Posted by Cindy on October 17, 2007
We celebrated my 36th birthday this week. Mahayla had such big plans for a homemade cake with homemade chocolate icing. The cake was wonderful, but to her dismay, we didn’t have enough powdered sugar in the pantry to make icing. So, we simply sprinkled the little bit of powdered sugar over the fresh cake and it was scrumptious anyway! Caleb lit a few candles, then my wish was made.
Everyone gave me sweet cards and Mahayla even crocheted two cute little pot holders. She said they’re for the salt and pepper shakers – and they do fit perfectly! How she kept that project a secret, I’ll never know.
I want to send a special thank you out to my family, church and co-op friends who remembered my birthday. I’m not even sure how some of them knew it was my birthday?? 
) Thirty-six isn’t so bad when you are loved by so many. I love you all, too!
Posted by Cindy on October 11, 2007
A good friend emailed me awhile back with a question about staying focused and getting it all done during times when life has to be hectic. I’m finding myself in one of those times right now. I thought I might remind myself of the answer I gave and share with you at the same time.
Her question:
What do you do personally to renew yourself when the schedule outside of school gets hectic? You know – when things are beyond your control like funerals, sickness in the family, elderly people needing help — situations you find yourself involved in at a time when the personal bank of energy and patience are low.
My answer:
I’ve been thinking on your question today and chuckled out loud a few times as I thought, “Who in the world am I to answer such a question??!!” I’m totally overwhelmed and feel like my life is spinning out of control right now. I’m chalking up my craziness as a “season” of life and trying to remember that life will become normal again. Anyway, I’ll give my best answer….
You know what I’m gonna say – - when outside things start pressing, we have to be able to say “no”. Easier said than done, I know. Your family won’t appreciate a “no”. Your church won’t like hearing “no”. Your friends might not even care to hear the word.
I used to try to be at every funeral, fix a dish for every funeral dinner, work to help serve the funeral meal, send a card to the grieving family….You get the point. Multiply that by sick people, the elderly, church ministries, friends, family, birthday parties, church parties, co-op classes, co-op food……I was getting to the point where my own family was getting pushed into the background. Then I read a book called Having a Mary in a Martha World and it really opened my eyes. I have two responsibilities that I know are God-given – my husband and my children. God may call me to other things as well, but He hasn’t called me to everything.
Long story short, I quit everything I could at church. I stopped offering to be the person to “ask if you need anything.” And I learned to say no to just about anyone who asked. 
Now, if I choose to fix a meal for someone, I usually go in with one or two others to take the load off. I very rarely agree to any long term ministry “opportunities” at church. I try to send cards to people, but don’t get around to visit much. I bring chips to co-op rather than a five course meal. I help at the funeral meal only if everything else is in order.
I’m far from having all this figured out. I feel guilty about how much more service I should be doing. I feel guilty for not meeting everyone’s needs. But like I mentioned earlier about the season of life I’m in right now, I know there will come other seasons when serving people outside my family will be easier.
When I do have to do certain things, though, I always try to involve the kids. Serving others is a wonderful addition to the curriculum! At least those times when other need us can be shared with our kids!!
Well, that’s my two cents. I’m an utter failure at meeting anyone’s needs (except Eli’s) right now, so take my words with a grain of salt. As for the idea of renewal….hmmm….I don’t think I know what that word means. Maybe if I had one single solitary minute to myself, I might be able to breathe. That could be renewing. Or exercise. Or send my kids away for a weekend. Or send myself away for a weekend. Or get a massage. Okay, back to reality. I ain’t goin’ anywhere until this kid stops nursing! Do you think he’ll ween himself by sixteen??
Posted by Cindy on October 9, 2007
Animal School
by George Reavis
Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had four subjects ~ running, climbing, flying, and swimming ~ and all animals took all subjects.
The duck was good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He made passing grades in running and flying, but he was almost hopeless in climbing. So they made him drop swimming to practice more climbing. Soon he was only average in swimming. But average is okay, and nobody worried much about it ~ except the duck.
The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there, which was against the rules. He always had to stay after school and write, “Cheating is wrong” five hundred times. This kept him from soaring, which he loved. But schoolwork comes first.
The bear flunked because they said he was lazy, especially in winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn’t open then.
The penguin never went to school because he couldn’t leave home, and they wouldn’t start a school out where he lived.
The zebra played hooky ~ a lot. The ponies made fun of his stripes, and this made him very sad.
The kangaroo started out at the top of the running class, but got discouraged trying to run on all fours like the other kids.
The fish quit school because he was bored. To him all four subjects were the same, but nobody understood that. They had never been a fish.
The squirrel got A’s in climbing, but his flying teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. His legs got so sore practicing take-offs that he began getting C’s and D’s in running.
But the bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent him to Dr. Owl for testing. Dr. Owl said that the bee’s wings were just too small for flying and besides they were in the wrong place. But the bee never saw Dr. Owl’s report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway.
A question I hear quite often is, “Am I really qualified? Am I going to ruin my children by schooling them at home?”
This is the topic of a devotion I gave in the Mom’s Room at co-op this week. I’ve tried to write my notes from the devotion here. I hope you are encouraged.
Am I Qualified?So many times in His Word, God gives us not only all the answers we need in order to homeschool, but the mandate that
we are to teach our children. Two of the most familiar passages are Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.” – and Deuteronomy 6:5-9 – “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
When God calls us to something, He will qualify us! At that answer, I could end the devotion. God called us to it, He equips us, therefore, we’re qualified! But, I want to answer more thoroughly why and how we’re qualified.
Go back to the Animal School story above. Who knows your children best? Who can instinctively know what’s best for them? Who loves them as much as you do? Who did God give them to? Knowing that “Mom and Dad” are the answers to each of those questions is further proof that YOU are qualified to teach them. No one else knows them well enough to know what’s best for them. For them particularly. No one on this earth loves them like you do. No one. God gave them to you. You. You are the one who can make their education a perfect fit. Not because you have a college degree in education or have loads of money to buy the best curriculum, but because God has already given you everything you need to teach the children He gave you.
If you’ve never watched the YouTube.com video called Home Where They Belong, I would encourage you to take a few minutes right now. It’s a strong visual to get this point across.
You know the news headlines. Christianity is being forced out of the public school system, only to be replaced with a religion of tolerance, evolution, relativism and worse. Even Christian teachers in the public school system are forced to teach things that go against the Lord’s teaching. At best, they can subtly mention God as long as other religious views are being expressed at the same time. These facts alone qualify you to teach your children. Jeremiah 10:2 says, “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”
You have been given unique gifts in your children. God has commanded that you teach them. And, He has supplied you with all you need to do this successfully. Homeschooling isn’t always easy. It isn’t always fun. But the rewards are great and the impact is eternal.
Go to the Word when you’re frustrated. Go to your husband. Go to an experienced and well-rooted friend. Please don’t meet the yellow school bus at the end of the driveway.
Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4
And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. Isaiah 54:13
Posted by Cindy on October 6, 2007
Our Fun Friday activity this week focused on Columbus Day. We did the sink or float experiment from Science Projects for Holidays Throughout the Year
. After doing some basic experimentation on what objects sink or float, we moved on to asking the question, “Does sinking and floating make a difference in salt water vs. fresh water?”
Basically, you make a saturated salt water solution (we put 1/2+ cup of salt in a quart jar of water and shook until all the salt was dissolved.) Then you tape a little cm ruled paper strip in two clear plastic cups. Place the object you want to test in one of the cups and place it in the salt water. See where the water reaches on the cm strip and record it. Place the same object in the other cup and place it in the fresh water. See where the water reaches and record it. After doing this with several objects, your children should see that things float better in the salt water.
Over the weekend or on Monday, we’ll probably do some or all of the fun website activities below. I hope you find some good ideas to add to your studies!
Lost at Sea: The Search for Longitude – a very good shackwave game.
Online info “book” and quiz
Columbus CyberHunt – very cool!
Columbus Math Mystery
The above sites I found at this great Columbus Day site with many more “meaty” activity ideas.
Posted by Cindy on October 4, 2007
I’ve got a fun math activity for you! It’s important to me that my children not only know how to read graphs, but know how to create them as well. Mahayla is a pro at gathering information and creating her own graphs on paper. Caleb is just beginning, though, so I wanted him to make a “concrete” graph to be sure he understands all the parts and why they are where they are.
Here’s how the lesson went……We decided on a topic - animals. He decided to gather data from 40 people by asking what their favorite animal is. He then came up with a list of several animals he would let them choose from. Then, he wrote the animal’s names on a piece of paper and tallied the “votes” as they were given to him.
Next, he wrote each animal’s name on a notecard and placed the cards along the floor. He knew he needed numbers going up the side to show how many people liked each animal. He used 1″ tiles to show the results from the 40 people he interviewed. And finally, he wrote a title card calling his graph, “Favorite Animals”.
Next time, he’ll be ready to create a graph on paper. He knows the “parts” because he had to make them and manipulate them. It’s a strong visual that won’t soon be forgotten.
Mahayla just wanted to be part of the action! I asked her to create a line graph showing a week’s worth of data from her peak meter numbers. The doctor will be so impressed with this picture when we include it in her file during the next visit! He asked her to keep a chart. Little did he know that we would take him this seriously. LOL
