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Here are the winners for the LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge- Love edition

(I have a hard time picking just two winners, but this week was the hardest yet, I loved looking through your entries!)


1) No Ordinary Piece of Clay




2) Scripted Heart

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

We don't have a dedicated homeschool room at our house. Our learning takes place in various locations- so mostly I am good with this. Some days, I do think it would be nice to have a room to display things in and then be able to close the door on all the mess...

Our house has a front living room and also a family room. Sky suggested I turn the front room into a homeschool room. I declined, after living in a very small house with a small living area (singular) I couldn't give up the luxury of not one living room- but two! Also, I thought it would be strange to have a school room as the first thing you see when you walk in...

I have a great big closet that I store my homeschool junk-habit (um, educational supplies) our learning area is comprised of this closet, the bookcase and our craft table pictured above.

This is my Ikea bookshelf. I love, love, love this bookcase. I would have several more, except that Sky does not think books are a major decor item.

I beg to differ...

On this bookshelf I have 2 different Sonlight Cores, and the top shelf holds magazine boxes for each student- these contain workbooks we use everyday- such as our Math. Next to each box is a 3-ring binder for each child, this holds their week's work plus work completed for the month.




Most of our daily work happens around the big dining room table. Our main living areas are all open to each other, so we have room to move around and to get the books we need.




This is my chalkboard of ultimate power- (from another post) it's a small wall between our dining room and family room. Sky painted it with chalkboard paint. I use it mostly for scheduling purposes, but I also sometimes use it for lessons.

Our school-life is part of our every day family life, it's just how we live, so I am very comfortable with it spreading itself out into our house.

I do admit though, some days, I think it would be really nice to have everything in a room that I could shut the door on!

Thank you for visiting our learning area,
tell me about your school spots...!

Labels: homeschool

...Would *she be there? -(The little red-headed girl). Every other sentence began with anxious questions about when we’d see her again, would she be at such-n-such place…?

His Dad and I looked at each-other with bemused expressions. I was wondering- “when did this happen?” and, “help, I’m not ready for this yet!”...

So, moms- are you ready for your boy's first crush?

I'm writing about such a mom moment over at
The Moms of Boys Society -M.O.B. Society today

*The Little Red-Headed Girl @ The M.O.B. Society

click on over to read my post, and to enter a neat giveaway today.

Labels: guest posts, mothers of boys society

Welcome to The LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge, Love edition.

Link up your photo exploring or celebrating love. Please link to your entry page, not your main blog page and please link back here. Linky closes 10p.m Sunday night.

Labels: Lens

Criticism, not encouragement- comes forth so easily from our mouths. Negativism and discouragement flow freely from us- and is, more often than not, directed at ourselves.

Criticism tears down, the opposite of building up. Keeping up a constant flow of negative speak in our thoughts- is damaging to ourselves. Negative speak to others- is a blight.

I'm going to be blunt and say that the tearing down/ criticism/ negative thoughts and speech towards the person who is not only your "other half" but who really is the other you...is evil. The Bible says that "the two shall be made one"- he's not just your other half, or your spouse- he's part of you. He is the other you.

"Every wise woman builds her house, But the foolish pulls it down with her hands"
-Proverbs 14:1

I think that the very common practice of treating husbands and fathers like grown up children and idiots is appalling. Dear reader, our thoughts and speech are father to our actions and beliefs- think of your husband as an idiot, make fun of and speak of him as an idiot to your friends- you will soon believe it and show it in your actions.

We all do dumb or careless things- you would like mercy shown to you in your mistakes- give it without measure to the other you.

I am not wise- but occasionally I've lucked into wisdom..or I've been showered with more mercy than I deserve. Here's a story of a newlywed's act of affirmation and the blessings she's reaped in response:
Years ago, in my newlywed- starving student years; my husband, who was more skilled at the time with a shovel and pick...became interested in woodworking. He decided to build us an entertainment center for our house. I cheered him on.

Friends, it was awful. I don't even have a photo to share with you, because I hated it so much that I never took a picture of it. He made it out of cheap plywood. It was huge, somehow his "vision" was really on a bigger scale than he realized. It was too big for our tiny house, it took up a whole wall. It was so rough that I could not really dust it, I had to pat it with a cloth- rubbing would get you splinters.

I stood in front of that finished monstrosity, dumb-struck. And then, God must have graced me with mercy I did not deserve- because the thought came to me: I used to paint before I was married- what if I had set out to paint something for our living room, finished it, proudly showed it to my husband...and then, what if he had told me it was awful and not good enough to go into the house? I would have been crushed and most likely never picked up a paint brush again.

I realized in that moment of God's grace (to me) that I could not wound my other self like that. So, instead I praised it- praised the clever magnetic glass doors he had put on it. I truthfully exclaimed that I could not imagine how to put doors on like that, and that I was so impressed that he was clever enough to do it. I praised the color of the wood stain. I told him how proud I was that he could make something like that, how he saved us money by not having to go buy one.

And then, I smothered my real thoughts- and for several years praised it in front of stunned friends.

I realized I was onto a truth-

"who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts he; So he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil All the days of her life." -Proverbs 31:10-12

Husbands are people, too - and they have feelings just like us. They are not idiots, or overgrown little boys. Making fun of them to your girlfriends is wrong. Imagine the hurt you would feel if more often than not, as you approached your husband and friends- dumb wife jokes flowed freely...

Do him good, not evil all the days of his life- and his heart will safely trust you.

Labels: devotional, Jen's world

Here are the two winners for The L.E.N.S. Photo Challenge

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

Welcome to
The LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge- Smells/feels/looks like Fall edition.

link up to your entry page, not your main home page- and please link back here.

Linky closes 10 P.M. Sunday night, 2 winners will be chosen/displayed and linked to on Tuesday night.

Link up!

Labels: Lens

Soo, homeschooling 5 kids...I am not super-organized. I'm actually very UN-organized. I keep hoping and praying this will change for me, but so far...no.

Some things have to give a bit...I've decided it's going to be Science. We are strong on Health as Science -I love Abeka Health readers, but the rest...is going to be more exploratory Science. I've realized we can hit Science hard and fast in the High School years (through outside rigorous classes with lab work). So, yeah, that's my plan, and how it's worked itself out.

This year we will be doing a mix of Science mini-unit studies, experiments (easy ones) and educational videos/readings -plus our steady diet of Health readers. (I like those, we just open and read :)



I found this experiment-driven book on Matter by Teacher Created Resources at my local Barnes & Nobles. It is for grades 2-5. It has easy experiments and worksheets to reinforce the lesson. -Be still my beating heart, I am a worksheet girl at heart!


Our first lesson demonstrated that certain kinds of matter can be recognized through the sense of touch, sight, smell, taste or hearing.

My first direction from the book was to pop up a batch of popcorn.
Even I can do that.
Done!



We then discussed/worked through our worksheet together identifying what our different senses told us about the popcorn.

Then we ate our popcorn.

Homeschool = cool school some days. :)

So readers, have you found a great Science curriculum or resource? Share in the comments, please!

Labels: homeschool, science

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Back to School is such an exciting and busy time! Thank you to all of you who shared your back to school memories with us.

Here are the winners for this week:


1) Amy at Child Central Station

Amy blogged about loving her husband's involvement with their learning. I love this shot, -the sun flare and Dad right there in the action.

2) Karen at Simply Living... For Him



Beside the inescapable cuteness of this face...isn't this photo a familiar sight in homeschool-mom-land?! Love it!

Thank you everyone for sharing and visiting! I hope you join us for next week's challenge:

• smells/feels/looks like fall!

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

Growing up in a large family, Sky lived in a house with solar panels on the roof. His dad was a John Wayne, conservative-family man. -Very hardworking and he had 7 kids. He believed in doing something the right way, and the best way.

We would have loved to follow his lead, but solar panels are a really big money investment.

So, we talked about it once in a while, but never took the plunge.


Sky heard ads on the radio for Solar City. They offer a lease program. This program takes advantage of some of the green power rebates being offered in California- and by paying lease payments spread out over many years, the price is made reasonable. They have a no money down program, and then an even better offer if you put a certain percentage down. We went with the 2nd option. By leasing the panels, Solar City also monitors their performance- a win/win.


Before the crew could begin their work- they had to power up their tools the old-fashioned way.
Whisper...they used an electrical outlet.....

Our house was built in the 1950's -because our electrical box was one made for a 1950's house, we could not put the maximum number of panels on our house- unless we upgraded our electrical box. We were already laying out cash upfront to lower our lease payments...so, we said 'no thanks' to the new box. Instead, we had fewer panels installed.

The panels on our roof will not be adequate to totally power our house. But, they should take our electric needs down to the very lowest and next lowest pay scale on our electric bill.

You know that scale- the one that no one living could achieve..so you are pushed into the higher rate tiers quickly on your electric bill. Yes, that scale. Now- we will live on the lower rungs of the tier.
Oh yeah...oh yeah...oh yeah!

With our electric rates increased every year, we were very motivated to not be so dependent on our electric company. We don't live in Los Angeles county- where we hear of rates being dramatically increased every year- so thankful we don't have to deal with that...Yet, our increases are still problematic.


Here is our solar power doo-dad...(yes, I'm really tech). It took Solar City most of the day to install the panels. They were a very curteous crew. At one point, they accidently punched a few screws through our vaulted ceiling in the bathroom. They were quick to fix it, patch the holes and repaint. Nice guys, all of them :)

When they were all through, we stood in front of our electric meter and watched it spin backwards.

Yes, it really does spin backwards! I thought that was total hyperbole, but no lie, it really does.

It's pretty satsifying.

This is a totally unsponsored post- but* Solar City does offer referral rewards to current customers for referring new customers- I would love, love, love it if you mentioned I sent you, if you decide to go with Solar City.

Labels: home design

Welcome to
The LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge -Back to School edition!

link up to your entry page, not your main blog page. Please visit 3 other entries, to be neighborly and all that, leave a comment so they know you were there!

Linky closes 10pm Sunday, pacific standard time.
2 winners will be chosen and displayed/linked to on Tuesday evening. To be eligible to win, you must mention and link back to this contest on your blog.

Labels: Lens

So, I left you all hanging with my post last week, -doings at home*
I gave you all a teaser photo and left you to guess...so sorry, things have been really chaotic and busy here with back to homeschool!

Here's the answer to my question....



We took the plunge and installed solar panels on our house. Solar City made it possible.
I'll post all about it later this weekend, stay tuned. :)

Labels: home design

I say every week that it is difficult to choose only two winners, -this week was really, really difficult. I chuckled and smiled my way through your entries- I loved the creativity!

Here are the 2 picks for this week:

1) Live, Laugh, Love


wow, love this shot! I am waiting for the children to spring to life...or wondering what spell they were cast under...


2) Ten kids and a Dog



These photo begs the question, "what is going on here?" and makes you wonder what they are going to do next... love it!

Thank you everyone for playing! Your photos and story starters *continued- would make a great future post, please comment if you finish them, so we can visit. :)

join up next week, when the theme will be "Back to School"

future challenges are in the sidebar.....

9/11/10 -Back to School

9/18/10 - smells/looks/feels/sounds like fall (pick a sense or two)

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

For our recent The Learning Never Stops Photo Challenge,
I posted this photo with this story starter:

There were only 4 minutes left in the game. Everyone knew that this was her time to shine...if only she could believe it. Her coach called a time-out so he could remind her of the strategic play that could win them the championship....

here is the rest of/real story....

This wasn't the championship, and this wasn't her time to shine. In reality, we had the rink to ourselves the week before Christmas- and our family plus cousins all took to the rink for hockey practice and fun.

In this photo, Amie was being called to the carpet by Dad...because as a new player she kept dropping her hockey stick- and then could not pick it back up wearing gloves. She became frustrated, more frustrated and began acting out her frustration on the rink- letting everyone know with her body language that she was frustrated and hated her stick/her glove...whatever.

Dad was nailing her on her attitude here and her bad sportsmanship and giving her the option of getting some self-control or sitting out.

kind of a different story..it was fun spinning it the other way!

I hope you will join us next week for the theme: "Back to School"
see you Saturday :)

Labels: Lens

My father spent a day recently with my nephews and niece. I love to hear stories about my nephews’ doings, because honestly- I think Ferris Bueller when I hear of their antics...

hop over to read more about my nephews over at Smartly OC

Would you know what to do with a gifted child? What if you had two?

Labels: Lens

We are super excited about a project we've got going on here at our house!

Here's a photo hint...

can you guess what we are up to?

Labels: home design

So, here's where things stood the day before we were to start back to homeschool.

Lovely, eh?

It's much better now, the shelves are all organized on the bookshelf, but I must admit that the closet looks the same. So....no miraculous before and after pics!

We've had a really good week and a half back. I feel torn out of my comfort zone, though, so many new activities- I am driving around much more taking kids to classes. I really don't know if I am coming or going. Ironically, even if I hadn't been grounded from blogging during the day- I wouldn't be, because I have been so very busy.

Meg is playing in a local community college orchestra, the nice surprise- plus to this- is that she will be getting college credit! It was very strange to be trolling the college parking lot, looking for a parking space between classes...It was hard to believe that it has been 18 years or so since I had last done that.

She is also taking two classes with a homeschool program run by a local Christian University- it's called the Biola Star Program. This year she will be taking Literature and Composition Class and Physical Science Class. I had to order most of her books from the college bookstore. This brought on a nervous/annoyed tick. I remember those. I remember paying $100 for a text book, then selling it back for $20 and seeing them re-sell it for $70. Major starving student angst there...except now I am the starving parent...!

Through the wonders of modern internet abilities- I price compared, and the markup was not that bad, so I ordered mostly from the college bookstore and then I ordered all her Lit novels from Barnes & Nobels, *because- ahem, we are there so much we practically live there, so I try to give them my business as much as I can.

Josie has moved up to the next sabre class level, she now attends twice a week. It's a good 20 minute drive each way with no traffic.

Art classes start back up in a week. I am currently looking for a martial arts class for the boy- that the charter school will pay for..and it has to be not too costly, because the charter school will only pay part of the fee..kind of complicated, this charter school. Anyhoo- I mention this because in the mean time, we have some kind of homeschool boys fight club going on in my son's room. This was all fueled by the new karate kids movie...

we definitely need to move on this and get fight club out of my house before someone gets hurt.

This does, make me think of this spoof- because my mind runs on non-congruent lines...




So, internets, how is back to school going for you?

Labels: homeschool, homeschool California