tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70536946277722983322024-03-04T23:49:28.432-06:00From Diapers to Driver's EdHollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-78058308801287055242015-02-22T10:00:00.000-06:002015-02-22T10:02:51.798-06:00Good News <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I like this four-minute video so much that I am embedding it on the sidebar of the blog. Can a life be changed in under five minutes? You better believe it. <br />
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<a href="https://vimeo.com/97012268">Take a look!</a></div>
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https://vimeo.com/97012268</div>
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by Pastor Ritch Sandford, The Mission Church, Utah</div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-42812026476045902722014-06-28T21:34:00.001-05:002014-06-29T08:34:52.063-05:00Buy The Dress<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I found the perfect mother of the groom dress at 75% off.<br />
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Wait, what? Wasn't the previous blog post about the oldest just graduating from high school?<br />
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Yes. I'm a planner. Plus, 75% off.<br />
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I queried my Facebook friends, who were nearly unanimous in their delight to spend my money. Get the dress, they urged. Some even argued I would find "many uses" for it. For a full-length, sequined gown? Perhaps they confused my stay-at-home mom life with, I don't even know whose life, maybe Vanna White's?<br />
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I bought the dress. Alas and alack, it doesn't work. "Mist" is not my best color.<br />
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Oh, well.<br />
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I don't know if I would have used it for a mother of the groom dress anyway. However, the experience reminded me of another dress I bought for "no reason" half a lifetime ago.<br />
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During a summer while I was in college, for no particular reason, on a day like any other, I went into a dress shop in my hometown. I had never been in that shop before and I don't recall ever shopping in it after that.<br />
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On that no particular day for no particular reason and for no particular occasion, I found a great dress. Black velvet, two piece. The peplum top had an elaborate sequin pattern and the skirt was the perfect length. The dress was $99. Back in 1987 or 1988 that was a lot of money for a dress, especially to a college kid whose cash came from waiting tables at Ponderosa.<br />
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I loved that dress. I dragged my mom to look at the dress. Mom is a frugal lady who hates to shop, and I was under no illusion that she would perceive need or reason for the dress. I just wanted her to see it. Mom liked the dress too. I thought and I thought and I thought.<br />
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And darn it, I bought that $99 perfect dress. I don't know why. I needed to. I didn't wear it--where does one even wear a velvet, sequined dress--but I was glad to own it. I moved it with me down to North Carolina after I graduated from college.<br />
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During a winter years later while I was in graduate school, for every reason, on a day unlike any other, I was wearing that dress when I told a certain (dare I say wonderful?) young man who asked me to marry him, "Yes." Tomorrow we celebrate 23 years of marriage. Life is short. Buy the dress.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJikMGYJi63nIKIOz9941xBPf3sJ0XUdGektUpmlxu_eX_tQCkIQU-G342mWIUAhLAUAftLaLcYhO_-Q0evlu7kK-Mylb1MC-7xPrztc8QAZbfAKoCatTD5MDx15QlhFKZcM3unhY8bgi/s1600/Engagement+Picture.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioJikMGYJi63nIKIOz9941xBPf3sJ0XUdGektUpmlxu_eX_tQCkIQU-G342mWIUAhLAUAftLaLcYhO_-Q0evlu7kK-Mylb1MC-7xPrztc8QAZbfAKoCatTD5MDx15QlhFKZcM3unhY8bgi/s1600/Engagement+Picture.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-28234568834037964672014-06-11T17:10:00.001-05:002014-06-12T12:47:28.192-05:00Valedictorian of Our First Graduating Class<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Meet the valedictorian of our inaugural graduating class. Before our home boasted a whole riotous handful of noise makers and chaos creators, there was just this guy. Cute, isn't he? </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4cUGrzzgqqPCvDhrrv1LP1z338xt0lOgQyhSsa_hh4-gFV50VYDMPvLAmMLBSGvUi2ZAGSCsPZv3fo_NrCq6gCFJFLhXJHgVUG2jsm4Uv48nfs5ZY8mEXMUmcxbjdPqfIdeOJDC2ANc3/s1600/IMG_3353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4cUGrzzgqqPCvDhrrv1LP1z338xt0lOgQyhSsa_hh4-gFV50VYDMPvLAmMLBSGvUi2ZAGSCsPZv3fo_NrCq6gCFJFLhXJHgVUG2jsm4Uv48nfs5ZY8mEXMUmcxbjdPqfIdeOJDC2ANc3/s1600/IMG_3353.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></div>
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He always was.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju41_sQ24gapqSgZIA2c2J7JCDYnAlEJ_tEMyg4AQ-lC7nkEljwDEC1jjekObGZjBGBEisHPnJX0SPTlYth24WU-yMo0yRWhtMuoWLnB0y8zM2inMWAlOMAzfzi2N5P_rnYwSYoJPXkKSt/s1600/Jack1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju41_sQ24gapqSgZIA2c2J7JCDYnAlEJ_tEMyg4AQ-lC7nkEljwDEC1jjekObGZjBGBEisHPnJX0SPTlYth24WU-yMo0yRWhtMuoWLnB0y8zM2inMWAlOMAzfzi2N5P_rnYwSYoJPXkKSt/s1600/Jack1.jpg" height="320" width="194" /></a></div>
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The little boy who hated change so much he would cry when we bought him new sneakers ended his high school career by giving a final presentation and hopping on a plane the same day to go to his college orientation. I stayed in the terminal, watching him until he passed through the entire security line. He didn't look back.<br />
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I suspect this may be an indicator of things to come.<br />
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He graduates with many honors and national distinctions and scholarships, but if you ask me what makes me most proud, I will tell you two stories. Jack taught a boy in AWANA for several years. That kid noticed that Jack's Bible was beat: dog-eared, well-worn, underlined, used, and used up. The boy asked if he could have it when Jack bought a new one because the boy thought it was cool to see a Bible that the owner obviously read daily. Of course, Jack gave it to him.<br />
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That's a legacy that matters.<br />
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When I served the two-year-old Jack his dinner, he would usually ask me, "What is it? Where is its head? How did it die?" Teenager Jack will often move worms off the driveway after a rainstorm to keep the worms from drying out and dying on the asphalt.<br />
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If he's nice even to worms, I figure his future wife and children will be blessed indeed.<br />
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We've been blessed to be his parents. Happy Graduation, Jack!<br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-70350456469772257592014-01-09T10:30:00.002-06:002014-01-09T21:40:44.784-06:00Student Government, Homeschool-style<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Participating in student government can be difficult for a homeschooler. "Vote for me for Class President!" Congratulations to the decisive winner in a 1-0 landslide.<br />
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Several months ago, our town advertised for youth delegates to the actual city government. Most committees and the city council itself were accepting high school juniors and seniors to join them for the upcoming year.<br />
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Our 16-year-old son decided to pursue a slot on the Advisory Cultural committee. After completing his application essay, he wanted to submit it to the email address listed. I received the full eye-roll from him when I explained it would be better to drop it off in person at the city office building. Matching his eye-roll with my steady gaze, I added that he would drop it off wearing decent clothing. Not jeans. A shirt with a collar. His heavy sigh lost out to my, "I will brook no argument on this" raised eyebrow. Off we trotted.<br />
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Long story short, and as you probably already expected, the kid ended up meeting the mayor while dropping off his application. No eye-roll or sigh when I told my son that <i>now</i> it was time to run home and email the application as well with a cover letter telling the mayor how much he enjoyed meeting him today.<br />
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If this had been the only experience connected to our foray into city government, I would have been well-satisfied with the lessons learned.<br />
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Much to our delight, the kid landed a spot on the committee. Not only did he sit through the initial meeting, but he was given real work to do. This committee has 91 applications before it with requests for $3.2 million in funding. The committee actually has $2 million to disperse.<br />
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Watching our teen evaluate every application and hearing some of his thoughts about them fascinated me. He railed against vague assertions in some of the written grant proposals. He recognized and flagged some concerns for project aspects that conflicted with his Christian beliefs. No, none of those hot-button issues, something more surprising. I could not have been more proud to see him forego a simple response and honestly wrestle with what it means to be a representative who is a Christian and one who also believes in diversity of viewpoints.<br />
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After many hours of work, he completed all 91 proposals. To his dismay, he was also a half-million dollars over budget. I watched and continue to watch his cutting procedures and priorities. His criteria definitely gain sharpness and focus with each round of cuts and each corresponding result of still coming in over-budget. This, I tell him, is how fiscal conservatives are born. This, he tells me, is agonizing. Welcome to the real world, young man.<br />
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The last committee meeting in the spring will allow public comment on the board's funding decisions. The kid will hear from some disappointed people.<br />
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One common argument against homeschooling is that it keeps our kids in a bubble, locked away from the real world. I don't know about that, but I do know that without the efficiency of our homeschool, our son would not have the time to serve on such a committee. Traditional student government in a high school certainly offers kids a meaningful experience. I have a hard time envisioning how it could be more real than what we found to fill the niche of student government, homeschool-style.</div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-80691599126141151072013-09-10T13:20:00.002-05:002013-09-10T13:21:41.778-05:00Tuesday Tea Time Poem<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On Tuesdays after lunch, we eat treats and read poems aloud to each other. Mostly, we select poems in anthologies to share. The three year old chose a math poem, "Gazintas" every week for about six months straight. Today, Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow, he finally moved on to a new selection. Occasionally, one of the kids will choose to write an original poem rather than select one from our various books.<br />
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Eldest son wrote this today--thought you all might enjoy it:<br />
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Endless motion<br />
Never frozen<br />
Defining life<br />
Bringing death<br />
Forming mountain<br />
Creating town<br />
Only to bring them crumbling down<br />
Resolute, marching on<br />
Bringing both night and the dawn.<br />
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What am I?<br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-3210753551174284112013-07-09T08:19:00.000-05:002013-07-09T10:00:06.098-05:00Perspective<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was the fact that he used his deliberately calm voice that completely freaked me out. No parent wants to get a call that their kid is hurt. When that call comes from your husband, and he's using that deliberately calm voice and both your husband and son are in a foreign land, one that suggests special vaccinations and malaria medications prior to going, one that speaks a different language, one that requires two airplane flights and a three-hour bus ride to get to, there is only one word to describe the reaction.<br />
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Panic.<br />
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Panic, followed by prayer, followed by the realization that you need a lot of people praying, and pronto. Praise the Lord for Facebook. Praise the Lord for family and friends who conduct your neurotic google searches faster than you can and send reassurances: "modern hospitals, not shamans," "most kidney lesions heal on their own." Praise the Lord for insomniacs who read posts at 2 a.m. and pray. Praise the Lord for friends asking others to pray, resulting in strangers praying for your child. Praise the Lord for friends who know when to distract with joking, juicy tidbits of stories and when to focus on Scripture.<br />
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More prayer, leading to peace, a dribble of additional information leading to panic, leading to more prayer, leading to peace.<br />
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<a href="http://lovepraygomissions2013.wordpress.com/2013/07/08/update-on-nathan-r-2/">Reading the official version of the event</a> on the mission team's website today seemed odd to me. While by any objective standard their accounting is true and their praises justified, it totally misses my subjective reality of what happened.<br />
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Experiencing it in real time as a mother separated by nearly two thousand miles from her son, it felt different. My son hurt and really hurting. My husband detailing some extremely worrisome symptoms in our kid. Agonizing hours of silence. Another call at midnight. Rather than an all-clear, this call has words like internal trauma, bleeding, additional testing. An eternity later at 2 a.m., another call. Yes, bleeding, but not so much anymore. Yes, trauma and a lesion to the kidney, but a 1 on a 1 to 5 scale. Yes, concern for a jostling ride back to camp, but a day in the hospital for rest and observation first.<br />
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Objective summary and subjective experience are both realities in the Christian walk. Objectively, we know God wins; God is in control; Jesus loves us. We know that, <a href="http://www.biblestudytools.com/lexicons/greek/nas/epignosis.html">really know that</a>, to the core of our being. Subjectively, we go through things that scare us and hurt us. Christians operating in the objective reality show the hope that we have. Christians operating in the subjective reality show that we're human, you know, just like everybody else. Operate only objectively and people wonder if you can relate to them, to their very real troubles and pain. Operate only subjectively and people wonder why bother with faith if it makes no real difference.<br />
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Panic, prayer, peace. It's not a once and done. It's a moment-by-moment as we navigate life toward its conclusion and fulfillment in Christ. We need the objective summary,<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2022:16-17&version=RSV"> the end of the story from the perspective of the One who writes the story</a>, for hope. We need the subjective to remind us of how much we truly need our Savior.<br />
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<i>On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf, for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. 1 Corinthians 1:10b-11</i><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhII9-CAoqEMITaC3LxzMZ12OpaELOiXkP7umknqDH-3rZrGnuvg_wRUNSFR2dZ9krBujkdNthuWZ5rkia6pJ8yYhDCiJZGoAeBY7PSBpQgKRlXjc2P1Zp84v-zrj3sCp9qG9Y10UuVpxM1/s1600/IMG_3505.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhII9-CAoqEMITaC3LxzMZ12OpaELOiXkP7umknqDH-3rZrGnuvg_wRUNSFR2dZ9krBujkdNthuWZ5rkia6pJ8yYhDCiJZGoAeBY7PSBpQgKRlXjc2P1Zp84v-zrj3sCp9qG9Y10UuVpxM1/s320/IMG_3505.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">photo courtesy of <a href="http://fromdiaperstodriversed.blogspot.com/2013/07/my-awesome-chore-system.html">Emily Neal</a></span></div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-39301879594890407812013-07-07T13:50:00.005-05:002013-07-07T19:42:05.669-05:00My Awesome Chore System<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Need an awesome chore system? You may want to visit my friend Emily <a href="http://everydaymomlife.com/?p=6122">at her blog.</a> How could you not take advice from someone whose chore charts look like this?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispYj4vEfFDEOCch34KNU1xWlDMKEi18b1m-fSBzX30hl35MI_P4ESI2RCpyjj1ENUUGnphDxsEQp33rP0spGjue-Oyg-HwSWw_TbKpFqZlTIGNU25x-jJkO08-dSrF6x0EEBP_8qIraA7/s1600/IMG_5191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEispYj4vEfFDEOCch34KNU1xWlDMKEi18b1m-fSBzX30hl35MI_P4ESI2RCpyjj1ENUUGnphDxsEQp33rP0spGjue-Oyg-HwSWw_TbKpFqZlTIGNU25x-jJkO08-dSrF6x0EEBP_8qIraA7/s320/IMG_5191.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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When I enthused over her charts, Emily replied that I, with five kids, surely had some wonderful organization system I was withholding from her and the rest of the world.<br />
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She found me out. I've been keeping my superpower secrets from you all for far too long. Here it is, in all its glory. You may need to hide yourself in the cleft of a rock and not gaze directly, lest the majesty of it be too much for mere mortal eyes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9_LWBJnXvKEigLT9ii7nZ8iM-SrJMr09q0KwLHuXFIrVCOe3TnZD6uHOlvmhF_lHXG7CMlbGNHHQ0EX14W0vCHyN7i2Y2xWe8ZD-Dc1hHxRGYEAQ5lZtI5WE43vDYTbOB5nyQjLKX2K7/s1600/P070713_0808.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC9_LWBJnXvKEigLT9ii7nZ8iM-SrJMr09q0KwLHuXFIrVCOe3TnZD6uHOlvmhF_lHXG7CMlbGNHHQ0EX14W0vCHyN7i2Y2xWe8ZD-Dc1hHxRGYEAQ5lZtI5WE43vDYTbOB5nyQjLKX2K7/s1600/P070713_0808.jpg" /></a></div>
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For those who could bear no more than a glance, let me enumerate a few of the differences between Emily's approach and mine:<br />
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<li>Emily's charts have her kids' names at the top. Apparently, my children are named A, B and C.</li>
<li>Emily has a chart for each of her children, even her non-reading preschooler. I lost steam after "C" and haven't gotten my mojo back although I am now on "E."</li>
<li>Emily's charts cover the whole house and more. Mine is for kitchen clean-up only.</li>
<li>Emily's charts are on clipboards. I had to dig mine out from behind the calendar. Note: I mean my non-personalized, paper calendar we get free from the city each year. This one (Emily would know how to rotate it to be viewed properly):</li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocPNNSTzZdx78gFf8O5TAvZnlvEykwKHi2pqiPFy1BiZzOvRmFcHXtGAQkQ5jhIdtN4IlYc2mCZGxgzpjmZyqVmc8lLsqU5boItFbyGb6LRFhsh_gacDLNkxr9ARkd6c7GU_QU0xR8cpo/s1600/GetAttachment.aspx.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjocPNNSTzZdx78gFf8O5TAvZnlvEykwKHi2pqiPFy1BiZzOvRmFcHXtGAQkQ5jhIdtN4IlYc2mCZGxgzpjmZyqVmc8lLsqU5boItFbyGb6LRFhsh_gacDLNkxr9ARkd6c7GU_QU0xR8cpo/s1600/GetAttachment.aspx.jpeg" /></a></div>
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Not <a href="http://everydaymomlife.com/?p=6164">a calendar like Emily's</a> created on a fancy website and color-coded by family member:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5QiYKAp-mniLnKeiMWicWb0djPFUDhZHuCzUbdV5nWjqtMokOoRE7G7T7j8FCG-DXl2xJs6c8olnbbVRE1jmuhMcNDgD_yHnJvuq33GkR9W1VfHB9XN7Op5OPtkmSVz-F3YEKCxUw0D-/s1600/IMG_3548-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5QiYKAp-mniLnKeiMWicWb0djPFUDhZHuCzUbdV5nWjqtMokOoRE7G7T7j8FCG-DXl2xJs6c8olnbbVRE1jmuhMcNDgD_yHnJvuq33GkR9W1VfHB9XN7Op5OPtkmSVz-F3YEKCxUw0D-/s1600/IMG_3548-300x200.jpg" /></a></div>
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You get the gist.<br />
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Emily also likes washi tape. I don't want to disparage <a href="http://everydaymomlife.com/?p=6179">her efforts</a>, so I've kept that area of my life hidden from her as well. Emily's creation: </div>
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That's fine, as far as it goes. If you're into aesthetics and good taste and all that. I'm slightly more, ahem, utilitarian and low-tech:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0kglo3mTG3CIC-_pC_PEVspt0OMB3zHb45jarjt9O1zK8J1MWNvY7K9L9DUz3kveOaZmOxSMx6g8v-Q_s9eWNOLjdyRT3dQsEV9m_nxNpfow-Xv_SNTZtTfvX833E8IQJc7vQfUTxPnz/s1600/GetAttachment-1.aspx.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK0kglo3mTG3CIC-_pC_PEVspt0OMB3zHb45jarjt9O1zK8J1MWNvY7K9L9DUz3kveOaZmOxSMx6g8v-Q_s9eWNOLjdyRT3dQsEV9m_nxNpfow-Xv_SNTZtTfvX833E8IQJc7vQfUTxPnz/s1600/GetAttachment-1.aspx.jpeg" /></a></div>
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Surely there's more to life than chore charts and washi tape. Take cooking, for instance. Every mom knows that cooking for a family of hungry kids requires a fair amount of effort and talent. Emily has got that covered for you. <a href="http://everydaymomlife.com/?p=5591">Take your pick</a> of links to Emily's varied thoughts on food whether that be meal planning, crock pot adventures, or exactly what to do with 15 pounds of ground beef. </div>
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My cooking is also legendary. Not to brag, but friends gave me this sign for my kitchen: </div>
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While they have no idea how I kiss, it's a safe bet to give a person like me a sign like that. What did I tell you? Legendary, baby! An entirely different friend posted this on my Facebook wall because it reminded her of me: </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-UiXilZiVlymRalbE6R9O-mKov4M8OLl_X1hWKs1MZTvSArprpyurM80o-bRlw1XejV_5MzOBsoNwPapofAbOnOWLU84xppJub6B6POduQuQxTw8fV2_oKExZt2Cku5U5p19CitUHCyd/s1600/941209_10200562117468510_408893581_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh-UiXilZiVlymRalbE6R9O-mKov4M8OLl_X1hWKs1MZTvSArprpyurM80o-bRlw1XejV_5MzOBsoNwPapofAbOnOWLU84xppJub6B6POduQuQxTw8fV2_oKExZt2Cku5U5p19CitUHCyd/s320/941209_10200562117468510_408893581_n.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
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Why I need different friends will be the subject of a future post. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/notes/holly-ceccherelli-ramsey/bulk-eating/431972894463">When I do give cooking advice</a>, you'll note that the recipes come from websites with names like "All Easy Recipes" or are associated with appliances not normally thought of for food preparation. Dishwasher salmon, anyone?</div>
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Despite it all, we manage to keep the house reasonably picked up, the kids have routine chores even if they don't have a snazzy system, most of my decorating attempts are more successful than my pen jars. No one has yet starved, though the fact that Mr. Wonderful and the kids are all thin may have something to do with that missing delicious-ness component of many of my meals.</div>
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I am mostly ok with all of this except for when I really am not and weep at Mr. Wonderful about my inadequacies and failings and general worthlessness. This happens with a disheartening predictability that could be covered in a blog post Mr. Wonderful--who is no fool--will never write, "The Joys of Living with a Perimenopausal Psychopath." In my deeper and less hormonal moments, I remember A.W. Tozer and his explanation of the "hyphenated" self sins. Tozer warns that both self-pity and self-confidence contribute to the veil around our heart that keeps believers from the face of God. </div>
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"I keep looking at all the people around me, and everyone else seems to have it so together." That would seem to be an entirely fitting conclusion to the evidence I've presented in this post, wouldn't it? Surprisingly, that quote comes from <a href="http://everydaymomlife.com/?p=6215">my friend Emily</a>. Yes, I almost spit my coffee across the keyboard when I first read it too. I know what you're thinking and I completely agree. If this is how Emily, Emily of the charts and the washi and the cooking feels, what hope do the rest of us have? </div>
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And this is why I love Emily. Because she gets it. You can read her whole conclusion, but **spoiler** Emily understands it's not about us, it's about God. He uniquely makes and equips us. Great charts, great crafts and great cooking are not how God equipped me, though I may do well to improve in those areas. And with Emily's help, I just might. </div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-41401485851141376002013-06-28T08:00:00.002-05:002013-06-28T08:22:09.484-05:00Mr. Wonderful Never Stood a Chance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">There's been an unfolding drama in our house over the past couple of months. The backstory includes: </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* DD7 stating she wanted a hamster.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* Her dad stating he never wanted a smelly hamster in the house. Never. There would be no hamsters. Ever.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* Her dad taking her to the pet store just to look around.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* Said daughter coming home with a betta fish, completely thrilled (I chalk that one up to Mr. Wonderful's 22-year stellar sales career).</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* Our friend asking us to hamster-sit their rodent Oscar while they were on vacation.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* Love at first sight for DD.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* DD wondering how long betta fish live? And she wants a hamster when her fish dies. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">* Our friend letting us borrow Oscar the hamster for a few more days.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">The story reached its pinnacle last night. The princess called a meeting with her dad, kicked me out of the living room-"It's private, Mom"-and presented him with her written magnum opus:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">Why Dad Should Let Us Have a Hamster<br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" />Some hamsters are very nice, like Oscar. Just look at him. He is so soft and kind. Watch how he eats from your hand. Isn't he lovely? They're so furry and live in cages. Isn't that nice?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">When I questioned Mr. Wonderful later, he characterized the talk as a "sincere request." He told me, though he hasn't yet told her, that he'll let her get a hamster "but not until after our vacation in September." I fully expect this timeframe to shorten and that we will have a hamster ensconced before Independence Day. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #37404e; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-indent: 0px !important;">Mr. Wonderful is a man of strong conviction, but he is no match for the cuteness and sincerity of his one-and-only baby girl. He never stood a chance.</span></div>
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-1599559999171174792013-05-01T13:11:00.001-05:002013-05-01T13:11:09.854-05:00A Bag of Tools<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of my teens picked this poem to read during our weekly yummy goodies and poetry reading time. It's my new favorite:<br />
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A Bag of Tools<br />
by R.L. Sharpe<br />
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Isn't it strange<br />
That princes and kings,<br />
And clowns that caper<br />
In sawdust rings,<br />
And common people<br />
Like you and me<br />
Are builders for eternity?<br />
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Each is given a bag of tools,<br />
A shapeless mass,<br />
A book of rules;<br />
And each must make--<br />
Ere life is flown--<br />
A stumbling block<br />
Or a steppingstone.</div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-13745209856907767272013-04-25T11:26:00.001-05:002013-04-25T11:27:25.269-05:00Probably Not the Letter They Expected<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;">My local school district sent the following plea this morning. Their information did prompt me to write my state Senator, but I'm guessing the district won't be pleased with the content of my thoughts. I've copied my letter after the district note.</span></span><br />
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Dear District 204 Community,</div>
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We need your help. You may have seen in the news that 18 school districts in the area received a proposal from Virtual Learning Solutions to operate an online charter school in all 18 districts. District 204 was included in this proposal. The online school would be open to students in kindergarten through grade 12. Funding for the online school would come directly from state dollars that normally go to fund our districts. We find this problematic at a time when state education funding is challenging at best. The proposal calls for Virtual Learning Solutions to receive $8,000 in state funding for every District 204 student who enrolls in the online school. If the student drops out of the online school and wants to return to District 204, the funds remain with Virtual Learning Solutions.</div>
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In addition to a loss in state funding, there are also serious concerns about K12 Inc., the for-profit company that is contracted to run the online charter school. At a public hearing in March, our Board of Education questioned a representative from K12 Inc. Based on K12 Inc.'s responses at that hearing, we have concerns about the online school's curriculum, quality of teachers, support for students with special needs, low test scores, lack of extra-curricular opportunities, and graduation rate. </div>
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In Illinois, charter schools must be approved by local school boards. If they are not approved, the charter school can appeal to the Charter School Commission, which is operated by the Illinois State Board of Education. Although all 18 local school boards voted down the proposal, Virtual Learning Solutions has said it will appeal the decision with the Charter School Commission. The Commission may supersede local control and overturn the decisions made by local school boards.</div>
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Legislators in Springfield have already started the process of placing a one-year moratorium on the establishment of new virtual schools through House Bill 494. If passed and signed into law, this bill would allow Springfield to study and gather as much information as possible before approving these controversial online schools.</div>
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HB 494 has already passed the House and is expected to be voted on by the Senate very soon. <strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">This is where we need your help. We are asking parents to call Illinois Senate President John Cullerton and your state senator to ask them to support HB 494.</strong> If you decide to email your senator, a suggested message is below. </div>
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You can find your state senator's contact information online at<a href="http://elog.prairietr.com/eis-cgi-bin/elog2?s=3847&m=130425.0631.0001&e=ohiohol%40hotmail.com&u=2" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">www.voteguide.com</a> where you can enter your home address and you'll get a list of your elected representatives. District 204 is served by four state senators: Linda Holmes, Mike Connelly, Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, and Jim Oberweis. You can call Senate President John Cullerton at 217-782-2728.</div>
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It's not that we don't support online education; it's that we don't believe that the for-profit K12 Inc. and Virtual Learning Solutions provide a better educational opportunity for our students.</div>
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Thank you for your support.</div>
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Kathryn Birkett, Ed.D.<br />
Superintendent</div>
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<strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Sample message to send to your Illinois State Senator:</strong></div>
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As a constituent in your district, I'm asking that you support HB 494, which proposes a one-year moratorium on creating new virtual charter schools in Illinois. Time is needed to investigate the effect of virtual charter schools, including evaluating student performance, online charter school costs, and regulation governing virtual charter schools. As a taxpayer, I'm concerned about state funding being diverted from my local school district to pay for students to attend a virtual charter school. I'm also concerned about the quality of the education and level of support provided to students who would attend a virtual charter school. Please support HB 494 so that we can assure students in our community are best served. </div>
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<strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 18px;">Members of the Illinois State Senate serving District 204:</strong></div>
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Linda Holmes, 42nd District, <a href="mailto:senatorholmes42@gmail.com" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">senatorholmes42@gmail.com</a></div>
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Mike Connelly, 21st District, <a href="http://elog.prairietr.com/eis-cgi-bin/elog2?s=3847&m=130425.0631.0001&e=ohiohol%40hotmail.com&u=3" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:senatorconnelly21@gmail.com" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;">senatorconnelly21@gmail.com</a></div>
<div style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, 49th District, <a href="mailto:bertinotarrant49@att.net" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank"></a><a href="mailto:bertinotarrant49@att.net" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;">bertinotarrant49@att.net</a></div>
<div style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; margin-bottom: 1.35em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">
Jim Oberweis, 25th District, <a href="mailto:senatoroberweis@gmail.com" style="color: #114488; cursor: pointer; font-weight: inherit; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: underline;" target="_blank">senatoroberweis@gmail.com</a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 19px;"><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;">Dear Senator Connelly:</span><br />
<br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.22em;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.22em;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;">As a home educator, I'm asking that you vote no on HB 494, which proposes a one-year moratorium on creating new virtual charter schools in Illinois. As a taxpayer, I'm concerned about state funding being tied to local school districts rather than following the student. Parents know best what will fit their child and education is not one size fits all. I'm also concerned about the quality of the education and level of support provided to students in schools that face no effective competition. Please vote no on HB 494 so that we can assure students in our community can choose options that are right for their family. </span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.22em;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;" /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.22em;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;">Blessings,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.22em;">
<span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="color: #111111; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.22em;">Holly </span></div>
</div>
</div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-80952892144132852822012-12-22T09:40:00.001-06:002012-12-22T09:45:35.281-06:00It Just So Happened<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It just so happened that the people who lived in our house before we did had terrible allergies. They just so happened to install a central vacuum system to keep allergens to a minimum. That system just so happened to need service when they owned the house. That family just so happened to leave us meticulous service records when we moved in five years ago. The vacuum broke the week before Christmas and I just so happened to take it to the same service store the original people used.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">At the shop, I just so happened to mention to the lady working that she was my second stop after seeing a friend's brand-new baby. The lady and I got to talking about the hope that new life brings, particularly a precious life that entered the world after Newtown. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As we talked, the lady began to cry. Her own adult son died in a car accident three years ago. For a grieving mother, three years is a minute and a minute can be three years. I didn't know her son, but felt privileged to know of him, that he existed, that he mattered, and that he was loved.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Holy Spirit just so happened to prompt me that this woman needed hope and comfort. And right there in that little vacuum shop, we just so happened to bow our heads and pray.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It just so happened.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"And he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us" Acts 17:26b-27.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-67724225044646523182012-12-18T08:29:00.001-06:002012-12-18T14:01:58.488-06:00Where I Am<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">You've seen it on social media. Perhaps even posted some commentary yourself. The politicization of Newtown happened quickly, a backflip from event to response with nary a moment for doubt or reflection. People leapt to their favored societal solution. Pronouncements came swiftly, loudly.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
Normally, I'm a fan of the feisty exchange of ideas and the more political, the better. I understand the comfort that comes from certitude, from having the answer. But since Newtown, I'm not in that place.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
Let me stipulate yes. Yes, we need better gun laws in our country. Yes, politicians are quite unlikely to devise any--especially in this moment--that are effective rather than merely reactive. Yes, we need a better mental health network for our most troubled. Yes, no system will be capable of anticipating the next yet-to-break sociopath. Yes, our media culture plays a role in making the next off-kilter personality want to be bigger, badder, more notorious than the last. Yes, we need more armed security guards in soft target places like schools. Yes, violent video games distort the thinking of our youth. Yes, it's unreasonable to assume we can kill a million babies a year in the womb and not expect that to have an impact on how we regard life outside the womb. Yes, divorce can tip a typical kid to troubled and a troubled one to dangerous. Yes, yes, yes. Whatever your favored cause, I stipulate that it is both wholly correct and also a true lie in the way that any judgment about such a situation would be.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
Frankly, I can't stand to read any of it. To me, it reduces the people of Newtown and their loss to a utilitarian purpose, the advancing of an agenda. I understand those posting their issue statements view their opinions differently, as a path to prevention. I understand people process trauma in a variety of ways. I understand that what people post is their way of getting through the day. But since Newtown, I'm not in that place.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
Since Newtown, I'm on social media because <a href="http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/17/sunday-school-teacher-faces-heartbreaking-questions/">my cousin Sue</a> is. My cousin Sue works as a Children's Director for a Newtown church. Prior to that, she taught at Sandy Hook School. Sue was born, raised and married in Newtown. She raises her own two children there. Social media is where she is posting her thoughts and reactions, so I'm wading through the rest of what's on the news feed to be close to Sue and her brothers and sisters living in that area.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
I'm with Sue when she reaches into her closet for a church outfit, looking for something appropriately somber while saving her black clothes for the funerals later in the week. I'm with her as she agonizes over whether to leave the church's kid check-in sheet with Ben's name on it, which seems awful, or to run a new one without it, which seems worse. I'm with her as she teaches the lesson on Sunday morning and a child looks up and simply says, "My friends are dead."</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
We're all with Sue, aren't we? Our entire country is from Newtown this week. Still, the memes on Facebook turn from impassioned to harsh as we seek to assign blame to gun-owners or to the godless or to whomever. We haven't even buried the babies yet.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
I wish I could actually be with Sue. I can't, but I pray for her constantly and for everyone in her town. Her updates are how I know what to pray. I don't have answers, but I have access to the one who is the Answer. But since Newtown, even imagining I'm where Sue is proves too loud a place.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
Mostly my mind goes to a closet with seven children in it. Kids whose teacher told them to stay put and stay quiet. Kids who heard their teacher try to divert the bad guy to another part of the school. Kids who watched six of their friends make a break for it and not make it. Kids who even after their classmates and their teacher and the gunman were no more, stayed hidden and silent, just like their teacher told them. Kids who stayed so quiet for so long that police were surprised to find them when they opened the closet during their sweep of the school.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />
It's a dreadfully quiet place. But since Newtown, that's where I am.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-19986775639893744942012-12-03T13:05:00.000-06:002012-12-03T14:43:23.247-06:00You Might Be a Peri-Menopausal Woman If...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[0]"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[0].[0]">You might be a peri-menopausal woman if:</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[0]"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[0].[0]"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">1. You cry reading the greeting cards at Hobby Lobby.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">2. You are moved to deep-seated and freely-voiced irritation when the kids keep Perler beads in three disparate rather than one neatly org<span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[3]"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[3]."><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[3]..[0]">anized spot. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[3]"><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[3]."><span id=".reactRoot[1].[1][2][1]{comment4645807899517_5230865}..[1]..[1]..[0].[0][2]..[3]..[0]"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">3. You are wide awake from 2-5 a.m. at least two weeks of every month.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">4. You watch your two older boys walk away from the car, chatting with each other as they enter youth group and you burst into tears watching them because almost two years from now one will probably be away at college and then people might think you have only four kids and not five and besides, how will your second teen </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">get along without his best buddy around?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">5. You threaten to throw out A. coats B. library books C. laundry D. all of the above because the clutter moves you to deep-seated and freely-voiced irritation.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">6. You do not really need a reason to feel deep-seated and freely-voiced irritation.</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">7. You cry at Schoolhouse Rock's "Preamble to the Constitution" song.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">Feel free to suggest your additions to the list in the comment section.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">Blessings,</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">Holly</span></div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-50658216561720300222012-09-19T07:57:00.000-05:002012-09-20T22:28:22.252-05:00Mary, An Extraordinary Ordinary Woman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
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<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>"We don't do any school," Mary's 7-year-old
son Micah exclaimed to the cashier who asked the boy if he had the day off.
Fifteen years later, Mary remembers the encounter as scary, yet affirming.
Mary quickly told the clerk of their family's extensive use of the
library, their long nature walks, their impromptu science experiments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That her son learned without recognizing it
as school thrilled Mary and gave her courage to continue along their
non-traditional path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, being the
only home educating family in their small New York town triggered suspicions
from their school district. The family called Home School Legal Defense
Association several times for help with the questioning they endured from local
officials.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mary’s Kids<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Micah now majors
in Criminal Justice and minors in Spanish at college. Mary and her
husband Jon extend their kids' high school through age 19 to give them time to
plumb individual interests. Micah explored storm spotting, volunteered at
an animal shelter, interviewed a police chief at a local station and read all he
could about law enforcement before deciding to pursue it as a career. Caleb,
19, delved into his love of economics and pursued the sport of fencing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After examining a variety of hands-on
vocations, he decided to become an electrician. He intends to own his own
business after completing his apprenticeship. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> Mary's two daughters
are still high school age, and their interests are beginning to diverge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sarita, 14, pours herself into astronomy and is learning to master a telescope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
dreams of walking on the moon and plans to try skydiving.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seventeen-year-old Hannah wants to write
novels.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She expresses her creativity
through sewing as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course “kids can
be pushed and stretched in areas,” Mary asserts, “yet follow their interests
and God-given talents.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mary’s Philosophy<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary advises homeschooling
moms with young children to relax and enjoy their time with their kids.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She used no textbooks with her kids, except for
phonics, in their elementary years. The questions her children posed
formed the basis of their activities and explorations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their curiosity stemmed from the two hours a
day Mary spent reading aloud to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I
try so hard to get moms to stop with the piles of textbooks and workbooks
during those years and take the kids outside to let them explore things, to go
on nature walks and on field trips, and to read real books,” Mary states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Textbooks can wait.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My kids are proof of that.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not an unschooler, Mary consulted curriculum
guides to help her surreptitiously introduce new topics to her children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Middle school years provided a transition
toward more traditional forms of learning with a greater reliance on texts and seatwork.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";">Mary’s Work<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary’s work followed
an equally serendipitous path.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Early in
their marriage, Mary and Jon earned a reduction on their rent by
performing simple maintenance on the landlady’s four-flat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary also sold bread at rummage sales.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The landlady became a weekly customer for
Mary’s homemade bread business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary
took in ironing and mending.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She babysat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acquaintances hired her to cut and style
their hair.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>EBay gave Mary
opportunity to increase her income.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She
watched to see what sorts of items sold easily. Many men don’t like to shop,
Mary reasoned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Brand loyalty makes their
shopping choices simple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She began
buying gently used pairs of name brand men’s dress shoes at thrift stores for $3 and
reselling them on eBay for $25.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Plus
size clothing and cute baby items proved plentiful at Goodwill and provided
another source of reliable resells.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary
snatched up professional-grade skillets for $1 each at a yard sale and resold
them for $23 each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Tracking</span> selling
trends on eBay, Mary switched to selling custom-sewn clothing and
costumes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She searched eBay’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Want It Now</i> board for leads.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Costumes continue to sell well for Mary,
particularly at this time of year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Self-taught in sewing and art, Mary teaches both to home-schoolers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Word-of-mouth provides Mary’s best
advertisement, and she also relies on Twitter, Facebook and home schooling
newsletters to promote her ventures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her
primary income now comes from sewing 18<sup>th </sup>century reproduction
clothing for a company.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The creativity
Mary prizes in her kids’ education also shows itself in her work. Years ago,
she designed a mask that could accommodate removable charcoal packets to act as
a filter for nurses allergic to gases used in operating rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The company she works for asks her advice on
some patterns and projects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am always
looking ahead to the next thing,” Mary comments, “and building my skills so I
can teach more things.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sewing can consume up
to 30 hours each week.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The early training
her children received makes a full home educating and work life
possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Kids need to be taught God’s Word
and to love the Lord early on,” Mary explains.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>As her children got older, they took on more household responsibilities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary credits discipleship for an organized
home where “there is more work and less complaining going on.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nonetheless, getting it all done can be a
challenge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These days, Mary relies on a
computer-based math program, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teaching
Textbooks</i>, to decrease the school prep time required of her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her girls tackle their science and literature
classes as part of a weekly home school co-op.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leigh Ann Ford, founder
and moderator of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TeachingMom.com</i>
homeschool forum, calls Mary “one of the best examples of a woman who uses her
talents and gifts to bless her husband and her family.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In turn, Mary says her husband's encouragement,
his household help and his hands-on parenting make their home educating, dual-income
life possible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mary’s reliance on God in
her marriage, her work and with her children mark her as one extraordinary,
ordinary woman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Please leave a comment below to be entered into a drawing to win either one of Mary's hand-sewn Red Riding Hood capes or a Peter Pan hat. The drawing will be held on September 30 and the winner announced here on the blog.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="color: #1f1f1f; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>If you enjoyed reading Mary's story, sign up using one of the subscription tools to the right and you'll be notified of new posts featuring other extraordinary, ordinary women.</i></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-43701442719018771532012-08-24T07:19:00.000-05:002012-08-24T07:46:43.090-05:00Tweaking<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
If <i>Mapping the World by Heart </i>proved my sole home educating responsibility, I think we'd stand an excellent chance of completing the curriculum this year. Many other areas require some tweaking.<br />
<br />
DS17 got the mother of all viruses coinciding with the beginning of our new homeschool year. Two weeks and one ER trip later, I think he may be on the mend. I've been letting him sleep until 10 a.m. because he needs it. Teenager morning mode puts him ready for school at close to lunch time. Not ideal. Fortunately, his math and science classes at the local college don't start for another few weeks. Here at home, he's been doing our geography course while grousing that it is not challenging enough. Granted, the introductory lessons are easy, but I think once I hit him with the research essay on disputed water rights next week, the grousing will cease. Rather, that particular strain of grousing will cease. New grousing may commence. He's gotten a jump on his AWANA curriculum and finished the prologue and first chapter of Diamond's <u>Guns, Germs and Steel</u>. He read <u>Fahrenheit 451</u> in anticipation of his high school lit group beginning in a couple of weeks. He is plowing through the second training module--12 videos and a 50 page manual--for his Mathnasium job, hoping to get that out of the way prior to his college classes starting. He continues to meet with his college professor to discuss their summer research topic. All the boys wrote a creative essay which required incorporating Harry Potter, a mop and contour maps into their storyline. I needed them to write something, anything and we don't do enough creative writing. Interestingly, I could detect elements from last year's lit group in this son's story, as well as influences from his own reading of choice. <br />
<br />
DS15 lost his Trig book. We searched for a couple of weeks, and yesterday conceded defeat and ordered a new one. This son started Apologia Biology with a live, online class via Virtual Homeschool Co-op. He promptly complained it was far too easy. I knew I should have trusted my anti-Apologia instinct. This kid is Goldilocks; last year all I heard was how AP Chem was way too hard. Now he recalls it fondly as a challenge. This week, he switched to <a href="http://www.saylor.org/">Saylor's</a> Microbiology course. It's college intro level, so that should fix the lack of challenge problem. Not sure yet what new problems may arise from it. He did all the same geography, AWANA, reading and writing as his brother. This kid claims that he keeps reading the same book for lit club, "dark, depressing and weird" over and over again. I point out to that they are really quite different dark, depressing and weird tales. While he read me the required length essay from the creative writing assignment, he has gone on with his story and is now at 5000 words and not nearly done. This provides good reminder to me about what feeds this one's soul. He is artistic and creative. I need to build in the freedom for him to explore that. He got his permit yesterday (two teen boys with permits! Lord have mercy) and sits for two hours every Sunday in a stupefyingly boring Driver's Ed class for which we paid an ungodly amount of money. <br />
<br />
DS11 approaches his schooling in a surprisingly workmanlike manner. Geography takes him a while, but he breaks down the task into manageable chunks. He read <u>Project Mulberry</u> for his middle school boys' lit group that begins in September. Life of Fred's Pre-algebra with Biology is too easy for him, but he likes the story line. Teen hormones haven't kicked into gear for him yet, so he's usually up early, cheerfully and in full control of his faculties. He started jogging because his older brothers do it. He also attacks pogo-sticking with similar tenacity, setting a record of over 2000 jumps. He's been on break from piano lessons for a couple of weeks, but demanded I print out Fur Elise for him after he couldn't find it by googling "Four Leaves." He's mastered it and waits impatiently for lessons to start again so he can show-off to his teacher. His soccer started yesterday and he loves it. I am particularly glad I had this one read his creative essay to me, rather than handing it in for me to read. He crafted a story full of creative descriptors. Had I merely read it, I might have missed his voice for the distraction of spelling and mechanics issues. Throughout the year, I think I will continue to have him read his work aloud to me first and then we can follow up by correcting the grammar.<br />
<br />
DD6 needs more academic attention. She loves to read and is hooked on a variety of junk books that my inner Charlotte Mason conscience scolds me for. Anything fairy-related is a huge hit with her. There is no end to poorly-written fairy books at the public library, matched only by their seemingly endless supply of Mickey Mouse graphic comic books that the princess also loves. Twaddle, all of it. I need to, but haven't yet, gotten her Five in a Row curriculum rolling. She has been reading aloud to me daily from her Christian Liberty Press Nature Reader, book 2. Seems like we've been learning about crabs forever now. I'm about ready to move on (or scream), but that may have something to do with the fact that it's my fourth time hearing an emerging reader tackle crabs. She shows good oral narration skills, usually able to retell the highlights of what she just read. We're just beginning to add in our Singapore math, completing the 1B book leftover from last year. I purchased a sticker atlas book for her to do when the boys are working on geography, but haven't started it with her yet. Writing will remain mostly copywork. Typically, we use her AWANA verses for this. Until AWANA starts, she has a few thank you notes to relatives that she can be writing.<br />
<br />
DS 2 and 3/4...well, doesn't "2 and 3/4" about sum it up? Mercurial, charming, demanding, curious, exhausting, adorable, maddening, inquisitive, whirling, running, exploring. There is no underestimating the impact this one has on my ability to focus on the other four.<br />
<br />
I'm glad for these warm up weeks to see how our actual schooling works. We have no end of activities yet to start; I'm concerned how the days will flow once we are fully up to speed by mid-September. Still to add in: two different lit groups, one speech club, an art class, gym classes, piano lessons, another soccer schedule, youth group, AWANA nights, two Science Olympiad clubs, college classes with a lab, wood carving, karate and a request for fencing club. Stay tuned, I expect more tweaking over the next month!<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br /></div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-50232374253167185572012-08-05T19:57:00.001-05:002012-08-06T11:29:40.701-05:00Comments, Suggestions, Recommendations, Critiques?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Tahoma; font-size: 13px;">We are going to dip a toe into academics tomorrow, doing an introductory Mapping the World by Heart lesson. We'll do a subject or so a day this week, a little more next week and probably nearly full speed by the week of August 20. I'd be interested in what you all are planning and how you all are feeling as the school year gears up, though I realize for many it never really ends. I have some questions at the end of this note and I'd appreciate any insight and advice.</span><br />
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Our plans for the year ahead:</div>
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DS17</div>
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Math--taken at his college. Real Analysis I and II, Topology (knot theory) in the spring. Continue summer research on Weakly Viewing Lattice Points (whatever that means).</div>
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Physics--taken at his college. Physics I, II and III.</div>
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Geography--Mapping the World By Heart, done here at home with DS15 and DS11.</div>
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English--<u style="text-indent: 0px !important;">Guns, Germs and Steel</u> by Jared Diamond and research paper offshoot from that. Grammarlogues. Writing the Easy Way. Monthly lit group. I'm sure we'll read other stuff, see question below. Ditto for DS15.</div>
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Bible--AWANA and a start on Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem. Ditto for DS15.</div>
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Gym--weekly group gym time at local homeschool co-op. Jogs on his own. Ditto for DS17.</div>
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Extras: part time job (Mathnasium), AWANA volunteer, church tech crew volunteer, youth group, Science Olympiad, Lit Group, Gavel Club (Toastmasters for the under 18 crowd).</div>
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Areas of concern...really needs to pick up another year or two of language. He doesn't want to continue with Rosetta Stone Latin--he finished the first one, which Rosetta Stone says is equal to Latin 1 and 2. Maybe LiveMocha Spanish? Also, he needs a fine art of some sort...maybe digital photography? Or perhaps computer programming? </div>
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DS15</div>
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Math--Life of Fred Trigonometry. Competitive math club--Geometry.</div>
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Biology--Virtual Homeschool Co-op free live Biology class online using Apologia.</div>
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Geography, English, Bible and Gym same as older brother.</div>
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Art--Advanced Art at local co-op, Woodcarving.<br />
Driver's Ed</div>
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Extras: very part-time art class teacher, fall and spring rec soccer, AWANA volunteer, youth group, Science Olympiad, Lit Group, Gavel Club.</div>
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Areas of concern...same language concern as older brother. </div>
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DS11</div>
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Math--Life of Fred Pre-Algebra I with Biology and Life of Fred Pre-Algebra II with Economics.</div>
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Geography, Bible, Gym--same as brothers, minus the Systematic Theology. </div>
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English--not sure here. Probably written narration of some of what he reads for Bio and Econ, Grammarlogues, free online spelling at BigIQKids.com. Once monthly boys' lit group.</div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px !important;">
Extras: fall and spring soccer, gymnastics, AWANA, youth group, Science Olympiad, Gavel Club, Lit Group, piano lessons and possibly adding in drums.</div>
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<br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></div>
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Areas of concern...he's not finished with Rosetta Stone Latin. Do I make him continue? </div>
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<br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></div>
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DD6</div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px !important;">
Math--Singapore 2A and B.</div>
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English--outloud reading from Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers, McGuffeys and Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans. AWANA verse copywork.</div>
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Bible--AWANA.</div>
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Geography sticker book to work on while her brothers do Mapping the World by Heart.</div>
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Literature Unit Studies--Five in a Row (Three on Occasion for us)</div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px !important;">
Art--informal. She's little. Do you all think access to lots of craft supplies about covers it at this age?</div>
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Extras: karate, gymnastics, AWANA, church group. Maybe Daisy Scouts if I can get into the neighborhood troop I want.</div>
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<br style="text-indent: 0px !important;" /></div>
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DS3</div>
<div style="text-indent: 0px !important;">
Holistic, kinesthetic approach to his world. Puzzles, reading to him, toy trains, etc. Trying to keep him alive and safe while attempting to tend to the others.</div>
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Question: What are your very best recommendations for high school and middle school for literature that ties in to a continent? Can be any time period. I prefer historical fiction, but am open to other suggestions. I just want to give them the flavor of the continent we might be concentrating on during the geography units. (Edited to add--thanks to the several who suggested All Through the Ages by Christine Miller as a must have historical/geographical book list).</div>
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Comments, suggestions, recommendations, critiques?</div>
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What does your year look like? I'm curious (and nosey).</div>
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</div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-78074944936330960782012-07-29T07:24:00.001-05:002012-07-29T07:24:35.039-05:00Grrr...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div>
<br />What I wrote to the Chicago Tribune Letters-to-the-Editor section:</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
Call the Bible full of "bulls!@#" and those who do not listen to the rest of your remarks "pansy a@#ed" and your project, It Gets Better, will remain featured on the White House's official website. </div>
<div>
Mention that you support the biblical definition of marriage and offer God thanks that you're still married to your first wife and a Chicago alderman will block your privately owned business from expanding within the city. </div>
<div>
It's a strange world and strange times we live in.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
What the Chicago Tribune printed:</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div>
Mention that you support the biblical definition of marriage and offer God thanks that you're still married to your first wife and a Chicago alderman will block your privately owned business from expanding within the city. </div>
<div>
It's a strange world and strange times we live in.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Grr...</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Had I meant to be milktoast and boring, I would have been. Leave my irony alone, Trib!</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-77806130597316764312012-07-27T12:53:00.001-05:002013-05-01T13:12:23.313-05:00Terri<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Hilarious!” It’s a word heard often from Terri Boumans. Always emphasized and usually accompanied by
gestures, “hilarious” is Terri’s signature phrase. She’s likely to pantomime the latest stunt by
one of her kids. She may twirl her arms as she describes what she considers her less
than graceful moves at the local Y’s Bodyjam fitness class. Her humor reflects her humility. Terri readily recounts smacking into a glass
panel the day she met her husband, but downplays the fact that the panel was in
the Olympic Training Center and she was there as an elite athlete. When opening her own volleyball gym for
training high-level players, Terri set humor aside and turned to a different
word to capture her intent: mettle. <a href="http://www.mettlevolleyball.com/">Mettle Volleyball</a> opened June 2012 and is located behind the Naperville YMCA Fieldhouse. Terri’s new venture requires both the courage and
fortitude suggested by her gym's name. She’s pregnant, due in
December with her fifth baby, and will continue to home educate as she builds
her business.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Home educating and opening the gym both grew
out of Terri’s devotion to her kids.
After a few years as an at-home mom, Terri felt God leading her to
contribute to the financial well-being of her family. She prayed for the right opportunities. They included running two part-time
volleyball programs at other facilities and coaching summer volleyball camps. An offhand comment by her husband as he signed
the lease for his own wrestling gym led the landlord to show Terri a vacant
building around the corner, perfect for her own volleyball gym. Terri’s coaching incorporates the full range of
her experience: the only collegiate player in Big Ten history to achieve more
than 1,500 kills, 1,000 digs and 600 blocks, four year team member of the U.S.A.
National Volleyball Team, and team captain of the Chicago Thunder in the U.S.A.
Professional Volleyball League during the 2001-02 season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">While her middle and highschool-aged players
flourished under her coaching, it added stress for her own kids. Terri would wait in the driveway with the car running for her boys to be dropped off from school. She would dash off to coach for a few hours
then single-handedly get her kids fed, bathed and to bed while her husband Kerry,
a former U.S.A. National Team wrestler, continued evening work at his own gym. Having
more family time together is the main reason Terri and Kerry chose to home
educate. Kerry can linger in the morning
before heading to his wrestling facility.
Sometimes he takes the kids in with him.
Terri plans their home schooling day according to when she has to leave
for her volleyball classes. She spends
the bulk of her day with her children and appreciates the more relaxed pace. Settling into her third year of home
educating, Terri agonizes less now about “doing it wrong” and enjoys the simple
pleasure of a rest hour with the kids before she heads out to coach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">The Boumans want a solid Catholic
education for their kids. Her two older
boys, now 9 and 11-years-old, attended Catholic school prior to home schooling. Terri chose Mother of Divine Grace curriculum
on recommendation from another mom who also had a large family and ran her own
business. “I love that the entire syllabus
for each student is right there,” Terri comments, “and I don’t have to reinvent
the wheel.” The one-on-one time
benefitted her children. One son rose from a C average to an A average
in math. She noticed an increase in
her kids’ sharing their spiritual thoughts too.
“Since we are all reading the same thing, usually out loud,” Terri
explains, “our conversations can be surprisingly deep considering how young my
kids are.” Like many home educating
moms, Terri worries about gaps in her kids' education. She
plans to farm out art and music, areas with which she has little
experience. Terri admits that she finds
working easier than staying at home, but asserts that easy is not the goal. Still, she views her coaching as a “joyful
break” from the monotony that can come with being at home with little ones—her
daughters are just 4 and 6-years-old--especially during the long Chicago
winters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Home educating can provide other “joyful
breaks.” After particularly busy
volleyball and schooling times, Terri enjoys the flexibility to take short
vacations during weekdays when other kids would normally be in school. This past winter, her kids learned to ski on
nearly empty slopes during just such a get-away. Humor once again creeps in as Terri describes her boys’
first terrified ride together on the chair lift. She recreates the scene, somehow using her
6’2” frame to convincingly play-act a little boy peering over an edge from
seemingly great height, gaze sweeping side-to-side, eyes growing wider and mumbling the Catholic act of contrition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">Terri and Kerry rise before 6 a.m.,
praying together to start their day.
When asked what advice she’d give to another mom seeking to both home
educate and bring in an income, Terri counsels prayer. “Make sure it is God’s will,” she cautions,
“or it may not work. Relax and know that
God is in control. He will let you know
what you need to do.” With Mettle
Volleyball being new, it’s difficult for Terri to forecast her income for the
next year. She knows she will need
evening care for her newborn after January.
She asked God to figure out what seemed impossible to her--to have her
baby in wonderful family care during those hours and to arrange that for
free. Bartering volleyball lessons for
childcare with a family she knows and trusts provided the solution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Terri understands that the perfect solution
may not always appear quickly in answer to her prayers. As she and her kids clean the gym, she talks
to them about living in faith, taking the next step and trusting God with the
outcome. As her business and her family
continue to grow, one suspects that stories from Terri, accompanied by her signature
motion as communication, will grow too.
No doubt they will be hilarious. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>For more information on Mettle Volleyball's Little Diggers program (grades 3-7) and Volleyball classes (grades 6-12), or for private lessons with Terri, please visit <a href="http://www.mettlevolleyball.com/">Mettle Volleyball's website.</a> </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 200%;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">World English Dictionary</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 17px;"><strong style="font-family: Verdana; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua", palatino; line-height: 17px;"><u style="line-height: 17px;">m</u></span></strong></span><strong style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "book antiqua", palatino; line-height: 17px;"><u style="line-height: 17px;">ettle</u></span></strong><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 17px;">(ˈmɛt ə l) </span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">
</span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: Verdana; line-height: 17px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 17px;"><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; line-height: 17px;">- n</span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; line-height: 17px;">1. </span><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;"><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif; line-height: 17px;">courage; spirit</span></strong><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; line-height: 17px;">2.</span><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"> <strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">inherent character</strong></span><br style="line-height: 17px;" /><span style="font-family: verdana, geneva; line-height: 17px;">3. </span><span style="font-family: "comic sans ms", sans-serif; line-height: 17px;"><strong style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">on one's mettle roused to putting forth one's best efforts</strong></span></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">
</span>
</div>
Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-63936752190955056272012-07-26T09:59:00.001-05:002012-07-27T07:43:10.728-05:00Savage Chicken<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Call the Bible
full of "bulls!@#" and those who do not stay to hear the rest of <a href="http://lybio.net/dan-savage-discusses-bible-at-high-school-journalism-convention/people/"><span style="color: #0000f1;">your remarks at a high school journalism convention</span></a> "pansy
a@#ed" and your organization will remain featured on <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/it-gets-better"><span style="color: #0000f1;">the
White House official website</span></a><a href="http://the%20White%20House's%20official%20website."><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;">.</span></b></a>
Mention that you support <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/story/2012-07-25/Chik-fil-A-Chicago/56481072/1"><span style="color: #0000f1;">the biblical definition of marriage and offer God thanks</span></a>
that you're still married to your first wife and Boston and Chicago will try to
block your privately owned business from operating in their cities. It's
a strange world and strange times we live in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Dan Savage
leads the It Gets Better project. The project's worthy purpose is to
provide hope for LGBT teens. Part of the organization's pledge?
That everyone deserves to be respected for who they are. I am not
certain Bible believing teens felt respected by Mr. Savage's comments at the journalism conference. Dan
Cathy serves as President of Chick-Fil-A and admitted to being "guilty as
charged" in believing the biblical definition of marriage. He then
released a hate-filled, profanity-laced statement of his own: "The
Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every
person with honor, dignity and respect — regardless of their belief, race,
creed, sexual orientation or gender." Whew, strong words.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Interestingly,
<a href="http://www.getreligion.org/2012/07/wheres-the-beef-what-the-chick-fil-a-boss-really-said/">Mr. Cathy did not single out gay marriage as the end-all, be-all affront to holy matrimony</a>. Critics rightly point out that church-goers, while often condemning homosexual unions, engage in divorce in numbers equal to the rest of
society. Hypocrisy never plays well. The churched would do well to work on their own marriages and remember atheists are not idiots. But Mr. Cathy didn't single out gay marriage. He
upheld it all, offending the divorced as well as the gay in his comments.
"We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are
married to our first wives," Cathy commented. Continuing, though
some news organizations chose not to report the full thought, Cathy explained,
"We give God thanks for that." Sounds like a man who recognizes
that we all stumble and fall in many ways and that it is only by the grace of
God that two sinful people can have a long and happy union. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What is
tolerance? Tolerance does not seek to silence those who hold contrary
viewpoints. True tolerance requires respecting those with whom one
disagrees. <a href="http://www.wadeburleson.org/2011/06/militant-homosexuals-loving-them-to.html"><span style="color: #0000f1;">Christian tolerance requires respecting and loving those
with whom one disagrees</span></a>. As President of the Baptist General
Convention of Oklahoma, Wade Burleson had a meeting with a homosexual rights
group, SoulForce. The group sought to change his mind and stance on
homosexuality and told him they would picket his church until he
did. Burleson responded<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"> "that
they were welcome to picket our church, and that if their members were driving
a long distance to come, we would provide a meal for them after church. In
addition, if SoulForce intended to picket after the evening service
and wished to remain overnight, I was positive we could provide for them
some accommodations." </span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Christ-following teens exhibit such tolerance as well as or better than adults such as Cathy and Burleson. After the Day of Silence each year, when high
schoolers use silence as a protest against bullying of LGBT and other teens,
many Christian teens then engage in a Day of Dialogue. "</span>Christian
students in particular should be the first to stand up for those around them
being hurt or harmed," states one of Day of Dialogue's guiding
principles. Rather than remaining silent, Day of Dialogue participants believe those of differing viewpoints can and should have civil discourse about healthy relationships, sexuality and
faith. Sounds a lot like true tolerance to me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I like
Chick-Fil-A. I've met the owner of our local restaurant a few times.
He donated chicken sandwiches for a community winter festival our
church sponsored. His restaurant put on a fantastic field trip for my
local homeschool group. Each kid got to make his own free milkshake and
ring up her own order. The place is always clean, the play area
well-maintained, the staff always ready to take my cup and refill it for me.
I can order grilled chicken nuggets, mixed fruit and milk for a
quick, guilt-free, healthy lunch for my kids. It arrives in a bag with educational
games on the side and a quality book or toy that reinforces positive character
traits. I'm never told "You're welcome," but always "my
pleasure" when I thank an employee. And they say it in a way I believe. As Chicago tries to block CFA from expanding within
the city, it's worth noting that Chicago also has a long standing grudge
against Walmart operating within the city limits. They don't like
Walmart's labor practices. Chick-Fil-A, on the other hand, is closed
every Sunday so its employees may worship or rest. While many franchise
opportunities require hundreds of thousands of dollars, Chick-Fil-A
intentionally lowers the barrier to success by requiring just $5,000. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Chick-Fil-A
Appreciation Day, suggested by Mike Huckabee, is August 1. Count me in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-3333755336940655152012-07-20T16:12:00.002-05:002012-07-20T19:55:03.758-05:00On Hair, Herons, Hot Air, Homes and Hope<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<i>If you haven't yet read <a href="http://fromdiaperstodriversed.blogspot.com/2012/06/dana.html">Dana's story</a>, please do! Stay tuned for Terri's story, coming shortly.</i><br />
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Mr. Wonderful and I celebrated our 21st anniversary on Friday, June 29. Panicked preparations began for me on Thursday when I realized my hair was not up to celebratory standards. I originally planned to go gracefully gray in my middle age and mentioned this fact to my best buddy from my college years. This friend is as accepting and tolerant as they come. As an attorney, she's trained to see and anticipate all sides of an argument. "Gracefully gray? What does that mean? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," she non-judgmentally barked when I announced my intentions. "Gracefully gray is an oxymoron." I blame her for my every six week regimen of trying to fool the world into thinking I am not a woman in my mid-40s.</div>
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By Thursday, it became apparent the ruse would not hold. My husband might figure out that his bride is no longer 23. The lady who does my hair comes to my home (I know, how lucky am I?) and she squeezes me in during times when she's not helping her husband run a non-profit charity, when she's not directing the elementary program at a church, when she's not planning a summer camp for a few hundred or a carnival for 800 and when she's not home educating her own three children. I explained the dire nature of my follicular folly. She immediately agreed her other obligations paled in comparison. That same evening, she restored my youth in mocha hues, preventing a <i>Portrait of Dorian Gray</i> anniversary reveal. </div>
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We love our kids and love that we have a large family. On our anniversary, we couldn't wait to get as far away from them as possible. Our oldest is nearly 17 and we felt that we could safely leave them for one overnight. Mr. Wonderful searched far and wide within a 45 minute radius of home. He picked <a href="http://www.herringtoninn.com/">The Herrington Inn</a> in Geneva (IL...maybe another season of life might bring that other Geneva into the realm of the possible). Good choice from a good man. We arrived to a beautiful room--four poster king size bed, corner fireplace operated by flip switch, waiting chocolate covered strawberries and chocolate mousse with a personalized congratulatory note from the innkeeper--and a balcony overlooking the Fox River. I settled in on the balcony, watching the island directly across from us. Mr. Wonderful doesn't do nothing well, but he alighted fidgetedly beside me. For the next hour, we chatted and watched the great blue heron on the island. This heron must be used to visitors; he paid us no mind as he preened and flapped and spread his wings to warm? dry? in the sun. The heron briefly shared the island with an egret and many cute ducks dabbled in the waters. There was not a goose in sight, making the scene perfect to my way of thinking (I hate geese). Even watching what my Southern born and raised hubby termed a "varmint," and what I hope was a genteel muskrat and not just a big, fat rat swim across the river instilled a bucolic charm, in so far as varmints can be charming. On your anniversary, on a balcony two stories above, when the varmint is swimming away from you, all things are possible.<br />
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Over a delicious dinner of skate wing (me) and prime rib (him), I listened to my guy talk about hope. The specific topic was something entirely different, but hope formed the core. There is determined positive outlook, a gritted choice we make on how to view things and then there is hope, which bubbles up from another place entirely. Long seasons in life can be filled with that determined will in choosing one's viewpoint and there is a certain maturity that comes with that disciplined practice. But nothing refreshes a soul like hope. <br />
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We concluded our anniversary getaway with an hour long morning walk along the Fox River and a stop in the <a href="http://www.allchocolatekitchen.com/">All Chocolate Kitchen</a>. The shop is part chocolate and spun sugar art gallery, part bakery, all stupendous. We arrived home anxious to see the kids again and with, I thought, the best part of the weekend behind us.<br />
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Not so.<br />
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The Midwest, at least this part of it, possesses a startlingly nasty summer habit of getting light in the middle of the night. I never encountered anything like this anywhere on the East Coast, but if you wake up anytime after 4:30 am in Chicagoland in June, it will be getting light. Sunday morning, I woke up early to hear my oldest easing out the door. He wasn't on tech at church that weekend, but some tech folks were going early to make sure all was set for our church's first weekend in our new permanent home. He planned on riding his bike rather than wake us (how did I get such a great kid?), but since I was up, I offered him a ride. We walked out of the house to see three huge hot air balloons almost directly over our home and another two in the distance. I felt a little like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Mr. Wonderful took off with the two youngest kids in the van, forming his own unofficial chase crew. Not only did they chase down three landings, but were rewarded with balloon trading cards and candy from the pilots. I opted for a jog, following the balloons along the river trail near our home. Crickets, birds and the whoosh of the propane burner from the balloon above formed the only early morning sounds. The river next to me suddenly exploded and a startled heron--significantly less adapted to people than his Herrington Inn cousin--took off before me. </div>
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That was possibly a more spectacular flight than even the enormous colorful blobs above. I returned home, convinced that my day had seen its most satisfying moments.<br />
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Not so.<br />
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My family gathered, all of us nearly filling an entire row at church, to celebrate our first service in our building. I hadn't expected it to feel as monumental as it did. God's church is not a building, of course, but it does feel deeply satisfying to have a home base. The worship that day felt sincere, filled with joy and thanksgiving. My hubby and teens no longer have to get up at 5:30 am every Sunday to set up in the middle school our church called home for more than a year and a half. With our new building, we can host more outreach and ministry events during the week. Our building sits next to the YMCA, where scores of moms of preschoolers flock to work out during the week, and just shy of the local high school. The school likes to tout its Grammy award winning music program, but beneath the glitter we live in a district with seven heroin overdoses in the past year amongst the student body. My community looks like one that has its act together, but it is often just that, an act, a Stepford play where people hide their real selves, their problems and dare I say it? their sin. It's a place that needs hope rather than gritted self-determination. And in that rather nondescript brick office building cum church, we sang and celebrated the Author of Hope.<br />
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It doesn't get any better than that.<br />
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</div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-69117665348882156982012-06-26T09:22:00.000-05:002012-10-18T21:54:18.042-05:00Dana<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Some women launch a business using sharp tech skills and venture capital. For Dana, starting a business meant taking anti-anxiety medication and selling an aging pick up truck for seed money. Creating an educational testing business had crossed her mind before, but more as fuzzy, distant venture she might try once her son hit his teens. Home educating her two girls, then ages ten and eight, and chasing her toddler boy consumed her time as an at-home mom. Suddenly, devastatingly, her husband walked out on their 13 year marriage. Dana needed a way to earn a living and she wanted one that would allow her to continue to home educate.<br />
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The proceeds from the old Ford truck just covered the cost of materials for her to become a Woodcock-Johnson III Tests of Achievement administrator. Statistics and testing courses taken during college provided the necessary skills. Dana believed there was a need in her community for such a service; she couldn't find anyone to administer that particular test to her kids the previous year. However, overwhelmed by the separation and impending divorce, she put off ordering the materials. <br />
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A friend recommended Dana to some home schoolers looking for year end evaluation. "So I had to get the materials and start training like mad, " Dana recalls. Necessity trumped terror; <a href="http://www.DanaGingrich.com/">her business was born</a>. The local paper caught wind of her mompreneur venture and called for an interview. Dana mentioned her math education background to the reporter. A reader soon contacted Dana for math enrichment for her son. Before long, Dana settled into a groove of tutoring while her kids were spending time with their dad. She jimmied in testing appointments when she could, but found that growing a business while raising kids required a creative, multi-prong approach. She swapped child care with another mom, joined a formal babysitting co-op and readily took up playdate offers from church friends. With her divorce final, she had a base of spousal and child support. She moved her mom in to help and renegotiated her rent with her landlord. "I made Abe scream," she laughs when discussing her frugal, money-stretching habits.<br />
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Two years later, Dana added homeschool portfolio assessments to her business offerings. Such a move seemed guaranteed to grow her business. <i>Au contraire.</i> In order to offer the assessments, Dana needed to reinstate her teaching certificate. That required four back-to-back sessions of cramming 3 credit hours into three week periods. Doing so while continuing to home educate and single parent was not as easy as it sounds. (Oh wait, that doesn't sound easy at all, does it?) Business stalled. Dana pondered whether to seek the security of a traditional teaching job. Wanting God's will, she prayed to be open to whatever might be best for her family. Within a day or two of her prayer, home schoolers on a local list spontaneously began to write favorably about Dana, her approach to tutoring and testing, her encouragement and practical advice to them as home educators. She got several calls from new folks wanting tutoring. Dana had her confirmation.<br />
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Dana's business continues to diversify. <i>The Old Schoolhouse</i> asked her to kick off a live webinar to a national audience and she's listed as a part of their Speaker's Bureau. She teaches Hands On math at a local co-op. She will soon serve as an "umbrella" supervisor for other parents wanting to teach math as part of the credit flexibility plan offered by an online virtual academy in her state. She wrote a business plan, but notes that the unexpected and seemingly serendipitous plays a major role in growth. Dana eschews the possibility of chance and instead credits God.<br />
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What advice does Dana give to others trying to start a business and home school? "Train the kids to be as self-reliant as possible," she quickly asserts. "Even teaching them to make a PBJ frees up a little time for you when you need it." While Dana typically works 10-25 hours weekly, her kids' education comes first and the business second. Weekdays reflect that, with schooling taking up her mornings and testing and tutoring appointments the afternoon and evening hours. <br />
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Dana's business growth mirrors her personal journey. At the time of her divorce, her self esteem fell so low that she believed she couldn't do anything, that she couldn't be a professional. This past month, a nervous first year home educating parent called her. The parent questioned whether Dana knew much about home schooling or about the tests that fulfill state requirements for home educators. "It felt really good to tell her that I am a homeschooler, that I've always been one, that my oldest is now 16 and that I've administered this test hundreds of times." Not bad for a mom who admits, "I knew nothing about business and yet it grew." While she understands that self-reliant kids help a busy mom, Dana knows knows self-reliance only goes so far. "I didn't know how much God loves me. He grew my business. If He hadn't wanted for me to serve home schoolers, I would not be succeeding."<br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dana is offering one lucky winner their choice of <b>either</b> a 30 minute free math curriculum consult by phone <b>or</b> a $10 per child Woodcock-Johnson III testing discount for new clients (testing done in her Plain City, OH home only). To enter the drawing, simply leave a comment at the end of this post. The contest will close at noon Central time on Friday, July 6, 2012. Visit <a href="http://DanaGingrich.com/">DanaGingrich.com</a> for more information on Dana's tutoring and testing business.</span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you enjoyed this post and would like to read about other extraordinary ordinary women, please subscribe to my blog (see right side bar). </span></i><br />
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Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-15444223466722285272012-06-20T08:31:00.001-05:002012-06-20T10:12:59.185-05:00Extraordinary Ordinary Women<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
In upcoming weeks, I'll be featuring many different home educating moms here on my blog. These ladies all bring in an income while keeping home schooling a priority. Many thanks to all the moms who took the time to fill out my background research survey. If you make money, home educate and haven't yet filled out a survey for me, please email me at ohiohol at hotmail dot com.<br />
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<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/06/1-wives-are-helping-kill-feminism-and-make-the-war-on-women-possible/258431/">Bashing at home moms</a> remains popular sport. Part of what excites me about my latest writing venture is that it moves beyond that well-trod path. Professional moms are often also professionals in a career field. This comes as no surprise to those of us in the home school world. These women have much to teach the rest of us.<br />
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So grab a cup of coffee and join me for the journey. First up, we'll meet Dana. Not every women eyes an aging pick up truck and sees it as the seed money for a business. Stay tuned!</div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-1882221874918039472012-05-29T14:10:00.003-05:002012-05-29T14:10:59.622-05:00Tuesday Tea Time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://www.bravewriter.com/bwl/poetry-teatimes/">Tuesday tea time</a> is a bit of a religion in our home. While we flagrantly break Julie Bogart's rules concerning fine china, a beautiful table and tea, we always devour goodies. Today the kids slurped down <a href="http://www.graeters.com/raspberry.aspx">the best ice cream on the planet</a>. Everyone except the toddler is required to come to the table with a poem to share aloud. This can be their own creation--we recently indulged an extended original haiku phase--or a poem found in one of several poetry books scattered across our living room.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Today's choices illustrate our eclectic bent. You can see why we didn't know whether to laugh or cry.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the six year old: <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176326">Hush Little Baby</a> and <a href="http://www.rhymes.org.uk/star_light_star_bright.htm">Star Light, Star Bright</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the ten year old: <b>(BRACKETS) </b>– John Coldwell</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">It was Wednesday. Maths. Page 28. And I was already thinking about tomorrow. Thursday. Maths. Page 29.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">We were doing problems. The ones where you have to remove the brackets first.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I was on question 13 and right inside a bracket, When this strange phrase came into my head. And before I could trap it in a bracket It shot out of my mouth</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">Into the classroom. “Bring on the dancing prunes!”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The room went silent And thirty pairs of bracket-solving eyes Swivelled in my direction. The teacher stopped putting crosses In somebody’s maths book And looked crossly at me. “What did you say?”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">I could have told him But instead, I put a bracket round my reply And said “Nothing.”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: small;">The teacher sighed. “How would it be if <i>everybody </i>Called out the first thing that came into their heads?” (Very interesting.)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the fourteen year old: <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/236/94.html">Flower in the Crannied Wall by Alfred Tennyson</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Flower in the crannied wall,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I pluck out of the crannies,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Little flower--but <i>if</i> I could understand</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What you are, root and all, and all in all,</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I should know what God and man is.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the sixteen year old: <a href="http://www.phantomranch.net/folkdanc/articles/hokeypokey.htm">The Hokey Pokey, Shakesperean Style</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">O proud left foot, that ventures quick within<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt<br style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: justify;" />Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From me (age? none-ya): <a href="http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm">In Flanders Fields by John McCrae</a></span></div>
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<pre style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place, and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe!
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high!
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.</span></pre>
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</div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-48806057535209718572012-04-29T19:29:00.000-05:002012-04-29T19:29:29.168-05:00Are you a homeschooling mom who also brings in some income?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br />
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Hi, all!</div>
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I am beginning research on what will become an Amazon self-published e-book (and probably a paperback as well) exploring home educating moms who also work at least part time. I envision this being about a two year project and I will use professional editing services prior to publication. The book will be encouraging to home educating moms and honoring to those who balance both income generating activity and home education, while still honestly exploring the struggles and trade-offs we all face in finding balance.</div>
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I will develop an extensive questionnaire for moms to fill out and from that, follow up by phone and in person where possible.</div>
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Answering the questionnaire does not guarantee a spot in the book. I will balance the portraits across many variables--number of kids, length of homeschooling, type of work, etc. However, for those who aren't included in the book, I may feature you on my blog and include a plug for your income generating endeavor and you would certainly be mentioned in the acknowledgement section of the book.</div>
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Would you be interested in filling out the questionnaire to help me with my background research and possibly be included in the book? My goal is to have the questionnaire to the moms in May. I am particularly interested in featuring moms who make their income from entrepreneurial or flex jobs. </div>
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If interested, please email me at ohiohol at hotmail dot com and use "book" as your subject. In the body of your note, please briefly describe your income generating work as well as how long you've been homeschooling and how many children you home educate.</div>
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Feel free to link this blog post on your blog or other social media--I appreciate help in getting the word out!</div>
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Blessings,</div>
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Holly</div>
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</div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053694627772298332.post-1657744383031593462012-04-17T13:35:00.000-05:002012-04-17T13:35:22.263-05:00National Haiku Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Those in the family old enough to understand syllables composed an original haiku today for National Haiku Day.<br />
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The 10 year old's haiku "Spider":<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Spins a web so fine<br />Catching flies for dinnertime<br />Eight eyes look at me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><br />
The 14 year old's haiku:<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">A haiku I write<br />I am getting distracted<br />A boring poem</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">The 16 year old's haiku:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Procrastination<br />Leads to Desperation<br />Then Motivation</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">My haiku:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Home education</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Unconventional and weird</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 1px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 1px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px;">Would never trade it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11px; line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<br /></div>Hollyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12416237963061445873noreply@blogger.com1