love to paint

I've been in the car lately and that means that I've been doing a lot of reading.  I finished up another book on my Kindle last night.  I had looked forward to this book because of a book I'd read in the past-- June Bug .  It was Chris Fabry's first published book and I enjoyed it.  I didn't enjoy the next two books that he published quite as much as the first, but I still saw him as a good writer--worth reading. A new book by Fabry came out in August-- Every Waking Moment .  It isn't a romance or historical fiction novel.  It's plain, old realistic fiction. There's a touch of the supernatural to it, but I'd still call it realistic fiction. The story centers on Treha and her gift with older folks beset by dementia and alzheimers.  I found myself drawn into the story as it began and slowly meandered along its way.  At the beginning of the story, Miriam Howard is being forced to retire.  Ms. Howard has been a protector of the elderly in he...

Yesterday, I called a good friend of mine to discuss a quandary I was puzzling over.  I finished reading Carry On, Mr. Bowditch recently because Autumn and I are discussing it for her literature right now.  I was inspired by Nathaniel Bowditch's life as I read.  He was independent, creative, determined, a seeker of knowledge, hopeful, and didn't give up.   But, my ideas of this man began to change a little when I assigned Autumn a worksheet for historical fiction.  Her assignment was to identify five factual statements from the book and five statements that were fiction.  I realized that she needed another biography of Nathaniel Bowditch to compare to Carry On, Mr. Bowditch.  I found two different biographies online.  They began to paint a different picture for me.  One was that this man was a Unitarian.  Here is a quote from one site " When asked about his religious beliefs he answered, "Of what importance are my opinions to anyone? ...

I hate delete!  I just had to get that off my chest.  I just spent a half hour sorting out my emotions and then my finger accidentally hit the delete button.  Crummy!   So, here's the jist of it.   I read Becoming Myself by Stasi Eldredge.  I thought I could read it and it would not affect me.   I was wrong. A week and a half later, I was struggling to find contentment in the place God has put me in my job--as a mom, homeschool teacher, and wife.  The tears hovered behind my eyes continuously.   I was wrong.  I knew that what Ms. Eldgredge's book went against what I have felt God convict me of--that I need to be content with his plan for my life and not my own.  Still, my heart was unsettled. Many believe that you can read books you disagree with and they won't affect you if you know the truth and are strong. I thought I was strong. I was wrong.   I'm climbing back up, humbly.  I'm working to forget the ...

Recently, I had the chance to read several ebooks while we were on vacation.  I wrote several years ago on this blog about how I was dragging my feet when it came to reading on a Kindle. I am old school!  I love printed paper books.  But, last year we purchased a basic kindle for $30 (with coupons) for my husband.  Then, we decided a few months later to purchase a basic kindle without the ads, which costs $20 more (current price $89) because it was going to be for our kids to use.  This is also the kindle that I use and I'm so glad we paid the extra $20.  It was definitely worth it not to see the ads for adult books that usually come up on Kindle's screensaver.   I have discovered that there are books that are perfect for reading on a kindle and others that are not.  Books that are more challenging to read, like Dickens' Our Mutual Friend, or books that I need to flip back and forth in are not ebook friendly for me.  But, light, easy to rea...

Fifteen years ago, when I was teaching computers to grades K-5, yahooligans was the popular, safe search engine that I used with my students.  This year, I tried to use yahooligans with my kids and quickly got frustrated because the search didn't bring up any results.  Bah.    I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but I just typed in "kid safe search engine" on google and came up with a result.   Google has developed a safe search engine filtering technology that is used by several other sites.  I found one that is the primary site: http://www.safesearchkids.com/ If you scroll down, there is an explanation of what is filtered and what isn't. Then, I found another one called KidRex.  It uses the safe search technology and then goes beyond it to add their own list as well.   http://www.kidrex.org/ I googled for "consumption illness" while writing questions for Autumn's Carry On, Mr. Bowditch unit.  I came up with several res...

Sometimes I come across books that are hard to review. I, like other reviewers, fear negative remarks and attacks. So, why even write a review that isn't positive and what people want to hear? Well, because of concern--concern about how ideas and words can get twisted. I like to read some of the books that I think will be popular in mainstream Christian circles, so that I'm aware of what people are reading and thinking about.  So, I decided to read Stasi Eldredge's new book Becoming Myself .  It was published a month ago.   My husband and I have read several of John and Stasi Eldredges' books over the past years. We've noticed that there are some good ideas in their books, but that the points can get carried away.  I discussed their books with our pastor this morning and he used a phrase that I thought was very apt to describe their books.  He described their approach as being very "emotionally charged."  I agree.  It is.   As I started out r...

Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV 8  It is the  Lord   who goes before you. He will be with you;  he will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed.” Twelve years ago when we moved from Texas, a woman I knew shared this verse with me.  Little did she know what life would hold for me in the years ahead.  Like everyone else, my life has had lots of ups and downs.  I've held onto this verse often and I was reminded of it today when I read a column on World Magazine's website HERE .   The writer expresses that one of her primary reasons for homeschooling for twenty years was fear.  Fear of the influence on the world on her children. I have heard many parents express this feeling as a reason to homeschool. But, I don't think it should be a family's primary reason for homeschooling. We homeschool because we feel called to.  It is a tough thing to homeschool. I don't believe that fear will not sustain us long term in this endeavor ...

When I grew up, we were able to set of fireworks where we lived. I remember holding sparklers in my hands and enjoying it immensely. I have longed for my kids to experience a little of the joy and fun that comes with fireworks, but we live in a state that doesn't allow them.  Yesterday, we were in a little toy shop that had something called a Skylight Rocket in the clearance section.  It was $10, so I took it to my husband to see if he thought it might be a good idea.  He agreed, so we purchased it.   Eli was so excited when we got back to the vacation house where we're playing and took out the rocket set up. He had such a great time. Of course, the rockets quickly went from being pointed in the air to being pointed at me! Boys always look for a target. Then, it became a cannon and my husband became the bad guy...  Last night, we took this rocket out at night and turned on the two lit rockets that come with this set. We let Eli jump on the pad, but my 7 an...

Yesterday when I was at our community pool, I met a gal who has had two children attend the science and math magnet in our district.  I asked her if it was difficult for them to get in.  (Her other child attends another high school magnet in the county).  She said that it is a challenge and said jokingly that they hang on and hope their child won't burn out by the end of their senior year.    She said it simply to acknowledge that the math and science magnet is a challenging program.   All of her children have loved their high school programs. I then asked what her children did to prepare for application to the program.  She didn't tell me much aside from their middle school math schedule of courses.  When I was in middle school over twenty years ago, I took 6th grade math, Pre-Algebra in 7th, and Algebra in 8th (which was a joke of a class).  I went on to start Algebra I freshman year, then geometry in 10th grade, Algebra II/Trigonometry i...

I've been working on writing curriculum more and more over the past year.  In my mind, I've spurned all the things I hated about lesson plans from my public school teaching days.  But, I realized this morning that I threw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak.  The curriculum I've written so far hasn't been bad.  But, it hasn't been as purposeful as the curriculum I'm writing right now needs to be. When we write, we start by identifying the purpose of our writing.  Next, we make an outline. Then, we identify the details we want to include.  And finally, then we start writing.  Once finished, we proofread and edit. It's the same with writing curriculum. 1) Identify the goals:  what you want your child to know and be able to do once the study is completed.  These are two separate and important things.  #1 Content and #2 Skills.  The more specific the goals, 2) Make an outline of what are the main topics or ideas that you...