holy cauliflower, batman!

... and cherry tomatoes, too!


as if our bounty from the organic produce co-op today wasn't enough, the kids went to harvest a few of their latest "crops" at the 4H gardens. can you even BELIEVE this cauliflower? it was so sweet and juicy right off the head out in the front yard this afternoon. tomorrow night, at bj's request, we'll have it pureed. mmmm!

Product Review - All About Spelling

Customizable, multisensory, step-by-step lesson plans. This is what you'll find in All About Spelling, a program we've been reviewing in our home.

To be honest, I thought I would never want a full-out spelling program. We've got far too much on our plates to spend that much time on "just spelling." What has been interesting to me as I dig into the boxes and books, though, is that this program is much more than "just spelling."

Spelling comes naturally to me, and as my children have become more advanced in their reading skills, their spelling has exponententially improved. I think, though, had I used a program like this from the beginning, we might have sharpened and sped up that process. It occured to me as I put the fun (by Ethan's standards!) magnets on our big white board, that this program is actually a lot of reading instruction, too.

All About Spelling is designed in four levels - it is not directly "grade" based. You begin at the beginning, and progress through the four levels at the pace that suits you and your child's abilities, thus not missing any vital information and "links" necessary to being a great speller. Many parents say their children are successful for the first time using this curriculum! There are awesome techniques, as well, for teaching children with special learning needs.

My children have enjoyed the games included, and I have enjoyed the individual file box system that helps identify each child's progress. I also like that even though they may each be at a different level, they can help each other and do activities together. I really appreciate the in-depth organization and order to the program that means less prep work for me. One neat option, also, is the ability to see samples of the program on the All About Spelling website.

At around $30 per level, with additional add-ons required for each student, this may be a cost-prohibitive item for some, but a very reasonable investment for others.

afternoon tea...

my sweet rebecca-friend invited us to tea in the afternoon of our first day "back" to school, and her last day before her sweet son returns to his school! being a boy mommy, she relished the opportunity to spoil anna - and i got the blessing, too! of course the boys enjoyed their "guy time" with the special table she had prepared for them (pizza and chips - boy heaven!). but it was much more fun in our pretty little corner of the world. what a sweet retreat! thank you, r!

Spears Art

Spears Art Studio, Inc. has a Christian Art Curriculum I have been priveleged to try with the kids. Diane Shields Spears has created a digital curriculum on disk that you can use to teach your kids art at home.
About the creator: "Diane Shields Spears has a Bachelor of Arts from Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, in art, English, and education, a Master of Arts in Christian Counseling, and a Doctorate in Christian Education/Art, both from San Antonio Theological Seminary, an extension of the Minnesota Graduate School of Theology. She is state certified for both elementary and secondary, has been an educator off-and-on for thirty years."
Built into the curriculum are basic information on the definition and kinds of art, philosophy of art education, main components, and detailed curriculum. There's an exhaustive glossary of art terms.
The curriculum itself is broken into monthly lessons. Fully created for K-8, the scope and sequence is vast and varied - a rich resource for those of us to whom teaching art doesn't come "built in." I love the complete supply list included broken down by month - this is a plus for the less-organized momma in me. We have purchased a curriculum that was broken down by subject, because that's how we teach in our "everyday" school, thinking that would be more convenient. Because of this, I was hesitant to try to incorporate this time-table instead. I found it was easy, though, to pick-and-choose what I want to use for lessons, and it won't be difficult to find topic-related lessons from the well-designed appendix, either.
One of my favorite aspects of this program are the integrated scripture themes in each lesson - they tie directly into each project, making it both an art lesson and a devotional project. Teaching multiple children means that I like to combine in any area I can, and I LOVE that this curriculum does this! I also really love the projects - they're not overly complicated, but even as a novice, I can see the lasting principles learned in the lessons. Fun, fun, fun! Now we're off to grab our sketch pads...

chestnuts roasting...

under the oven's warm glow...
i don't know as i've ever seen chestnuts before, but tonight, there they were, right in the publix produce section, calling out to us, "buy me, try me!" so we did! no open fire here (except the yummy mango candle on my desk...) so we discovered online that, indeed, you can roast these "little" babies right in the oven! you have to cut an "x" in the skin to allow steam to escape. they have the yummiest texture and taste - completely new to us - they're kind of sweet and almost potato-like! odd, but delicious, once you get used to them. they're yummy warm from the oven, and sprinkled with salt. how have we lived all these years without tasting this icon of Christmas lore? and with this, our celebration will shortly come to a close.
inspired by the beautiful katelyn's wedding yesterday, we also had to have these for our new year's eve family night... and even as we giggled, listening to a Christian comic and playing our fun new video game, i ached for a quieter solace. our country shrinks further from the high and lofty ideals of her founding fathers. we as believers have followed like children after the piper as leaders have asserted their God-forsaken opinions and removed individual rights, even as brothers and sisters die to honor those rights worldwide.
am i the only one who felt a melancholy mist over the night? we turned on the obligatory "ball drop" at the last few moments of the old year, and as we dodged disney icons and american idols, i had a sense of the "meaninglessness of it all," as a prophet once said. not IT all, as in the great universe our Papa reigns over, but "it..." all the odds and ends that we allow to occupy our every waking minute. "simplify," my mom-in-law declared as her theme for this Christmas. i hear the call. our world spirals ever further from the heart-whisper of the One who created her... and yet He does call. oh, let this be a year of arching my whole being desperately toward the Lover of my Soul.
there is an odd harmony playing in the God-song of my life. there is an urgency - a rushing in my soul - a panicky sense of incompleteness, and an opposing knowledge of fulfillment and desperation for quiet and rest. ever more frequently, i sense a need to be both more playful, and more serious. more of a dancer, and more of a field-worker. sillier, and somber-er. more passionate to experience every taste, scent, and touch of the life here in the shadowlands, and more eager to forsake it every bit for real LIFE in the homeland we were created for. it is a new year, and it is a new moment to live, and move, and have my being, in Him who created me.

Light of the world
You stepped down into darkness
opened my eyes, let me see
beauty that makes this heart adore You
hope of a life spent with You

so here i am to worship
here i am to bow down
here i am to say that You're my God

you're altogether lovely
altogether worthy
altogether wonderful to me...

-tim hughes

isaac's first haircut

i put this off for sooooo long - i knew once my blond-haired, blue-eyed boy lost his long curls, they'd be gone for good. i couldn't take the shaggy look any more, though, and daddy was home, so we went for it. i was almost in tears, but my sweet joshie-boy handed off his brother: "mom, we've got to get a ziploc - you have to scrapbook his curls!" (dear boy - mommy still hasn't scrapbooked ethan's first haircut - but i do have the ziploc.)
in the midst of the Bible reading, the baking, the shopping, the wrapping, the homemade doggie biscuit-deliveries, the church service rehearsals... life goes on. and our baby-boy now looks like a little man.
Merry Christmas!