Thursday, December 31, 2009

A New Years THOUGHT……

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; We've added years to life, not life to years.
We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We've conquered outer space, but not inner space; We've done larger things, but not better things; We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul; we've split the atom, but not our prejudice; we write more, but learn less; we plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait; We have higher incomes, but lower morals; We have more food, but less appeasement; We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less communication; We've become long on quantity, but short on quality.
These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships. These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throw away morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to make a difference, or just turn the page...
~Author Unknown~

 

Lets make THIS NEW YEAR better than last !!!!!!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Free Play = FREE MIND

I read an article today about how KINDERGARTEN was turning AWAY from PLAYING in school.

CRAZY….

They are 5.

Let them PLAY!!!!!

Let them IMAGINE!!!!

Let them BE KIDS!!!!

It makes me sooooo happy to be a homeschooler.

Read it HERE.

Love and Light….

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

REALLY??????????

 

snowflake1

 

Were half way thru our winter break…

REALLY?????

How can that be????????

OK…

I had a list……HERE.

Well…..

I haven’t REALLY done ANYTHING on my list.

I TRIED to check out the sewing machine---BROKE.

Therefore I BOUGHT Malachi’s Birthday present.

And we have been working on BEHAVIOR.

But mainly I have been…..

Well—NOT LOOKING at the list.

I have been TRYING to NOT think about school…

HARD.

I am PLANNING on getting SOME of the list done THIS week.

PRAY for MOTIVATION…FOR ME.

I’ll need it.

Friday, December 25, 2009

Who Knew????

Who knew that WAL-MART on Dec.23 could be such a BLESSING?

I mean…

Usually…

Going to Wal-Mart is not a MOM-friendly experience.

For ME anyway..

(Although – My husband has an UN-canny knack for getting thru Wal-mart with 4 kids…with NO STRESS!  All the while saying to me, “You need to quit STRESSING OUT!”  UUUggghhhh!!!! )

I know ….. CRAZY!!!

Anyway…

On Dec.23 we went to wal-mart.

I was making  my way thru the isles with 4 kids in one of those carts that LOOKS kid friendly…BUT REALLY- It is actually HARDER to maneuver than a REGULAR cart

THEN

a man came up to me and said:

“Excuse me… I have been watching your family for 10 years on the beach and I just wanted to tell you that your family is AMAZING. I have watched you all and your kids are so well behaved. I am a school teacher and I just wanted to tell you that you and your husband are doing a GREAT job!”

I  looked around for some SUPER-MOM standing behind me.

NOPE…He was talking to ME!!!!

WOW!!!!

What a great compliment in the midst of such WAL-MART CHAOS!!!

I GRACIOUSLY told the man thank you and went about our way.

I walked away thinking about how SOMETIMES ..

In the midst of Chaos…

I can lose sight of how TRULY  MAGICAL my family is.

Then ….

As if to RECONFIRM what I was TOLD…

I WATCHED SILENTLY AS THIS HAPPENED:

We were going thru the check out and the 3 youngest kids had already spent their money that they had($1)

Zeek was going to buy candy with his money.

He had $1 + $3 he had SAVED.

BUT

the other kids started saying that THEY wanted Candy also.

Sooo…..

Without HESITATION…AT ALL

Zeek said:

“ Hey guys…Since you have already spent YOUR money, Pick out the candy that YOU WANT and I’ll buy it for you!”

Wow!!!!

What an AMAZING SHOW of LOVE and GRACIOUSNESS!!!!

Like I said……WHO KNEW?????

What a blessing!!!!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

TOGETHERNESS…….

Last Night was our ANNUAL walk across the bridge to feed the homeless downtown.

What a blessing it is to have 18 people COME TOGETHER and do something that REALLY HELPS an IMMEDIATE NEED.

There are sooo many homeless right outside our backdoor…

So many that are cold and hungry.

The kids LOVE doing this.

They LOOK FORWARD to doing this.

There were several moments last night that really put things in perspective for me.

One was when we were being silly and Jay was “Posing” as a wise man around a wooden baby Jesus.

(Dont ask!!!LOL)

At the end of “playing around”..Jay spoke about how we may joke about things like that(the wooden baby Jesus)

BUT

TRUTHFULLY…

is is a serious thing.

He continued by saying that Jesus died for our sins and we should all take a moment to think about that.

While my husband was standing there I was filled with a sense of TOGETHERNESS.

At this time of year we are a little bit ISOLATED.

Well….

We have ISOLATED ourselves.

We don’t celebrate Christmas.

(not because we don’t believe in Christ-we just don’t believe he was born on that day, along with the COMMERCIALIZATION of it all..which we don’t believe in)

and we don’t participate in  ALOT of the things that go along with Christmas.

ALSO…

Because the kids are so young…

we cant GUARANTEE that they wont spill ther beans about Santa to the other kids around.

So we GENERALLY don’t do Christmas family dinners, etc.

But our Annual Walk across the bridge has become something that fosters a feeling of TOGETHERNESS for me at this time of year.

A time when we can focus on WHAT WE ALL WANT TO DO…

HELP.

Together…

we want to HELP.

1 foot in front of the other…

We all want to HELP.

No matter HOW DIFFERENT our:

FAITH

BELIEFS

LIVES

or

JOURNEYS.

We  JOIN TOGETHER to HELP!!!!

bingo and homeless 077 bingo and homeless 027 bingo and homeless 029 bingo and homeless 030 bingo and homeless 032 bingo and homeless 035 bingo and homeless 037 bingo and homeless 038 bingo and homeless 041 bingo and homeless 042 bingo and homeless 043 bingo and homeless 044 bingo and homeless 045 bingo and homeless 049 bingo and homeless 055 bingo and homeless 056 bingo and homeless 058 bingo and homeless 059 bingo and homeless 065 bingo and homeless 066 bingo and homeless 070 bingo and homeless 072

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Progressively Pioneering...........

I am an AVID blog reader.
I LOVE finding a new blog that has GREAT stuff on it!!!
Today ..I hit the jackpot.

Progressive Pioneer!!!!


THIS is what she says in her "About Me" section...
STINKIN' AWESOME!!!!


Sometimes the most progressive ideas are the oldest and simplest, the ones that took place 100 years ago, when no one saw anything revolutionary about them at all. Today there are so many parenting options, so many ways to feed, clothe and care for our children. Many spring from media moguls and business tycoons, others are born in laboratories and research centers. In the midst of all these high tech, color coordinated, safety tested, pediatrician recommended options, the most radical choice can be to simply say, “No thanks.”

When we trust our intuition, and look within, rather than to external sources for the answers, we will often find that the simplest solutions are best. Why feed our babies deconstructed, vitamin-fortified, puffed cereals when we can simply cook up some nice, hot oatmeal, vitamins all intact? Do we really need an entire car seat/carrier/stroller system that makes it entirely possible to go hours at a time without ever touching your baby? Hold that sweet babe tight to your breast, wrapped in a simple cloth as millions of mothers have done before! The latest parenting books urge us to let our babies “cry it out,” when every cell in our body tells us to fold them into our arms and soothe them to sleep. Listen to your body! Forget the cribs, the baby food, the play pens. We women have been doing this for eons. Choose to follow the examples of our pioneer forbears; live simply, live close to the earth and close to your loved ones.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Goals…….

Its Friday Night.

The FIRST NIGHT of our Vacation.

Like..

We finished TODAY.

And as I sit here, I was MENTALLY making a list of m “To-Do’s”.

For my VACATION .

I know…….

I know.

Anyway….

I decided to put it all down-

on my blog.

Just to keep me ACOUNTABLE.

Soooo

Here goes:

1. Make a new schedule for the LAST HALF of the year.

2. Get “File Folder Games” laminated.

3. Make new CHORE CHART.( I read a blog w/ great chore ideas!)

4. Set up sewing machine for shasha.

5. FINISH A BOOK!

6. Really work on our BEHAVIOR.

7. Make “NEW YEAR” gifts.

8. Make “Nature Journals” for kids for school.

9. spelling list for the rest of the year!!!

10.  Make Malachis Bday present

I mean really?????

Does THAT sound like a VACA?????

A VERY “COOL” Week……Letter I

Hschool 012

 

This week we were “On” letter I…

for the littles.

Sooooo…….

Here is a rundown of what we did:

We learned “Itsy Bitsy Spider”

Sheba was sooo proud!

We also learned focused ALOT on ICE!

We did an ICEBERG science experiment!

school 002

(I am not really sure that this even QUALIFIES as a science experiment!)

You need:

1 glass cup

water

and ice

You fill up the glass with water and put 5-6 ice cubes in it.

THEN

You look at it and notice how only the “TIP Of the Iceberg”  is on top of the water!

That COUNTS…right?????

We also read LOTS of stories that had to do with

Ice

Cold

Snow

Arctic

Hschool 013

The kids also learned about the concept of InI:

Hschool 011

A RASTA term basically meaning:

The God(divine) inside of yourself.

We also did some Iceberg art":

Hschool 010

The kids also watched National Geographic POLAR PROWL:

Hschool 014

AND …

To top it all OFF …

We went ICE SKATING!!!!!

Ice Skating 092 Ice Skating 024 Ice Skating 028 Ice Skating 031 Ice Skating 032 Ice Skating 034 Ice Skating 037 Ice Skating 038 Ice Skating 039 Ice Skating 040 Ice Skating 044 Ice Skating 047 Ice Skating 048 Ice Skating 049 Ice Skating 057 Ice Skating 069 Ice Skating 070 Ice Skating 072 Ice Skating 073 Ice Skating 074 Ice Skating 078 Ice Skating 079 Ice Skating 081 Ice Skating 082 Ice Skating 086 Ice Skating 087 Ice Skating 090 Ice Skating 091

All and All

I’d Say it turned out to be a VERY COOL WEEK!!!!

LOL

Blessings and Love,

Jana