7 Quick Takes on Wednesday, May 18 prom edition

~1~

Where to start?  This week was incredibly busy for this quiet, stay at home (well, I try)
homeschool mom.  First, most of the week was filled with thought of preparing for homeschool Prom.

This was Meg's second dance with this homeschool group, but her first ever with an escort (a friend) and her first ever Prom.  Gosh, it seems like just yesterday I was having my picture taken with Dh for his Prom.  It really seems like yesterday.

 

~2~

 Meg also took and passed the test to get her driver's permit..so she can begin behind the wheel training.  We had to go to the DMV for this.  Pressure was high, for Meg to pass it the first time, because I was not a fan of having to go back...

~3~

Demi-Sky tested for his yellow belt at the Pa Kua studio.  Saturday was the belt ceremony.  I was so proud of him. 

Again, where has the time gone?  It wasn't long ago that he was my chubby little toddler.

the different belts being awarded that day, kind of exciting.

~4~

Back to prom...it was a pretty comical scene, the boy's mom also had a nice, big SLR camera and we were like these dueling moms...taking all these photos.  At least having her show up with a nice camera made me feel less over-the-top....!

~5~

Another Prom thought...so we had to get the dress, alter the dress, matching shoes, nail polish...get her ears pierced!  (because her friend bought her sweet earrings to wear to prom) take her to get her hair done...wew!  On my way back, late- from getting her hair done (by a niece who is in cosmetology school -score!) I had this thought...

"I need to call my sister-in-law and congratulate her on having 4 boys."

 ~6~

Non-Prom..but still Meg related:

We survived the homeschool Physical Science class (Biola Star Program) Science project.

Barely.  I shudder when I reflect that we will have to go through this many more times.

 here is Meg working on her display board the night before. Fun, fun, fun times....

 ~7~

I am gearing up for next homeschool year, looking at what we will use next year- I've already ordered a few things used...score!  Saving money makes me happy! :)

How is your week coming along, bloggy friends?  Hope it's awesome!

7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted by Conversion Diary, you can link up yours there :)

7 Quick Takes, April 24

~1~

I forgot it was the annual home & garden tour for our neighborhood last weekend. It made trying to drive out and in, very interesting and slow.  Envision hordes of people walking slowly all over.  One street is closed off for vendors.  I've never actually toured any of the homes, you have to buy tickets.

 ~2~

We had Spring Break this week.  Unfortunately, the whole week was cool and overcast.  We even had rain!  Not the weather for the beach-going I had planned.  Instead, we headed out to the Irvine Spectrum, rode the giant Ferris Wheel and then hung out at Barnes & Nobles..naturally!

~3~

Josie has branched out into wood-burning.  She drew this dragon on paper first, then transferred it to this piece of wood Sky cut out for her.  Sky then taught her how to use this wood-burning tool.  She is learning as she goes.

~4~

I made stuffed bell peppers ( like this recipe, but with chopped up bell pepper from the tops in the meat plus garlic & cheddar cheese instead of american)for dinner this week.  It's a memory I have from childhood, I remembered it as being pretty yummy.  True to my childhood memories, my children only ate the stuffing and ignored the bell pepper.  I think next time I will make the peppers only for Sky and I and just pile the kid's stuffing around them..less waste.

~5~

I've decided to buy Switched on Schoolhouse next year for Science for the littles and High School Health for Meg.  I'm having a hard time clicking the 'buy' button though. Their materials are 20% off during April.

 ~6~

On Thursday, we went to the swanky bowling alley nearby and I treated the kids to the lunch and bowl deal.  They had a yummy lunch and bowled 1 game.  Lots of fun!
 

~7~

And last, I have to leave you with the original Veggie Tales "The Bunny Song"..because it is what we think as we eat chocolate bunnies.  For any parents who want to make the screaming smiley face after hearing it..there is a new and improved version, too!

7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted at Conversion Diary

Welcome ~ The Ultimate Blog Party 2011

Welcome to my little spot on the internet :)

This is the week for the Ultimate Blog Party 2011 hosted by 5 minutes for Mom.

My name is Jenn.  We are a So. California homeschooling family.  You will notice that we have 4 children, but I am homeschooling 5.  Our friend Teddy, age 11- homeschools with us.

Our children are Meg- age 15, Josie- age 14, Demi-Sky -age 11 and Amie - age 9. (no, these are not their real names) Sky is my husband and best friend.  He is a building inspector, a woodworker, and an artist with construction-type things.  He happens to rock the whole jeans and steel-toed boots look ;)

Emma is our 2 year old Labradoodle, and practically perfect in every way... I am so glad she is part of our family!

I am a wife, mother, homeschooler, blogger...I love to read, I would rather walk than run- and procrastination is the thorn in my side.  I love Jane Austen, diet coke, ** all things carb, dark chocolate and Jars of Clay.  Right now, homeschooling is my biggest hobby/interest/vocation...it's not just a job, it's a way of life..er, something like that...

I blog about our family life, our homeschooling, books I read, my struggle to finally get organized... Our homeschooling is pretty eclectic in nature, I use a variety of materials and curriculum and I write about them/review them here.

Sit down and visit a while, there are tabs at the top you can click, and a subject cloud in the sidebar.  You can read about ** why we homeschool, ** our faith,  **my hair-brained miss-adventures,  
** our trips.

We love living in Orange County, California- and yet, we long for a bit of land.  This longing expresses itself in our mini-forays into urban home~steading.  We currently have 4 hens.  You can read about their love of treats here* and about a hen's view of a rock- on- day- here*

Leave a comment, I love making new friends!

the cat: totally deserved it

I struggle with myself sometimes about how much to share on the ole' blawg.  Some stories involve other people.  

I am unsure of how much to reveal, how would they feel if I expose their weaknesses? Would they laugh along with us- as I poke fun at them..or would they feel laughed at? is it fair?

My nemesis: the cat:  Totally open season, I've decided.

You can read about our dance of anger here* Dear Family

• and here: A day (and night) in the life of a homeschool mom

(I'll wait till you click back..) 

 In a nutshell, if you resisted clicking-we have this routine, the cat & I- of his relentless begging for food all evening>me intending to throw him out when I finally go to bed, and then> I go to turn out the lights and get detoured from putting the cat out, because he will certainly be found curled up in angelic, cozy pose.  I relent, and do not toss him out.

exactly 40 minutes after my head hits my pillow, the cat will begin meowing for me to either let him out or to -yes...feed him [again].

Monday morning- at about 4 a.m. all of Orange County was awakened by crazy/heavy rain and thunder.  Now, we don't get much weather here, so a thunder storm- beside being a novelty, is also a treat.

Sky and I, the dog, and 1 or 2 children rushed to our huge front living room window (I love this window, my favorite thing about my house)  We opened the blinds to watch the huge storm,

and saw this: 

There stood our cat, Oliver- pressed against the glass, trying not to get wet..with a terrified look on his face that seemed to say:  "Let me in!!!!!"

Totally deserved it.

He had done his meowing thing again, after I had gone to bed- and I escorted him out and then locked the dog door.  Sky came up with that- it's very logical.  And linear.

I let him in.  After we all laughed at him.

 Here is Oliver, on his cat tree, in front of the same big picture window.

Wet cats shouldn't meow loudly. er, he who meows last will weep wetly...

something like that.

Mom wins

The End.

Shamrock Shakes -make at home

 Tuesday we headed out to the park after our studies were done.  It was a beautiful day in So. Ca. The kids, Emma-the-wonder-labradoodle and I went to the park to enjoy the day, the playground, and to walk.  We picked up Shamrock Shakes on the way.

Shamrock Shakes are a really good memory from my childhood.  I love passing on this St. Patrick's day tradition to my kids.

Yum :)

 Shamrock Shakes X 5 kids = ouch, however.  

I decided after this splurge, that maybe we should try making our own at home for St. Patrick's Day.

Home-made {easy} Shamrock shakes

2 cups vanilla bean ice-cream

1 1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon mint extract 

4 drops green food color

(doubled this to make enough for my crew) I put a banana in the first batch to make it healthy...but decided you could taste the banana too much.  It was still good, but not the same Shamrock shake taste I was going for.

The taste verdict:  Yum!

The homemade version of Shamrock Shakes was a hit.  We will for sure do these at home next year.

And happiness reigned in homeschool land

The End.

making the paths straight

We sat, my son and I, across from each other at the table: dissatisfaction rolling like waves off of him; simmering anger rolling off of me.  

I pondered the air of spoiled, ungrateful-entitlement he projected, trying to put a lid on the angry indictment I wanted to rain down upon him.  

I knew it might relieve my feelings temporarily to verbally put him in his place...but I  instinctively knew I would miss changing his heart.  

So we sat.  The son of my heart and I.  Facing each other from two different places.  He; self-absorbed, entitled, ungrateful and victim with a capital 'I'.  Me: slapped in the face at his spoiled attitude, hurt by his ungratefulness, incredulous at his sullenness. 

The conversation and attitude that preceded went something like this...

He: "I don't want to skateboard today, can't I go sit at the bookstore, read and get a hot chocolate instead?"  Me: "no, skateboarding is p.e. and Teddy really looks forward to it, it would be boring by himself, you are his friend, you need to get out there."  He: "did you bring us a snack?" [full accusation in tone, he knew I did not]  He: "can we at least get donuts afterward?"  He: "will you take us somewhere later?"  

This was all with an air of accusation/dissatisfaction.  Spoiled much???

I wanted to reach his heart, not teach him to hide his feelings.

I didn't know how to accomplish it.  So we sat, at an impasse. 

I still haven't come up with a magic answer.  His father's was -more work-plenty of it, and throw out the wii.  The wii is off limits except on Saturdays now and we are adding in more work.

This whole scene left me thinking about his/my/our relationship with God.  This week in our devotional reading we read Isaiah 40:1-3  "...make clear the way of Jehovah; make straight in the desert a highway for our God."

Our hearts are not straight, they are full of crooked places, mountains, pits, weeds.  Our hearts (both my sons and I) are crooked and rough in places.  My job, as his parent, is to help him smooth out those rough patches and to help him make his heart a smooth highway for the Lord to pass through.  

This verse ran through my mind. "For he knows we are but dust and that our days are few and brief" (Psalm 103:13-15).

Also, this verse had heavy weight with me; "He will feed his flock as a Shepherd; in His arm He will gather the lambs; in His bosom He will carry them.  He will lead thoe who are nursing the young." Isaiah 40:11

Christ as the shepherd cares for his flock through his ruling and correcting.  He is leading us on the right way, adjusting us as we need it- and His leading/correcting/adjusting is neither too fast or too slow, but it's at the pace of the flock He shepherds- this includes the pace of the lambs [the young] and those nursing the young.  He gathers the very young, who cannot keep up, in His arms.  What a beautiful reminder as a mother, given a flock to shepherd for Him- to keep to the pace of my young, and to gently lead them into straight places.  

The shepherd is so gentle and gracious to me, over and over.  How can I not be likewise?

7 Quick Takes, Saturday Jan. 29

~1~

We gave Demi the Lego Minotaurus board game.  Lego has come out with a line of games that are made up of legos (of course) but you play & build a game with it.  We read the story last year of King Minos and the Minotaur during our study of ancient Greece.  I love when fun and homeschool collide!

 ~2~

I took Josie to a cat show last Saturday.  During one of our journal writing assignments, she wrote that if she had a whole day to do whatever she wanted- that she would go to a cat show.  I was kind of expecting a day at Disneyland, swimming with the dolphins...those sorts of things.  The cat show was such a simple request, of course I had to take her to one.  Sky found one in San Diego, 

so Josie and I made a day out of it.  

Doesn't this kitty look a bit curmudgeonly?  

Or extremely ticked to have been put in the basket?  I had to snap a photo!

 ~3~

there was a cat agility trial aspect to the cat show...

um, they weren't.

The cats were a bit traumatized by all of the noise, and tried to hide.  The couple that did run thru parts of the course, had to be enticed with wands with feathers on the end.  A dog will learn the course and do it with joy, but a cat has to be bribed.  

 ~4~

I went out and purchased the book Nourishing Traditions.  We have a friend who stays with us for Bible Conference (when we are lucky!) and she cooks very healthy.  She makes these oat pancakes that we just love, love, love.  They are in this book, so I went out and bought it, really only for this recipe.  I am hoping to find other favs, too.  This oat cake recipe has you soak the oats overnight in a water/yogurt mix- so the grains are more easy to digest and better for you.  I like them with blueberries, cinnamon and a smidge of nutmeg.  

~5~

Our poor hen, Annabelle went through the harrowing experience of being "fetched" by our neighbor's Labrador Retriever.  This dog is named Roxy, and she is a trained hunting dog.  She seems so lonesome all by herself much of the time in her backyard, so our neighbor gave us permission to bring her over on occasion for play-dates with Emma.  We usually lock the hens in the garden while the dogs play, but they can get out.  Annabelle wandered out and was promptly fetched by Roxy.  Poor Annabelle was much frightened and covered in drool, and she lost many feathers before I could rescue her.  Roxy was having a time getting a good mouthful.  Lucky for Annabelle, Roxy has a "soft mouth" and is very well trained.

 ~6~

Speaking of cooking healthy, I tried out this recipe from Spirittibee for her falafels - I am not a good cook, but I really need to expand my offerings...so, I thought this sounded good and yummy.  After looking at the recipe, I knew Sky would not eat it for dinner without meat in it...so I added a pound of ground turkey, and it was wonderful!  Sky didn't pour hot sauce on it, which is an indication of success....he asked for it to be kept on our menu line-up.

~7~

more beautiful weather today, I spent the afternoon cleaning windows and our front porch, and then I went out to buy some poppies like our across- the -street -neighbor has.  The photo in my header is of our neighbor's poppies, looking back toward our house.  Every year I say I want to try to grow poppies like his, but I never do.  This year will be the year!  I purchased three plants, but will have to wait till tomorrow to plant, by the time I got home, it was getting cold out.  I bought some seeds, too- I'm going to try planting seeds and plants. 

How was your week?  I hope it was grand!!

*7 Quick takes is hosted over at Conversion Diary

7 Quick Takes Friday, January 14

~1~

We finally took Demi-Sky and Teddy (my bonus student) to try out a martial arts class. They loved it, and I loved how hard the instructor worked them!  He had them running/jumpin/ducking and doing push-ups.  This is going to be really good for them :)

~2~

Amie has been very close this year to a little girl here from Holland while her parents attended Bible College.  After a 2 year stay, they went home this week.  We had dinner with them one last time.  I am so sad for my little girl, Amie bonded very quickly & deeply with Cathelyne. 

~3~

We've had some wonderful Fall-ish- crisp days here in So. California.  We took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the park.  The kids played dog relay (good exercise for them and for Emma the wonder Labradoodle!) and then tag on the playground.  

P.E. - homeschool style :)

~4~

We also hit the skateboard park this week.  This is p.e. for the 3 youngest.  Here is Teddy getting his gear on. I love my iphone, I love being able to capture the everyday- even when I do not have my 

big camera with me.

~5~

I've joined up with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. Here is my

1st of 52 book review for the challenge. You can go to the 52 books in 52 weeks website to join up! You can join up at any point.

~6~

We had a sudden change in weather & temperature today.  It's been pretty chilly lately, and during Christmas it was rainy.  Today, we had the Santa Ana winds run through- and they bring warm, dry temperatures with them.  Today it hit 83 degrees, whoo-hoo!  The wind knocked down hundreds of these ping-pong sized spiky balls from our sweet gum tree.  They are a hazard to step on, they can roll under your foot, and the spikes are painful to the dog and hens. I love the tree though, despite the prickly balls...it is very beautiful in the Fall and Spring.

~7~

Our Sweet gum problem was the perfect opportunity for "more work, and plenty of it!" -this is good for the building up of a boy.  I sent Demi & Teddy out to rake and sweep them up.  I've said it before, I love having minions!   Kidding aside, I do think productive work that benefits the family - is a good thing for boys...get them out doing physical labor that they can feel good about.  

I hope your week was wonderful, bloggy friends! 

*7 Quick Takes Friday is hosted over at Conversion Diary