crowded we took off on a walk down one of the nature trails, where we found a quick flowing brook into which Aspen tossed rocks and squealed with delight at the plunky splashing sound they made. After our mini-hike we planted ourselves on a nearby grassy hill and had a picnic lunch.

After the park, Aspen helped me brew up a batch of organic green tea and then we went back to the pool to hang out and tease our toes with the chilly water.

Throughout the weekend, realizations came to me. I realized that I have been not only neglecting certain parts of myself, but that I have been neglecting myself almost completely. I realized that I have come into a way of thinking that causes me to feel guilty anytime I take time for myself or do something that interests me, instead of spending every single waking moment catering to my family.

Don't get me wrong here, I do truly embrace my role as caretaker and home maker, but lately I have really gotten off-balance with the level to which I feel I must sacrifice for them. In doing so I am setting a poor example for my girls, not to mention spoiling them all (especially my husband) absolutely rotten.

Neglecting ourselves too much will ultimately hurt our family, not help them. I have gotten to the point where I am tired, impatient and quick to anger and that is always a sign to me that I need a little TLC. When our children or husbands get that way, we see that it is due to a need and try to help by meeting those needs right? Well, then...why do so many of us not do the same for ourselves?

Many of you ladies reading this are probably blessed with husbands who will see your needs and try to meet them, at least sometimes. This is not really the case in my situation. My hubby will sometimes try to help, if I directly ask or if the symptoms of my needs (ie my bad mood) start to affect him. Oftentime, his help comes with a lot of childish complaining or pouting. Otherwise, I am on my own.

At any rate, I digress. My point here was not to bash my mate, he is who he is. It's up to me to care for myself properly. The neglect I've subjected myself to lately just became really clear to me, and so I have come up with a plan to correct this. I've tentatively come up with a new routine that will give me a few minutes each day to pamper myself a little, and I've also set a goal for myself to lose 15-20 pounds by June. I also had a talk with my hubby about the sleep schedule and he agreed that I could adjust the hours to better suit us, so long as we get in the 4-5 hours a day that we are required to.

As far as the weight loss goes, a very stressful winter this year really did a number on my eating habits and general health. I tend to be a big comfort eater and most of my comfort foods are high in fat and sugar and just generally not nutritious. On a recent visit to the doctor I weighed in at 135 pounds, which according to the doctor is about 15 pounds over a healthy weight for my 5'1" frame. I can feel the extra weight in many ways. I lack energy and have been having lower back problems, and aching hips and knees. Not to mention that I don't like what I see when I look in the mirror, and that's never good. Plus, the poor diet has affected my hair and skin negatively as well.

Thankfully, eating better and losing weight is usually not difficult for me and I am grateful for that. Typically it only requires an increased awareness and a little discipline. I started on Saturday with the following changes:

1) I stopped drinking soda. I've written about kicking this habit before, and for me it is a bit of an addiction. If I go without it for a few days the desire for it wanes a lot, but if I start drinking it on a regular basis I start to crave it and I get cranky when there's none in the house. Since Saturday I have gone from drinking 3-4 cans a day to only having had a few sips here and there all weekend. Instead I've been drinking green tea, which I love and of which the health benefits are well-known.

2) I am listening to my body. I am only allowing myself to eat when I actually feel hungry. This is not the desire to eat, but actual physical hunger sensations. The amount of food I am taking in has dropped dramatically the past two days and I feel great.

3) I am getting more exercise. Playing with Aspen is the best (and most fun) way to do this. Just getting up and moving around more is my goal for now, and on warm days getting outdoors is a priority.

In addition to a little extra self-care and my weight loss, I am also looking at other areas where I have let things fall off. I find there are a lot of really small things, like listening to my favorite music sometimes instead of always letting everyone else have theirs on, and reading for pleasure sometimes instead of always reading what I think I should be reading. After doing just a little bit of things like that over this weekend, I feel like a new woman!

I have some energy, I'm not dehydrated (from the soda), I'm more relaxed and I have more patience, and I my self-confidence is higher. All of this comes together to increase my capacity for loving feelings toward my family, and I have felt kinder and more loving toward them all.

Life is good.

He's Alive

This one says it all. Happy Easter Everyone!

Sweet Surrender

Few recording artists have been as much a part of my life as John Denver. My parents adored him and had all of his music when I was a child. My older brothers and sisters played his songs on guitar and sang them. In the car, his cassette tapes were always in the tape deck. Yes, I am showing my age there, lol. Tapes, what are tapes? Anyway...there are many of his songs that have a special place in my heart, but Sweet Surrender is one of the most special to me. It speaks to the wanderer in me, the dreamer, the part of me that is brave and embraces life and remembers what really matters in the midst of crazy days and the daily grind. As I listen to it today, it is really inspiring me to work harder toward my dream of pursuing a fulltime RV lifestyle. I hope that in some way it will inspire you too, and remind you that to fully succeed, we must fully surrender. Be sure to stop by Signs, Mircales & Wonders to join in this easy and fun meme. You just share a song that has inspired you in some way, and enjoy the great tunes others have shared.

Friday Reflections

It's Friday again, and once again I find myself looking back over our week of school and taking stock. I noticed this week that since we began home schooling, our weeks seem to just fly by. We'll be on our morning subject and all of the sudden my hubby will appear for lunch. I never realize it's that time already until he comes in. The afternoons seem to go by even faster. We usually stop between 3 and 4pm and I am always surprised at the time when we reach a good stopping point in our afternoon session. I find though, that at the end of each day we both seem to have a sense of accomplishment that feels really good.

I'm pleased with how well things went this week. Aspen was a little less clingy and demanding since we started sleeping a little later and continuing later into the afternoon. I've learned a few more things about Ashley's learning style this week too.

First, I've realized that she is not an oral tester. She has a hard time answering questions if I give her an oral quiz. I figured this out during a review for her first US History test yesterday, when I was just asking her random quiz questions aloud. She seemed totally lost and at first I was really frustrated, thinking We just went over this and you knew it, so what's the problem? I couldn't fathom how she could forget everything we'd learned. Then she said that it was just that she can't answer questions orally. She says that unless she can look at the question she has a hard time connecting it with the material in her mind. So, I gave her a written practice test and guess what? She got a 100. I'm guessing this makes her a bit of a visual learner? Which would make sense, because she is the artist of the family and is very visually oriented. So, mom learned a lesson too.

Second, I've also realized that we are spending too much time in the house. We are both craving some outdoor time and some things to do away from home. The major problem with this is that Aspen has recently developed this crazy aversion to going in the car. Why on Earth this is happening is beyond me, but she cries and will literally have a fit if we have to go anywhere and I can't ride in the backseat with her. She's fine if hubby comes along and he drives and I ride beside her, but if she has to be back there by herself she just flips out. Recently she's been wanting one of her sisters to ride by her, but now lately it has to be me or she just has a meltdown. I'm hoping this is just a passing phase, and if anyone has any advice on it, please feel free to share it!We've not had any scary car experiences so I have no idea what has caused this.

Anyway, to get us all out of the house we are planning a field trip for next Friday (maybe Saturday) to a local farm. I know Aspen will enjoy this and it will get us out of the house. In the meantime, we'll be spending time playing outside since it's supposed to Ba a warm weekend.

Something else I've learned this week is that I can teach something that I don't understand. We came upon a section of Ashley's Language Arts that gave a very brief, incomplete definition to different parts of speech and really poor examples as quiz questions. Ashley and I were both confused and frustrated. So, I got online and researched them and found more detailed explanations as well as some worksheets to practice with. In one two hour morning session, we had down a section that we had struggled with the entire two days prior.

The resources we used were really helpful and free. Check them out at: Grammar Bytes and ESP Worksheets.

Have a great weekend everyone!

What I Wish I Had Known

This week's meme at The Heart of the Matter is what you wish you had known your first year of home schooling. Since I am in my first month of home schooling, I don't really have any wish-I-had's just yet. I do wish that I had started earlier though, years ago when my children were little and I could still influence them on a deeper level than I can now that they are teens. Fortunately I have this opportunity with Aspen, and I'm thankful for that chance.

The Touch of the Master's Hand

I can always tell when the Lord is at work in my life. One of two scenerios will usually occur. Sometimes, everything will go terribly wrong. You know what I mean, those times when it seems like everything you touch just goes afoul? I've learned that this usually means the Lord is trying to tell me something and I am not listening, or I am going against His wishes or running ahead of Him. At other times, I can see the Lord's hand in everything that suddenly goes right for me.

This week has been one of those right weeks. The first thing that has been influenced by our Master is my little soap business. I have gotten both requests for samples and orders from my new little Etsy Store. Additionally, I met the owner of a local farm who is very interested in selling my soaps in their gift shops and at horse shows!

Another area in which God seems to be at work is my dream of an RV life. The biggest obstacle we face in making this dream a reality, and my hubby's biggest reservation about it, is finding a way to earn a living on the road. Today I was blessed to learn about the growing field of Medical Transcription from a full-time RV mom who is living the dream with her two daughters. This is a job I could do anywhere, anytime. The training can be expensive but if this is the Lord's will, He'll provide for it.

In celebration of our Lord's grace, I thought I would share one of my favorite poems:

The Touch of the Master's Hand

Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer
thought it scarcely worth his while to waste much time on the old violin,
but held it up with a smile; "What am I bidden, good folks," he cried,
"Who'll start the bidding for me?" "A dollar, a dollar"; then two!" "Only
two? Two dollars, and who'll make it three? Three dollars, once; three
dollars twice; going for three.." But no, from the room, far back, a
gray-haired man came forward and picked up the bow; Then, wiping the dust
from the old violin, and tightening the loose strings, he played a melody
pure and sweet as caroling angel sings.

The music ceased, and the auctioneer, with a voice that was quiet and low,
said; "What am I bid for the old violin?" And he held it up with the bow.
A thousand dollars, and who'll make it two? Two thousand! And who'll make
it three? Three thousand, once, three thousand, twice, and going and
gone," said he. The people cheered, but some of them cried, "We do not
quite understnad what changed its worth." Swift came the reply: "The touch
of a master's hand."

And many a man with life out of tune, and battered and scarred with sin,
Is auctioned cheap to the thoughtless crowd, much like the old violin, A
"mess of pottage," a glass of wine; a game - and he travels on. "He is
going" once, and "going twice, He's going and almost gone." But the Master
comes, and the foolish crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul
and the change that's wrought by the touch of the Master's hand.

Myra 'Brooks' Welch

Not All Who Wander Are Lost

Those of you who know me in the real world already know this about me, but I thought I would share it here too, for those of you who might be new to reading my blog. I am a wanderer at heart. Whenever I hear songs like the Allman Brothers' "Ramblin' Man", or Bob Segar's "Roll Me Away" I want to load up the car and take off on an extended road trip. I am seldom content to stay in one place for too long. I only half-playfully call this part of myself the "four year itch", because four years seems to be the longest I can be content in one place. We have been in our current town for almost five now and I feel the itch more and more as time passes.

This feeling is perhaps most eloquently described by Pixie at Enchanted Gypsy Travel Diaries, in her post titled Lord I Was Born a Ramblin'(Wo)man. She writes: "Santa Barbara is lovely and has been nice to us but it was so time to leave. I can always tell when it is time to really move on because a place starts to look and feel different, sort of empty feeling and desolate."

When I first read those words months ago, I thought Oh yes, I know that feeling all too well! I believe the Lord creates all kinds of people, and some of us may not be intended to stay put for very long. I believe I am one of this group, a born rambler.

My dream is to one day take to the road full-time in an RV with my family. I've been researching this for close to a year now and my hubby and I have discussed it many times. I am all for it, whereas he tends to run hot and cold on the idea. We haven't discussed it recently, but I find that the road really calls to me these days. The idea of being able to travel, see family and friends who are scattered all over the country and truly embrace life on a grander scale really appeals to me. The longing I feel is, at times, overwhelming.

I'm not sure if this dream will ever come true, but it is something I continue to study and learn about, and dream about on days when our present city does feel empty and about as unlike home as it can.

If you're interested in learning more about the growing trends of families living on the road and educating their children on America's highways and byways, visit Families on the Road.

Happy Birthday Aspen

Today is Aspen's third birthday, and I just can't believe it. Where has the time gone? So much has happened since she joined us and yet it seems like just yesterday when she came into the world. She really was (is) a gift from God, and her arrival had a tremendous impact on our family. She brought something into our lives that was missing, love. She reminded us of the importance of kindness and gentleness and brought us closer as a family. She was ultimately the reason I returned to my Christian faith, found a church and became workable clay in the Lord's hands. The three years of her little life haven't been easy, but they have been wonderful.

Creativity

This past week, amazingly enough, I did manage to squeeze in a good amount of crafting. My creative endeavors really provide me with an outlet and are very theraputic during stressful weeks.

Last week I did some more soaping. I made two batches of full-size bars of my favorite recipes: Island Nights and Goat Milk and Oatmeal. The Island Nights (blue) is a fragranced bath bar and is meant to bring the warm, sensual feel of nights on a tropical beach to your bathroom. I love to soak in a hot bath with this one in the dead of winter, and temporarily imagine myself and my hubby strolling along the beach in the moonlight, without the children! The oatmeal bar is one I developed when Aspen was a baby and was having skin problems. This soap contains goat milk, which is a terrific, natural moisturizer. I also added cocoa butter and colloidal oatmeal to the mix and it's wonderful for those with dry skin or eczema. It's very gentle and moisturizes without leaving an oily feeling behind.



Saturday night I managed to finally finish my first whole digital scrapbook album, Summer 2007. You can view a slideshow of the pages in my previous blog postSunday Scrappin: A Celebration. Finishing an alubum has really inspired me and I started a new project today, beginning with a 2-page layout of Aspen's recent first snow:




Credits for the beautiful digital scrapbook supplies I used on these layouts are as follows:

The paper and elements are from a kit called "Winter Bliss" by Angie over at Digital Scrapbook Place.

The alphas are called "Get Stamped" and I found them at Free Digital Scrapbooking. I love how well they go along with the kit, even though they are by different artists.

Be sure to stop by A Day In The Life's Blogger Craft Club to see other creative ladies at work.

Sunday Scrappin: A Celebration!

It's Sunday again and that means it's time for Sunday Scrappin'. This is a GREAT way to get inspired, meet other crafters and share your creations, so please drop over and join today!

I am so excited today to report that I have finally finished my first digital scrapbook album! I started digiscrapping in July 2007 and it has taken me eight months to complete this first album. The reason it has taken so long is that I tend to scrap in spurts. I will go crazy and do a bunch of pages and then not scrap for a few weeks. The long breaks are mostly due to little things like life getting in the way.

Anyway, without further ado, please join us on a journey through last Summer. Credits for these pages can be found at my old digiscrap blog: Digital Daydreams.
Enjoy!

My To-Dos for this week are to plan out some new projects. I've decided I want to have more than one album in the works from now on, because at times I got really bored with the same one all the time.

This week's bonus question is: How long could you go on crafting without buying new supplies? Well, that's the beauty of digital scrapping! There are so many freebies I could go on with those forever! Or, from the viewpoint of using my supplies once each as in traditional scrapping, I could probably do at least another album only using everything only once.

Be sure to stop by Sunday Scrappin' to see other creative endeavors!

Then Sings My Soul

I just came across a great new meme over at Signs, Mircales & Wonders. This one is easy and fun to play. You just share a song that has inspired you in some way. The song I chose is "Awesome God". It gives me goosebumps each time I hear it and can uplift me out of the deepest dispair. I love this video because it is so amazing to see so many people touched and moved by this song as well. You have to turn up the volume a bit to really hear this well. Enjoy!

Breaking It Down

It's Friday, and I am glad. It's been a good but stressful week. As I mentioned before, Aspen has had a tough time adjusting to sharing me with her sister. I figured out, through some trial and error this week that if we sleep in a little later, she wakes up in a much better mood and is far more flexible, so we adjusted our school schedule accordingly, starting later and ending later.

Ashley has been frustrated this week by her Language Arts, which is a step up in difficulty from what she is used to doing. Additionally, the way the material is presented is a little bit of a problem in that there is a lot of it within a few pages, and she tends to try to speed through it too quickly. She was working fairly independently at first, but today it became clear that I am going to need to be more involved in that.

My primary job as her teacher so far has been to break down the material into much smaller pieces than it is presented in her books and I have found this to be true in every subject. I've developed a method for doing this where I read the material first and break it down into sections that we read and discuss.

An example of this is Chapter 1 of her US History. The chapter itself is 13 pages long and covers Marco Polo's writings in Description of the World, all the way through the exploits of John Smith and the conditions at Jamestown. This chapter covers all this information in two sections. This is an enormous amount of information and covers over 200 years of key events.

If I were to have her simply read it and memorize facts and answer questions, she might know dates and names but she would be missing out on the real story. This history of the United States is rich, colorful, exciting and at times appalling. You can't capture the magnitude of any of it in typical text book chapters.

Instead, we read and discussed it in much smaller sections of a few paragraphs at a time. We discussed the impact Marco Polo's writings had on inspiring explorers, why they were searching for a sea route for trade with Asia, and so on. We were able to take the time to see how each explorer's path and discoveries led to the next and so on. I even learned things I didn't know before, such as the dramatic impact of the invention of movable type printing on the eventual settlement of the Americas. Ashley has learned much she didn't know about the role of religion and the Protestant Reformation in the founding of our country.

This, for me, is what teaching is all about. True teaching is involving the student in what they are learning, and guiding them to a true understanding of the material.

I believe that we are at the beginning of our own voyage of discovery, and I'm excited to begin each new day.

Discoveries

It's amazing what you learn about your child when you suddenly spend all day with them, interacting as their teacher. This is our second week of home schooling with Ashley, and I have uncovered a few interesting deficiencies in her education up to this point.

First of all, her research skills are weak. This came as a surprise to me because she always had a lot of projects that all involved fact-finding research and so forth. These were typically of the variety where she had a historical figure to read up on and then make a poster or write a report. These projects were based strictly on fact-finding research though, and not the variety where she had to dig any deeper.

I discovered this when I gave her an assignment in US History. Her mission was to look up two leaders of the Protestant Reformation and write a paper of a few paragraphs comparing the differences in what they believed. This was more subjective than the date-they-were-born, date-they-died and what-they-did-in-between-that-makes-us-study-them variety. For this assignment she had to read about them and go a little deeper, reading between the lines to draw conclusions about their beliefs.

At first, she was frustrated that she didn't find the information there in black and white for her to copy down. I was surprised at how much she complained about that fact too, I have to say. But, after a while she got the point that she had to figure some of it out on her own, and then she was quiet and involved. Her final paper met my requirements, although she didn't dig quite as deeply as I would have liked her too.

I am considering coming up with some sort of long-term project for her to work on, that can correlate with each unit we study so that she will get in some better practice at not only research, but at taking the facts she's given and thinking for herself a little more.

Another thing that happened really spoke volumes about the education she has had so far. Last week when we started I noticed she became frustrated when I prompted her to answer questions about the sections she had just finished reading. I asked her a semi-subjective question, again where she had to draw a conlusion from something she had read and she was at a loss as to how to answer. I thought this might be a comprehension issue, but when I gave her a few prods or started her on the right track, she could come up with the correct interpretation, so I think this goes back to the same issue as above, thinking for herself and digging deeper.

As far as I am concerned, researching, reading between the lines and digging deeper into the prited word goes way beyond her education. To me, this is a life skill and a vital one.

She also commented to me during a Language Arts lesson last week, after she had missed a few questions on a quiz, that she felt frustrated because she was used to being "one of the smartest in the class", and now she didn't feel that way. I felt like this was part of the same issue again. In a class of 30+ teens, a teacher can only delve so deeply into a subject. Time constraints as well as the behavior of the students (at least at Ashley's last school) are obstacles. Here at home, we can spend as much or as little time as we want on something. In school, a B on a quiz was fine in that it meant she had at least a basic grasp of the material. Here at home, a B tells me that there are a few things we need to go over, clarify or practice more. Once I explained that to her, she perked up and got busy and got an A on the very next quiz with no help from me.

Something else I discovered is that Ashley is not in any way ready for Algebra II. Our reviews of Algebra I have revealed huge portions of it that she has no memory of whatsoever. In light of this, we've decided to back-track and do Algebra I again. Since she took it in middle school, taking it again in high school will give her an extra math credit, and she will be stronger going forward in any other math that she studies.

All in all it's going well. I am enjoying it, in spite of the challenges of juggling teaching a teen and engaging a toddler at the same time. Ashley is enjoying it too and is relieved not to be getting up at 4:45 am to be miserable and not learn anything all day, then coming home to do hours of homework about things that she doesn't understand and isn't interested in.

This transition has been harder on Aspen. She is used to cuddling with me forever in the morning and having my undivided attention pretty much whenever she needs me throughout the day. She has been quite distressed over the loss of her Mommy monopoly. As a result, she has been unusually naughty and extremely clingy towards me on a constant basis. I've had to get firmer with my discipline, a change that also has her a little confused.

I've figured out that alternating segments of actual teaching with independant work for Ashley helps. Working together exclusively for more than about 15-20 minutes has been nearly impossible so far. Today was a good example. While Ashley worked independantly on Language Arts, Aspen and I cuddled on the couch and watched a few of her favorite TV programs. I was available to help answer questions with Ashley, as well as giving Aspen the reassurance that Mommy still loves her and values time with her.

After the morning session, lunch time had Aspen feeling a little bit more secure and she played on her own while we reviewed a little bit and made adjustments to our afternoon lesson plans. After lunch, we were able to go outside and I played with Aspen while also still being available to Ashley. I could go back and forth between them without Aspen acting up too much.

Once we finished Language Arts, we came back inside and Aspen and I once again cuddled and watched a few preschool shows while Ashley read the first unit in her Biology text. Then she joined us on the couch and I was able to discuss what she'd read with her and do some teaching.

It's not really ideal, in my opinion, but it does seem to be working. In a perfect world, Aspen would take a long afternoon nap and I could do the in-depth teaching then, but she outgrew that cycle months ago. The important thing is that neither girl feels neglected and that Ashley is learning and making progress, and I feel that she is.

All in all I feel very positive about this, and I am grateful to the Lord (and my hubby!) for giving us this opportunity.

Sudsy Adventures

When I was pregnant with Aspen, I had a small handmade soap business that I ran from home in my spare time. I made soaps and sold them on eBay. It was mostly a hobby, although I did make a few dollars here and there. I made enough to fund the hobby, which was really the point.

After Aspen was born I had a hard time keeping up with orders and all that goes along with selling on eBay, and without doing a little selling I couldn't really afford it so I packed all my supplies up and took a soaping break.

I've been really wanting to do some again lately and this weekend I couldn't resist any longer, so I dug out my supplies, used a little of my paypal money to get some materials and made a few samples of my most popular types from before.

The ones you see in the picture are samples, and they are a luxurious shea butter soap with chamomile added (white speckled ones) and Island Nights (blue), a fragrance I concocted on my own. It was one of my most popular, and has a musky, tropical scent. These types have a wonderful, thick lather and help sooth dry skin too.

If any of you folks reading this would like some samples, I'd be glad to send you some, free of charge. Right now I have both of the ones pictured available, just drop me an email or leave a comment.

Also, be sure to drop by A Day In the Life's Blogger Craft Club to see other talented crafters in action, and share your creative endeavors too!

Delicate Balance

This picture was taken on a rainy afternoon recently, after the rain had stopped but the dark clouds and chilly breeze still lingered. It was taken on the fully auto, closeup mode on my Nikon D40, which I am still learning to use. When I initially took the shot I didn't even see the water droplet between the stamens. I was drawn in by the color of the petals in the cloudy afternoon light and it wasn't until I got home and started playing with the composition that I noticed that little gem.

Aspen's Art

Aspen will be 3 on the 17th of March. Up until now, her drawings have consisted of scribbles, a few discernable shapes and the occasional crooked letter.

Last night, however, she asked for a pen and paper and sat in my lap intently drawing away while I read emails. After a little while she said "Look,Mommy this is you." and handed me the picture you see here. I was stunned, and delighted.

Can you see me?

Our Garden Grows!

Our little tray of seeds has grown into a full-fledged container garden now! Today we transplanted more baby plants into larger pots. We have pumpkin, strawberry, tomato, and onion plants as well as some newly sprouted cosmos and a sunflower! I'm very excited about this and delighted by all the things Aspen is learning. It's also become a special thing that we're sharing too.

We did our gardening in the garage today, because it is cold and very windy outside. I wanted to wait for a warmer day, but the poor little sprouts were looking pitiful in the seed tray. The little pumpkin plants were already pushing against the plastic top, so we just did it in the garage and then brought them all back in the house.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Exciting Contests for Students!

This week we've learned about two really exciting contests for students that are open to home school students. Here is some general information and link to each. Please check them out, as entering could be a wonderful and education experience for your student(s) and the prizes are exciting!

Google is currently holding a contest for K-12 students, including home schoolers, called Doodle For Google. The following information is from the Doodle 4 Google web page:

Welcome to Doodle 4 Google, a competition where we invite K-12 students to play around with our homepage logo and see what they come up with. This year we're inviting U.S. kids to join in the doodling fun, around the intriguing theme "What if...?"

At Google we believe in thinking big, and dreaming big, and we can't think of anything more important than encouraging students to do the same. So we hope you'll gather those art supplies and some 8.5x11 landscape paper and encourage your kids to enrich us all with their creative visions of our world, as it is and as it might be.

You'll find everything you need to get started here, including detailed lesson plans to incorporate the competition into your curricula. Registration closes on March 28th, and entries are due by April 12th. A panel of judges will select 40 finalist doodles, from which the public will help select a favorite to be featured on our homepage on May 22nd, 2008.

The information for this contest also includes leson plans for various grade levels to go along with the idea behind the contest!


Second, Sylvan Dell Publishing is holding a writing contest for home school students.

From a post on one of our local HS Groups:

Sylvan Dell Publishing is now accepting submissions for our
2nd annual Picture Book Writing Competition for Homeschooled Students!

Homeschooled students working at a high school level are invited to share
their creativity and writing skills in the world of children's literature.
The winning author will receive a $200 prize, and the manuscript will be
seriously considered for publication.

Sylvan Dell is accepting competition manuscripts between March 1 and March
31, 2008, by electronic submission only. Manuscripts should subtly convey an
educational theme through a warm, engaging story. Sylvan Dell's current
catalog focuses on teaching science and math through literature.

Doctor Aspen

Aspen's current favorite storybook is the old classic "Doctor Dan, The Bandage Man". If you're familiar with the story, you'll recall that Dan falls and gets a scratch at the beginning of the story, and his mother cares for his boo-boo, by "washing it clean, and bandaging it up" and that then it was "better than new". Throughout the rest of the story, Dan adopts his mother's methods and cares for boo-boos on his sister Carly's doll, Carly herself and their Dad, and earns his nickname as indicated in the story title.

Aspen has taken Dan's method to heart and adopted it as her own. This week she put it to use when a ceramic duck who lives on our front porch fell over and got broken. We glued him back together but he has a large boo-boo on the top of his head now, and she took it upon herself to care for him:

She washed it clean:



And bandaged it up:



And it was better than new!

Reflections of a Novice Teacher

Today was Day 3 of classes at Shore's End Academy, and the first day that we managed to get in a full day of schooling. On Monday we had to withdraw from public school and that process took longer than we anticipated so we didn't begin lessons until 1pm. On Tuesday, we had to take my oldest daughter, Kelly to get a uniform for her new job, and that also took longer than planned, so again we had only afternoon classes. Since we only had the Language Arts curriculum, that worked out fine. I really didn't want to overload Ashley with 4-5 hours of nothing but LA!

Today we began classes at 9:30 am (we're not early risers around here) and worked on Language Arts from then until noon. Lunch is from 12:00 to 1:00 since my hubby is home for lunch during that time and an hour gives Ashley a chance to eat and also to get up and move around, read email and gear up for the afternoon. At 1:00 today we started on Math, even though our curriculum materials haven't arrived yet. She'll be doing Algebra II but since she had Algebra I three years ago, we decided to review until the new materials get here. Not to mention that I had algebra more years ago than I care to say!

We found some great Algebra I Tests at Glencoe.com. She did the work on scratch paper, put in the answers and the website corrects her paper and gives her a score. Hints are also provided, which helped jog her memory. It's good that we reviewed, because we have both forgotten a lot about basic algebra! We'll continue to review until we feel stronger before we begin Algebra II.

Our Bob Jones US History from eBay arrived today so tomorrow we will begin that. I have just finished reading the first section of the first chapter and I have to say I am impressed! I already love the way Chrisitianity is taking a bigger role in the text than in typical secular history books. I've already learned things I never knew and I am only on page 9!

I'm a little concerned about getting her interested in History, as she's stated plainly that she finds it boring. I am going to have to involve her in discussions to keep her engaged and come up with some good enrichment activities. How I wish we still lived in Virginia now! We made many trips to Historic Jamestown when she was little and it really made history come alive for both my girls.

One thing I really love about Bob Jones history is that they call it Heritage Studies. I've always viewed history as a study of heritage, learning about past cultures and peoples and how the events of history came about, as opposed to just memorizing names and dates. I'm excited to be both presenting it as well as learning it again with Ashley.

Wordless Wednesday

The Joy of the Rain

We have had drought conditions here in North Carolina for months now, so the recent rain has been a blessing. I'm thinking as I sit here that I better type faster, as I can hear the thunder of our second front of the day as it approaches. Earlier today, when the first storm rolled over us, it brought a warm, gently falling rain that I allowed Aspen to play in. She had a fabulous time with a puddle on our sidewalk.

Gardening Update:Transplants!

Aspen's preschool gardening experience continues to get more and more fun and more educational. Today we transplanted a pumpkin sprout and a tiny watermelon plant from the seed trays into larger containers. She was very impressed by the length of the roots on the pumplin plant (so were we all!) and thought the transplant process was great fun. Here are the highlights:

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Today is our oldest daughter's nineteeth birthday. In this picture she's posing with her birthday gift, a stuffed Cheetah from Build-A-Bear. She's always loved stuffed animals and I don't see that ever changing.

It's really amazing to me when I consider it, because I was nineteen when she was born. All day today each time I thought about her I kept thinking about the fact that I was the age she is now when I became her mother. Amazing! I was so young and naive and had no clue what it really meant to be a mother, but I loved her and wanted her more than anything. Her Dad and I were very much in love and couldn't wait to be parents, and once she was here, although it was hard, we loved her and put our hearts into being parents.

I was nineteen and my hubby was twenty-one. We lived with my mother at the time, although we later moved in with his parents. Looking back through albums of Kelly's baby pictures today I was surprised by how much love and joy I saw on our faces, since I remember it now as a really hard time in our lives. But the joy of being parents and the unconditional love of our little one kept us going day by day.

This is a glimpse back in time, she is about two months old in this picture, and I often joke that her dismayed "I-have-a-headache" pose must have been because she knew her parents were clueless. I'm pretty sure she knew we loved her too, though.

Class is In Session

As I write this entry, Ashley is seated at the dining room table working on her first home school assignment. Today is the first day of the rest of her education, and we are both very excited.

We started off the day by withdrawing her from public high school. As we were walking around the school I found myself pondering the idea that home schoolers will lack proper socialization. I can't imagine, with the state of schools these days, how anyone can say that. As we moved from class to class, obtaining signatures from her teachers, I wondered why on Earth anyone would want their child to get their social training in this kind of environment.

I, for one don't want my children socialized in a place where there is the need for security guards to escort students to the bathroom during class periods, and anti-theft devices installed in the library. I can't imagine what type of education she would get in a school where the teachers can't control their classes and from time to time simply give up teaching a lesson because the students won't behave respectfully.

I don't blame the school entirely for the problems of course. Nor can the blame be placed entirely upon the students or their parents. The problems in schools today are merely symptoms of far bigger problems in society today. We are living in a world so in need of the love and guidance of our Lord, and all of the problems we see in our modern world are the result of our self-imposed seperation from God.

Crossword Puzzles

I just found the neatest website while searching for some materials for Ashley for our first week of home schooling. Since we don't have all of our curriculum materials yet, I am looking for activities related to the first topics we'll cover in Biology and US History.

I found some great Biology related crossword puzzles and a crossword generator at Armored Penguin. There are also other puzzle generators and some fun stuff to play around with.

Crossword and word search puzzles are a great way to introduce a unit or have students practice vocabulary!

Have fun.

The Birth of a School

It's official! Shore's End Academy is now recognized by the state of North Carolina as a home school. We received our acknoledgement from the state in the mail today, so on Monday we will be able to legally withdraw Ashley from public school and begin our home education. I am so excited I can barely express it in words. This is something I have longed for since she began kindergarten ten years ago.

Today we picked up our Language Arts curriculum from the local home school store and I am very pleased with it so far. As you'll recall from an earlier post, we chose Alpha Omega LIFEPAC Language Arts Grade 11. This is a complete course curriculum for 11th grade language arts and consists of workbooks and unit studies. It's very organized and the teacher's guide has tons of great suggestions for organization, encouraging good study habits and enrichment exercises. I'm anticipating about 4-5 weeks for us to complete it, as I'm supplementing the book work with extra writing assignments.

As an enrichment activity and writing practice, Ashley will be keeping a blog in which she'll use assignments I give her as topics for blog posts. I'll add the link here as soon as we have that up and running so you good folks can enjoy it as well.

We're beginning formal instruction on Monday after we get back from the school. We don't have the rest of her curriculum materials yet, but they have all been ordered. I am hoping they'll arrive by the end of the week so we can get into full swing with all of them. In the meantime I'm planning to search for some assignment materials online for Algebra, Biology and US History.

I'll keep you folks posted on how it all goes.

From The Desk Of Me

I've been tagged by A Work of the Heart. Here's the scoop:

What’s on your desk?

You can tell a lot about a person by the state of their desk and what they keep on it. So, share what’s on your desk. You can take pictures, take an inventory, or do both. Don’t have a desk? That’s okay, just give us a glimpse into the space where you pay bills, write letters, grade papers, study, or work on the computer.

When you’ve finished your photos or inventory, post it on your blog and tag five more people to do the same. Don’t forget to share the rules with those you tag and ask them to share their posts with you when they are done.

OK, here's a view of our whole dining room /office /classroom area. Yes, it looks very neat this morning. I just finished cleaning before I logged on and found I'd been tagged, otherwise it would have been quite messy.



Now, here's my desk, again the same story with neatness. Usually there is a pile of papers on it that needs attention, but this morning I sorted, filed and recycled. Yay!



Ok, here goes. Obviously the hub of my desk is my computer. I organized just about every aspect of our lives on it, which is probably not a good idea. The obnoxiously large speakers are about as old as dinosaurs but they have really good sound so we keep using them. Then there's my cordless phone. The two cell phones are my hubby's work phones. He's the maintenance supervisor of the apartment community we live in and is on-call this week, so he has his regular work phone and the on-call phone.

Now for the interesting stuff, lol. The pile on the left-hand side contains some of my favorite things. First, there's my well-used copy of the cookbook Fix It and Forget It: Feasting With Your Slow Cooker. Ladies, everyone should have a copy of this book! It's packed full of yummy, cheap and easy recipes for your crock pot. I cook out of this at least three times a week.

Next is my shiny new lesson plan book for Ashley's home schooling. I'm starting the first few week's plans this weekend as I wait for our paperwork to be finalized and the curriculum materials from eBay to roll in. I've always been fascinated by lesson plan books, so this will be fun for me.

Under that is my clipboard with various lists on it, usually works in progress. Right now there is my menu plan for the next two weeks, the grocery list to go with it and a list of this week's bills and expenses. Fun, fun.

Well, there you have it. Not terribly exciting, I know. I'm sure the top of my desk will be back to it's usual disarray by later today.