More Overheard

Keith to me regarding Sophie, our 1 year old :

"She's a little garbage picker, she takes after you"




Excuse me, you better sleep with one eye open.

Sweet as Chocolate by Oliver

Hi I am Oliver, I am 5. We went to church today and I got a glow in the dark dinosauer skeleton bone kit. We made chocolate lollipops, they are drying in the fridge.

What is the difference between a teacher a teacher and a train?

A train goes "choo choo" and a teacher says "spit out the gum".

Love,

Oliver









My name is Abby, I am 3. We made these for Daddy. I liked it.

overheard

Keith: You are *NOT* decoupaging my gun cabinet!

Gleanings from Aunt T

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All the kids at church call my friend Tina "Aunt T". Her daughter Heather cleans and babysitters for me. OK~ Babysits my children...I digress.

They both came to clean today and let me tell you, it was a mess. Tina took immediate control. She gave the kids jobs. 3 of her 5 children are grown and they are all hard workers. I listened and watched to try to learn something. Here are a few things:

1. Give the children jobs, they like to help

2. If they start arguing or complaining (so and so isn't helping) go to the room they are in and deal with the problem right away.

3. I heard her say that something "was what the Lord had provided and we should show that we are faithful by caring for it", not in a preachy way but encouraging.

4. Laugh and smile

5. Work hard along side them.

6. Praise their little heads off, notice them doing something good

Probably nothing new for you but such a great refresher.

The highlight of their life

I got pulled over tonight at 9:30pm, with 5 children, coming home from church and taking care of my mother in law who had eye surgery. As I always say, I can't make this stuff up if I tried.

Anyway, I had no idea why I was stopped but I was nervous that either I was swerving like a drunk driver or driving 90 miles per hour because my display isn't lighting up. Thankfully it was just for my rear light being out. If I get it fixed in the next 24 hours the town will drop the ticket.

Thankfully, I vacuumed the stinky kitty litter that I used to try to get the stink from the *GALLON* of milk I spilled out of my van. I also tried sprinkle on carpet powder stuff. I vacuumed it up but Oliver found the can and when the Trooper peered in my van he must have been wondering if I was manufacturing Anthrax or if a cocaine deal went bad. Everything was coated in white dust.

The kids were thrilled and I told the State Trooper that he made our day, the kids asked if he was Roy Rogers or Gene Autry. He answered "The Lone Ranger, I left my horse at home".

Can be applied to home or school

I have come to a frightening conclusion,

I am the decisive element in the classroom.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

As a teacher I possess tremendous power

to make a child's life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations it is my response that decides whether

a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized

or dehumanized.

-Haim Ginott

Teacher and Child

Quoted in

The First Days of School

How did I raise 5 children without this????

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Praying for these precious people tonight

Shift

I went to counseling today for the first time ( not counting my fabulous, patient friends and Keith). I wanted to get up out of the waiting room and leave. The secretary looked up at me through the window and never opened it and greeted me. Weird. It was tiring and I kept having this feeling that I was in the wrong seat. Don't they know I have it all together and I am the one who helps other people. Guess they didn't get the memo.

On a funny note, I stopped in the Dollar Tree store for co-op craft supplies and what did I spy out of the corner of my eye? An appealing fabric on the clothing rack. Sure enough, a J.Jill blazer for $1.

Jesus, Savior Pilot Me

I am waiting for my camera battery to come in so I posted an old pic from elderberry picking in the fall.

I have never sung the hymn I posted below but I can't wait to hear the tune.

My prayer today is "Lord, please pilot me" for I need guidance through the hard times as well as the times of rejoicing. He is all.

Jesus, Savior, pilot me,

Over life's tempestuous sea;

Unknown waves before me roll,

Hiding rock and treacherous shoal;

Chart and compass come from thee,

Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

When at last I near the shore,

And the fearful breakers roar

'Twixt me and the peaceful rest,

Then, while leaning on Thy Breast,

May I hear Thee say to me,

Fear not, I will pilot thee.

CM being -vs doing

"To 'endeavour ourselves' to the daily effort of education, to live and act, think and speak before the children, so that they shall be hourly the better for all that we are, is harder, no doubt, than to make one enormous sacrifice" (Vol. 5, p. 156). Charlotte Mason

What we tell our children to do isn't a quarter as important as what we are.

An old adage with a new twist

Gillianne, like Keith's dad, loves raw garlic. She came over to tell me something

and it was painfully obvious she had been munching on a clove. "Oh, Gilli" I said as I

turned my head to avoid the stench. Christian looked up from the book he was

reading and quipped " A garlic a day keeps mom away".

Maybe that is why she eats it so often.

The little things

I noticed Christian's blue pinstripe suit folded on my dresser. That is where I lay out the children's clothing for co-op and church. I asked Christian hesitantly but trying to sound casual "Are you wearing your suit to co-op tomorrow?". Christian smiled and excited said "No, I picked it out to wear on my date with Dad when we go to McDonald's and the book store".

I was humbled to think how it is the small things that mean so much.

Good morning!

I ran out to get some last minute snacks ect for co-op tomorrow (today). When I got home at 10:00 Christian was still up. I made a call I might regret when we both are flat out exausted later today. I had him get up and help me. He bagged snacks, peeled oranges, assembled lunches. He unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. He "did my bidding" helping me with little tasks and cleaning up. I just sent him to bed at 12:05, he has a happy heart. I enjoyed the time we shared and I enjoyed feeling more prepared and less tired being my work was cut in half.

I'll let you know how today goes.

I Wuv it

was Abby's answer to "what are you doing???"

She still says things like waptop for

laptop. I love her chubby, cherubic hands and

feet.

You know you are a mom when............

Extra credit to those who can guess whose athletic-socked

foot this is and yes, said sock rule violator bought these gorgeous shoes.

Yes, I am alive

A quick re-cap on my character building class I am teaching at co-op. Last week we studied attentiveness. I used Konos for the bulk of the planning. We discuss the definition, listening with our eyes, ears and heart. We talked about why it is important to be attentive and went over some verses. We then went over a basic overview of the ear and hearing. We used a free attentiveness lapbook from www.homeschoolshare.com (love that site). Our service project was to decorate ziplock bags and place crayons and coloring books in them to donate to a hospital. I will try to take a pic before I drop them off. Thank you Amy for the idea.

I will try to post my Song School Latin ideas tomorrow.

Linus and Lucy

Can anyone be unhappy while listening to the Charlie Brown theme song?

For Auntie Rum

and those of you who need a laugh or lift today...

http://www.howcast.com/videos/217180-How-To-Dress-Your-Dog-According-To-His-Body-Type

Sorry, I do not know how to make it play right on my blog.

You skate with me

I had already been out in the frigid weather 3 times today and slipped and fell once. I didn't want to say "yes" to Gilli's request to go ice skating. I tried to stall, add requirements, all the mom avoidance tricks I knew but she was meeting every goal. Foiled again.

I took all 5 children to an outdoor tennis court that was flooded for ice skating. It was 24*. I pulled up next to the court so I could watch them from the warmth of the car with Sophia. As I watched them ice skate around I was so happy that we went. My eyes were brimmed with tears. They skated with all their might. They threw themselves into the ice with all their hearts. Gilli practiced her turns she learned in her lessons. They looked out for each other and helped each other. I was sure to praise their little heads off. It wouldn't be a good time if someone (not including the baby) didn't poop their pants and someone else pee theirs. Neither one was me so that was good.

This is an inspiring blog, I didn't think of this post until now but it fits beautifully. Please read it dear mamas.

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2009/12/when-you-cant-figure-out-what-answer.html

Dad

Flannel lined jean shirts and jeans,

rough, stained hands,

baseball hat and ready smile.

Wise Men

We went to a friend's house for a visit today.

I had no idea what a blessing was

in store for us.

Our friend Argentina is from the Dominican Republic.

She had a lesson on Christmas in Latin America.

They do not have Santa, instead they have

the Three Wise Men.

She also taught the children songs in Spanish and French.

She served us some authentic Dominican food, we learned

a lot!

Unfortunately, on the way over I hit a fire hydrant

and trashed the front of my

van. Don't stare too hard if you see us.

Living Large

Still no camera so here you have Oprah touring a typical Danish house.

Very inspiring, I think I need to go donate more stuff.

http://www.oprah.com/media/20091021-tows-stine-home-tour

If my sickness was because of my sin I would have been dead a long time ago.