School Planning 2013-2014

So, I’m finally planning the school year. And I only have to plan for one kid this year. Pretty strange. I’m also having him do several courses that are pre-planned which will make my life easier. I already know that I’ll be gone for a week or so in September because my mom’s having a medical procedure done.  And we’ve been so busy moving into the new Knitting Nest location that I haven’t had time to even really think about getting books, much the less making lesson plans.

Here’s the plan (subject, of course, to change):

History

Sonlight Core 200 – World History since the Time of Christ (with the emphasis on church history). I’ve got most of the Core 200 books, and I’ve ordered the ones I don’t have. I’ve also ordered the student guide. I didn’t order the parent guide (which is now separate) because I’ve never actually used the separate parent guide. So, I saved a little money there.

Language Arts

Sonlight Core 200 – World Literature. I’ve got most of the literature books for the literature part of the Core, so I ordered the few that I needed. I also ordered just the literature student guide.

WriteAtHome – I signed up Wild Man for Comprehensive Writing 1. Rosie Girl did this course and got a lot out of it. I really like that the instructors learn where the student is at in writing with the first two writing assignments and then gauge their evaluations during the rest of the course based on their initial writing. I have high hopes for this course.

Easy Grammar Plus – This is the ultimate Easy Grammar book. Wild Man should be able to finish it in one year, but, if not, it’s fine if he goes over two years with it. This book covers all the grammar he needs in high school and it’s using the same style curriculum he’s used in the last couple of years.

Spelling – We’ll use the Spelling Power technique on the words he misspells in his writing assignments.

Bible (Old Testament Survey)

BibleMesh – We used this last year and I thought it was rather simplistic, but I think that was because I was breaking it up into very small pieces and not requiring much of him. This year, we’re doing all Old Testament. We’ll use the BibleMesh lessons along with their book overviews and some readings from the Old Testament. This course requires the most planning from me, but I think it will be good because it uses video and reading. I’m not sure how I’m going to have him write yet – paragraphs or answering questions.

Math

ALEKS - We’re going to continue with ALEKS, but we have to be more focused. Wild Man needs to do an hour of math every day in order to finish Algebra 1 and get through Geometry this year.

Spanish 1

K12 – I’m purchasing K12’s Spanish 1 course for independent study.  Wild Man used Rosetta Stone as a kid and wasn’t crazy about it, and Rosie Girl had such technical problems with the discs when she was using Rosetta Stone Japanese that I’ve decided to try another approach to Wild Man’s Spanish. Rosie Girl did K12’s Latin back when it was still PowerSpeak and did OK with it, so I’m optimistic about it for Wild Man.

Biology

Hippocampus – Hippocampus provides learning helps such as lectures and outlines as well as full courses for free on their site. Rosie Girl did World Religions last year using their site. Wild Man is doing Biology for non-majors (they also offer Biology AP). The course provides outlines and videos and is mapped to several major textbooks. I ordered one of the textbooks (only $25 since it is a few editions old!) today. There are several wet labs that they recommend that can be done here and they have several virtual labs online. The course is only 24 lessons (about a week each) so I’ll have time to add basic mammalian systems, including reproduction, and some dissections at the end of the course. The advantage to me, though, is that the main part of the course is already set and scheduled out. All I have to do is make sure Wild Man does the work and is learning.

Music

High School Band – He’s already had some summer band practice to get ready for Fall!

Youth Band and Worship Team at church

Private electric guitar lessons (probably)

Physical education

Walking/biking to and from school

Working for neighbor cutting grass and doing other yard work

Shoveling snow in winter

Well, that’s the  plan so far. We’ll see how things actually play out. Wild Man starts the last week of August so he’ll be finished the last week of May.

You can go to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers  and ihomeschool network to see what others are using for curriculum in their homeschools!

So how is your school year (homeschool or whatever) going?

 

Psalm 139

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³ For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸ Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

This section of Psalm 139 is one of my favorite passages of the Bible. The poetry is exquisite, but the words and message are even more beautiful.

The psalmist reminds me that I can’t escape God’s spirit. And why would I want to? I am fully known only by God. He has known me from the moment of my conception and He has supported my growth through my entire life. Nothing that has happened to me has been a surprise to God – not my headaches, not my work (or lack thereof), not my good days, not my bad days, nothing.

What a blessed thought – the creator of the universe is able to know me individually. And I can know Him. And it only makes sense for me to do what it takes to walk every day closer to God. He’s big enough to manage the universe and yet makes himself small enough to care about me. Amazing grace.

7 Quick Takes Friday–July 19, 2013

1. Central air conditioning!! They put it in today – after three days of heat indices in the 90s and 100s. I think I could stop the blog post here. That’s how significant air conditioning is to our lives this week.

2 Earlier in the week, we had one little window air conditioner trying to keep the downstairs from becoming an oven. We kept offering to read it the story “The Little Engine that Could” every night just to keep it’s morale up.

3. Rosie Girl and I have to go buy linens and other supplies for her dorm room in the next couple of weeks. Can I just go bury my head in the sand?

4. And Wild Man starts Driver’s Ed on Monday. Again, more head in the sand burying needed.

5. Two and a half weeks till the new shop location(The Knitting Nest)! The carpet was cleaned yesterday. There’s a little more painting to do. Otherwise, it’s just time to start moving in! Yippee!

6. I put a moratorium on house cleaning during this last week of super high heat (aka living on Hell’s doorstep). Now that we have air conditioning and I’m willing to do something besides sit in my rocking chair reading a book, I’m appalled at the amount of house cleaning I need to do in the next few days. Ouch.

7. Speaking of reading books, I got Inferno by Dan Brown from the library! Yes, it’s complete junk food for the brain, but who cares?!

What are you up to these days? Check out 7 Quick Takes at Conversion Diary to see what others are doing on these long summer days!

Faith: A Choice or a Gift

In some of the books and blogs I’ve been reading lately, the authors have talked about becoming agnostic or atheist because they are no longer able to believe in God or Christianity. They say they “can’t” believe.

What does this mean? Does this mean that they are unable to will themselves to believe somehow? Does it mean that the preponderance of evidence is so strongly against God or religion that their intellect will not allow them to believe? I’m not quite sure I understand.

Until a few years ago, I didn’t understand doubt at all. Faith was easy for me. It’s still not too difficult most of the time. There are times, though, when doubt creeps in and I feel like I have to make myself believe again. It’s almost like I could “not believe” if I became careless. Does that make sense. But, then, a few hours later, faith goes back to being easier for me. (It’s a little harder now than it was in my 20s, but it seems easier for me than it is for some people.)

So, is faith a choice that we make? Do we say that we believe in God even though we don’t understand and our intellect is pushing us away from it? Or is faith a gift? God gives us the faith that we need to believe? In that case, why would God give some people faith and not others? Is faith the part of the equation that we need to do in our spiritual walk? Or at least need to be open to faith?

I have far more questions than answers on this topic. I’m inclined to say that being open to faith is the step we have to take – even when our intellect questions things. That’s not to say that we overrule our intellect, but that we allow for the spiritual things to coexist with our intellect and see where that takes us. I think.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe in God? In Jesus? In Christianity? Is it easy for your to believe? Do you have to consciously choose to believe? Is faith a choice or a gift?

Random Thoughts on a Hot Summer Night

Central Wisconsin feels like Hell’s doorstep right now. It’s almost midnight and still 84 degrees outside. Yikes! But, the good news is that we’re getting central air installed in our house tomorrow. Right when the cold front comes through. Yes, I see the irony.

Our house is in a complete state of disaster because none of us have been doing any physical activity, including cleaning, in the last 4 days because of the heat.  And I’ve had a migraine for two days (although I got enough of a break this morning to go get my Botox shots – yay). I think Saturday and Sunday will be house cleaning days.

We get our new washer and dryer on the 30th. It’s currently the 18th. I last did laundry on the 13th. Can I wait till the 30th to do laundry again? Probably not. I think I’ll have to break down and do a couple of loads next week at the laundromat.

We also get a dishwasher on the 30th, but it needs to be installed by a plumber because our plumbing is ancient.

Those are my random thoughts at the moment. I have a few more serious thoughts that I might write about in a few minutes, hours, days, or weeks. We’ll see.

7 Quick Takes Friday–Fort Wilderness 2013

 

We’re home!! We had a splendid week enjoying God’s creation in the Northwoods. For today’s “7 Quick Takes”, I’ll tell you about 7 high points of the week. Be prepared, though, for more fun Fort facts in the next few days.

1. Wild Man loves archery and shooting. This year, he won the archery tournament for his age group – and also scored higher than any of the adults in the tournament. For his prize, he got a double scoop of ice cream!!!

2. Speaking of ice cream, I had more ice cream this past week than any one person should have. But, it was delicious.

3. For a special breakfast this year, Grandma and I went to Trapper’s Breakfast. “Jacques” took us on a walk out to Cranberry Point and told us about the history of trappers in Wisconsin. At the end of the walk, we found waiting for us staff members who were making french toast, bacon, and cooked apples. It was a yummy breakfast and lovely morning.

4. Rosie Girl spent her time playing her ocarina, guitar, and tin whistle along with making a leather journal cover. Basically, she was creative at camp, like she is at home.

5. We took Wild Man’s girlfriend with us this year. She seemed to fit right in with our family and enjoyed herself.

6. We went on the Loon Float, which is a boat ride on Spider Lake to see some loons (if they’re around – which they usually are) and learn about them from the camp biologist. It was a very pleasant afternoon excursion.

7. The speaker for the week, Kent Carlson, spoke about the Kingdom of God, which was very interesting and helpful.

I’m sure I’ll be blogging more in the next few days about camp activities and what we did and learned.

In the meantime, check out Conversion Diary and 7 Quick Takes to see what others have been up to!

Faith, Certainty, Doubt

I am a Christian. This means that I believe certain things about the world and about religion and God. But, I am not equally certain about all my beliefs. Sometimes, I doubt. Sometimes, I even doubt about the “biggies”, like whether God really exists or really cares about me. Thankfully, those doubts don’t come very often.

What is faith? According to the book of Hebrews, it is “confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”(NIV). Ephesians 2:8 tells us that our salvation is by grace and through faith, not from our works. Faith is from God, not something we muster up ourselves. But, in Romans, we are told that faith comes by hearing the word of God. So, it certainly sounds like we can put  ourselves in a better position to increase our faith by studying the Bible and hearing preaching.

I like to think about faith as believing that Jesus is walking right beside me even though I can’t see him. That fits well into my theme this year of “walking”. Some days, it’s easier to believe than others. Some days, I talk to Jesus, and I feel like he’s answering right back, either through Scripture or even things other people say or do. Other days, not so much.

There are some things in the Christian faith that I’m almost always certain about. (Note the almost. Some days are so hard that I’d probably beat Peter to denying Christ. Sigh.) Most days I can recite the Apostle’s creed with certainty.

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth:

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,

Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,

Born of the Virgin Mary,

Suffered under Pontius Pilate,

Was crucified, dead, and buried:

He descended into hell;

The third day he rose again from the dead;

He ascended into heaven,

And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;

From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost;

The holy Catholick Church;

The Communion of Saints;

The Forgiveness of sins;

The Resurrection of the body,

And the Life everlasting.

Amen.

And then there are things that I want so badly to be sure of. I believe God created the universe billions of years ago and guided biological evolution to get this world to the state it’s in today. But, I’m not enough of a theologian/Ancient Near East scholar to explain in detail why I can legitimately interpret the Bible in that light.

I really believe that God intended for men and women to be equal and to have equal roles in the church and that all of the Old Testament laws putting women in submission to men were a result of the Fall. Most of the time, I’m completely sure of this. But, not always.

And I’m never sure what I believe about end times theology except that I really don’t believe that God intended us to interpret the Bible using flip charts and trying to figure out the exact day of the Second Coming. I know God wants us to be ready and to live every day as if it’s our last.

What is Certain in my faith? Jesus. At the end of a three day long migraine, he’s still there. I pray, sing, read my Bible, and Jesus is right there. Yes, he’s saved me from Hell. But, mostly, he’s saved me from insignificance. He’s saved me from insipidity. He’s saved me from wallowing in my own pain. He’s saved me from myself.

What causes you to doubt? How do you handle these threats to your faith?

Book Reviews–June 30, 2013

Yep, folks, it’s that time again! Book reviews! I don’t promise any consistency in my likes and dislikes, so take it with a grain of salt.

Dating Jesus: A Story of Fundamentalism, Feminism, and the American Girl by Susan Campbell. I really enjoyed this book, but I felt like it was disorganized and scattered. I realize that memoir isn’t held to the same linear standard as autobiography, but this book was more confusing than I would have liked. But, I enjoyed it. As spiritual memoir goes, this was a pretty good one. B

The Dressmaker: A Novel by Kate Alcott. The story of Tess, an apprentice to Lucille Duff Gordon, is told against the backdrop of the events of the sinking of the Titanic. When controversy erupts around Lady Duff Gordon, how should Tess respond? Fascinating book. A

The Shadow of the Titanic by Andrew Wilson. After I read The Dressmaker, I got on a Titanic kick, so I read this book. It really is fascinating to see how clearly the class lines were drawn one hundred years ago. It’s also fascinating to see how the Titanic disaster affected the rest of these people’s lives. A

Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright. This is a well-written book about Scientology and it’s fascination with Hollywood and celebrity. All the names and places can get confusing, but I think Wright does a good job with helping to keep things sorted out. I’m fascinated by various religions and why people believe or stay in them when they’re clearly abusive. The book provides a glimpse into a system that is clearly dysfunctional for many people, yet they choose to stay. Fascinating. A

Until I Say Good-bye: My Year of Living with Joy by Susan Spencer Wendel. I went to high school with Susan. She was drum major in our band the year before I was. Otherwise, though, we were in different circles of friends, so I was surprised to hear that she had been diagnosed with ALS, although I wasn’t surprised to hear that she was a successful journalist at the Palm Beach Post. This book is a memoir of a year that she took to deliberately spend time with her family and friends before her disease became too debilitating. It’s funny, poignant, and sad. I highly recommend it. A+

Rapture Practice: A True Story by Aaron Hartzler. Aaron grew up in a Fundamentalist Christian home and went to a Fundamentalist Christian school. Somewhere along the way, he didn’t turn out to be a Fundamentalist Christian himself. That’s what his memoir is about. It’s well-written, funny, and full of insight. A

Beyond Belief: My Secret Life in Scientology and My Harrowing Escape by Jenna Miscavige Hill with Lisa Pulitzer. This true story is about a woman whose family is high up in the Scientology hierarchy and who grew up in Scientology and how she got out. It’s a fascinating look at how a religion can overwhelm one’s common sense. My only complaint is the title – her leaving Scientology didn’t seem much like a “harrowing escape”. Otherwise it was a good book. A-

Chosen by Ted Dekker. This is a young adult novel that we read aloud as a family. A small group of forest dwellers are fighting to defend themselves from the desert dwellers who surround them. A group of new, young soldiers are sent into the dessert to retrieve an item to prove themselves, but an adventure follows instead. It’s an exciting adventure story. The Christian story parallels may be a little heavy-handed, but our family enjoyed it. A

The Central Park Five: The Chronicle of a City Wilding by Sarah Burns. I’m old enough to remember the case of the Central Park Five – five teens who confessed to the brutal rape and beating of a woman out jogging one evening in Central Park. The problem is that they didn’t do it. But, they confessed. And that is the problem with our legal system. This book goes through the events of that night which explains why the boys would have confessed, why none of their confessions at all matched, and who the real perpetrator was. All of them have now been released from prison, but this has obviously had a negative impact on their lives. This is an excellent look at the problems with our justice system. A

I’ll have some movie reviews coming up soon. And, if I can remember the audiobooks that I listened to, I’ll include reviews of those! In the meantime, keep reading!! And share your recent book and movie favorites in the comments!

7 Quick Takes Friday–Ireland

 

I’m devoting this week’s 7 Quick Takes to the kids’ trip to Ireland because, well, Ireland!

1. Quiet has left our house now that the kids are back home! But, I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’ve had people noise and music again since Wednesday night!

2. Both kids got tin whistles. Rosie Girl got 2 “tourist quality” whistles, one in the key of D and one in the key of C, as well as a “real” tin whistle. She was sitting and playing one while they had some free time on their tour and one of the other tour members dropped a Euro at her feet – it’s the first money she’s made as a street musician!

3. Wild Man got me a Cavanaugh (actually “Kavanagh”) coat of arms with history and room for genealogy information on it since my family on the paternal side is the Cavanaugh’s.

4. Rosie Girl, knowing that I love religious artifacts, got me a celtic cross from a church. It’s just beautiful. She also got me a worry stone from some special Irish marble.

5. Grandma brought home some truffles from the Jameson Irish Whiskey plant. Oh, my, were those some yummy truffles! But, I did share with the rest of the family.

6. I felt kind of bad for the kids and Grandma. Not only did they have jet lag from coming home, but they came home with jackets on to temperatures in the 80’s with 100% humidity. Thankfully, yesterday’s storms brought a cool front. Nonetheless, Wild Man has decided that he wants to move to Ireland when he’s an adult.

7. The kids loved the music in Ireland. Rosie Girl was excited about one duo because they go to Thailand to make their instruments. Wild Man got to learn to play one of the hand drums that one of the groups played.

Yep, my kids loved their trip to Ireland and we can’t thank Grandma enough for taking them. It’s an experience that they won’t ever forget. They learned a lot about Ireland, but they also had some great experiences.

Check out Conversion Diary to see what others have been up to this week!!

Lagniappe–June 27, 2013

I’ve been neglecting my poor blog for a few weeks. Partly, I’ve been busy, which is good because it means that I’ve been feeling well and living real life. The other reason, though, is that my neurologist increased my Topamax dose and my ability to find and string together words and phrases is significantly diminished. That being said, I’m going to try to attend to this blog on a more regular basis, if for no other reason than to stimulate the language neurons that appear to be languishing (ha! did you get that – language, languishing!) while I’m on this current dose of medications. But, I like the medication change otherwise, because my headaches are getting better. So, I’ll press onward, if only with limited cognitive function.

It has been as hot as Hades here in the The Great White North. Clearly, this part of the north is not currently white. And I’m wondering why we moved up here from the Deep South. At least, in New Orleans, we had air conditioning. It’s supposed to only be up to 74 tomorrow, instead of the evil 87 (with high humidity) that it was today. Let’s hope so!

The children are back from their trip to Ireland. We picked them up from the airport at 10pm last night. They are incredibly jet-lagged! But, they had a great time and learned a lot about Ireland, traveling, and life in general.

And my kids have seen Greenland!! Granted, it was from cruising altitude on a jet, but still! Greenland!! But, the place is not green. It’s mostly white from what they could see.

I spent last week painting the inside of the new shop! (You may recall that we purchased this house because we wanted the shop in the back to move The Knitting Nest into – just wanted to keep you up to speed.) This is significant on several levels. First, it means that the builders were almost done and were waiting for the painting to be done so they could move on. Second, it means that I’ve been feeling well enough to spend five out of seven days painting for 4 or more hours a day. I attribute that to the increase in dose of Topamax. (And I had help for a couple of those days – I wasn’t a lone ranger or anything!)

I still don’t have a washer and dryer. The money is set aside, but the washer and dryer have to be rather small because they have to fit down our basement stairs. I finally have decided on the ones that I want, but they aren’t available at any of our local Sears stores, so we have to time their arrival in town for when we won’t be at Family Camp. So, off to the laundromat tomorrow. It’s a good thing I like the people at the laundromat.

That’s what’s going on in my life right now. I’ve got some books to review and a few other ideas rattling around in my head. We’ll see what happens when I try to get them written down. What’s new with you??

Learning Obedience Through Suffering

I ponder suffering a lot. Not as much now I’m on some meds that seem to be working pretty well, but I still have enough headaches that I think about suffering a fair bit.

I read the following passage in Hebrews 5:7-8 tonight.

7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

The chapter is about how Jesus was able to be our high priest and pay for our sin because he was human like us, but without sin. What caught my eye, though was the phrase “he learned obedience from what he suffered.”

I’ve given up trying to figure out all the “why”s of my migraines. I have migraines. I no longer have a medical career. I don’t know why. I have learned lots of things, but I have quit asking “why”.

Jesus learned obedience through his suffering. Have I? Have I become more obedient to God in the last several years? Or have I wallowed in self-pity? What does being more obedient look like? Every day is different. Obeying God involves different things when I have a migraine than when I’m having a good day. Am I willing to learn to obey God through this hard time in my life?

What do you think about this passage? Other ideas?

The Last of the Last

It’s done. Rosie Girl’s high school career is officially over. Tonight was the last of her high school events.

Two weekends ago, she danced in the last dance recital of high school. The week of Memorial Day was filled with lots of dress rehearsals and photos. There were two performances on Saturday, June 1 and two performances on Sunday, June 2. I made it to both of the Saturday performances and the last of the Sunday performances. Rosie Girl danced with her tap class and did her senior tap dance (to the music from Dr. Who) in all four shows. She also was in the Daddy/dancer dance and the faculty dance (since she was a demonstrator) in all four shows. For two of the shows, she was also helping the little girls in the classes for which she demonstrates.

It was a crazy, but fun weekend for all of us! And we went to Perkins on Sunday night for a late dinner or dessert. Of course, there were lots of other dancers there, so it was wild and crazy, and Rosie Girl had the time of her life.

Grams and Grandpa arrived last Thursday evening for a short visit and to be here for the graduation party. I had managed to plan the party so that we needed very little preparation time. But, Rosie Girl decided that she wanted a chocolate fountain for the party. So, Wednesday, Rosie Girl and I set out to purchase or rent a chocolate fountain. We were unsuccessful in that endeavor. After several efforts and numerous plans, we ended up changing plans and going with chocolate fondue.

So Rosie Girl went shopping with Grandpa to get everything she needed for the party and then spent most of Saturday setting up what she needed for the chocolate fondue. In the meantime, I had a migraine. That’s OK, though, because I woke up on Sunday without a migraine.

For the party itself, we had subs from Subway, the fondue that Rosie Girl and Grams had prepped, and a cake made by a friend. The only real glitch was that we burned half the chocolate, but we got it cleaned up and redone before the guests arrived! When we ran out of chocolate, we just smiled and pointed out that there was still cake. Overall, we had about 40 people here and everyone seemed to have fun. Several girls stayed till evening and one stayed overnight with Rosie Girl. And we just vegetated on Monday.

Tonight was the last of the last. It was Rosie Girl’s last piano recital of high school. She and another high school senior had a recital together. They each played three pieces and then played a duet that Rosie Girl composed last summer at music camp with Rosie Girl on ocarina and the other girl on piano. They both did an excellent job. We enjoyed some snacks afterward and visited with the other family and friends.

Rosie Girl’s high school years are now completely done. She finished her homeschooling work before Memorial Day, but it wasn’t like there was a ceremony or anything. It’s just  over. The recitals are more formal endings than anything else. And I’m kind of sad. I’m glad that she’s moving on to college, but it’s a bittersweet feeling. Part of me isn’t quite ready for this last of the last.

The Last Dance Recital

This weekend is Rosie Girl’s last weekend of dance recitals as a high schooler. Hard to believe. PWM and I have learned a lot over the last thirteen years!

When we signed her up for her very first pre-ballet/tap combo class, there were a lot of things that no one told us.

No one told us that this could be the beginning of driving to Stevens Point once or twice a week for 13 years.

No one told us that this could drain our pocketbooks if she “took” to dance (which she did).

No one told us about the long afternoons in the studio making sure all the kids in the carpool ate their dinners and made it to the right classes.

No one told us about itchy costumes (although we did discover that having the girls wear a flesh-colored leotard underneath would help the itchies).

No one told us we should learn how to do stage make-up or do up hair in a bun (my nemesis).

No one told us about the chaos that is dress rehearsal week.

No one told us that our child would out grow their dance shoes 6 weeks before recital. And then out grow that pair of shoes 6 weeks into the next semester of dance.

No one told us how complicated dance shoes would get. Rosie Girl’s last pair of tap shoes that she ordered had to be split sole jazz tap shoes with tunable taps. And that’s just for tap! I can’t even think about pointe shoes or hip-hop or jazz shoes, too!

But, also,

No one told us how we would believe that our child was the best and most adorable dancer the first couple of years even if she was the one who sat on stage and didn’t dance.

No one told us how proud we could be to see our little dancer on stage concentrating so hard on the movements that she didn’t even have a nerve cell to spare on smiling!

No one told us that a piece of our hearts was up there with her.

No one told us how all these years of dance have translated into such poise and grace whenever she’s on stage or talking to strangers.

No one told us how attached we’d get to all the wonderful teachers we’d get to know over the thirteen years.

No one told us how every year, we’d be proud to see how much Rosie Girl had grown, but miss a little bit the little girl she was last year.

No one told us how hard the last recital would be. How hard it would be to see the last dances and know that this is the last year.

No one could have known when she was four that she’d still be dancing at seventeen. But, she is. And, she’s beautiful.

What an experience the last thirteen years have been! And none of us would change it for anything!

Lagniappe–May 29, 2013

It’s been a while since my last post. You might suspect that I’ve been incredibly busy or that I’ve had a run of bad headaches. Actually, I’ve just rediscovered Sudoku. And, with my current batch of medications, a medium level Sudoku can be pretty challenging for me.

But, onward! Yes, I’ve played entirely too much Sudoku, but there have been other activities going on around here. The headache situation is unchanged, so keep praying.

Wild Man played in the jazz band Friday night at the public school Art Show. Sadly, we got mixed up on our times, so PWM, Rosie Girl, and I only heard the last four or five notes. Let it be known that those were some seriously excellent notes!! And the rest of the art show was great – the students really worked hard and produced some high quality work.

Last Sunday was Youth Sunday at church, so Wild Man, as leader of the youth worship band, was instrumental in leading worship. Pretty cool! And, yes, I was one proud mama!

This is our last week of homeschooling (except for math, which Wild Man will keep working on all summer). Being such a rigorous educator, I’ve made Wild Man watch Mythbusters and a documentary on the Manhattan Project and do some math. Rosie Girl and I watched a couple of Dr. Who specials today and she’s been working on the last of her math. Yep. We’re a bunch of homeschooling die-hards around here.

Wild Man and his girlfriend are making progress on earning money so that she can come to family camp with us. Hopefully, we’ll have a couple of dry days next week so Wild Man can continue to do yard work at the apartments next door. (I’m still having trouble saying “Wild Man” and “girlfriend” in the same sentence.)

Rosie Girl is in the middle of dress rehearsal week for dance recital. Last night, she had two dances and tonight, she had two dances. On Friday, she has to be there to help out with the classes for which she is a dance demonstrator. She’s busy and tired, but she’s loving it. There are four shows over the weekend and she is in four dances in each of the four shows. I think she’s going to be fried by Monday.

And the grandparents start arriving this week! Grandma (PWM’s mom) gets here Friday and my parents arrive a week from tomorrow. Crazy!!

And all of this is happening while we are running a yarn shop. Well, PWM is mostly running a yarn shop because I’m either having a headache or directing teenagers.

Random thought: Whoever carpeted this house clearly did not plan for having teenagers running in and out. Even with regular vacuuming, I’m already seeing wear. When it’s time for the carpet to go, I want hardwood. Put out some throw rugs. Sweep every week or so and life is good.

My current material desires in life:

1. Dishwasher

2. Washer

3. Dryer

4. Air conditioning

5. new ipod or ipad or ipad mini (there is such a big gap between 4 and 5 that this is more of a dream than an actual desire)

It is stormy this week which means headaches. Ick. I get to go talk to my neurologist on Friday and tell him that my headaches are better on Botox but we still haven’t reached “good”. And once we reach “good”, we should probably see about getting normal brain function back. Seriously, I am terrible at Sudoku – and I used to be so good. God is teaching me humility.

What’s up where you are? Share all the news!

7 Quick Takes Friday–May 17, 2013

 

1. Big news! Wild Man has a girlfriend! I am so not ready for this. PWM and I really like the girl. We’ve been friends with the family for a long time, too.

2. Wild Man would like for his girlfriend to go to family camp with us in July, but we’ve said that the two of them have to come up with the money themselves. Guess which two teenagers will be working hard over the next couple of months?!

3. We went to a wedding reception tonight that was held in an old barn. It was lots of fun. The food was all potluck, so there was plenty to be had with lots of variety! We got to visit with lots of friends, but finally had to leave about thirty minutes after the dancing started. The music and lights were starting to do a number on my head! But, we had a great time while we were there!

4. The renovation on the new shop is coming along well. One interesting thing is that they found a door when they tore down a wall. A door in the wall. That went nowhere. Interesting.

5. I’ve finished two knitting projects – a baby cardigan and a shawl – except for weaving in the ends. So, of course, I’ve been knitting a pair of socks. I guess I’d better tackle the ends tomorrow.

6. Rosie Girl and I spent last Sunday in Appleton shopping for some sandals for her and then hanging out in Barnes and Noble. I do love bookstores.

7. Wild Man’s band concert was Tuesday. I missed it because of a headache, but PWM said they did quite well. Sigh.

So, how are things in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are up to!

Rambling

It’s late on Wednesday night and I’m the only one still awake. Insomnia can be really annoying at times.

I’m listening to Mansfield Park by Jane Austen on my ipod. I just listened to Edmund explaining why he wants to be a clergyman to Mary Crawford. It reminded me that Jane Austen was the daughter of a clergy and she saw the clergy as a positive force in society. While the clergy in London may have been seen as just giving a couple of sermons a week and presiding over weddings and funerals, the clergy in the country were part of the lives of their parishioners. Which is really as it should be.

We hired a general contractor to do the work on the new shop building (which is the building in the back of the property which is quite old and even used to be a blacksmith shop!). They’ve been tearing up floors – where they found wet wood which explained the musty smell. They’ve been tearing into walls and found a door in one of the walls. Apparently, they didn’t want to move the door during that remodel and just left it there as part of the wall. Interesting. We are very excited to see how things look when they’re all finished. And, since we’re using a contractor, he’s the one who has to talk with the inspector and make sure everything is up to code!

I spent almost all day today at the shop so PWM could set up his lathe so he can be doing woodworking very soon. I only made a few small mistakes in counting and pricing yarn. It was a good day.

I’ve had readings from Ezekiel in the Daily Office readings for the last few days. God sure gave Ezekiel some strange visions. Or Ezekiel ate some not-so-safe mushrooms right before God talked to him. The Book of Ezekiel – inspired by God, helped along by psychedelic ‘shrooms. Was that blasphemy? Maybe so. I guess I’ll be praying for forgiveness over that tonight.

Tomorrow, Rosie Girl and I need to make more plans for her graduation/birthday party. It’s going to be small, but we want to have it planned out so we can all enjoy ourselves instead of being all busy during the party.

That’s all my rambling for tonight. Tell me what you’ve been rambling about in the comments!

7 Quick Takes Friday–May 10, 2013

 

1. We celebrated Mother’s Day early by going out to eat at Menasha Grill!! Legit Cajun Food!!

2. The romance of doing laundry at the laundromat is wearing off. I’m ready for a washer and dryer. But, we need to get the electrical done first because we don’t have the right kind of plug for a new dryer. At least one and maybe two more laundromat visits. . . .

3. Rosie Girl’s graduation mortar board cap and tassel came in the mail today. She doesn’t want a ceremony during her graduation party, but she does want the cap and tassel. So, I bought her (at her request) a dark green cap with silver tassel.

4. As we get closer to dance recital, Rosie Girl has practices for the Daddy-daughter dance and for the faculty dance (which she’s in since she’s a demonstrator). The last week of May is when things get really busy for her.

5. Wild Man is also staying busy with playing in the teen and adult worship bands. And, the teen worship band is leading worship for the main worship services on the first Sunday in June.

6. I need to clone myself in order to keep up. And it would be nice if the clone me didn’t have headaches.

7. And we have a contractor who’s about to start the renovation work on the cottage to make it into the shop. Fun!!

What’s up in your part of the world? Check out 7 Quick Takes Friday to see what others are doing!!

Outraged

Believe it or not, I’m not all that outraged about Plan B being over the counter for teenagers. As safety goes, it’s a reasonably benign medication. Teenagers can do more harm with a bottle of acetaminophen or ibuprofen than a couple of tablets of levonorgestrel. And, it doesn’t cause abortion or the failure of implantation of a fertilized egg. It causes either failure of ovulation or fertilization.

Why am I outraged, then?

I am outraged that teenager girls feel like they need sex in order to feel loved.

I am outraged that rape is so prevalent in our culture and that we don’t treat it as the heinous crime that it  is.

I am outraged that teenagers and parents can’t talk openly about the need for contraception.

I am outraged that our culture is completely sex-saturated.

I am outraged that sex is no longer a special and sacred bond between a husband and wife.

I am outraged that almost no one, even Christians, takes God’s plan for sexual intimacy seriously.

In short, I am outraged that any teenager would need the morning-after pill without a prescription.

What we need is Jesus. We’ve been educating abstinence and comprehensive sex ed for 40 years, but teens and young adults are still having babies without the benefit of marriage and getting sexually transmitted infections. Our culture knows plenty about sex. What they need to know is the love of Jesus.

And that requires a lot more work on our side than just giving information. It means fewer programs and more living. It means getting out of the churches and into people’s lives. And it takes lots and lots of prayer.

What About Those Who Never Hear?

In a couple of recent books, I’ve come across the question, “What happens to people who never hear the Gospel?” I know people who have left Christianity over this question. Jesus is the only way to salvation, but there are millions, and perhaps billions, who haven’t heard about Him. What is God going to do with all those souls in eternity?

First of all, the Bible is clear that the only way to salvation is through Jesus (Acts 4:12). And those of us who are already believers are commanded to spread the Gospel far and wide (Matthew 28:19-20). The responsibility for Christians is clear.

What happens to those who never hear the Gospel is less obvious. I don’t think the scriptures are explicit on this topic.

What do we do? As Christians, we obey God. Sharing our faith is not optional.

As for what happens to those who never hear the Gospel, we have to trust in the justice and mercy of God. I don’t know how God will work things out, but I know that I trust Him to be loving and righteous. There’s a lot about God that I don’t understand and this is one of those things. But, I don’t want to pretend confidence I don’t have.

What do you think about this topic? Any other ideas?

Fifteen Years With Wild Man

Fifteen years ago today, Wild Man entered the world with all the hoopla and pizzazz that we’ve come to expect from him!

On his due date, May 1, we started a labor induction with Pitocin because my blood pressure had started to go up. I had had a nice, quiet birth without medication with my first pregnancy and hoped for the same with this birth. Ha! I already had great respect for Pitocin, having used it in the practice of medicine for several years, but now I got to see first-hand what it was like. And it was rough! Within just a couple of hours, I was 4 cm dilated, but in serious pain. The nurses were turning the Pitocin down because my own labor had kicked in and they gave me an iv narcotic which didn’t seem to do a thing. In another hour, I asked for an intrathecal injection (similar to an epidural), but my doctor told me, oh so sweetly, that I was 8cm dilated and it was too late for more meds. By this time, I was well past calm and quiet – contractions were one on top of another, and I was in pain!

Within just a couple of contractions, I was ready to push! My doctor gave me the go-ahead. The nurses were getting a table in the room. My husband was getting on some gloves to help with the birth. My doctor was helping the hubby with the gloves. My mom was manning the heart rate monitor to check Wild Man’s heart rate every contraction or two. It was crazy! And I pushed! My water broke as the baby’s head descended from almost out of my pelvis to just about crowning! The nurse said, “Doctor, I see the baby’s head!” One more push (with a scream for good measure) and Wild Man was out and my doctor put him on my chest.

Wild Man had the cord around his neck, so he came out rather blue. But, since I was holding him against my bare skin, I could feel that he had great muscle tone and that he was making excellent respiratory effort, so my doctor and I weren’t a bit worried. Unfortunately, PWM didn’t have all that info at his disposal, but he calmed down as Wild Man turned very quickly pink.

Wild Man came into the world ready to eat. He turned his head to find the breast and didn’t want to let go for the next six months! He was a bit of a picky eater for his first five or six years, but now, at age 15, the boy will eat just about anything! And he’s smart – he likes his mama’s food the best!

One of the funny things about Wild Man is how verbal he is. Well, you’d expect a child of mine and PWM’s to be verbal. But, Wild Man was very late to talk. I remember when he was three years old that he would stand at the refrigerator and kind of grunt. I used to say, “pick a word, any word!! Even if it’s the wrong word!” Somewhere along the way, he learned to talk and now we can’t seem to get him to quit.

When Wild Man didn’t learn to read by the time he was nine, we got rather concerned and had him tested and found that he’s dyslexic. Wild Man has had to work hard at it, but he reads quite well and reads everything I assign (which is a good bit since we use Sonlight curriculum) without problem. He’s had to work at his reading, writing, and spelling, but he’s making progress. And I’m glad to see that he’s willing to put in the work.

We are a musical family, and Wild Man is no exception to that rule! He took piano lessons when he was young, but I think he was frustrated with reading music because of his dyslexia (which wasn’t recognized at the time). However, he was in dance for several years which he enjoyed and at which he excelled. When he started 6th grade, he joined the middle school band, mostly because I told him he had to take a class at the public school. He’s been playing percussion in the band and drum kit in the church youth band since then. At some point in the last few years, he started learning guitar. Now he plays acoustic, electric, and bass guitar. He has been known to play any of the for the adult and youth worship teams at church.

Mostly, though, Wild Man is just a great kid. He has always loved his hugs and kisses. When he sees me at church (since he’s usually there before me), he runs over and gives me a big hug and kiss and doesn’t care how many of his friends see him. He loves to laugh and have fun, but he can be serious, especially when it comes to leading worship. I love that he loves Jesus so much!

God has blessed me and PWM tremendously with our children. Wild Man has been a joy and challenge to raise. He makes us laugh and makes us want to tear out our hair. But, as Wild Man has grown, so have I. I’ve learned not to take myself so seriously. I’ve learned to relax about education. I’ve learned how to help my incredibly smart dyslexic boy learn to read as well as understand his other subjects. I wouldn’t trade these last 15 years for anything in the world.