Description
My children belong to the Hero Generation... we are striving to raise them to fulfill their personal missions. We strive to make our home a haven from the turmoils of today's society. Come visit us as we share some of our story.
Aspire to Inspire before you Expire
Have a specific interest?
Browse this blog by Category!
Just personal stuff to keep the family and friends up to date.
These are stories about my children who belong to the hero generation (from The Fourth Turning).
Knowing where you are headed helps keep you on track. Here is where I keep my "flight plan".
Anything about our homeschool - funny stories to new schedules... never know what's going on here.
Stories about the family from my memory or others. Plus, memories in the making.
The papers I've written for the Five Pillar Certification
Simply thoughts and comments on the classics I'm reading.
Quotes of interest to me... may or may not include commentary.
Browse through my recipe folder. Food and non-food recipes.
Scripture references, usually with commentary. Very personal - might not be open to comments.
Anything Thomas Jefferson Education related.
Little tidbits here and there about what it takes to lead a healthier life. Including mine.
My deeper thoughts, or sometimes a thought provoking/inspiring story.
My blog for CU writings & ponderings
My other blog, generally more lighthearted.
I'm wanted to practice writing in a different genre. So I decided to write some fan fiction for fun. That's what you'll find here.
![[Valid RSS]](valid-rss.png "Validate my RSS feed")
My Heroes
Redbeard - 38
Me (Texasblu)- 36
Athena - 14
Venus - 11
Iris - 7
Orion - 4
Mercury - 4
Apollo - 2
Hercules - 2
(Yep! Seven kids! Incudes a set of twins
& a nephew of whom we have guardianship)
Disclaimer I'm a one-handed typing Mom of tiny twins, harrassed by two toddlers, and in demand from three precious young ladies... so typos, mispellings, etc. are expected. Please excuse them. :)
Catch the Wave - Surf's Up Baby!
LDS News SourceLDS News Source is a LDS news portal that currently searches over 5000 news sources daily.
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
� Homeschool Buyers Co-op
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
Folks That Make Blogging Fun
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
Homeschool Blogger Friends
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
�
[
<5
|
<<
|
<
|
>
] Homeschooling Blogs [
>>
|
>5
|
?
|
#
]
<<
?
|
LDS Blogs
|
list
>>
TJED YAHOO GROUPS
�
�
| Your Mood Ring is Blue | 
Relaxed
At ease
Calm
Lovable |
BOOKS I'VE FINISHED IN 2007
Little Britches
Positive Impact
Siblings WITHOUT Rivalry
Raising Your Spirited Child
Revealed Educational Principles and the Public Schools
Overcoming Time Poverty
Bio-Kinetic Testing for Health
Good To Great
Remembering Wholeness
Books I'm Working On
Understanding Your Divine Nature
Charlotte Mason
Hamlet
Feelings Buried Alive Never Die
Make your own Blinkie
Books On the Horizon
The Chosen
Jane Eyre
The Lonesome Gods
The New Thomas Jefferson Education
Laddie
The Merchant of Veince
A Thomas Jefferson Education Companion
Where the Red Fern Grows
Ivanhoe
And They Were Not Ashamed
Pollyanna
Of Plymouth Plantation
Jesus The Christ
The Fourth Turning (2nd reading)
Books I've Finished In 2006
Wuthering Heights
Bonds That Make Us Free
The Lonesome Gods
Treasure Island
The Great Conversation
The Four Elements of Success
The One Minute Manager
The Richest Man In Babylon
The Giver
Get your own calendar
|
Mom Schools, Commonwealth, and Seminary
My thoughts at 01:20 PM, August 26, 2008
Homeschooling Daze
First, let me just say I am SO EXCITED about this year I could just burst. I am going to be one very busy mom, but we have such wonderful things going on!!! Let me go by age....
My boys are learning already. I don't understand the purpose of kindergarten - I really don't. My boys are already grasping shapes, colors, numbers... not the alphabet so much, but my goodness, they are only four (even though Orion turns five in a week! Egads!) !!! I have activities planned for them throught the year to do "school" with us - for an experiment we made a lapbook of Primary songs to help them learn their songs for the Primary Presentation... they LOVE it. So I figure if I do some lapbooks with some history in it in stuff, they'll feel like they're a part of things and have fun - maybe learn a little, but I'm not real worried about it.
Iris - I just called a little while ago and got her into a Mom school. Color that girl EXCITED. She has been bugging me for friends, so I emailed a friend of mine who I knew would know if there was a mom school around for that age group. Sure eenough - and when I called, the mom tells me she just had a cancellation yesterday, so she had ONE opening. Miracles do happen. :) Iris turns 8 this January - she'll be in Activity Days!
Venus - Can you believe this girl becomes a Young Woman in January? I just about fainted when I realized it! My little quiet artist isn't so little anymore! I've got to post some of her art - she's getting more and more amazing! She's also attending a Mom School for older girls, AND is planning on going to Commonwealth this year with her sister and her dad. More on that in a sec...
Athena - Seminary started yesterday. We've worked it out that until it gets really cold (and snow and ice on the ground) she's going to be riding a bike to and from seminary. I had to walk the 2 miles (one way) with her yesterday because I lost my van key - by the time I got back I was wiped. This morning my hips, shins, calves, and thighs were SO SORE... this Mama really needs to work out! lol! Anyway, she said it was okay, she knows a few of the kids from YW. We'll see how it goes. She's real excited about Commonwealth this year. I can't figure out why there are no dances for the youth here. Do they still have dances elsewhere? Commonwealth may be offering Ballroom dance, so I hope she chooses to take it.
Redbeard - Yeah, he gets his own slot because every Friday this year he is TEACHING ITALIAN at the Commonwealth School! Is that just not the coolest? According to Athena, her friends are "stoked". I have no idea what this means for me, but I'm sure, somehow, it effects me other than not having YW in my house on Fridays.
ME - Well, I have one client for my Personality Coaching that I do right now. My Basic Training Class is ending here in another month. I need to decide if I'm going to do it again or not. I'm not sure there's enough interest. We'll see. I'm trying to get all my thoughts on paper for the year - I want to start our EPIC Adventure the day after Labor Day. I have gotten my timelines up on our walls.. I compromised with Redbeard. I stuck them in the stairway going down to the basement. He appreciated my sacrifice. lol! |
| Shared Thoughts(1) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
Slowing Down and Seminary!
My thoughts at 10:15 AM, August 23, 2008
Homeschooling Daze
First, I CAN'T BELIEVE it's been 2 wks since I last posted on here! Wow. I have been extremely busy - when we first moved to Idaho I heard the locals say, "I can't wait for winter to come so life will slow down." We had no clue what they meant, since we had lived in the South all our lives, where there IS no snow except the rare treat, and if there's ice on the road the weather forecaster tells everyone to stay home unless absolutely necessary because within a day or so it will melt and everyone can safely be on the roads! Talk about culture shock!
Well, I get it now. As much as I love the warm weather and complain all through it looking forward to Spring, I find myself wishing for Winter. I want things to slow down. Between Girl's camp, shakespeare Showdowns and Shakespeare Festivals, phone calls of "Hi Sister Texasblu, can you bring Athena down to Pocatello to visit?" and family visiting, among other stuff I am WIPED OUT. Thrusday I went to the store to get some milk and eggs, and the checker said to me, "Isn't it great the kids are in school?" and I was in shock. I didn't know school had started! No wonder things were quiet around town...
So seminary. I had thought to do homestudy, but it turns out the way they do things here, is the kids only go to seminary Mon, Wed, and Fri one week, with the alternaing week being Tues and Thrus. So in two weeks they go to seminary 5 days. Becayse of Athena's Commonwealth, I worked it out that she's going every Mon and Wed, and homestudying on Fridays. I worked this out with them over the phone. Except I had forgotten how insane Commonwealth is in the Spring. Sometimes she spends a week down in Pocatello. So I'm going to have to go in and have a chat with them about that, to make sure they'll work with me on that issue too.
And I thought as they got older it got easier. :P |
| Shared Thoughts(0) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
The Purge
My thoughts at 06:51 AM, August 6, 2008
Tjed
This is that crazy week that I knew I'd be so busy.... I've been doing *somewhat* a 6 month purge. I know... right in the middle of planning and getting ready. I must be insane. It's just that it became quite apparant that I had WAAAAY too many junk drawers... lol! Yes, my house stays clean, but don't ask me to find anything in my cupboards. And I got to thinking of how I wanted a school day to look.... sifting through a pile of papers to find a pencil was NOT in my vision. So I'm looking at it like prep work. :)
QM.... I'd love for you to share with me the instructions on how to do the adding machine tape to make a timeline! Ilove, love - LOVE timelines.... maybe that's why I'm so excited this year. I was a little worried that maybe it was taking a little long to start. You know, I should have kept it a hush hush secret instead of involving the kids in the planning. Well, yesterday I was doing something in my room and Venus came in to chat. We started talking about the approaching school year, and her eyes started sparkling. And I thought, nope. Making it a big secret and unveiling it might be right for some families, but my kids LIKE being involved with the planning. They LIKE giving their 2 cents. Well, in the case of Athena you get more like 50 cents, but hey, who's counting? :P I guess it inspires them to come up with their own ideas... teaches THEM to be creative, instead of my hearing "Mom, I could never be as creative as you." If I heard those words, I think it would be a knife in my heart, you know?
Anyway... just touching base. I don't like it when my blogging posts are too far apart. I need to post my plan for the year... that's coming soon, probably next week, or the next at the latest, when things calm down. We have the last of dr and dentist visits in the next two weeks, as well as Athena going to the Shakespeare Festival, registration for Daughters of Royalty, meetings with other parents, etc. Each in itself isn't a big deal, but when you compile it all.... whew. |
| Shared Thoughts(2) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
Always a New Idea
My thoughts at 03:22 PM, August 3, 2008
Master Plan
Someone on one of the LDS homeschool yahoo groups that I belong to sent this link:
http://www.bookofmormontimeline.com/
and just glancing at it I started getting ideas for NEXT year. So, I started writing them down in my Master Plan, to be referenced later. This is the beauty of the master plan. You have a place to keep ideas as inspiration hits where they won't be lost, and yet, you have comfort in knowing you don't have to do it ALL right now.
Anyway, just some thoughts this afternoon after church. :) |
| Shared Thoughts(0) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
Killing Oppression
My thoughts at 05:23 PM, August 2, 2008
Quotes
"Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
-- Robert Francis Kennedy |
| Shared Thoughts(0) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
Woo-hoo! Stuff is Happenin'!
My thoughts at 11:33 AM, July 30, 2008
Personal Notes
I just got my printer working again after about 3 months of it NOT working... it took HP that long to get their software to download properly. BUT... now it is and there is nothing cooler than to tell your printer to print, and it does! :D Now we can start printing some stuff for the lapbooks!
I just found a place in Idaho Falls that sells butcher paper for .45 a yard, so I'm off to go get some for our timelines. :) I also have some leads for our boxes that we'll be using for our western town. I'm trying to decide if I want to use markers or paint... still have to give it some thought.
I'm still compiling information - I'm hoping by the end of the 2nd FULL week in Aug we'll be ready to fly. I've got way too much going on the 1st week to be hopeful of getting much done. :S
OH! And progress for me! I FINALLY finished Man of the Family and Call to Brilliance! Woo-hoo to me! So now I've just got to write my papers, and I can move on to the next one! :) |
| Shared Thoughts(1) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
Bye - Bye Cutie Pie
My thoughts at 10:16 AM, July 29, 2008
Personal Notes
Our puppy ran away from home. She had been getting out and greeting us in the morning in the front yard, so we'd chain her up at night so she wouldn't do that (it was just at night, go figure). Well, apparently we forgot to chain her up the other day and she wasn't there, and wasn't in our front yard either. We have wildlife around these parts, so I hope she's fine. I'm not talking about here in town, but if she wandered over the foothills or something... or perhaps she met a family that needed a blue heeler on their farm. We just don't know... we were all pretty distraught, but it's been a week and still no Cutie Pie. We asked around and no one seems to have seen her. I hate to say it, but there always seems to be some flyer around Idaho Falls of lost pets. I know we're not alone. :(
It's hard to loose a pet. |
| Shared Thoughts(1) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
A Great Quote
My thoughts at 02:12 PM, July 28, 2008
Quotes
From a Jewish proverb. I saw it in an Ensign yesterday and had to save it:
"God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers"
Isn;t that just a lovely thought? |
| Shared Thoughts(0) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
Our Timeline Adventure Ticks Down
My thoughts at 06:26 PM, July 20, 2008
Master Plan
I just got off the phone with a friend of mine, explaining some of the things we'll be doing this coming year. As I hung up, I realized I hadn't told you about the timeline I'm going to put on the wall. There will be three numeral timelines, with the events illustrated by pictures, not words. We're going to put the prophet's picture on the first one. The second will be "everyday life" - Presidents, inventions, current events, etc. The third will be pictures of our ancestors, and a picture of the state they're living in at the time. This is just to give the children (and myself) a visual while we're doing the learning.
I told my friend that our "everday life" was going to be learned using lapbooking. For instance, we'll cook some dish representative of that time span (ie: pioneers - a dessert using honey or molasses for the sweetner; the depression - an eggless, milkless cake) and then the kids in their lapbook can have a picture and a recipe card with the recipe. This is where I want them to keep their paper dolls for fashion. Pictures, diagrams, and maybe an explanation of how things work, new inventions for safety (like the development of seatbelts) for transportation, pop ups, pictures, lyrics, quotes, etc. can be done for entertainment. Etc. I only plan to do one lapbook per prophet, but if the kids really get into them and want to be more specific, I'm not going to stop them! LOL!
Fri. night my sweetie and I went to Hastings to rent a movie - we didn't find anything to rent, but for FIFTY CENTS EACH I got documentaries on post WWII, and the Pacific Campaign. We've seen a WWII bomber up close in Idaho Falls before - someone had brought it by and parked it for anyone who wanted to look. We took pics and the kids STILL talk about it (well, the older girls - Iris and Orion obviously don't remember) so that will be a fun tie in. I'm not going to make them watch the whole DVDs - just highlights. If they WANT to watch the whole things, they are welcome to. So that was exciting. I also found a COOL DVD on sale right now (I think it goes along with the book) called "Presidents and Prophets" for $15.00 that I'm really excited to use! You can read about it here at Deseret Book:
http://deseretbook.com/store/product?sku=4996661
I hadn't thought to use movies... how funny! I already have the video of each prophet giving his testimony of Christ, starting with Wilford Woodruff! The only prophet I don't have on video, besides the first three of course, is Howard W. Hunter. I'll have to see what I can do about that. I thought it would be neat to shake up things up every other week or so with this neat little blurb of the prophet we're studying giving his testimony of Christ to my children (and me!)! I've watched it by myself before, but it's kinda long and dry for little ones. But in bits and pieces, I think it will be a rich resource.
I also have these videos: 1841-2002 Nauvoo Temple
Deseret Industries - More than a Thrift Store
The Mountain of the Lord (story of the building of the Salt Lake Temple)
Legacy More Precious Than Gold (story of the Mormon Battalion)
And although it's not a documentary, during the study of the 50's I think watching The Other Side of Heaven would be alright, since it's based on a true story - and I think the bonus features has more of that story.
Now if I could just get a hold of that LDS Classic, "Pioneers and Petticoats"! It talks about the start of the YW, or the Young Ladies’ Department of the Cooperative Retrenchment Association as it was called back then. I'll have to scan the LDS Resource Center for more ideas.
I'm collecting my resources and getting everything straight in my mind. I'll post more later. I hope your planning is going as exciting as mine is!
|
| Shared Thoughts(4) | Care to Share? | Link Me |
|
|
