Little mirrors

Katt's Cradle

2009-05-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have been reading the book Katt's Cradle. I don't know if it is because the upcoming birth is at the forefront of my mind or not, but so far I am bored. I am in chapter 13 and still feel like the book has not really started yet.

It is a story of 4 pastor wives that all live in the same town and become great friends.

I do like that it touches on various things that pastor and ministry wives must deal with that few parishioners would ever even think of.

The ladies drive out of their way to meet at a little cafe, so that they can relate with one another, lay the cards on the table, and kick back for a few minutes.

Different characters in the book have issues that they must deal with. I know that people don't mean to, but sometimes clergy members assume that everything is fine in the pastor's life, because after all he is the pastor.

I can relate to different things about the characters so it isn't like the authors make the characters these outlandish people. They are in fact very realistic.

Homeschooling on pennies

2009-02-12T09:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I mentioned to a friend that I had to go pick up a math book from another friend. I also mentioned that I was excited because I was going to order some new curriculum.
She commented that that isn't easy to do when you have little money. I nodded in agreement and said, "I know what you mean. But you can use various resources to get lessons."

So I decided to make a list of the various resources that I am using or have used. I know there are many more out there, but I can't remember everything. ;-)

I use the internet to either get lessons, print worksheets, or get a different approach to explaining a lesson.

Here are some sites in no order of grade, importance, or topic. I'll let you figure that out. hehehe

http://www.mathslice.com/ collection of various math related stuff

http://www.theideabox.com/ arts and crafts a bit hard to get around, but plethora of things

http://www.learningpage.com/ for younger grades

http://www.aaamath.com/ math stuff. drill work. explanations

http://www.google.com/

http://www.home-school-inc.com/ free online planner (they offer a membership for other stuff, but I don't know anything about it, 'cause I only use the planner)

http://www.starfall.com/ Phonics, letter recognition, beginning reading.

http://www.internet4classrooms.com/k12links.htm links to various sites based on grade, subject and lesson. Some links don't work or require membership, but worth the occasionally hiccup
http://www.teachingtime.co.uk/draggames/sthec1.html a fun way to learn how to tell time

http://www.amblesideonline.org/ Charlotte Mason learnig style. Even of you don't use the Charlotte Mason style to teach, I suggest checking out the book list.

http://www.sonlight.com/ I don't use this curriculum. I pay a small price for them to send me a catalog and then use it to gather great books to read.

http://www.iknowthat.com/com fun educational games for your kids to play. There is more available if you become a member

http://yucky.discovery.com/flash/ because kids like gross stuff

http://www.answersingenesis.org/kids

http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/index.html Nasa for students

http://www.wikipedia.org/

It doesn't have to be brand new to still be of use--

http://www.freecycle.org/ freecyle is a great place to look for various things (not just homeschool) for free. Someone might have what you are looking for just sitting on a shelf. Go ahead and ask. Also a great way to declutter. Some one might be looking for something you have.

http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool/ If you are looking for something, they might have it.

http://www.amazon.com/

http://www.ebay.com/

Other stuff not on the internet but useful--

use your library. from dvds to books.
Borrow or swap material.
Join a co-op, or local homeschool group.
4-H

http://chfweb.net/ the best homeschool network out there.

A deal in a bag

2008-09-13T11:08:00.000-07:00

Being how the summer months are flittering away and the cooler weather isn't far off. I decided that it was time get some things for the upcoming season.

Now, with a family of 8 we can't rightly afford to be shopping for $150 outfits and nowadays even the simple department store like JC Penny is still pricey.

Well, lucky me.

Goodwill is trying to make room for the up coming season, so they decide to have a bag sale. I make sure that I am there.

With kids in tow we perused the racks in search of outfits.

We came home with some nice clothes that looked like they had never been worn. WooHoo!
I picked up a bagful of clothes for 4 of my children and myself for just $25. That is less than what one outfit would cost you at a discount department store like Wal-mart or Target.

God is to be praised not blamed

2008-08-03T05:09:00.000-07:00

I was talking with my mom yesterday.

The topic came up regarding my grandma. My grandma is 98 years old and various age-issues have taken their toll in her life (i.e: osteoporosis, arthritis, dementia, etc.)

About a month ago my grandma was admitted into the hospital and had to have a blood transfusion. As is expected this left her very frail. When my folks received the phone call they thought they would have to shorten their vacation to make proper arrangements.

Well, my grandma is back up to par. Complaining about this and that, listening to the latest gossip and confusing various events.

Now my mom mentioned that when my grandma is in such frail condition that she gets upset with God. This led to her commenting about how God allowed for bad things to happen.

I told her that she can not blame God for man's action and their evil. It is man's sin that permits bad things to happen. You can't blame God for that.

God did not make me drive over to the Starbuck's to grab a pastry, which led to me getting caught in traffic, which led to me being 5 minutes late for work. Do you really think my boss is going to accept that God made me get a pastry as reasoning for why I am late?

It might sound funny when looked at that way, but that is what we are implying when we choose to blame God for such silly things that are clearly in the hands of man.

She then mentioned how beautiful the sunsets and the mountains are. I told her that those she can "blame" God for that because He is the Creator.

(sidenote, my mom claims to believe in "God" but I don't think she is a Christian. Especially since she denies the deity of Christ)

Too busy having fun

2008-07-27T18:46:00.000-07:00

This blog is a very sporadic blog. I basically forgot that I had it here.

I've just been busy having fun and spending time with my family and friends.

So this blog will probably wither away.

"Authentic" cuisine

2008-07-18T09:03:00.000-07:00

Upon moving from Colorado to Indiana nearly two years ago, we quickly discovered something.

Indiana doesn't know what green chili is!

We dined at various Mexican restaurants and none of them even had green chili on the menu.

How can this be? How can an "authentic" Mexican restaurant NOT serve green chili?

And why do they serve the burrito plain without anything on it?

The people that work the Goshen restaurants are of Mexican descent. The owners of the restaurants in Yuma were born in Mexico (can't get more authentic than that), but their version of a burrito is definitely different.

The reason is the same reason why when you order a pizza in New York you are going to get a flat, greasy, slice of "pie" that you have to fold in half, verses ordering a pizza in Chicago that is so thick you might as well grab a knife and fork. It's still an American pizza, but it's very different.

You see, it is a regional thing. Indiana's Mexican restaurants and Colorado's Mexican restaurant both serve authentic Mexican food. The difference is the fact that the people who created those dishes are from different areas.

Just as New York pizza is different from Chicago pizza, someone from Chihuahua is going to make their burrito dish differently than someone from Puebla. Both are authentic!

I am not saying that it isn't Mexican food, just that it is not the same as what I am used to.

Happy Leap Day!!

2008-03-02T05:05:00.000-08:00

I love homeschool. While other children were walking to school on a cold winter morning my kids were getting ready for a Leap Day Celebration.

We started out the morning with Leap-cakes
I made pancakes and then they leaped out of the pan onto the plates. My son got a kick out of his, because it hit the table and then leaped onto his plate.

We decided to wear our pjs all day, so after breakfast my son went upstairs to change back into his pajamas.

Then we got down to business and learned about the science, history and math of Leap Day.

The kids had fun trying to figure out how a lady near 50 has only had 12 birthdays.

We also learned that in 1900 there was no leap year. (ok maybe the kids didn't get that part).

We even made a game. Even my nearly 2yr old had a blast shouting, "leap day!" If I can figure it out, I will put up the video.

Then they made a poem.

We had dessert, followed by dinner, and then more dessert.

The kids went spent the day in their pjs, learned history, science, language arts, baked a cake, and had PE.

We finished the day with a "leap-over" They all got to stay up late and sleep downstairs.

Oh, something else I discovered today. One of our daughters is a Leap Year baby.

Why are we surprised when sinners sin?

2008-02-15T18:20:00.000-08:00

There are days I hate looking at the news.
Bombing here, stabbing there, shooting over there.

I think of something that a gal on CHFweb said, "Why are we surprised when sinners sin?" It is true and I often forget it.

And when I see news like the latest massacres I think to myself, "More people than that will legally be murder in 1 hour. Many will go home tonight having lost their kin, and worse yet is that someone else will go home with no care that there is blood on his/her hands."

More people will be slaughtered today than all that died in the 9/11 attacks. Yet does the nation mourn? Do we sit glued to our tvs waiting for the latest statistic? Do we wait for the news of a survivor?

Do people rejoice when the sidewalk counselors talk to a young lady and months later she gives birth to a beautiful child?

How can they say that it is a women's right to choose to kill her child and say that it not ok for a solider to defend his base? How can one support the murder of an innocent child?

Why do they say that it is ok for nearly 4 thousand children to be murdered today, but mourn when someone murders 3?

Wedding dresses for toothpicks

2008-01-25T09:01:00.000-08:00

My sister recently went looking for wedding dresses. I have decided that the folks out there that design wedding dresses have no idea what people really look like. She reported back that the largest size she could find in the dress she was looking for was a size 8.

Now my sister stands near 6ft. The dress she was looking at was designed for tall ladies. What we didn't realize was that it was designed for freakishly skinny people. I can't even think of a person taller than me that is also skinnier than me.
I consider myself a normal figure (some would say that I am skinny) but I can assure you that I can not squeeze myself into a size 8 without showing some "curves" that I would rather not reveal if you KWIM.

All in a day's work

2008-01-24T18:07:00.000-08:00

This is a "typical" 24 hr day

2:40am feed baby
Sometime after 3:10am fall back to sleep
5:30 C can't sleep and crawl in next to me
6:10 Feed baby, T got scared and climbs into bed as well
6:45 unwilling get out of bed
7:00 cat has no food (explains why she was so annoying this morning) feed cat
7:05 decide to make muffins and preheat oven
7:07 search for grater
7:15 see husband off to work
7:16 husband needs car key and coat (weather is much cooler than we thought).
7:17 husband has coat and keys and is off to work.
7:20 return to making muffins
7:24 find recipe. Discover that muffins take 1 hour to cook.
7:30 put a hold on making muffins and put waffles into toaster oven.
7:35 put laundry in dryer
8:30 wake up son
8:38 change diaper start bath for daughter
9:00 get daughter out of bath and help her get dressed
9:10 feed baby while surfing net. Put up a few posts
9:30 change diaper and outfit
9:40 search house for shoes and socks
9:55 coats
10:05 leave house for a walk
10:45 return from walk put tea on
11:30 sweep floor start math
11:45 get laundry and fold
12:20 finish math, start lunch prep
12:25 change diaper, feed baby
12:45 eat lunch
1:05 history
2:45 clean bedrooms
3:45 feed baby
4:15 change baby's outfit
5:30 start dinner
5:35 start cleaning living room
5:40 wash dishes
5:50 check on dinner and living room progress
6:00 feed baby
6:30 change baby and T
6:45 serve dinner
7:00 eat
7:40 show by son
8:00 bath for daughter
8:10 pick up toys
8:20 make daughters' beds
8:25 help kids get ready for bed, change baby
8:50 change baby again
9:10 package books
10:20 few minutes to review a site
10:30 get ready for bed
10:35 bed
12:25 feed baby
4:00 feed baby
6:40 wake up
6:55 change baby
7:00 feed baby
7:15 take husband to work
wash dishes
prepare breakfast
8:30 dress daughters
do load of wash

Helping hands

2008-01-16T12:02:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my toddler had a fever, so she was glued to my lap or hip for most of the day.

Well, it is not that easy to wash dishes or cook with a cranky child. I tried to wash up some dishes all the while she stood next to me crying.

Finally my nerves had been stretched to the point that they were about to spring and I went to sit down with her in my lap. About this time my baby starts to fuss that she is hungry. So now I have 2 little girls that are not one bit happy.

My oldest daughter starts washing up the dishes and my son starts fixing dinner. (my son had already asked to fix the dinner).

Meanwhile, I sat down with one daughter to my side (as close to being on my lap as she could get), fed the baby, and had some tea.

I am grateful to my children for helping me out when I needed it. (I had better let them know that).

Snow + Thunderstorms = Floding

2008-01-13T04:59:00.001-08:00

Between New Year's Eve and New Year's day we received just over a foot of snow. The next few days remained in the teens and low 20's. Then on the 7th it was 63; that's 30 degrees above normal.

As if that wasn't strange enough, we had a thunderstorm which brought over 2" inches of rain in one night.

Well, the melting snow and rain was a little more than the nearby Elkhart river could handle.

I guess the river never did actually crest, but a great majority of the park was underwater. The flood water flowed across the street covering the parking lot.

I understand that Kroger never did close, but they sure had few customers since no one could really get to the store very well.

Here is a video of the river and the park during the flood. As you can see, the river and park have merged. You can even still see the piles of snow that had been plowed up the week previous.

Africa?

2008-01-03T09:25:00.000-08:00

The kids received Apples to Apples for Christmas. It is a very fun game for a wide range of ages and you can play with a small group or large group.
Each player gets 5 red apple cards (generally nouns) the judge draws a green apple card (an adjective) and places it face up on the table. Then the other players place a red card face down that they feel the green card describes. Ex: green card is soft the red cards are pillow, snowflake, and velvet. The judge then picks up the red cards and chooses the one that he feels is best. The prson who had the card wins the round and get the green card. The hand is over and the next person is judge. The game continues this way until someone has 4 green apples.

Now you understand the game a little.

We were playing this game with our oldest on New Year's day, and it was crunch time. My son was the judge and he put down sticky. Alright, I think. I put down the card toasted marshmallows Finally, I can get rid of that card. I figure I have this hand won.
Son turn the cards over eating breakfast, toasted marshmallows, and Africa.

I don't know about your house, but breakfast is sticky 97% of the time in our family. Maybe this won't be as easy as I thought.

But then my husband and I notice the other card in play, and it has us a bit puzzled. "Africa?", we both question.

"Well, parts of Africa might be sticky" says our son.

To which our daughter comments about how humidity and even hot, dry weather can make one quit sticky.

I try to get back to the winning card by stating that marshmallows are very sticky.

Then the judge announces his decision, "I think Africa is sticky." and my daughter wins the card.

Now I imagine that there is a lesson to be learned here somewhere, but I am not sure what it is.
Maybe that sometimes what seems silly makes perfect and logical sense to a child.

A homeschool family

2007-12-17T15:52:00.000-08:00

a lady over at CHFWeb.net shared this and I had to pass it on

A homeschool family

Magical snow

2007-12-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

What is it about snow that sends you to a magical land?
There are songs about it. Winter Wonderland, White Christmas, Let it Snow, etc.
I love watching the snow fall and seeing it transform the ordinary into a different landscape.

This weekend we got a nice snowfall. We sat inside and watched the snow float down. Then my kids and husband went outside and played in the snow. What fun they had, and what fun I had watching them.

I would have been outside as well , but decided to take advantage of the time and started cleaning out the toy box. For some reason it is awfully hard to clean out the toy box when you have a preschooler and toddler "helping" you.

I went out with them today and played with them. They slid down one mound, caved in a tunnel, and built another tunnel. I attempted to start a snowman, but the little girl that was so excited to go outside was now ready to go inside. So in we went.

Now driving in the stuff is a whole other matter. Usually it is @#$%. And there is always the stupid young adult (in most cases) that thinks he can drive in this stuff. This was quite humorous last year when a guy attempted to pass us on 119 and wound up spinning into a field.

But in a few days it will lose its magic and will be just snow. That is always sad. When it has all been stomped on. When the plows have made a huge pile that turns into this blackened glacier in the parking lot. When it somehow goes from being snow to being that "white stuff"

Do you see what I'm saying?

2007-12-06T09:33:00.000-08:00

My mom is hard of hearing, so much of what she "hears" in a conversation is lip read. When I was younger and I didn't want my mom to fully hear what I had to say, I would subconsciously turn my head just a bit or put my hand/finger over my mouth.
I mention this because I have this crazy idea that if you are having a conversation with some one that you should look at the person you are conversing with. I always thought it was a common courtesy, but maybe it is just something that was rare in my family since my mom lip reads.
It really erks me when I am speaking with someone and their eyes drift away or they start doing something. So much so, that I will often just stop talking (but that could also be because my mom would miss part of the conversation if she looked away).

When my children need my undivided attention that is what they get. I stop what I am doing and look at them.
When I need to emphasize something to them I get down to eye level with them and look them in the eye when I talk to them. (this was really funny when my daughter squatted down as well).

I think it is a matter of respect. What your child has to say is important (to them it is) and you need to show them that they matter to you. The same goes for you when you need to share something with your child, speak with them eye to eye so they know you are on the same level.

Now there are of course times when you are not on the same level. Times when your child needs to know that you are the parent, the authority. At those times you do indeed literally speak down to your child. But even then, you need to look at your child. If you aren't willing to give your child your undivided attention on the matter, then why do you think they should care what you have to say? Those are also times when your child needs to be looking at you. How can you be assured that they see what you are saying if their attention is elsewhere?

Also, I think that somewhere it was mentioned that a high percentage of what you are saying is displayed via body language and not so much your words. How is one to pick up on the body language of the conversation is they aren't looking at it? This is essential.
It is watching those body clues that let you know that when your child say, "I'm fine.", you are able to see that they aren't fine and they are on the verge of tears.

We ate and there is still food in the fridge

2007-11-23T19:08:00.001-08:00

Well it is nearly two week since I made mention of my desire to work on my grocery bill. Needless to say, we have been to the store and have eaten a few meals since then.
I have been keeping track of our dinners and getting the best estimation of how much the total meal cost along with how much each serving is.
This week we had Thanksgiving. Now i could use this as an excuse and say something like, "this was an off week it doesn't count", but it would be just that, an excuse. Because in the real world there is never a "normal" week.

So even with Thanksgiving (we had steak) we came to about........$55 for the week feeding 7 people. About $1.5 a person per day.

Aside from Thanksgiving which I have estimated at costing $25, the most expensive meal was smothered burritos (to call them "wet" still seems wrong). If I had made the beans myself and made the sauce, we would have saved $5 off that meal.

$5 is not much but when you consider that could be an entire meal, than it is much.

We did try a breakfast dish bleack!!! It wasn't awful, but definitely was not great and will not be made again.

I still have to make up the granola.

There goes the sun, little darling

2007-11-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

This week is suppose to rain all week. That drizzle rain.

It is 3 in the afternoon and I have the lights on because the sun has taken a siesta.

Which just reminds me of what time of year it is. It is that time of year when one can go for days without seeing the sun. Many times you can't even make out the halo through the clouds.

Obviously it is there because it isn't pitch black out; more like the shade of gray you have at twilight. I guess I just like to see a blue sky more than once a week.

Who ate my food?

2007-11-10T14:12:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy cooking. The smells of it, the savory taste, the creativity, and the satisfication that comes from putting that delicious meal on the table.

But there is one thing I don't like about cooking. Ok, so there are a couple things, but that is beside the point right now. I dislike going shopping.
I don't like to spend an hour in the store and then having to unload the groceries. But that isn't even what really gets me.
I don't like going shopping, spending atleast $100, and then opening the fridge a few days later and wondering where all that food went. It frustrates me to go to fix a meal only to discover the ingredient that I need isn't there.
It also frustrates me because, contrary to the belief of many college students, one cannot survive on Ramen and mac 'n cheese.
I want to provided my family meals that are

* healthy
* satisfying
* fulfilling
* interesting/variety (in other words I am not a fan of Monday-night-meatloaf, and Friday-night-fish)
* and cost worthy

That is to say that I don't want to feed my family cheap meals. Because, in my opinion, what you save on the grocery bill you are gonna wind up paying 2x as much on the doctor bill. Prepackaged and processed foods have so much junk in them that you would get more nutrtion gnawing on a twig. Well now I am sidetracking from my original intent of this blog.

I want to provide my family good meals, but don't want to spend lotsa money every week.

We shop mainly at 2 stores. One store because we like the quality of the food and because they have point clubs. (my husband saved $0.65 a gallon off his last tank of gas because of the gas club). The other because it is 2 blocks down the street and their paper products are often cheaper.

I am wondering if I can cut atleast 5% off our grocery bill. With the helps of MOMYS & CHFweb, a keen eye, a bit more work in the kitchen,and maybe a pair of scissors to cut some coupons, I hope to atleast have a good start.

This week my husband gets paid so we will be heading to the store. I know that we can't stock pile, so it will give us a good idea of what we normally spend on groceries. I know this isn't going to be some overnight sucess story, but this is the start; this Saturday.

So this week I am going to sit down and make a meal plan, I hope to have atleast 10 meals. I intend to get the imput from my family on this, but last time I tried this they didn't give me much to work with. I intend to have the meal plan done by noon on Thursday. From there I will make a shopping list.

I am hoping that by sticking to the plan and list that we can avoid those, "honey, can you get this from the store" trips. For one thing it is time consuming for my husband. Another thing is that it is money that floats away from us. I don't think of that spending when I think of how much I spent on groceries.

We are also going to drastically reduce the amount of boxed cereal that we use. I would venture to say that we use nearly a quart of milk a day on that fluff. And since it is fluff, my kids can easily devour a box or two a week. So if we can change that meal around a bit, I'm thinking we can save $5/week

It's not what you say, it's how you say it.

2007-11-08T05:26:00.000-08:00

Oh, if I could have a dollar for the many times my mom said that to me.

When you are speaking to your children what your voice and body tone are saying needs to be in agreement with what your words say.

Ever watch 3 Men & a Baby? (well I guess I'm dating myself now) There is a scene where Tom Selleck is reading a sports magazine to the baby. Steve Guttenburg comes in and says something to the effect of him reading a baby a sports magazine vs. a baby book.

Tom's response is along the lines of the famous, "It's not what you say, it's how you say it." The baby was more interested in the sing-song way he was reading, the calmness of his voice and being in the comfort of his strong arms.

There are some voices that kids need to be able to distinguish and you need to use in the right circumstances.

Here are some various voices
*I mean business.
*DANGER stop right now!
*wuvy-duvy goo-goo
*pure sarcasm
*praise
*everything is fine, normal, calm
*sickening sweet
*bark
*condescending---"the bully"

No good parent should use only one of those voices, but some seem to be stuck in a rut. Rarely is that rut the "everything is fine/normal" voice.

Don't use your sickening sweet voice when your kid is about to bolt across the parking lot. You use your DANGER voice and you let your child see the look of panic in your body language. That way your child gets a clear message (hopefully quickly) that running in a busy parking lot is not a good idea.

Likewise, you shouldn't be using your I mean business voice when everything is fine. Children need to have security from you. If you are always rough around the edges, they aren't going to know when everything is fine, and nobody wants to hug sandpaper.

Another thing I have noticed way too often is the use of the pure sarcasm voice improperly. When your child is misbehaving is not the time to be sarcastic folks! It is time to bring out the I mean business voice. Ugh! No wonder that child is driving you crazy. If your body and voice are being silly, then your child is gonna just keep on joking around with you.

One that I wish I saw more of is praise. Kids need to know when they did something good. They need to be told when they excel.

And the one that should be marked off the list is the bully. Get your attitude straight, don't take it out on your children. Seriously, if you need to be condescending to your children then you need a time out.

So make sure that what you say with your words is in line with what you say with your voice and body.

There is a difference between "Come down stairs" & "Come down stairs". One is coming down stairs for ice cream and the other is for a lecture.