Archives for April 2009
Retro Cottage Kitchen is STILL at it……
Y’all have no idea how much fun this Retro Cottage Kitchen has been for me. First, just the fun of watching it all come together, then the fun of the big reveal and the linky party. I’m exhausted! But I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all your kind words and encouragement. And those of you who joined Mr. Linky, I love all your projects and plan to feature of few of them later today or tomorrow!
Where angels fly
I had every intention of showing you my ‘redecorranged’ bathroom today. It’ll have to wait. My son, who is JUST FINE, was hit by a drunk driver on the interstate late last night. He walked away unscathed from a potentially life-threatening accident. That kind of news changes your plans. It changes the way you look at your children. It changes the color of the dogwoods. It makes all things new.
Taylor,
the strength of your beliefs,
the things that remind me of the little boy in you,
the amazing songs you write,
those baby blues,
and the sweet sound of your voice.
God has given me a gift. I am blessed beyond measure to be your mother. And I see you with new eyes today. I will pray for you from a vulnerable heart. I will cry tears of joy and purpose to be thankful.
And when the time comes—- and it’s coming very soon—-to let you go……..
I will remember that you are the Lord’s planting……entrusted to me but for a little time. May he multiply the days, restore the years, keep you safe and give the growth. And may you become ‘an oak of righteousness’ for His sake and His glory. Strong and true.
I couldn’t be more proud. Love you long time,
Tales from a Homeschool Conference
As many of you know, Steve and I took the ‘little’ girls with us to Cincinnati last weekend for the Midwest Homeschool Conference. Because this is our first year homeschooling and our first conference to attend, we were a little afraid at what we might find. Since we’re only taking two of our children, will they believe we even homeschool at all? If we ask around for a good brewery, will we get kicked out? Are denim jumpers required? But we were pleasantly surprised. There were all kinds of different people there and most seemed, for lack of a better word, very ‘mainstream’.
I knew from the outset that I wanted to go to EVERY last one of Susan Wise Bauer’s talks. I love all her books and feel certain that without her curriculum (The Well-Trained Mind) and without her history program (Story of the World), I could not enjoy homeschooling as much as I do. I would most certainly lock myself in my bathroom more often than I have. So, we went to almost all of her sessions and I finally got to introduce myself to her. I gushed on profusely about how amazing she is and how she has become my new hero. She said to me, “I do think you are my number one fan.” Yes, I’m highly excitable and I’m most certain that I invaded her personal space. But she was very warm and ever so friendly in person and I would drive five hours anytime to hear her speak. She was inspiring and encouraging and I left there with a renewed sense of why we have chosen this ‘less traveled’ path. Some of the highlights from her sessions:
1. Relax. If your children say to you, ‘Mom, are you mad?” very often, you probably have this worried look on your face all the time. Have fun with it. They ARE learning. Alot more than you think. And they are safe and being protected from many outside influences. Relax. Just relax and breathe. (Those last 2 relaxes are for me).
2. Avoid the common mistake of compartmentalizing school. Don’t say (which I said daily in the past), “Hurry and finish school and then we’ll…..”. Learning is a lifestyle, not something to be done before other more fun things can be done. Instead, it should more like, “Let’s do your math and then we’ll go for a walk….then we’ll read some and then we’ll have lunch…..then we’ll go to ballet and then we’ll plant some flowers. Don’t use school as punishment.
3. Educate Yourself. If you’re embarking on trying to educate yourself (like I am, using her book The Well Educated Mind), don’t be discouraged. Just because you can read the newspaper doesn’t mean you can easily read great works of literature with ease. Be patient. Even if you can only get through ten pages of Plato, that’s better than no pages of Plato. Just keep turning the page.
4. Surround your children with great books. Buy books for gifts. Read to them. Read yourself. Have them read to you. There is no substitute for great books. Keep them everywhere.
5. Sing. Dance. Laugh. Enjoy the fact that you are blessed enough to be able to stay home with your kids and teach them. If you enjoy it, they will too.
6. Don’t ask your children repeatedly to do tasks that are highly frustrating for them. If they cry everytime you ask them to narrate or write something, there’s probably a reason why. Break writing down into tasks. Have them narrate back to you verbally what happened in a story and you write it down. Then separately have them take dictation of short sentences. Eventually they will be able to do both steps together but this was a lightbulb moment for me. I have a child who cries everytime I ask her to narrate. But I do it anyway, thinking maybe she’s just being lazy. SHE DOESN’T HAVE THE SKILLS TO DO IT YET ALL AS ONE ACTION! Oh, thank you for this tidbit Ms. Susan. You will save us many tears.
7. If they’re crabby, feed them a sandwich. If that doesn’t work, have them take a nap. Children are physical beings and most of their melt downs are related to physical needs. Don’t neglect the physical needs while trying to push harder with the mental tasks. The brain needs food and rest.
8. Establish a regular ‘rest’ time. Even if they’re older, they can go to their room and read. When you’re with your own children all day, you all need a break from each other. Even mom. Especially mom. Susan says she has kept this up even as they get into the teen years. Her mother (who homeschooled her) would say, “Don’t talk to me from 1-3, unless you’re seriously injured”. I think this is wise. We must pace ourselves. This is a long, hard but rewarding road.
Another highlight of my trip was visiting one of my favorite stores ever….. IKEA. And I’d like to thank the Creation Museum for that. We were so looking forward to going to the museum and were sure we’d need more time than just one day. I think the concept is good and I happen to agree with the main theology points of the museum (God created the world in seven days, young earth etc) but there was something lost in the translation I think. I’ll summarize by quoting Steve, “It’s like a bad mixture of Dollywood and Jesus 81”. Enough said.
And last but not least, I got to meet Darcy from Lifewithmy3boybarians. This was certainly one of my favorite bloggers to meet. Sadly, the picture of the two of us did not turn out well. Of me at least. I had just had my hair colored and it was a sort of orangish-yellow. So I’ll spare you the fright but I will tell you she is a beautiful, strong, kind woman who you should meet if you get the chance. She is DARLING in person and I feel so fortunate to count her among my friends in real life now.
Post-Edit:
I forgot to add one of the key things I learned:
9. Think LONG and HARD before you join a co-op. I was contemplating Classical Conversations and after hearing her reasons for not joining, decided to postpone it indefinitely. Co-ops can be very time consuming, especially if you’re required to teach. Spend that time preparing for your own kids instead. They also can foster unhealthy peer groups which is probably at least part of the reason you’re homeschooling to begin with. I think co-ops that are just for field trips might work for us, but we’ve decided against joining one for now.
faq
1. What is your faith/denomination?
I bought it here. I love her stuff. And I love buying from mom-artists.
Feathers, eggs and painted wood…..
Today, I’m giving you a sneak peek into my ‘Cottage Kitchen Makeover’. And I’m planning on hosting a Mr. Linky party of my own Monday when I make my big reveal. I hope you’ll join me…this is my first attempt to host…and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that maybe a few a you will show off your ‘Painted Wood Projects’ then. If you’ve painted any wood surface (cabinets, floors, picture frames, ANYTHING—-or if you’ve been wanting to paint some wood surface in your house but haven’t gotten around to it, link up and show us your plans. Spread the word on your blog and let’s get everybody painting this weekend. Of course we’d love to see stuff you painted months or years ago too. That’s this Monday April 26th.
Now for Mrs. Nester’s Linky party, I have a confession to make. I have no L.Herbert Feathers and Eggs prints….. at least not yet. I’m always late for the show. Two seconds too late. Johnny come lately. Like those ten years I kept wearing blue eye shadow when everyone else had moved on to the natural look. I do have a couple spots where they’d be perfect though.
It’s pretty cute but I need something bigger there.
Or maybe in place of this bird print that’s hanging on my newly painted kitchen cabinets.
Or maybe here….in lieu of plates. I love the plates but I never know when to stop with an idea. We have nothing to eat dinner on because all my plates are hanging on the wall.
And now for more teasers……these cabinets were very standard oak finish with the doors ON.
And because my kitchen is 10 years old and not built by me, the lighting has always been an issue for me. Hence, the 17 lamps I used to have in the kitchen. But I bought these little bookshelf lights from IKEA and voila……custom lighting.
Make sure you come back on Monday for the rest of the reveal.
And link up with me for the love of painted wood!