The Lesson in the Nest

Several years ago, the kids received a DVD about hummingbirds as a gift from their Nana. It turned into a week-long theme study and a blog post. Yesterday, Mr. Magoo found a complete bird's nest on the ground, lying off to one side and it brought back memories of that week. 

Bruiser put it back in the tree

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Victus Study Systems Review

As Maestro gets further into his high school years, and have decided that we can confidently continue to homeschool through those years, we have been considering and watching his time management, study skills and time spent online. We want to make sure he is set up to manage his time, take on the world and achieve his goals and dreams, whatever direction he moves in. One possible solution came from my faithful Schoolhouse Review Crew when they offered the chance to review the Victus Study Skills System. 

Meditation Monday: The Still Quiet Moments

Maestro, as his nickname suggests, is very into music of all (most) kinds. But there is something about a good, quick tune that gets you pumped up when there is a lot of heavy, boring work to be done - like cleaning up the house, laundry, schoolwork, etc. But it's tiresome and just a lot of work from a kid's perspective, so we crank up the tunes. Today, Maestro had on a pop music station.

So few of the songs are appropriate for us to listen to that he ends up changing the station every second or third song. Well, that slows down our work considerably! I prefer to listen to Dave Ramsey podcasts while I work - it is inspiring for me to hear about others who are also struggling to become debt free. 

Or I listen to talks and lessons by people who have reached a point where they earn a full-time paycheck doing what they love and helping others - usually people doing Young Living as a business. I'm on my way, but not there just yet. My goal is to be there entirely by 2015 when the White Knight can retire and paint, create and "Art" full time - it's what he loves and his work is so beautiful. I'd like us both to do what we love full time. 

Endurance and Prayer

I am part of a FaceBook group that is specifically for people to request, and respond to, prayers for those in their lives - whether personally, in business, or whatever their needs may be. I also am learning to make the knots that are used in our Orthodox (Christian) prayer ropes, and I often wear one on my wrist to fiddle with; when I fiddle with the prayer bracelet, I am reminded to pray for those around me and in my life. 

What do I pray for? Personal needs, health needs, business needs, family needs... whatever comes to mind for a person. And here's the big thing, I cannot complain about anything in my life. My life is not perfect, but it is relatively hassle-free.

Meditation Monday: On Success and Self-Doubt

All last week I worked on budgets - a budget for our church, one for our home finances that will take us through debt freedom and White Knight's retirement, and one for our time each day. Working on a budget can be a tedious, boring process; or it can be invigorating and give you a means of being inspired to work towards a healthier place in life, and encourage you to see where the gaps and personal flaws may be. I chose to use our various budgets for self-improvement, and as a way to really assess how well I am pursuing those things which matter most in life. 

This quest has led me to consider the following quotes today:

Schoolhouse Review Crew: Papa's Pearls

Papa's Pearls is a fun, easy-to-read book by Diane Flynn Keith, and I am glad that I was picked to be one of the reviewers for this little gem. "Papa" was what Diane's father was called by children and grandchildren alike, and Ms. Keith does a wonderful job of including stories from each of the generations about him. It is clear from the story that he loved his family (and they knew it) and is loved by his family still (though he is gone now.) 

Buttercup "reading" like Mom. She's getting there!

The story is a sweet way to pass on Papa's sayings (the "pearls") and life lessons, and to share those lessons with the world at large. I was drawn into this book, and throughout every chapter found myself thinking, "That's a good way to illustrate that lesson," or "I like that saying, I have to remember to use it in our house more often!"

Vulnerability, Patience and Trust

We are smack in the middle of a move and it has taken over the bulk of my life's existence lately. The cleaning, packing, organizing, getting-rid-of-stuff... Life right now is a constant struggle between the chaos of five children and the chaos of keeping the house "show ready" for potential renters! (Want to see tips on a somewhat stress-free move? Head over to the newest blog that I write on: Rose From a Rock. If you're tired of me and the dog-gone move, head over to Three Friends Fitness to see my new sporty passion: Indoor Rock Climbing! And believe me, I am hooked!)

The front of the house, after we set it up for "curb appeal". Cute, huh?

It's a bit of a struggle for me. It's so hard to open what has been our home up as "just" a house. It's hard to not think that just because my house isn't right for that person, it isn't a rejection of me or my family. And every time someone calls to say, "Can I come take a look?" There is excitement there - "will this one be it?" - and fear anew. So it is not just business for us.

Living Intentionally and a Link to a Giveaway

I have goals and dreams, most of us do, I suppose, but I seldom write them down. I sort of take it for granted that the events taking place in my life are leading me, slowly but surely, through and to those things I am meant to achieve in life. When I was younger, all I ever wanted was to join the military and get a pilot's license. I joined the military at 18, married at 22, left the Navy at 24 and largely feel like my life has been an every-day gift.

Having that attitude doesn't require anything of me really, except that I show up and be open to going along for the (sometimes wild) ride. But that attitude also means I am not living my life intentionally. If I don't live my life with a thought to my goals and dreams, then I am not really living my life to its fullest potential. In short: I am letting big chunks of life pass me by as I float down the lazy path of the slow part of the river. 

There is nothing wrong with taking the come-as-it-may route, I get to see the forest for the trees that way. Heck, I even get to see the leaves of the trees that way - and the occasional Leaf Bug hiding in those leaves!

But this post is about changing that dynamic somewhat. This post is about making a "bucket list," but since I am not fond of that term, I'm using one I saw on another blog: "Life List"

Hazards of Overindulgence

Christmas was wonderful! Having been at church Christmas Eve, we didn't get everyone in bed until around 11. Christmas morning, we came downstairs at around 9, and I let the kids open their stockings and check out the goodies. I held them off on opening the rest of the gifts until Beth arrived to join in. I know it may seem mean, but not only does the little bit of wait time in between gifts help them learn self-control and patience, it also gives them unfettered time to enjoy each gift a little more thoroughly before rushing on to the next "prize." Beth arrived just before 11, so they didn't really have to wait all that long, if you factor in time for breakfast.

We enjoyed fellowship time while cooking dinner, and the boys played pleasantly with their new goodies.

Fall, Pumpkins, and Life's Lessons!

I love this time of year! Getting to walk down the street, dry leaves crunching under my feet on the sidewalk, always reminds me of when I was younger- mostly around junior high age, I suppose, when I walked everywhere. Ahhh... those were the days. I remember being 12 or 13, somewhere in there, and using tin foil to put braces on my Hallowe'en pumpkin with a friend.

And those were times of high anxiety too - but for reasons I now look on as being ... well, stupid. I don't say that to belittle what we - and now our children - go through at that sensitive age range, but what my peers think of me and my decisions matters far less than what my true friends think of me. Those friends who love me and have proven their love and respect for me by being honest even when it hurt my feelings and being available even when they didn't particularly want to be helping (babysitting, anyone?) and just being there in general to celebrate our lives together. I now know that for every hobby we enjoy, someone else does too. I recognize that we all feel "alone" sometimes, but rarely are in reality. And am trying to guide my almost-11 year old Maestro through the rough waters he's already entering, before he is fully immersed in (and swallowed up by?) the stormy sea of adolescence.

In the meantime, I'm building as many good memories as I can, hoping to give him an anchor to family and an example of what true friendship is. So we went this past Saturday to a new pumpkin farm with some friends - North Run Farm. We went with two other homeschooling families, of whom I think very highly. One family has four children and the other three, many around the same age as my own older boys. They are all very well behaved and pleasant to talk to, in spite of being "unsocialized" by the local school systems, but socialized within our groups and our family environments (that's my nod to homeschooling here... perhaps I'm a bit biased though.) One other person came along - a friend who is single and whom Jeff and I have known, worked with, disagreed with (on occasion), shared fellowship with... in short, a true friend, Beth. You've seen her blog mentioned on here before, but she's such a great friend, I'll link to it again - you can see her knitting accomplishments here.

Beth is not a big crowd fan. She likes quiet, animals, knitting, long walks, etc. But she is a great friend and so she gamely comes over on Saturday nights to have dinner and be with our family and a few other friends. This weekend, she joined us for our pumpkin patch and excursion through the corn maze. She took pictures of Buttercup as she ran ahead for a bit before getting screechy-tired (and driving us all crazy!) and the boys while they ran and played. Beth is awesome. Everyone should have a Beth like ours (but you can't have ours... :) The picture at left is our Beth - not from the farm, but from her birthday, but it is a picture of which I am enormously fond!

The corn maze was fun but gave us all fits! We started out at the 0.4 mile maze. Throughout the

maze were stops where "clues" were located to try to solve a mystery. There was no gain to solving it, simply fun in making the effort. We found clues 1 - 4 on the smaller maze and then proceeded to the larger. Maestro and Smeagol went with the older boys while Bruiser went with the other two mothers and the younger boys - we got Buttercup, trust me when I say that she was plenty by herself and I am totally grateful to my friends who were willing to let the boys go through with them.

Beth, Jeff and I made it through about ten minutes or so of the 2 mile maze before deciding just to focus on finding the way out! The funny thing about a corn maze is that even when the temperature is very pleasantly in the low 70s, inside a corn maze is a bit of a hotbox because the corn prevents most breezes from going through and so you bake, where you would otherwise be quite comfortable. Buttercup began to complain no matter what we tried to do, "Do you want down?" "NO!"

"Do you want your shoes off?" "NO!"

"Do you want a drink?" "NO!"

(Then Beth asked, "Do you want to be good?" ... no answer!)

We found our way out - and then called Maestro on the cell phone I had given him (my own, he doesn't have one for himself as yet) to see where they were at. I get a grumpy answer, "Hello."

Such a down-in-the-mouth tone was hardly what I expected from him while he is with his friends, having freedom without the parents and supposedly enjoying being a big kid. His group had just exited the maze, but hadn't found all the clues. They had two left and he wanted to find them all. The group he was with outvoted him and decided to throw in the towel. For Maestro, this was a sign of "immaturity." One more stumbling block in getting older: realizing that sometimes you get outvoted and have to find the joy in being with friends - or take the difficult steps of going without the group - anyway.

So, not without some small protest, we moved on, and went to find pumpkins and the hayride. In the end, we all had a great time with true friends. I am grateful that Maestro got to see that regardless of our sometime-disagreements, they are not the end of the world, nor do they have to mean the end of the friendship. I hope the lesson stays with him, even as we continue our foray into the (homeschool) junior high years and in the meantime, I am still enjoying the times when he decides just to play!

Tomorrow - a review of the various pumpkin patches we've visited in the area over the last several years and what we like about them!