Spoiled Bumblebee

Walking Daddy Blues

Was it Rigged??

HA!!

You all are going to think I rigged that contest winner -- after you read this.

But REALLY -- check the times... I found this AFTER I picked the winner. Really -- I did. ::giggle::


CORIN has awarded me withe neat little award you see above. Isn't is C.U.T.E.?? Apparently -- I've made her smile once or twice. How neat is that??

Well -- the author of this award has this to say...

The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading his/her blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell and I am grateful every day for each person whom I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with.

I wanted to create something special for the top ten people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives that they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement. Although there are MANY people I want to give this award to at this very moment, I am going to choose ten bloggers:Please grab your badge and wear it(with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me, thank you.

Now I get to choose some people!

I know I'm supposed to chose 10... but I think I'll do it one at a time. I don't have time to do 10 right now. So keep on checking... this could take a while. Ü

MrsBeorn's Tending & Training in the Deep Weird will be first.

*~* And the WINNER is *~*

The other day I posted a contest. Today -- I've declared THE winner.


"Life is hard. Go nap"

Corin -- she summed it all up, didn't she?!

This was so fun for me. I had my 12yo dd help me choose too. (This was a family affair.) Then I went to take a nap.


Thank you for playing, and for telling your friends and neighbors all about it. Come back some time -- maybe I'll do it again.

Now... where did I put that Gift Card? Anyone seen a Gift Card laying around?? Hmmm...

Our Book Basket

You know what? I love this about My Father's World. The Book Basket!

I bring my teacher's manual to the computer -- open up my local Public Library's web-site. I start putting books on hold, left and right... My Father's World gives you a list of specific books to look for. But if my library doesn't have them, then I search the subject we are studying for the next 2-3 weeks, and I just check out what I can. Since I go into town the 2nd and 4th weeks of the month for our Co-op's Activity Day... I just get 2 weeks worth... sometimes 3.

The library workers pull them off of the shelves for me. That last time I did this -- the lady thanked me for giving her something to do. HA HA... during the school year -- they must get sort of bored with no public school kiddos running around the place.

I go in drop off the old and pick up the new, and check them out. Oh and -- pay any fines I may have. Who said anything in life is free... LOL. No browsing... no searching for missing kids... no pulling my hair out. It's very nice. Walk in -- walk out.

We can check out 20 at a time/per card. Between Tori, Mansel, and I... we've got 3 cards. Ü That's quite a few books. Then I bring them home and fill up my book basket and for 15 minutes each school day -- they kiddos are required to look through the book basket. You know what? My kiddos are sneaking into the book basket during non school hours. ::giggle:: I don't really mind -- would you?

I TRY to keep all the library books in that one corner. That way they don't get lost and I don't have to really search for them when we need to return them.

One other great thing about our library system... I can RENEW books on-line. So there really is NO REASON for any fines. Unless -- I'm a dope or something. I've started putting a little post it note on the calendar and moving it to the next due date so I have no excuse for forgetting to renew them. Sometimes we lose a book -- they seem to be very good at letting you renew a book 4,000 times until you find it. I'm pretty sure the little book I Love Daddy is lost. If not -- when we find it -- it's ours.

Oh my goodness... how can I forget the other great thing about the on-line system? On the day before we go to the library -- I print off our list of books that we have. You can do that by card. NEAT idea. Then we take the paper list and check off the books as we pile them up -- no surprises when we get to the library. I KNOW if I can't find one... or if we have them all. That's GREAT if you check 20 or more books at a time.

So -- you My Father's World users... what tricks have you learned about the book basket? Anything else I need to do or know? What do you like about the Book Basket? And you NON My Father's World users... this is a good thing to adopt into your school schedule. A very useful tool. Thanks MFW!!

Ummm... let's think this through!

My Father's World -- Creation to the Greeks, Week 3 Day 1!

Hooray -- we are on task. We are not a single day behind yet. Praise the Lord!

Today -- a science experiment is scheduled. Like the good mother/teacher that I am... I hand the book to my 6th grader "Scientist in Charge" and tell her 2nd grader "Assistant" to go to it. The fact that the experiment is called "Archimedes' Death Ray" doesn't phase me a bit.

They get right down to it! It thrills my soul to see them huddled over the book -- she reading, he listening very attentively!! Ahhh... home school at it's finest.

They run outside -- yelling as they go, "Archimedes used the sun with his death ray." I scratch my head... did they just say, "death ray?" Hmmm...

Oh come on -- this is CHRISTIAN -- they wouldn't kill anyone.

Milo -- the excitable one comes in yelling, "MOM!!! Come look." Well -- since the last words out of their mouth was death ray -- and since Milo is hollering... I decided... after I finish my bon bon... I'll take a peek.

Yeah Right!!

I went outside.

It worked -- the experiment worked. They were burning a hole in my wooden wheelbarrow using just the sun's rays and a mirror. How neat.

HEY!! That's my wheelbarrow!! Cut it out!

Is teaching kids to start fire with only a mirror and the sun a good idea?

Let's see...


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Flash back to 2 Sunday's ago............

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We are visiting a church for the 2nd time. We are pretty sure we've decided to go here full time. Really neat church -- I blogged about it yesterday... I was waiting out by the van when a very serious man -- with a very serious look about him -- very seriously handed me a lighter and told me he thinks my son was playing with it out back.


Ohh... OK... which son -- I've got 3?? :/

Turns out Mansel was bragging about being able to burn the garbage on his own -- a really big deal to city kids -- who never burn anything with out breaking some city code... so the kids asked him to bring his lighter to church.

Dumb, dumb, dumb parents --

Well -- actually -- it's laziness. Ü I'd rather train my kiddos to burn the garbage when it's -10° below zero, then ME burn it!! Of course it's not dumb... it's good training... and it build character.

::sigh::

So -- we discuss with Mansel the rights and wrongs of burning your Sunday School paper behind the church. We have him apologize. He's sorry. He gets tomato staked to my side for the rest of the day.

************************************

Zip -- fast forward back to today...

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Then -- today -- I send him outside with the sun shine and a mirror.

Can we say dumb, dumb, dumb parent.

Oh Hey MANSEL -- let's review!!! Let's review!!! Come back here... let's review!!!

What we have Found

Dan recently decided that we were driving too far to church. We live not far from a little town -- and there are several churches in the town... why not try something closer. You know -- don't you -- that gas prices are very high. So -- we started our search.

First thing we had to do was tell the people we were leaving -- that we were leaving. That's always very hard to do. So I asked people to pray... "If this is God's will -- help us to find some place closer -- or to lower the gas prices." Right? We serve a mighty God -- he can handle the gas prices if He wants to.

Well -- the gas prices haven't lowered any -- and we think we have found a place.

It is Faith Baptist Church in Knoxville -- about a 13 minute drive from our home.

The pastor and his wife are very nice. He is actually a very good preacher. I like listening to him. He hands out a note sheet every service -- and I usually can keep up. Sometimes I struggle when my 12yo or 8yo get lost and need my direction. Then while keeping the 4yo and 5yo busy -- distracted -- quiet -- sitting still.... I do OK. Praise the Lord for the note sheet.

Sunday mornings we get all the kiddos to their classes. Wayne goes to the nursery. So far so good... we only had 1 crying session -- and it didn't last long. Dani and Milo get to share a Sunday School class. This is nice because they work together on learning their memory verse. Right now -- it's about being kind. What a great subject for 4 and 5yos. Very appropriate! Mansel loves his class. He hit right off with the boys in his class. I'm not sure there are any girls. Oh he loves it! Then Tori -- there are 6 kids in her class. She is old enough that she gets home work to do during the week. That is excellent. They use Regular Baptist Press materials. Great stuff. So each morning -- she'll add that in with her devotions. Nice!! Her mind is like a sponge... she memorizes her verses so quickly. Makes me jealous! I'm struggling with their school verse. I'm trying to keep up with that.

During the morning services they have a Children's Church up the grades 3. So Tori, Dan and I sit together.

Sunday nights the 2yo and the 4yo can go to the nursery, then the rest of us sit in the service together. I like this -- the first Sunday of the month -- they celebrate the Lord's Supper. Fantastic. This makes it very special. One time the pastor toned it down a bit and educated the children on why we were doing this and what we were doing. Great educational tool. Each evening after the 1st Sunday of the month service - we have a fellowship time. Hooray -- you know my kiddos love that. This church has a lot of ground, so they run, and run, and run. I've seen soccer balls flying... footballs tumbling... bug biting! Ha ha... now that the cold has set in -- there wont' be as much of that... but they'll still be running. There is a hill there -- I wonder if they sled in the winter. We'll have to find out.

Wednesdays are set aside for a time of prayer for the adults. The pastor mentioned that the Bible says we are to be a house of prayer! GREAT -- the church is so biblical -- it's awesome. They do A.C.T.S... Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. We have been reading 1 chapter out of the Bible, then do A.C.T.S. from that chapter. This is all done corporately... not individually. For the supplication we divide up into small groups -- men with men, and women with women and pray. Cry out to God. I have gotten acquainted with several ladies while praying with them. I really like it. Dan has gone once, and he got to pray with the pastor. NICE! And the next week he was sick.

While the adults are praying the kids have a children's service down stairs with the pastor's wife. She gives HOMEWORK. Another memory verse and things to do. Usually they involve prayer, some pencil or coloring activities. More neat stuff.

Another neat thing they do -- which will happen this month -- is... Every time there is a 5th Sunday, we will have a potluck after the morning service, then have an afternoon service and not "evening" activities will be planned. We can go home as a family and do family things. It happens about 4 times a year. I hope Dan plans something extra special those nights. What a great idea... don't you think?

They support 1 of the same missionary families. I was reading a magazine that I found in the church entry way and there was the John Leonard family in that magazine. I met that family at Grace Baptist church. So -- there are a lot of similarities between the 2 churches. Faith is smaller than Grace -- but I think we can handle that. It will require us to serve more. There is nothing wrong with that. (If you ask me!)

We already knew one of the families that attended. BUT the neat thing about that was -- very time we tried the church -- they were gone. Vacation, or family camp. But we weren't dependent on them to feel welcome. The strangers we met were very friendly and godly people.

I'm so glad God has met our need of finding a church that was closer where we could worship with fellow believers.

Little Dani - who is 4 now - doesn't get it yet. She'll put on a new dress and say, "Oh, I can't wait to show Clara." Well - Clara goes to Grace... now we'll be showing Emma at Faith Baptist Church. She'll get it after a while.

What I love about this day of age is the electronics -- I'm still able to e-mail my Grace friends... lots have called, one has even come over!! So I'm not losing many friends. I'm about to gain a bunch more. And I can't wait!

Thank you God for leading us to Faith!

The Myth of a Teen Brain

On a message board I visit, an article was recommended. Boy am I ever glad I read it.

I think I'll share it with you.

The Myth of the Teen Brain: A Q&A with Dr. Epstein. Dr. Epstein wrote a book called, The Case Against Adolescence: Rediscovering the Adult in Every Teen (Quill Driver Books, 2007). The Home School Legal Defense Association publication, The Court Report, then interviewed Dr. Epstein about the book. It's a great interview. I am going to go to my library and request the book.

Have any of you read the book? What do you think about it?

What was your favorite part about the article? Do you agree or disagree with Dr. Epstein? What was your least favorite part of the article? Do you have teen agers yet? I have been trying to say "young adult" around here... but the kiddos have heard teen ager so much -- they can't wait to be one. I do think my kids have a lot more responsibility compared to the average kid... but I think they could be doing more.

I think it's a guilt factor for me... I don't want to be seen as a slave driver, or using them as free help. But really I need to get over that -- I need to let them strive towards being productive adults... forget about what every one else thinks.

Did you have a Teen Brain?

What Would You Do With These?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ? ? ? ? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If you owned these -- what would you do with them? I'm speaking of the empty egg cartons that are gracing the top of my lovely fridge.. not the cool words that are stuck to the side.

I'm thinking there have got to be some crafty people who read my blog... aren't there??

I started saving them a while back... apparently we eat a lot of eggs... mostly 12 at a time, but as you can see -- I bought 18 at once. I'm not really sure why I started saving them. I bet I read in a magazine -- save your egg cartons, and you can make THESE!!! And like an aspiring super mom that I am... I did. But what in the wide world is it?

I don't know.

Do you?

SHARE YOUR EGG-STRAORDINARY IDEAS, PLEASE!! °Ü°

p.s. If you click on the photo -- it will enlarge -- then you can read the words we have on the fridge. Who can think of the most creative way to arrange them? Do you want to have a contest?

Let's do -- it'll be fun! I'll give away a $10 TARGET GC to the one who makes me laugh the most, using the words you can see in the photo. Dead line will be when there are no more new comments... or sooner... my choice. I'm the judge... becuase it will be my sides that will be splitting.

Leave a comments -- and tell your friends too as well. ;)

Shameless fishing for commentors going on here. Can you smell it??

Excitement Runneth Over

It was the 2nd day of school around here... I was doing well -- still waking up on time. I got my exercise in -- my bible reading in! Feeling fine.

I wandered into the boys room -- looked at all their precious faces... still sleeping... I had to wake them... poor boys.

Oh Wayne... stretch -- gave me a smile.

Mansel --- slit opened his eyes and rolled over -- pretending to still be asleep. Can't fool me. I've tried that one too many times.

But Milo... The first words out of Milo's mouth, "Oh -- today is the 2nd day of Kindergarten!"

Now -- that's my boy!!

My Father's World (MFW) Week 1 Day 1

Hooray!!! We did it. We finally started school.

What a neat thing this My Father's World is. I really love it.

Tori is starting 6th Grade. Mansel is starting 2nd grade. Milo is starting Kindergarten.

My favorite part about today? Tori was motivated and she got her Saxon 7/6 done in less than an hour. If she doesn't? Then she will be required to work on it after lunch, before any free time. Today -- she hustled!! Mansel worked on his Math on his own, and really did well reigning in the day dreaming. Milo -- oh... he was so excited... we did lesson 1 of 100 EZ Lessons. Oh, I'd forgotten this feeling - of fresh minds. Like cracking open a new book. MILO!!! He's going to be a reader soon... NEATO!! We practiced writing the mmmm sound. Oh -- he's going to be fun. I even corrected him a bit... and he DIDN'T EVEN POUT!! Wow!! Danielle did a great job of watching PBS today and turning it off when I said to. Wayne.. he is going to need some work. LOL Any suggestions on what to do with a 2yo? Ü

I praise God for today. What a great day. We finished up before noon... and we didn't even skip every other subject. LOL!! What a great feeling.

Let the FUN begin!!

What's So Great About A King Size Bed?

Well -- when my bed was little, and my littles came to me -- I'd say, go back to bed.

Well -- now we have super sized our bed -- and my super kids come to me... "I'm scared."

Well -- hop up here with me chil'! I'll save you.

And I can sleep the rest of the night with out anyone's toe in my ear!

Ahhh... every one should have a king size bed, if they got littles, that is.

Thank You!

My dear daughter knows I love flowers. Aren't these beautiful? (Shhh... I know they are weeds... don't tell her).

Tori and Dani picked me some beauty and put it in a vase. Gorgeous!

THANKS GIRLS!