love to paint

I had a funny encounter two weeks ago in Goodwill.  I was looking with my little boy for Christmas presents for our family.  There was a woman who was an army staff sargeant also looking in the same area.  I struck up a conversation with her about the pan she was looking at.  Somehow we ended up talking about garage sales.  I mentioned that there are websites that will tell you where the garage sales are (and do the searching for you).  I never remember things like that off the top of my head, so I gave her a card with my blog address on it and said that I'd posted about the sites.  Her response was funny.  She said she was so glad to meet me and know that I was a blogger.  She explained that she had a very different impression of bloggers and then she asked me for a second card.  I chuckled.  Here I was with Eli in my tennis shoes, jeans, and a long sleeve shirt--carrying my "outdoorsy" style purse that doesn't like to stay shut. ...

It is a rare book that can make me laugh when it comes to Christian fiction.  Really that's because I haven't many Christian authors who incorporate humor well into their writing.  This morning I finished reading A Change of Fortun e by Jen Turano.  On the back of the novel, it identifies this book as her first published novel.   I enjoyed it.  It's a Christian historical romance fiction book.  The story centers on Eliza Sumner who has traveled to America in the late 1800s to reclaim her lost fortune. There is one scene from the book that made it a good book for me.  It was the humorous scene on pages 102-103.  I was left with a good feeling about the whole book because of that scene.  I even read the scene out loud to my husband (which I never do!) and he laughed.  I laughed so hard because I cried.  The scene came out of the blue but perfectly fit in the tale.    I enjoyed the characters.  They were likea...

I do not often look at books and just "love!" them. I have to admit that I am picky. This year we've been using a video art curriculum that they've learned quite a lot from. I'm still always looking for great art resources. This book is definitely one to add to my collection! The story isn't particularly exceptional, but I enjoy how the information is introduced to children on how to think about and ponder sculpture. It is introduced simply and at their level. My oldest daughter (9 yo) has already read the book and liked it a lot. I know she will absorb the information about the different types of sculptures and how to appreciate it from this book. Basically, a trio of mice travel to the art museum for a sculpture exhibit. They see various types of sculptures and then focus on one particular sculpture. They look at it from all angles and then sketch it. Then, they think about how it makes them feel and what it makes them think of. I loved this discussion! Th...

Have you ever considered how often we, as a culture, communicate to parents that children are an inconvenience?  It hurts my heart so much when I hear the things people say and do.  As a culture, we have become so self-focused that children are often seen as an interruption.  It was an old adage "children should be seen and not heard". I feel as if that adage is unknowingly reinforced by how people treat parents and their children. I was explaining to my mom why we don't invite any guests over for Christmas Day.  When we have guests over, we try to make sure they are comfortable and receive our attention.  We do have guests over on Christmas Eve.  It's a tradition with the family that comes over--one that we look forward to every year.  But, on Christmas Day, we want to focus on our family--our children, our parents, and siblings, and celebrate with them.  On Thanksgiving this year, we had family over and a couple who has spent several holidays ...

Last summer, I read a textbook about Reading Assessment.  It was extremely dry and treated children like robots rather than children.  It made me consider the state of education and testing in schools today.  In putting so much emphasis on the results of testing, we are turning our children into statistics--instead of what they are--human beings.  It was very interesting because one point the author made is that the break for a child can be at multiple points in the reading process.  It was amazing to realize how the reading process can be broken down.   The simple view was where theorists started in the 1980s by stating that reading comprehension (R) down into the product of decoding (D) and linguistic comprehension (C).  Now, there are more complex models. Hollis S. Scarborough's rope model used breaks down the process into language comprehension and word recognition. Language comprehension includes: Background knowledge, vocabulary, langua...

One of the things that I've noticed among many homeschooling moms is that we get concerned about the morals and lessons in the stories our children read. I remember when Autumn was a year and a half old, I began reading Curious George stories and realized that almost all of the time there are no consequences for George when he's done wrong.  I was so alarmed and at first I wanted to give away all of our Curious George books.  But, my daughter loved monkeys and I couldn't quite bear to give the stories away.  Then, I had my second daughter and she loved the stories too, so the stories stayed.  We all loved the PBS George series and that cemented George's place in our home.   Reading obviously matters a lot to me.  I've thought a lot about what I read, what my children read, what I read to them, and why.  Several books gave me some wonderful food for thought and I'd highly recommend them if you haven't read them.  Gladys Hunt wrote three books-- H...

Yesterday, my brother called and shared with me that he'd read something that really scared him last week.  It was an exposition about global warming.  He explained that it had huge implications for where we live and for the United States.  He also explained that none of it was new information, it was simply and succinctly reiterated and it caused him to fear for us--for the world.   I responded that I know global warming is real, but I can't get lost worrying about it, because I realize I can't change it personally.  I consume the least energy I can, recycle, tried to compost (and failed this summer), don't drive unless I need to...  It's very easy for me to get taken over by fears.  I think it is for most of us.  For the past year, I've struggled with our home.  I thought we were buying a solid house that needed only easy cosmetic work like painting--little did I know how wrong I was!  We've worked so hard to fix this house and we've...

Sometimes I realize that I forget how ideas have changed over time.  Today, many families have adopted children in our country.  Their skin color is often different from one another, but it doesn't change that they are a family in any way.  In the 1800s, who your parents were had a huge impact on how you were seen.  The family you belonged to was of great significance.   I was reminded of this detail when I read a Christian fiction book yesterday titled Every Perfect Gift by Dorothy Love.  This book is the third and final in her Hickory Ridge series.  It stands on it own and can easily be read without having read the first two.  I actually didn't realize there were two other books until the very end.   In this story, Sophie Caldwell has returned to Hickory Ridge to restart the town's newspaper.  She once lived in the orphanage there.  A new tourist resort is being built by Horace Blakely and being overseen by Ethan Heyward. ...

Yesterday, I volunteered at our local library's book sale.  Several local teachers had been given gift certificates from a grant to purchase books for their school.  We were all glad to see them come and redeem these certificates.  But, I found some interesting thoughts and emotions in my head as they were there. First, I wanted to be respected by them.  I have found that I often desire this from other teachers.  I was once one of them--a middle school teacher in the public schools.  But, I've found as a homeschool teacher I've rarely had their respect when I tell teachers that I homeschool.  I don't think it's seen on the same level professionally.   Honestly, I'm a better teacher now after homeschooling my children for the past 7 years than while I was teaching middle school.  I've learned so much about how children learn.  I've learned about paying attention to the process of learning more and being more observant.  I've lear...

Last week I got a wonderful surprise in the mail!  It was the day before Thanksgiving and it had just crossed my mind that I would love to have a Christmas devotional to read through with my kids this year.  I've had friends who've read through Benjamin's Button and Jotham's Journey over the years (both of which I haven't read but have heard good things about).  But, I wanted a devotional that would take us into the Word and talk about Christmas. In the mail, I received just that!  Shepherd Press published a new Christmas devotional for families this year. It is titled Why Christmas?  Barbara Reaoch wrote 25 days of daily devotions.  So, you can begin with it on December 1st, which is what we'll be doing.  For each day, Ms. Reaoch has written a short talk/devotional, identified a truth to focus on, given several questions to discuss, a verse to memorize, 1 of 4 hymns to sing, and a biblical term or word to explain.  These devotionals would ...

There are a few silly kids cds that we've found over the years that have lasted and not ended up annoying me.  Veggie Tales cds are not one of those for me.  We listened to Veggie Tales for a year when my oldest daughter was between 9 and 21 months and I haven't been able to listen to them since for more than a song or two!  But, because I have such a hard time listening to Veggie Tales music, I really appreciate cds that I don't mind listening to and that my kids really enjoy. Two of the silly song bands we've enjoyed are the Laurie Berkner Band and the lesser known Brent Holmes. We found Brent Holmes cds a few years ago when my aunt sent my children a cd for Christmas.  It was called Cow Tunes for Kids .  I have to say that I thought it was really funny.  Brent Holmes has a voice that's easy to listen to and the songs cracked up me and my kids.  I think my favorite is the one about a cow reading a book about people eating ice cream.  The las...

Every holiday season, Melody Carlson has published a Christmas novella.  This year, The Christmas Pony , is being published. The story begins with a little girl, Lucy, hoping for a gray pony.  Her dad has died and her mom and grandma are working hard to keep food on their table and a roof over their head.  Two strangers get stranded in town and end up staying at their boarding house. The story is quite predictable--moreso than the last few holiday stories I've ready by Melody Carlson.  It is interesting that this story focuses more on the little girl than an adult.  It is told in light of what matters most to her and what she experiences. The writing is fine.  I use the phrase "made for tv movie" a lot.  And that phrase also sums up this book to a tee.  If you're looking for a book that you just want to sit down with for two hours and a cup of coffee, and forget the cares of this world.  This is a fine book to pick up.  If you ha...

This is the first of two reviews of Christmas fiction that I'm going to be posting.  Over the past few days, I sat down first with Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot and then with Melody Carlson's yearly Christmas novella. Christmas Roses prompted me to consider something I hadn't thought about before.  I always read the author's description on the jacket cover and a bit about them on the internet.  Something struck me about her bio--no one was mentioned but her.  I learned nothing personal about this woman at all--even in a 20 minute interview she linked to on her website.  I suspect she isn't married.  This is interesting to me, because she writes romantic fiction. I pondered this for a moment and then Jane Austen came to my mind.  Jane Austen was a spinster who never married.  She had no family of her own, yet she wrote romances that have beguiled and spellbound generations of readers who love her books.  Was Jane Austen's writing any...

At our church, there is a group of moms who get together bi-weekly.  They ask one of the other moms at our church to come share a short devotional.  This week I get to go and share.  I am looking forward to it.  I thought I would share here what I want to share with them. This week I was having a conversation with a friend who has a one year old.  Her husband has to work a lot right now and is also going to school (like mine!).  I asked her how it was going with him being gone so much.  She said she thinks that it's harder on him than her.  Her own dad worked so much that he wasn't home very much, so she's used to it.  Her other comment was that she's able to take care of their child and doesn't really need his help.  She can do it.  So, it's frustrating to her when her husband comes home and starts telling her how to take care of their child.  My response on the phone was that we need to listen.  We need to think abou...

One of my mom's favorite authors is Tracie Peterson.  So, when Taming the Wind , book three of the Land of the Lone Star series was to be published, I agreed to read and review it.  About ten years ago, I remember Lori Wick as the most well known historical Christian fiction author.  Then came Karen Kingsbury and women like Tracie Peterson.  Some romance fiction is better than others.  Most are predictable with happy endings.  That's a discussion that I'll briefly address in this review. In Honey for a Woman's Heart , Gladys Hunt shares a great discussion of why women do and why they should read.  One of those reasons is for enjoyment.   Taming the Wind fits into that category.  I didn't find it to be that informative about the historical time period the book is set in, but it was a good, predictable story. Taming the Wind is easily a stand alone book, though it was the third in a series.  I just read the third in another series ...

God is good.  He is faithful and steadfast.  He is loyal and trustworthy.   Today something was festering in my heart.  I needed to talk to my husband about it, but I knew it would have to wait a day or two.  I anticipated conflict and tension.   But, God is good. This afternoon as I was driving I was struck by my own error.  I realized I had started this thing that I needed to talk to him about.  So, when my husband called tonight, I admitted it to him.  We talked and after I got off the phone, I was simply thankful.  God knew.  I wonder if it's part of our sinful nature to automatically jump to the conclusion that whatever is wrong is someone else's fault.  Actually, I think it is. Have you watched any episodes of Modern Family?  Do you remember Married With Children?  I watched one episode once.  I figured I ought to know what it was like so I understood what people were talking about when they refer t...

I think Language Arts is a complicated subject to teach children. It focuses on the skills of reading, writing, speaking,  and listening.  This translates to a long list of skills and content to be taught.  I have been contemplating what reading skills to teach and how to them a great deal since the beginning of this past summer. When students are in kindergarten and first grade, the primary focus of reading instruction is on read alouds and phonics skills.  Beginning reading comprehension is instroduced.  In second grade and then third grade, children are able to read on their own and need to develop comprehension skills and strategies along with vocabulary.  With each year, children must develop the skills that will help them understand what they read on a deeper level. For phonics instruction, I start with Hooked on Phonics PreK to teach my children the alphabet.  It is one of the few curriculums I've found that really helps parents learn how t...

A few weeks ago, I realized that I needed to tackle PE and come up with a short-term and long-term plan for my kids (and me).  During the summer, they take swimming lessons and in the past during the school year, I've enrolled them in dance and gymnastics, but we didn't want to do that this year.  I had planned on signing my kids up for soccer this year, but I missed the deadlines.  So, I made plans with a friend and her 2 kids to get together for PE once a week. Of course since I'm a planner, I felt like I needed to come up with a big, overarching plan.  I'm definitely a planner.  A friend at church had mentioned to me that she and her girls were running this fall for PE.  I think that idea stuck in my head.  And that's where we started. The first week, we ran around our house 4 times (one lap is about 75 yards), stretched, and started learning how to do jumping jacks. Here's the routine: Stretch:      1) Reach up and then reach ...