Magic is our newest addition to our ranch.  Magic is a most fitting name, for we have had many

magical moments with him since his arrival. 

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This morning, Magic was visiting us in our yard as Dad was getting ready to go to work.

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I think it was hard for him to go to work this day because he was enjoying his daughters and entire family with our new colt.

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Magic is officially Rachel's colt. We bought him from Maple Grove Haflinger Farm, which

has some of the most beautiful modern haflingers on the market.

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We all hung out this early morning with dad. It was one of those mornings you wanted to

never end.

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Eventually, he did have to go to work.  But before I could persuade the girls to come into school,

they were off for a trail ride. 

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Since I already had my camera with me, I decided that I'd tag along and be the paparazzi for the

day. 

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Magic's mom is a dream horse.  She stood so perfectly still for the girls that Rachel was able

to stand on her and pick an apple.

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After their stop at the apple tree, they meandered down to the lake.

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Then in to  the woods....

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And  through the flower meadow...

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Eventually, we did come into school.  But the memories are going to last us a long time.

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 Yes, Magic is certainly a most fitting name.

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Come join Mary at Canada Girl for a lot of fun show and tells....

(To See Pictures of What's Been Going On Around Here Lately, Go To Rachel's Blog.)

It’s a chilly morning as I sit here writing to you with a sweater on, and a cup of hot coffee by my side.  I have an irritating cold – nothing severe- but enough of it to be very annoying. The kids are still sleeping, and I’m enjoying the peace and quiet too much to wake them.

It’s been busy around here.  There’s been a lot of fun stuff going on, but when I haven’t been engaged in the fun stuff, I’ve been busy organizing.  Since I read the book, The House That Cleans Itself, I’ve got a whole new vision for my home.  Every spare minute I’ve had, I’ve been busy creating new systems.  Decluttering and organizing is energizing to me.

I did do something this week that I have never done before.  It is something that many of you consider a way of life, as common as breathing.  Yet, for me, it was as foreign as speaking another language. 

Saturday, Margie and Mike, came over with their children to ride horses and to pick apples. We made a plan that I would come to their home on Monday afternoon, with my two daughters, to learn how to can tomatoes and homemade apple sauce, and to make my first homemade (apple)  pie. 

When we arrived, Margie was busy in the kitchen.  She’d already started the process of canning as we were a little bit late.  She has this huge country kitchen with a big island in the middle of it.  There were a total of four adults, five teenagers, and one child hanging out in the kitchen and there was still a lot of room to spare. I would have to say that Margie’s kitchen is a homeschooler’s dream, as it opens up into the room that their children homeschool in – via Bob Jones University satellite t.v.  As the kids “attend classes,” Margie is right there by their side, albeit, baking pies, canning, and preparing the evening’s dinner.  I’ve never seen a better set-up than that.

While we were there, we not only canned tomatoes, made homemade apple sauce (and canned that, too), made an apple pie, but we also made pizza for our evening’s dinner. I’ve never made homemade pizza dough, either!  It was a day of a lot of firsts.  

When I came home I was so proud of myself for making my first apple pie.  The pie crust was simple and it even looked good (we laced the top crust).  For dinner, I served homemade pizza and hot apple pie for dessert.  

As much fun as I had doing all of this, the best part of all was spending time in Margie’s kitchen with all the high voltage energy emanating from so many happy people.  Mike set up a barn building date that we had discussed a few weeks ago at the lake cottage when he and my husband drew the plan out on a table napkin.  We even planned a December ski trip, taking advantage of their resort time-share.  It should be a lot of fun cooking and baking together on the up-coming trip!

Maybe you’re getting the idea that all I read is books about cleaning and organizing, but it’s not true.  I do read other genre, but I tend to read books in clusters on a similar subject.

I truly do love this book.  No, I didn’t buy it because I thought there was really such a thing as a house that cleans itself, but I have known women that it seemed as if their house cleaned itself!   I always wondered how they did that, and the title of this book intrigued me to think that I just might find the answer to this mystery.

I have read tons of books on cleaning and organizing.  O.k., maybe not literally, “tons,” but I do think I have one entire book shelf designated for this subject alone.  I usually learn a thing or two from every book, and build on past knowledge to the present.  I’m always looking for ways to improve the quality of my time and my home.

I love the premise of this book – it’s not about teaching you new organization techniques, but rather, changing your environment to fit how you live.  It has a totally unique “take” on this subject from anything I’ve ever read in the past.  I love the author’s totally non-judgmental attitude – this is conveyed all through the book.  I also love the fact that Mindy emphases that this is not about keeping a “perfect” house.  It’s about keeping it reasonably clean at all times, contrary to a home that is clean (perfectly) some of the time, and some of the time, very messy.  I like the approach of not trying to reach perfectionism, but rather, a home that can open its doors at any time for anyone, without embarrassment. 

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Join with me a visit to  Angela for "Tuesday Review"....

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I think I've mentioned before, maybe a hundred times, that I love hydrangeas.  There are all kinds of varieties and different colors. 

 My favorite is blue - but you have to keep the soil at a special acidic ph level to get this color.  Although I treated my flowers this year very carefully with the right stuff, I think I have discovered why they never did turn blue.  I have my hose hooked up to the house, instead of an outside water pump. We have well water, which has to be treated with water softener so that the bathtub, sink, and toilet don't turn all orange from a calcium build up.  I think that this affected my ability to get the soil

condition right for the color blue. 

So, instead of blue, I got a lot of pink.  But that's o.k.  their still beautiful.

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I couldn't help but make it a "photo moment" when I picked them. 

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I placed some in a bucket filled with water and let them float in it.  Then I arranged some around

the bucket.

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I decided to put a basket of freshly picked corn from our garden on the same table.  When I asked

Rachel what she thought of my photo lay-out, she thought it wouldn't be complete with out her kittie

included.

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Well, if the kittie should be in it, then surely the dog, and my children playing in the background should be, too.

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I didn't get blue, but I enjoyed them just the same.  And now during the upcoming long winter, I can

still enjoy them through my pictures.

Join Mary for a lot of great show and tells....

Every once in a while,I discover an author that I really enjoy.  It might be their sense of writing style, or perhaps the depthness of a given subject I glean wisdom from.  A book I recently read about becoming more organized, I came across an author that I truly enjoyed.     Her name is Karen Ehman - and after reading my first book by her, I thought I would look at what else she has written.  I ordered, A Life That Says Welcome, and subtitled, Simple Ways To Open Your Heart & Home to Others.

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I liked the book cover right from the start.  An open  window frame painted a soft green - the exact color that I've decorated in several of rooms in my home, with brightly colored fuscia flowers in the center of the open window.  The book cover itself, said to me, "Welcome."  

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It was one of those books that is easy to read, and serves as a good reminder to open our homes and our hearts to others.  Providing hospitality is not a natural for me - but rather - it is something I prayed that God would help me with.    He continually provides grace in this area.

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What I got most out of this book was the reminder that our home need not be perfect in which to invite guests.  "Reasonably Clean and Clutter Free,"  was a commonly repeated phrase I read in this book.  It makes having guests over for dinner (or the weekend) with this goal in mind, rather than aiming at perfection.  Perfection would render hospitality to big of a job for me to handle, at this season in my life - four children at home, and  homeschooling.   Reasonably clean and clutter free is a task I can handle - or at least - most of the time.

It was a wonderful weekend.  The Vale family, our friends and neighbors, arrived Friday night at our cottage.  It was their first visit here, as their summer has been most busy, between vacations, 4-H week (in which we participated together with our children), camp, and Vacation Bible School.

 We had planned to have grilled hamburgers for dinner, but after showing them around the cottage and the lake, it had gotten dark.  Hubby didn’t feel like grilling in the dark and fighting mosquitoes at the same time, so he came up with an excellent suggestion.  Go out for pizza.  We went to a restaurant in town that we’d not been to before, but it had plenty of seating and we decided to take our chances.  We ordered pizza, breadsticks, pop, and for dessert we got ice cream on a warm chocolate chip cookie.  The parents sat at one table, the 4 boys at another, and the 4 girls at their own table, too.  It seemed as everyone had an enjoyable time visiting with one another.

When we got back to the cottage we stayed up a while talking, and then went to bed at around 10:00 p.m.  Everyone got up early Saturday morning.    I made bacon, hash browns, English muffins, and scrambled eggs.  All twelve of us tightly fit around the dining room table and enjoyed our breakfast.  It was a nice way to start the day.

We went out on a boat ride and when we came home, we ate again.  This time, we grilled the hamburgers that were supposed to be last night’s dinner.  For dessert, we had Margie’s delicious homemade Apple Crisp that she had made from apples on our ranch. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent swimming and on jet skis.  We concluded the day with one more boat ride before the sun was to set.  This time the kids got pulled on tubes through the water.  When we got back to the cottage, we had supper.  I had a roast cooking in the crock pot all day (and potatoes).  Dinner was informal and everyone ate and talked together.  We discussed politics, the financial crisis facing the U.S., church, and the best topic of all - building a temporary stable for our growing ranch.  Mike says he has extra material left over from the building of his own barn. He and my hubby drew a barn on a napkin, discussed which pasture it would be built in, and how long it would take.  Mike says we could have it done rather quickly - perhaps in four weeks. 

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The season for the cottage is coming to an end, as the weekends are getting cooler.  It will soon be but a memory.   Our first year here on this lake I am filled with pleasant memories of my entire family, my married children and their spouse and children, my brother David and his two children, filling a tiny little cottage with people wall to wall.  There was only one teeny bathroom, and not even close to the amount of beds needed (people slept on couches, chairs, and sleeping bags on the floor – it was literally wall to wall people!)  I have many good memories from our summers spent like this.

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Last summer, I am filled with many precious memories of having my in-laws join us here at the lake.  We were able to spend more time with them what we are usually afforded.  We had a lot of good times and shared many laughs.  I am thankful for that season of fellowship with them.

This summer, our church families joined us here.  This added a new dimension of fellowship – not just a Sunday morning, but a weekend adventure!  We had church service Saturday night before going to bed, and then church on Sunday morning after breakfast.  It was as a Weekend Retreat.  

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We’ve made new friends this summer.  A family we didn’t know all too well spent Labor Day weekend with us, from Friday night to Monday morning.  This is one way to quickly get to know someone – by spending three nights and two full days together! 

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And this past weekend – we added one more picture page to our memory book for the summer of 2008. 

I had really good intentions of starting school extra early this morning, but when I went to alternate the horses in their pasture, I couldn't help but to jump on Minnie for just a short ride.  But one minute just led to another.  Rachel jumped on Maria and together we rode bareback around the lily pond and under the willow tree.  Magic, our 4 month colt, pranced around us, pretending to be a wild stallion. We rode up the soft rolling hills, enjoying the beauty of the morning.   

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I couldn't help but to stop for a moment to feel the almost magical quality of these minutes.  It seemed as if this should be a picture captured in a story book - riding through a beautiful pasture, bareback and carefree, with leaves falling gently off the trees in the soft breeze. 

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It was hard to come back to reality, but school was calling me.  I could have spent the day right there.

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After school, I got the notion that I really wanted to see my oldest daughter and her babies. I brought her four different varities of apples, a bag of freshly picked raspberries, and a half dozen pears. When I arrived, Baby Grace was just waking up from her nap.  I had the delicious treat of being able to scoop her up and to cuddle her.  Riding horses just doesn't compare!  It was wonderful getting to visit with Becky, Seth (3), and Abraham(2), too.

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I got home just in time to get supper on.  I was going to make spaghetti, but Rachel nixed that idea.  She requested grilled hamburgers, so while that was cooking (compliments of my brother, David) I started tomorrow night's supper (it's going to be a busy day).  It feels great to be enjoying the evening with the next night's dinner (sloppy joes) sitting in the crock pot!

 Our school day went smoothly. We read in the Narrated Bible about Jeroboam being made king over the tribes of Israel, with the exception of Judah and Benjamin.  We worked on memorizing our verse, II Peter 1:3 and 4; started a new book in history about Ancient Rome; read from a book about virtue; and learned about alchemists.

I made dinner at lunch time (Chicken Enchilada Casserole) and put it in the refrigerator.  The plan was to go riding right after school and when I got home, stick it quickly into the oven to bake for dinner.

At 2:45 p.m., we were out saddling our horses.  We took off for another back country roads exploration.  This time, we travelled on roads that we hadn’t been on before.  We crossed several creeks, and passed by many cornfields, cattle pastures, barns, and country homes.

The horses did pretty well with the exception of Lady when she came to a babbling brook – the sound of the water rushing quickly scared her and she balked at the idea of crossing.  Rachel was handling her and she did a superb job convincing Lady that she didn’t have a choice in this matter.

Maria is only four years old and she is the new comer on our ranch.  She has a wonderful disposition and I was pretty confident that she would not cause me any trouble.  But the farther we got away from home, the more she seemed to be questioning my logic in this.  After about three miles, she started to stop in the middle of the road and turn around in which to request me to take her back.  I turned her around and gave her a kick to keep on keeping on.  I was relatively sure that the road we were on would lead us back home. She stopped arguing with me after about the fifth mile when she sensed that we were traveling directly west.  She must have had an inner sense that we were close to home, although she had never travelled this way before.

When we finished the sixth mile, and turned off the road and into our property, I don’t think I’d ever seen her happier.  She was tired!

After unsaddling our horses, brushing them down, and picking at their hooves, I went inside and put the casserole into the oven.  When my husband arrived home from work, dinner was ready and we had a lovely evening.

It was a blessed weekend.  We left for the cottage Friday evening after having dinner with Matt and Kristi.  We often arrive late, as we did this night, but instead of going to bed right away, we almost always stay up and play a while. 

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In our school time, we are reading a historical novel called, Beric the Briton, by G.A. Henty. On this late night, Rachel asked if we could read a chapter with Dad, and so we did.  Were someone to have been walking  on the sidewalk in front of our cottage this late evening, they would  have seen through our front door a happy family playing and reading together late into the evenings. After reading one chapter with dad from this novel, being the history lover that he is, we read chapter after chapter together, even on the trip home.  Just before going to bed last night, all the kids climbed on our bed, and we read more pages before going to sleep.

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The highlight of the weekend was visiting with my husband’s parents Sunday evening.  It has been some time since we have seen them last, and it was wonderful to fellowship with them.

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Looking ahead at this week, it is a busy one.  There are several business events I am to participate in ; a doctor’s appointment in a city some distance away; music lessons for the children; a dinner with business associates; and another evening  planned with my husband’s parents.

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I am looking forward to school this week.  The first week was a little rough; the second week was a bit smoother; and now, coming in to the third week, I am looking forwards to an excellent week.  I am starting with a clean and organized home – that in itself sets the foundation and backdrop for a good school setting.  I am going to plan our dinners more thoroughly this week, in light of the time that I have (or don’t have). 

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Peripheral activities that I wish to do this week – go horseback riding (hopefully today), and visit my daughter Becky and grandbabies.

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This upcoming weekend we have friends invited to the cottage.  Rachel and I are looking forward to this and planning the meals. 

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It looks like a very busy, but fulfilling, week ahead of me!

It was a good week.  It finally quit raining, the rain receded, and the sun came out.  We had “decent” meals for dinner (no 4-course meals, but good enough); the house stayed “relatively” clean and clutter free.  School went pretty well.  Every day went as planned (a miracle of sorts); the kids all got up early and we had a good start each day.  We had sufficient lunch and breakfasts.  

The highlight of the week was yesterday when I went riding with Rachel on back country roads.  We had planned on doing this and the weather fully cooperated with us.  It was a gorgeous day.  We had taken the horses out on Tuesday for a short trot on the road directly behind our property line.  This gave me a comfort factor that the horses wouldn’t freak out should a car come zooming by.

It was like a dream, really.  When I drive by country roads and beautiful pastures, I often find myself wishing I were on a horse, galloping through the country side.  It’s as if I can look out the window and see myself there, riding through the meadows.  And this day, taking off in a full trot down a road that followed an orange-yellow flowered meadow, I truly felt as if I were in one of my dreams.  You could see cows in the not so distant pasture, and red barns sitting on the hilltop above the autumn colored meadow. 

When we got home, I felt as if I’d had a wonderful workout.  Oh, if only every workout could be so fun!

It was a gorgeous day, today.  Clear skies and about 74 degrees.  We started school at 8:00 a.m. and around noon, Rachel and I went for a wonderful trail ride.  We went to the back acres of the property and crossed through the  neighbor's yards (we've been given permission to do this).  We travelled the back country road with Lady and Maria.  It was a beautiful ride.  Later this evening, I hopped on Minnie - bareback and barefoot - and rode her to my son's home with Magic (her colt) running by her side.  What a wonderful day!

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Chicken Casserole Topped with Crushed Tortilla Chips

I had baked quite a bit of chicken on Friday, but for many reasons I won’t go into right now, it never got served.  On Monday, I knew that I needed to serve this chicken for dinner or to end up wasting it.  I tried this recipe with it and everyone loved it – 100% of everyone in our family.  This was either: #1 A miracle  #2 Everyone was desperately famished to the point of starvation or #3 It was actually good.

• ·         I cut the chicken breasts in cubes. 

• ·         I added a can of cream of chicken soup, 1 cup sour cream, ¾ cup mayonnaise, and a pinch of salt.  I did add some chopped onion (to which Joshua told me of his displeasure, but ate it anyways (and came back for seconds!)

• ·          The recipe did call for celery, mushrooms, and slivered onions, to which I had none of.   It also asked for 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, but with the sour cream, soup, and mayonnaise, I thought that the cheese would be a calorie overload. 

• ·         I crushed tortilla chips and placed them on top. I put it in the oven and baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes.  (The original recipe called for crushed potato chips, but not having any, I substituted the tortilla chips.) 

As my husband was leaving for work at 7:00 a.m., he got the sleepy ones out of bed.  They seemed a little bit extra tired, so I decided that the best way for them to wake up would be to get outside ASAP and work together feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, and giving them their water.  When they were done, all together they went to the horse pasture to take care of the horses.  By 9:00 a.m. we had finished our chores and breakfast. 

II Peter 1:5, “…Giving all diligence, add to your faith…”

We started with our Bible memorization verse from last week.  Matt. 6:33 – “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you.”  We talked about this verse – how do we seek God first?  With our time, it may mean that we read our Bible and pray before starting our day’s activities.  With our money, we can show God that we put him first by tithing before we spend it on stuff.  In school, we show Him that we are seeking Him first by having Bible reading and memorization before any other class.

We read in the book of Ecclesiastes.  There was an interesting verse (10:19) that said, “A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry, but money answereth all things.”

 Huh?

We talked about that when we find a verse in the Bible that we don’t understand, or that it doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the Message of His Word, there are ways to seek out the answer.  What is the context of this verse?  The verse that preceded it says, “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; and through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through.”    This is talking about laziness.  We diverted here a bit and talked about money.  If we are lazy, we won’t work, and therefore we won’t have money. Money is a necessity in this life – to eat, to be clothed, and to have shelter.  We talked about the wrong use of money, about worshipping money, or making it an idol.  But money in itself is not evil, it is a necessity.  

After taking a small break, when we came back to the table, I showed them a way we can study deeper the meaning of a particular verse.  We opened The Complete Word Study of the Old Testament.  This is a useful reference material.  It has the entire O.T., verse by verse.  The word, “answer”, from Ecclesiastes 10:19 has the number, 3605, above it.

We took The Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon (that is coded with Strong’s Concordance numbers) and looked up the number 3605. We found the original word (before being translated into English) in the Ancient Hebrew text.  Its meaning in the original Hebrew is “answer, or respond.” 

This made more sense.  Money is not the answer to all the problems in this world, as we already knew it did not.  It’s just that this verse seemed to be worded in this way.  To think of it as in the text, “money responds or money answers”, helped us to understand perhaps better what Solomon was trying to say here.  Money affects our daily life.  If we have rafters sagging in our home and leaks in our roof (as the NIV translations says), then money, or in this case, the lack of it, will respond to what we do with the sagging rafters and leak (nothing, because we can’t afford to fix it.)   Money, or the lack of it, will respond or answer to situations in our daily life.

I can’t say that I discovered the exact interpretation of this verse, but I can say that I am glad that I had the opportunity to show the children:

• 1.     All verses in the Bible must be supported by other verses to understand the meaning,
• 2.     Look at the context of the verse to understand its meaning
• 3.    The beginning of learning how to use reference tools.  This is one of my goals this year in our school.  Strong’s Concordance,  Matthew Henry’s Commentary, and the Hebrew –English Lexicon are just some of the reference materials I hope to show the children how to use this year.   

II Peter 1:5, “…Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;”

For our virtue and character teaching time, we started a new book called, “Rescue At the Eleventh Hour,” by W.H.G. Kingston, a book about martyrs in the Great Reformation.   We read two chapters.

II Peter 1:5, “…Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;”

History:  We read two chapters out loud from the book, Beric the Briton, A Story of the Roman Invasion, by G.A. Henty.  

Science:  Today we started studying the Periodical Table. I introduced the Periodical Table by showing them a placemat I had purchased, a deck of P.T. cards, a magnetic P.T. for the refrigerator, and three books about it.  We read the first chapter of the book, The Mystery of the Periodic Table, by Benjamin D. Wiker. So far, I love this book.  We played the Periodic Table card game, and studied one element, Hydrogen, from the book, The Periodic Table, Elements With Style.

II Peter 1:5, “…Giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance (self control); and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.”

The rest of these; self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love, are taught all day long in situations that arise seemingly constantly.  Self control in not striking back at someone, or eating too much.  Perseverance at finishing a job. Godliness in how we react, or repond to situations and the Biblical principles applied to our life.  Kindness in our responses to one another.  And love being the ultimate litmus test of all our actions.  These – self-control, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love are taught all throughout the day.  Being a mom (or dad) is a 24/7 teaching post.

Deut. 6:7

“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shall talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

It is early in the morning and everyone but me is sleeping soundly.  So far this morning, I have had fellowship with Him in prayer; fed the chickens and gathered eggs; gave breakfast to the dogs, cats, and kitties; taken the garbage out;  put a little one that had gotten up back to sleep; and  prepared our Sunday lunch (baking now in the oven and in the the crock pot).

It is raining steadily outside (an answered prayer) as it has been for the last 72 hours.  And although there has been no sunshine and a lot of wetness around here, it has not stopped our family from having an excellent weekend.

We had got the house clean on Friday, as our custom is. It wasn’t perfectionism, but good enough.  Dad was home on this day so we did not do all that we might normally, but I at least accomplished the things that would have driven me in part to insanity,  had I not.  I always find it amazing how my spirits can be lifted as my house gets cleaned.  It is amazing.

Early in the evening, we went out to eat with Matt and Kristi.  Afterwards, we came home and staying in the family room together, we each did what we enjoy.  Saturday morning was more of the same.  As it rained outside, the two boys sat on the family room floor and played Uno; Dad and the girls sat at the dining room table and put together a neat puzzle we had just gotten.

We got a surprise phone call from our Amish friends, Gerald and Darla.  They had attended a wedding in Illinois – no, they did not go by horse and buggy, but rather, hired a driver.  They would be driving right by our home on their way back to Shipshewana, and they wanted to know if we would mind them stopping by.  They had Maria with them and were hoping to leave her with us to train and then to sell.  We welcomed them as we always enjoy their fellowship and friendship.

I had run out for pizza and when I pulled into our driveway, I seen that our guests had preceded me.  Rachel, Joshua, and I hurried into the house, and were pleasantly surprised to see that our Amish friends were comfortably sitting on the couch chatting with my husband.  It was a wonderful sight to behold.  We had an “Amish Prayer” before eating our pizza, and chatted for well over an hour.  It is always so interesting to talk with Gerald and Darla about their Amish style of life.  I learn something new every time.  I often find that were really not that  much different.  Sure, they travel by horse and buggy and have no electricity, but our values and Christian faith are very much in tune with one another.

Our Sabbath was truly one of rest and fellowship – with each other- and with friends.  Thank you, Jesus, for giving us this day that is set apart from all the rest.  Thank you, for filling our lives with love for one another and for fellowship with friends.

Although it wasn’t a “perfect” week, there were some highlights.  One of these was a riding excursion that Rachel and I had planned to go on, to explore the country back roads. I have never done that and I was looking forward to it.  Rachel packed a picnic lunch; we grabbed the cell phone, and saddled our horses.  It was starting to rain and I wasn’t sure if it would be such a good idea to go off our property given the rain and unsure of how nasty the weather could get.  We decided to keep close to home, just in case.

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When I haven’t been riding much, I am always a little bit extra careful, unsure of all the possibilities.  Horses can be very unpredictable.  They might be in a good mood that day, or not. When I go out on a trail ride, I start out slow, building confidence in my horse and in my own riding. 

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A few weeks ago, I had taken our youngest horse, Gretta, for a trail ride, and it turned out to be more work than pleasure.  We battled over her desire to eat grass; she talked loudly to the horses left back in the pasture; she argued with me when she thought we’d rode enough. 

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That ride with Gretta gave me a great appreciation for my horse of the day, Lady.  As we ventured out, and the other horses began to whinny to her, she kept her mouth shut and offered no conversation back.  I took comfort in that, perceiving that she was not regretting leaving them and content to be with me on our little adventure. 

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Although we never did leave the property line, we did stop to enjoy a picnic lunch that Rachel had prepared.  We considered eating in the middle of the freshly cut alfalfa field, but kept going.  I am glad that we did (given the rain that increasingly began to pour!), and when we came upon the cabin in the woods, we realized this was our perfect picnic destination.  We tied the horses up to the trees, and it was then that I felt like a cowboy in the west.  I hadn’t been in the cabin for quite some time, and I could see that the children had brought old chairs, an inexpensive desk, and had set up house in which to play in.  We leisurely ate our sandwiches and watched the rain begin to increase. I enjoyed listening to Rachel telling me about a lot of new things that are happening in the youth group she attends on Wednesday night.

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We concluded our peaceful meal and got back on our horses.  We came to an area that has a lot of trails that intertwine, twist, and turn. It was here that Gretta had given me a lot of arguments and bad behavior.  This, too, gave me appreciation for Lady as she went where ever I wanted, trotting quickly along and taking any and every turn that I directed her in.  There were no ill tempered fits and no concern that she was contemplating bucking me off.  I worked at trying to teach her how to slow down, as full speed is always her chosen pace.

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As I worked with Lady at full speed, riding in and out of the trails between the high weeds and the dirt hills, I found myself never wanting to quit.  It is almost always Rachel that gives me the nudge that the horses have had enough.  I am blessed that my daughter has been given a good dose of common sense and aims at quitting while it’s going well, and always suggests that we stop on a good note. 

It never did let up raining.  I can’t remember ever leaving for a trail ride in the rain.  But I had decided that with no thunder above, a little rain would not melt us.  I felt as a child that goes out to play in the puddles.  It is remarkable how young one can feel when hanging around with a teenager!

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Sometimes I think that I don’t have time to ride horses. How can I do something so fun when there is so much work still left undone?  And yet, when it is Saturday morning, and I have found my mind mulling over and over how pleasurable and enjoyable my ride was, how could I not find the time?  As busy moms with our plates full, and our responsibilities running over the rim, I can only presume that taking the time to do something we are passionate about can be used by Him to renew, encourage, and help us to keep on keeping on.

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It is Friday morning and I have just about concluded our first week of the new school year. I wish I could write to you and tell you that everything went just as planned, and that I finished this week with such satisfaction of the coming school year. 

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I have been so extra tired this week.  Perhaps my summer was just a little bit too good.  For the past three months, I have kept my house in good condition, and organized.  I had imagined this coming first week of school to be one of utter perfection, including the house. 

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I have been reminded of why  homeschool is so difficult.  It is not easy to juggle all the balls - planning meals; grocery shopping; cooking; clean up; orthodontist,dentist, and music appointments; quality time for dad and for the children; keeping the house organized and clean; and then add into all of this, teaching the children. 

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 "There is now therefore no condemnation in Christ Jesus, for those that walk not after the flesh."

I heard these words all week long, reminding myself when I felt down and overwhelmed, that there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. If I am feeling guilt or unworthiness of my lack of abilities to be all things to all people, this is not guilt sent from Him, but rather, our adversary.  There is no condemnation in Christ Jesus.

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I rose early this morning, with a great desire to sit and dwell in His presence. I made my coffee, and in the darkness, sat down to pray.  It felt so good that it was so early, knowing that I could lay all my burdens at His feet, with no concern for time.  I asked for His strength, His help, and His guidance for this coming school year.  "Help me dear Jesus, to have wisdom in how to spend my time; help me to plan my days wisely.  Help me to train my children in the way they should go, and to have a good and excellent school year."   

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I remember when I first began to home school – I desired so strongly to know how other families did this. Sixteen years ago, there wasn’t the plethora of information that there is now, neither were there blog communities such as this one.  I think we are all kind of interested, at least from one time to another, of how others school.

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Today was our first day back from summer break (however, if you’ve read my previous posts, some of the children have had an all summer school routine with Grandma). In mind that I had written a post most recently of how our school days go, I thought that I should share a “real” day, not a hypothetical one that I imagine/write about.

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There were two things that made today somewhat unique to other school days –

 1. It was my first full day of school after a wonderful summer break.  I tend to make the first week a little less structured, kind of loose, an ease into our full school routine.

 2.  It’s a Monday – I always do things a little bit different on Monday, a little bit more relaxed.

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The kids got up at 7:00 a.m.  They did their chores, got their own breakfast.  We sat down together around 9:00 a.m.   We started with our Bible reading – we read about the end of Solomon’s life and how his kingdom was torn away from him.    We then began the introduction (from the Narrated Bible) about the book of Ecclesiastes.

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Then, we opened up our new historical novel,  Beric the Briton, A Story of the Roman Invasion, by G.A. Henty.   We read the first entire chapter – it was long, there were huge words, and the setting, at times was somewhat complicated.  I stopped often to explain different words; or to explain just what was happening in fear that the little ones weren’t following what was going on.  This made a long chapter even longer.  I asked Rachel later what she thought of our new book.  “It’s terrific!” she answered with enthusiasm.

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Now, it was about noon.  We did some cleaning of jobs that got didn’t get done last Friday.  We worked for about an hour, and then had lunch together, which Rachel had prepared for us.

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After lunch, we watched a DVD by Chris Tomlin, live on tour.  There was a speaker that explained how great God is, and had pictures of the planets and stars in the background.  It was an astronomy lesson reflecting God’s Wonder; His creation; and His awesome power.

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At 3:00 we did some more cleaning.  And at 3:30, the kids headed out the door for equestrian class.  The horses were saddled, brought to the round pen, and Rachel gave each a lesson in balance, English style.

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Meanwhile, I have checked my blog, balanced my check account, and made a few phone calls.  It’s 4:30 now, and it’s time to put supper together and while that’s cooking, exercise.

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It was a great first day of school!

Through my reading this past weekend, in preparation for this coming school week, I’ve been reminded that our school time is not just about the Three R’s.  It’s about training the whole child.   Even the children’s squabbles are to be viewed as opportunities to deal with the issues of the heart and to learn to respond to one another in spiritual wisdom and love.

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Today, I got to practice my skill at handling squabbles.  In days gone by, it was my practice to dismiss their arguments – to instruct them to handle it between their selves.  I had too much to do, too much on my plate to slow down, to handle immature, aggravating, childish squabbles.  A few years ago, I read the book,  Saying Goodbye to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes...in you and your kids! ( by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller.)  and since then, I have attempted to slow down, pay attention, and attempt to use these squabbles as platforms in which to train my children in better relations with one another.  With that said, though, it is still easy to slip back into my old ways.

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This afternoon, Ruthie and Joshua came running up to me, all excited and in a fuss about a pair of water goggles.  Our guest for the weekend, Micah, had the other pair and needed them because of his contacts.  This left only one pair for in which two children would have to share, and it was Ruthie’s.

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Ruthie didn’t think she should have to share. The boys hadn’t been nice to her; Joshua never shares with her; and she had been looking forward to looking for shells with her goggles.  Both children had raised voices.  I stood there, not really wanting to deal with this totally childish argument.  The easiest thing would be to demand that Ruthie share with Joshua.  But, I decided to practice what I’d been reminded of this weekend, and to give their squabble the attention they were demanding.  I sent up a prayer for wisdom, for whatever way I would choose, I was sure to make someone unhappy.

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I brought them both into a room and sat down on the floor with them.  I explained to them that I understood that they both felt it was their right to this pair of goggles. I told them that I wanted Ruthie to go first, to explain why she felt she should not share this pair of goggles.  With tears in her eyes, she explained how mean the boys had been to her, and how they didn’t deserve her pair of goggles after that.

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On Joshua’s side, he wasn’t asking for a whole lot.  He thought they should share it equally, with equal time (he had given his up for our guest).  He went on to explain that the only reason he really wanted them was so that when they went to the floating dock and began to play their games, he could see under water to give him the advantage.

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I repeated to Joshua and Ruthie what I had just heard them both say, and they agreed that I heard them correctly. I acknowledged Ruthie’s feelings of feeling dumped on, and being treated unfairly by the boys.  But, I told her, that I thought Joshua’s request was not unreasonable.  Who bought this pair of goggles in the first place? (Mom and dad)

Would Jesus demand his right to this pair of goggles?  Or would he share it?  Ruthie conceded that Jesus would not fight over this and that He would not demand His way.

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I then turned to Joshua and corrected him on his treatment of Ruthie.  In the end, they were both happy.  Ruthie realized Joshua just wanted her goggles for a short period of time, and she felt vindicated that he had been corrected for his wrong behavior towards her.   Joshua was happy that he got his fair share with the goggles.

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I really couldn’t believe how happy they both ran off together.  I thought, I need to review what just happened there, so that I can repeat it!

• I listened to both their stories, giving equal time.
• After listening, I repeated back to them what their gripe was, as accurately as possible.
• They both acknowledged that I heard their side of the story correctly.
• I then sought to help them look at this with spiritual eyes, what is the right way to handle this situation.

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I am committed this year to teaching my children to learn to get along, to build loving relationships with one another.  May the Lord grant me abundant wisdom!

What a wonderful Sabbath it has been today.  I got up early, made my coffee, and then went to an empty room at the back of the house in which to pray.  I always begin my prayer in acknowledgement of Who He is – our Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and our Hope.  By Him were all things created; for His glory were they all created; and by Him are they sustained.    I thanked Him for His provisions and blessings, and then brought to Him my petitions and concerns of the heart.

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I have spent this day almost entirely outside, sitting by the beach.  I’ve been reading books by Marilyn Howshall (Lifestyle of Learning) and the book, Heart of Wisdom, by Robin Samson.  These are books that one can continually re-read and be reminded of the important things in educating our children.

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From Marilyn, I was reminded that the key to educating our children is through their heart.  This takes time in building relationships, and taking the time to handle all matters of the heart with diligence.  All matters of character and attitudes are to be dealt with, no matter how much time it may intrude into our day.  If the house work doesn’t get done, so be it.  If math and reading get skipped, so be it.  To pass over matters of the heart, acts of disobedience, displays of ill-temper, selfishness with one another; would be to miss the real opportunities and responsibility of educating our children at home.

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We can teach our children character values as we go through our day - with our chores, and the mundane daily responsibilities of keeping our home.  I can remember many years after bringing my children home that I focused only on the academics, considering everything else to be an obstacle of reaching my goals.  I no longer think like that. 

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From Robin, I am reminded that the most important thing to teach my children is God’s Word and His Law.  I know this even without her telling me, yet, it helps to have it re-affirmed within my heart. 

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 It is late Friday night, just a few minutes before midnight.  And as our custom is in our family, Friday night is Stay-Up-Late night, for all of us.  Rachel and Joshua are sitting at the computer together, with their arms on each other’s shoulders, playing a pc strategy game.  I hear laughter and teasing, and I am happy to see them interacting so sweetly together.    Jacob and Ruthie are also playing together – they are sitting on the floor a few feet from me, playing with a stack of cards, making up their own rules for “Go Fish”.     Dad is sprawled out on the couch, a baseball cap on his head, reading the news on Rachel’s laptop.

I am sitting on the couch having just finished writing to friends.  I can feel the cool breeze coming off the lake and through our windows, and I can hear the waves bouncing on the beach.  I want to call it a night, but at the same time, I felt a compelling to just write a bit before getting the kids all to bed.

 We start school next week.  I have so thoroughly enjoyed our summer.  It is everything I could have wanted, and more.  I find myself relaxing more and not always on a mission for every single moment of my life.  I think it is an improvement for me.

Before starting school, I spend quite a bit of time reading books on homeschool, reading the Bible, and praying about what it is HE would have me to teach.  I think (and pray) about this all throughout the summer, but intensely so the weeks prior.  Today, I was reviewing a booklet  by Marilyn Howshall, Lifestyle of Learning.  I love her books and her philosophy.  Her writings were an answer to prayer for me at a crucial time in my life.

She reminded me today of several things.  First of all, although it is contrary to our culture, the m