The Nose Knows

I've come to realize something about myself that's rather quirky:  certain smells make me super-abundantly happy.  Sure, I love to watch a pretty sunset, I love to taste great food, I've cherished the ever-so-soft skin of my three kids when they were babies, and there's no other sound I love best, I think, than the sound of ocean waves crashing on a beach (although, listening to my toddler breathe while he sucks his thumb is pure heaven).

However, while all well and good, and admittedly these things make me very, very contented, nothing comes close to invoking such strong reactions in me than certain aromas.  Good reactions.  And those reactions happen quickly.  I smell, I smile, I'm exultant.  My olfactory sense must dominate the others, I guess (hey.....no jokes about my nose being big!).  

Here are a few of my favorite smells:  pine at Christmas time (thus, nothing but a live tree in this household!), sheets after hanging outside to dry (one of my favs), sauteing onions and garlic, freshly mowed grass, the ocean, fresh-baked goods, my first cup of strong black coffee in the morning, my toddler's head (he's outgrown the baby smell, but has developed a 4-year old smell that only his Mama could appreciate :).)

What does all of this have to do with homeschooling, you might ask?  This is supposed to be a blog about our homeschooling days, right??!  Well, even if it had nothing at all to do with homeschooling, I'd still want to blog about it.  Just typing all those decriptions out made me smile; I think I perceptibly inhaled with each and every keystroke.

This has EVERYTHING to do with homeschooling because my favorite euphoria-invoking smell has to do with.....BOOKS.  Surprised???  :)

I love the smell of new books, I especially love the smell of OLD books (yes, I'm one of those geeks that opens old books to the middle, shoves my nose in and inhales.....and sighs).

I love the smell of a room in our house that we have dubbed the "library".  It is a long "room" that houses our sump pump at the end and around the corner.  It has built in bookshelves.....oh what bliss for a homeschooling family to find when househunting!  The smell, believe it or not, actually is a result of two runner-style rugs we have put down to cover the cement.  It's an odd smell to relish in, but I do.  Because that smell means "books" to me.  I inhale EACH AND EVERY TIME I walk in that "library".....I love it.

I also inhale each and every time I first walk into Barnes & Noble.  Ahhhhhhh.....the smell of coffee AND books, mingled into one.  What could be better?  The aroma portends a wonderful time ahead:  wandering, browsing, dreaming, most likely while holding a yummy cup of brewed goodness.

Boy, I am a geek, aren't I??  (don't answer that)

A Minor Victory, or So Far, So Good

Sarah is currently working through Saxon's Algebra I text.  She's doing well.  It's one of two courses she's taking this year that will earn her high school credit.  Whew!  It's started!  Kind of daunting!

I loved Algebra in school.  I was pretty smart in math, getting bumped up a year ahead at some point in my schooling (don't remember what grade that was).  So when I was an 8th Grader, I, along with three other students, got bussed to the high school to take Algebra with the 9th graders (back in the day, Algebra was a 9th grade subject; seems like everything has been bumped up a year nowadays).  I loved it!  Fun, like a game or puzzle.

One big question that comes up when discussing homeschooling high school is how I might manage the upper level subjects (chemistry, calculus, trig).  I always say that my desire to homeschool the kids through high school is not a declaration of my possessing infinite stores of knowledge; I don't pretend to know everything about every subject they'll encounter through high school.  However, I can help them find the answers, or reach out to people who do know those subjects.  But one day, and it will be sooner rather than later, I will have to throw up my hands and say, "That's it.  I don't know this stuff.  Let's go find someone who does."

Well, I'm many years removed from my math successes in junior high/high school!  Before Sarah started Algebra this year, I admit to being a bit nervous and queasy about fielding a question to which I didn't know the answer.  But, boy oh boy, did I hope and pray that I could at least get her through this year's math!  As a fallback, though, we do own the Saxon Teacher DVDs that will work out every problem in every lesson and test.  So far, we have not had to pull those out!  :)

So my minor victory occurred on Thursday morning, as Sarah was reading her Algebra lesson for the day.  She looked up, had a bit of a frustrated and blank look on her face, and asked if we could go over the lesson together; she wasn't understanding one particular concept of the lesson.  Well, my heart kind of skipped a beat, and my mind reeled and queried, "Is this the moment?  Will I get this stuff?  Will we have to get out the DVDs?  Or, even more drastic, will we have to call someone and get help?"

I read the text, looked at an example, looked at the answer to the example, looked at the example again, pondered, thought, panicked, thought some more, and then the light bulb went off!!  Aha!  I got this!  I can do this!  But, wait......I still have to "teach" this to Sarah, I have to explain this in a way as to get her 13-year old math light bulb to go off.  Aha!  I did that, too!  Whew!

Yes, so far, so good, indeed.

P.S.  In case you're wondering, and want a heads up on what you're in for when YOU have to teach Algebra to your child, the concept was adding and subtracting fractions with unlike denominators, with the unlike denominators being unknown terms with exponents (having to determine the LCM of those algebraic terms).    

Sunday Evening Musings

I'm supposed to be prepping; prepping for our homeschool co-op tomorrow.  I teach the 6th and 7th grade book club, and we're reading Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson right now.

I've gotten side-tracked.  Read a couple of e-mails (B&N and Amazon e-mails that I get detailing the "Best Books of the Week"; this one from Amazon, though, was the "Best Books of the Year"........wouldn't that sidetrack you, too??!); from those e-mails stumbled on a few blogs about books; from there spent some time adding a silhouette picture of our family to the bottom of my blog (isn't it cute?).

*SIGH* (not in a good way)

I ALWAYS dread Sundays because invariably I have put off planning for our book club class.  I shouldn't admit that publicly, that I go into planning kind of dreading it.  But I also want to share the rush I get as I start to delve into the assigned chapters, and begin jotting down notes and questions (with the help of a couple of free, on-line teachers' guides).  I start to envision the lively discussions we will have, the quoting of the book that will occur as support for an answer to a question, the analyzation of characters.  I love this! 

This class has been a lot of work, but I really, honestly, and truly love to teach a book this way.  Never done this before, so went into it with quite a bit of trepidation.  Each and every Monday actually produces a bit of anxiety.  But then something happens......class begins, we get in a groove, and then, class is over!  It flies by!  Great discussions (mostly with my 7th graders), good times, laughter, ponderings.

*SIGH* (in a good way)

So after I finish this post, I'll get back at it; I'll have to face the prepping, the anxiety, the work.  But rest assured, that rush will come, the anticipation of a great class day will see me through yet another Sunday night.

More book recommendations

A couple of books the kids and I have shared recently:

         

Also, Master Cornhill by Eloise Jarvis McGraw.

We currently are reading:



Jeremy is reading:

         

And Sarah just read:

Keep it going

So, I thought about my blog earlier today, and as usual, I felt panic about it.  Had the same pattern of thoughts:  "you should really give it a go today", "come on you can do it"; then the anxiety about blogging, then the negative self-talk:  "you're going to skip today....AGAIN; you're a putz."

But then I got to experience sheer bliss when this thought hit me:  I had blogged last night!  Nah-nah-nah, boo boo!  (wait.......who am I telling off with that juvenile refrain???!!  MYSELF?)

And all of this occurred within a nanosecond.  But I really did enjoy the bliss.  It was heaven.

But then I had to face the thought that I had to blog TODAY.  Well, I didn't have to.  But I am really trying to tackle this "practice makes perfect" thing that I'm so good at spouting to my kids, but rarely exhibit myself.  So new anxiety.

But here I am......I really think it has boiled down to this:  I just don't feel like I have much to say on a daily basis.  So what do I blog about today?

When in doubt, blog about books!  :)

So my latest obsession is reading books about how reading and books have influenced others.  Like I'm way crazy about this right now.  Here's a couple I've read recently:

   

Both fabulous.  Highly recommended.  

Let's Try Again

Okay, so apparently I'm not so good at this blogging thing.  I REALLY WANT TO BE.  Don't know why I can't pull this off.

Why am I intimidated by blogging?  Yeah, I guess that's what I feel when I think about sitting down every day and blogging.  Truth be told, I would love to be a writer, a pontificator, a say-er of all things mundane; kind of like that guy on "Northern Exposure."  You remember that show about the smarty-pants doctor that ends up in Alaska for his residency (or something like that)?  Do you remember the radio DJ guy that used to "ramble" over the airwaves about everything and nothing....at the same time? 

Like, I was in awe of him (his character), his job; I thought, "I'd love to do that!"  I did grow up wanting to be a DJ, and nowadays, I realize I couldn't pull off that kind of DJ-ing.  I'd ramble too much (as my friends can attest to!), my thoughts are too scattered.  And, anyways, as I've grown, as much as I enjoy conversing and speaking about all matters in life, I do much prefer the written word.

But what I've come to learn about myself is that I love the printed word more than I thought I did.  Of course, it goes without saying.....I love books.  Yes, I said it yet again.  I probably can't go a day without thinking that thought.  But I've recently discovered that my amorousness goes beyond books per se.  It is the written word, the expression of thought, the expertly crafted sentence/paragraph/publication.  It is the time, energy, love, blood, sweat, tears that I can tell an author has put into his work; I am left so humbled by that effort.  And I am utterly grateful to be the Dear Reader that gets to inhale the finished product.

Some people are naturally gifted by God with this ability to wow with words; for these lucky ducks, the writing process is like walking or breathing.  For most of us, not so much.  But that doesn't mean we can't creep towards that goal.

It's like I tell Jeremy all the time about art.  You see, Jeremy wants so bad to be good at drawing.  But he's impatient; he wants to be good RIGHT NOW.  He hasn't really been naturally gifted by God with drawing talent, but I keep trying to get him to see it's a process.  It's a training of the brain; like his co-op art teacher has said, it's training yourself to see in a new/different way.  It's the long exercise of getting your hand to draw what the eye and brain see.  AND IT DOES TAKE TIME.  And practice.  And sweat.  And patience.

And so it goes with writing, I think.  I certaily have not been naturally gifted as a writer.  I think I'm decent, but I ramble (have I mentioned that already?)  So I will end now, realizing that I need to take my own advice.  I have been caught in a "Do as I say, not as I do" moment.  With my desire to write/blog more, to create well-crafted sentences/paragraphs, Jeremy could easily say, "But, Mama, you just need to practice.  It takes time.  Like you've always told me.........right?"

"Yes, Jeremy."

Happy Mother's Day

Mercy Every Minute


Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

I have a splitting headache, yet I have three sick children to care for. I have a child who is not cooperating whom I have to deal with. I have a toddler who wants me to play baseball and teenagers who want to talk. I have to make dinner and it is after 7 p.m., I have a house that looks like a tornado, and I don't know where to start, let alone when. I certainly don't feel very virtuous. And, nobody cares about it all but me. At least that's how it feels sometimes, doesn't it? It feels like nobody cares about all that I do, about how I feel, or when I'll ever get rest. Welcome to motherhood. Doesn't sound all that glorious, does it?

The functions of motherhood are obviously important, but the main thing is that we give all glory to our God by how we respond to all these things that press on us. Giving Him glory in our everyday lives is what our children will remember and what matters for eternity. God will not say, "Well done-you were a good mother." But He will hopefully say, "Well done, you were a good and faithful servant and made my Son known to those I gave you."

Whenever we place too much importance on our office as mothers and our sacrificial tasks, the danger is that our focus becomes skewed and our emotions entangled. We begin to feel we deserve to be treated well, rather than the better focus of treating others well. We feel we deserve recognition for our sacrifices, rather than laying down our lives in response to the One who was made of no reputation and laid down His life for us. We feel we deserve celebration rather than pointing heavenward and saying that all glory must belong to Him, for there is no one good, not even one.

If we make it through one day in our own strength, we feel the right to shout, "Bravo!" But more often than not, our strength fails and we come to the end of our resources before we come to the end of the day. But if His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses and the excellence of His power has filled our earthen vessels so that we can not only make it through a day but come out victorious, we can shout "Hallelujah!"

So what is the danger of just one day of focusing on ourselves? For one thing, if all of these earthly "rights" of celebration are not met satisfactorily in our eyes, we are disappointed and sometimes even angry with those we are called to love and serve. However, if all is done for Him and through Him and with Him, then any day is worthy of celebration because it is He whom we celebrate. We can avoid all the trappings of anger and disappointment when we are not celebrated as we think we ought to be, and all the glory that rightly belongs to God is rightly given Him. For truly, without Him, we can do nothing.

This country applauds mothers once a year. But does heaven applaud mothers? Yes, it does, especially when mothers applaud heaven first. Does anyone really care? Yes, our Father in heaven cares tremendously and continually implores us to come to Him and find rest for our weary souls. But we must come.

A friend said to me today, "Plan the calm," and I couldn't agree more: Plan the calm by planning to spend time with your Father. Then, you will be the virtuous mother you desire to be, and God will get the glory.

~Deborah

The Streak

I've been wanting to blog about books for a while.  I love books.  If you visit here often, you better get used to that phrase.  I'm like way wacky about books.  Reading them myself (when I can), reading them to my kids, owning them, browsing through them at B&N, collecting them some day, screaming from the rooftops that EVERYONE needs to be reading books.  And reading them to their kids.

For now, besides the above, I'll share this:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/fashion/21GenB.html

And the daughter wrote a book about The Streak:

http://www.makeareadingpromise.com/

We have started our own "Streak" with Matthew......Friday, February 18 was our start day.  Going to have to get fancy and come up with something other than "The Streak", though, to make it our own.  Right now he's actually letting us read "Stuart Little" to him.  I've wanted to start "Charlotte's Web" for a long time, and he's made a fuss about it.  So not sure why he's tolerating "Stuart", but he is, and I'm not complaining. 

I even bought a blank notebook to write about our own little "Streak".  I'll post updates here, too.

13 days and counting....

A Walk, an Oh-So-Glorious Walk

We have had amazing weather lately.  Not a negative kind of amazing; the wonderful, here's a reminder that spring will come kind of amazing.  What's the big deal?  Well, pretty much everyone in the Continental U.S. would have to agree that this winter has been downright almost too much to handle.  Snow storm after snow storm (you poor Easterners!), and lately the down-to-the-bone type of cold.....I mean, COLD.  So these past few days, with their upper-30 to mid-40 temps, (and today with its 50-ish temp) the kind of temps that is producing much melting, have been simply heavenly.

Given that, I took a walk last Friday.  That day it was only in the mid-30s, but I thought, I'm going to do it.  I'm going to take advantage of this and get out there.  So I donned my snow pants, my Keen hiking shoes (waterproof and cold proof), had my wool socks on already (a staple for me ALL winter), my heavy gloves, a head band thing to protect my ears, and my Titanium Columbia jacket.  And away I went.

Well, within minutes it was clear that this idea was simply brilliant.  I was invigorated from just the first few steps.  Why?  Well, I looked up and the bright, blue sky was right there before me.  Nothing was between me and it; only the clear, crisp air that I was inhaling with great glee.  No kitchen window or car windshield was impeding my view of this sky.  I was out there, looking at it and really seeing it in its full glory for the first time in months.

And the sounds were glorious too.  Birds chirping, the gurgle sound because of the melting.  Oh, it was music to my ears, and a small glimpse of what will come full blast in March and April.

The trail that I was on was not fully cleared of snow and slush, so I had to pay attention to every step.  But that necessity to focus on my steps did not at all take away from the joy that I was experiencing, and that was building with each step. 

I was convinced that I was going to encounter at least a couple of people who had the same conviction as I did to take advantage of this weather.  I thought for sure I'd hear someone coming up from behind either running or on a bike.  But I got about half-way through my walk and I actually started hoping I WOULDN'T encounter anybody.  This walk and this experience I wanted to be all mine.  I wanted to own this 2-mile path and the joy I was getting from it; I wanted to be selfish about this adventure. 

I wanted to revel in the fact that this time I was being active.  I wasn't lazy this time.  I was out there, walking away, gradually feeling warmth and perhaps a fine layer of sweat.  I had so often glimpsed runners, even in the depths of winter, running on this same path.  I admired their courage to run during the coldest of cold days, fighting through the burn in the chest that they most surely were experiencing; I always saw these runners as better than I....they were out there.....they did it.....good for them.

Well, last Friday I did it.  I got out there.  I was being glimpsed, perhaps, by someone ELSE through THEIR kitchen window.  Maybe someone else was saying, "Good for her"........about me.

I should clarify.  I saw no HUMANS on my walk.  Three deer were out there that day, a ways ahead of me, but I most surely got a good glimpse.  I love deer.  They are beautiful.  We get about 5 or 6 that walk the same self-made path in our backyard every night.  And because we have motion lights out back, we are made aware of their presence.  It's fun.  Must've been the same deer that crossed the trail while I was walking.  Simply icing on the cake.

Yes, by the time I got home, I couldn't wait to shed my layers of clothing.  I was a bit sweaty, but, man oh man, did it feel good.  And I walked the next day, and also the next.    4 of 5 days I made it out there because the weather cooperated that long.  I'm about to go again in a few minutes with my husband.  He's the only human I'll gladly allow to impede this joy. 

To panic or not to panic....

.....that is the question.

If you were to ask me on any given day how I felt about homeschooling my kids all the way through high school, I'd give you my answer.  But, beware.  If you ask me again on a different day, you'd probably get a different answer.  And if it was the day that I wasn't so sure about it, you might even get weepiness.  And a woman on the verge of an anxiety attack.  And hyperventilation.  And.....well, I'll stop being dramatic.  I think I've made my point.

It's true.  I'm kind of a spaz about this; kind of Jekyll and Hyde-ish about the subject.  I've flip-flopped on this so much.  And just recently I flip-flopped within one week.  And I don't think I'm done.  Not by a long shot.

A few years ago, as I contemplated my oldest in high school, I thought, no way, Jose!  I can't do that.  Then I went to the Midwest Homeschool Conference in Cincinnati, OH, when we were living in Columbus.  Fabulous!  If you ever have the chance to go, do it!  I promise you won't be disappointed.  I went to a workshop by Dr. Wile, of Apologia Science fame.  Again, fabulous!  I attended with a friend of mine, and we both left feeling refreshed, renewed, and firmly convicted that we, indeed, COULD do this.  And I really mean that.  It was an amazing feeling.  And I stayed that way for some time.

Now Sarah is in 7th grade, time to really start researching EVERYTHING high school.  And, boy oh boy, did I do a doozy on that conviction.  Well, I should say that Satan did a doozy on that conviction.  I really have felt attacked by Satan on this level.  He wants nothing more than to convince me I can't do this; that my kids would be better off in public school.  Then I wouldn't have as much opportunity to disciple them within our Christian faith. 

But then I had a great conversation with a friend of mine, really a wonderful mentor for me on these matters.  And actually her daughter participated, my friend's oldest who graduated from their homeschool a few years ago.  They encouraged me, they hugged me, they pooh-poohed my anxiety, but gently and with grace.  I felt uplifted and back in that place where I can scoff at Satan's attempts to derail my convictions.

Where am I now?  Well, we've had a bad couple of days, where I think I want them out of my hair, and wouldn't my stress level go way down, and wouldn't life be more convenient with them in school???  Yeah, it's been tough lately, but we also had a wonderful afternoon in front of a roaring fire because the temperature refused, simply refused, to climb into double digits.  We got to read a book that we have simply savored for the past few months.  Love it.  Let me repeat...love it.

So for now, I'm not panicking.  But reader beware.....who knows what my next blog will bring!  

Planning

So I sat huddled with our homeschooling books and papers and planners for about three days last week.  Weather was iffy, New Year's weekend, no plans; time to snuggle up and get ourselves ready to hit the books this week.  I was feeling so good about tackling it all.  Correcting, planning, filing, thinking, straightening. 

So Monday comes, and I realize that for all that planning and scheduling, I STILL was not totally prepared for Monday's school day.  And I was no where near to being completely caught up on correcting and filing.  But didn't I just sit with everything for three straight days?  Weren't we inseparable, me and all those books and papers?  What happened?

Kind of disheartening.  Will I ever get caught up?  Hardly seems so anymore.  But my New Year's mantra is, if you've not read my previous post:  PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION.  Trying to grip that real close these days.  Or it would be real easy to slip back into my, "Why try?" mode.

And then even with all the stuff I did get written down and planned, life happened.  I had to go to the doctor to get a cough checked out.  Jeremy had an appointment.  Has another one tomorrow.  *SIGH* 

PROGRESS, NOT PERFECTION, DANI...

Happy 2011

A new year.  New hopes.  New goals.  New resolve.  New schedule.  New mindset.  New attitudes.  New habits.

Got an e-mail recently from one of the many lists I belong to.  Can't find it now, but it's focus was the New Year and it focused on this phrase/sentiment:  Progress, not perfection.  This may not be anything new to many, many people, but I had not really heard that phrase before.  And it is particularly poignant for me at this time of year, at THIS PARTICULAR NEW YEAR.  Three simple words that I will hold close to my heart in 2011 as I try to shake things up around here.  It's so easy for me, with my personality, to try to maintain perfection.....right away!  Not possible.  Never will be.  Not God's will.  If perfection were attainable, then we wouldn't need Him and would never seek Him.

No, I will shoot for Progress this Year.  I truly desire for change in a lot of ways.  First and foremost is me.  Change from within will make outside change possible.  Then it will truly be a..........

HAPPY NEW YEAR!