Brite

If you haven't discovered the wonder of Brite music, I strongly encourage you to do so soon...they are discontinuing all of their print material, and making everything digital. While that isn't a bad thing, I love having a good book in my hand and a CD to pop into the car (though I realize I could just burn my own).

Some of our Brite favorites are (click on the links, and listen to the song previews!)

The Standin' Tall Series
The Safety Kids ( I love ALL THREE volumes, Personal Safety, Say No To Drugs, and Don't Pollute Your Mind)

My Body Machine

Take Your Hat Off When The Flag Goes By

Both Stephen and I grew up listening to these--yes, same versions as they have now (funny, how we lived so far apart and had so much in common--God's always planning, isn't he?) and now our kids have a copy of each of them. Anyhow, I just wanted to share this while there were still some hard copies left, though I'm sure the digital version will be just as great.

What to do...

If you don't know, all three of our kiddos have had tonsillitis. It started out as just sniffles and sneezes from experiencing new bugs from moving, but then those bugs ganged up on us! Their tonsils were huge, which limited eating. Sad. Then, the doctor told us not to have interaction with other kids for a few days because the antibiotic he was putting them on would not kill the whole infection, but would let their bodies catch up and do the work it needed to. So, given that our outside time is usually with other children, this momma needed to have a plan.

I wanted them to get fresh air, but we don't have a yard of our own to quarantine them to. Then, while I was having an evening to myself at a local craft store, I saw that the moon sand (well, the generic one) was half off! A flash of genius, and a turkey roaster later, and my kids were in business...on the patio. Sorry to the neighbors below--I did put a towel and a plastic piece under them, but still, some fell onto your patio furniture.

Tender Mercies

Sometimes, as a home-school mom, I worry. Of course, I'm sure ALL mothers worry, but often I worry that my teaching isn't sinking in, or that they children won't be prepared for adulthood. We do a lot of things, we read a lot, we get out a lot, and we talk A LOT. But that doesn't mean I don't worry. When I get into this worrisome state, I pray for some sort of reassurance that my children are learning and that this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Often, my mind is settled by what my children do quite soon after my prayer. Yesterday was one of those days.

In the car on the way to pick up my sunglasses (here's hoping this pair doesn't give me headaches, too!), Zachary informed me that when he has his future home, it will be surrounded by lush, green vegetation. Well, I thought, the literature is doing something for his language.

The real clincher for me, though, that we're doing the right thing, for this time (you know, things DO change) was at our church's stuff swap*. Zachary and Chayce were just in love with this brass oil cruet with engraving on it, they kept just holding and staring at it. Finally Zac comes up to me and says, "You know Mom, we like this because it looks like the Egyptian stuff you've shown us. Maybe it came from there! I bet it did, we should find out where and..." I cut him off, pretty sure it was a thrift store find that someone was discarding that had just been gathering dust at their house. "Oh, sweetie, I said, it might not be." Just then, a woman I hadn't met yet (Hey! I'm new here!) turned and said,

"Actually, I brought that. I purchased it in Saudi Arabia but my husband and I are clearing many things out due to needing to downsize since we both previously were married to other people and the court fees are killing us. So, he's close, and I'm impressed."

Dumbfounded, I looked at my son. I changed my mind, and the brass piece is sitting here on the table. I'm pretty sure that at this point, it means more to me than it ever will to him--to him, it's a cool art piece to stare at. To me, it's a reminder that I'm doing OK at fulfilling the work that I felt so prompted to do.

*Stuff Swap, or here called Sharewear, is where folks bring their things that they are going to donate to charity (like Goodwill) but before hand everyone looks through everyone else's stuff to see if there is something they need. It's a free exchange, and everything left over goes to the thrift store. Usually, there is a lot left because people just cleaned out their homes to do this, and don't want a bunch of stuff, but it is nice to get some kids clothes and games for free, or even a few school items! When we did this in Indiana, it was so neat to see this new, single mom come in and get a highchair, baby clothes and a crib for free--not even having to pay the thrift store price really saved her that year.

D's & B's

Chayce is reading, and it's been a fun adventure to get her to this point. We're book worms in our house, and our schooling really revolves around reading anything and everything we can about what interests us. One problem she has that I hadn't encountered (but now know is really common) is trying to differentiate between the letters D & B when they are in their small form (d &b). Often, the context of the story helps, but if just reading words, or doing spelling, there isn't a context. Anyhow, I found this great printables website put together by another homeschooler, and she addressed this problem. Here's the link: http://fivejs.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/d_b_coloring.pdf Her whole website has lots of great ideas on it for teaching. I sure hope this lesson helps my dear girl.

Do you want to eat some weasel?

Yesterday we went to water the plants of some friends, and picked some of their surplus herbs. Chayce carried the bag, and all the way home she kept asking Payge if Payge wanted to eat some weasel. Payge agreed to eating some weasel, and Chayce would proceed to feed her weasel from the bag of herbs. Now I worry about getting attacked by some furry little basil next time I walk next to the wooded area near our apartment.

How $15 Can Change Your Weekend

Our ward in North Carolina is pretty awesome. Our friends farther west would, I'm sure, LOVE to take part in our amazing little co-op. I'm pretty sure you could start your own wherever you live. Here, anyone who wants to can chip in $15, then one person goes to the farmers market (today it was Stephen) that morning (with Oomph in their buying power due to increased funds), and then comes home and divides it among those who chipped in. This is what we got this morning. I'll be freezing some, and eating some. Either way, for $15...well, you just can't beat that! Here's the list:
1 big watermelon
a full shopping bag of green beans (was four quart bags after cleaning)
five zucchini
five apples
10 ears of corn
two celery bunches
1 quart sized bag of radishes
8 large baking potatoes
11 bell peppers
1 pint grape tomatoes
three heads of broccoli
5 cucumbers

Yummy.

Happy 9th Anniversary!

Well, it has come and gone. There wasn't big fanfare this year because we ALL ended up with sore throats, coughs, runny noses, and extreme fatigue. Sigh. I suppose that means we're really, truly married now...a momentous event (like our wedding anniversary) can pass and we can be happy about just being together. I do have to admit, it was nice. Dinner at home, with our children isn't so bad. On the day we canceled the sitter (yeah, we were going to go out...), I decided to make the most of my heritage, since we frequently enjoy the blessings of Stephen's Swiss heritage (bratzelis! Mmmmm.) I thought perhaps a night in honor of the Polishness of me would be appropriate. Pierogies, fried onions, butter, some fruit, and Chopin playing on the speakers. You know, there are many amazing Polish people in the world, and I'm hoping to count our family among them. Especially since we can spend a night at home and not wish we were somewhere else. That's right, we like hanging out with our children, even if they do all have runny noses.