Homeschooling with Chronic Illness

I've been out of work for two years now because of my chronic headaches and frequent migraines. During that time, I've taken over the homeschooling responsibilities for our children. I've learned quite a bit during the last couple of years, so I thought I'd try to distill it down to one blog post. I have realized that these tips are really appropriate for life, parenting, and homeschooling.

1. Pray, then pray some more, then pray some more. I have found that praying helps to settle me down, keeps me in line with God's will, and helps me focus on what's really important.

2. Understand and accept your limitations. This does not mean to wallow in self-pity or lie around moaning and groaning. It does mean, though, to accept that you may not be able to work at the level that you did before. In my case, I used to work and average of 8 to 10 hours per day seeing patients, working in the hospital and nursing home, and delivering babies. Now, I need more sleep. I need to rest and relax during the day. When I have a bad migraine, I become pretty unproductive. By knowing myself and learning what I can and can't do, I don't overschedule me and the kids. This makes us all happier!

3. Adjust expectations. I had always thought that, if I was the stay-at-home homeschooling parent, I would be working hands-on with my kids several hours every day. We would go lots of interesting places and do really cool things. We would work together to keep a wonderfully clean home. In reality, I have had to learn not to expect so much from myself. On a really good day, the kids and I will have a couple of hours reading together or doing an experiment. On other days, I spend an hour or so with each one helping them on core subjects. On bad days, we watch movies and the kids work independently. But, now that I know what to expect, I don't stress that our current homeschooling doesn't look like my dream.

4. Set reasonable goals. This probably goes under adjusting expectations, but there are a few other things I have learned about goals in homeschooling. Before we do an activity, I ask if the activity will help us meet our homeschooling goals. I try very hard to avoid busy work and assign things that keep us moving forward. My goals for my kids are end-points of learning. So, a math goal might be to "become proficient with fractions" not to "finish the math workbook". If one of the kids is going quickly through something, I'll skip some assignments. If they need more help, then we slow down.

5. Take care of yourself. I have learned this the hard way. It doesn't do anyone any good for me to do something that will likely trigger a migraine. The whole family is better off if I take my regular breaks and keep our schedule manageable rather than try to go really hard for a few days and then be completely useless for several days when I have a bad migraine.

6. Use technology wisely. My kids use the computer for Spanish and typing. I also have Wild Man using time4learning.com. The jury's still out on how useful it is, but I'm happy to give it a try. I'm also planning on using an on-line program to help Ga'Hoole Girl with her writing. We also use some electronic devices for math fact review. DVDs are a big part of science and history for us. We have a Netflix subscription where I get science and history documentaries as well as relevant historical (and other) movies. Sometimes, we watch educational things on TV. Did you know that Mythbusters can be science?

7. Limit media. Sounds a little like I'm contradicting myself? Let me explain. We use technology when it helps. Otherwise, I don't let the kids watch TV or play video games indiscrimately. The rule in our house is that the kids can earn 30 minutes of media for every hour of math or language arts workbook work that they do. They can earn an hour daily. The nice thing is that even if I feel bad on a given day, they can earn their media. Most of the Wild Man's playtime is spent now with Legos, cars, and other toys. Ga'Hoole Girl enjoys computer programming, playing outside, and making things (food and crafts). So, there's a balance. If the kids get too much media, their behavior and attention span get atrocious. But, I don't mind some media. And, our system works well so far.

8. Don't compare. This is can be a real killer. I get to feeling really inadequate when I go to other people's homes and see that their houses are perfectly clean and their kids are so involved in zillions of activities. It's important to remember that God has called me to take care of my children in the best way that I can. So, it's OK that my house isn't clean. It's OK that my kids are doing the activities that they're doing. We don't have to be the "perfect" homeschooling family for my kids to get what's best for them.

9. Plan, but be flexible. One of the problems with homeschooling while having an illness is that plans seem to go awry regularly. And, I'm a real planner. In a perfect world, I would have a detailed schedule every day that we would follow to the last detail. I used to schedule my study times in college and medical school and loved it. Now, I start the day with a plan and have to change it halfway through because my headache gets bad. Or, I don't make any plans and I feel great and am left flying by the seat of my pants. The lesson I have learned here is to make overall plans, but be flexible about their implementation. We use Sonlight curriculum which comes with weekly schedules. I put this information into the lesson planning portion of Homeschool Tracker Plus and then can make daily schedules based on where we are in the curriculum. So, if we have a really slow day, I just move some assignments to the next day. The main thing here is to have an attitude that allows flexibility. It's OK to not do everything on the piece of paper! Really!

10. Enlist children's help with housework. We've had our kids help around the house since they were little, but I've really stepped that up in the last two years. They do most of the bathroom cleaning as well as the straightening up and sweeping. They can both make their own breakfasts and lunches and clean up (although they have to be reminded to clean up - big shock!). I'm teaching them to cook dinner as well. (When I don't feel well, one of them cooks either a frozen pizza or a Schwan's meal.)

Our life isn't perfect and I still don't have the homeschooling thing all figured out, but we're enjoying the process. I hope this helps you on your journey.

Reading Frenzy!

On our recent trip South, we visited my brother and his family. My brother has a bunch of books that looked interesting and that he let me borrow. I'm in Heaven! Right now I'm working on Black Rednecks, White Liberals by Thomas Sowell. A couple of the books are relatively lightweight conservative political fare, but a few are more in-depth social commentary (like the Sowell book). I'll probably have some reviews up in a week or two.

Our Quest

One of my regular readers (OK, maybe my only one!) emailed me to ask if everything was OK since I hadn't blogged for a couple of weeks. I felt so loved!

Actually, though, my lack of blogging has been because our family went on a quest. "A quest? What kind of quest does one go on in 2008?" you may be wondering. Well, we have been reading the Dragonkeepers series of books (by Donita K. Paul - reviews coming soon) as a family. In addition, we have been listening to Eragon and Eldest. Both of these book series are about characters going on quests. We had a trip planned to see Mr. Math Teacher's and my families down South, so we decided to make a quest out of it.

Ga'Hoole Girl got creative and make Questing Books out of paper and fabric. She had three books and made one for Wild Man. The kids both packed questing bags which included things like binoculars, Questing Books, and mp3 players (don't ask). They were ready to go!

When we got into the van to get going on our trip on Wednesday the 13th, the kids found a letter from someone who had previously done our trip and found some dragon eggs. She included a diary of her trip, but it was in a coded alphabet. The kids had to decode the diary based on the locations that we passed on our trip. We had two days of driving, by which time the kids had completely decoded the diary. This was important because the last page of the diary was at my parent's trailer and it had to be decoded before the kids could find the dragon eggs or dragons. So, they decoded it and walked out on my parent's property to find their dragons! (The eggs had hatched while we were driving, apparently) We got back to the trailer and Ga'Hoole Girl proceeded to explain to my parents the difference between Western (European) and Eastern (generally Chinese) dragons - she has a book on dragons. Too funny!

After the dragons were found, we spent the rest of the trip visiting family. We spent time with my family then went to visit Mr. Math Teacher's grandmother, who is 93 years old!! While we were down South, we also got to have plenty of seafood, including boiled crawfish (despite the fact that it's not really in season yet). Then, we took another drive to visit my brother and his family. The kids had a great time playing. Wild Man is two years older than his cousin, E. They had a blast playing boy things together. Ga'Hoole Girl taught E to play the Zelda game that he has. Ga'Hoole Girl is a Zelda maniac! But, mostly, Ga'Hoole Girl played with her 8 month old cousin, J. It was really fun to see her playing with him. Overall, we had a great time and were really glad to see so much of our family at once.

The one downside was that I had three bad migraines on the trip. We were going to leave on Thursday but decided to leave on Wednesday because a big snowstorm was coming and we didn't want to get caught in it. Of course, I then developed a migraine Tuesday night making packing a real adventure. I had two more migraines on the trip, but I did have the advantage of being with family so I didn't have to worry about cooking or cleaning. Now that we're home, I'm having "withdrawal" headaches. The house is a disaster! But, we are glad to be home. And, I'm sure I'll get around the cleaning eventually. I've got three weeks of blogging to do, so I should have some new stuff up in the next few days.

Cables and More!

One of my goals for this year was to learn to knit cables. Well, I did it! I learned by making wrist warmers for Ga'Hoole Girl. Then, Wild Man wanted a pair, so I found a masculine pattern to make a set for him. They turned out great! Wild Man's wrist warmers were started with blue yarn, but I had to finish the last little bit with some variegated yarn since these are some of my projects to use up leftover yarn. It's also nice to try to use up old yarn because the projects are small and only take a few days each!



I also tried my hand at "entrelac", a knitting technique that has sections of knitting running at different angles. My sister-in-law was doing some of it a few years ago and it was just gorgeous. I found a fun pattern for a hat/wide headband on knitty.com so I tried it out. It was wonderfully fun and downright addictive. The technique really isn't all that hard. The difficult part is figuring out where to do which type of stitch. Otherwise, it's just knit, purl, increase, decrease, and pick up stitches.












My next project is a vest for Mr. Math Teacher. I'm using a cotton blend yarn so it will be cool. If it works out, then Wild Man wants one. Ga'Hoole Girl loves the entrelac piece, so I'll be looking for some yarn to make her one.

Reframing

I had an appointment today with my counselor. I also had a migraine. Last week, I actually cancelled my appointment with her because I also had a migraine, but today's was not that severe. My counselor likes to talk about "reframing" things - looking at something negative in a positive light. During our visit, I talked about how today was a "knitting day" because of my migraine. My counselor said that this was a good way to reframe the migraine. So, now the migraine days that were so awful are "knitting days" which aren't so bad since I love to knit!

But, Mom, he's nocturnal!

At about 10pm, I went to upstairs to bed and heard Wild Man in his room playing. I knocked and looked in to find him on the bed with Monkey (a little stuffed monkey) sitting in a toy that was pretending to be a car. I told Wild Man that he needed to get to sleep. Then, I told Monkey that maybe he needed to come downstairs sometimes during the day to play so that he didn't keep Wild Man up so late at night. Then, Wild Man looks back at me and says (so sweetly), "But, Mom, he's nocturnal!"

Physical Therapy

One of the things that my doctor and I decided to try for my headaches was physical therapy. I had been to therapy several years ago for some leg pain, so I already knew one of the therapists. In fact, she became my patient and I delivered her lovely children. So, I'm back to seeing her twice a week again. So far, she has me doing neck stretches four times daily. I have been good at getting it done two to three times per day. I've been trying to integrate it into scheduled prayer times.

I've had neck traction twice. I don't think that has really done much. My PT said that if it works, she'll arrange for me to have a home traction set. We'll see. The soft tissue massage/trigger point release does seem to help some. My neck and head feel a little better after she's done with that.

We're also trying a TENS unit on my neck. This is pads stuck on my neck, hooked up to a little device that sends mild electrical pulses to my neck muscles. There are a number of theories on how it works, including endorphin release and the gate-theory of pain mechanism. In any case, this does seem to help. It's not earth-shattering, but I am getting a little relief and using less pain medication. I can use it for an hour at a time then take a thirty minute break from it - so I don't get tolerant to it.

Two weeks of physical therapy under my belt, and things are looking a little better. Every little bit helps.

Reviews - January 26

More book and movie reviews for your pleasure and interest.



Beyond Megachurch Myths - What we can learn from America's largest churches by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis
This book is a refreshing change in the conversation about megachurches - churches with over 2000 members. The authors start by discussing the "scale and scope" of megachurches in our country. The main part of the book is debunking ten common myths about megachurches. One of the things that I like so much about this book is that their conclusions are based on research - surveys of church members and staff taken over the last ten years. At the end of each chapter, the authors discuss how a church leader (pastor or elder) might be able to use the information from the chapter to positively affect their own church.

I don't attend a megachurch (and I never have). Of course, part of the reason is that I live in a rural area. But, our church has been influenced by large churches such as Willow Creek, Saddleback, and Mosaic. I'm not part of church leadership, so I don't have an opportunity to use the information in this book in a practical way, but I did learn a lot about megachurches and their culture. I also learned that there are things going on in megachurches that all of us can learn from - especially their focus on evangelism. I encourage anyone involved in church leadership to read this book - not so you can try to make your church "mega", but so you can see what some churches are doing successfully to reach their communities for Jesus.


The Dawkins Delusion by Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath
I read this book largely because I have enjoyed reading other pieces by Alister McGrath (as well as listening to some of his lectures). This book is a Christian response to Dawkins' The God Delusion. I haven't actually been able to read anything by Dawkins because he gets me so annoyed within the first chapter! I am a little hampered in reviewing The Dawkins Delusion since I didn't ever read The God Delusion, but here goes anyway.

This is a short book - just four chapters. But, the McGraths' stated goal is to critically deal with the main ideas that Dawkins addresses in his book. It is quite successful in this endeavor. The McGraths point out that there is no attempt to try to deal with every single point in Dawkins' book. He apparently misuses evidence quite often, but that is not the point of this book. The McGraths want to deal with the major ideas - and they do this very well. The book is short, clear, easy to understand. The authors deal with ideas and evidence and do not degenerate to speaking negatively of Dawkins himself - just his ideas and use of information.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who takes Dawkins seriously or anyone who wants to be able to respond to radical atheists like Dawkins. It's easy to read but quite good.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This is a Sonlight read-aloud (and Newbery Medal winner) that we did early because of scheduling issues. It doesn't "fit" into any of the time frames that we're studying so it worked well to do it out of order. To give you an idea of how much we enjoyed it, let me say that we spent almost two hours on this book today to finally see how it ended.

This is a mystery story that revolves around the will of an eccentric millionaire. The sixteen heirs are given clues to play a "game" - the Westing game - to find out who will inherit the money. The book is a rather slow start - mostly because we were still trying to figure out who was who and what in the world was going on. By the fourth chapter, we were hooked. After every chapter, we stopped and analyzed what we had learned and tried to figure it out. Our family got some of it right, but overall, the ending was quite a surprise. I very highly recommend this for families with children over about age 8 and for middle school up to read independently.

"It's My Homeschool and I'll Cry if I Want To!" by FunnyMoms
This is a wonderful videotape of a presentation done by a group of homeschooling moms. They have some little drama segments, but the main part (and funniest) is the music. Oldies music is adapted with new words to describe the trials and joys of home education. My favorite had to be the title piece, though. It's obviously a take on "It's My Party" and is a laughing look at the emotional ups and downs of homeschooling. Unfortunately, this tape is no longer for sale. But, if you have a friend that owns it, borrow it now and watch. You will laugh and laugh!

"Persuasion" by Masterpiece Theater on PBS
Masterpiece Theater is doing a series of movies based on Jane Austen novels. I love Jane Austen, so I had to make plans to watch these movies when I heard about this. Most of these movies are newly done (except for "Pride and Prejudice"). "Persuasion" was very nicely done. The main character, Anne, was well cast. This version (compared to the 1995 version) was also easier to follow. There was quite a bit from the novel that had to be cut and edited, but it was easier to follow this movie than the previous. That being said, the ending wasn't quite as dramatic or satisfying. Overall, though, it was quite good and I highly recommend it.

"Northanger Abbey" by Masterpiece Theater on PBS
Another of the Jane Austen novels. Again, this was much better done than the previous version that I had seen. It was quite well acted and enjoyable to watch. Overall, this was my least favorite Austen novel, but I did enjoy the movie. The main character was well acted - she did the part of a country girl on her first trip to the city quite well - not overdone.

"Mansfield Park" by Masterpiece Theater on PBS
Another Jane Austen movie. I didn't enjoy this movie nearly as much as the previous two. First of all, there really wasn't much time for character development as I would have liked - and they kept in quite a lot of characters. Second, the characters were simply not as compelling. The main character, Fanny, is pleasant, but doesn't really draw the viewer in. If you are an Austen fan, you should watch it. If not, you may not enjoy it as much as the others.


Addendum - I have taken to reading the Jane Austen "follow-up" novels. Right now, I'm reading Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoli. Check out my reading list to see the others that I'm working on.

I Had a Dream

No offense to Dr. Martin Luther King is meant by this title. Dr. King's speech "I Have a Dream" is an inspiration and is based on his dream of a colorblind society.

My dream was different. For one thing, I have given up on my dream - which is good because it was self-serving and based on unhealthy cultural aspirations. I'm learning about setting my dreams aside and allowing God to give me new dreams. Let me tell you about my dream and then the reality.

The dream: A persistently clean house.
The reality: A messy house the vast majority of the time.

The dream: A perfectly decorated neat home.
The reality: My home - half painted, generally strewn with books, but full of love.

The dream: Children who are always clean and wear matching clothes.
The reality: Children who have to be reminded to shower regularly and wear clothes for less than three days in a row. Children who have to be reminded to wash their clothes.

The dream: Children who are self-motivated to keep the house clean and do their schoolwork.
The reality: One child who will do schoolwork and explicit chores but is not inherently neat and another child who requires threats to do his basic chores and minimal schoolwork. In other words, real kids.

The dream: An integrated literature-based curriculum (Sonlight) where the children learn most subjects through reading great works of literature in a historical context without the use of workbooks except for math.
The reality: Sonlight curriculum for Bible and History which we do at a slower than scheduled pace supplemented with workbooks for math and language arts and computer curricula (Time4Learning.com) and supplemental audiobooks.

The dream: Hours of sitting on the sofa reading to my children and discussing great and deep ideas.
The reality: Minutes of sitting on the sofa reading to my children with short discussions of moderately deep ideas.

The dream: A full schedule of extracurricular activities so people can see how well "socialized" my children are.
The reality: A slower (and slowing) schedule that allows the kids to grow and play and spend lots of time with me and with each other (and no worries about what others think about "socialization")

The dream: Children who are outpacing their peers in all areas of academics.
The reality: Children who are smart, love to learn, and who are doing OK in academics (frankly, I'm not real sure how to compare them to other kids, which is good).

The dream: A detailed schedule of the day's activities which is followed carefully.
The reality: A schedule that is determined 30 seconds before the activity.

The dream: Well-behaved, pleasant children who love God and love others.
The reality: Reasonably well-behaved wonderful children who love God and love others. Kids who take care of their mom when she has a migraine. Kids who can't wait for their dad to get home. Kids who care about other people.

The dream: Homeschooling like in the homeschooling magazines.
The reality: Homeschooling the way God wants our family to homeschool - which is like no other family!

Chronic pain is work!

I have been seeing a counselor about my pain and we are working through an excellent book. So far, we have discussed strategies to relax and to distract myself from pain. I am also keeping meticulous records on my pain, eating, activities, sleep, etc.

Yesterday was my first physical therapy appointment. My therapist (with whom I have previously worked and whose babies I delivered) gave me a bunch of exercises to do and then did some soft tissue massage on my neck and head. So, today, my neck is incredibly sore. My therapist did remind me not to do the exercises too strenuously at first because I don't want to precipitate a migraine - so far, so good.

With all this work on trying to manage pain, I've been frustrated with trying to work with the kids. Actually, I'm doing as much with them as before, I'm just spending more time actively doing things for my pain instead of laying around in pain. But, I've been concerned about keeping up with curriculum, etc. So, I signed up Wild Man for time4learning, which is an online curriculum. We're just going to use language arts and science right now with maybe some math to supplement what he's working on. What I like is that it will read the science out loud to him. So far, he really likes it. Ga'Hoole Girl is doing lots of stuff independently. My goal is to do history/geography and Bible regularly with both kids and reading daily with Wild Man.

And, my counselor and I have been working very hard on my perfectionism and need for productivity. I've been doing some reading in the Bible to try to sort out the Christian response to work - how to not be idle without being a workaholic. And, how does this work for someone with pain issues? More on that later. Right now, it's time to do my exercises again.

Human Beings NOT Human Doings

Check out Jess' blog over at Making Home today. She has a great post about focusing on being Godly women with less focus on achieving and productivity. This is something I've been thinking about quite a bit recently, although I haven't written much yet. As I get some of my ideas a little more clear, I'll write them here. In the meantime, take a look at what Jess has to say - it's good stuff.

Naming our home

We're listening to The Deathly Hallows on audiobook this week. For you Harry Potter fans, you remember that Rowling names several of the homes in her books. Most prominently, the Weasley home is named "The Burrow". But, Bill and Fleur's home is named "Shell Cottage". In the spirit of things, I have decided that we should name our home. I'm thinking "The Bungalow". Our home is pretty small and is one and a half stories, so I think it meets criteria for a bungalow. Maybe, we could call it Main Street Bungalow or The Bungalow on Main, although I think those sound like the names of B&Bs. Have any of you named your home? What are your thoughts?

COLD!

Yes, I know that since we live in the "Great White North", I should expect cold weather. But, I'm having a hard time getting myself revved up to go outside now that it is -15 degrees F. But, Wild Man is singing in church with the rest of the kids, so I really need to go to church. I guess the question is how much do I love the kid? Well, that's an easy one - so, I'm all layered up and ready to go.

The really crazy thing is that there is going to be a football game at Lambeau Field this afternoon - even though it is going to be in the single digits. Maybe it's not so bad for the players since there are heaters on the sidelines, but the fans who sit out there in this frigid weather are just nuts!

Addendum: I just went out to start the van. As a friend of mine says, "It's a real nostril-freezer out there!" Indeed, it is. Even with a scarf over my face, I ended up with icicles inside my nose. After less than five minutes. EEK. What a day! And, Ga'Hoole Girl has an audition this afternoon for an Honors recital. Guess I'll stay all wrapped up.

Employment!!

Mr. Math Teacher finishes his student teaching at the high school at the end of January. He has been offered a long-term substitution position in the same school starting the first week in March. He will be teaching classes for a teacher who is going on maternity leave, so he will probably have the classes for the rest of the school year. This is really exciting!! It's not a "real" job yet, but it's certainly great that he has some kind of work even though it's the middle of the school year. Hopefully, this is the beginning of s wonderful new career for him.

Knitting Mania - January 15

I haven't done a knitting update in a while, so I thought I'd share with you some of my most recent projects. Knitting is great for me because I can do it when I have a headache and it helps to take my mind off my headache (unless the pattern is really super complicated!).




Here are the sweaters that I made for Ga'Hoole Girl and Wild Man. I used the same pattern for both. Wild Man chose the blue and green yarn and told me how he wanted the hood and sleeves the same color. The hood is a little too small, but he likes it and won't let me redo it. Ga'Hoole Girl wanted hers done in chenille yarn, which is pretty and warm, but is very hard to work with using the size 5 needles that I needed. Anyway, hers is the pretty purple sweater.

I have recently started felting. This involves knitting an item in 100% wool in a much larger size than I want, then felting it by putting it in the washer with hot water and some jeans for extra agitation. I made slippers for several family members for Christmas this year in addition to a pair for myself. I have also started making soda can holders.

I also knitted a new bathmat. We had some lovely flannel sheets that we got about 10 years ago, and the fitted sheet got really worn out. So, I cut it into strips and knitted it in a checkerboard pattern using my really large needles. It turns out that it is the perfect size, matches perfectly, and is wonderfully soft on the feet.

My current projects are learning to do cables. I got some fun patterns from MagKnits. I am currently working on a set of fingerless gloves with a cool cable pattern for Ga'Hoole Girl. I'm also trying a vest for Mr. Math Teacher.

Birthday Boy

Happy Birthday today to my dear husband, known to all of you as Mr. Math Teacher. We did our celebration yesterday since he has worship practice tonight. I made his cake yesterday while the kids did schoolwork but then let the kids do the decorating. Here's the picture:

Ga'Hoole Girl had the wonderful idea to put mathematical equations on his cake. So, since he's 41 years old, we wrote "Happy 82/2 Birthday". Then, she made up five equations, the answers of which add up to 41. Those are the other equations spread around the cake. We really had a fun little celebration and we are all thankful to God for giving us such a wonderful husband and father!

My Day - 1

This is my entry in the Homeschool Day in the Life challenge at Writing and Living. I also enjoy reading about what other people do in their homeschool days. The problem, of course, is that I then worry that we're not doing "enough" or the "right" things. I'm getting over that now, though.

Wednesday

8am - I wake up and stumble downstairs for Coke Zero and leftover spaghetti (usually I have toast and cheese, but I had a hankering for the spaghetti). I have a migraine - it's not looking like a good day.

8:30-9 - The kids wake up and drag themselves downstairs. After about 10 minutes on the sofa, I get them to get up and eat breakfast and do chores.

9:30 - I have the kids get started on math and language arts, which they do independently. They work for about an hour without too much trouble, although Wild Man is getting frustrated with bar graphs and I'm not up to getting him all the way through it today.

10:30 - I read to them from Augustus Caesar's World to try and get past Week 12 in our Sonlight curriculum. Then, we have our prayer time (normally we do our Bible reading at this time, but we're way ahead on that). Next, I have the kids go over the books of the first half of the Old Testament - we're working on this instead of a verse this week.

11:15 - Ga'Hoole Girl works on her computer programming while Wild Man practices piano.

11:30 - Lunch time. The kids are supposed to get their own lunch, but things don't work out well today. They get into a "play" argument at 11:45 and I send them to the stairs for a few minutes. Then, I have them finish getting lunch in silence. (Yes, I can be a little crabby when I have a headache.)

12:00 - We start getting ready to leave for reading lesson and piano lessons. We leave at 12:15. Despite this, Ga'Hoole Girl forgets her piano bag.

12:15-1 - Drive into town for lessons. We have been listening to Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince on audiobook.

1-2 - Reading lesson for Wild Man. Ga'Hoole Girl works on her new science book (Apologia's General Science).

2-2:45 - Quick stop at the big library. Ga'Hoole Girl can't find anything she likes, but Wild Man gets a Pokemon movie - yippee. I, of course, come back with 4 books. Thankfully, I had returned about seven books.

2:45-3:45 - Piano lessons. Ga'Hoole Girl works on math and science during Wild Man's lesson. Wild Man and I read about lightning during her lesson.

3:45-4:45 - Drive home and continue listening to audiobook. Stop at the small library here in town for me to pick up some books that I had on hold.

5-6 - I bribe the kids to wash dishes because of my headache. I tell them that they can each earn an extra half hour of media. They're thrilled. My dishes get clean.

6-7 - Ga'Hoole Girl and Wild Man make a Schwan's dinner for the two of them and I have leftovers.

7-8 - The kids play and I read.

8-9 - We watch Mythbusters until about 8:30. Mr. Math Teacher gets home at 8:15 and the kids really want him to read, so they turn off the TV so he can read DragonQuest (by Donnita K. Paul).

9-10 - I read and talk with Mr. Math Teacher.

10 - I go to bed!


I'll try to post another Day in the Life in a few weeks since we don't really have a "typical" day.

Schwans

My mother was very good about making sure me and my brother were prepared to live on our own when we moved away from home. I could cook and do laundry well before I graduated high school. In fact, I'm a pretty good cook and I usually enjoy doing it. But, cooking has become a bit of an issue over the last couple of years. With trying to school the kids, I often have less time than I'd like to cook. I also have lots of days where I have the time to cook, but I don't feel at all well. The answer for me: Schwan's.

Schwan's is a company that makes lots of different frozen foods and delivers them to the home, twice a week in my case. The first time I saw their catalog, I thought, "Why would I buy this stuff when I can make it myself for a lot less money?" Now I know. I buy Schwan's to save me time and still give my family a good meal. For example, tonight we had tortellini which I seasoned with olive oil and spices, and a mixed vegetable dish that I just cooked for 10 minutes in the skillet. I have three cooking/serving dishes to wash. When you compare it to a home-cooked meal, it definitely cost more. But, since the actual alternative is eating out or getting take-out, the cost is pretty reasonable.

Between my good old crock pot, my new pressure cooker, and Schwans, I hope to be able to give my family a good, balanced dinner most nights of the week. And, even if I don't get to a full shopping trip, the Schwan's delivery comes every other week. Yet another adventure in my life of domesticity.

Painting - with kids

When I painted the living room and sunroom, the kids were spectacularly uninvolved - by their own choice. The only thing that they did was tell me whether or not they liked the colors. But, now, we are painting Ga'Hoole Girls room. The first thing to understand is that painting in this house is not a short-term deal. I only have about one or two days a week in which I feel well enough to paint, and I'm not ready to let the kids paint alone. So, we plan on painting being a long-term project. In this case, Ga'Hoole Girl and her best friend painted 1/4 of a wall about six months ago. Since then, the room has been an unpleasant yellowish color with 1/4 of a wall a lovely light purple.

On Tuesday, I felt pretty well, so we decided to paint. The kids wanted desperately to use the paint roller. So, Ga'Hoole Girl painted most of one wall with the roller and did an admirable job. My task was the edges, which I enjoyed. Wild Man painted with a brush for awhile and then got his turn with the roller. The good news is that he got lots of paint on the wall. The bad news is that Ga'Hoole Girl and I had to go after him with wet paper towels to clean up all the paint he dripped on the baseboards. But, he had fun.

Another reason we don't paint often is that I want to be in a pretty good mood for it. I want the kids to enjoy their painting time, even if we have to do lots of clean up. And, especially in their rooms, I'm far more interested in developing our relationships and making good memories than having a perfectly painted room.

We only got 1/2 of Ga'Hoole Girl's room painted this week. Next week, we'll touch up the areas that we missed on this side of the room and then move everything to the other side of the room to paint.

Ga'Hoole Girl is a true artist. Her room is going to be a light to medium purple color except for the top six inches all the way around and the wall by her top bunk. Those sections are going to be a deep indigo color. Then, she's going to paint glow-in-the-dark stars on the indigo. She has a gauzy rainbow colored curtain all ready to hang around her bunk bed so that her top bunk can be a reading getaway. It's going to be very cool - and artistic - and colorful.

Pain Management

After almost two years out of the workforce, I can't say that my chronic headaches are any better. My doctor and I have decided on a pain management plan to help me deal with things a little better, though. We aren't changing any of my medications, although we'd like for me to use my as needed medications a little less. I am working with a Christian counselor on pain management using a book called The Chronic Pain Care Workbook. So far, I have been keeping records about my pain, my activity, my diet, medication use, etc. I am also going to be setting some goals very soon. The idea is that we will try to come up with some techniques to manage my pain (and fatigue and sleep disturbance, etc) over the next several months to a year.

In addition, I'm going to go to physical therapy and see if they have any techniques that they can offer. One thing that I have never tried is a TENS unit. I'm also going to see if they have any exercise ideas that may help.

My counselor and I are trying to get me to be more active, as well. This weekend at camp, our family did cross-country skiing for the first time and we all loved it. Well, I didn't love the falling down part too much. But, the actual skiing was really fun. But, I was soooooo sore until today. There are some places around here where we can ski, so we're going to try it out this weekend. If we really get into it, we might see about buying some second hand equipment so we can go to the state park to ski. In any case, I think we have found a winter activity besides the treadmill that I like.

I'll post occasionally as I go through this process. I'm also doing this as I'm working through some stuff about spiritual disciplines. I think that learning to do regular times of prayer, meditation, and silence may also help with my pain issues.

Books, Libraries, Reading

I have developed a great love for libraries in the last few years. I have always appreciated them, but I generally preferred to purchase my books. But, now, I don't have the money to buy all the books I want to read, and I don't have the room to store them. So, I use the library - and I've found many advantages. Since we homeschool, we use the library quite a bit for books for the kids. But, now, since I'm home and use reading as one of my distraction techniques from pain, I read lots and lots. I have always loved to read, but I didn't have much time for pleasure reading when I was working. Getting books from the library allows me to read books from all kinds of genres. I also don't feel obligated to finish a book that I don't like since I didn't buy the book.

I like the feel of libraries. It's so quiet and calm in there - like we've left the busy world behind. I also like the look and feel of books, especially old books. I used to spend hours in the LSU Middleton library just looking at old books and magazines, particularly Life magazine. Our regional library has a great online catalog so I can place a hold on a book that I may have read about that I want to read. There is also a "New Books" shelf where I can check out books that look interesting.

A couple of weeks ago, there was an interesting comic strip in the newspaper. It was "Opus" by Berke Breathed (of "Bloom County" fame). In it, Opus is given a new e-book for Christmas - a device where he sits and reads the text on a screen. The other character tells him how this is the future of reading. For a couple of panels we see Opus reading his new e-book with his eyes getting wide as the light from the device shines on him. Then, in the last panel, Opus has gone back to "real" books and he is curled up in an armchair with popcorn, a drink, and a good old-fashioned book! I have that taped up on my desk right now. I love "real" books.

Dr. Mohler's recent blog entry discusses the decline of reading in our society. I share his concern. Reading is an important skill for everyone. But, being able to decode words is not all that's important. People need to be able to read for information. But, we also need to be able to understand the ideas put forth in writing and be able to deal with those ideas - to compare them with other ideas and formulate our own conclusions based on the information.

As a homeschooler, this is less of a practical concern for me and my kids. We go to the library several times per week. Our curriculum is literature based so that the kids are always reading challenging books and being read to. Even Wild Man, with his dyslexia, is reading daily at his reading level (I am concerned because he doesn't like to read, but I think it's just because it's still so difficult for him). We also use audio books. In addition, my kids see me and their dad reading for pleasure and for information, something that's also important to help kids develop a love of reading.

I also agree with Dr. Mohler's stance that reading is particularly important for Christians. Our faith is based on the person of Jesus Christ, but the tenet of our faith are written in the Bible. Literacy is extremely important for Christians to be able to understand the gift that God has given us.

Unfortunately, literacy in all areas of society appears to be an issue. Mr. Math Teacher finds that he has kids in middle school and high school who do not read adequately for their grade level. How can we help? In our own families, we must promote reading as an important skill to be learned, but also as a fun leisure activity. Schools have to be serious about children learning to read. Churches can also help by providing literacy classes for adults and providing after-school help for students. Individuals can help friends and family members with literacy activities. Our community has extra help for kids after school at the local library.

Somehow our society needs to get away from our utter dependence on television. I'm not completely opposed to TV - I love my History Channel - but so many people are getting all of their information from the TV. I think we can blame a number of our social ills on our need for media. Books require patience and attention. TV allows us to get information in 30 minute segments. Books take us in depth. TV is far more shallow.

I'm not going to be able to solve this issue for all of society, but I can influence my own home. To paraphrase Scripture: As for me and my house, we will read.

Reviews - January 7

Here's the latest installment in my book and movie reviews.



Christmas in Harmony by Philip Gulley

This is a delightful little book about a Christmas in a small town from the perspective of the Quaker minister. We get to see the joys and trials of the pastor and his wife when one of the parishioners comes up with the idea of doing a "Progressive Live Nativity" where the observers go from one house to another to see the whole Nativity scene. It is a funny story with sweet moments as well. I think we're going to have to do this as a read-aloud starting next year.



Christianity's Dangerous Idea by Alister McGrath

Alister McGrath has done a masterful job in describing the history of Protestantism and discussing the future of the movement. McGrath tells us that Protestantism is based on individual Christians being able to interpret Scripture for themselves and that this is the basis of the Reformation. But, this one idea did not just lead to a denomination competing with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches - it has lead to many, many denominations. The first third of the book shows the history of the movement from Luther, Zwingli, Hus, and Calvin to the present.

The second third of the book is a discussion of the manifestation of Protestantism: what are some of the variations of belief within Protestantism? what are some of the variations of practice within Protestantism? how does Protestantism relate to culture, both cause and effect? The last third of the book discusses the future of Protestantism, with an emphasis on Pentecostalism and the Global South.

This is a lengthy book - over 500 pages - but I strongly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in church history. It was helpful in understanding where many of our "Protestant" traditions started. The discussion of the Church in the Global South was also quite strong. McGrath discusses the history of missions and how that has affected the shape of the church in the developing world. He also shows how and why Pentecostalism is making such strong inroads into the developing world. I came away from this with a strong feeling that I know far less about Christianity around the world than I thought I did. So, read this book and be prepared to learn a lot!





Charmed Knits by Alison Hansel

Ms. Hansel has compiled a wonderful set of knitting patterns based on the Harry Potter books and movies. I actually checked this book out from the library several months ago after I saw it on the new books shelf. I then strongly hinted to Mr. Math Teacher how much I would like it for Christmas. Lo and behold, I got it for Christmas! I am currently working on making some Dobby socks. Ms. Hansel has patterns that include "Weasley Sweaters" based on the sweaters that Molly Weasley makes for her kids every Christmas, wizard robes (lots of yarn for that!), an Invisibility Shawl, Quidditch sweaters and socks, House scarves and hats, and elf hats. I'm going to have fun working my way through this book.



Hadassah: One Night With the King by Tommy Tenney

I saw the DVD several months ago and reviewed it favorably. The book and movie are really quite different, but I love the book at least as much as the movie. I think it's best to look at them as completely unrelated entities. The book is the story of Queen Esther from the Bible. Tenney makes the character of Esther (Hadassah) accessible and likable. The plot is believable and keeps moving. I had a hard time putting the book down. Tenney also helps to understand some of the things in the story of Esther that always confused me. For example, why did Esther invite the King and Haman to dinner one night and then again for a second night? Why didn't she just tell the King the first time? Read the book and you'll see why - at least this author's explanation. I very highly recommend this for older teens and above. There is a little bit of sexual content (albeit not explicit) that makes it problematic for the younger set.



The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

You may have heard of "The Secret" - the book and DVD. Apparently, Oprah has talked about it on her show. It's supposed to be quite the rage in some circles. What is "The Secret"? It is a Secret that will lead you to wealth, happiness, and fulfillment. What is it? It is the Law of Attraction. According to this author, you attract to yourself what you think about. As you think, your thoughts are transmitted to the Universe, and the Universe sends to you the things that you think about. So, according to this, like attracts like. If you want to be rich, you need to have thoughts about getting money. Same thing about health, happiness, success, etc.

Are you thinking that this sounds too good to be true? Well, it is. And, it's based on a completely faulty worldview. This is your basic pantheism - there is no personal God, just "god" in everything. The Universe is just waiting to give you whatever you want. There's no explanation in this for evil or suffering. The Secret isn't there for you when you are sick or bad things happen to you because anything bad that happens is something you brought on yourself. There is some good in thinking positive thoughts, but the basis of this belief system are just wrong.

The truth: there is a real, personal God who loves us. There is real sin and evil in this world. God has defeated evil through Jesus. There is no "Secret" about this - just truth.





"Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World's End"

I really liked the first Pirates movie. I thought the second was rather silly. The third one is downright confusing. There are some good lines. Johnny Depp is wonderful as Captain Jack Sparrow. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are also very good in their roles. But, I had trouble sticking with the movie through the entire two plus hours. So, watch it for the great scenes with Johnny Depp, but don't expect much.

We're going to camp!

Yes, we're going to camp in the middle of winter. Crazy us. But, it sounds like a great chance to get away for the weekend and eat delicious camp food. We can also ride in a horse drawn sleigh, go horseback riding, snowshoe, cross country ski, and any other crazy snow thing that our hearts desire. Then, Monday night is the BCS championship game with LSU playing for the National Championship! Sounds like a great few days!

I Love My New mp3 Player!

Yes, I got an mp3 player for Christmas - not a fancy ipod, but a very servicable (and pretty blue) SanDisk. It turns out that everyone in our family got an mp3 player for Christmas - we're quite digital around here!

After a little false start, I have been able to get music from CDs, music from Rhapsody, and audiobooks from the library onto my new device. I'm sitting here at the computer listening to some classic Newsboys songs.

What I'm really looking forward to is that the kids can put on their headphones (the grandparents gave them around-the-ear headphones - not the expensive Bose ones, but nice nonetheless) while they do schoolwork and listen to music. Of course, I'll probably have to check that they're not listening to audiobooks while they're doing schoolwork - Wild Man would probably do it if he could get away with it! But, they are pretty acoustically insulated from the rest of the world when they have the headphones on, which is nice. Of couse, I have to wear ear buds so that I can still hear important sounds from the rest of the world - like kids asking questions, the phone ringing, etc. Then again, maybe I'll get some around-the-ear headphones, after all. I could stand to be acoustically insulated.

Mousetrap!

"Mousetrap! I wanted to play Mousetrap! You roll your dice, you move your mice, nobody gets hurt!"

Those of you who are Veggie Tales lovers (as we are in this family) will recognize the quote above as being from Bob the Tomato in "The Toy that Saved Christmas". Back when Ga'Hoole Girl was 3 or 4 years old, she would act out that section of the scene. She would turn upside down like Bob was in the snowbank and then say that line just like in the movie.

We now own the game Mousetrap - yippee. Wild Man got it from a friend on Christmas Eve. He wants to play it all the time. The deal with mousetrap is that the mice travel around the board, building a mousetrap the whole time. At the end, the players try to get each other on a certain spot and trap them under the trap. The trap is kind of like a Rube Goldberg machine. My kids love it, especially since they love the Mythbusters episodes where they build something like this.

Ga'Hoole Girl got a new Zelda game from her grandparents. She had requested it, so I sent the info to the grandparents. What I didn't realize is that this game, which has three games from the old Nintendo systems and a trial version of the first one for GameCube, is something of a collector's item. Ga'Hoole Girl is just thrilled with her new game. She and Wild Man have been playing frequently over the last several days. They're going to be in for a rude awakening next Wednesday!

A Tale of Two Adventures in Domesticity

It was the best of time, it was the worst of time . . . . Oh, wait. Wrong beginning. This Christmas season, I have had two polar opposite cooking experiences. I like the call the first one "The Tale of the Three Meat Thermometers." Perhaps not the catchiest title in the world, but it's descriptive.

The Tale of the Three Meat Thermometers
On the day after Christmas, we celebrated with a big Christmas dinner. I started up the turkey, like I do every major holiday. Now, I usually do a pretty good job with turkey - the white meat comes out moist and everything. After the requisite four hours of cooking, the meat thermometer hadn't moved a bit. I decided it was probably broken. Mr. Math Teacher had a meat thermometer on the grill, so he chopped it out of the snow and cleaned it up so I could use it. After another 30 minutes, the temperature was only 140 (was supposed to be 18). I had asked Mr. Math Teacher to go to the store and told him not to wait for the turkey since it was clearly not close to done. At the store, he picked up a new meat thermometer for me. By now, I was starting to suspect that there was a problem with thermometer #2. So, I put in thermometer #3 to find that the meat temperature was actually above 190. I made lots of gravy. I have no idea how moist the white meat is because we just all put tons of gravy over it.

The Tale of the Cool New Pressure Cooker
The next night, I decided to try out my new pressure cooker from my parents. We had some venison stew meat that we expected to have to cook for a couple of hours, so I decided to try a venison and barley soup. I browned the venison right in the pot - part of why this is such a cool toy! Then, I added some onion soup mix, beef bouillon, spices, and barley. After the 15 minutes that I tried at first, the meat was good, but the barley wasn't ready. After another 15 minutes, the meat was wonderful, but the barley was a little chewy (it's not pearled barley). After only 10 more minutes, the dish was ready. Wild Man looked at it with some trepidation, but consented to try it. He pronounced it "delicious"! And there was only one pot to cook. A happy family and minimal clean-up. Does it get any better than this?!

The three day Christmas

This year, we decided to make our Christmas celebration three days long. And it's only partly because I had a migraine on the 24th and 25th.

December 24th, Christmas Eve, is the day we did the religious celebration of Christmas. Mr. Math Teacher was at church for rehearsal then all three services (he plays bass guitar). Wild Man went with him and "helped" in the nursery (the children's director says that he wasn't causing problems). Ga'Hoole Girl and I relaxed around the house until time for church. We went to the third church service since Mr. Math Teacher had to stay the whole time anyway. After church, we each opened a gift and then Mr. Math Teacher read the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then, off to bed to await the coming of Santa.

December 25th, Christmas Day, was our gift-giving day. We got up relatively early - we actually had to wake Wild Man at 7am - and spent the next hour or so opening presents. Instead of working all day to clean house and cook a fancy dinner, we decided to spend all day playing with our new presents. [Yes, it was also partly because I still had a migraine, but we all liked getting a whole day to play without having to cook.]

December 26th, the day after Christmas, was our day to celebrate with a big meal. Our meal was rather simple this year, but delicious. We had turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, iced tea, and sparkling grape juice. It was a lovely meal.

I think we enjoyed our time a little more this year since we didn't feel pressed to get a bunch done in a short period of time. We still have until January 2 until we have to get back to "real" life. Until then, more playtime!

White Christmas!

One of the nice things about living this far up North is that we usually have a White Christmas. But, I think today's snow was a little much, even for "The Great White North". They are predicting that we will have 8-12 inches of new snow by the time this storm passes. Church was even cancelled this morning - not a frequent occurrence. But, we will have nice, fresh, white snow for Christmas.

Your Christmas Spirit Level: 75%

Your Christmas spirit is almost as big as Christmas itself. Christmas is definitely your thing. You celebrate Christmas with enthusiasm. You love every minute of the holidays. Your Christmas spirit is inspiring to everyone who runs into you during the holidays. You make everyone's day just a little bit brighter. And that's what the holidays are all about!

Do You Have the Christmas Spirit?

The Christmas Turkey

As of two days ago, our frozen turkey was moved to the refrigerator to thaw. Why is this a big deal, you may wonder? Doesn't everyone put their frozen turkey in the fridge a week early to thaw? Well, actually, no. I have not always remembered to thaw the turkey, so there have been several years (Thanksgiving or Christmas) in which I have been trying to thaw a turkey in a sink of cold water the night before I need to cook it. What a mess! And, we don't have a big sink that holds an 18 pound turkey any more. So, I am quite proud that Mr. Math Teacher and I remembered to put the turkey in the fridge this year!

The Christmas Dress

It's that time of year again - time to buy the kids dressy clothes. Now, you must understand something. My kids rarely wear dressy clothes. Our church is rather casual, so Sunday wear is just regular clothes, but clean. Wild Man did go through a period a few years ago where he really enjoyed wearing dress clothes, but now he tends to wear jeans since he's usually angling to go to a friend's house. Ga'Hoole Girl likes to wear dresses, but she's been growing so much lately that she only has a few dresses.

But, Christmas is different. Both kids are happy to dress up in fancy clothes for this time of year. The problem, though, is finding clothes. It's pretty straightforward for Wild Man. We picked up a shirt and pair of pants at Penney's with no problem.

The issue comes with Ga'Hoole Girl. She's 12 years old and is out of girls clothes. She is a size 6 in Juniors or Misses clothing. But, most of the Junior clothes are inappropriate or downright sleazy!! Not only do Mr. Math Teacher and I not want her wearing such things, but she doesn't want to wear them. So, how to find an outfit that is pretty, covers everything, but still stylish. I was prepared for a long, drawn out shopping experience this week, but was pleasantly surprised. After a quick stop at Barnes and Noble, I said, "Let's stop over here at Dress Barn and see what they have." Ga'Hoole Girl really wanted to go to Coldwater Creek, but that's in the mall and their prices are much higher. But she agreed to Dress Barn. And, would you believe it, she loved the first thing we found - and it fit! She got a black velvet skirt with a flared bottom and a silver and green sweater. Can you tell that I'm thrilled?! No more Christmas shopping. We're done. And, no trips to the mall!

My favorite blogs

Part of my daily routine has been to check out my favorite blogs, so I figured I would share them with you - several of them are linked on the side of the page. Now, you need to understand that I do not always agree with everything that is said by these bloggers. I am interested in a variety of viewpoints, so don't think I've become a 5 point Calvinist because I list a couple of reformed blogs. I hope you find some of them interesting as well.

1. Internet Monk - this is the personal webspace of Michael Spencer. He reviews books and blogs about various "post-evangelical" topics. Today's post, for example, is about how we need to be far less interested in whether other people are Christians and far more interested in how to be better Christians.

2. Writing and Living is written by another homeschooling mom. She reviews books, but also just writes about life as a mom. Her blog is really funny, too!

3. Making Home is another blog written by a homeschooling mom. Her posts are about theology, life, family, etc. Her posts can be rather challenging for me.

4. Crunchy Con is the blog of Rod Dreher, a fellow LSU alum and a writer for a Dallas newspaper. He is the author of the book, Crunchy Cons, which I recommend. His posts are usually about political and social issues. He posts several times each day.

5. Smart Christian is a site that contains all kinds of content for Christians. I usually read the main page which contains links to sites of social, political, and religious interest.

6. Thinking Christian is the blog of Tom Gilson. His articles are usually of religious interest. Check out his good set of articles about "The Golden Compass".

7. Old Earth Creation Homeschool is a blog by a homeschooling mom who is interested in teaching children science from an Old Earth Creation point of view. She lists useful links and articles. She is currently on hiatus because she is taking a class and involved in writing papers and taking tests herself.

8. The Evangelical Outpost is an evangelical blog (as it's name implies!). My favorite part is the "33 things" on Mondays, which is a list of 33 interesting links. Check out this weeks, particularly the first item, which is a YouTube video.

9. Dr. Mohler's Blog is part of Dr. Mohler's website. I don't always agree with his conclusions, but I appreciate his thinking about lots of social issues.

10. Challies Dot Com is the website of Tim Challies. Tim is a reformed thinker who writes on social and reformed topics as well as doing book reviews. Good site.

These are the ten that I check most regularly. I hope you enjoy the list.

Reviews - December 16

I have been on something of a kick on reading about 16th century England. I've already blogged about Innocent Traitor, a historical novel about Lady Jane Grey. That was what kind of got me going on this tangent. So, here are my current reviews:

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
I really enjoyed this book about Mary Boleyn, the sister of Anne Boleyn. The author took some liberties with the historical information. For example, Mary is believed to be the older sister of Anne, but the book says that she is younger. In addition, Mary was known to be quite promiscuous when she was growing up in France, but Ms. Gregory has Mary spending only some of her childhood in France and being much more virtuous than history suggests. But, the book itself is quite interesting and a real page-turner. The downside is that there is much s*xual content, not all of which was necessary to the plot. That being said, the plot itself is necessarily rather s*xual, being about Anne Boleyn. I recommend this book if you enjoy historical fiction and the s*xual content doesn't turn you off too much. It is certainly, though, an adult-only book!

The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir
Ms. Weir is the author of Innocent Traitor. This book, though, is an historical account of Henry VIII and his wives (she has also written other books about this time in history). The book is quite thick, but I finished it within about two weeks. It is absolutely fascinating. Naturally, there is lots of information about King Henry VIII himself. He is much more complex than I had realized, and was quite interested in theology. She also includes lots of other historical information about England and the rest of Europe.

The history of the wives of this king is also the history of the Reformation in England. Henry VIII established the Church of England during his lifetime, partly because of his desire to annul his marriage to Katherine of Aragon, partly because he wanted to consolidate power, but partly for theological reasons. Several of his wives had theological interests, which affected Henry and his rule. After Henry VIII died, Edward took the throne, and he was interested in Protestantism. After his death, though, Queen Mary was determined to make England Catholic once again. She executed so many that she earned the nickname "Bloody Mary". Elizabeth, though, brought England back to Protestantism when she took the throne. I learned from this book that much of Elizabeth's (and Edward's) education was from tutors who were interested in Protestantism - tutors that had been selected by Katherine Parr.

My favorite queens were Katherine of Aragon and Katherine Parr - and not because we share a first name! I appreciated that Katherine of Aragon stood up to Henry VIII. She believed that she was truly married to him and she refused to be bullied by him, even though she knew that he had the power of life and death over her. She also stood up to him because she wanted her daughter to be legitimate. Katherine Parr interests me because she was such a thinker. She actually had two books published in her lifetime - quite a feat in the 16th century! Much of her thinking was on religious topics, which almost got her into trouble with Henry VIII. She had a tendency toward Protestantism, but kept it generally secret until Henry died and Edward became king. But, she influenced Edward and Elizabeth toward Protestantism by choosing their tutors.

I thought this book was fascinating and would recommend it for anyone who enjoys reading history. It was well-written and interesting.

From The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
This is a book for children that the kids and I listened to during our recent vacation. The premise is that two children decide to run away from home (in the New York suburbs) and stay in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During their stay in the museum, they come across a mystery about a statue that they feel compelled to try to solve. The story is funny and sweet. We listened to it on audiobook, which was a good way to enjoy it. The writing is excellent, and the reading was also quite well done. I strongly recommend this for about age 8 and up.

Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange
This is basically Pride and Prejudice from Mr. Darcy's point of view. I absolutely loved it! It is a pretty short read, but very interesting. It is written as Mr. Darcy's diary entries from the time just before Mr. Bingley leases Netherfield until the first Christmas after his marriage. Ms. Grange does a nice job of getting into Mr. Darcy's mind. The additional plot that she adds is plausible and interesting. It all helps to develop Mr. Darcy's character. This is a must-read for any Jane Austen fan. Anyone who enjoyed Pride and Prejudice will probably also enjoy this.

My Nativity sets

I'm not a big one for collecting things, but I do collect Nativities. I just love all the different ways that people have come up with to remember when God broke into history for our salvation. So, what kinds of Nativities do I have? Here they are:

1. Plastic Nativity set that used to belong to my parents and that we used for many years when I was a child. Technically, it now belongs to my daughter.
2. Cloth mache and resin set given to me by my husband the Christmas that we moved up here.
3. Porcelain set that sets on a wooden base that I bought somewhere (that I don't recall).
4. Porcelain set with stable given to me by my mother.
5. Wooden set (2-dimensional appearance and very blocky looking) that I bought at a Pregnancy Center sale.
6. Plastic set bought for the kids as a playset.
7. Small resin set painted gold that my husband gave me one Christmas. We were staying at a local B&B for the night and the set was on the nightstand sitting on a mirror. I commented on how pretty it was, and my husband said that it was mine. He had set it all up!
8. Stuffed set with velcro on the bottom of the pieces with a stable/storage box given to me by a friend. This is not a toy, but a beautiful Nativity set.
9. Nativity Advent calendar which is cloth. The pieces have velcro on the back and there are pockets along the bottom. The kids put one piece on the top part each day with Christmas day culminating with putting Baby Jesus in the manger.
10. Beautiful blue nesting boxes, each with a lovely picture of part of the Nativity. I take the boxes out and stack them up, smaller on larger. It's quite interesting.
11. Nativity scene painted on a feather given to me by my mother.
12. One piece glass Nativity that I got at an arts and crafts sale.
13. Heartwood Creek Nativity Christmas ornaments that I purchased at a gift shop a few years ago.
14. Christmas windmill. This is a contraption that has three levels: the Holy Family and the Wise Men on the bottom, the shepherds and sheep on the second level, and the angels on the top level. There are candles around the bottom with blades around the very top. When you light the candles, the blades turn which makes the Wise Men, shepherds, and angels turn. The whole thing is made out of wood. My husband gave it to me for Christmas one year.

My mom has a Nativity that is carved out of a gourd - that is really cool. I'm always looking for new Nativities, although I don't have much room for display any more. But, it's a fun hobby.

Knitting as a cultural phenomenon

Check out this The Point Radio edition about knitting.

Recipe

Now, I don't post recipes very often because I don't do much adventurous cooking these days. That being said, Mr. Math Teacher and I watched Alton Brown on Food Network's "Good Eats" show. The particular show was about garlic, which I love, despite my Southern (and, prior to that, Irish and English) roots. He did a recipe called "40 Cloves and a Chicken". Yes, you cook a chicken with 40 cloves of garlic. Then, you serve the chicken with the garlic cloves as a side dish and the olive oil in which it was cooked as a dipping sauce for French Bread. The garlic cloves are soft enough that they can be spread on the bread instead of butter. Of course, you need to eat this with the entire family, or you'll be stranded in a room by yourself for the rest of the night (or week).

Here's the link: http://http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_16200,00.html

Enjoy!!

Commercials

We recently got cable again so that I can watch TV while I knit. This is really nice to distract me when I have my headaches. I mostly watch documentaries, although I will also watch movies and "Monk" when I can catch it. The kids watch documentaries and some movies with me. They're generally limited to less than an hour a day (unless there's a football game on).

My problem with watching TV is commercials. Now, I understand that their job is to convince me that I need to buy whatever it is that they're selling. I also understand that part of that includes trying to create in me a need that didn't previously exist. But, some of what they are trying to tell us is just nuts! Here are some of my least favorite commercial types:

1. Electronic educational toys - Now, the toys themselves are not bad things. My kids enjoyed several different types and did learn from them. But, the commercials strongly imply that your child must have these in order to learn and develop properly - and, of course, we all want our kids to read by age 3. If you tend to succumb to this type of commercial, remember that children developed (and continue to develop) quite well without having every educational toy on the market. Use good judgement and buy toys for kids to enjoy and don't worry that they are always learning - because they are, whether you plan it or not!

2. The mini-van that brings families together - with electronics. The one that comes to mind most quickly shows the entire family spread out around the house watching TV, playing computer, talking on the phone, etc. when Mom drives up in the van and invites them all to go for a ride in the van. The announcer then tells us about this great van that brings families together. But, they show all the family members in the van engaged in individual electronic activities. Dad is playing with the electronics up front, the kids are watching DVDs or playing video games. Only when they show how everyone can sit around the table in the back and play cards is there anything resembling family activity. My frustration is that they try to sell something that doesn't remotely bring families together by telling us that it does bring families together.

3. Commercials for upcoming shows. This is mostly a problem on channels like USA (which has "Monk") and Oxygen (which has an occasional good movie). I get very distressed when I have to actually turn the TV off (not just mute it) during commercials because of the s*xual content. Oxygen has some show about girls being bad with commercials that are just atrocious. It's especially bad when I'm watching with the kids! Ugh!

4. Commercials for prescription medications. Some of this is probably because I'm a doctor, but some of it is just common sense. For example, how is a patient to know whether Lipitor or another statin is the best for their cholesterol? Just because Lipitor advertises on TV! The same thing goes for sleep medications. My favorite is trying to explain impotence medications to my 9 year old son (who doesn't like me to say "have s*x" when we're discussing things like the Virgin Mary!). I think that the companies must just be trying to get people to discuss the idea with their doctors and then hope that their brand gets prescribed. For example, Lipitor is the most commonly prescribed statin, so just getting more people diagnosed with elevated cholesterol will get more Lipitor prescriptions. But, I'd really prefer if patients and doctors could make their own (relatively) unbiased decisions in this department.

OK, now for some good commercials:

1. Geico Insurance - I love the gecko, especially his Aussie accent. And, when I was considering and insurance change, I checked them out. (Didn't change to them, but my point is that the commercial was reasonably effective.)

2. The beer commercials a few years ago with the frogs. I don't remember the brand, so I'm not real sure how effective the commercial itself was, but it was funny.

I'm sure I'll think of more that I like later on. What do you think? Which ones do you like or dislike?

More Snow!

I really like snow - when I'm inside and it's outside. When we moved up here, I kind of thought that I'd take care of the job thing and Mr. Math Teacher would take care of the home thing, including all the snow issues. Well, now that roles are reversed, it appears that I get to take care of some of the snow issues.

For those of you who are Southerners - you know who you are - here's a little primer on how things work up here where it snows for several months of the year. After it snows, the snow plows come out and plow the roads. In big snow storms, the plows will be out during the storm clearing the major roads. We live on Main Street (which is also the route from the local nursing home to the hospital), so we get plowed pretty quickly. In the morning (or when it stops snowing, whenever is convenient), people come out and snowblow our driveways. There are a few die-hards who shovel (like our next door neighbors), but the rest of us prefer the gasoline fumes and ear-splitting noise of a big snowblower. But, after you blow the snow, you still need to shovel the walkways. And, if the snow plow comes by after you've already cleaned your driveway, you still probably have to go out again and clean the end of the driveway because the plow leaves drifts when it goes by.

So, for the 10 years that we've lived up here, the most that I've had to worry about has been to clean snow and ice off my car and to occasionally help Mr. Math Teacher by doing some shoveling. But, we had a couple more inches of snow Thursday night and Mr. Math Teacher has a cold, so he didn't get the driveway blown before he went to school Friday am. I wanted to let him take care of it after he got back from school that afternoon, but I knew he had a cold and leaving it for him would be crass, to say the least. Then, the snow plow went by, leaving a drift that the poor little Malibu would not be able to traverse. It was time for me to brave the snowblowing task!!

The first trick is to start the snowblower. Ours has an electric start, but it is still a little tricky. It is also self-propelling - but it tries to be self-thinking as well. Suffice it to say that I had my work cut out for me. I got the driveway and sidewalk blown with moderate difficulty. Then, it was time to clear the drift that the snow plow left. I had to do that with the shovel. Not too bad, I figure.

I may yet adjust to living in the Great White North. Even if I do prefer it when sitting inside with a cup of hot tea.

The Family Bed

We don't sleep together in one bed. No one would get any sleep at all!! When we were down South a few weeks ago, Mr. Wild Man slept with me most nights. Talk about a wild sleeper!

Two days ago, Mr. Math Teacher came home from student teaching very tired so he went upstairs to lie down. After about 30 minutes, I went up and lay down with him. After about 10 minutes, Wild Man came and lay down on the side of Mr. Math Teacher and curled up. A few minutes later, Ga'Hoole Girl joined us. For about fifteen minutes, we all four curled up together on our bed. It was a lovely time. It was too soon that we had to get up and get dinner on the table.

SNOW!!

The first snowfall of the winter occurred last night! We got about eight inches, but then we got some freezing rain and sleet as well. Thankfully, we didn't need to go anywhere last night. This morning, Mr. Math Teacher got out to snowblow the driveway. He got the part done that he needed in order for him to get to church. Unfortunately, I had left some Christmas lights on the front walkway (which we usually shovel, not snowblow) and Mr. Math Teacher decided to snowblow the walkway next. Suffice it to say that the kids and I couldn't have gotten out of the driveway to go to church even if we had wanted to this morning. The lights got all caught up in the augur of the snowblower. Thankfully, Mr. Math Teacher was able to fix it all this afternoon and blow off the other side of the driveway so I can get out tomorrow.

We watched Christmas movies and read books while we were snowed in. I made homemade tomato soup on Friday, so we ate lots of warm soup while we watched the snow fall. Does it get much better than this?