I would post a snapshot of my kitchen table if it weren’t so pathetic. It does not look like the organized, tidy office space of an efficient home educator. There are receipts from the first week of January in a stack next to the laptop. We have yet to close out December’s budget - there are too many loose ends floating around to be sure of our exact number and both Tim and are dreading the work of figuring it all out. I’m sure we didn’t overspend after all our hard work and determination to stick to the budget.

Wow, I almost said that with a straight face.

Can you say “DENIAL!”

.

A picture of our street, three days before Christmas.

There’s a Vikings hat in the center of the table next to a birthday card. My birthday is in July so I’m not sure how that card found its way among all the Christmas letters. Just another sterling example of the pat rack motto we live by. A deck of cards is shoved to one side, the last remnant of our New Year’s parties. My new Nutrimill is at the head of the table, waiting patiently for me to mill some wheat.

Did I mention I was blessed with a new grain mill for Christmas??? Oh, yes!! Doing the happy dance here. I’m still in shock over the HUGE gift.

Can I ignore the start of school and just grind wheat and make bread all day? My friends and neighbors, hoping for a loaf of bread, would all shout a resounding ‘yes!’

At the other end of the table is my new, fantastic cookbook from my aunt. It’s the all-new edition of The New Best Recipe by Cooks Illustrated.

I am completely in love with this cookbook. Can I say that about a cookbook? Is that getting too personal? I’ve spent hours pouring over the pages, reading, planning and making notations. I’ve already tried the hearty beef stew and mashed potatoes. Tomorrow I hope to make the pot roast dinner. All the BEST recipes with detail and precision that can’t be beat. You can imagine Tim’s delight as I cart this 1000 page book off to read before bed. It takes up practically half the bed.

We had enough snow for Christmas to satisfy all our snow bunnies.

The kitchen is mostly clean with a dirty dish here or there, a box of crackers and some party plates.

Where is the schedule for tomorrow’s school day?
The ingredients for our big breakfast, celebrating the first day back at school?
Fresh assignments for all the children?

Nope, no, nada.

All that you would see, beyond the mild chaos of a lived in house, is a squinting, tired mother who has stayed up too late the last three days ringing in the New Year.

Between the parties and the general fun, I’m exhausted.

The slide served as a little sledding hill, right in our own backyard.

I need a mini vacation to rest up from the holidays. Sadly, even the snow that fell this evening doesn’t bring any respite. Homeschoolers don’t really get snow days.

I had better get to bed. That alarm is going to ring VERY early for this night owl crowd.

Happy New Year - shall we jump into 2009 with poised pencils and cheerful attitudes?

It’s gonna be a stretch but I’m always up for an adventure.

Kathy

Once upon a time, when I was a new homeschooler, my sister in law introduced me to the wonderful world of Sonlight Curriculum. I’ve been using Sonlight with my five children for 9 years now. In my attempt to search for other Sonlight home educators, I stumbled across an email loop through Yahoo Groups. It was originally titled “Sonlight” as most of the members were primarily using SL in their homeschool, but, as time passed, the group grew to encompass many different educating philosophies and curriculum. Although the original “owners” of the list remained the same, the name was changed to Support4HomeSchool, affectionately called SHS.

This group of women (and occasional men) have been a tremendous source of information, comfort, inspiration, and guidance during my homeschooling journey. If I have a question on nearly any topic under the sun, from frugal meals to books on Advent, I know the list will generate conversation and help.

Cynthia, Lee and I at Starbucks in 2006.

Over the years I’ve been privileged to meet a few of the women from the loop. Two years ago, I went out for coffee with Lee and Cynthia. Lee is an incredibly talented woman who, as her boys went off to college, created a consulting business for people homeschooling their high schoolers. I highly recommend Lee’s materials, blog, and advice. You can find her at thehomeschoolscholar.com. There is an amazing amount of information right on her website, with more available through her videos and personal consulting.

Cynthia is one of the original founders of the SHS loop. She shares her life and heart with the many women who come to the loop, giving of her time and energy to continue building something that has grown tremendously over the years. There are nearly 2000 members in the SHS group. That is a LOT of potential email. Cynthia blogs at Life Is Good. Her pictures are gorgeous! I’m inspired by her unfailing commitment to her children and their busy, active lives.

Last year I wasn’t able to meet with Lee and Cynthia when Cynthia came into town for the weekend, so I was determined to make it a priority this year. Of course, it’s one thing to put a note on the calendar and PLAN to gather with friends, it’s another to actually do it, in the busyness of life.

First the time changed. Lee wasn’t able to join us in the afternoon, we had originally scheduled to get together after the homeschool PE classes, so we decided to move it to the morning.

Next I completely forgot Daniel was babysitting a friend’s little boy at our house in the morning. How was I going to be available in the morning if we were watching a toddler?

Daniel’s glasses broke last week. He’s a handsome fellow without them, but would probably like to be able to see clearly.

Then my cell phone was turned off or misbehaving, and I missed the call saying Cynthia had arrived in town and was making lunch arrangements. I was watching the time and knew the plane had landed, but was overcome with shyness and suddenly didn’t want to call and be a bother.

Argh!!

By the time I got the voice mail and connected with Cynthia and Lee, they were already together and beginning lunch. The location? A good 40 minutes away. Anticipating a delay, I had already arranged for a friend to drop the kids off at the Y for their classes and started on lunch so I could run out the door. I told the ladies I would leave immediately and set off. Still, as I was driving I couldn’t help but wonder if I was making a mistake. Was I wasting my time driving all that way for such a short visit. I made some calls, arranging details regarding the children, and poured out my fretting concerns to my friend, Julee.

Julee asked me why I was going. Was I hoping to glean some homeschool tips? No, it was purely just a fun gathering with some cyber friends. I truly expected her to tell me to stay home, not to bother with such a long drive just for a quick visit. Instead, she said, “Sometimes when there are so many obstacles pushing against us the resistance is coming from Satan. I think you should go and see what you can learn from those two experienced homeschooling moms.” Throughout the years Julee has always been incredibly supportive of my homeschooling journey. Once again she was encouraging me.

I quickly texted Cynthia, telling her I was on my way, but it would take me 40 minutes to get there. I asked if they had enough time for the visit to linger on into the afternoon. She immediately wrote back saying yes, and encouraging me to come and meet them.

Of course, we had to take a picture to capture the moment.

The day was gorgeous, the sun shining after several days of rain. The traffic was busy but the drive easy, and, of course, the gas prices were low.

I found the restaurant with no trouble, met up with Cynthia and Lee and proceeded to have a lovely visit. Not only was it enjoyable to catch up on each others lives and children, it was fun to see how much we knew about things because of our blogs. The internet truly is an amazing thing.

I am so glad I squeezed the time out of the day to meet with Cindy and Lee.

Mostly I was struck how God orchestrated our conversation. I had the chance to ask Cynthia some of my questions about Rachel (who turns 13 next month), knowing Cynthia has two teenage daughters who love the Lord and are close to their family. I learned Lee has an hour of free phone consulting available each week on Wednesday afternoons. As a homeschooling mom of a high school freshman, this is priceless information. Amidst one of our many discussions, God gave me a brilliant idea for the introduction session for next semester’s co-op class on finances.

Add to the mix some delicious Starbucks, and I can safely say it was a wonderful visit. We had plenty of time to talk, share and enjoy our coffee without feeling rushed. I made it back in plenty of time to pick up the children. God is good and He has blessed my life with a delightful array of interesting friendships.

Kathy

In November it seems the rain comes and goes only to come again. When the clouds lift and the sun attempts to shine, I send the children packing. I mean out playing.

Sarah loves playing outside, especially when she can chase her 3 brothers.

I spent a good portion of the Saturday evening looking for clips of old commercials. I’m teaching a Financial Peace class for high schoolers at our homeschool co-op. We studied consumer awareness this week, and I thought it would be interesting to watch a series of commercials in our next class period.

The boys are preparing for their own commercial.

Unfortunately, as Joshua observed, commercial viewing is kind of like eating junk food -

A little bit goes a long way.
While flavorful, there’s nothing of real substance.
It’s tasty/fun at first, but eventually makes you sick.

It’s been much more difficult than I thought to come up with a list of classic commercials. Come on, what are the ad campaigns that have stuck with you over the years? I need help generating a list.

“Where’s the Beef?”
“Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand”
“I’m a Pepper, You’re a Pepper”
Mac vs PC
Doublemint Twins
Nike - Just Do It
“This is your brain on drugs!”
“Trix Are for Kids”

Joshua, David and Daniel boys are advertising, um, sticks. Right.

What else? Do you have favorite commercials that you remember? Our class is going to study marketing strategies and effective advertising techniques. Since we don’t have a tv in our house, and haven’t since Tim and I were married, I am a bit handicapped in this area.

Based on my research thus far, I can say there are an awful lot of beer commercials, and many ads I would be embarrassed for my children to see. Oh, I also found some of the most emotional commercials come from a Thai insurance agency. Weird.

You can save me hours of youtube research by sharing with me some of your favorite (family friendly) commercials. I’ll take jingles and slogans as well. Think of it as one way you can help out a busy homeschooling mom.

Thanks!
Kathy

It turns out that some of my children are voracious readers and others are, um, not. A deep love for reading and hours spent immersed in literary works, not surprising, results in a rather expansive vocabulary.

It does not, however, guarantee perfect spelling.

But that’s thought for another post, and may be something the children have inherited from their mother. Ah em. As I was saying, it was recently rubbed in my face brought to my attention that there are a few among us who could use some help in expanding our personal vocabulary expression and understanding.

And really, is there anyone who can truly say their comprehension and use of the English language is as vast and complete as they would like?

Standardized test scores can be a sobering reality check when you are the teacher, and have been for the entirety of the children’s education. Every weakness or below average area of study seems a glaring reflection on your ability and diligence as the teacher.

Thankfully every year presents us with a fresh start and, until the children head off to college (or trade school or McDonald’s to flip burgers), we have the opportunity to strengthen and add to the building blocks (however small they may be) of our education.

All of which leads me to our Works for Me Wednesday idea:

WFMW: Wordly Wise 3000 Books

I purchased Wordly Wise 3000 books for Joshua, Rachel and Daniel. I also picked up the answer guides. Just in case my own vocabulary is a little rusty.

It doesn’t hurt to be careful.

I found the books at Christianbook.com (CBD) for a good price. Coupled with free shipping (use code 275405 for free shipping with $50 purchase), the books were a reasonable addition to our homeschool library. I also decided to buy Vocabulary Vine in order to begin some work on Greek and Latin roots. We haven’t cracked the cover on that one yet (it only arrived 3 days ago), but I’m sure it will help transform us into great scholars and ensure excellent SAT scores.

If you have any vocabulary curriculum you use or other tips, PLEASE pass them along.

We’ll deal with spelling some other time.

Stop by Rocks in My Dryer for more WFMW ideas.

Kathy

Today, the kids and I attended a Civil War Re-enactment at a State Park about 90 minutes from our home. With only about 150 soldiers (both sides combined) it was more of a skirmish than a war, but that didn’t stop ‘em.

The Confederate Army carried the day, mostly because of superior artillery support.

We all had a good time, viewing the battle and touring the encampments. Many of the Civil War buffs were available for questions, and would hold forth on their role in the battle or camp for 20 minutes at a time, much to the dismay of David and Sarah.

This man must be a lot tougher than he looks, because he was shot dozens of times and stayed in the saddle.

Tim
Project 366, Day 271