The Homeschool Literary Quarterly

I just received our homeschool co-op's newsletter. This link was included, and I thought some of my fellow homeschooling friends might be interested in it. From what I found on the site, in order for your child to submit a piece of writing for publication consideration, they must be homeschooled, able to type the submission themselves and write the work themselves. Check it out!

THE HOMESCHOOL LITERARY QUARTERLY

Shine the Light

Our church does great things. It's one of many, many reasons why we love serving and worshiping there. Shine the Light is one of those great things. Instead of asking the community to come to our church on Beggar's Night, volunteer families offer their homes as Shine the Light locations at which they literally light up their little part of the neighborhood with bright lights while also sharing the light of Jesus with their neighbors and friends. It's a fantastic idea. I don't know why we didn't get involved with this before this year. We had a blast!

We have never been big trick-or-treaters at our house. We usually do fall festivals instead. The last two years, we allowed our kids to do a little door-to-door begging, but this year, Eric really wanted us to do Shine the Light, and we all agreed to give it a try. After spending the evening passing out cotton candy, popcorn, glow sticks, treat bags, balloons and prizes for the game we had while blasting some of our favorite kid-approved music (Pure NRG, VeggieTales), our kids announced that they want to host Shine the Light every year!!! I was proud of them for this decision. They could have complained about missing the door-to-door thing, but they didn't. They both embraced this ministry opportunity and had a great time doing so!

It was a blessing to meet new people and have the chance to visit with our neighbors. Several people asked us if there was a charge for the popcorn and cotton candy. Nope. It's all provided by the church. It most definitely blessed our neighbors. It opened doors that we've been trying to open since moving here with a couple of our neighbors. For that we are eternally grateful!

Next year, we'll do this much better now that we know what we're doing. I can't tell you how grateful we are to Mike and Becky and their very helpful daughter, Gabby, who volunteered to help us tonight and probably filled 75 bags of cotton candy with me. The Smiths also showed up and started helping immediately. Their unexpected help was not just appreciated; it was needed! The Stones were with us as things were wrapping up, and Jamie helped Eric finish cleaning up. This is not a one-family ministry, which makes it all the more fun!

If you are a ministry leader, I would recommend this outreach to every church out there. Every child who visited received information about our church, and we had a blast serving our neighbors in this way. I was left with sticky, cotton candy coated hair, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. On this night, the McEvoys really did shine the light, and we all can't wait to do it again next year!

Motherhood

All moms and moms-to-be, take 3 minutes to watch this.

Ash Cave

This post is probably out of order. I need to blog about it so I have something to look back and read when I finally get around to scrapbooking about it. I am hopelessly behind, but I love scrapbooking, so I do my best and have fun. I'll have plenty of time to scrapbook during my grandma years (or so I hope).

So Ash Cave...WOW! I've seen pictures that others have posted of Old Man's Cave, and we fully intend to take that hike, but I wanted to do it with Lukas. He wasn't with us, so we ended up at the Ash Cave trail instead thinking that not as many people talked about it, so it must not be as big of a deal. WRONG! It was gorgeous! I felt slightly guilty that Lukas wasn't experiencing it with us, but I guess that will probably happen more and more often as the kids get older. 

The hike to the cave was actually super easy. It's mostly paved unless you decide to climb to the top (we did). If you aren't into hiking, you could still easily do this hike without the climb and enjoy the beauty of the cave. It's totally worth it! 

Ava really enjoyed exploring the cave. She loves being outdoors (just like her mama), and hiking and exploring the woods was a blast with her. She climbed and checked out every nook and cranny and even squeezed into a few places where no adult could. She loved being the center of attention for the day since her brother was spending the day with a friend at a birthday party. 

It was a glorious day. Perfect weather. My back didn't kill me. Yay! Good times. 

Here are a few pics for you to enjoy!

The Simple Woman's Daybook #67

Outside my window...is the tent in which we did much of our school work today.

I am thinking...about the many things we are doing in the next two weeks and how busy we're going to be.
 
I am thankful for... the blessing of life-long friendships.
 
I am wearing...blue capri pants and a coral polo, but I'm thinking about sweats or yoga pants instead.
 
I am remembering... when Lukas struggled to even spend a night with his grandparents. Time flies.

I am creating...a relaxed school day for my children since they are a little too tired for anything too stressful. It's great to be able to give them exactly what they need.

I am going... back to my eye specialist tomorrow. :( This visit wasn't planned but has become necessary.

I am reading... Her Daughter's Hope by Francine Rivers. I've waited for it on reserve at the library for over a month. So far, it's great!
 
I am hoping... for healing.
 
On my mind... how to help people who have known me my entire life accept me for who I am today rather than who I was 15 or even 20 years ago. Isn't it interesting how people can recognize their own growth but assume that your immaturity never goes away and thus expect the worst from you?

From the learning rooms...  Job, new reading flashcards which I still need to make, The Duchess Bakes a Cake, the LAST unit of Gamma and autumn crafts.

Noticing that... something needs to change immediately.
 
From the kitchen... apple spice muffins.

Around the house... Ava's bedroom is getting an overhaul.

One of my favorite things... hiking in the fall.
 
Praying for... my eye and mind to heal and my kids who have had to shoulder too much because of my lack of ability to think straight.

A verse to share... " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."  Galatians 5: 22-23

A lyric or two...

I need your mercy,
I need your grace,
I need your hand,
Leading the way.
Can't make it without you,
Not for one day,
I need your mercy,
I need your grace.






A few plans for the week... eye appointment, Shine the Light at our house on Thursday(stop by if you're local...cotton candy, treat bags, games and prizes!), SEEING MY SISTER AND FAM on Friday and Boo at the Zoo on Saturday (also with my sis and fam).

Bloop, Bloop

Do you have an awesome Christian radio station where you live? We have one here in Columbus that we listen to nearly every day. If you're ever driving through, tune into 104.9 The River (bloop, bloop...just go with me on this. It's at the end of their call number each time). It's refreshing, godly radio with NO TALK radio the way most Christian radio stations are. I'm not saying that talk radio is a negative thing; I actually used to enjoy listening to Focus on the Family and a few other shorter radio shows once in a while, but, most of the time, when you're taming the children in the car, music serves the purpose better. 104.9 always delivers, and Lukas enjoys it so much that he has started listening to it at home each morning too.

About a week and a half ago, Lukas became a little bit obsessed with winning a contest on The River. It started when "Lukas" was the name of the day for the River Name Game. We didn't win, though Eric and I both tried to call. Lukas was devastated. The prize for that contest was four tickets to Fort Rapids, an indoor water park here in Columbus. There were actually tears as a result of this great, devastating loss. He assumed we would win because, last spring, when "Ava" was the name of the day, we did actually win four tickets to the COSI extreme screen theater. He was pretty bummed about losing the Name Game.

After that, Lukas starting posting "Tomorrow's Answer Today" on a post-it note on the front of the radio so that we could call and try to win that game each morning. It was kind of making me laugh. Then, last Wednesday, we were listening at home in the afternoon when they announced they were playing, "Are You Smarter than a River Kid?" Lukas begged for the phone, and I consented (I have The River in my contacts list at this point). He called not realizing he had to actually have a question ready to stump them, so I fed him a question from that day's history lesson (something they told us happens all the time with this game). He asked them, "How tall is the Great Pyramid of Giza?" Of course, almost no one knows such an answer, so he won! He could not have been happier! He went to church on Wednesday and told everyone. 

Today was the day we got to use his prize. He won four tickets to today's Columbus Crew game followed by a Phil Stacey concert. He was super excited about the Crew game, and I was super excited about the concert. It was shaping up to be a great late afternoon/evening of relaxed family fun until Eric happened to stumble upon the information that the concert was moved to BEFORE the game. ACK! We were late by about 10 minutes, but we caught most of the concert and we were able to meet Phil Stacey and have our pic taken with him (which I can't post because we used a cheap disposable since the Crew website said I couldn't take my Canon...but LOTS of people had them. Grrrr). He was great to meet and talk to, and his concert was pretty good! Some artists are not as good live as they are on the air, but he absolutely was! I guess that's probably why he made it to the top 5 on American Idol. I will definitely see him again if I have the opportunity. 

I don't think I've ever had my photo taken with a celebrity even when I've had the opportunity (though I do kind of wish I hadn't passed up the opportunity to meet Candace Cameron Bure a few years ago). It's not usually my thing, but this man so impressed me when he was on Idol. He was always poised no matter what was thrown at him. His values shown through everything he did even before we knew for sure from the press that he was a believer. He's a family man and a Navy man. It was an honor to meet a man that so epitomizes what being a celebrity should be. It was pretty cool to have our photo taken with him.

Now, after this glorious family day given to us by The River, Eric is snuggling our children into bed. Lukas is exhausted after a weekend filled with activity. He went to the zoo with Grandma on Friday, spent all day and last night at a birthday party for a friend, got home this afternoon to nap(because he went to bed around 3 and had to get up to go to church with his friend this morning) and was awakened to rush to the concert early. He loved the game. Ava loved the concert. Eric liked both, and I was surprised that I enjoyed the game as much as I did (the concert was lovely, as I mentioned). It wasn't the game so much as the chance to be outdoors on a perfect fall day and enjoy time with my family while discovering major league soccer. It was pretty interesting. I would go again. I think I could maybe even become a fan.

I love days like this and weekends like this, but I'm tired! Today's busy day followed a Saturday of activity. Eric and I took Ava to Logan and did some hiking after hitting up the bulk food store (I seriously purchased 50 lbs of whole wheat flour among other things). I will sleep hard tonight, as I think everyone in our house will! I hope that you are also blessed with a night of exhausted slumber.

A Note from Ava

Let me preface this post by saying that Ava, thus far, does not love learning to read. Anytime I see a light breaking through, I rejoice. This evening as I was reading a chapter of The Magician's Nephew to the kids, Ava was coloring, or so I thought. She drew me a little picture, and, on the back, she wrote us this perfect little note...

Ava. Dad. Mom.

Dear mom and dad

Haw r u doowing tooday

u r the sun uv God and dadrs uv God.

Translation: 

Ava. Dad. Mom. (She starts everything she writes and every picture she gives us is labeled with this kind of thing where she just lists everyone's name that she can spell. Sometimes, Lukas is included or Nana or Papa because those are easy to spell too).

Dear Mom and Dad,

How are you doing today?

You are the sun of God and daughters of God.

Is this not the CUTEST????  I love that she wrote this sweet note and that she spelled everything the way she did because she SPELLED independently, a huge step for her! Yay for Ava!

The Simple Woman's Daybook #66

Outside my window...it is beginning to rain.

I am thinking...that you can't always control when someone misunderstands or over-reacts to a simple and kindly spoken word.
 
I am thankful for... supportive friends who show me grace and encourage me in my journey.
 
I am wearing...black sweats with a blue stripe and a blue sweatshirt.
 
I am remembering... marching band competitions on drizzly, cool fall days just like this one.

I am creating...an article.

I am going... to take my Dad to an eye appointment tomorrow.

I am reading... Truman's Aunt Farm by Jama Kim Rattigan.
 
I am hoping... to feel like myself again some day.
 
On my mind... anxiety and how to rely on the Father to help me get it under control.

From the learning rooms...  prime and composite numbers, adding by 2, new blends and sight words, pyramid building using sugar cubes, Sukkoth and swimming.

Noticing that... some of the best family moments happen when you aren't looking for them.
 
From the kitchen... pasta with butternut squash, turkey and browned butter, lemon poppy seed salad dressing, pineapple macadamia stuffing and apple crisp. And no, those things were NOT served together.

Around the house... my kitchen floor needs mopping.

One of my favorite things... listening to Eric teach science (mostly because it means that I don't have to teach my least favorite subject, but also because it provides him with great bonding time with the kids).
 
Praying for... myself. This anxiety issue is overwhelming right now.

A verse to share... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

A lyric or two...

I cast all my cares upon You.

I lay all of my burdens down at your feet.

And anytime, I don't know just what to do,

I will cast all my cares upon You.

A few plans for the week... Dad's appointment, piano, choir rehearsals, trips to the Y to swim/workout, a party for Lukas and an afternoon to myself when Grandma takes the kids to the zoo!

Polar Bears and Apples and Pumpkins, Oh my!

We had a busy end to our week, but it was a blessing. I am once again grateful for our zoo membership which my mother-in-law generously provides for us each year. We get so much use from it. 

On Thursday, I headed to the zoo for the afternoon with the kids and my dear friend, J'Nessa and her kids. It was a beautiful fall day for the zoo. The animals were active and fun to watch, though we didn't see even a quarter of the zoo on this trip. That's another blessing the membership provides. We go for as long as we want without worrying about seeing everything all in one trip. This time, we took our time seeing North America and the Polar Region. 

The kids had a great time with their friends all afternoon, though my children had a brief issue with making bad choices (this could be for another blog post). Don't you hate it when you think your kids are too old to behave in a certain way, and then they do it, and they decide to do it in public when you're with a friend? And why is it that no one else's kids ever do such a thing? Lest you think that my children are perfect since I'm always raving about them on my blog, I'll just leave it at this. They're not, and I was not pleased. It kind of rained on my zoo parade, but we had a lot of fun prior to that incident. Is it creative parenting or emotionally scarring to make your children walk through the zoo arm in arm because they can't seem to get along?

Back to the positive points...One of the polar bears was actually in the water, and we got to watch her swimming from underneath in the tunnel where I got several amazing photos!!! I am so hoping the bears are just as cooperative when we go to the zoo with my sister and family in a couple weeks!

Yesterday was also an ideal day. Eric didn't have to work (maybe at this point, I should say he didn't GET to work since he would REALLY like to have a full-time job), so we headed to Lynd's Fruit Farm in Pataskala. In an effort to save money, I decided I wanted to make my own applesauce this fall. I've wanted to make applesauce for a couple years, but it hasn't worked out thus far. This summer and fall, I've been trying to preserve as much fresh produce as we can afford in order to both provide better nutrition for our family and to save a buck. I'm all about frugality!

What I learned yesterday is that picking apples is super easy, and, with four people picking, you can have about 50 pounds of apples picked in about 10 minutes. Seriously. I thought we were going to be there for at least an hour or two. I'm not complaining, mind you. I guess I was remembering all those apples I picked from our very tall apple trees swarming with bees when I was a kid (and then peeled them so that Mom could can applesauce). That wasn't fun, but this was. 

We picked Fuji apples as that is all that was being picked this week. If you go to Lynd's and you decide to fill your bags of apples to the brim, don't bother getting creative and try carrying them between two people so that you can get more apples in the bags. The orchard does not view this as frugality. They will suggest that you fill another bag when they see your apples spilled all over your trunk and ask you to pay more for the bounty of apples which you have picked. We didn't realize that we weren't supposed to try to get as many apples into the bag as possible. Next year, we'll take a less thrifty approach if we return to Lynd's and just fill them as much as we are apparently supposed to.

After we were done with the apples, we headed to the pumpkin patch also owned by Lynd's. I don't know if they were just very, very picked-over or if we're spoiled by the pumpkins that we usually get at Renick's or if this was just a bad year for pumpkins. Whatever it was, we had a super hard time finding good pumpkins. We ended up finding what we needed and spending MUCH less than we usually spend at Renick's (again, yay for frugality!), so I won't complain about spending 45 minutes trying to find pumpkins that weren't either rotted or cracked.

We made some great family memories yesterday. I love our annual pumpkin patch trip, and this one was made even better by the apple picking. We may be eating nothing but apples and pumpkin this week as I spent a good portion of my grocery budget for this little adventure, but it's all worth it in the end to make good memories, right? Haha! I'm kidding, of course. We are eating apples in many ways...apple pancakes, apple crisp tomorrow and Ava is asking to eat apples ALL DAY LONG! She likes apples, but I think she is just completely excited that she's eating apples that she actually picked. I promise we'll be eating other things as well (baked apples? apple cobbler? apple pie?....heehee).

I hope that you're making memories with your family this fall. It's a great time of year for memory making and traditions! Pick some apples, pumpkins, pears or whatever floats your boat! Try something new. Make applesauce or pumpkin pie with fresh pumpkin. Your kids will love helping to create culinary masterpieces with the produce they helped pick! It's another memory making opportunity. Tomorrow? I'm certain Ava will join me in the kitchen where we will make a warm, bubbly apple crisp for the kick-off of our next family memory maker....our celebration of Sukkoth, which I'm sure you'll be able to read about later. 

Thanks for stopping by my blog! You are much appreciated!

The Simple Woman's Daybook #65

Outside my window...it is unreasonably hot for October.

I am thinking...that I should have better prepared myself mentally when I went to the eye specialist today.
 
I am thankful for... my eye specialist who is both amazingly skilled and compassionate, and I am also thankful for my friend, J'Nessa, who is willingly taking Ava to dance class tonight so that Eric can work since I can't drive until tomorrow.
 
I am wearing...white capri pants and a green top.
 
I am remembering... the mallard ducks that lived in my back yard when I was a little girl.

I am creating...a better recipe organizational system.

I am going... to pick apples this week. It keeps getting pushed-off, but this week? We're picking apples!

I am reading... Miss Katie's Rosewood by Michael Phillips, one of my favorite authors.
 
I am hoping... that I can see out of my left eye soon.
 
On my mind... failure. Sometimes, I have what can only be thought of as supreme motherhood failures, and I fear those moments will be forever etched into the minds of my children.

From the learning rooms...  Columbus Day, mummies, oil pastels, The Wild Horses of Sweetbriar, The Magician's Nephew and writing short stories.

Noticing that... Lukas really needs something more from us right now.
 
From the kitchen... maple pecan glazed pork loin, quinoa stuffed acorn squash, spinach quiche, pumpkin bread and kreplach...all new recipes which I tried over the weekend.

Around the house... there are lots of kid things. A Lincoln Log village and train in the living room, school books on the couch, pink and black striped socks in the dining room and black sweatpants on the other end of the couch. Two someones need to do a 5 minute living area recovery.

One of my favorite things... discovering new places to explore within our city. Yesterday, we adventured to Scioto Audoban Metropark.
 
Praying for... myself. I'm falling apart. Back/hip trouble. Head cold. Eye injection. I need some healing prayers, readers!

A verse to share... In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:4-6

A lyric or two...


Ring, ring-a-ling,
The Christmas bells are ringing,
Ring, ring-a-ling,
Good tidings bringing.
Ring, ring-a-ling,
The carolers are singing,
Everyone is ready to go.


(Hey, it's been stuck in my head for weeks, so I thought I would share it with you too.)


Here's a link to the musical I'm directing if you want to hear a clip: CLICK HERE.


A few plans for the week... all the normal stuff plus apple picking, pumpkin gathering, and either a trip to the zoo or swimming depending on both the condition of my back and the weather.

A picture thought...

 Ava wearing the united crowns of Ancient Egypt. I love that her eyes are shining in this photo. She's my beautiful little gal.

Cat Naming and Other Fluffy Friends

We officially named the new kitty. We decided to take the democratic approach and put it to a vote. The list of names from which we chose was endless. In the past, all the animals and even stuffed animals which Eric and I have named have had musical names. For example (you're going to laugh a little at us), we own the following:

• Gershwin the gigantic Teddy Bear which Eric bought for me the summer before we were married. The back story to this name is actually pretty funny. Eric and I spent a lot of time together "not" dating. My voice professor,  Dr. Bell, was very aware of my personal desire for this "not" dating phase to end. I really think he was having a blast with the entire situation. He had me sing a Gershwin song for my voice recital knowing that Eric would be there to listen. "I'd like to add his initial to my monogram. Tell me, where is the shepherd for this lost lamb..." You get the idea. Dr. Bell was grinning from ear to ear as I sang while Eric sat to my left in the recital hall, where I didn't dare look. When Eric gave me the bear, there was no other name to choose but Gershwin.

• Bob (Hope) the stuffed dog. He liked to travel with me in college, just like Bob Hope traveled to all our troops but my Bob is a little less patriotic. I took his photo in many, many host homes on Wind Ensemble tour.

• Sousa (John Philip) the Elephant. What better name for an elephant than to name him after the march king?

• Billie (Holiday) the Duck. You know this one is clever. Billie? A duck? I make myself laugh sometimes over these little ridiculous things.

• Bach the stuffed Dog. This one is Eric's gift from the kids. It was chosen because a dog barks and Bach sounds almost like bark. Get it?

And that's off the top of my head. We also had real pets with musical names. Arietta the miniature rex rabbit (don't ask) was our first pet. Our beloved shih tzu, Chopin, was our second. Harmony was the cat my dad brought home to me when I was 19. You see the pattern.

So having a cat named Mochi just didn't fit "us." Still, we wanted to give the kids a chance to help name our new feline friend, so we spent the past week taking everyone's suggestions into consideration.

Mozart

Gershwin (this was eliminated due to the presence of the stuffed bear. He might get jealous, you know.)

Oatmeal

Tchaikovsky

Mr. Mistoffelees

Aslan (We're currently reading the Narnia series)

Fluffy White (Eric really did have a cat with this name, and he was NOT a small child when he chose to name his non-white, non-fluffy cat "Fluffy White")

When it finally came down to decision making time, we narrowed it down to three names. Oatmeal, Tchaikovsky and Aslan. Three of the four of us were anti-Oatmeal, so that was out the door. We passed out ballots to each family member (I'm sure there is a great lesson in the democratic process here), and everyone wrote either "A" for Aslan or "T" for Tchaikovsky. 

Ava lost the vote. She was very sad, so, with that news, I told her that she could choose the color of his collar (though I nixed the idea of pink since this is my first male cat ever and I keep referring to him as a she as it is).

The winning name for our new kitty is...."Tchaikovsky." A mouthful, I know, but we're calling him Tchai. Actually, for some reason, it seems like you have to say it more than once as in, "Here kitty, kitty, Tchai, Tchai, Tchai!!!" I don't know why, but most of the time, I just HAVE to say it more than once. Heehee!

So we have a cat. And he is becoming friendly and more bold each and everyday. He is learning not to drink from our cups, and he is learning not to climb on the dining room table and counter tops. And...he is learning his new name. Tchai. Welcome to the family.

Yom Kippur

Today it felt like the Lord was present in our home, and I have no doubt that this was due to our inviting Him into our home during our observance of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. To learn more about this Biblical feast, I suggest googling it. There are many websites from Wikipedia to the Jewish Orthodox Union that will give you details about it as well as all of the other feasts mentioned in the Bible. 

If you've been following my blog, then you already know that we're learning about the Biblical feasts as part of our curriculum this year. I was extremely excited about this part of our studies, and I have, thus far, not been disappointed. We are all very much enjoying this journey to which the Lord has lead us. 

To some extent, these feasts can feel ritualistic, which is the opposite of what I believe the Lord wants for us. I believe He outlined these feasts to remind us to set aside time to honor Him as well as to benefit us. Rest is a big part of these celebrations. Americans don't rest enough, you know? We're always running around like crazy people, and people from other countries look at us like we're nuts. I think they may be right about that sometimes. Our children don't absolutely need to be involved in every activity. In fact, our children need to be home more, and, more than likely, so do most of us.

Back to Yom Kippur...we began our observance last night with a special meal, just like we would for any big holiday celebration. We laid out our best dishes and candles on a lovely table cloth. The kids especially love, love, LOVE having candlelight at the table. I think that is one thing that we'll be doing for more holidays in the future simply because it adds a little special flair (no pun intended) to the atmosphere. 

Eric began our meal by praying a prayer of blessing over each of the children, a Yom Kippur tradition, and then added his own special prayer of blessing over me as well. This is a beautiful thing for a husband to do. Husbands, if you are reading this, I encourage you to spend time praying for your wife and letting her know how much you appreciate her. I promise you that there are days, many, many days, when she does not feel appreciated. She will be blessed by your prayer and recognition of the time she spends caring for your family.

The only traditional recipe we understood that needed to be included in this meal is called kreplach, and you can find the recipe that we tried HERE.  I meshed two recipes together to simplify this. One recipe called for using refrigerated pie crust to make the dumplings. I recommend this approach unless you really love making your own pastry(as a from-scratch cook, I can say with all honesty that I do NOT enjoy making pie crust. Pillsbury is my special pie crust friend).

I find it interesting that as I research all the traditional ways of observing these Biblical feasts, there are two main themes that seem to be a part of each one. Worship and food!!!! We had a great time of family worship after our celebratory feast last night. We read the book of Jonah and sang a little. We talked about the fact that Yom Kippur traditionally involves a time of fasting, something that we did not believe our children were quite ready for in the traditional sense. Instead, we chose to do a non-traditional media fast. Lukas was especially struck by this because he realized right away that this meant giving up one of the 2 days he's allowed to play Wii each week. However, by the end of today, I found myself to be very proud of both kids. Neither asked to even turn on the radio. Neither complained about not being "allowed" to watch t.v. or play the Wii or get on the computer. They spent the day playing board games, building Lincoln log villages, running around outside (gorgeous weather!), reading and hanging-out with us. It was a fantastic day.

At the end of today, we had a symbolic ending of our fast by having a breakfast meal. I made quiche for the first time, not that this matters so much other than that it was fun for me and made everyone's taste buds happy. We read from the book of Psalms during our evening family devotional time and talked about how much money we saved during the time we didn't use any of our normal media outlets (someone is always on the computer, and the stereo is often playing in this house). The kids prepared their 10/10/10 offering for tomorrow's church service using money they have earned over the past few weeks as well as some other money they had saved. I love it when what is happening at church so completely supports what we're trying to teach our kids at home. Sacrifice, giving, and worship. Our children learned that lesson over the past month culminating with this weekend's late observance of Yom Kippur. There are few lessons which they will learn in life as valuable as this.

Our New Feline Friend

On Friday afternoon we were offered a cat for free, litter box included. The owners weren't allowed to keep him anymore for one reason or another, and a mutual friend suggested that we might take him. I've been the big hold-out in our family as far as getting a pet goes. I am NOT a dog person. I've always loved cats, but, for a while we thought I was allergic. After allergy testing, we discovered that my allergy is actually to dust mites, and, since I'll never manage to eliminate all the dust mites in my house anyway (because no one can), why not enjoy a cat?

So we picked up Mochi on Sunday. We're not entirely in love with his name, so we may change it(though this makes me feel slightly guilty). Right now, we're leaning toward Mozart because it's similar enough to Mochi that he may learn to answer to it quickly(Plus, it's SO us!). We're not sure yet. We'll keep you posted. ;)

So here's our new friend. Isn't he gorgeous?

The Simple Woman's Daybook #64

Outside my window...leaves are starting to turn brown and fall to the ground.

I am thinking...that children should never eat doughnuts for breakfast on school days.
 
I am thankful for... time spent with my important people.
 
I am wearing... brown yoga pants, green shirt and fuzzy warm slipper socks.
 
I am remembering... myself. Someday I'll feel like that person again.

I am creating... choreography. Again.

I am going... to heal. to improve. to get there.

I am reading... One Tuesday Morning by Karen Kingsbury because I must love to punish myself. I hope to finish it before I sleep.
 
I am hoping... for better results tomorrow or a better path.
 
On my mind... figuring out the most important parts of school and letting go of some of the lesser important parts.

From the learning rooms...  Ancient Egypt, multiplying into the millions, adding +1, reading words with suffixes like "ed" and "ing," pyramids, The Hardy Boys and The Bee Tree (read it. Funny book that's filled with a good lesson).

Noticing that... I don't function well with fog in my brain,and, lately, there almost always seems to be fog in my brain.
 
From the kitchen... Moroccan stew is simmering on the stove and smelling fantastic!

Around the house... there is a cat hiding.

One of my favorite things... researching healthy recipes and nutrition.
 
Praying for... my hip and back. Dear readers, please pray for me again. I'm in a lot of pain, and I just don't have time for this right now.

A verse to share... Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:12-13




A lyric or two...

Fairest Lord Jesus
Ruler of all nature
Oh thou of God and man the Son
Thee will I cherish
Thee will I honor
Thou my soul's glory, joy and crown.


A few plans for the week... dance, piano, rehearsals (does this sound familiar?), possibly a football game and a family birthday gathering for my in-laws.

A picture thought... 

A Fair Journey

The first crisp leaves crunch under your feet. Bright lights flash everywhere you look. Children dressed in cowboy boots, black pants and white button down shirts dash around from barn to barn dragging goats, sheep, horses, cows.... 

Something is spinning and whirring and bouncing everywhere you look. 

A band plays. There is screaming. Singing. Shouting. "Every kid is a winner!" 

Cheap prizes which every child thinks they must have are hanging everywhere. Gold fish. Bunnies. Stuffed animals filled with styrofoam pellets.

The smell of hay. Leaves. Animals. DiRusso's Italian sausages. Gyros. Onion rings. Candy apples. Taffy. Elephant toes. Funnel cake. Cotton candy. Pizza. Corn dogs. Fresh mud. It all wafts together in glorious unity.

High school students wear neon shoes, skinny jeans and varsity jackets while dashing up and down the midway. A boy holds a special girl's hand for the first time. They steal a kiss behind the Ferris wheel.

Tractors work so hard  that you can hear them above the noise of the spinning rides. Horses gallop around the track whilst someone details their every move. A rodeo. A concert. Politicians. 4-H. FFA. Schools. Crafts. Crops. The best of everything is everywhere.

Drizzle. Rain. Cold. Every year.

Smiles. Laughter.

Friends meet like they have in this place for decades. Old friends return to reconnect in this youthful place,  virtually unchanged through the decades. Time hasn't changed this place. Everything is in the same place as if time has stood still.

The same sights.

The same sounds. 

The same smells.

The same faces.

And that's why I love it.