Thursday 28 August 2008 - Today is:

• Tasha Tudor Remembrance Day

• 17 weeks until CHRISTmas Day

start working on my gift list

• Thankful Thursday

Dear Father in Heaven,

I have so much to be grateful for.

I thank You that my family is safe and healthy and whole, and I ask You to help me to remember what a precious gift from You they are, and to treasure each and every moment I have with them.

I thank you for my home, and I ask You to help me to be a better steward of that which you have provided.

I thank You for my life and this day which You have made, and I ask You to help me to rejoice and be glad in it.

•  The day my husband and three of my cubs travel to Saltillo, Mexico for a mission trip

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Wednesday 27 August 2008 - Praying...

for this family.

Dear God,

Please comfort them and give them the peace that only You can.

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Tuesday 26 August 2008 - In the interest of honest blogging

A blogfriend posted about pointlessness and failing at what matters most and about whitewashing it all and putting on a happy facehere in blogland (my very rough paraphrase.)

The relative anonymity of the internet makes it easier to be who I wish I was rather than who I actually am.  Like her, I fear that if you saw the real me, then you would probably not want me on your friends' list.  Unlike her, I am not on very many people's friends' lists anyway. 

I do cling to the fact that God's mercies are new every morning.  And when I get really overwhelmed and discouraged it usually helps me to read the book of Ecclesiastes.

So, as my title states...

(You have been warned!)

My house is beyond messy. no. seriously. I could be on Oprah, getting her shocked looks as the tape rolls and she queries, "But how can you let your children live like this?!"  The upstairs hall is strewn with dirty laundry, the trash in all 3 bathrooms is overflowing, there are dirty dishes stashed in my oven and moldy ones in my fridge, and so on.  This is the worst it has been in a while, but it has been this bad for a few months now, and normal really isn't much better.

I'm lazy; which explains why my house is this bad after two weeks of no lessons, during which my first priority was to declutter, clean, and organize.

I waste far too much time at the computer (without actually creating anything like blog posts or menus, etc.) and in front of the television (which i don't even really enjoy.)

I feel guilty for my laziness and time-wastiness, but instead of working at changing i generally take it out on the ones i supposedly love.  i grumble.  i yell.  Sometimes i even utter shameful things.

I don't pray for my husband every day. or my kids.

I am the chief of sinners. totally depraved.

I have so much to be grateful for, and yet i complain. a lot. at times i even question God's judgement in saving me.

So there you have it.  No good ~ just the bad and the ugly.

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Friday 22 August 2008 - Scripture Memory

 This is the passage that we will be working on this fall. 

Psalm 8

 1 O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth,
         Who have set Your glory above the heavens!
         
 2 Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants
         You have ordained strength,
         Because of Your enemies,
         That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.
         
 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
         The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
 4 What is man that You are mindful of him,
         And the son of man that You visit him?
 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
         And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
         
 6 You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
         You have put all things under his feet,
 7 All sheep and oxen—
         Even the beasts of the field,
 8 The birds of the air,
         And the fish of the sea
         That pass through the paths of the seas.
         
 9 O LORD, our Lord,
         How excellent is Your name in all the earth!

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Monday 11 August 2008 - The Simple Woman's Daybook

 to read more or join in please visit Peggy

 Outside My Window...the sun is breaking through the clouds 

I am thinking...about how great my kids are and what wonderful relationships i have with them

I am thankful for...an a.c. repair company that can get out here this morning, and for clouds and a bit of a breeze this morning

From the kitchen...not sure at this point

I am wearing...my hair up in loose bun, brown v-neck t-shirt, denim shorts, bare feet

I am creating...computer files

I am going...nowhere yet, because i am waiting for the repairman

I am reading...Sabbath by Wayne Muller found at Half Price Books for $1

I am hoping...praying, actually, that the air conditioner can be fixed quickly and inexpensively

I am hearing...the dishwasher and Lulapalooza's Lego Star Wars video game

Around the house...lots of fans are going

One of my favorite things...naps

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  

watching the Olympics  ~ a trip to the new local Salvation Army thrift store for 50% off Wednesday to look for some skirts ~ adults only dinner with friends Thursday night ~ a special teatime with Toodles

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

I found this photo at  stock.xchng

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Saturday 9 August 2008 - Because everybody else is doing it

If anybody actually reads this blog, then you probably know that we homeschool more-or-less year-round; you probably also know that we do not follow the traditional school year, but begin each year in January. 

And yet...

There is just something about this back-to-school season, so...

I have been buying new notebooks and pencils and markers and glue, because they are all on sale. 

I have been tweaking our routine, because, well, okay, actually, I do that all the time.

I am adding a few new things and changing a few things up. 

So, as we begin our final term in about ten days here is what an ideal week could be like:  

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
6am-730	Mama's personal time: morning tea,  prayer time & walk	Mama's personal time: morning tea,  prayer time & walk	Mama's personal time: morning tea,  prayer time & walk	Mama's personal time: morning tea,  prayer time & walk	Mama's personal time: morning tea,  prayer time & walk
730-9am	Mama: breakfast & daily chores Take Sgt. Elf to babysitting job Kids: morning things	Mama: breakfast & daily chores Kids: morning things	Mama: breakfast & daily chores Take Sgt. Elf to babysitting job Kids: morning things	Mama: breakfast & daily chores Take Frap to babysitting job Kids: morning things	Mama: breakfast & daily chores Kids: morning things
9am-1030	Monday Morning Meeting (to help us get on track after the weekend craziness) Memorywork Milne (read aloud)	O Special One goes to Classical Conversations Possible informal co-op with 2 other families for younger ones	Recitations: prayer, catechism, scripture memory, poem, math facts, phonics drill Read Aloud: Beatrix Potter seatwork & tutoring	Recitations: prayer, catechism, scripture memory, poem, math facts, phonics drill Read Aloud:    Just So Stories seatwork & tutoring	Recitations: prayer, catechism, scripture memory, poem, math facts, phonics drill Read Aloud:    Tales from Shakespeare seatwork & tutoring
1030-noon	Math Game & Mapwork	Read Aloud: history chores	Read Aloud: history chores	Read Aloud: history chores	Read Aloud:   history chores
noon-130	lunch Melodies & Masterpieces(art)	lunch Read  Aloud: literature drawing or handicraft during reading Boys: gymnastics	lunch Read  Aloud: literature drawing or handicraft during reading Girls: dance	lunch Read  Aloud: literature drawing or handicraft during reading	lunch Read  Aloud: literature drawing or handicraft during reading
130-3pm	Quiet Time: silent readings Teatime w/person-of-the-day	Quiet Time: silent readings Teatime w/person-of-the-day	Quiet Time: silent readings Teatime w/person-of-the-day	Quiet Time: silent readings Teatime w/person-of-the-day	Quiet Time: silent readings Teatime w/person-of-the-day
3pm-430	snack Monday's Marvelous Make-it Time kids: chores	snack Read aloud or Project or Productive Time kids: chores	snack Read aloud or Project or Productive Time kids: chores	snack Read aloud or Project or Productive Time kids: chores	snack Friday Freewrite & Friday Funstuff kids: chores
430-6pm	Productive Time for kids Mama: dinner prep	Productive Time for kids Mama: dinner prep	Productive Time for kids Mama: dinner prep	Productive Time for kids Mama: dinner prep	Productive Time for kids Mama: dinner prep
6pm	supper & clean-up	supper & clean-up	supper & clean-up	supper & clean-up	supper & clean-up
	evening		Sgt. Elf: drum lesson
	activities		Sgt. Elf & J~man: puppets	Frap: babysitting job

At least...

 until I change it

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Saturday 9 August 2008 - This Week in the Olive Grove

• SUNDAY
  • Church Service, during which Frap and I helped with the elementary program; we talked about the Fruit of the Spirit and made smoothies ~ yum!
• MONDAY
  • generally, lots of:
    • sleeping in
    • reading
    • running kids around
  • all of this continued throughout the entire week
• TUESDAY
  • helped out a little at the Christian Home Library and, of course, checked out books
  • boys had gymnastics
• WEDNESDAY
  • celebrated Tibby's 18th birthday with a trip to the espresso drive-through, then on to Half Price Books, the cell phone store, the mall, out to dinner, and ice cream sandwiches and popsicles for dessert:
    • $5 for espresso
    • $10 for books
    • $30 for dinner
    • $5 for dessert
    • 60 miles in an SUV burning about $15 worth of gas
    • $1-2 for the toll road
    • spending most of the day with my oldest daughter and catching up on all that's going on in her life: PRICELESS!
• THURSDAY
  • Sergeant Elf had dance class
  • worked on our schedule/routine/daily rhythm plans/whatever and avoided housework
  • watched Doctor Who
• FRIDAY
  • answered the door to Jehovah's Witnesses in my bathrobe, because I thought they were a friend coming to pick up one of my girls for a babysitting job
  • finally got dressed because...
  • Toodles had dance class
  • celebrated a friend's 40th birthday with a surprise party at a downtown Austin coffee shop: old friends, local music, coffee & cake
  • then on to a favourite downtown cafe for a midnight supper
• SATURDAY
  • made bank deposit
  • paid a bill
  • did a very little bit of housework
  • renewed public library books online
  • worked on menu plans and shopping list
  • watched some of the Olympics
  • posted on blog

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