The Critical Thinking Company {Florida Homeschool Resource}

For a while we've loved a company called The Critical Thinking Company as a great resource for creative educational materials.  Recently they contacted us to review a couple of their books, and we were happy to do so!  Excitedly we opened our box a few days later (delivered by our favorite Fed-Ex guy) to discover Crypto Mindbenders: Famous Quotations, Crypto Mind Benders:Classic Jokes, and Inference Jones: Beginning.

We couldn't wait to pull them out and try our hand at some mind-benders!  We've discovered that not only our students, but mom and dad love them, too!  We've raced to finish them and see who can best beat the tricky puzzles to find famous quotes and silly jokes.

One of my favorite attributes to the series is that it comes with limited printing rights, allowing us to copy pages to use within our family - thus saving us money and allowing us to grab more Critical Thinking products!

(This one looks focused... he loves the puzzles but hates photos - go figure.  :) )

 

I was especially excited about Inference Jones, a workbook designed to increase students' reading comprehension and allow them to interact with reading selections.  Our third/fourth grader is growing in his reading skill and speed, but I wanted a way to assure that he was comprehending the material, and the exercises are short enough to prevent frustration, and clear enough that it's easy for teacher to evaluate success.

So do I recommend?  Wholeheartedly!  Critical Thinking products are well-priced, easy to use, and both fun and educational.

haystack alternatives {Fiber One Recipe}

 

looking for a sweet treat that won't undo all your new-year-hard-work on your healthier-you? head over to my fave allrecipes.com and check out the Fiber One Chocolate-Peanut Butter Haystacks recipe!

three simple ingredients: peanut butter, dark chocolate chips, and Fiber One Cereal.

you're going to microwave the chips/peanut butter for about a minute, but be sure to stop and stir halfway.  your chips will not look melted right away, but stir, stir, stir, and pretty soon you'll have chocolate-peanut-butter-yumminess.

now stir in your Fiber One cereal.

because i can't ever leave a recipe alone, and just to add some "oomph" in flavor and fiber, we added some raw, unsweetened, dried coconut (about 2 tablespoons).

now drop your cereal by rounded teaspoon-fulls onto your baking sheet. (the recipe says to use wax paper to keep from sticking; if you're fortunate enough to have a silpat baking mat, use that!)

...and chill till firm (if you can wait that long!).  if it's winter, just put 'em by the cool window and in about an hour they'll be ready!

now enjoy.  (and if you're going for a healthier lifestyle, watch your portion... it would be easy to eat a LOT of these!!)

(**a personal note: for me, i've discovered grains are not, on a regular basis, my best feel-good food. i've adopted a Paleo-lifestyle for about 75% of my diet (i do eat dairy).  i allow myself cheat days but often find that even when i plan to "cheat," i don't want to... i just feel better.  this recipe is, however, a great alternative to the traditional recipe, kicking up the fiber content, and it was a perfect afternoon snack for our kiddos!)

how it all began...

 

life is busy, and sometimes we lose the blessings in the midst of chaos.  i am so thankful for the opportunity to capture moments like this, a reminder of the love that began a family.

Papa, help me remember today why it all started in our home.

missing the warm sun...

...and more importantly, the whimsical heart to enjoy it.  i returned from post-holiday-rush burnout to a fresh outlook, and it's all too easy to settle back into the rut of worry and putting-what-should-be-first-last.

we plan to hit the farmer's market this weekend and breathe deep the fresh air, taste the hot kettle corn and cold gourmet popsicles, and soak up a free morning. 

i intend to giggle and play, and not worry about what anyone thinks, and use my camera-tool for capturing what matters most.. my people. 

delish.

Perhaps my blog may faint from shock after so long a time of under-use.  I intend to write - I do.  I write in my head.  Then someone needs a bottom wiped and someone needs a paper proofread and someone needs a newborn session and ... another silent day passes.

But today, I write.  Because I have cooked for two solid weeks (or at least I have planned and shopped and occasionally photographed) and I must share.

We sat at the table one night and my second announced, "I provided this meal for my family." Chest puffed proud and ornery-humor-sparkle in his eye, he pronounced right.  On the hunting trip with Papa, he and brother and dad hunted five deer.  I may once have been the mom who said, "My child will never..." but watching the honor my father in law shows the kill and the firearm, and pride with which our sons offer the meat that will nourish our family forces me to give thanks... for my boys becoming men.  For the honorable death to provide life (am I morbid?  or philosophical?).  And frankly, for the delicious Venison Stroganoff that graced our table.

It was hearty, and filling, and perfectly warming on a Florida "winter" evening; perfect to follow a heated basketball game.

(I've joined the Allrecipes.com Allstars team this year, so I'll hopefully be sharing more often.  Looking forward to stretching our foodie muscles!  For the delicious recipe, click the name above and you'll be taken to the link at Allrecipes.com, my more-than-a-decade favorite recipe website!)

blog challenge - ralph waldo emerson

Divine Idea by Fabian Kruse

Imitation is Suicide. Insist on yourself; never imitate. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Write down in which areas of your life you have to overcome these suicidal tendencies of imitation, and how you can transform them into a newborn you – one that doesn’t hide its uniqueness, but thrives on it. There is a “divine idea which each of us represents” – which is yours?

(Author: Fabian Kruse)

hhmmm... it's true, imitation is such a temptation, and is so easy to do almost subconsciously!  for instance, as an artist inspired by others who freely share, it's easy to find the works of those i admire showing up as shadows in the work i create.  i want desperately long to  be different, to go above (and i mean this in the God-sense) what anyone else has done... not because i want to be so much better than another, but because i believe i have a calling with each word i write, each time i talk, and each portrait i create, to speak the heart of the Creator.  if so, He has chosen me, and therefore my voice must be true to His tone; my message must be from His heart; my song must be unique to my His voice.

in my dress, my tone, my calling in my home, my mothering of my children, and my honoring of my husband, i ache to have a melody that is my own only; a reflection of my Papa-God's beauty in a life well-lived.  i have a long way to go... but i do know that it will happen only is watching for visions of Him, not the life-appearance of another, and in listening for His voice, not listening solely (or primarily) to the words and thoughts of another (even another i love and respect!).

i accepted a challenge a few days ago.  i'd read quotes on "self reliance" and blog about them each day.  the challenge came through seth godin's blog, and i adore him, so i took the challenge.  here's my first post.  haha!

untitled.

i saw a blog post today by a woman who's told me she's "obsessed with me" and "obsessed with 'my' work."  it was a photography post and as i read, i felt like the object of a saturday night live parody.  except that i don't think it was intended that way.  which led me to thinking, "am i really that silly?"

yes.

"i praise you, o Lord, for i am fearfully and wonderfully made."

i am overweight.  i get angry easily.  i am filled with self-doubt and arrogance and judgmentalism and fear and critical thoughts and often hate myself for not being the woman i know God wants me to be.

"your works are wonderful!  i know that full well."

i have wave after wave of awe at creation and the One who created it.  i gush at the beauty of subjects before my lens and i am astounded at the privelege of capturing love in its purest sense.

"your works are wonderful."

i rarely stop long enough to soak in the raw natural beauty of nature, but when i do, i am speechless.

i shout inwardly in anger at my God who is my Papa and whom i want to rescue me from my wickedness.  who has.  and whose rescue i know not how to accept.

"i praise you, o Lord, for i am fearfully and wonderfully made."

i fail.  i fail.  i fail again at loving.  at respecting.  at disciplining this broken flesh.

i wonder, what would happen if i let it all hang out?  the fat?  the fear?  the anguish at being so weak, so small, so helpless?

"i praise you, o Lord."

can i?  can i praise Him?  in the midst of so much inadequacy?

i know, i know... shield yourself from the public.  people are watching.  they see what you share and you become vulnerable.

what would have happened if Paul had internet?  if he blogged?  would his self-recognition of inadequacy have undermined the truths he spoke so passionately?

i am artist.  i am mother.  i am wife.  i am so little and so very muchafraid...  what if i tell the world?