First Day of School

The first day of school went great!  The students this year:

Tiny Love, who is would be in kindergarten or first grade.

Curlyjo, who would be in fourth grade.

I say "would be" because they are homeschooled, and I don't really know what the public school is doing.  I know that my girls are bright, curious, fun, and busy.  That is good enough for me!

After lessons are over for the day, I do this:

Settle in my chair with a cup of tea, my planner and a book.  And my cell phone...I have a friend who is due to have a baby any day now, and I want to know when he arrives.

The girls do this:

Visit Webkins World, the place where brain cells and patience go to die.

They are allowed 15 minutes apiece. 

Daisy Dog does this:

We all have our own version of relaxation!

What a wonderful and peaceful first day of school.

Menu Plan Monday

For more menu ideas, visit orgjunkie.com

Moving is (mostly) behind us now, and we are so happy to be in our home again! 

Today is our first day of school here at the Campbell Homeschool.  I will post "First Day of School" photos tomorrow. 

Here is what our menu looks like for the week.  Brother, you may want to review this and see what nights you will be joining us for dinner...my guess is the nights that include beef.

Monday:  Beef Stew, Whole Wheat Beer Bread (see you later, Brother)

Tuesday:  Italian Chicken Sandwiches, Fresh veggies with Ranch

Wednesday:  Potato and Ham Rosti, Salad, Multigrain bread

Thursday:  Pasta with bacon and peas, salad

Friday:  Homemade Pizza, veggies

Saturday:  Grilled Cheese Sandwiches, Tomato soup

Sunday:  Leftovers

Now, a little peek inside my cozy castle:

I don't know what the deal is with the weird lighting in this photo, but you get the idea.  Just picture it without the jaundiced look.  See that lump on the ottoman?

Kitty Friend would have just been livid. 

My kitchen:

Cheerful, no?

I even commemorated the move by buying myself some flowers.  Because, why not? 

Men, you should check out Aldi for all your flower needs.  Cheap and so cute.

Have a great day!

Home

This weekend I got my dining room all set up at my house.  My new blogging station:

This is also our homeschool area. 

Talk about multi-tasking.

Some may call it small.

I would call it just right. 

The next room I hope to finish is the living room:

So cozy. 

The entry way is almost done, packed with books, just the way I like it.

Now, I am off to wash windows. 

I love how my old house feels new again, in that exciting way, but not in that "doesn't-feel-like-home-yet" way. 

Have a wonderful day!

What a Great View

I like it when I can look out the window and see this beautiful sight:

Seeing my kids happy and enjoying each other just makes me feel this weird and overwhelming sense of well-being.

It gives me the encouragement I need to press on.  Just like working outside the home, being at home full time has its struggles:

loneliness and isolation.

A feeling that everything you do today, you have done before, and will need to do again tomorrow. 

The fear that no one notices or values what you do all day.

The guilt of not getting it all done, thus proving your worth.

The need for being self-motivated, self-governing, and balancing it all with a huge amount of God's grace and direction.

But this makes it all worth it.

This reminds me that the value I have in their lives is unable to be measured by clean floors, huge stockpiles of home-canned goods, and perfectly filled out homeschool worksheets.

Those things are wonderful, even fulfilling at times.  But home is more than a house where I keep busy all day.  Homeschooling is more than worksheets and tests.  Life is more than an endless list of things to achieve. 

Home is where I make my kids feel safe and loved by letting them be themselves and enjoying them in the process. 

Homeschooling is learning through life AND books.

And life has one central gaze point:

to glorify God, not myself.

Cookies So Good, Your Teeth Fall Out

I baked cookies on Saturday, and the recipe made the most delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER. 

I sent some over to each of my sisters' houses to welcome them home from their mission trip to El Salvador. 

And to keep myself from eating the whole batch by myself. 

Sharing is good for everyone.

Smitten Kitchen's recipe!  Go here to get it.

Now, don't eat too many, or your teeth might fall out. 

Take it from someone who has endured a sugar-induced tooth loss:

Someone who doesn't consume sugar like the favored form of addictive stimulants, and she still lost a tooth last week (ah, rites of passage, how I love you for letting me think Curlyjo is still just a little girl):

Here, Curlyjo, I will let you have the last cookie.

Too slow, girl. 

Maybe next time.

"Growing" Good Character

There was at one time a belief that we all have cancer cells in our bodies.  Blink and you may have missed this news, because it was quickly defamed and called "alarmist."  Turns out the science was inflated.  (Or as I like to call it, Darwin-ized).  So, this physical truth is an untruth.  But, I wonder if it may be a spiritual truth?

I am currently plowing through  (i.e., reading rapidly between chapters of another book) Have a New Kid By Friday by Dr. Kevin Leman. 

 I don't want new kids per se, but I do like to hone the old parenting skills.  Plus, the cover was all in primary colors, which we all know is attractive (McD's).  I digress...

What if we all have "bad character cells?"  What if my sweet babies were born with the potential to be rotten, disrespectful, mean-hearted punks and my job is to help those "cells" die...at the cross of Jesus?  I wonder if I am creating an environment that encourages the growth of bad character or good?

The exasperated sigh when they need something while I am ON THE INTERNET?????  The refusal to be inconvenienced by what is BEST for THEM?  Eye rolling, venting at the driver in front of me, grumbling when life doesn't go my way?  They see it all.  And all of those things are like McDonald's for the soul.  And I fed it to them.

I don't do everything right as a parent...I don't do everything wrong, either.  But, if I don't like what I see in them, maybe I better take a good look at myself. 

1 Corinthians 15:33 reminds me,
"Do not be misled:  Bad company corrupts good character." 

The company they keep most is ME. 

I don't want to corrupt--I want to instruct.

I don't want to mislead--I want to guide wisely.

Good thing I have an ever-present encouragement, guide, and admonition in the Word of God. 

Thanks, Dr. Leman, for reminding me that parenting is heavy stuff, God-sized work. 
And I need to get in.

Simple Woman's Daybook

FOR TODAY:  August 17, 2010


Outside my window...birds are singing.  My windows are open, and I can smell a hint of fall on the breeze. 

I am thinking...about how strange it will be to wake up in my own home again.

I am thankful for...the hardest two years of my life...2009 and 2010.  God has taught me some difficult and amazing lessons that will remind me to be more like Jesus.  It wasn't fun, but praise God for it.

From the learning rooms...I am excited to begin school in earnest the first week in September.  We are going to be starting American history!

From the kitchen...tonight there will be steaks on the grill for the "menfolk."  The Husband and Brother will not have to ask THE question:  "Is there meat in this?"

I am wearing...the usual. 

I am creating...a home.  I went to my house yesterday, and while I cleaned my bathroom I prayed that God would keep me this grateful for a home to clean.  I just have an overwhelming sense of joy when I walk into my house, though just months ago I could not go there for the sadness that filled my heart.

I am going...to miss Brother.

I am reading...the Bible.  And other, less important things.

I am hoping...that the next two months pass quickly for Mom and Dad (and Brother), so that we can all be together again.  And I hope that Brother doesn't burn the house down.

I am hearing...silence.  I am NOT hearing the school bus driving by, though today is the first day of school in our area.  That sound is another thing I miss about living in my house.  I miss the little, insignificant predictabilities of town life.

Around the house...boxes.  Laundry.  Broken air conditioning.  No Kitty Friend :(

One of my favorite things...coffee!  It has fueled my early mornings, soothed my soul, and been enjoyed around the table with family and friends.

A few plans for the rest of the week:  Packing, cleaning, visiting with a dear friend that I haven't seen all summer, praying, and getting up crazy early to workout with DVDs filled with perky instructors with strange colloquialisms ("Burn butter?"  Seriously?  So, what do vegans burn?)

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...Brother, who I see every morning doing exactly this at the kitchen table.  How I will miss your profound thoughts, overuse of condiments, and propensity to calling me a homosexual.  I hope you will come to town and have coffee with me. 

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