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This is a story about a dear friend. This is a story about how my dear friend is moving away, and I can't wrap my head around how much I am going to miss her. This is a story about how all my heart-friends up and move away and leave me lonely, desolate and crying into my bagel sandwich; ALONE

My friend Starlene is an exceptional friend- more like a sister to me, really. And she had to leave me in an exceptional way....move to another COUNTRY, no less.

She is known as Gracefulmom in other spots on my blog, and I first met her years and years ago when Meg was in kindergarten. (Can you believe it has been that long, Starlene?? Can you believe I have an 8th grader this year??) She was the educational specialist assigned to me when we signed up with the charter school we homeschool through.

She watched me through a 4th pregnancy, and I watched her through her 2nd. She watched me struggle with this thing called homeschooling, and then, when her oldest became school-aged, she joined me in this madness- becoming not only my educational mentor but fellow homeschool mom in the trenches as we treaded the textbook/unschooling/eclectic/classical to just surviving- home education waters.

She has laughed with me, encouraged me, prayed with me, studied with me, (became my neighbor and took a dance class with me...am I the Lucy to her Ethel, or is she Lucy??)...but mostly just hung out with me. Which is surprisingly very therapeutic in the midst of this busy/crazy life.

She is moving to Singapore. Can you believe it? I surely cannot. I think I am still in denial that it is actually happening. I saw her today, for the last time in probably a few years. I didn't cry. I almost cried, but I didn't. I like to do my crying at night. With my feather pillow. So there.

Sometime in the past two years or so.. we began the weekly institution of
BAGEL WEDNESDAY.

We would drop our perspective children off at the learning center on Wednesdays, and then meet at the bagel shop for really incredibly good egg/cheese/bacon -bagel sandwiches.

And for talk. And for friendship. And for Curricula lust.


Starlene has started a blog to chronicle her family's gigantic adventure. (finally, someone I know is blogging too! yeah!!)
It's called,
From California to Singapore - aptly enough.
My suggestion of "and with this, you get egg-rolls" was a close second, she assured me. or maybe not. Go on over and say hi for me.
And then tell her for me....

"It's bagel Wednesday! Where are you?!!"

Labels: Jen's world

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

The news is out everywhere now, I'm sure...
Yes, we just had a 5.8 earthquake here in California. It was centered in Chino, which is in So. California.

It was one of the bigger ones in my memory. I was actually outside, a few streets away from my house, helping my friend Starlene and her husband load a few boxes into my van. I actually felt it coming and commented, "earthquake" before it hit with force.





I jumped into my van and drove home quickly, wondering if this might be the one time of experiencing a huge before-shock before a big one hit- so I ran home, because my kids were alone.


I got home to find that they were not alone, Sky was home for lunch- and the kids were all very excited and thought it was great. Nothing fell down-

I really have to give a shout out for our very strict and safe building codes- and to our building inspectors, specially our hospital and school inspectors (which is what Sky does)- we have some of the strictest building codes in the world, and it shows, when we have such a big earthquake and experience a lack of devastation.

Shannon, you just missed it. You should have stayed, it was fun.

Meg competed in her very first Irish feis this weekend.
(it's pronounced "fesh").

We entered the Irish dancing world this year, because of Amie (age 6) who loves to dance. Surprisingly, Meg took a fancy to it and began attending a class.

Amie dropped out. (ahem)

So, this was her first competition/event.

Meg was very nervous. I don't think I've ever seen her nervous before. She loves to do things, and is interested in participating in all sorts of things, and she generally does well with whatever she attempts.

Seeing her with the jitters was a new thing.
Seeing her with the jitters gave me the jitters...



We survived.


She placed 1st in the "beginners first feis reel"

the title was a fancy way of saying this was her first dance.


I just love the Irish soft shoes...

Labels: family

We took the kids to the Orange County fair last week.

Pity us if you can, because for us- it's all about the food...












This is the first thing we make a bee-line for. It's hot, roasted and slathered in butter and salt.
What's not to love about that?













While the kids feast on corn-dogs and hot-dogs
for dinner, Sky and I opt for a gryo. Yum. The only thing missing here is avocado...every year we say we are going to bring our own to add to the gyro, but we always forget. It's still good though. It's slathered in cucumber dressing.
Yum.





Missing from my photo-journal are the slurpies Demi and Amie had, the chocolate dipped ice-cream cones, the waffle fries Sky and I had with our gyros and the countless diet cokes Sky and I consumed. We forgot to get the kids cotton candy, dang! (They actually forgot to ask, I think the slurpies threw them off their game...).

I suffered a big set-back by the absence of the gingerbread shack this year...I look forward to a slice of gingerbread cake with real whip cream on it.
I opted for chocolate popcorn as a substitute. Good call.



I don't know how much we spent, and I'm not going to think too hard about it.....I do really miss the good ole' days when Meg and Josie were little, the others just babes- and they were content with us packing them some pb&j, a juice box and maybe a little cotton-candy...Yes, those were the days...

Here's Sky enjoying an ice-cream cone. He got a new hair cut, it was stuck up on top...I thought since he has a full head of hair, he should flaunt it alittle...He's had a 'good-guy, Mr. Police-man' hair cut ever since I've known him, this was a big change for him. I'm hoping he will keep it, he looks very cute. I think he's having a hard time with it, he smoothed it down today for the meeting. His dad, who had the same 'good-guy' haircut, would have laughed at him. We laughed together, thinking about how much it would have amused him.

p.s. I did share my popcorn.

Labels: family

Meg went to a Christian girl's horse camp for a week, something she looks forward to every summer.

Here's a peek at her last day, the camp's "show-deo" day, when family arrives to take the campers home.

It's a long drive...








I think this is called 'vaulting'.

Impressive. But is is worth motherly heart palpitations?

And I ask you, where is her helmet?







I'm not sure what this was on it's way to being..
but I ask again,

"where is her helmet? Safety first, anyone?"

I only gave birth to her...after 10 hours or so, emergency c-section...but hey, don't ask me my opinion, I'm only her mother....




There was a family camp going on at the same place, I spied a 10 year old lugging this-

I think it's an air purifier...

because that's the important thing to pack- what could be more important than pure air, way up in the crisp, clean mountains?....

Then again, it could be a heater...then I would be all thumbs up...
Still, it diverted us, highly.


I always have an adventure driving up to horse camp, like for instance last year's epic
(disaster 1) (disaster 2)...go ahead, I'll wait if you want to laugh at me...or feel sorry for my husband...

This year went much better.

Except when I realized I was about to be passed, on the way down the mountain...by a bicyclist.

Here he is....


Sky thought he was merely drafting our van. But no, he passed my open window on the left- and kept hauling down that mountain. It would have been a great photo. But I couldn't, you know, drive and dig out my camera. Sky took this photo, since I was busy trying to navigate the turns and not get sick, and look out for more speed demon bicycles looking to pass me...

We caught up to him in the flatlands.

And told him to eat our dust.

Much fist pumping in the air happening in our van as we passed by.

We're kind of nerdy that way.

Labels: family

Still waiting here in Ca for a decision in the Rachel L case. Tammy wrote about a new development in the case, and about what it could mean for the homeschool community *go here, to read it.

Principled Discovery wrote about our reaction to fear in the homeschool community here,
Homeschool Threat level, Orange...

and finally, The Yale Law Journal- "Home schooling" in California. Actually, some good points, but the end opinion that Homeschooling should be legal in California with school district approval makes my hair stand on end. Such things might work in some states, but California public school institutions have (in my opinion) a hostile view towards homeschooling and/or alternative school choice. Here in California, school districts will not allow homeschoolers to join school programs such as sports or band- things homeschoolers in other states can do and it has become very difficult to open new charter schools here. It's long been known not to send registration to Los Angeles school district, because they do not believe homeschooling to be legal- though you can send it to the state. Having school districts approve your homeschool could be a huge conflict of interest issue- in my opinion.
(Hat tip to Melissa Wiley)

We are just business as usual- learning marches on...

Labels: homeschool

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Hello mudder, hello fadduh,

here I am at camp Granada. Camp is very entertaining. and they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining....

Meg sent us a "Camp Granada" letter of sorts, here it is:

Hello everyone,

I’m having a blast here! There are some really fun girls here. Most of them are thirteen and are really nice. There aren’t many girls here, so I don’t have to share a horse. I didn’t pass the test to go to the third level, so I was put into the “learning to trot” group
☹ anyway, the horse I get to take care of is Hank- (he doesn’t act like Hank the cowdog). He is a red chestnut and he is very easy to control. We did archery, I wasn’t really good, but I wasn’t awful either. It was fun. We did a three-legged race, we got in 3rd. We did drilling practice on foot (drilling is like dancing in formation with your horse). It was hot and there was no shade and the dirt is really dusty and dry, so that didn’t help. I died several times. The counselors say that most girls “die” on Monday.

The hills will be the death of me.

See you later (If I’m not dead)

Lots of love,

Meg

Labels: family

Sunday, I told my 8 year- old- son to "stop whining and act like a man". Perhaps not my finest mom moment, and yet, the world kept spinning.

These pearls of wisdom dropped from my thinly-pressed lips after a long morning periodically dealing with/and or soothing the son of my heart who- we are not sure why, but we suspect large doses of multi-media the night before might have something to do with it- turned into a complaining/weepy/clingy/pouty/affection-demanding/flesh-wound-proclaiming, baby.

It was actually, a hard thing for me to say- so very opposite of this deep-seated need in me to comfort and soothe...and yet, in the middle of our 2 hour Sunday School class that Sky and I were supposed to be teaching- I laid down the law, because I did not know what else to do with him.
Sorry,
I can't report a miraculous happy ending in a parenting-zen sort of way. He actually sat; teary-eyed in self pity, and then, upon being mercilessly teased by an older boy, oozed into a big, crying heap. Sky took him somewhere and did some sort of magic to end it all. I asked him what he did.
Sky: "I told him to take it like a man..." Sounded familiar, but it worked better somehow for him.

Later that night, Sky and I talked over the events of the morning and tried to work out a plan on how to point our son towards manhood. It basically involved lots of manual labor. One of the complaints Demi was moaning about was a vague hurt in his hand, then his head, then his leg...Sky decided he would introduce him to the concept of callouses on the hands due to hard work as a real-life contrast.

I stumbled upon this post, Love hurts. Are we raising generation why-me? Sort of timely in light of Sunday... So, how do we raise a boy to be manly, dependable, a hard worker, kind, responsible? This is our first attempt at man- making...how do we go about it?

"He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you. But to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" -Micah 6:8

I think what we need, really- is a farm. But, we don't have one. We are thinking out right now, how to add more chores and responsibilities to our boy's life- not just busy work, but work that contributes to the smooth running of the family. Work that makes a boy feel needed and important to the family, work that he can take honest pride in completing.

I'll let you know what we come up with.

The thought that has held me back in the past, -from posting on the fridge a heaping list of chores for all my kids- is the fear that someone, even one of my children, will accuse me of having many kids for the cheap labor. Laughable, really, when you think it out- I could have had no kids, or stopped at one kid and simply hired a housecleaner with the extra money I wouldn't be spending on my four kids... I hate to be judged quickly and unfairly, though.

It's not the end product of a clean house; it's the end product of God-loving,responsible, hard-working, cheerful, happy children that I am looking for.

What are your thoughts on raising responsible kids, hard work, chores, having everything given to you, the school of hard knocks vs. gifts of love?

More thoughts coming, but this post is already too long...

Labels: devotional, family

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

"Has your teacher ever tried to teach you something you don't need to know, like, where to find Europe on a map? Then your teacher is an elitist."

Just because he (Colbert) is so darn funny...and as a public service: Here you go-

*Natural hair vinegar rinses- for a very frugal and probably better rinse for your hair, check out this site, they seem to have some very nice soaps, too.

*Chocolate, it's what's in you facial - Chocolate facial: recipe and a 'how-to' video...this is my kind of cooking.

*These must be "Some Chocolate-chip cookies"! Do you sense a theme starting? This article intrigued me, as did the link to a chocolate chip cookie recipe the author pronounced the best ever...it looks more complicated then I like, but I think I have to try this now...

these cookies are sufficiently good that I half-expect to see the words “SOME COOKIES” appear, written in spider silk, in one of the corners of our kitchen. They really are some cookies.

do we need any more urging, really? Report back blog-friends-if you try these...

Here's Meg at horse camp, as I was leaving. You can see she wasn't feeling at all sentimental about my leaving her there....

Hello, anybody home??

So- this is what I have been up to, and why I've been scarce around this little ol' blog...

Well, I recovered from our week-long-plus several days Bible conference: which involved the week before (okay, days before...) hectic cleaning and then the days- after of our house-guests slowly departing on different days.

Then our friends from Washington asked if their 3 kids could stay with us an extra week, because it would be fun..and we said yes, because it would be fun, and because they are our heart family....

Then our new 1 month guest- graduate Bible school friend moved in...

And we started our traditional post-semi-annual training (Bible conference) -Lord of the rings movie thon...we started Monday night and finished Thursday night.

Friends from Texas came over for our movie-thon- they were run off the road by a big-rig on their way out here for the Bible conference, and now they have to stay in town till their car is fixed...but not at our house. -Except when they are over for the movie-thon...

The Washington kids left early Saturday morning, and then I had to pack up Meg to take her to horse camp on Sunday. -and we served on children's ministry today... - and, I have to tell you...we had no music people today...we had to sing to a room full of K thru 2nd graders accapella...and we don't know the songs....or sing with them, I guess technically. It was really, really bad.

Should I add to my To-do list... "Learn to play the guitar???"

As for the To-do list, I completed 1 thru 6, then jumped to 8 & 9, then to 15,16, and 18.
Anything to do with homeschooling was skipped over, as was any mopping.

I am also frantically trying to finish up any ordering and registering for Meg's upcoming Irish feis- which will be her first...

I drove about 6 hours today total, taking Meg to horse camp and back...

I think I'm done for a while, kwim??

tomorrow will be a better day...nothing planned, and a bread pudding sitting in the fridge,
yum.

Labels: Jen's world

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Labels: Jen's world

This week our house has been a crazy place...but also a very good place to be. For some of my new blog friends, I will share with you what "The summer training" is like.

Twice a year, our church holds a week long Bible conference of sorts, in winter and summer. People come from all over the world to attend- with something like 3,000 people in the main conference center and then more in meeting halls all over the world watching via satellite. This week we have 13 people staying with us for the week- and we had 4 extra for 2 days before it all started...(and 5 to 10 extra for lunches, some days) I kind of had trouble at first knowing who was coming and going- and exactly how many people we had. This is in addition to the six of us. We have 2 bathrooms...it's a little rough at times.

And yet, it is so much fun- and a great time to dig deep into God's word. We have people staying with us from Canada, western and eastern Washington state, Boston and Texas. Most are old friends, but we have a new family with us this year, too.

At the conference, we have to be in our seats before 4 p.m everyday, and it ends around 9:30 p.m. We have a dinner break, most bring a sack lunch. Our days run sort of like this...breakfast at 8 am, clean up and then study time- because we get a list of questions the night before- and when we get to the next meeting, they will start with calling sections of seats up to the front to answer the questions and to go through the main points. It's kind of like Charlotte Mason type narration -for you homeschoolers out there...you will know what I mean. God's word is meant to be spoken and shared, He is the word- and the more we speak it, the more we own it... and usually, as you are sharing, you gain more insight into what you are speaking about...

After study time we have lunch and clean-up, then it is supposed to be rest time (unless you have 11 or so kids running around...then not so much rest for some of us. Then we begin making and packing dinners to take to the meeting. The moms and dads of young kids at our house are taking turns going to the meetings, the dads all go one night and the moms stay home with the kids- the moms go the next night. It works out well, and we have time for fellowship and fun with the little ones.

The horde wander in around 10 pm or later...and then we all talk, share what was spoken at the meeting, snack and check emails, then lights out between 11 and 12.

This week the subject is the Gospel of Luke. I'll share more about some really good points, later- if I get the chance.

So, this is what my week has been like...and why I haven't been around blog-land...
hope you are having a blessed week, too!

Labels: devotional

Labels: family, Wordless Wednesday