2015 Mid-Point

Crazy to think that this is almost halfway through the year already. I'm not counting chickens before they hatch or anything but really, in just a few weeks we will be at the halfway mark for the year.
It is insane how fast it's gone.

Feeling like not much has been accomplished this first half of the year, I was actually looking to include some things. To feel more productive, you know. Fortunately, I decided to check myself and see what I'd accomplished in the areas I'd intended to accomplish.

At the start of the year I set some goals I hope to meet, more in the spiritual aspect than the physical, perhaps. Just a recap the areas were: Bible reading and verse memorization, outreach, contentedness, and health. The 'outreach' area was rather vague and I'm still not exactly sure what I hoped for there.

I did a reevaluation of my goals in February, which possibly was too soon. Now we are six months into the year, I'll reevaluate.

Bible reading/verse memorization- This is somewhat at a stall. I still do both but not as consistently as I need to.

Outreach- Again, what am I getting at here? I probably haven't done any Russian or ASL since the last posted update. However, I take consolation that we {the whole family} were baptized and became members of our church. I am also, along with Fox, going through a class at church for being better prepared to reach others with the Gospel.

The little piece of paper I'd torn out of the city's newsletter did not have a result that I can see. I contacted the suggested individual about helping in some way with the women's house, but received no reply.

Charlotte Mason! Now this, this is something I am seeing some fruit from my reaching out. I have formed a group on Facebook called "Charlotte Mason Educators of Northeast Ohio" and have gone ahead and set a date and place for a book discussion. The first meeting will be June 24th at the Brecksville Public Library, from 12-2pm. It will move locations to suit the members of the group.

I am super excited about that right there. Can hardly contain myself as I type it.

I also attended the Spring Awakening in MN at the end of May and was blessed by that trip. I visited Joy of Embracing the Fullness of Life, and Melisa in WI. I need to do a post about the Awakening, I think.

Contentedness- It's hard to say if I am doing well here but I'll be honest and say I've noticed the kids are growing restless in this area. If I see it in them, that means it is definitely evident in me as well. Often a trait I am not too happy with in my kids is a reflection of myself.

With that reflection, I'm trying to see where/why I'm discontent so that I can root that out. One area that I am aware of not being content is having books. Yes...books. I seem to buy more and more. I tell myself no more for this month, and what do you know- there's a book in my cart!

To me this means that I also am not being a good steward of my money as I carelessly spend it at times. {On books, yes.} Must work on this area.

Health- I finally bought the physical copy of Trim Healthy Mama. What a difference! I am super busy with other things {like writing on my blog apparently} so have not had the time yet to re-read the book. I fully intend to do so. I need to reassess what we are eating and why.

Otherwise we have been getting outside more often for walks. The kids, especially Fox, have been riding their bikes more since he has to ride to work.

That is my update for the midpoint of 2015. Still a work in progress, with more effort needed in some areas for sure. 

Day 7: Reading List on the Net {National Poetry Month & 30 Day Blog Challenge}

I've been saving up apparently. I put the links here and come back to tell about them. Sometimes that's when I actually read whatever it is all the way through. Admittedly, I also didn't have a post in mind for the 30 day challenge, or a poem for that matter. I haven't even looked at the CCPL's prompt. This could get tough.

Medieval method destroys modern day 'superbug' MSRA. Interesting! Thinking out of the box doesn't mean coming up with something completely new but trying something different, even if that means going back hundreds of years!

William Blake, poetry. Why not, it's National Poetry Month after all. And it fulfills the poem-a-day challenge I set for myself, even if it's not right here on my blog. Nancy's blog is lovely; you won't mind the visit.

The mind needs nourishment as does the body. This is about children but really, is it so different with adults?

"[Children] experience all the things they hear and read of; these enter into them and are their life; and thus it is that ideas feed the mind in the most literal sense of the word 'feed.'" ~quoted from vol. 6, p. 40

More about nourishing the mind. Brandy always writes so well.

Just as mommy prepares the child a generous diet regardless of her ability to prepare it herself, so the generous teacher reads aloud from wonderful, beautiful books. We do not assume that just because the child can only make pancakes, therefore she can only appreciate pancakes. Rather, we assume that she can read the pancake books on her own, but that we honor her soul by feeding her generously, even if in the early years it is a feast of the ears rather than the eyes and it is consumed with Mom rather than in solitude.

Good reading skills promotes math success. This seems obvious to me.

Brandy gives a good 'list' of commonplace necessities. I'd added a few to my Amazon wishlist.

Imaginative Conservative on the false promises of progress in the US.

In their bewilderment, Americans have now all but lost the ability to formulate what they most need: an imaginative reconstruction of their history and a sober assessment of their prospects. The idea of freedom and the ideal of progress have combined to reassure Americans that, unlike other peoples, they are, and forever will be, the masters of their fate. Such a pleasing illusion has exhausted its usefulness and become an impediment to thought and action.

Manifesto for Liberal Education. I'm not going to quote a lot of this but he's got some really good points. Here are the points on which I agree right off.

Thesis One: Lectures are not a legitimate part of liberal education, at least not as a primary part.
Thesis Four: Students should not specialize (or at least not soon), and professors should teach not what they know but what they don’t know.
Thesis Seven: Liberal education is irremediably bound to reading.
Thesis Eight: The reading that defines liberal education is that of great books.
Thesis Nine: My final thesis says: Education should never ever be academic. (As in there has to be a human connection.) 

Fair Tales Need a Shakeup
This one I got a chuckle from. We've been sporadically watching "Once Upon A Time" and boy have those fairy tales been shaken up! But the originals are for the imagination, for thinking. Fairy tales don't need a twist of any sort. They work just fine. I mean, after all see how much thinking it got Pinborough doing?

They need a shake up for sure, and not just a feminist one. What are those stories really telling us, other than women cause each other problems that men need to sort out?

Good question- it's telling us that that is exactly what we don't want to happen. They should help us to see what is good and what is not. And then you can write your own 'happily ever after' fairy tale. Don't mess with the old ones. Really.

From the Reading Pile

I haven't been reading on the net as much as at the first of the year. I don't know if that is good or not. I have been conitnuing to get books from the library. Many that I do not even get more than a couple glimpses at and then have to return. We have a 2 week check out period. I often renew but have been forgetting, resulting in overdue fines. I dislike being so careless but that is how it's been lately.

Anyway, some bits from some books I've recently checked out or what I'm reading.

The Art of the Commonplace by Wendell Berry. I actually got this book because I didn't notice there was a second 'the' in the title. I've wanted to read some of Berry's works for awhile now and also have been trying to be more intentional about commonplacing. This book isn't about that. But it's a good book {so far} nonetheless.

What I am sharing from this book is Berry's thoughts on moving back to his small Kentucky home after being in the big city, New York, I believe. His boss is trying to convince him that he'd made it and by moving back to Kentucky, he'd be doing more harm than good.

Finally, there was the assumption that the life of the metropolis is the experience, the modern experience, and that the life of the rural towns, the farms, the wilderness places is not only irrelevant to our time, but archaic as well because unknown or unconsidered by the people who really matter- that is, the urban intellectuals.

I was to realize during the next few years how false and destructive and silly those ideas are. But evene then I was aware that life outside the literary world was not without honorable precedent: if there was Wolfe, there was also Faulkner; if there was James, there was also Thoreau. But what I had in my mind that made th greatest difference was the knowledge of the few square miles in Kentucky that were mine by inheritance and by birth and by the intimacy the mind makes with the place it awakens in.

Reading so far as made me aware of the places I've lived that have had a place in my heart and mind. Other books I've been reading lately have also started me thinking of my memories. I haven't taken out my memories in a long time. I've been surprised, mostly in good ways, of the memories.

From the Winter 2015 issue of The Classical Teacher, an article written by Martin Cothran, who is telling the influence and importance of stories in childhood, especially ones read aloud:

Each book was a fairy wand, waved over our home...When additional children were added to our merry band, they too were taught the consequences of kissing a frog, and not to talk to strange wolves on the way to grandmother's house. They knew better than to build their houses out of straw and to have a healthy fear of giants, poisoned apples, and old women living in houses made out of candy. And none of them suffered any doubts about whether the dish ran away from the spoon...[Books carried] instruction and admonition in practical wisdom...[Children] were not only learning by listening; they were learning to listen. Listening, like reading and writing and calculating, is a skill.

In the last paragraph it tells how his wife, while cleaning, wonders some if the books should go. After all they do not have kids at home any longer. But then, there will be grandchildren who will love the books anew.

Some of them may need to go. But someday our grandson- of his future siblings and cousins- may walk by those shelves, and some of those books may be moved to his own bookshelves at 1122 Bedroom Lane, Storybookland. And that's why they can never be sold- for silver or gold.

This is why I've started our home library again. We've been aquiring books since 2009 but many have come and gone. It's important to me now to have these for my grandchildren, and maybe even great grandchildren. Somehow I had forgotten the magic of books- and reading aloud (even to older children).

Reading List on the Net {03.30.15}

An Invitation to Purposeful Change, post by Cindy Swicegood at CMI's blog.

Change one thing. Start now. For nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1:37)\

And something different: Two videos. These are required watching for one of my college classes. They feature Jason Lewis and Tami Foster of Logos Academy in York, PA. These are on iTunes and are free.
Leadership in Diverse Schools
Christian Urban Schools

Notes I took while watching Leadership in Diverse Schools-

Five points to consider when thinking about leadership:

1. Whom has God called you to serve?
2. What type of leader are you, and those who lead with you? (Educator, Entrepreneur, Executive)
3. What is the unique role the school plays in the community?
4. Pedagogy is based on anthropology and culture- it must be adaptable.
5. Leaders need to be humble; be teachable, able to say sorry, be willing to listen. The leader is responsible for holding to the vision/mission.

Reading List on the Net {and not}

A Post on "Award Winning" Books. Just because it is awarded a medal doesn't make it a good book. But we knew that right? This was brought to my attention by Shannon after I'd asked on the AO forum about Caldecott and Newberry Award books. Some of them are on the AO booklists.

"The literary innocence crafted by Laura Ingalls Wilder and fanciful imagery painted by C. S. Lewis are long forgotten in award circles. Shock value and bibliotherapy are more in vogue."

Two books that I picked up and started reading (not on the internet).
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert*

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawaii more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.
Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.
With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story" (mostlyfiction.com).

Jack and Jill by Louisa May Alcott

This is a children's book originally published in 1880. It takes place in a small New England town after the Civil War. The story of two good friends named Jack and Janey, Jack and Jill tells of the aftermath of a serious sledding accident. (wikipedia)

I am really enjoying both of these books. I've had Jack and Jill for years but have never opened it to read. I honestly don't know that I've read any of Alcott's books, but I have seen a few renditions of Little Women. Not the same, I am sure. This book I didn't even know what was about.

*Moloka'i was mentioned on the AO forum by mommychickadee. I just happened to see if it was available for loan from the library, and it came in today. So far I really like the book. It has much feeling in it. I read a review that said it was unrealistic. I doesn't seem so to me. But I am only a few chapters in so far. Edited to add: This book will be going back to the library because there is much in it that I am just not willing to read. I'll link to mommychickadee's review because it'll give a better reason why I'm returning the book. If those portions were removed the story, as I see it, would be just as touching and just as real. Someday I may pick it up again but not right now. 

Reading List on the Net {up to 03.18.15}

Juts a little fun video {with an important message} first: Toby Mac's "Me Without You"

I have just a few minutes this morning before the kids are awake and we have to start our day. This week is Lee's Spring Break from the college but last week was Fox's 'break' week {uh, it was actually exam week}. Her break means more working on her senior high school work and less on the college work. It's business as usual for Fox. He unfortunately won't get any more breaks before the school year's end if he's going to finish on time. And he will finish on time.

Desiring God: Don't Follow Your Heart {Amen!}

My heart tells me that all of reality ought to serve my desires. My heart likes to think the best of me and worst of others — unless those others happen to think well of me, then they are wonderful people. But if they don’t think well of me, or even if they just disagree with me, well then, something is wrong with them. And while my heart is pondering my virtues and others’ errors, it can suddenly find some immoral or horribly angry thought very attractive...The truth is, no one lies to us more than our own hearts. No one. If our hearts are compasses, they are Jack Sparrow compasses. They don’t tell us the truth, they just tell us what we want...No, our hearts will not save us. We need to be saved from our hearts.

^That was from last week. That's all the farther I got. Since then, I've bookmarked some blog posts but really haven't been able to read much on the net. Not really sure why.

Homeschooling in America. Interestingly, the infograph I see now when I click over there is not the one I saw when I bookmarked the post. I'd originally looked at it on my phone but I don't know why that'd change anything. In the original one there was a comparison of homeschooled and public schooled students percentile scores- the public schooled kids were all at 50% (which is not realistic). I think the one that is there now is more accurate.  Anyway- homeschooling has its benefits and it is on the rise.

Keeping a Reading Notebook. I have one that is just a simply composition notebook. In it I put my narrations, thoughts, or references to another book. I haven't been doing it lately. Not reading a lot lately.

Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert. This post caught my eye because I had recently seen a very nice old copy of this book but I had no idea what it was about. Carol's post cleared that up and I don't think I'll read the book. I had been tempted {only slightly} to purchase the book because it was beautiful...and old. I don't always make impulsive purchases *wink*.

Renewed. This post by Silvia gives some insight into her Bible reading plan. I will admit that it sounds a little complicated to me but it could be that I didn't read it well. But it sounds like it's reading 10 chapters a day, from anywhere in the Bible. Maybe I'm just not really looking for a new way to read my Bible. I've been using the YouVersion Bible app on my phone and really am liking it. For some reason it is much easier to read with the app than my physical Bible. Perhaps because it only has the specific passage you are reading, in a single column. There are no distractions, whether that is the other column or cross reference in the middle of the page, or in my case, the commentary notes at the bottom of the page.

What's Dad Got to Do With It? by Scott Cottrill. This is a guest post at CMI's blog about dad's participation in homeschooling. It would be specifically talking about a CM education but the underlying message is that dad's are important in the lives of their families. Not just to bring home the bacon {or milk and eggs}.

Then two years ago I was encouraged by another homeschool dad, Art Middlekauff, through his plenary and subsequent discussions. As I participated in those conversations a common theme began to emerge. Several women expressed their desire to have husbands attend the conference and asked whether more topics could be added to give men an opportunity for learning. Their overall concern was that their husbands become involved or at least increase their understanding of what their wives were trying to practice in the all-important task of educating their children. Several of the men met for breakfast with Art to discuss whether there was a need for specific father-oriented teaching. The conclusion was that our goal should not be separate training just for fathers. Mason herself addressed both parents as a united entity. Rather, men should be encouraged to buy into the task of educating their children, whether that means teaching them personally or becoming more supportive of the teaching their wives conduct...I believe that we, as men, are called to lead our families and we are greatly benefited by the opportunity of learning with and from other men. May I encourage you to consider organizing a men’s CM study group in your community? Not only will you learn how to support your wife, you will glean wisdom that will make you a better husband, father, and man.

I think that is all the bookmarks I have for now. Guess we'll see how much reading on the net I get in this week. 

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins {Four Tweaked Recipes}

Original recipe from The Ambitious Kitchen

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies for more info.

I've come across a few resources for subbing flours for whole wheat/white flour and so today thought I would do some experimenting. Here are four Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipes.
Each of these has the same directions for mixing and baking so I will write it once. Oh, if you want chunks of banana in your muffins (I usually like that), then mash up some banana separately from the liquids and add it with the chocolate chips.

For the recipes that say "Sugar Free" I used Lily's dark chocolate chips sweetened with stevia. The first recipe (not sugar free) I used Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels sweetened with can sugar.

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins**
Ingredients
1 cup brown rice flour
5 TBS potato starch
3 TBS tapioca starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
1/4 cup honey
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil (or other cooking)
2 eggs
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt)
1 TBS milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions (this is really easy)
Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 12 muffin tin.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Blend all wet ingredients together in a blender.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix.
Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into muffin tins.
Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes.
Enjoy!

**So far my favorite. It needs a smidgen less liquid I think. Perhaps I'd omit the TBS milk at the end.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins**
Ingredients
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup oat fiber
1/4 cup oats
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
4 doonks stevia powder (click here for conversion chart for sweets)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil
3/4 cup egg whites
1/2 cup non dairy yogurt (I used So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk)
1 TBS non dairy milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips

See directions above.

**The amounts are not quite right. I think that this one needs something, I'm just not sure what. It tastes good (imho) but the texture is more like a biscuit than a muffin. On the outside at least. The inside is muffin-like.

These last two I haven't gotten to try out yet. But I will.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins**
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
4 doonks stevia powder (or other sweet of choice)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

See directions above.

**This may require less liquid because almond flour is usually more moist than other flours. When I get some I will give this a try and update. {hopefully}

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup oat fiber
1/4 cup oats
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
4 doonks stevia powder (click here for conversion chart for sweets)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil
2 TBS flaxseed + 6 TBS water
1/2 cup non dairy yogurt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

See directions above.

*The amount of banana is what was in the original recipe at ambitious kitchen. I think it is too much for these tweaked recipes. 2 bananas would probably work fine.

I also want to try a mix of the last two recipes, with the almond flour and flax "egg". 

March Month of Menus Grocery Lists {Week 2}

It was a bit of a busy weekend and this post didn't get up like I'd planned.

Click for month of menus post.
Here's week #2 grocery list. Hopefully I didn't miss anything. This doesn't include any snacks; or drinks now that I think about it. You might want to add in some teas, ACV, lemons, and other things that you know you like to drink with your meals.

1 loaf of sprouted bread
5 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cup blueberries
2 dozen eggs
2 cartons egg whites
1 container Greek yogurt (at Aldi it is a 32 oz container)
1 container low fat cottage cheese (at Aldi it is a 24 oz container)
1 lb shredded cheese
1 carton unsweetened almond milk
1 carton heavy cream
2-4 lbs ground beef
2 lbs ground lean turkey
2 lbs ground sausage
1 bag frozen chicken breasts
1 bag salmon filets
1 package lean lunch meat
1 head lettuce
1 head cabbage
2 bags spinach
1 lg, 1 sm tomato
2 bags frozen broccoli florets (or 2 fresh heads)
1 small bag carrots, or just pick a few loose
1 bag unsweetened shredded coconut
1 bag flaxseed meal (or whole to grind your own)
1 bag coconut flour
1 bag lentils
1/2 cup quinoa
1 carton chicken broth (or a few cans)
2 jars Alfredo sauce
2 cans tomatoes with green chilies (or 1 can and 1 jar salsa)

Things that you'll need but measurements?
peanut butter
jelly
coconut oil
protein powder
stevia/sweetener
spices and salt
mayo and mustard (the mayo for the cheeseburger pie is 1/2 cup)

There should be some carry-overs from week #1 grocery list. And again, just about everything is purchased from Aldi. 

Reading List on the Net {03.05.15}

I really haven't been reading much on the net these past two weeks. Last week, and probably before, I shared a few of the blog posts I read on feedly via Twitter.
Sometimes it's good that I'm not reading a lot on the internet.

These are links I've marked to read but as of yet haven't even gotten more than a look and a copy/paste.

Soon...maybe.

Downside to being so extremely clean (hit: sickness).

The true measure of childhood

Ice on another planet? 

Celebrate "Tell A Fairy Tale" Day (never heard of the day)

Another print/ebook article (debate?). I think I've read this one already.

Be buried in a pod and a tree will grow. Um...

Craftiness for non-crafty moms May be a repeat as well. Looks familiar. Oh and to go along with that, Hand-stitched cards.

Atmosphere (as in Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.)

Classic Lit Reading Challenge- Bambi (I've never read it)

March Month of Menus Grocery Lists {Week 1}

I'm going to attempt to make weekly shopping lists for the month menu plan. We'll see how it goes. The first week I noticed I forgot a few things when I went shopping and came home with a couple we didn't need yet. Eh...work in progress. Always.

Some things we had on hand and so I didn't need to purchase.

Oh, yes, this is all for a family of 3 1/2 (Hubby eats the weekly dinner and weekend meals, so much of the food is really for 3 people). I try to make larger dinners (so think for at least 5 or 6 people) so that he can take some for lunch. It doesn't always happen.

Week #1
1 package bacon (turkey bacon was almost $1 cheaper)
1 dozen eggs
4 cartons egg whites (had a partial carton at home; purchased 3)
1 carton heavy cream or 1/2 n 1/2 (chose 1/2 n 1/2 as it's twice as much for same cost)
1 container 1% cottage cheese (had already) *this was for THM Pancakes which is now in Week 4; instead here would be 1 box of cold cereal*
1 container 0% fat Greek yogurt (had already)
9 cups old fashioned oats (had already)
1 carton unsweetened almond milk (had already)
1 6-pack unsweetened applesauce
1 bag frozen blueberries (had already)
1 package low-carb tortillas (chose the 'low carb' flatbread)
3 packages lower fat cheese wedges
1 bag almond flour (put this off; will grind almonds have on hand)
1 bag coconut flour (had already)
2 jars Polaner All-Fruit (chose mostly fruit spread from Aldi's- has sugar *frown*)
4 cans beans (had already)
1 bag flaxmeal (had already)
2 bags chicken breasts (if they are very large, one bag; cut them in half)
1 bag chicken thighs
2 loaves sprouted bread
1 bag cornmeal (didn't find; will need to get)
2 cans tuna (had already)
1 head cauliflower
1 head iceburg lettuce
1 cucumber (didn't get)
2 cans black olives (had already)
2 bags prepared salad (didn't have any!)
1 lb ground lean turkey
1 package tomatoes
1 can full-fat coconut milk (didn't find)
1 package skim mozzarella slices
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 bag chicken tenderloins
2 bags salmon (1 bag if you find it in 2 lb)
1 bag spinach
1 lemon (came in four pack)
1 package sliced pepperoni (had already)
2 bags shredded cheese
4 cans tomato sauce
1 lb butter
1 bag bacon bits
1 bag carrots
1 bag celery
1 bag radishes (had already)
1 jar peanut butter

Everything was bought at Aldi, except the sprouted bread from Trader Joe's. Some things Aldi and TJ do not carry so we made due with what we can find. And some of these things will carry over to another week's menu. Oh and one more thing: We still buy 1 gallon of whole milk. That adds $2.99. I'm working on cutting that but it's tough (it's for the kids not me).
The total was just over $100 but I also bought things that weren't on the list and didn't get some. So it'll be different I'm sure for others. Here are the things I anticipate carrying over:

1 carton heavy cream or 1/2 n 1/2
1 container 1% cottage cheese
1 container 0% fat Greek yogurt
1 carton unsweetened almond milk
1 6-pack unsweetened applesauce
1 bag frozen blueberries
1 package low-carb tortillas
1 bag almond flour
1 bag coconut flour
2 jars Polaner All-Fruit
1 bag flaxmeal
1 bag cornmeal
1 package skim mozzarella slices
1 package sliced pepperoni
1 bag carrots
1 bag celery
1 bag radishes
1 jar peanut butter

I'll try to get the shopping list put together for the other weeks soon.

March Month of Menus {Menu Planning Monday}

Or something like that. I am trying to plan out the entire month's worth of menus so that I don't have to do it each week. There will need to be a weekly shopping list also so that grocery shopping isn't such a chore as well.

Having it all planned out will help us keep on plan also. E meals are the hardest for all of us to get in the day so this will hopefully help. On the list I've made, OP means off plan. It could be a crossover but it generally means I'll be using something that isn't technically on plan.

Nice that March starts on a Sunday, the first day of the week. Convenient.

I had intended to have this done on Sunday but I don't get online try to stay offline on Sundays. Here's the month's worth of meals. These are of course the planned and perhaps not actual meals. For instance on Sunday we only had enough eggs for three so Fox opted for sugar sweetened chocolate oatmeal and sugar sweetened chocolate milk... See what I mean? A work in progress...

And there are no snacks listed here but I have a short list on our fridge.

Here's the scan of the menu.

Week 1:
Breakfasts:
Eggs & Bacon {S}
Cold Cereal (on these days I'll have something else) {OP}
Baked Blueberry Oatmeal {E}
Breakfast Burritos {E}
Coffee Cake (for 1, times 3) {S}
Light Baked Custard {E/S}
Jelly Style Greek Yogurt (this honestly I think will need something more added as a breakfast; perhaps fruit) {E}

Lunches:
Warm Chicken on Sprouted Bread {E} (so simple yet so yummy!)
Tuna Sandwiches or Salad (tuna, black olives, pickles, mayo, mustard, Mrs. Dash, handful shredded cheese) {S}
Loaded Fotato Soup {S}
Bean Burgers {E}
Taste of Thailand Soup {S}
Grilled Cheese with Tomato and a Smoothie split 3 ways {S}
BLT salad {S}

Dinners:
Succulent Citrus Fish Bake {E/S}
Pizza (homemade with coconut flour flatbread, pizza sauce [tomato sauce, salt, and herbs], cheddar cheese, black olives, pepperoni) {S}
Lighter Chili with GF Cornbread (made with ground turkey and lots of beans) {E}
Baked Chicken Thighs with Veggies {S}
Boneless Wings with ? possibly Zucchini Fries {S}
Peanut Crusted Chicken with Veggies {S}
Beef Stew (with radishes, celery and one carrot) {S}

Week 2:
Breakfasts:
Sprouted French Toast with fruit (maybe the fruit) {E}
Cottage Berry Oatmeal (it's called Cottage Blueberry Oatmeal, but sometimes we use strawberries) {E}
Egg & Cheese Omeletes {S}
Biscuits & Gravy (the Country Biscuits from THM- never made them so we'll see!) {S}
Butter Pecan Breakfast Porridge {S}
Morning Coconut Bread {S} (Added 3/12/15: *We do not like this so it will not be a repeat breakfast. Dd says it tastes like the breakfast porridge in loaf form. It has no leavening agent and doesn't rise but a smidgen. It is extremely coconutty, as in the texture, not the taste. Just did not care for it.*)
Eggs & Sausage {S}

Lunches:
Chicken Broth Soup {E/S}
Lean Meat Sandwiches {E}
Savory Skillet Oatmeal {E}
Eggroll in a Bowl {E/S}
Poached Salmon with Salad {E}
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches {E/S}
Waldorf Salad {E}

Dinners:
Italian Style Crockpot Chicken {E/S} <ours will most likely be S since I use regular Italian dressing
Mini Meatloaves {S}
All Day Lentil Soup {E}
Cheeseburger Pie {S}
Alfredo Beef & Broccoli {S}
Mexican Crockpot Chicken {E}
Spinach Italiano Crockpot (chicken?) {E} (It'll be S if I use pork)

Week 3:
Breakfasts:
Chia Tapioca Pudding {E}
THM Pan Bread with Scrambled Egg Whites {E}
Crepes {S}
Banana Cream Cake {E}
Mix and Match Smoothie {E/S}
Eggs & .... some sort of meat {S}
Cold Cereal {OP}

Lunches:
Chicken Yogurt Bake {E/S}
Quesadillas {S}
Southwestern Salmon {E/S}
Salad with All the Fixins {S}
Tuna sandwiches {S}
Spaghetti Squash (with sauce and cheeses) {? depends on the cheese we use}
Corndog Pie (this has been called Chili Dog Pie but it's more like a corndog) {S}

Dinners:
Chicken Brother Soup {E/S}
Pot Roast {S}
Chili with Cornbread {E}
Pork loin with Veggies {S}
Baked Whole Chicken with Biscuits (if I can get the Country Biscuits to come out well then it will be those, otherwise it'll be the Biscuits Supreme from the red-checkered cookbook) {S}
Pizza (might be made with coconut flatbread or usual wheat flour; we'll see!) {S/OP}
Fish and Veggies {E/S}

Week 4:
Breakfasts:
Eggs
THM Pancakes {E}
Mix and Match Smoothie {E/S}
Sprouted French Toast {E}
Quinoa "Porridge" {E}
Scrambled Egg Whites with Lean Meat & Veggies (I'm looking forward to this one. I'll add mushrooms- yum!) {E}
Coconut Waffles with side of Ham {S}

Lunches: 
Tomato Soup with Wasa Crackers and Cheese Wedges {E}
Egg Salad Sandwiches {S}
Personal Pizzas {S/OP}
Eggroll in a Bowl {E/S}
Lean Meat Sandwiches {E}
Chicken Wraps {E/S}
Salmon Patties {S}

Dinners:
Fried Fish and... ? {E/S}
"Spaghetti" Pie (it will be made with spaghetti squash, I hope) {E/S}
Tuna Tortillas with Salad {S}
Hamburgers & Hotdogs {S}
Bean & Cheese Burritos {E}
Salad with All the Fixins {S}
Bean Soup {E}

Reading List on the Net {02.23.15}

I feel like I posted something yesterday but I wasn't even online yesterday. The days, they just blend together.
Today's list is all from CM friends' posts. But they are not all about 'education'.

Cleveland's Jay Ryan guest posts at Brandy's Afterthoughts: Why CM families should study astronomy. I first became 'acquainted' with the work of Jay Ryan while I was on the TOS Review Crew. He had put out an almanac (since discontinued unfortunately), but he is probably better known for his Classical Astronomy, Signs and Seasons.

"There is no better way to instill curiosity in a child than to teach them to observe their world, as Charlotte Mason instructed. It is important for children to discover their world, to study rocks and watch animal behavior, and identify indigenous plants. But it is also important to observe the celestial bodies, and the amazing visually-apprehended cycles of Classical Astronomy. Indeed, our modern educational system does not teach astronomy as an outdoor activity."

Homeschool burnout. Is February burnout month? I'm with Jen at Snowfall Academy: We hit it at the start of January. For us, we took a very long winter break. I started 2015 with burnout. I'm just now catching my wind! At first I didn't think that we were on the same track with our burnout but the more I read, the more I see I was wrong.

"I had to give up some of what I wanted- some of the 'personal time' that I thought I needed- but I have gained so much more.
Funny how that works sometimes, isn't it?"

I haven't gotten where she is yet. I still need to do some pruning of my 'my time'. I realize I was trying to do too much for me, because I felt burnout. In my case, it's the check off the box- must get it all done- that has to go. I did make that a goal this year but I'm struggling to find the balance. For me the balance is between wanting to do things for myself (not necessarily by myself though) and for my kids (but apparently I have a tendency to see them as not needing me to do it with them). Perhaps our March will run smoother like Jen's February.

I found Lisa's post on fasting interesting. I am not Orthodox, as she is, but I do know the purpose of fasting (as she states it):

"Fasting is a way to learn how to suffer. But we do not fast to punish ourselves for our sins, or to focus on how sinful we might be. The self-denial that comes with fastings is what forces us to turn toward our God and His mercy. It is painful to let go of those habits and indulgences that we hold dear, sometimes without our even being aware of it, but it is precisely in letting go that we become able to turn toward God and our brother." emphasis mine

Lisa's post on fasting is in regards to Lent, which I know next to nothing about. Melisa has posted a list of resources for Lent. I had no idea what it was but one of the opening sentences of her post helps:

"Just as we take the time before Christmas (the season of Advent) to focus on the whole reason for the date being important to us in the first place, we do the same for that thing to prepare our hearts for the day we celebrate Christ's Resurrection from the grave."

That makes sense. Hmmm, we don't do Advent either. Goodness, what do we do? Fortunately, our worth is not determined by these practices (not that Lisa or Melisa are implying that in their posts at all). However, I see how they get us focused more on what's important. Something for me to think about. 

Reading List on the Net {02.21.15}

Post-digital revisited. Eh, what? Oh... Interesting. I won't lie and say that I understand all that he is saying in this post but I do think that the normalization of digital has removed the desire to peel back the layers of the new techs to see what it is really about. What will this do, not just how can it be used.

"Nearly 5 years on the term Post-digital is becoming accepted in Higher Education circles as describing the normalisation of the digital in almost all aspects of activity...
The new normalcy of being connected has created a Post-digital environment in which ideology can be embodied in code- a form that most believe to be free of bias."

Liberty University opens nation's first Center for Digital Wellness. I'm rather surprised there aren't more of these already around the nation. Perhaps there are and they are just not publicized well?

10 Steps to Digital Wellness1. It's not "I tweet, therefore I am." Think twice before you post, tweet, text, or upload it.
2. Watch your digital footprints, because they are permanent.
3. Unplug. Take a digital "fast" once a week or once a month.
4. Invest in relationships. Real people trump virtual ones.
5. Establish digital boundaries. Limit when you use digital devices and how much time you spend on them.
6. Find things you enjoy in real life and do them.
7. Get outside. Take walks, feel the sun, and breathe fresh air.
8. Power down and get some sleep. Your brain can't thrive without it.
9. Cultivate your "Godspace" daily. Take time to be still and know that He is God.
10. Be a good steward. Use technology for God's glory.

The Church of the Right Answer. A friend (thanks, Tracy!) posted this to my FB wall after I was complaining (too much) about the research paper I am writing about online K-12 learning. Smiled while I read it but also thought of how much truth it contains.
"Wherever my students go- business, academia, government, Mars- they'll reckon with problems. They'll create things. Their hands will get good and dirty. And if they topple the challenges, fix what's broken, and imagine wonderful new things that everybody needed an that nobody ever realized, the the world will get better...When my students leave, it won't particularly matter what grades I bestowed, or what tests they aced, or what shortcuts to the right answers they could and couldn't find. What will matter are their abilities." I want to quote more but just go read it. *smile*

The title alone caught me. Silvia Cachia is a wonderful lady, and blogger, that someday I will hopefully be blessed to meet. How do I know she's wonderful? Because others have met her and say she is. Besides her writing shows it, too. So when Heather at Bent Leather titled her post "Since Silvia Stole My Post Title..." I had to go read. "I have now lived in the same house for longer than I have ever lived in any one house. I'm restless. I want to move. So thump, thump, thump, I move things around, beg for just one teeny new bookshelf, and spend the rest of the day rearranging. Dusting, Displaying odd bits." Wow- I could have written that. And she has the same Girl Reading painting as I do! Sigh...her home is just beautiful. That's it; I'm going to be working on my home tomorrow! (And a little update on this: I read/wrote it on Thursday. Friday had me working long on a research paper. And I discovered that I cannot rearrange furniture. Sigh. Everything is where it is because that's where it fits. I'll just continue daydreaming.)

Living book authors. It's longer than I expected but only two names do I know (R. C. Sproul and Paul Johnson). Of course the list for past living book authors, I only know five of the names. Yes, I need to read more.

Reading List on the Net {02.18.15}

It seems right when I hit "Publish" on a Reading List on the Net post, there are two more things I want to add! It (usually) takes a couple of days to get a post published but I'm always reading something. I'm trying to decide if bullets in these posts will be easier to decipher one 'bit' from another. What do you think?

• Sketch Tuesday. Harmony Art Mom (Barb who also does Outdoor Hour Challenge). We used to do this...sometimes. I just happened to see the last 'issue' on Google+. I rarely go there; not sure why. Glad I did this time. *IF* I get this post out in time, the next challenge is "Starts with E."

• I avoided it last time, and I've no links to any this time, because I'm about sick of looking at them but I've been trying to research, and read, articles that show "meaningful learning" within "online learning." I am not finding much more than the students are able to correctly pass their tests. Okay, okay. That's not quite all I find but it's the predominant finding. I do online courses and for a 36-year-old mother, I think that's just fine. I'd rather do a different kind of class but it is what it is. But for K-12? I don't think that it's a good idea. At least not the cookie-cutter way that a lot are designed nowadays (have they always been this way?). They [online courses in general] are designed with older learners in mind and just replicated for children with flashy colors and animations; labeled as age appropriate. Bah! Perhaps I've gotten off track but this post by Tammy is very very inspiring. It shows how a Charlotte Mason education is beneficial to all kinds of learners. I may have shared this before and you know...I don't mind doing it again. What a breath of fresh air...

• Reading...reading...reading. How to read a book. Or how to lead a book discussion. And coincidentally, this post at the Huffington, brought to my attention by Jeanne: Reading on screens. There are opposing posts to this view all the time. And vice versa. It's an ongoing debate.

"The ways we use technologies lead us to develop particular habits of mind. With print, even though we might skim and scan, the default mindset is continuous reading. It's also focusing on what we're reading, even though sometimes our thoughts wonder. Digital technologies engender a different set of habits and practices. Their default state is what I call reading on the prowl. Think of how much time you spend on each hit after doing a Google search. A minute? Ten seconds? And how likely are you to be multitasking while reading onscreen?"

I am and am not a fan of digital tech. As Jeanne pointed out: It is here to stay; learn to read better with it.

• Mapwork with Charlotte Mason...and Helena in Ireland. Followed by Brandy's post on Geography and History: "But at the end of the day, one of the primary ways God has directed history is through creation's topography." Hadn't ever thought about it like that.
• Who is Rob Bell?? I don't know exactly but the megachurch, Mars Hill, is familiar in name to me. This particular post is referring to Mr. Bell's comments on the Oprah show that the Bible is really irrelevant. Yikes. While I think the main point that Mr. Bell is attempting to make is that gay marriage will be accepted by the church, the fact that he is no longer looking to the Bible really puts his opinion to the side of not being worthy of even listening to. Not that I listened to him before. And he calls himself a Christian...?

"This is not being misguided, misdirected, or mistaken. This is leading people astray and publicly denigrating, indeed, snickering at the Word of God. This is the pattern that we always find ourselves in. We begin by being embarrassed by portions of the Word of God. And we move to being to massage the Word of God so that it starts to say the things that we want it to say. Soon we begin to move into ignoring the Word of God." emphasis mine

• And totally unrelated to any of that- Amigurumi. I've not heard of this before (no surprise- there's lots I don't know about). Linda's posts have me itching to try this! And yet, I cannot even make dishcloths correctly. So many things I want to learn and do...

Reading List on the Net {02.17.15}

I have a goals list that I started back in 2013. On that list is "make cheese". I had forgotten that one until an email from Cultures for Health said "Let us help you make cheese!" I'm thinking about making Lemon Cheese (because it is easy, honestly) but also reading why it's good to make your own cheese. My hubby has made soft cheeses before but no hard cheese. I'd like to make hard and soft cheese eventually. I think I'll need to watch some YouTube videos to get the hang of it first. And it will need to be next month.

Why make cheese? 

1. It's a rare skill. Making your own cheese is the culinary equivalent of building a log cabin. There just aren't that many people who know how to do it anymore. A homemade cheese will always be a hit at a potluck or party.

7. It's delicious! No matter what kind of cheese you make, your homemade cheese will be edible.

~Cultures for Health

It's also 'food' related...well, sorta. The Two-Wine Theory. Gosh, I just love how Headmistress writes (and I can never remember her name...must be what it's like for my online/i-r-l friends *wink*). Every so often our Pastor covers the 'two wines' of the Bible. His take, and many others', is that any time it is wine, it's either juice or it is so low in alcohol content that it is barely wine.

"One interesting thing to me is that when I have shared this background information [of the essays by Grindrod and Parsons, and book by Patton] with people who still believe in the two-wine theory, they always hasten to assure me that they reached their two-wine theory entirely independently, studying out the issue for themselves without relying on any outside study, just the Bible. The reason they believe that wine in the Bible is mostly nonalcoholic is entirely uninfluenced by Patton or the Temperance Movement. This is, frankly, impossible. They sincerely believe in the independence of their research. They may well be ignorant of America's temperance movement and have never heard of Patton or the articles he relied on, and so they think this proves that their conclusions were clear of such outside influences."

She goes on to tell how she can tell that their 'independent' research has indeed been influenced by these two theories.

Not chosen in connection with the previous at all but true nonetheless: "The truly wise man is he who always believes the Bible against the opinion of any man." ~R. A. Torrey (and some day I'll see who that is)

This isn't something I read online but it can be read online that's why I'm including it here. It is the latest issue of Imprimis: Race Relations and Law Enforcement. We get this every month (once a month?) and I try to read the short (ish) article featured but don't always manage. This month my kids, who do not attempt to read the Imprimis when it arrives, read it and my son especially insisted I read it. So I did finally. Quite well written.

"I was visiting my older sister shortly after I had begun working at the Wall Street Journal, and I was chatting with her daughter, my niece, who was maybe in the second grade at the time. I was asking her about school, her favorite subjects, that sort of thing, when she stopped me and said, "Uncle Jason, why you talk white?" Then she turned to her little friend who was there and said, "Don't my uncle sound white? Why he tryin' to sound so smart?"
She was just teasing me, of course. I smiled and they enjoyed a little chuckle at my expense. But what she said stayed with me. I couldn't help thinking: Here were two young black girls, seven or eight years old, already linking speech patterns to race and intelligence. They already had a rather sophisticated awareness that, as blacks, white-sounding speech was not only to be avoided in their own speech but mocked in the speech of others.
[A] big part of the problem is a black subculture that rejects attitudes and behaviors that are conducive to academic success...Another big part of the problem is a reluctance to speak honestly about these cultural shortcomings...If you disagree and are white, you're a bigot. If you disagree and are black, you're a sell-out."

Reading List on the Net {02.14.15}

Motherhood as a mission field. This is an older post that is now in the free book, Mom Enough, through DesiringGod. Great post. It is the little things that matter. This reminds me, again, that I want to reread Sally Clarkson's book, Ministry of Motherhood.

Top teacher in Ohio resigns "to start an after-school mentoring program for at-risk students in hopes of saving them from the school-to-prison pipeline." She cites Common Core's 'drill em and kill em' atmosphere as the driving force behind her decision. Personally, I am finding it difficult to understand what is and isn't really going on with Common Core testing and whatnot. As one teacher in this article stated, "the rules keep changing."

A how-to to make your own little portable watercolor tin from an Altoids tin and water bottle lids. I also have been watching Sea Lemon's YT videos on how to do bookbinding. I know how to do this some already because of a little book I have, but it only has so many and the illustrations are static.

A not fun bit of reading. Here's an article, quite lengthy, about how social networking and the internet in general are not anonymous. And that people are petty and vicious. I didn't, and don't, know who the individuals are in this article, but I can understand how their lives have been forever changed. And for what? One, two, three, or more 'tweets' that people have taken offense. Said in personal conversation even nowadays can get a person blasted all over the world. What bothers me most is the statement here by one person who purposely set out to trash another: "The fact that she was a [person in a particular position] made it delicious," he wrote. "It's satisfying to be able to say, 'O.K., let's make a racist tweet...count this time.' And it did.  I'd do it again"...He ended his email by saying that he had a feeling she'd be "fine eventually, if not already." He added: "Everyone's attention span is so short. They'll be mad about something new today." While he said that he doesn't wake up hoping to get someone fired, I really don't think he thought -or perhaps cares?- that he could get someone fired. I don't relish the thought that he got what he dished out but after all he did to attract attention to one person's tweet, it would make sense for him to not do the same thing that he attacked. And yet he did. I don't think he got it as bad as she (I'm not going looking) but a little taste was all he needed apparently. The final note in the article: Social media is so perfectly designed to manipulate our desire for approval, and that is what led to her undoing. Her tormentors were instantly congratulated as they took [her] down, bit by bit, and so they continued to do so."
It is the way it is because it is allowed to be so.

Reading on the Net {02.08.15}

1000 Good Books: I've pinned this site but I actually have been perusing the lists here lately. One can never have too many good books options. Truly. And I just came across a post with a listing of Historical Fiction books, by date. I don't know if these are living books or not (just a quick glance says no) but I'm looking through the list. It looks like it is geared toward very young, or read alouds, through sixth grade.

Audios and podcasts for homeschoolers. I'm so behind when it comes to this sort of thing but after listening to the 2005 AO Conference recordings, I think them quite beneficial. And no, I've not listened to hardly any of these yet (the podcasts, that is). These are probably old news to many!

10 Best Things You're Not Doing For Your Homeschool- the link for the podcasts above came from this post. Lots of good suggestions...it's always follow-through with which I have a problem. One of the tips is to limit subjects studied in the day. Sage Parnassus has a post today on cutting back until there is peace in the home. I like that. And as Nancy shows, it is also something to consider in the high school years. We do not need to cram everything into the school day.

Bias of history...er, historians...of ourselves? Reading along with others the book Daughter of Time, I think this is quite evident. It is a work of fiction but it really does have much in it that relies on historians, and historian bias. There are quite a few parts that make the reader question history as it's been presented. But even beyond what we read from an official history book, we ourselves become historians because of what we read and experience.

"The key is to know what you are reading. Know the author's slant. Is his interpretation of the world the same as yours? Do you have the same world view? If not, can you use his book as part of a balanced approach, or should you look elsewhere? In selecting an author's work you are perpetuating his view of history. You are making it a reality. Is this the Biblically oriented reality you want your children to know? Is it the reality you want them to teach their children and their children's children?"

Testing and accountability. I'm really not sure how I ended up at this article. This was a strange article to read for me. Mr. Finn is in support of annual testing from below 3rd grade and higher than 8th, over the subject areas of history, science, math and reading. I don't have an issue with assessments at all so that isn't what I find 'strange'. He just doesn't really give any real solution to this. He's all for the high stakes testing and accountability of teachers and administration, but at the state level, because the federal level isn't doing it right. Right now, there is a "benign and supportive version of testing" that just puts test scores out there to the public but doesn't do anything with the information to change anything. Eh...
"Under this scenario-which is where [he] suspects Congress will end up-nobody in Washington is prescribing that anything in particular be done with the test results beyond making them public." He wants this info to be used. But specifically for "high-stakes" consequences. I really don't think he realizes the consequences will fall not on the schools, or even the teachers, but the students. Those are who will be the bearers of the consequences.

"Today, it's more accurate to say that educators are fine with national but don't like testing when it's used for results-based accountability, and conservatives are all for accountability (and the test scores that make it possible) but don't want anything mandated by Washington.
An unusual alliance, to be sure, but it will likely be the death knell of NCLB (and waiver) provisions that tie testing to accountability, whether for schools or for educators. (It also makes for a lousy quote that I expect no on to repeat.)
...
Which places the accountability ball back in the states’ court, where it properly belongs."

Unfortunately, I don't see that he's very positive about the states' getting it right either. 

"Some will fumble. That’s reality, but I don’t think they’ll fumble any worse than Uncle Sam. Moreover, if ESEA is only going to get reauthorized every fourteen years or so, the fumblers will have plenty of time to improve their ball-handling skills."

And so, I just don't see how it's the best thing in the first place. Although he implies earlier that the info from the testing needs to be used, he says that the worse Washington can do is require states to "take specific actions based on those data." If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. (And I quoted that line he doesn't think will be repeated just because he said that. Petty of me.) He does however make a good point: What happened to the other elements of Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 that has morphed over the years, with the latest being NCLB? Why is it all about the testing??

The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him? ~Charlotte Mason, Vol. 3, p. 170-171

Reading List on the Net {02.06.15}

Our kids need hope, not fear. "When we moved to a small town a few years ago we asked our neighbor if the children could fish in his pond. He said he would love for them to but he was afraid they would drown and he would be liable...so, no they could not. You might almost wonder what kind of parent would allow their child around a pond? Or on a bicycle? Or in a football game? Or near a tick? We are not that far from that sort of fear and judgment." It sounds sad, but I understand this 'fear'. It's definitely not something I grew up with though. I drank out of the hose, walked barefoot on the asphalt, climbed trees (and fell out of trees), rode dirt bikes up and down the driveway...and so many other things that my own kids haven't done. Why? Because there's that fear factor (admittedly, it wasn't my fear of things happening but the fact that something could happen and someone would be liable was repeatedly told to me; it kept me from allowing them to do the things I did when I was a kid). When kids are young and don't have these experiences, they have a sense of fear, recognized or not, that stays with them. "As parents we need to do better than that. We must always make sure hope overwhelms our personal fears for our children and the future."

Homeschooling being taken over by cyber buffs...or something like that. Okay, not really. But the article talks about those who, perhaps not what people think of when they think 'homeschoolers'?, are taking the step to homeschool. I liked how the writer of this article, though somewhat skeptical of homeschooling it appears, acknowledges the benefits of it; at least in the families observed. One of the schools linked (near the end of the articles) states that at their school students "learn how to learn". Which makes me think of Charlotte Mason: kids know how to learn, they just need to be allowed to do so with the best resources at their disposal.

Not related to the other topics up there at all, are two posts about which Bible to choose: KJV or Not the KJV. The first post really talks about the use of the KJV for the literary benefits, while the second for understanding beyond the here and now. I do understand the arguments of both these posts. We use the KJV but I own quite a few translations (or versions, if you will).
From the AO website: "Scholars and writers of that era possessed deft command of the nuances of grammar and syntax, because their educations were rooted firmly in the study of the static ancient languages of Latin and Greek...English in the days of King James and Shakespeare was high art, in both product and form...Classic books are steadily moving beyond the grasp of modern readers. A widening language chasm cruelly threatens to separate us from our own cultural treasures. By choosing the KJV, we bridge that chasm, and in crossing over find ourselves strolling amidst wise and benevolent giants." And yet, "How curious, really, that modern believers, especially those among us who claim to relish great literature, should look upon this crowning literary achievement of the Christian era as a distant and unapproachable relation!"
"But," as is quoted at Piney Woods, "the little English child is thrust out in the cold by an archaic mod of address, reverent in the ears of us older people, but forbidding, we may be sure, to the child. (CM, Vol. 2, p. 56)" The argument here is Charlotte Mason's own for a translation that is accessible to the child, to bring him close to God. Because that is the purpose of the Bible ultimately.
To my thinking, if a child grows up with the KJV they will find access to God through it. If they come to it later, they can still find access. Because God does not need the 'words' of one particular book to reach a heart. But at the same time, if one has not had the exposure to the old 'archaic' writings, then it will be more difficult to gain a grasp of what is behind the words. (Acts 8:30, 31; Romans 10:14, 15) God's Word will endure forever.
I've spent too long on this one bit, I think. I do find it very interesting, the study of different translations.

How about some foxes? A place in Japan has a sanctuary of sorts that is stuffed full of foxes. Beautiful, cute, fluffy foxes! Zao Fox Village is home to over one hundred red, silver and platinum foxes. Well, my "Fox" would love this!

My New Year Update

Did you make resolutions this year? To Grow & Strengthen in 2015 are the words I specifically chose for me and my family.

In that post I set out some things I'd like to work on: Bible reading, outreach, contentedness, and health. This post will just touch on how those aspects are coming along.

It has only been a little over a month since that post was written so in that time, how much can have been accomplished? If I were a more dedicated individual, probably quite a bit! I'm more of a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kinda gal so it's been slow going.

Bible reading: Personally, I have joined with a small group of ladies wanting to read the Bible everyday. We don't have a singular plan that we follow. We are utilizing various means of reading the Bible. For me it is YouVersion and the small Facebook group we have. The YV app makes it very convenient to read, as I have my phone with me a lot of the time. Sometimes I do want the physical pages to turn and just find the day's reading on the app but read it in my book. I missed a day at one point and while I said to the group I felt guilty, it was more that I felt sad because it's become something to look forward to. There are days that I am so engrossed in the reading I read more than the day's set passages. That hasn't happened a lot but it's nice when it does.

Along with the reading, I've made a renewed effort to memorize verses. I'm fairly sure I mentioned our church's memorization group. I am paired with a lady at church who is memorizing the same verses as I am; we get together every other Sunday to recite them to each other. It is very helpful to have the accountability. I'm actually using ScriptureTyper now for this. I resisted for so long but it is actually a very helpful app.

The next step to work on is thinking deeper about what I read and memorize. Why does God want me to think on this? What application can it have in my life? One lady in our group has been doing a narration on her readings each day and it has been a blessing to read them in our FB group.

Outreach This is not going much of anywhere at the moment. I'm honestly not exactly sure what I need to do- definitely know my prayers need to include this, as they haven't really lately. I did come across a little blurb from a local newsletter for a "home [that] will be a place of refuge and transformation for women who need to be coached towards re-adjustment into society" due to various reasons. I'd torn it out of the newsletter months ago, before thinking of my words for the year, and it practically fell in my lap right after I'd started this post to update. I don't necessarily believe in coincidence.

Otherwise, I have not been doing well with foreign language or sign language studies. That needs to be more of a focus for me personally. I've started to put it in my bullet journal each day (it is included with other things I wish to do daily: Bible reading, prayer, verses, exercise, thankful entry, Russian, and nature journal entry). It's a little check the box type system that I include next to each day's date. So far I've been able to check off at least a couple of the boxes. Need to work more diligently on that, for sure.

Another part of this is church membership: We've been going through a class in Sunday school to discuss church membership. I think we have just a couple more to go, which are actually catch-up for a couple who came into the class late, and then we move onto to baptism class (as none of us are baptized).

In the area of outreach, for me, is being involved with other like-minded people. Specifically I'm referring to Charlotte Mason homeschoolers educators. Outreach is not just me helping others, because I can hardly help myself!; but allowing myself to be helped by others. Reading online and conversing in forums and FB are ways to connect, but there's definitely something missing in these formats. I would love to start a CM type book group, co-op, nature group, or something. But I lack the follow-through. I lack the drive to continue on with whatever I want to start. Besides, there are already groups like these that are somewhat close that I could become part of; I don't need to start something new. Although closer would be nice.

Contentedness I think I am doing alright in this area but occasionally I am caught off guard. As I mentioned in the other post, we got a new car right before the end of the year. We haven't even been able to drive it much because we've had a lot of snow this winter (my latest nature journal entry shows a pile of snow over 5 ft tall! in our front yard). As this adds a car payment to the budget, it lessens the money we have each month for other things. I won't say I'm terrible with money but suffice it to say, if there's money there, I'll probably spend it. The little things here and there are having to be curtailed, and that's a little harder than I thought it'd be.

I need to add in prayer here, I think. When we pray we are more content through our day. We try to start our mornings in prayer together but way too often it doesn't happen.

Health I do 'think' we are doing better, or at least okay, in this area. We've cut back to our usual sugary consumption amount (on Friday-Sunday, in limited amounts), and even hubby has resolved to not buy sodas when he picks up snacky stuff at the store. This week, menu-wise, has been a little strange because the weather was bad and I didn't get to the store like I planned. But as we have fairly healthy food on hand, it's not like we've had to resort to junk.

We haven't been sick yet this winter although many around us have had the flu and respiratory issues. We've been healthy.

Exercise...this week has been off but usually we (the kids and I) exercise at least 3 times a week. I know that doesn't seem like much but when you don't do any to start with, even 1 time a week is an improvement. This week has been a no school week so things are all wonky. Next week I intend to be back at it, and possibly even bump it to 4 times a week. When it snows, the kids get plenty of exercise from shoveling. *smile*

Fox and I did get outside a few days ago, even though it was cold. It was rather nice, too. It's been in the single digits lately and that's too cold for me.

Those are my updates. Hopefully the next update will include more advances. 

Winter Wonderland!

How to enjoy a walk in the cold...

Break ice when discovered.

The sun was shining very brightly.

And some wildlife

And we saw quite a few of these flying things *wink*

Just two more-

Tried to catch him in mid-air. I'm too slow.