This one is going to be short and sweet: Got the younger kids and grandkids together for an early Christmas.
We totally forgot to take any pictures of the ADULTS!!!!
Christmas Eve: We had fun. Kids decorated a tree, then we opened the bean bag chairs and gifts from relatives. Christmas Morning: The rest of the loot, and a nice dinner.
Kept it low key since I have been suffering some miserable winter cold.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
CHRIST IS BORN! GLORIFY HIM!
Dear Lord, thank You for family. +Amen.
Our bees thrived all summer long. We had a couple times when the heat softened the comb enough to cause it to break under the weight of the honey, but this was solved by opening up a couple more entries to help them cool the interior.
our first hive, first bees, and I honestly do not know what I am doing!
We fed during our summer dearth, when the heat is such that few flowers bloom here. The colony grew, expanded to fill half the top bar hive box. This was perfect, so I left them alone when the fall bloom began for two weeks. When I returned to checking–we had a huge problem!
By opening the entries I aided the bees in cooling the hive, but I did not close them back up before the cooler days brought end of summer blooming flowers AND ROBBER BEES.
I headed out with the little beekeeper to hopefully harvest one comb, and found the bees fighting with other bees, driving them away, and comb that had been full was now empty!
I was in a panic but cooler heads in the form of advisors said to close up the openings and put the feeder back in the hive.
We’re in our cold season now.
Most weeks still have a day or two warm enough for the bees to take cleansing flights (for pooping). I keep the feeder full so they can access it whenever they are warm enough to move around. We are hopeful that they will survive my errors and be ready to thrive come spring.
Meanwhile I need to figure out how to help them stay cooler in the heat WITHOUT leaving them vulnerable to robberies.
Dear Lord, please help us to tend our bees well. +Amen.
We actually live in a warm climate area. Snow isn’t common, in fact, snow is uncommon, and snow that sticks is practically unheard of and snow that falls in multiple inches is miraculous and a cause for parents calling schools to tell them their kids would not be there that day due to snow. This was a couple weeks ago– a December snow!
Not sure why my sharp images are showing up blurred. I will be finding out what I did wrong! Figured it out, all fixed now!
Snow, and it was lovely, thick, and cold in the early morning light when I lept from the house with my camera to snap pictures.
Bill, sensible pony that he is, did not fuss. He stood quietly for this picture and then went right back to eating his hay. By noon the snow was almost completely gone!
Dear Lord, this world is amazing and we thank You for all of creation, especially beautiful snows and happy fat ponies. +Amen.
Each year I put a new set of good things I would like to work on, to improve, expand, change, or grow into for the next year. I divide my 18 boxes in my planner into two groups, those that are about me, and those that are about others. Then I decide on 18 areas that I would like to grow in 2018.
One of those is about my writing, but also about my use of social media. I write, it is rather constant. But this past year I’ve done some of my deeper comments on life in discussions on Facebook where they vanish away. I am not content with that, and I think it constitutes a poor use of my talent, and a poor use of social media. This I have decided to change, beginning now, the same day I decided to change it.
Today I blogged what is on my mind, and set posts to come up on different days. Will I manage to blog every day? I don’t know but for years I wrote morning pages. Every morning one hour of pouring thoughts down into a notebook. Random, anything that came to mind, and it did often result in greater clarity on life, and mental peace. It did not produce the desired increase in creativity in my writing.
I began, and will continue. I believe my family will benefit from my making time to let out the need to write and the resultant peace in me will make our home calmer too.
When seeking to help people come to Christ, we remind ourselves that living our faith is attractive, and that being ready to give an answer to the peace within us is important, and sharing about Jesus is a great benefit to others, and that ultimately it is not our efforts but those of the Holy Spirit that bring about conversion of life. I was created to write, among other things, and in this blog I intend to do it even if nobody reads it. Obedience in actions offered up to God.
Perhaps I will share random photos I have taken as well.
Dear Lord, please bless my efforts to use those gifts you have given me. I do not want to be the cowardly servant who buried a talent and lost everything. I do want to be found faithful with little things. Please grant me the graces to succeed. +Amen.
Each morning I log onto my computer, dive into Habitica and check in with my favorite blogs and my email. It isn’t glamorous, and there is no right or wrong way to use the good aspects of the internet, but here are some of mine.
HABITICA which is a gasified to-do planner. I track daily actions, habits and things I need to do there, and my little game character gains goodies for everything I manage in my regular life. I like it.
GMAIL: I use email to track favorite blogs, video blogs, and all sorts of things. Much of what comes in gets deleted without reading it. Some things I read every time they come. The trick is to touch each email only once, either read it then, or delete it then.
BLOGS: Fr. Z’s Blog is one I read daily. This blog talks about Catholic issues and social issues, and I learn about new Catholic groups from there all the time. Church Militant TV is another I check out daily(I subscribe). They have some of the best catechetical content for subscribers. They also talk about what nobody else is talking about but that is relevant. I read the comic, Day by Day, daily. Started reading it years ago, and over time, the art has evolved and the story line has continued to reflect political events and current social issues of a more political nature. Very much a social commentary on our time. AND I have grown to love the characters. Finally, there are video blogs I watch, especially, The Freedom Theory and FifthWheelFeel. Both video blogs are well done and refreshingly upbeat. I’m encouraged by them and enjoy their adventures. Both are by young people who chose a unique path to happiness. I enjoy the blog Beyond Pearls although she blogs less often. Anachronistic and Impulsive is my favorite SCA oriented history blog. She delves as deeply into history as I do and even though I disagree with her on a few points, her work is solid and admirable. Surviving the Rainbow is a blog by women recovering from marriages to homosexuals. It is a sad blog but speaks from the heart about a group ignored by society because their reality doesn’t fit current ideology. An intermittent blog, I read whatever gets posted because no group should be ignored.
FACEBOOK can be a time vortex but I can check up on family and friends there and see what activities various groups I belong to are planning. My prayer group met on Facebook and stays in contact supporting each other’s spiritual life via Messenger.
Dear Lord, please help us to use social media responsibly, to connect, and increase our time together in person. +Amen.
The plaintive cry of a devout soul praying and seeking guidance as to her purpose in life. That was me quite some years ago. I loved Jesus then, I love Jesus now. The difference has been that I have moved from, “God, tell me, what is my purpose?” and waiting to be told, to “Thank you Jesus for making me. I offer you my day and ask you to help me please you with it.”
What changed? Mostly perspective. It finally sunk in that God had been speaking all along but because I was looking for a supernatural locution or other miraculous event, I wasn’t actually listening to the answer already given.
God DOES tell us what he wants of us. He gives a universal calling that will translate uniquely to each person.
It is both simple and complicated.
Dear Lord, help each of us to notice the ordinary means by which you teach us how to live our lives and run with it. +Amen.
I enjoy certain blogs. I read several daily, and a few when they post more or less frequently, and I even enjoy the video blogging I watch on Youtube.
This morning I was reading Fr. Z’s Blog and ran across a quote from Cardinal Burke which I liked, so I am sharing it here:
“We as Catholics have not properly combated (the culture) because we have not been taught our Catholic Faith, especially in the depth needed to address these grave evils of our time. This is a failure of catechesis both of children and young people that has been going on for fifty years. It is being addressed, but it needs much more radical attention… What has also contributed greatly to the situation is an exaltation of the virtue of tolerance which is falsely seen as the virtue which governs all other virtues. In other words, we should tolerate other people in their immoral actions to the extent that we seem also to accept the moral wrong. Tolerance is a virtue, but it is certainly not the principal virtue; the principal virtue is charity… Charity means speaking the truth. I have encountered it (not speaking the truth) many times myself as a priest and bishop. It is something we simply need to address. There is far too much silence — people do not want to talk about it because the topic is not ‘politically correct.’ But we cannot be silent any longer.”
Raymond Card. Burke
He is correct. I need to blog more. Maybe nobody will read what I write, but I don’t think it is so much my job to worry about that, but to do what I am led to be doing.
Dear Lord, please grant us each the graces to do what we are meant to be doing. Please help those who are confused to open to Your grace and offer their work to you. +Amen.
Each spring home school parents all over evaluate the past year. Last year we did a curriculum change in the middle of the year because the one we were using simply did not suit the child using it. I loved the curriculum and had used it successfully with other children, but the current student not so much. End of year found us unhappy with the skills development in other subjects as well. New Year, New Curriculum and a few outside programs are the result. We even thought about the public school and a Montessori school. As there are a couple weeks before school begins, those options remain open!
I picked up a math curriculum that comes with videos of a teacher teaching each concept called MATH U SEE. Mine love using the computer, so we will be doing math class via screen time and the exercises using manipulatives. One child will be enjoying a math concepts class at the home school center too. If this doesn’t boost the math understanding we will sign up to test for learning disabilities.
I hope to find a co-op with a math class that fits as well. A co-op can be an asset to the homeschool family.
What is a co-op in home school? It is a group of parents who have come together to help each other teach. Often the co-op is anchored by a parent who has the knowledge of advanced math to teach the older students. The parents offer what they do well to each other as a sort of barter system. Coops usually meet once a week and in between families continue to work at home using whatever curriculum they have chosen.
I used to be the kind of home school mom who had no interest in coops, but recently I find myself seeing how one could be of benefit to my children. Especially in math.
I’ve a Brave Writer conference coming up too. I am educating myself to better educate my children.
The Brave Writer language arts materials are awesome! I love how it is based on a routine for learning rather than a schedule. This is very much a home school pattern for learning. This is a learn about reading by doing sort of program. Copy work yields skills development aimed at making children proficient in language for their own use.
There are online Brave Writer Classes and Brave Writer videos. The videos are also searchable on youtube. The videos are for mom, to encourage and inspire. They are really really GOOD.
Brave Writer isn’t just for home school though. It would be excellent for families using the public and private schools who want to boost their language arts with at home enrichment. The routine can be applied after school as a good positive time with mom, dad, grandma, etc.
Dear Lord, Thank You for all the options for teaching our children. Please help all parents to choose well for themselves and their families. +Amen.
THE best time of my life–EVER! I attended my first Vent Haven International Ventriloquist ConVENTion.
I was privileged to meet several famous ventriloquists. Here is one of the photos of me with a famous ventriloquist–Darci Lynne Farmer this kid is fabulously good and won America’s Got Talent. She performed at the conVENTion and was on a panel with several other ventriloquists.
I also got to meet Jimmy Nelson. My toy ventriloquist figure was a Danny O’Day. I was totally in awe!
We had a huge group picture, and that link broke so I am unsure how I can show it here! I am in the far far back, near the guy with the large green dragon puppet. Up front is Jimmy Nelson holding his puppet, Danny O’Day, and his wife next to him is holding Farfel, his dog puppet. I got to MEET him! Such an incredible honor, the number of great ventriloquists who credit their success to his encouragement and his recordings of how to do ventriloquism is huge. In many ways he is the father of all the ventriloquists who teach their craft.
The classes were filled with so much information I only caught part of the total. Amazing!
The shared performances amazed and entertained. The mass of talent represented in that photo is incredible.
The conVENTion is a fund raiser for the Vent Haven Museum. The museum is completely dedicated to the art and puppets of ventriloquism. If you are into puppets, dummies, or even dolls, this is one museum you really do not want to miss!!
Did I ever share the link to the course I not only took but continue to repeat so as to keep improving my ventriloquism? Learn-Ventriloquism. If you ever wanted to learn, this course has been worth every CENT I paid for it and more.
I’ve always loved puppets, from Captain Kangaroo’s Moose puppet with the ping-pong balls, to the Muppet Show on PBS, the passion was there. I failed to catch on to ventriloquism when I had my first toy dummy, but the desire stayed with me. My professors for education courses finally told me, no more class projects with puppets! And my apartment’s dining table was my workshop for molding heads for marionettes. I did my best but the kids that looked could still see my lips move.
Now, years later, I’m learning lip control and improving my breath control. I have two hand puppets with distinctive voices and personalities, and my one “hard figure”, which means the traditional dummy with the jaw that works from a lever, who has the best voice and well developed back-story and personality. I performed at one of the general open mic nights and got laughs. Wow, now THAT is addictive!
Dear Lord, Thank You for all these gifted people and for this conVENTion. Please bless them all and give us excellent lip control. +Amen.
Education of our children is a major concern of parents. We are our children’s first and primary teachers and have the responsibility before God to give our children the education they need to grow into good Catholics and good citizens. This weighs heavily on me every fall as I look at the new curriculum I have chosen and ask myself if I chose rightly. Home School is ever-evolving and I with it.
I have a teaching degree and classroom experience, but I have home schooled far more years than I ever spent teaching anywhere. I love it, the challenge and the freedom. As a teacher, the freedom to make every decision for my school is intoxicating. The huge museum in a nearby city is having a special exhibit? Pull out the planner, write in the day you will take the kids and go, then start preparing them with books at their level, and email the homeschool list the date you are going in case others would like to join you.
Home School is rarely done alone. We network, talking in person and through the computer, encouraging each other. I worry about the slow reader and my experienced homeschooler friends share stories about their own slow readers and how well they have turned out. One points out that you don’t have to enroll in the school system to request an evaluation for learning problems. Another shares the name of the private specialist they paid to test their son. Home Schooling families work to help each other succeed.
This year we will be participating at the Community HomeSchool Center, and I have enrolled my older two in classes that I think will be good for them. I feel we need more community support than we had last year. The CHC is community. They exist to support parents and to provide services, like classes for children with special needs, and hands on science exploration. Two will be signed up for the hands on science which will save me having to collect the supplies for experiments and will supplement what we do at home. The younger will be taking a child oriented cooking class, while the older will be taking a supplemental class in math concepts and reading skills.
I’m still looking at co-ops.
I think we are going to have a very good year.
Dear Lord, Thank You for all the dedicated teachers in public and private schools, and thank You for all the parents who home school. Please bless ALL the teachers and their students. +Amen.