Housekeeping

We got a new dishwasher yesterday.  Our old one up and died about a month ago.  We knew it was on the way out, but wanted to use every bit of life the poor thing had left.  We suceeded!

Every time my Mom fills or empties her dishwasher (or ours, or anyone else's) she thanks God for it.  Growing up without one, she knows what it's like to have to wash every little fork, plate and spoon.  Now the Darin Beard family understands her thankfulness.  A family of seven can generate quite a few dishes. 

Back when we first had to do without our dishwasher, every single one of us approached it as a challenge.  We were no wimps.  We could wash our own dishes!  Well, we did wash our own dishes, but we were not happy about it after the first few days.By the time Darin got home with the dishwasher yesterday, we seriously had to debate whether to install the dishwasher first, or put up the Christmas tree first.  That's a big deal considering our kids start harassing us about putting up the tree once November hits.

Even though it's nice having a new dishwasher, I balk at the new thing in the house.  For one, it's a different color and doesn't look the same sitting among our cabinets as the old one did.  <sniff>  For another thing, it's got a different set-up than the old one.  How on earth are we supposed to load the thing?  I'm SURE I'll never figure out a way.  Lastly, the buttons on the front work differently and make a beeping sound.  <gasp!>  I'm 40 now....aren't I allowed to be boring and set in my ways?  The thing that concerns me most is that our last dishwasher always made it sound as if we were going to be hit with a tidal wave at any minute.  This new one is so quiet!  I literally tiptoe by it while it's running.  I feel as if I have to be quiet around it!  Maybe I'm not only old and set in my ways, but a tad bit "off" as well.  ;-)

On another  housekeeping note, last week for school, Lydia had to write a short little thing trying to persuade me to let her do something I would "never - ever" let her do.  I was very interested in what she would write about.  Being the freaky, over-protective parents we are, there are a lot of things Lydia, who is 10, is not allowed to do.  Just which one of those things would she choose to beg me to allow her to do?  Here's what she wrote:

Please, please, let me iron, Mama.  I wish I could so much.  I'll work on ironing while you rest!  Please. 

God bless us, every one.

Created for Work

No unwelcome tasks become any the less unwelcome by putting them off till tomorrow.  It is only when they are behind us and done, that we begin to find that there is a sweetness to be tasted afterwards, and that the remembrance of unwelcome duties unhesitatingly done is welcome and pleasant. Accomplished, they are full of blessing, and there is a smile on their faces as they leave us. Undone, they stand threatening and disturbing our tranquility, and hindering our communion with God.  If there be lying before you any bit of work from which you shrink, go straight up to it, and do it at once.  The only way to get rid of it is to do it. – Alexander MacLaren [1826-1910], Scottish preacher)

Not to mention that our children are watching us every moment.  They see the tasks we leave undone so we can go sit at the computer, or read a book, or.....

I mentioned to a close friend that I am constantly busy at home and the first thing off her tongue was that I needed to make time for myself.  It made me sad to hear that.  More than anything, I need to be encouraged to be more diligent.  We were created for work, and I believe our work can be enjoyable - down to the poopiest diaper - if only we would approach it with the appropriate attitude.  I struggle in this area!  God is faithful, though.  I constantly pray that He will give me the vision He has for my life as a mom and wife, and He keeps feeding me the passion I need to keep on keepin' on.

One of my biggest struggles is mending.  Darin has too many shirts that need buttons replaced!

I Never Saw a Moor

I never saw a moor,
I never saw the sea;
Yet know I how the heather looks,
An what a wave must be.
I never spoke with God,
Nor visited in heaven;
Yet certain am I of the spot,
As if the chart were given.

-Emily Dickenson

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my window... sun and cool temperatures.

I am thinking... It seems there is always so much to do and I constantly think of all those little chores that so easily pile up, but God always brings me back to where I’m supposed to be when I hear the voices of my kids.  It’s hard to swallow the pride I feel in a perfectly clean house as I make the kids the priority.  I constantly pray for God to give me His vision for what He wants me to do, and the kids are it.  J

From the learning rooms...OH MY GOODNESS.  I ordered the History Through the Ages Timeline Figures on CD-Rom and LOVE IT.  I’ve been waiting my entire homeschooling career for such a groovy resource.  What I love best about it is that I can make the figures any size I want.  And I love that I can print out as many of the figures as I need.  And I love that I can pick and choose who I want to print.  What is not to love about this thing???

I am thankful for...answered prayer about my sister-in-law’s mother, Darin is recovering from a nasty cold he had last week and no one else seems to be catching it, our warm, warm house.

From the kitchen...I promised Darin I would make him more Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies sometime this week.  Jack took the last of what we had to give to his pals at Awana.

I am reading...Still the same things with each member of the family that I have been.  Lots of other books and mags on the side.  I should go through every room of the house and make a list and try to get what I’ve started finished!

I am hoping...that I can not sweat the small stuff this week.  God is in control.

I am creating...order for Ben.  Getting ready some new school things for him.

Around the house...we will be canceling our cable t.v. this week.  Normally I would be rejoicing over this since I never really wanted it to begin with, but somehow I’ve come to appreciate its benefits and don’t want to give it up.  But we’re cutting corners in the budget and t.v. is really the only “extra” we have to cut.

One of my favorite things...thinking about how God has given us our daily work not to weigh us down with a burden, but to make our lives interesting and fulfilling.   

A few plans for the rest of the week...need to set-up a date for a friend and her son to come over to watch a show on NASA with us – a neat show we were able to record because of our CABLE TV.  sigh.  ;-)

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
Who wants to do school when there is so much fun to be had with potholder loops????
-From February, 2008

To read more Daybook entries, go HERE.

Trivium Pursuit Goodies!

Check out the opportunities from Trivium Pursuit and Christian Logic, below.  I love the Bluedorns, of Trivium Pursuit.  Their book, Teaching the Trivium, clued Darin and me in on what homeschooling should truly be.

Special Offer from Trivium Pursuit and Christian Logic

Our readers have the opportunity to receive two free ebooks from Trivium Pursuit.

1.The 73 page ebook of the entire text of Chapter Twelve: Ten Things to Do With Children Ages Ten Through Twelve from the book Teaching the Trivium: Christian Homeschooling in a Classical Style by Harvey and Laurie Bluedorn

2.The new 94 page ebook Ancient Literature: Significant Excerpts from the Books of Classical Authors Which You Can Use to Supplement Your History Curriculum - Volume Two: Alexander the Great.

You will receive both of these ebooks when you subscribe to the Homeschooling with the Trivium newsletter. This offer is only for new subscribers to Homeschooling with the Trivium and is good only through November 30. Go here to subscribe.

http://www.triviumpursuit.com/list/

In addition, if you subscribe to Christian Logic's Fallacy Detective News you will receive two lessons from the logic textbook The Thinking Toolbox by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn (Lessons 12 and 13, along with exercises and answer key). This offer is only for new subscribers to The Fallacy Detective News and is good only through November 30. Go here to subscribe.

http://www.fallacydetective.com/news/

God Being Real, Part 3

Part 1, Part 2. 

As we were driving away from our campsite out in the boonies, we looked for cars that were going towards it.  We didn’t see any and started to feel a little bit safer once we hit the first red light in town.  It’s a small, small town and at the time I think there was only one choice of hotels.  It was one of those little motels with the office at one end of a long building, with all the doors to the rooms facing the road. There might have been 15 rooms. 

My Dad left us all in the car while he went to get a room.  We all sat, waiting for him without speaking a word.  I for one had eaten way too many marshmallows, and I don’t think I was the only one.  That, combined with the feeling as though the boogeyman were going to jump out at us at any minute kept us thinking our own thoughts.

Dad finally came out from the office.  We went into our room and collapsed where ever Mom told us to sleep.  We all slept hard.  Not one of us woke up until the sun was burning extra bright into our motel window.  We were so worn out by the time we made it to our room we hadn’t even done something as simple as close the drapes before getting into bed.  We got up and all took a shower in a real shower for the first time in over a week.  We checked out and then headed back up the mountain to see what we could see.

The drive back up the mountain was as quiet as the drive down the mountain.  When we got to our campsite, we did see that some of our things had been gone through, but there was no real damage to our set-up.  It was freaky and weird to walk through our campsite knowing that someone had been there while we were gone.  My Mom had one of those screened tents that housed our food.  It was open, and some of the food that had been put away was out on the table.  Our lawn chairs were moved around and next to one of them was an empty bag that had held our marshmallows just a few hours earlier.  

Later, Dad told us about his conversation with the owner of the motel.  As he was checking out, he said, “Didja year what happened last night?”

“No.  We went to bed as soon as we got here, and haven’t heard the news since waking up.”

“Some boys broke into the pharmacy last night and stole some things and did some damage!”

Gulp.

Like I wrote earlier, as a 13 year old, the whole episode just plain creeped me out.  Then as I arrived to my 20’s and thought about it, I thought, “God must have some huge plan for me, to save me like that.” (Ahem.  ;-) 

In my 30’s I calmed down a bit and decided that God must have had some big plan for one of the other people in my family, or even my best friend, to save us all like that. 

Now I’m 40, and I finally realize that God doesn’t have to have any world-changing plan for any of us, to save us as He did.  What He has for my Dad, Mom, two brothers, best friend and me is a never-ending love for His own creation.  Above that, He has His own counsel.  Certainly, God saving my family and friend were not meaningless.  But I don’t have to know why He did it.  God asked Job, “Who is this who obscures my counsel without knowledge?”

Job replied, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know (42:3).”

Skipping a verse, in verse 5 Job said, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.”

Amen, Job.  Amen.  God is Real.

God Being Real, Part 2

To read Part 1 of this God-story, go HERE.

So there we were, camping out in the middle of practically nowhere with my Dad acting weird.  He is a quiet guy anyway, and hard to read if one doesn’t know him well.  There have been many times when my Dad made a joke and it was obvious the person he was talking to wasn’t sure if he was joking or not.  Very dry.  Very quiet, but mostly with a smile to reassure us all that he was with us in spirit, if not verbally. 

Now there were no smiles and he was doing that thing he does when worried about something.  He puts his hands in his back pockets, slowly paces and looks down.  That was my Dad for the entire first week.

It all came to a head on Friday night.

In honor of it being Friday, my Mom, who was not big on junk food, pulled out the marshmallows.  We all got into our jammies, settled into our lawn chairs in front of the fire and gorged.  There’s nothing like the burnt, gooey goodness of a marshmallow.  Dad had helped us find some good roasting sticks and made sharp points on them for us with his pocket knife, but when offered his own stick with a marshmallow on it, he turned it down and just stood there watching all of us.

After listening to us argue over the merits of mildly toasted versus flaming, burnt marshmallows for about 10 minutes, Dad finally broke his silence.  Even though he is the quiet type, he can be very emotional.  So when he finally spoke, we could all feel the relief he was feeling at finally letting go and letting us know what was on his mind. His voice quavered, and without beating around the bush, he said, “We’ve got to go.”

Whaaaa?  Go?  Because we didn’t really understand where Dad was coming from, all we could think about were logistics.  We were in our jammies.  We were practically ready for bed.  We wanted to continue eating marshmallows. We were 14 hours away from Buffalo.  It was almost 10 o’clock.  We had friends that lived close by, but did we want to go disturb them that late? 

My Mom said no.  “We can pack up and leave in the morning if you have a wild hair, but not tonight.”  

All of this conversation took about two minutes.  When we finished saying our pieces, my Dad just picked back up where he left off. 

“We’ve got to go.  20 years ago, I had a dream that I was reading a newspaper and read an article about a pastor who was from Buffalo, NY.  He and his family had been murdered while camping.  In the article, it said a group of boys had broken into the local pharmacy…stolen some drugs.  They went out, away from the town and came across the pastor and his family sleeping.  They butchered every family member with knives.  They were high on the drugs they had stolen from the pharmacy.  I saw my picture in the paper, but never connected the story of the pastor with myself because at the time I wasn’t a pastor and never imagined that I would ever be from New York.

I have had that dream again for the last four nights.  I have been praying, and asking God what to do….where to go…for Him to help us, but all I see is His back, and I hear Him say, ‘I’ve done everything I can do for you.’” 

At this, my Dad totally broke down.  To think that God was turning His back on him was more than he could bear.  But I think it was what he needed to hear, cause Dad was pushing us all to the car so we could get out of there and go find a hotel room for the night.  

My two brothers, best friend, Mom and I were wide-eyed and dumbfounded.  Without much ado, we quickly went into the pop-up camper to grab our suitcases.  But it felt as if it was taking us way too long to get out of there and we kept listening for cars coming our way.  Dad put out the fire, Mom hurriedly put away the food, and as we all finally got into the car and started to drive away, my pal and I were hugging each other and crying.

More later.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my Window...the temps are getting lower, with highs in the low 70’s.  On Wednesday, we will go down to highs in the 60’s!  LOVE IT.  Today it's overcast.  Love that, too.

I am thinking...that I am so excited about homeschooling.  I LOVE IT.  I get to be with my kids EVERY DAY!  My oldest is 13 and I keep pinching myself – how many other 13 year olds will still hold their Mom’s hand on the way into the library, or put his arm around her on the way out?  Sigh.

From the learning rooms...I’ve gotten to the point where I understand that I cannot focus on history and science at the same time.  So we now alternate between them.  We study one chapter from science (we’re using Apologia’s Zoology II – Swimming Creatures of the Sea), then we move back to History and on and on.  Works great for me.  I feel I’m being more consistent this way.

I am thankful for...the Victoria Botkin’s Curriculm Advice chat.  Since Sophia was born I’ve been struggling with just everything.  I felt like I might be doing too much schooling because with three in full blown school, I have to work like a dawg to keep up.  But I’m doing all the things that she recommended!  I sat down to listen to it on my iPod (I downloaded it from Behemoth.com) thinking I would get up with a long list of changes I needed to make.  So it was a huge punch in the arm to know that according to a mother of 7, I am right on track.  What I took away from it was that I need to get a grip and buck up!  Being the Mom of a large family IS hard work. 

From the kitchen...Every Sunday I make a shopping list and Lydia and I do the grocery shopping for the week.  This week we went shopping, but I had no list!  I was not inspired and the only plan I have is for Ben to make meatloaf tonight.  After tonight, who knows what we’ll eat for the rest of the week…..grilled cheese?  PB & J?  Eggs and bacon???  Wow.  I didn’t realize it, but our options are practically without limit.

I am reading...World mag, St. Bartholomew’s Eve with Darin, Ishmael with Ben, Elsie’s Children with Lydia, and The Trojan War with Jack. 

I am hoping...to fold the huge mountain of clothes in the corner of my bedroom TODAY.   

I am creating...order.  I love organizing and planning…..what a geek.  January is not my time for cleaning out clutter and reorganizing.  Fall is my time.  I know it’s the time of year when everything is turning brown and dying, but there’s something about fall that inspires me to begin anew.

I am hearing...Sophia breathing.  I love that sound. 

Around the house...I need to catch-up on making baby food for Sophia this week.  I’m running low.  She’s 11 months, but still only has her front four teeth!     

One of my favorite things...praying for something and waiting to see how God will answer. 

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...my biggest brother’s birthday is on Thursday...Putting together plans for a class for newbie homeschoolers that I will begin teaching in the fall – I’m excited about that...Darin has to work tonight – our date night.  Waaaah.  ;-)  At least he can do his work from home...Spending as much time as possible outside with the kids while the weather is warm enough to not require a coat.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
My little Dress-Up Queen from four years ago.

To read other Daybook entries visit The Simple Woman.

God Being Real

These days I feel as if I can almost reach out and touch God in the every day events of my life. Sometimes it sends a shiver down my spine to think that God is here, in my home, being REAL.  I think the first time I remember noticing God’s hand in my life was when I was about to go into 8^th grade.  And really, I recognized it more after I became an adult.  Back in the summer before 8^th grade, I was creeped out more than anything.  But it was a beginning for me, and as I’ve gotten older, I can look back and see God being active on my behalf.

My Dad was what the Southern Baptists call a Home Missionary.  He started a Baptist Church in Cheektowaga, NY called French Road Baptist Church.  Cheektowaga was 95% Roman Catholic.  We moved to New York from Tennessee.  Everyone in Tennessee acted as if we were moving to Africa.  Come to think of it, when we got to New York, all our new friends acted as if we had moved from Africa. 

I was in 3^rd grade, and it was a struggle for me.  There I was, with my East Tennessee accent, and the daughter of the guy who started that “new church” on French Road.  And by the way, yes, we did go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and various other times when something special came up.  That right there put me in the oddball category with my fellow 3^rd graders who only went to church on Saturday nights. 

The timing of our move couldn’t have been worse.  We moved in April – just missed the Blizzard of ’77.  It was the end of the school year.  It was just plain weird and hard.  I started having “stomach aches” that kept me home from school.  My Dad finally got a clue when he drove me to school one morning and I pulled out the ol’ stomach ache as he pulled up to the curb to let me out.  He told me I had to chill, and I never used that excuse again.

I eventually settled in, made lifelong friends, and cried like a big baby when we moved back down south when I was in 10^th grade.  But to scoot back to that summer before 8^th grade….

Every summer my parents loaded up us three kids still at home (I am 5^th of 6) and we made a trip to Tennessee to go camping.  We went to my parent’s home town.  We did not camp at the local KOA, or whatever you call those campgrounds with showers, toilets and a plug.  We camped out in the woods.  We carried our toilet paper as far as we thought we needed to go for privacy and did our thing.  When we needed to bathe, we jumped in the water hole to get wet, got out and lathered up, then jumped back in to rinse off.  Real camping.  At this point, I have to say God Bless My Mom.  We camped for up to two weeks, and she had all the food we ever needed while we were there and she cooked everything over the campfire.  What a woman.

That last fateful trip – oh yes, we never went back after this trip – my parents let me bring my best friend from across the street.  She was a city girl all the way and had never done any camping so we were having a lot of fun together.  The only thing that dragged down our trip was my Dad.  He was being weird.  As a 13 year old, I could only think, “how embarrassing.”  He was very detached.  Very emotional, and constantly wandering away from the family unit to go do….ummmmm……what?  None of us knew. 

 Okay.  This is getting long.  I’ll finish this tale soon!

Exercise Challenge

I've been doing a lot of exercising with DVDs at night after the kids go to bed, but I wasn't getting anything else done.  So I am now dragging myself out of bed (or is that Darin's foot in my back?) every morning to get in a good walk with Leslie Sansone.  So far, so good. 

I got a good boost of inspiration this past weekend when I went clothes shopping.  Oh man, did I ever need to go clothes shopping.  I just didn't know how to fit clothes shopping into the schedule, so I've been wearing the same ol', same ol' for too long.  Not that it was just old, but it was obvious I needed to invest in something new.  ;-)  So in spite of the baths that needed to be given, the dinner that needed to be served, and the laundry that was all piled up in the living room, I snuck out of the house and went to JCPenney.  There is nothing like a full-length mirror - that reveals every inch of flab - to inspire the desire to be faithful to a workout plan.  I'm good now for another few weeks before that wears off.  ;-)

The excitement over this Exercise Challenge has absolutely cooled off, so rather than signing-in with Mr. Linky, just leave a comment with your link if you've posted your own exercise update.

The Simple Woman's Daybook

For Today...

Outside my Window...it’s a bright, bright, sunshiny day, man.

I am thinking...that it’s good to be blogging again.  I took all of last week off and got a bunch of stuff done! Well, maybe not as much as other people might have gotten done, but compared to…….ummmmm…….someone who’s just been knocked unconscious???? I got a lot done.  I feel better.

From the learning rooms...plugging away!  Starting to turn a corner with Ben.  He wants to be a writer, so I’m doing all I can to encourage him.  He’s learning that writing is WORK.  We’re considering enrolling him in the Christian Writer’s Guild writing course for kids ages 13 and up (thanks, De’Etta).  It’s a big commitment, so we’re waiting to make sure he’s really serious.

I am thankful for...sleep.  Doesn’t it feel so good to sleep?  Love it.

From the kitchen...Marlboro Man’s Favorite Sandwich.  ;-)  I discovered this recipe last week, thanks to Farrel.  We loved it.  YUM.  I received a request for us to have it again this week. It’s so easy to make…who am I to say no?



I am reading...World mag, St. Bartholomew’s Eve with Darin, Ishmael with Ben, Elsie’s Children with Lydia, and The Trojan War with Jack.  Henry loves the books we checked out from the library for him.  They are all by Donald Crews.  For a 2 year old boy, these books are the grooviest.  Titles such as Freight Train, Sail Away, Harbor, School Bus, Truck....you know exactly what I'm talking about.  I’ve got a couple other books that I'm reading on my own floating around the house.  If I ever get a minute and am in the same room with them, I try to get in a few pages.

I am hoping...for the election to turn out the way *I* want it.  ;-)  Darin and I voted early last week and the line was HUGE!  Usually when we vote early, we walk in, and there’s no waiting.  We each waited 40 minutes this time around.  One of the ladies who was working at the polling place said that 2,000 people had voted on every day of early voting.  Unheard of.

I am creating...lists!  One of the things I got done last week was to hang a big white board above my desk in the kitchen.  Every night I write down chores I need to get to, chores the kids need to get to, schoolwork they need to bring to me ASAP, kitchen cleaning assignments…..whatever we need to put there to be sure we accomplish.  It helped so much!  I tried carrying around a little notebook with the same info, but it didn’t have the same effect as the white board does, since everyone can see it.  What’s so funny is that the kids kept asking me, “Mom did you do blah-be-de-blah yet??”  I had to draw a line at nagging me to get my stuff done just so they could have the joy of crossing it off.  ;-)

I am hearing...Jack pretending to be a character from The Lord of the Rings, spoons in bowls.  Cheerios this morning.

Around the house...I got so much laundry done last week, but the fun never ends in that department.  Ben is staining the shelves we bought at the unfinished furniture place and he’s taking longer than I wanted, so *I* will be nagging him this week.  ;-)  I’m ready to move stuff into it!  My new favorite piece of furniture is definitely shelves.   

One of my favorite things...sleep.  I already mentioned that, didn’t I….

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week...nothing this week, but staying home where we will stay busy!  I’m always amazed at all the work and play we can create for ourselves here on our little suburban plot.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...
I can never get these boys to stop rough housing.  God bless 'em.

To visit other Daybook entries, go HERE.