A new month with new activities!

For details on KidsROCK activities, you can always go to our calendar at the website.  Our registration deadlines are generally the first of the month for the activities taking place that month.  We have some neat things coming in October!

We are continuing with Get Fit, which can be attended on an individual basis.  There is a new format that emphasizes making fitness a fun and family affair.  Meet us at 11:30 on Mondays at the college track.

Lego Club is off for the month of October, to allow soccer its proper due.  :)  We will resume the first Wednesday of November.

For some family fun, join us at the bowling alley on the 8th at 4pm.  Book Club is meeting on the 11th from 6 to 8.  The book du jour is The Overton Window by Glenn Beck.  On the 13th we head over to Wemple’s Pumpkin Patch for our annual trip of hay rides, mazes and pumpkin-learnin’.  Don’t forget your camera on that trip!  And we end the month with a math lapbook on multiplication and pizza.

Hope to see you this month!

Such a Great Day

Yesterday was so wonderful for my family!  We had our Club PALS training.  I mentioned before that we have three groups this session.  Mine meets on Monday and our activities will be after the weekend of our two Friday groups. 

I have a couple of fantastic families in my group and I am jazzed and privileged to be able to see them each week.  We detailed our plans for the session during our meeting, and now—if it is possible—I am even more excited to move through these lessons.

I have to say, sitting down with women you love is a blessed thing.  I was feeling less than 100% yesterday and was pushing myself through the day.  Being able to be honest with these ladies from the outset and know that they wouldn’t hold my humanity against me made the day more than just tolerable.  We joked and laughed easily during our meeting.

The lessons for this session are substantial, more grown up.  We will be learning the biographies of a missionary, some founding fathers and eight noted scientists, we will be carrying out some very cool experiments, games and language activities.  Some of our art projects will require goggles!  So neat.

But my secret anticipation is spending time with these fabulous women and their engaging and charming children!

Life Lessons

 

• To be “Smokin’” is a good thing, unless it is with a vacuum or electric weed eater.
• When the brownie box reads, ‘stir by hand,’ it means to stir with a spoon. 
• Lemonade requires more ‘ade’ than lemon.
• Ants in a heated sandwich maker will explode.
• Chestnuts in a toaster oven will explode. 
• Ceiling fans will not hold a person’s weight.
• When they say they will be at your house between 7 am and 5 pm, they also mean that they could very possibly not show up at all.
• Sometimes it is better to just throw it away than to try to salvage items caught within range of a diaper blowout.
• No matter how right you may be, the moment you begin yelling about it you become wrong.
• When Mom asks, “Do you wanna…,” she’s not really asking.

Have you got any great life lessons to share?

Calling all Box Tops!

My kids reveal in stories how crazy their mother is for Box Tops.  If you are unsure of what Box Tops are, you can check out their website for details.  In short, they offer special deals for schools to earn money.  You can clip the little coupons off of all sorts of products, (Big G Cereals, Pillsbury refrigerated items, Viva paper towels, and Kleenex, to name a few.) and the school coordinator mails them in for 10 cents a box top.  They also have online promotions, coupons, and other bonuses that all benefit the school of your choice.  It is a neat program, and I recommend everyone find a school to support.

KidsROCK Academy is not a real money maker.  We want to provide the support that homeschoolers need and the enrichment that can make homeschooling fun, but so much costs money!  That is where our few fundraisers can help make a difference.

Anyhow, my kids tell people about how I almost went into someone’s trash while taking a walk because I saw a box of diapers that I just knew would have Box Tops on it.  My daughter’s favorite is when I let the kids choose their own cereal at the store but told them no dessert cereals.  She asked for Lucky Charms.  Hello?  That qualifies as dessert!  She triumphed when she showed me the three Box Tops on the cover. 

My husband joins the fun by telling about how scary I am when I jump at our own trash, saving our ten cent gems.

So, I am a little crazy.  I have no defense, other than loving KidsROCK enough to make a spectacle of myself. 

Today for fun (I mentioned the crazy?) we snipped and peeled all the excess from the Box Tops we have.  We weighed the trimmed Box Tops and then weighed the trash.  Not bad!  Trying to save on postage is just another way I have become a fanatic about penny pinching for homeschool support and enrichment!

If you have any Box Tops on the product you buy, please take the time to show love to the crazies in your life by clipping a Box Top.

No!

My dog is going crazy!  She is sniffing all the oxygen from the room in our remote corners. I fear we have a mouse!!  No!!!!  Yuck!!!  Why, oh why do I have to be such a girl??

Thankfully our pest guy came out the other day (along with the lawn guy and the tree guy.  My door got a lot of knocking that day!).  I let him know our dog’s behavior was a little hinky and he said this was the time of year that mice seek warm indoors.  EW!!

So we have sticky traps all over the place.  We had to move one to a new place over which she went crazy and found another replaced to the middle of the room by guess-who!  It is a wonder she didn’t cry trying to get unstuck!

My daughter didn’t want to go to sleep last night because of all the mice talk.  I am such a squeamy girl that I can’t help much.   The good news is that there is no other evidence.  Only our wacky dog. 

Pray I have the dignity to not wig out if anything is eventually discovered, will ya?  Maybe I can be all ‘homeschooling-mom-queen’ and make it a learning experience?  *shiver*

What is the Point?

You know I am passionate about homeschooling.  It would be pretty silly to be president of a homeschool support and enrichment group if I weren’t sold on this idea of parents being teachers.

But why?  Why is it so important to me?  Some say that homeschooled kids behave better and score better on college placement tests.  I think those are relatively true assertions that can be backed up.  But anecdotally I can give you some pretty unpleasant homeschoolers and some who couldn’t even pass the college placement tests.  I can also offer up some darling public schooled kids who are as sweet as sugar while they blow the curve on any test they take.

So, just wanting good smart kids isn’t really reason enough to homeschool.  You can have those and send them to school for free!  But I digress. I don’t really enjoy debating homeschool v public school because I honestly believe parents are far more pivotal to the equation.  Suffice it to say, we homeschool because it is best for our family.  And, as with any monumental decision, choosing to homeschool is just the first in a lifetime of decisions to be made regarding education.

That is the real clincher.  Now that homeschooling is a ‘movement’ (read: a viable money-making market), there are so many choices regarding supplies, lessons and full curriculum.  There are so many messages regarding the ‘right’ way to educate.  Have you covered this?  What about that?  See how shiny?  If you really loved your kids, would wouldn’t deprive them of that!

Whoa!  Slow down.  Remember why you are homeschooling?  Remember what is important.  And remember you aren’t a teacher who only has 9 months to get this child to pass the standardized test.  You chose to educate for life!  Because of that, you get to employ the old adage about teaching a man to fish rather than just letting him eat for a day.  Isn’t that wonderful?

I love the concept that categorizes homeschooling as a lifestyle. I think that when we consider it to be a lifestyle, it stretches the possibilities beyond the immediate horizon. The bottom line to this style of homeschooling is that everything is a lesson, and nothing must be mastered today.

The freedom that comes from that pair of realizations is staggering. Because you aren’t on a time-table with deadlines and because you don’t limit school between the hours of x and y, you and your children will be more inspired to pick up a book for pleasure, research a fact on the internet or engage in a discussion of ideas. The reason is because you know that reading the book won’t be followed by some graded test that you could fail; or checking something out on the internet won’t require a five-page-double-spaced-essay; and a discussion doesn’t have a winner or loser, but two people who walk away a little fuller.

Learning as a lifestyle raises a humble spirit willing to gather information without fear. When schooling never ends, it is ok to be relaxed and to make mistakes, the world is a wonderful place!

Happy homeschooling!

Living on Purpose

I have a friend who tires of being asked why she homeschools.  It isn’t because she doesn’t love to talk about it or because she doesn’t expect and respect curiosity.  Her frustration stems from the unquestioned acceptance of public schooling.  She wants to know why homeschoolers don’t more frequently ask why or how do families send their children to public school.  Her point is not that public school is horrible, but that it shouldn’t be taken for granted.  She wants to encourage all families to think and purpose the lives of their children, so if you send them to public school, it must be because you thought, researched, prayed and sought wise council about doing so.  And she would love to hear about the process!

We were given a great responsibility with our children.  To respect and live up to the responsibility, I believe we need to live with purpose.  To me, that means not taking anything for granted.  We need to make informed decisions regarding the lives of our children, rather than just ‘going with the flow’ or doing what ‘everyone’ else does.  When you consider how pivotal childhood is to our entire lives, every aspect ought to be examined so that our children are equipped and prepared for adulthood.

There is something exciting about parenting when we fully accept our responsibility.  We get to do it.  We get to look at the big picture and decide what would be the absolute best for these young people.  We are reaching into the future, here!

When we do this, the importance of the education of our children—the method, environment and attitude plus all the aspects of it like academic, emotional, spiritual and relational—can’t be underestimated.

With that mindset, with an eternal perspective about what matters and what lasts, the decisions are based on a reality that can so easily be ignored when our thoughts are merely in the moment or just going through the motions.

Ooh!  That’s a good song!

Mark Your Calendars

KidsROCK has so often been a work-in-progress.  We make changes to fit the current needs of the group.  As it happens, we have settled into some relative stability the last couple of years.  It has been nice to have the consistency, but it is time for a few changes again.  Some are already set to go, others require some more time, thought and consulting with our leaders. 

So I am not intending to be dramatically mysterious when I say that some big announcements will be made at the Quarterly Meeting without any hints.  The truth is, I am not yet sure just how many changes or what form they will take, so I can’t fairly offer a sneak peak.

Please make attending this meeting a priority.  Child care is offered for free.  We will present the changes, open up the floor to a Q&A session.

In addition to all the great KidsROCK info, we will also be discussing something almost any homeschooler has encountered: the struggle to homeschool while living life—vacation, family visits, illness and other distractions that stop us from having a ‘normal’ week.  Check out more information at our website.

Get Fit!

We had a great time at Get Fit yesterday!  It was such a blessing to me personally, I have to say.  After the big flop with weather and location last spring and canceling our first meeting for fall Get Fit last week, I was feeling a little down about the whole class. 

Our homeschool group has some great fitness people—soccer, baseball and track, oh my!  This little-once-a-week-class seems like meager and unnecessary offerings.

The goal has always been to provide fun fitness for families—ooh!  That was an unintended but happy alliteration. We use the President’s Challenge for guidelines.  But we want to have fun, too!  I mean, if it isn’t fun, what is the point?

So we tried a new format that put the fitness exercises in their place—they came first and we tried out best.  Then we got to the business of fun!  We will play a group PE game each week.  Yesterday we did musical towels. 

Thanks, friends, for coming out to play.  I am looking forward to next week!

Bah!

Money!  Need I say more?  Love it, hate it, need it, toss it.  I do it all!  I don’t want to care about it, but it is not easy to ignore a thousand foot steel wall that seems to block all paths.  I want to be free of it, but too often, I feel bound by it. 

And it isn’t considered polite to even discuss it. I get why.  Bringing up the topic, or ‘over-sharing,’ has burned me in the past.  But there are times I just need to talk about it.  There are no easy solutions, and I don’t need anyone to fix the problems—unless you have money burning a hole in your Swiss account, of course--but sometimes, I am a girl and just need to talk. 

You know?

NOTE: this image is called ‘free dollar sign.’  I can get the sign for free, at least! 

Responsibility

I have been thinking about this topic quite a bit the last few months.  It is the theme for this session’s Club PALS and this quarter’s Round Table Discussion.  And, probably because God is so perfect in His timing, the topic is presenting itself in my personal life time and again.

Chores, family inter-dependence, and simply cleaning up after oneself all have to do with responsibility. Last week I spent most of my time deep cleaning, organizing and purging our home.  These last few days, we have cooked what finally totaled 52 meals.  Through it all, lessons in responsibility for my kids keep popping up. 

Having an organized home, clean kids and a crisp-looking life is desirable.  And when we can pull it off, it is great.  But I have to wonder what is sacrificed if such an image is upheld all the time.

Last night while we were working on our final recipe we sang, “They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love”.  This song has always stirred my heart to a greater calling and I am thankful my kids know and love it as well.

When all the cooking was done, I asked the kids to wipe down the table for me and help with the floors.  Both went through the motions.  I sent them out to get the mail and came to inspect their work.  My first thought?  “You’ve gotta be kidding me!”

I was tired, my feet hurt, I hadn’t had lunch and still had a mountain of laundry to tackle.  I have been trying to teach the kids this trait of responsibility by getting them to consistently do good work in their chores.  When they don’t do it well, I gently (no, seriously, I really do!) tell them to do it again.

But as I stared at the splotched table and the literally crumby floor, I wondered how to respond this time.  These kids have been troopers.  We have gotten up early to take my husband to work so that we would have the van for shopping and other errands.  Would I be teaching them responsibility if I made them redo their clean-up job?

Or would I be going against the instruction in Ephesians 6:4 and merely provoking them to anger?  That is a tough balance, that verse.  We are to raise them up, discipline them.  But pushing too hard is counterproductive. 

Not many can spot hypocrisy in your behavior faster than your own children.  Can I really sing about working side by side, being known by my love and guarding dignity with any credibility if I also get all obsessive about crumbs and splotches? 

So they got a pass.  I redid the floors and tables.  Then we snuggled together for some relaxing TV until Daddy came home.  Responsibility is important, but I’ve got to be careful about teaching to what it is we are supposed to be responsible.  The reason for chores and cleaning up after oneself is to be courteous to others and to be part of something larger than ourselves.  When I can keep that in mind, I can find the balance needed to obey that verse in Ephesians.

Do you ever get lost in the details?

Another First

KidsROCK has undergone many changes in our short six years of existence.  Yesterday marked just the latest in a string of firsts.  Not as monumental as some have been, but still important.

Yesterday was the training for our autumn 2010 session of Club PALS.  That is certainly not new; but the innovation of this season is in our scheduling.  Next Friday will be another training for a group meeting at a different time.  And then on Monday the 27th is our final training. 

So what is the big deal?  We’ve had three groups before, and we have had afternoon and morning classes before.  But we have always hosted Club PALS on Friday. 

By hosting on Monday and staging trainings at different times, we are allowing for the most individual style of tailoring.  Homeschoolers are so very unique, not just from the rest of the world, but from one another.  As a result, serving homeschoolers calls for the utmost flexibility and respect for each family.

Affording both our hosts and our registrants more options is something we pray will bless them. We want to offer the best of support and enrichment without taxing individual calendars overmuch.  Perhaps in the future we will have any number of day and time slots open so that no one will have to miss out!

As October and November pass, please keep our hosts and other families in your prayers.  Pray for health, community and blessings in the lessons.  Thank you so very much!

Well, What Do You Know?

I guess they are learning, after all.  Last night we were getting our first couple of meals prepped for our big cook today.  The kids were in aprons and chef hats and were proud to call themselves chefs. 

We made ready the fixings for French bread pizza.  They had already poured sauce, grated cheese and I was wrapping the bread.  I had the kids using our little food scale to measure out three ounces of pepperoni to put into bags. 

Some of you may already know my little princess girl has grappled with all forms of dyslexia.  That is not the proper terminology, but suffice it to say that she struggles greatly with letters, numbers, notes and the like.

She has been a trouper, though, working through tears to achieve great strides in reading, math and music making.  I am proud of her, but have also grown accustomed to her limitations. 

Imagine how very thrilled I was when she worked out on her own that if one pepperoni was one tenth of an ounce, she would need thirty per bag to make the 3 ounce target!  Words cannot describe.  It was so natural, so organic that anyone who did not know her history would have thought nothing of it.

What an honor it is to school this angel girl.  I have been privy to every failure, every fight, every setback.  I have ached for her and been frustrated with her.  Then I get to be equally intimate with these moments of triumph, made so much richer because of the rough waters we traveled together to find the shore.

Are They Learning?

I am planning a big cooking day tomorrow with the kids.  We are going to make countless meals in two days that we will freeze for future dinners.  My husband has been making most of the meals through the summer months and it is high time I step back into this responsibility.  I am hoping that acquiring a cache of choices at the ready will get me back into gear.

So today is our shopping day.  I took the kids with me and they helped out.  At the checkout stand the very friendly cashier was chatting us up.  He asked the kids why they weren't in school.  My son answered that we were on vacation.  I could see the guy's face turn into a wry smile.  I couldn't blame him.  After all, who goes on vacation in September?

So I supplied that we are homeschooling.  He asked the kids what they were learning today.  He supplied his own answer by suggesting they were learning about budget shopping.  My sweet boy said, 'no, we are on vacation!'  Like the man was stupid. 

Ah! My stinky rotten boy!  Way to represent!  We fuddled our way through the rest of the checkout and I rushed us to the car.  Do you all know what happens in the car?  Yep: speech time!

I told them that even on vacation we learn.  In the next couple of days they will be learning a lot about organization, cooking, following a recipe and how to get along in the teeny space we liberally call a kitchen.  I told them that when there isn't something new to learn, they practice and solidify what they've already learned: being nice or being mean; reading or watching TV; responsibly keeping up after oneself or slothfulness.  We are always learning or conditioning ourselves.  There are no free days, really.

While I imparted all this fine wisdom, they played the Oregon Trail on the iTouch, offering me the most minimal amount of attention they thought wouldn't risk them into further speechifying.  

I am just talking to myself!

We’re “Back”

Actually, we never really left.  Instead of drinking in the beautiful green, gazing at the ocean, or marveling at the Redwoods, we cleaned.  That is pretty horrible, isn’t it?  It certainly failed to match the image of a vacation in the eyes of my kids, and I couldn’t really argue with them! 

But now the house has been deep cleaned and purged.  Furniture is rearranged, to give the house a new feel.  We had a yard sale, donated and dumped what didn’t sell and have settled back into life.

We are hosting Lego Club today—my son has really missed it.  My husband goes back to work tomorrow.  So, I guess it is time to dive back into a semblance of non-school routine. 

Routine is good for my family.  I have a deep admiration for those who can be productive without it.  I fail miserably whenever I give it a shot.    So I have some planning to do for the next couple of weeks before school begins.  Thankfully, KidsROCK has some fun things already on the calendar.

I will be ‘talking with’ you soon!

Big Day Coming!

If you have been missing some good old fashioned homeschool support and enrichment, Monday the 13th is the day for you!  (Even if you haven’t been missing it, there is so much going on this Monday, that something is sure to appeal to your family!)

First up at 11:30 is our kick-off to the six Get Fit classes.  We are going to play games all season long!  You know, those fun games we played as kids in school?  This Get Fit season is all about just that.  We are going to take advantage of the crowd of kids and play games like steal the bacon, tug-of-war and Canadian dodge ball.

Next at 3 we are going to the BLM horse corrals to see the wild horses and learn a bit about horses and their care.  We will be able to get up close to horses and ask questions!

And the day closes with a Round  Table Discussion at 6 pm.  How do we teach and instill responsibility in our children?  What are some practical ways to move beyond lecture and ideals to providing real-life application of this vital character trait for our children?  Bring your questions, examples and answers to share!

I hope to see you there! You may email us or check out the website for more information.

Family Favorites. Try to Not Dance!

These may not be as sweet, wholesome or nostalgic, but my family really gets down to them!

Party for Two Two words:  Mark McGrath!  I wish I could find a better quality video that still has them dancing on the table.  This song is so much fun that I can't listen to it once.  After about the fifth time, my family members seek other parts of the house for refuge.  

 Porcupine Pie  Come on!!  How fun is this song?  Top it off with the silly video and I end up sore from laughing.  I can just imagine how much fun these guys are.  lol

Another Postcard hee hee!!  There are few Bare Naked Ladies songs that don't get us on our feet.

I Want to Know You More  My gal's favorite for years.

Bad Day   My boy's favorite.  Throw in Smash Mouth's All Star and the Chimp song, and I think you have his top three!

All right.  I better stop.

Just for fun!

In case you are tired of the music, I thought I'd better give you some variety.

I have been looking for pictures to use for the blog and it isn't easy to find what I am looking for and legally use it. So, I have been going through my own pictures. This is a total indulgence, but I just want to share some shots of my kids when they were little. :)

 

--after I got my Pampered Chef stoneware!

 

We encouraged creative thinking at a young age?

 

I am not exaggerating when I say she stood there in that position for ten minutes!

 

Clay!  Still a standard favorite when I read aloud.

 

Picnic with Dorothy and Daddy

 

He still reads like this.  I don't know what to do...

 

I still love to color!  It is a treat to have a coloring partner.

 

Making snow ice-cream!

 

Building with marshmallows and toothpicks.

 

“You can't get along??  Well then sit together until you do!”  There were completely nonplussed to be punished and photographed at the same time.  “Should I smile?”

Children's Songs

I don't know that I'll ever get too old for children's songs--you saw the tribute to Sesame Street, right?  Here are just a few that I out-sing the kids when we hear them.

Hope's Song, Rebecca St. James, I actually don't shout this one.  I sit quietly and try to not get caught crying again!

Victor Vito  Laurie Berkner is still a loved friend in this house, even though I am pretty sure she targets preschoolers with her music.  We love the Googleheads, Bottlecaps, Goodnight, Bumblebee...  *sigh*  I guess we are a little sad...

Raffi  Isn't he great?  We like Shake your Sillies out, but I couldn't find a good link.  I can't even talk about a zoo without singing, 'Goin' to the Zoo, zoo, zoo! How 'bout you, you you?'

Sesame Street Favorites

My kids never really watched Sesame Street but we have--for the sake of, you know, posterity--shown them our favorite clips.  Many are now favorites of theirs!

I'd love to hear your favorites, too!!

Mahna Mahna (This is the Muppet Show version.)

I Don't Want to Live on the Moon  (This is with Shawn Colvin.  I don't actually know who she is, but she sings in a key I can master!)

One, Two, Two Little Girls (This is my personal all time favorite, I believe.  My kids fell in love with it when those cats tore up the doll house.)

Everybody Sleeps  (We actually like all the "Everybody..." series, but this one has a shot of a little girl zonked in the car that looked a lot like my little sister, so it always topped the list.)

Alright...your turn!

A little Vacation Music

I am on vacation this week, so I figured I would play some music in my absence.  Here are some of my current and old-time favorites.  I hope you enjoy!  Perhaps a tissue warning is needed...

I AM by Nicole Nordemon

At the Foot of the Cross by Katherine Scott

Your Hands by JJ Heller

Come to Jesus

Terrific KidsROCK Memory

I am going on vacation, but still want to offer a few fun posts while I am gone.  For the next several days there are music links for you to enjoy categorized by themes that make sense in my mind.  So, check back this week and share your own songs in the comments section, please.  I would love to hear from you.  Music is such a terrific language that so beautifully translates from heart to heart.

Since my vacation posts can’t necessarily be ‘current,’ I have chosen this first post to be about a KidsROCK happening that truly deserves to be documented for all time.  Picture wavy lines taking you back in time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It happened in the 07-08 winter on a sledding hill West of Susanville.  We were gathering for a family sledding day.  It was cold and the snow on the hill perfectly conditioned for several hours of fun.  We had a good turnout, complete with a new family of friends who made this their first KidsROCK event.

There is no need to urge kids to go down a hill on any manner of equipment.  I always pity some poor family coming upon a group our size swarming over the land the way we do.  None came this day, and did we swarm!  Most of the moms had gathered at the side half way up the hill to keep our hot cocoa and little ones guarded and at the ready.  

More than half-way through our time on the hill our Vice President discovered that two of our moms hadn’t yet gone down the hill that day.  Worse, they either hadn’t ever been sledding or hadn’t since childhood.  Well, something had to be done about that!

Our intrepid VP, never wanting anyone to be left out of the fun, convinced them that these new giant inflatable sleds are wonderful and give a smooth ride all the way down.  She offered to go down with them, promising to hold their sleds close.  She is quite persuasive and finally convinced these two moms—we will call them Mrs. A and Mrs. B—to go down, all three together, each in her own giant inner tube.

Those tubes are the popular ones, so it took a little time to gather three, which provided plenty of time for the hill to empty and the crowd of families to gather on the side as an impromptu cheering court.

The three ladies lined up at the top of the hill, our veep in the middle, all scooted far away from the single mogul they adamantly wanted to avoid.  They had their hands patterned to be holding their own sleds with one and the adjacent sled with the other. 

Just a fraction of a second after “1, 2, 3, GO,” they, as a unit, pivoted on the fulcrum of Mrs. A so that Mrs. B was perfectly aligned to hit that mogul backward!  She flew like no one had flown all day.  Sans sled, she catapulted over our Vice President and—this is such a testimony of heroism and clear-mindedness—as she sailed past Mrs. A, Mrs. A released her death grip on the sleds and caught Mrs. B in her arms and carried her down the rest of the hill!!  Can you see it??  Thankfully, the veep held tightly to the remaining sled as the three ladies sailed on down the hill past their gaping children and friends.

But that is not all!  These three brave heroines of Willard Hill continued far beyond the point that all the other sledders had gone.  They were in the un-groomed powder and heading straight for the trees—one in particular.  At this point moms in the ‘audience’ switch from cheering to shielding young heirs from the ride that was most definitely going to end even more spectacularly than it had begun.

Then the next miracle happened.  Before I tell it, please imagine getting yourself out of one of those really cushy couches.  Don’t you need a little leverage?  Now, put yourself flat on your back, flying at breakneck speed down a hill on something akin to an air mattress.  Now, get up!  Our amazing Vice President did just that.  She levitated herself out of her inner tube seconds before it crashed into a tree, flying into the air at least 5 feet!!  The other sled, carrying two moms, mercifully came to a halt without collision.

Do you see why this is my favorite KidsROCK story ever?  Moms are heroes because we can hold bulging calendars in our heads, we know where the scissors are and we possess the healing kiss for boo-boos. We always take the burnt toast, we power through the days while suffering from chronic sleep deprivation and have eyes on the backs of our heads.  But it is easy to consider these commonplace and to become complacent to the wonder.  That special day on a hill outside of our little city, we got to see something far from commonplace that graphically reminded us just the kind of grit of which a mom is made.  Selfless, quick-thinking, fun-loving and powerful when we come together.  We are moms!

I Guess I Deserve it

It makes sense that if I finish the school year at the end of August,  I would do my spring cleaning in September.  I can only pray that people will still be interested in shopping a yard sale in autumn!

We are doing a major purge, clearing out more that we have before.  Actually, I have only done two garage sales in my 13 years of marriage, so it isn’t difficult to top my past efforts. 

I am getting rid of my stash of Pampered Chef and other kitchen products.  All that alone opens up a lot of space, I am ashamed to say.  It certainly explains why being a consultant was such an abysmal financial endeavor for us!

The kids will be getting rid of toys and clothes, and we will be thinning our books, movies and computer games.  Again, just one of those categories creates empty space for us.

I hope to move more quickly through the house than I did today through the garage, though.  I found the old scrapbooks and photo albums of the kids when they were little.  Major derailment ensued as we strolled down memory lane.  I showed them my own yearbooks and I have some old things from my time in Korea.  I even let my girl try on the traditional dress that used to belong to me when I was her age. 

It feels good lightening the burden of stuff we have accumulated!

California History Class

We attended the first class in a four part series on California History.  We began by learning about the earliest California residents.  The kids learned the names of the various Native American tribes and families that have lived in our state, as well as to a couple of the theories regarding their arrival.  They did a fantastic job finding our city on the map and relating the various tribe names to our local area.

After that, we discussed the missions—oh it would be so neat to visit them!  We learned about the three primary stages of the missions: acquisition, secularization and confiscation.  Big words, so we got a nice vocabulary lesson tucked in there!

Class ended with the kids in teams beginning their mission building project.  Eyes got big when they saw the finished product on the packaging.  They couldn’t believe the jumble of materials would end up looking like that beautiful building!

This is going to be a great class!

Learning Naturally

My son is a prolific aspiring author.  Today we were watching an episode of a chick-flick TV show that started in the year 2000.  This particular episode ended with the introduction of a new character.  One of the main characters is thrilled, the other landed somewhere decidedly less than thrilled.

When the show was over my son was positively and breathlessly speechless.  It was contagious for me and I caught his excitement as he struggled to express his reactions.  He was so frustrated, though.  He sputtered, “I write really well and I think really well, but I…I…” Fittingly, he couldn’t finish the sentence.

I did not want to put words into his mouth, I greatly wanted to hear what he was thinking.  So I tiptoed around, trying to give him some starting words so that he could express what had him so excited.

Finally we figured out together that he really appreciated the literary device of introducing a new character that shakes up the status quo.  He could see how the show was getting settled and that it was possible to predict what would happen in different relationships.  While we may see it as predictable, for this boy only just understanding story development, tossing in a new character who evokes a variety of emotional reactions was nothing short of brilliant.

Missing the Plan

We were supposed to go to Carson City today for the wonderful activities at the Nevada State Museum.  I must remember, however, that while we make our plans, the Lord directs our steps (Psalm 16:9).  We are even cautioned against such pride in making our own plans independent of the Lord in James 4:13-16.

So, instead of exploring mines and fossils, we are hanging out at home.  My husband was assaulted—there is really no better word—by some bad ranch dressing.  And so the plans change…

It is often disappointing when plans change.  It can even be disconcerting if you are the type of person who finds comfort in organization and order.  Do you know anyone like that?  I don’t, personally.  I have only heard of people who need things just right.  ahem.

Anyhow, I think it is a good idea to keep eyes and hearts open when our steps are redirected.  After all, if the Lord is one of order (1 Corinthians 14:33), we can trust there is a reason for the new day—even if it isn’t made clear to us.  If you happen to find comfort in all that order—ahem—you can take great comfort knowing His plans are not to harm, but to give us hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)  There is no real wisdom in fighting that, is there?

So, what will our day hold today?  I am not sure.  But since it belongs to the Lord, I will be ready and thankful for whatever it may be.  I pray that each and every day I am able to approach what comes with wide-eyed expectancy at the love and wonder that is our God. 

How do you react when the big plans get derailed?  Have you been blessed by unexpected redirection?  Please share!