Tonight's craving:



Vanilla Ice Cream, Sliced Bananas and Chocolate Syrup

On the way home from teaching water aerobics, I could not shake the need for this; it's my favorite portion of a banana split. The ice cream actually ended up being incidental. It just functioned to keep my bananas cold and I scooped most of it into a bowl for Norah who sat next to me at the table as I ate the sliced bananas covered in chocolate sauce. Norah, of course, had no issues helping me eat the ice cream. I don't usually do this kind of late night snacking, so I know it's the baby. Yum.

A coloring page Norah completed at church.

More than once, I've lost my husband in a store. He wanders off a short time after we get there, since he doesn't have the patience to walk every isle looking right and left at every single thing, like I do. So, he goes away to look at or do whatever it is that he looks at or does. By the time I am ready to go, I realize he's not with me and didn't tell me where he was going to be exactly... or did he? So, I set off to find him and I look and look and look everywhere- at least twice. And, I get upset and I want to cuss. I'm about to have him paged over the intercom and that's when he usually ends up finding me, trying to find him.

Once, though, I happened to find him first, before he thought I must be looking for him. He was in the electronics section, talking passionately to some male associate holding some sort of electronic device that they were both pointing at excessively. I stood back, watched and listened for a time and to me, it was like they were speaking in Tongues. I just marveled at my husband for a second, then interrupted him and his new friend. They parted like they were old buddies, talking in a little more gibberish, then laughing. The only thing I understood was the "See ya, man!" and the "Yeah, bye!" When I told him how I'd been looking for him and he saw how frustrated I was, he looked at me in confusion and said something like, "Why? You should have known I'd be looking at the new... blah, blah, blah." I guess I should have known that, you know, since he's my husband and I should know what he is passionate about. But, I confess, I must not know him as well as I thought I did.

And, I share this because I think these events in my life have lead me to some insight into a Biblical passage that has always troubled me. It's the account in Luke Chapter 2 where Jesus gets separated from his parents after the Passover. His parents leave Jerusalem without him. Thinking he's with other relatives and friends in their caravan, they end up going an entire day's journey until they realize he isn't there. The Bible says "they returned to Jerusalem looking for him." Then, after three days, they found him in the temple "sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening and asking questions of them."

It took them three days to figure out where he was and what an awful, restless, frantic three days it might have been. The temple was huge in that day, you know, so they may have actually narrowed their search to those holy grounds long before they found him with the teachers. But, I think I can relate to this, too, in a silly way. I mean, have you ever gotten separated from someone you love in a Super Walmart? Even though you know they are still somewhere in the same store, it's over. There is just no finding them.

When his parents did find him, his mom asked him something like, "Why have you treated us this way? Your father and I have been looking for you everywhere!" This is the part of the story that I haven't ever liked, it has never sat well with me because it appears like Jesus' response to them makes him callous or even a little smart-mouthed. He says, "Why is that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be about my Father's business?"

And, it wasn't until my husband said nearly the same thing to me in the store that day that I could say I had some grasp of the feeling I think Jesus had when he said, "Didn't you know I had to be about my Father's business?" I think he was honestly confused as to why his parents didn't know him well enough to know where he'd be. My husband wasn't trying to insult my intelligence or put me in my place or make a sarcastic statement when he asked, "Why?" I was looking for him. He just thought I knew him better than I did.

Use blocks to practice patterns with preschoolers.

Norah's DVD lesson yesterday used blocks to practice patterns. Her teacher would make a pattern on screen and Norah had to duplicate it with her own blocks. In the picture, you can see Norah in the middle of one exercise. Her teacher made two towers of three blocks with one block in the middle. I love this idea and I thought I'd share it. I think we may continue this with Legos. That way, we can incorporate colors and sizes in our patterns, making them more and more challenging.

King Ranch Dip

1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 can Hunts spaghetti sauce
Chopped onion
1.5 - 2 pounds of ground beef
1 cup cheddar cheese
Doritos

Brown ground beef w/onion. Add soups and sauce. Simmer 30 minutes.

To Serve:
In a flattened bowl or a plate with sides, place a bunch of Doritos then cover them with a scoop of the meat mixture and top everything with cheddar cheese or use the chips to just scoop the meat mixture out of a bowl.

I got this recipe from a friend. She serves this to her family for dinner when they are on vacation. We make it every now and then and eat it when we watch a movie as a family.

This is a collection of photos of Norah at age 2, 3 and now 4 with clips in her hair. We keep her "hair things" in a tin in her room. Occasionally, she will pull it out, do her own hair and come out to show me how beautiful she looks. I must have several more pictures like this, taken on other occasions, but these are the ones I happened to find while I was looking through our old photos this evening. I can tell she feels glamorous when she does this, so I always smile and "Eww" and "Ahh."

"A classical education (in the early years) assumes that knowledge of the world past and present takes priority over self expression. Intensive study of facts equips the student for fluent and articulate self expression later on. Too close a focus on self-expression at an early age can actually cripple a child later on; a student who has always been encouraged to look inside himself may not develop a frame of reference, a sense of how his ideas measure up against the thoughts and beliefs of others."

I came across this portion of The Well Trained Mind by Jessi and Susan Wise Bauer. As soon as I read the words, particularly those at the end of the quote, I thought of all the bad American Idol auditions I've seen. The one question I can't help but ask the TV screen out loud when I watch any of the episodes: "How can so many grown people still believe they are good singers?" I am even more amazed when the worst singers walk away without a ticket to Hollywood cursing the judges as idiots... or worse. If you listen closely to their rants, you'll notice some of them honestly think that if they just believe in themselves enough, everyone else will be convinced of their talent, however gradually. Obviously, their education and experiences have not equipped them with a reliable "frame of reference."



When I was young, I had aspirations of being a music phenom like every other twelve year old girl who sings into a hair brush with her best friends at sleep overs. But, eventually, I had to come to grips with my talent or lack thereof. Luckily, I was somehow equipped along the way with a combination of good sense and humility enough to know that other people's opinions really do count, sometimes. Maybe this is because incorrect answers on my failing tests in school were actually marked wrong... and with red ink. Gasp! I guess I also had genuine, loving friends or teachers who told me the truth (or gently hinted at it along the way), so when I didn't make the choir my junior year of public high school, I didn't walk away from the tryouts mumbling "What an idiot" the director was. I took that rejection as a sign that I should pour myself into other endeavors.

I want my daughter to have the grit to pursue her dreams and develop potential, even in the face of opposition, but I also want her to live well-grounded in reality. My husband and I believe homeschooling can give her the education and experiences that will best prepare her for the real world. Being taught outside the system and growing up apart from the masses of also-ignorant peers allows students to develop unique points of view and when necessary, hold opinions other than those in the majority. But, at the same time, I've seen that the opposite can be true.

Homeschooling families, secular and religious alike, can simply dismiss any outside opinion, no matter how widely held or how valid. Parents can so censure the influences and information they present to their children that they virtually reinvent the world. These habits aren't limited to home educators alone, even our professional counterparts are tempted, encouraged or even threatened at times to avoid certain subjects and strategies in their classrooms. But, I don't want Norah to grow up in a fantastic reality that she creates for herself or worse yet, a false reality that exists only in our home, one that I have simply manufactured for her. In teaching our kids at home, we are free to use every worthy resource, every valid opinion, any method that works to help our children create the most balanced, sturdy "frame of reference" with which they will reach their fullest potential. So, let's do that.

I am reading The Shack. I don't know if you have heard anything about this book, but it is being praised by countless people as this generation's Pilgrim's Progress. I was skeptical, at first, since so many folks were loving it... "How good could it be then, really?" I am still not sure what Oprah thinks of it, but I don't care at this point. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. All I know is the book really is mind blowing.

I had been planning to read the book for some time, but my husband got a hold of it first and finished reading it on our recent trip to Florida. His laughter, tears and visible awe finally sold me; I knew I had to read it as soon as he was done. And, poor man. I forbade him from talking to me about anything he read. I didn't want him to spoil anything for me. (He has much more self control in these types of situations, anyway. He just kept insisting that I read it right away.)

I am actually really enjoying the fact that I am reading it second, because now I get to explode with as much enthusiasm as I want and discuss passages with him as soon I am struck by them. Read it, folks. Most nay-sayers probably haven't read it and therefore, shouldn't be forming strong opinions about it anyway.