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Labels: family

 Welcome to the LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge
this week the theme is


Link up your photos that fit this theme.  Linky will close 10pm pacific time, Monday.  Two winners will be announced/displayed on Tuesday night.  Please visit around!

Labels: Lens

I have joined up with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. Here is my 3rd book...

Dune Road by Jane Green

Fiction, a fun read, but a tad deeper than chick lit.

This is the story of Kit, newly divorced mom of two- living in a town full of wall-street families.  Their coastal town of Highfield is close enough for the high-powered wall-street bankers to commute...leaving their beautiful mansions and families behind during the day, visiting/playing on weekends.  Kit was one of these banker's wives, till she decided her marriage was dead, and that she did not want the lifestyle anymore.

The beginning of the book follows Kit as she enjoys her new-found freedom, her comfortable down-scaling, and finding a dream job as an assistant to a famous writer.  We meet her friends, and get drawn into a bit of mystery...something you don't usually find in chick lit.  Kit struggles with missing her husband, realizing he is her best friend and the person she turns to for safety.  She gets thrown several family/friend complications, it keeps you guessing and hoping for a happy ending for her. 

It was a fun read, and made me thankful for my husband- my best friend and the person I turn to.

Labels: 52books/52weeks, book review

Thank you everyone for joining in this week, I really enjoyed seeing your photos and reading the stories that went with them.  This week's winners are:


1) My Southern, Hippie, Married, mom of four life!


 this photo is beautiful, the aged hands with the very young hands...the choice of black & white, one of the comments was that this would make a beautiful painting- I agree. 


2) From Doing to Being



Kim wrote about often fumbling with her camera and missing the moments, mostly getting posed shots..this day, her dogs had an unexpected bath- she missed the plunge, but captured the ending.  She wrote about remembering to be present in the moment, ending with these wise words...

"all of life is seeing the extraordinary in these everyday moments."

 I hope you will join us on Saturday when the challenge will be...

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

 The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo- review:

I heard an intriguing talk-up of this book on the radio one day, the story of the author-convinced by a loved one to finally submit his story and then dying before it was released, never knowing what a huge hit it became...hooked me.  Also that it has been translated many times, is a best-seller and has already been made into a movie overseas- with plans to make a movie here in America- and it has sequels....sounds like a must-read. 

It's got action/adventure/mystery/intrigue/sex...not my usual genre, but every once in a while I enjoy such a book. 

Journalist Mikael Blomkvist- headed to a short jail stay for libel, is hired to solve a 40 year missing person mystery by the head of one of Sweden's wealthiest family.  40 years ago, at a family gathering on an island, a young niece disappeared- 40 years later, no body, no answers.  Her aging uncle wants peace before he dies.

Lisbeth Salander- the girl with the dragon tatto- petite, much younger looking than she is- the perfect victim..as her concerned boss thinks of her- is hired to help Blomkvist.  Lisbeth works for a security firm, as the book unfolds, it is revealed that everyone, including her boss, severely underestimates her abilities.  Lisbeth as a character is a mystery- but she has this underdog quality and you find yourself liking her. 


This book had disturbing story lines of abuse, bondage, torture, murder.  I read around these as best I could-trying to not lose too much of the story...any lesser of a book, I would have walked away- but even though I was repelled by some of the story content, I really liked the two main characters- and the mystery was irresistible.  This book was definitely a page-turner, very hard to put down. 

As the book was ending, I struggled with myself, trying to decide if I would continue with the series.  I truly liked the heroine, Lisbeth, and wanted to see what happens to her in other books..but I was wary of more disturbing content.  I was hopeful that the content was story-driven, and that perhaps the other books would take a different turn.  However, the end of the book provided a teaser excerpt from the next book, and it was, disappointingly, more bondage/abuse.  Decision made, I will not be reading any more of the series.

This book was very well written, likable characters, despicable villains..but pretty disturbing. 

Labels: 52books/52weeks, book review

Welcome to the LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge.  This week, link up to a photo that captured a moment you want to remember, it can be a special event, a milestone, an ordinary moment your heart wants to remember, a moment that captures how ordinary your ordinary is...it's really up to you. 

I apologize for getting the linky up so late, I had a special day planned with Josie (we went to a cat show in San Diego- about a 2hr drive) and our special day totally knocked out any thoughts of the challenge. So very sorry, I will keep the linky open an extra day. 

Linky will close 10pm MONDAY night, two winners will be chosen and displayed on Tuesday night.  Please link back to the challenge, and please visit around! :)

Labels: Lens

Labels: Wordless Wednesday

Wow, I think this week's challenge had the most participants so far!  I enjoyed seeing so many different and creative learning spaces, thank you for joining up and sharing with us :)



1) Janet Rose


I love the bright gold against the browns of the leaves in this photo, and I love-love this unconventional reading spot!

2) A Natural Process



 This photo is so magical, the light from the sun, the soft glow...really wonderful!
Tracy wrote that everyday they feel the pull to be outside.  Wow, I would too, with such beauty so close by! 

Congratulations, winners!  

I hope you will come back on Saturday, when the theme will be -This Moment

Capture a moment to savor from your learning week.

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

I've mentioned before that I love research.  I love the hunt.  The hunt for the best art materials, the best History/ Phonics / Math curriculum, the best way to make a smoothie.  I love the hunt, but I get lost in the execution.  I like to call it "being a creative person", or "my inner Bridget Jones" Sky calls it "scattered".  One day, my BFF called it "Perfectionist avoidance".

I had my doubts.
I don't live in the same zip code with the word "Perfectionist"...
I'm more familiar with the term "make do".  But, I deferred to Gracefulmom's analysis, since she is more educated than I.  And, she doesn't ramble.  You lose some credibility when you tend to ramble on...

Hello?

Back to my story- So, Gracefulmom put forth the idea that we (we are both very alike in many ways, hence the BFF part) tend to plan/dream up really spectacular ideas and then sensing that we will not follow through in a spectacular way, we give up and avoid/procrastinate.  She could be onto something, but again, the perfectionist label was a hard sell.

I'm kind of in that place again, wanting to make some changes to our homeschool life- getting more of a rhythm/order to our day, adding back in more crafts, and dare I say it out loud?  ..adding in some baking with the kids, and healthier snacks.  I've done some research, read a few books, looked at a few websites..and then stalled.  The holidays, having company, my messy house.  Yes, it has all stalled.

I stumbled onto this blog post today,

Two Mamas

...Imagine for a moment Two Mamas on their way to Waldorf Homeschooling Land. One Mama rolls up her sleeves, plans the trip, and gets going. The other Mama wants everything to be PERFECT first...

go over to A Little Garden Flower bog to read the rest of a really enlightening parable, even if you are not into Waldorf homeschooling, or any homeschooling, I think this could apply to many of us.

So, how do you get unstuck?  Any inspirational advice from moving to planning to doing?  Or is your house as messy as mine is right now, and you just want to commiserate?  
Spill, I'm listening :) 

Labels: homeschool planning, Jen's world, waldorf

Welcome to the Learning Spaces edition of the LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge.

please post your photo of a spot where learning happens for you and/or your family.  At our house, learning mostly happens at our dining room table, but our other learning spots include the couch, outside, the park, and the places where I keep our learning materials such as the bookcase.

I'd love to see your learning spots!  Please link up your entry, not your main blog page...flickr groups are welcome, too!  Please visit a few other entries, and include a link back to this challenge. 
Linky closes 10pm pacific time, Sunday night.  Two winners will be announced and displayed on Tuesday night.

link up! :)

Labels: Lens

Labels: family, Jen's world

I love fresh starts, and I love being a homeschool mom- because I have two fresh starts every year.  Each Fall brings a new school year- new plans, new books.  But, each January also brings me the traditional fresh start/ new beginnings.  I’ve found that January is the perfect time to re-evaluate what we are doing in our homeschool; what is working, what is not, what I need to actually open and use…

 I am writing today about A Fresh Start for your Homeschool over at
the Mothers of Boys Society (M.O.B. Society)

-click on over to read the rest :)

Labels: guest posts, homeschool, mothers of boys society

We really had great entries,  I think this was the most entries we've had!  It was hard to pick just two...

Here are the two winners for this week, the challenge was: Weather

1) The Dayton Time




 I love the icy- crisp snow on the branch, how close-up the focus is, and the wonderful bokeh in the background! I will forever have a thing for bokeh :)

2)  Mayhem Mania





I couldn't resist these happy, joyful faces! This shot is a great example of snowy weather, sledding weather, to be exact :)

I am so glad you all joined up, I am happy to meet the bloggers new to our challenge- welcome!

I hope you join us next weekend when the theme will be: Learning spaces

Labels: Lens, Lens winners

I am joining up with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.  If you are interested, you can go to the
52 Books in 52 Weeks blog and link up.  You can join up at anytime.  I love to read, I usually have more than one book going at a time...but, there are times I read in spurts.  The challenge for me will be to finish a book every week and to then take the time to blog about it.

Here is my first book of the year:

Beyond the Rainbow Bridge: Nurturing our children from birth to seven
by Barbara Patterson and Pamela Bradley.




This book was recommended on several Waldorf homeschool blogs, I had looked at it a year or two ago, and did not order it because my kids are on the older end of things, my baby is 9. sob, sigh.
I tend to like a lot of bang for my book buck....

I ordered it this time, and found it pretty informative.  It explains a lot about Waldorf schooling, something of which I knew a little, but this book connected some dots for me. I was interested mostly in learning how to create gentle, rhythmic order for my kids day- this book was helpful with that. 


The chapter titled "Creative Discipline" was the most informative for me, the sub-chapters included;
*Clear Messages and Limited Choices, *Rhythm, *Imitation and Self-Discipline, *guidance.  I was pleasantly surprised to agree with and have used some of the disciplining philosophy in our own parenting.  We've always been kind of old-fashioned/no-nonsense as far as parenting- I have read and explored many of the more popular child-rearing books out there...and frankly, I don't gel so well with the ideas of reasoning with your toddler, etc....I was pleasantly surprised to read this Waldorf teacher's views on limited choices, something we practiced with our very young children.

All in all, I did enjoy this book and found much to ponder on.  I think anyone desiring a more gentle/creative atmosphere in their home would benefit from this book, as also would parents wanting to know more about Waldorf education and how it all works. 

Labels: 52books/52weeks, book review

Welcome to the 
LEarning Never Stops Photo Challenge, Weather edition.

Link up your photo that says, "Weather".  Please link your blog entry, not your general home page, and please visit a few other entries.  Linky closes 10 p.m. Sunday night, two winners will be announced/displayed Tuesday night.

Link up!

Labels: Lens

Labels: Wordless Wednesday