How to get some creativity.

I have always been a creative person. Since most of my creativity has been channeled through art, I think most people assume me and the kids probably do lots of crafts. Being known as an artist and a homeschooler, it does make a measure of sense to expect this.

While I have been rather crafty in the past, crafts are not something I enjoy doing with my kids. *Gasp* I know... bad mommy award.

Crafts with kids are messy and time consuming.... and they usually result in something that has all the stability of a three legged hippo.

So you see it's not the mess that bothers me so much, it's the fact that the end result is so fragile and temporary. Anything made with popsickle sticks and toilet paper rolls is probably not going to be produced in this house.

We do like to draw and paint however, and I do save all their creations. We like to build with legos and I take photos of the really great constructions for posterity. I encourage all building and creating with toys and anything they can find.

Creativity is what I am really about.

This past couple of weeks I came across two pieces of writing about kids and creativity that really helped me focus my goals for the kids and our creative home atmosphere.... one was an article in Parents magazine. I would love to link to it here, but I haven't found it online yet. Instead I will give you the basic points. It was called "Inspire Creativity" and the subtitle says it all: Reading and math are the priorities for schools, but out-of-the-box thinking skills will be the key to a kid's success. By Leslie Garisto Pfaff

In the article we learn that statistics show that America's kids are losing their originality and imagination in schools. The reason is cited as the push for proficient levels on state examination leaving no time for anything but the basics, Math and English are the focus, rote learning is prized over critical thinking and more than ever play time is pushed completely out of schools at a very early level. Kids need to learn through play. This is where their imagination is developed. The article cites a recent IBM poll where 1,500 CEO's identified creativity as the single most important trait for leaders of the future.

My take on the article? Kids need time to be kids. Creativity must be encouraged, and there is more to learning than right and wrong answers.

I have much more to say about this ... stay tuned.

Next Blog: Creating creative centers in our home and the need for kids to be bored!

Looking ahead to the School Year

Pictured above is our Sonlight package for Kindergarden for this year. I recieved the package a couple of months ago but am just now getting ready to prepare for the coming year. This isn't everything actually, I ordered the Horizon's Math set seperately and Micah wanted to begin using it as soon as it came in so he has done many lessons in it and likes it alot. I also may be adding a Science component before we get started but first I want to determine if we have our hands too full already.

There isn't much to do by way of preparation, the beauty of Sonlight is that the instructor's guide (pictured in the foreground) does all the planning for you. They also make everything adaptable for you. you can omit activities or add more depending on your needs. They also have the option of a four day or five day schedule for each core curriculum. I have ordered the five day curriculum but I may switch to four days since we will be doing Co-op one day a week. I went ahead and ordered the five day because it comes with more storybooks and read-a-louds and I didn't want to miss out, instead of reading them during the year we can use them next summer, or read them as bedtime stories during vacations.

The absolute best thing I love about Sonlight is that the materials are about 90% reusable for the next student and the next and so on. There are very few consumable items. Basically these are the same books we will read with Allie and Noah. Some workbooks will need to be ordered, such as Math and Handwriting, but overall, it's a great investment for us.

As you can see there are many storybooks. There are maps and a Timeline book as well. As the student goes through the stories and the read-a-louds (basically bigger books that we will read a chapter or two of each day) then they will mark significant events in history on their timeline to create a view of history and time that will help them see the big picture. We will be going through Bible stories each week also, and using the Timeline book to mark events from that too. The maps are also utilized often along with the stories to help kids get a better idea of the world and the places that are talked about.

The intructor's guide encourages us to plan several field trips for this year also. I do hope to do that later. We may visit the Firestation and maybe the Newspaper office, a couple of workplaces and maybe a museum. It will be a tricky situation however, since Noah and Allie will be with us. Maybe I can plan those for days when Joey will be home. Or maybe get him involved in taking Micah on field trips.

We just found out my husband will be home one weekday each week according to his new schedule, this will present a special problem since homeschooling while Daddy is home presents distractions. Hopefully we will find a way to make that work for us, not against us.

I'm excited about this year, the thing I am really nervous about actually is the actual teaching of Micah to read. We have begun this already with the book. Teach your child to read in 200 easy lessons' (which many homeschool friends swear by) but I haven't been enthused by it. I need to redouble my efforts though, because he is doing fine with everything else, handwriting, math, etc. I just have to press on and unfortunately, this is the one area that Sonlight seems to lack most in.

Weary

Have you ever been weary?

Lately I have been thinking of what it means to be truly weary. To me, weary is a word that speaks volumes.

Weary is a state of being.

I'm not just talking about being tired. I am not even just talking about going through a tough problem in life. Those times may be difficult, but sometimes they are quick. Some trials happen all at once.

Other trials take a long time.

That is what I am talking about when I say 'Weary'.

I am thinking of a particular friend now. A particular friend who is going through a tediously long trial. Though I have never lived through a similar experience as the trial she is going through, I still have tears and prayers for her whenever she comes to mind because of one truth.

I have been weary.

Over the last few days I have been mulling this over in my mind. I remember the weary times. Who can forget them. They lasted so very long. Those times in my life when a particular trial lasted for months or years.

Have you had a time where you were weary? Please take a moment to remember with me. Remember the heartache of waiting... I am talking of times in which your situation was stuck... your prayers become so repetitious you finally just stop asking the same things... eventually just your moaning and tears come instead of words and you let the Holy Spirit speak to God for you. You had faith that it would work out, but you wondered..... when? When, God?

Sometimes you may have even lost faith, or at least the strength to keep up hope. Maybe you sunk into a depression. Maybe you lost your joy altogether. Maybe everything else in your life began to suffer.

Maybe it was like a dry wasteland, an endless walk through a desert with no end in sight.

Maybe you were holding on with everything you had but just when your situation seemed completely hopeless... it got worse.

Unfortunately, the times that I am thinking of personally in my life when I was most weary were also the times when nobody seemed to understand.

Reasons for this vary. People are so quick to see answers to other people's situation. The things that mean the world to one person may be nothing to another. Most often it seemed, others had not experienced the same thing or were simply too busy with their own lives to even notice. Maybe they knew I was weary but had no idea how to help.

Maybe the point is, nobody is capable of helping. These situations are often dependent on God. On a miracle, on His perfect timing. Leaning on Him is the only thing a weary traveler can do.

I am thankful that I have been made to lean on Him so much. I am glad I know to go straight to Him when I need Him. I understand the reasons behind the things I have gone through.

I can honestly say, that being in the desert so long makes the rainy oasis so much more like paradise. Weeping may last for a night but Joy does come in the morning. The final outcome has always been a happy one for me. God blesses us for holding on in the weary times.

I just want to say that if you know someone who is weary, even if you don't really understand or are able to relate to their situation, this is your chance.

Lets all just be aware that some people around us are just trying to put one weary foot in front of another. A little help from a brother or sister in Christ could be just what they need to get through another day.

The Long Hot Summer

It has been a while since I have blogged. So many thing have happened in our home in the last few months I have gotten behind. Everything has slowed down to a crawl now though for the rest of the summer, so I thought I might post some things.

First of all, Is it hot where you are? Cause it is hot here... and dry.

(ok, this is not a photo of Louisiana, but it feels like it right now)

It is a drought and over a hundred degrees every day here. This is why I hate summer in Lousiana. I don't like to use the word hate about anything. I know that God has designed everything in nature for a reason. I know plenty of people who seem to prefer summer (though I am sure they have suffered some sort of mini-heat stroke to cause them to say so).


Anyway, I keep checking the weather radar for rain and there hasn't been so much as a shower on the horizon for weeks. Our car's air-conditioning is broken. So even just driving the kids to the store causes them to have red faces like tomatos by the time we get there. I wish the end were near, but there are still many many weeks of hot summer sun before we can spell relief in this area. Our only hope seems to be a hurricane in the gulf that might send nice winds and rains this way, I pray of course that if one comes it will cause little to no damage on it's way.

And when we do get some real rain...

You can be that me and the kids will be out there dancing in it!

The boy needed a haircut.

My youngest was in dire need of a haircut. I have had to trim his hair a little bit twice before. He is only 15 months old.

I was putting it off this time because now that he is a year, I figured we would be taking him for a 'real' haircut. However, it was also time for his big brother (5) to get a haircut and the last time we took him to a barber there was mass crying, moaning, and nashing of teeth. (The majority of the crying was by him and the rest was by the girl who cut his hair)

So I dreaded it.

And I put it off.

Till it looked like this...

Finally, I decided it wouldn't hurt to at least trim it until I could get him to a professional (I did my older son too, but I don't have an after pic yet)

Anyway, here is how it turned out.

Not too shabby I think.
Noah seems to like it, maybe that's why he is taking this opportunity to give me his best James Bond impression...

Grey.

Noah, Grey.


Later!
Misty

Stop: In the Name Of Love.

Sometimes it is really hard to stop being busy and spend some actual time playing with your kids or reading together or doing anything where your attention is totally on them.

However, It means the world to them and it is vastly more important than our to-do list.

Moms, I urge you to not just leave it for their Daddies to come home and play with them while you take care of cooking or chores. Carve out some time of your own to play.

Also, if your child has been misbehaving alot lately, you may see a correlation between the bad behaviour and your lack of attention. When put off for too long, they simply act out in desperation. I used to see it in my son. I would find that all it took was some time out from my day to do things with him where we could talk and play and create and laugh together.

With homeschooling you never have to worry about not spending time one on one with them. It is a neccessary part of your day. Even so, I try to take time for more fun things also.

Do you find yourself saying no alot? I don't mean 'No' as in ... 'No' you can't put the cat in the mailbox... or 'No' you can't put your sister in the dishwasher. (those are recommended)

I mean when your child asks... 'Mommy, can you play this game with me?' Or 'Mommy, can we play hide and seek together?' or 'Mama, can you read me this book?'

How many times a day do you say no to special time with your child?

I remember my grandmother being one who took time to just be with me. She raised me. She was fond of reading to me when i was little. She rocked me in her rocking chair. When I was older, we read peacefully to ourselves together on the front porch swing.

I believe it is vitally important in the raising of children, not to be always in a hurry. If your life is simply too full to make this happen, then some things must go.

Simplify, I beg you. This is important.

Here is a pic of my 5 year old at his 'lego station' I often sit and build with him. We got a box of assorted legos from ebay at Christmas and they are awesome to play with. Here is one of my creations...

That being said. I will also say that you must not think that your children require attention 24 hours a day. Children must have time during the day when they guide their own play. I spent more of my childhood coming up with things to do than most children. I had no neighbors, and no siblings and I lived in the woods, far away from anything by way of entertainment. I created my own. I read. ALOT. I taught myself to draw. (Pretty Well, if I do say so myself) I used my imagination. I had time to think.

I think kids today are scheduled to death. I think one of the greatest gifts we can give them is to let them alone a little each day (supervised of course). I may be alone in this conviction, but I think this may be one of the things that has made me how I am.

I meet women who can't be alone. I meet women who can't be satisfied being at home. I meet women who can't be still.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with them, but that maybe they may be lacking something rather helpful in their spirits.

Here's to a little less rushing... a little less running... a little playtime... a little quiet time. A little attention to the blessings that run around our feet... and a little time for them to just be kids.

Diet and Excercise are here to stay!

I'm back ya'll! (and those are not my feet by the way!)

I hope you all have had a wonderful beginning to 2011! I have had an awesome month and a half myself. Has it really only been that long? Crazy!

Well, as you may know I had set out to do many things this year. Heck, I have set out every year to do many new things, but I am here to testify that change can happen! This time I have kept many resolutions and even added more.

There are a several areas of my life that I have begun to alter for the better already this year. I will only talk of one of them today:

Diet and Excercise:

I have never been one for Diet. I have never really been on a diet to lose weight in my life. I have gradually become overweight and while good intentions have abounded, three pregnancies in 5 years have enabled me to let time and lbs get the best of me. The worst thing about it is that I didn't gain very much with my last pregnancy (a year ago) but that after my youngest was born, I proceeded to eat (and drink chocolate milk) like there was no tommorrow. Claiming that nursing was making me more hungry and thirsty, I sort of gave myself permission to be a glutton. I lost all self-control. I gained 20 more lbs than I had weighed before my pregnancy.

Now is the time to take control. Last month something in my brain finally clicked. Before that point, I was not able to say no to food. After that click... I have been able to totally embrace the concept of MODERATION!!! Woohoo!

I think I had been preparing myself during the holidays, that it would be my last time of eating freely. Then last month when I suddenly fell victim to an evil stomach bug that is going around, I actually decided to make the bad into a good by using those three days of fasting as a jumping off point for my new way of eating. (after all, my stomach had shrunk!)

In the past month, I have lost 6 lbs. I know what you are thinking. "Big Whoop, 6 lbs" But really, this is just the begining, because instead of doing something temporary, I have begun a long lasting new habit. I chose a sustainable method of losing weight. This is no crash diet. I have decided certain things in my mind and I am willing to follow through. There just comes a time in your life when you want to make your dreams come true. I dream often of being thin and healthy. I want to be able to look at photos of my and my kids without cringing.

Yes, that is my dream. Family photos where I look good!

What is my method of losing weight?

Just in case you were wondering. I am simply counting calories. Each day my goal is to eat only enough calories to properly sustain the ideal weight for a woman my height. I make sure to eat small snacks and meals throughout the day so that my body doesn't think I am starving (the body will hold on to that stored fat if you seem to be in a starvation mode). I gave up cokes. (a big deal for me) and occasionally substitute tea made with honey instead of sugar.

I am suplimenting my weight loss with an exercise program. I am using a video game on my Xbox Kinect to do daily workouts and now have begun to ride my bike again as I used to do... I ride about 4 miles a few times a week. I have also begun to take vitamins also, to help my body run properly.

I have lost some weight, but I have gained something too!

With these new habits I feel better. I feel great! I have more energy (not less) and I have more stamina and strength. I already play more actively with my kids. I don't need caffiene to stay awake. I sleep like a baby when it is finally time to hit the sack. I get more done (even though I take time to excercise I am able to exert more energy when chores are being done)

You may scoff. You may say that this is a temporary spell. I hope not. I feel confident that I have turned an important corner in my life that will ever be for the benefit of me and my family. If you too are trying to get started on a new way of eating and living, I encourage you... You can do it!!! We can do it! Don't worry if it takes a year or two years, or 5 or 10. The important thing is that we are taking steps in the right direction and no longer in the wrong direction. Keep it up! We will get there!