Boys and a Bean Box

They look happy in the picture, but while I was downloading it off the camera, the two-year old tossed the whole thing on the floor -- they're now cleaning UP the bean box.

100 Inspirational Blog Posts for Homeschoolers

I have nothing to contribute to anyone today. I'm too busy reading... 100 Inspirational Blog Posts for Homeschoolers

You know they're growing up when...

you find a picture like this on your camera...
The first picture the two-year old ever took...awww

Examining the Evidence for Cue feeding of Breastfed Infants at StorkNet's Breastfeeding Cubby

Examining the Evidence for Cue feeding of Breastfed Infants at StorkNet's Breastfeeding Cubby

This article is a tad scientific for a mom with lots of interuptions, but IT'S GREAT STUFF!!

* Feed the baby using the baby's cues, not a schedule
* Feed the baby until the moms' milk is gone, not because 5 minutes should be enough.
* Pay attention to baby's early hunger cues, don't wait until baby is screaming to latch-on.

It doesn't sound like much when I summerize it, but they have a bunch of science behind the it. It was really interesting....

5 REASONS WHY HIGH-NEED INFANTS SLEEP DIFFERENTLY

5 REASONS WHY HIGH-NEED INFANTS SLEEP DIFFERENTLY

One of my children was like this and didn't sleep through the night until she was 7. Looking back it makes so much sense, but at the time no-one knew what to do to help me. It was a tough looooong period of me being a tired mom.

As we age...

We notice things about ourselves we hadn't before.

For the first time in my life, I woke up this morning (at 41), looked in the mirror and thought

WOW! I REALLY need MAKE-UP!

This is a singular event for me -- it's never happened before.
I guess I'll have to call my Mary-Kay lady.

GivesMeHope.com

This stuff is GREAT! I'm laughing and crying --- and I HATE crying. People write in some of the most touching snippets of true love. http://www.givesmehope.com/

These are my some of my favorites :

My grandpa was suffering with cancer for several years after his heart transplant. In his last few days, my mom and her sisters stayed with him every night. One night his medication made him believe he was fishing in the toliet. My mom and aunts stayed up with him for hours catching fish. They GMH.

----

Today I was crying because I felt ugly and unloved and my 8 year old nephew that lives in the room next to mine comes in my room and tells me whoever doesn't think I'm the most beautiful girl in the world will get their butts kicked by him. I love my nephew, and he always GMH

Book Review : The Sacrament of Confirmation for Confirmation Candidates

The Sacrament of Confirmation For Confirmation Candidates by ESD (Edizioni Studio Domenicano) in collaboration with the Institute of St. Clement I, Pope and Martyr


We bought this book and it didn't really work for us. It was a little on the light side for Dd#1. It was also mostly review of what was in Faith & Life and other books we've done for Confirmation. I may have overbought for Confirmation Prep, but this is the first book we haven't been pleased with out of our Confirmation Plans and here. I may keep it for the other kids in case I have one that would prefer it.

Here's a more positive review of the book.

Happy 14th Birthday, Dd#1!!

She's smart and beautiful!

Spaghetti is her favorite food.

She loves truth and seeks God.

She's a peacemaker with a sharp wit.

She has a sense of humor that gets more irreverent (and fun) as she gets older.

Christ and His Church are her favorite subjects.

Someone referred to her as my right arm. That's fitting. She's the extra arms and legs helping and doing when I can only do so much.

She knows me so well, she sends me to bed for a nap and takes over when I'm running on fumes.

She loves me enough to remind me to put myself in time-out when I need one.

She sees me and I see her.

She's modest and wears it well.

She is so tender and loving with her siblings that even the dog treats her like one of the adults in the family rather than one of the kids.

Can she feel my appreciation for her efforts?

I can't imagine my life without her.
She's a comfort, like a warm blanket when it's cold.
She'a a joy, and spending time with her is becoming more and more fun.
Her smile is infectious and when she laughs I can't help but smile.
Her tastes are so similar to mine -- sometimes I forget she's not grown, yet.

Does she know how loved she is?

I always wondered if my children would want to be friends when they grew up. She's someone I would choose as a friend in a heartbeat!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful first-born gift from God.

Snow Baby

What can I give him? by St. John Chrysostom

The Magi brought gold;

you bring a temperate and virtuous spirit.

They brought incense;

you must offer pur prayers, which are the incense of the soul,

They brought myrrh; you must bring a humble and contrite heart along with alms.

~St. John Chrysostom

Advent Banner

If I was going to put the effort into making an Advent Calendar, I wanted it to really do the job. A friend had wanted to make an advent wreath and bought all the felt, but didn't have time to do it. So I inherited the materials (THANK YOU!) and set to work -er- set to thinking about it.

I've never liked the numbers on top of the scene of a Advent calendar, but I love the idea. So I thought I'd make a calendar where we insert a leaf for each day we count down. I cut TONS of leaves. I made a leaf template that was 3"x2" and cut and cut and cut (that took a whole year).

The next year, I cut the candles for the wreath and sewed on leaves and candles. I used pins to put the leaves and candles where I wanted on the purple felt and shoved it through the sewing machine. I'm not very good with the sewing machine and some of the leaves didn't lay flat. I decided that it made it look cool that way rather than messy (and I wasn't about to tear it all out.) Then I put it away 'till the next year.

In 2009, I decided I wanted to celebrate special saint days in Advent...it turns out there are lots of saint days in Advent. So I plugged saints into their dates and then plugged personal saints for our family (the names of our kids, our favorites, etc.)

I found clipart online and added a textbox that stated the saint name and date Dec 6, etc. I used Iron On Printer Paper and then ironed the
picture onto a white fabric. I cut out

pictures and text boxes (which were
now backwards -- I didn't want to wait another year to figure out the new version of Publisher how to make the words backwards so they ironed-on forwards). I glued the text to the back of the leaf and the picture to the front of the leaf. I used adhesive backed velcro dots to affix the leaves to the banner.

Using silver and gold fabric paint we wrote the themes for the weeks of Advent on each candle. (The silver didn't look good on the lilac.)

I was THRILLED to find a tight tule in pink, orange and yellow to make the flames. I folded them until I was happy that it looked flame-like and sewed it into that shape at the bottom. Then I used the velocro dots.

Dave bought me a banner hanger (the black wrought-iron picture below) for $15 at Lowe's. I was thrilled with the price.

I sewed a casing in the top of the purple fabric so it would hang where I wanted on the fireplace.

• felt in purple (backing)
• felt in lavendar (3 candles)
• felt in pink (1 candle - Gaudette Sunday)
• Felt in green (leaves)
• green thread
• purple thread
• fabric for the flames
• adhesive backed velcro dots
• Iron On Printer Paper
• elmers glue

I meant to do an iron-on of the O Antiphons, but I didn't get that far this year. I did print off a booklet I made with each O Antiphon and reflections -- maybe next year I'll add them to the banner...

2009 Christmas Homeschool Band Concert

Soft on my toes

Grandma's blanket felt so soft on his toes, he couldn't help but dance!

A riddle by St. Augustine of Hippo

"The maker of man, he was made man, so that the director of the stars might be a babe at the breast;

that bread might be hungry,

and the fountain thirsty;

that the light might sleep,

and the way be weary from a journey;

that the truth might be accused by false witnesses,

and the judge of the living and the dead be judged by a mortal judge;

that justice might be convicted by the unjust,

and discipline be scourged with whips;

that the cluster of grapes might be crowned with thorns,

and the foundation be hung up on a tree;

that strength might grow weak,

eternal health be wounded,

life die.

It was in order to endure these and similar indignities for our sake;

in order to set free those who had forfeited all dignity;

though he deserved no evil but endured such terrible evils on our behalf,

and we deserved no good, but received such splendid goods through him;

so it was for these reasons that the one who was before all ages the Son of God, without beginning of days, was prepared in these last days to become a son of man;

and that the one who was born of the Father, not made by the Father,

was made in the Mother whom he had made;

so that he might exist here for a time, being born of her who could never and nowhere have existed except through him."



~St. Augustine of Hippo (+430)

Christmas Band Concert 2009

To hear a snippet Click on this
My saxaphone is my accessory!


A beautiful girl making beautiful music.

I LOOOOVVEE my saxaphone.
I'm liking my trumpet more, but it's still pretty hard.

I'm not in the band -- but I have a recorder!

Christmas Confession

We didn't decorate the tree this year. We have a pre-lit tree and just didn't bother to put up the ornaments. It's in a darker room (family room) so we just leave the lights on all the time and you can't really tell.

We didn't put up any other Christmas decorations. Just a lit, bare tree. Actually, the kids put it up while I was gone one day, so that means I didn't personally put up ANY Christmas decorations.

The big one:

We didn't even get the nativity scene out. It almost seems like a sin and weighs on me...but now that today is the first day I've got time to do something like that, it almost seems anti-climatic to do it after Christmas (although the Christmas season lasts for another 2-3 weeks.) I keep looking at the clean, bare mantle and feeling - bad. I just don't honestly think too little too late would help at this point. My kids all said they had a great Christmas...I still feel bad. False guilt? Reasonable guilt? I don't know...

Friends For Life Pro-Life Camp 2009

How confident are you when engaged in a discussion on abortion?

Have you heard the scientific and philosophical evidence for the humanity and personhood of the unborn?

Next June, Scott Klusendorf—nationally renown speaker/author/bio-ethicist and President of Life Training Institute—will once again train students in winning the debate for life.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn from the best, to meet other pro-life high school and college students, and to enjoy a retreat of FUN!

Click here to view the Pro-Life Boot Camp brochure.
http://www.youshare.com/AllenCountyR2L/c7ec2b062c372740.pdf.html

Happy 2yrs old

"Happy Day to me" is how he sings the song....

Happy B-day

I left the camera at Ds#5's Godmother's house for a month, so this is a little cold off the press...

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for us

God, the Father, painting his portrait of Our Lady of Guadalupe

Juan Diego showing the gift Our Lady gave him

Our Lady of the Americas protecting children from Satan

ROCKIN' Cool Nuns!

I just came back from the annual Mom's retreat in Ann Arbor with Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist and it was FABULOUS! Those are some seriously FUN nuns! You just don't expect the joy to exude from a group of nuns like that.

10 moms made the trek from Fort Wayne up to Ann Arbor. We had a van full of conversation up and back. It amazes me how much you can be social or completely set apart at this retreat -- your preference.

They invited us into their home to have Sunday morning Mass at their Motherhouse! The church was SOOO BEAUTIFUL (just like these rockin' cool nuns!) Sr. Joseph Andrew is such a unique and dynamic woman and the priest who gave the reflection Saturday and homily Sunday was GREAT with the moms! The Holy Spirit was DEFINATELY apart of this retreat and this community of WONDERFUL sisters. (And I LOVE their full habits!)

I'm still processing... Spending that much time in Adoration really opens you up to receive what God wants to tell a girl.

Quote of the Day

Dd#1 (holding her note cards she just wrote out for her research paper)

Some of the stuff in here is juicy. On a scale of 1-to-10, it's RAW.

Her report is about martyrs. Should I be worried? hmmm...

Quote of the day

Daddy

What are the 5 steps to the Sacrament of Reconciliation?

Ds#4

1. Greet the Priest and say how long it's been. But I'll say it's my first time.
2. Confess your sins
3. Say the Act of Contrition
4. The Priest abandons me.
5. Say or do my penance.

Daddy

The priest doesn't abandon you, he absolves you.

Thank you to our servicemen and women!

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq.

You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!! It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them. This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's. Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Questions about homeschooling

1. How did you learn about homeschooling? During an education class I was taking at college to become an elementary education teacher, a professor mentioned it in a derogatory way. I was intrigued by the possibility that something like that wasn't illegal. So I did some research and interviewed several homeschoolers and just let the idea percolate in the back of my brain for the next 10 years.

2. Do you currently homeschool? If yes, how many children and how long have you homeschooled? Yes, 8 years

3. Do you feel homeschooling should be more closely regulated in the state of Indiana? NO!

4. Do you feel a homeschooling parent should have a 2 or 4 year degree or maybe even a teaching degree to homeschool? NO!

5. Have you completed college? If yes, how many years and what degree do you have? I have not finished. I was a senior when I got pregnant for my 3rd child and chose to put my family's needs ahead of my own ambitions.

6. What are some of the pros and cons to homeschooling in your opinion?

Con :

• It's hard work.
• It takes commitment.

Pro (I got some of these from A Catholic Homeschool Treasury ):

· Allows us to centers our lives on the needs of the family rather than on the requirements of the bureaucracy of school.
· Holds the children to a higher standard of academic expectation than the schools are willing/able to provide
· Protects our children's innocence.
· Allows us to pass on our faith and family culture
· Fosters emotional security
· More easily enables us to train our children to think "out of the box" and reach the potential God gives them, not ones other people may impose on them.
· Enables us to hold our children close while they are young and then let them fly.
· Gives the kids the individualized instruction to learn using their strengths while shoring up their weaknesses.
· Provides good role models.
· Promotes a unified family unit that each individual can rely on.
· Provides some protection from pressure to try drugs or engage in sexual activity before marriage
· Protects them from the ravages of materialism and an ego-centered attitude to life.
· Encourages creativity
· Fosters a hunger for a living relationship with Christ
· Ignites a tremendous life-long passion for learning.
· We can accomplish more in less time
· Guards our children's hearts until they are old and wise enough to guard it for themselves.


7. Would you say on average you spend more, less or about the same as you would on a public school education for your children? We spend about $1,000 per year to teach 4 children. This is substantially lower than the current $7,000 per child it presently costs to educate a child in public schools and less than any private school.

8. Are your children involved in extracurricular activities? If so, like what? Yes - For the 2009-2010 school year:
· Science Club
· Band (one is learning saxophone, one clarinet and one trumpet)
· Volunteering for Allen County Right to Life
· Drama club
· Singing in a choir
· Wildcat baseball
· Pro-life boot camp - Friends For Life Camp
· Critical Thinking club
· Fine Arts club
· Composing music and lyrics to her own music
· Gym class
· Writing club focusing on Shakespeare
· Religious education classes through church
· Folk dancing class

9. Do you belong to any groups or organizations that promote homeschooling? Yes

10. Do you participate in the FWAHS yearly Stanford Testing? Yes, some years.

11. If your children participate and you are willing to answer, do your children test below average, normal for their age, or above average? Above average

12. How long do you anticipate homeschooling your children? Through highschool graduation

13. Do you know anyone you personally feel should not be homeschooling? Yes If you said yes, who do you feel should be checking on them? No one - this family would struggle no matter where their kids attended school. Do you feel anyone should? No

14. Why would you say some children excel at homeschooling? Individualized instruction tailored to that child and the emotional security that accompanies homeschooling. Homeschooling also can provide a very fertile learning environment. Also the virtues focus that many homeschoolers have encourages self-discipline that allows children to succeed. And those that do not, why do you think they do not? The children may not have done well in any setting -- education does not FIX all that ails every child. Burn-out is a factor (as with any activity worthy of dedicating your life to) and balance is essential for homeschooling parents.

15. In your own words, what is homeschooling? The best educational opportunity a child can have.

16. Why do you homeschool your child(ren) rather than send him/her to a public or private school? It's in the best interest of the child to be homeschooled and I don't want to give my children less than the best that I can provide.

We let the kids get their own e-mail addresses

Dave set it up so every e-mail they get in their inbox, I get a copy. I'm getting alot of sister-to-sister mail. I sent Dave a copy of an example of what our 7 year old is receiving (he sent it to himself, apparently unhappy with the amount of e-mail he's not receiving):

From: DS#2
Sent: Wednesday, November 18, 2009 10:12 AM
To: DS#2
Subject: Hello me

Dear me,
hello me I just adore you.

Love your best friend
me.

************
Dave's comment

Well, it IS important that our children
have a good opinion of themselves.

DS#2 - "check"

Blood Money Trailer

This may not be for your children to watch. This looks like a FABULOUS film.

I wonder when it comes out??

Happy 2nd Birthday, Baby! (is he too big to be my baby?)

Thank you, Aunt Sue!! He LOVES choo choo trains!!

Daviid, our hairstylist

Daviid decided to try out a new/old product -- Flowbee. It cuts your hair using a vacuum cleaner.

It was a gift from a friend and it WORKED! Drew wasn't thrilled with it, though.

Happy 2nd Birthday from Aunt Sue

We got another box in the mail -- but this time it was for a very appreciative 2 year old.

Pooh Hat Set

I wanted to make him pooh for halloween, but figured I'd put my efforts into something he could use all winter long. The scarf is supposed to have bees flying around, but the pictures are funky (the actual bees are a little weird looking, too.)

Frog Hat Set

Last year, I discovered crochet animal hats.
I made a friend's little girl and boy a lady bug hat & puppy hat. I made my little boy a frog. Dave thought he looked rediculous, but that didn't deter me from dressing him in his frog hat set all winter long.

Learning from the Master

My two Wii Lads...

Pooh Halloween

Chicken pox vaccine wearing off during teen years

My pediatrician informed me yesterday that the chicken pox vaccine has to be readministered after 10 years because it's protection is wearing off. I gave my 2 girls the vaccine at 3 and 1 years old, even though I didn't want to, under pressure from my pediatrician 10 years ago. At the time he promised me the tests in Japan were showing decades of protection with no ill effects. I really didn't have peace about it. A year later I found out about the fact that some vaccines (including the chicken pox vaccine) was derived from aborted fetal cells and there is some minute amount of aborted fetal DNA in every shot. (Go to the website Children of God for Life and click on the left hand PROVE IT! button for more information)

For the next 2 babies, I had a chicken pox party to let them get the disease in childhood before it was very dangerous. Now, I found out that the girls will need another dose. I'm completely torn.

For teens to get chickenpox is more dangerous. Girls having facial scarring also seems a terrible shame (as little kids their skin heals more completely). There's no way to tell when the vaccination would wear off. If I don't get them reinnoculated, they may not be succesptible until they're pregnant -- super dangerous.

We are FIRMLY committed to not injecting our children with aborted fetal tissue - no matter how small an amount. I feel like I didn't have peace about the original decision FOR GOOD REASON -- but I'm here, now...Please, God, give us wisdom.

Quote of the Day

Ds#4 to Ds#3

When we climb around up in the tubes at Burger King they can be Jefferies Tubes

and the platform can be Engineering

and the circle with the window can be The Bridge

and the name of our starship can be Voyager.

(a few days ago)

Ds#4 & Ds#3 to Mama

The wooden trophy shelf keeps falling off our walls. Can we just use it
with our Lego people as a Holodeck?

Do you think they've been watching too much StarTrek lately?